Multiversal Friendship System

At this moment, Souta stood in the shadows, carefully avoiding the sunlight.

He was a vampire now—stepping into the sun would spell disaster!

"At least I won't wake Kiss-Shot up down here."

He glanced back toward the stairs, gauging the distance and soundproofing.

Then he lowered his gaze to his hands.

Raising them up, he clenched his fists tightly, feeling an overwhelming surge of energy coursing through his body.

Of course, it wasn't actually limitless energy—it just felt that way because his strength had grown significantly.

"Time to test out these vampire abilities."

Yes, the reason he came downstairs was to experiment with the changes in his body after becoming a vampire.

He couldn't help it—his curiosity was just too strong!

Especially when it came to anything unusual about his own body, his thirst for knowledge was insatiable.

"First... strength."

Taking a deep breath, Souta felt the oxygen circulate through his blood.

He tensed his muscles, then swung his fist down with all his might.

BOOM—!

A deafening crash echoed throughout the abandoned cram school's lobby!

The floor beneath his feet shattered, forming a crater, while debris scattered in all directions.

Several nearby floor panels cracked as well, the fractures extending nearly five meters away.

Souta stared at the destruction in shock, unable to believe that a single punch from him had caused this.

To be fair, although he could manipulate time, generate fire and cold, and was now immortal…

Up until just recently, his physical strength had been no different from an ordinary human's.

And now…

Conservatively speaking, his strength had increased by several tons.

Lifting a small car would probably be a piece of cake.

"This is insane..." Souta muttered in awe. "At this rate, those three vampire hunters won't even stand a chance—I can crush them in seconds!"

Yes, he was getting cocky.

But then he remembered Kiss-Shot's full power, and it was like a bucket of ice water was dumped over his head—his overconfidence vanished instantly.

Kiss-Shot could jump from Japan to Antarctica on one leg. Her physical abilities went beyond the realm of absurdity.

In Onimonogatari, she even mentioned that when she first arrived in Japan four or five hundred years ago, she had hopped the entire way. And if it weren't for a lake cushioning her landing, Japan itself might have been obliterated.

Whether she was exaggerating or not, Souta wasn't entirely sure.

After all, that was just her own storytelling—there was no way to actually verify it.

But still… she was undoubtedly strong!

As the familiar of such a powerful Kiss-Shot, his strength from a single punch was only a measly few tons…

He had to admit, that was pretty pathetic.

Saying it out loud would be embarrassing.

Did he really have anything to be proud of?

"Wait… is the gap between a master and their familiar really this huge?"

Souta punched the ground again, creating yet another crater.

As everyone knows, force is always reciprocal.

Even though his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary human, his body's durability had not evolved to an exaggerated degree.

Thus, when his fist collided with the floor, the skin on his hand completely tore open, his flesh burst apart, and blood splattered everywhere.

"Tch…!"

Souta winced in pain but simply used his other hand to tear away the shredded flesh and skin, tossing it to the ground to test his vampire regeneration.

To his surprise, the discarded skin and flesh quickly flew back, reattaching themselves to his hand and restoring him to his original state.

Souta's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Uh… this… doesn't seem like vampire regeneration at all—it looks more like the 'cellular reformation' property of the Elixir of Immortality."

As far as he remembered, vampire regeneration involved regrowing lost body parts.

This was completely different from "cellular repositioning and reassembly."

"Wait a minute… even after becoming a vampire, do I still retain the properties of the Elixir of Immortality?"

That would actually be a really good thing!

It meant that Souta's immortality was now backed by two separate systems.

One was cellular repositioning and reassembly.

The other was body regeneration.

With this setup, he could use reassembly for everyday injuries.

And if a part of his body was taken away and couldn't be reconstructed—like how Kiss-Shot had drained his blood—

Then, he could rely on his vampire regeneration to grow it back.

At first glance, the two abilities seemed redundant, but they actually complemented each other perfectly.

Because, as Souta recalled from the original story, when Araragi Koyomi was exposed to the sun, his body went through an endless loop of burning → healing → burning → healing in rapid succession.

Kiss-Shot had saved him and told him afterward:

"It's a question of whether your regeneration runs out first… or if the sun sets first. It's an unknown variable. Never do something this stupid again."

This implied that vampiric regeneration had a limit.

Most likely, if used too frequently in a short span of time, it would eventually be exhausted.

The Elixir of Immortality's cellular reassembly covered this exact weakness.

Next, Souta decided to test his speed.

He sprinted across a hundred-meter distance—finishing it in less than three seconds.

His jumping ability was even more astonishing, completely transcending human limits.

After several rounds of self-experimentation, Souta was thoroughly blown away by his own newfound abilities.

He was having a great time.

After about half an hour of absolute chaos, he finally paused and glanced at the completely wrecked lobby floor.

He exhaled deeply.

"Alright… now for the main event!"

Souta turned his gaze toward the entrance of the lobby.

There, beyond the open doors, was a patch of sunlight—illuminating the ground in a golden hue.

Vampires… feared the sun!

Souta was aware of this setting, but since he had never experienced it firsthand, he had no real sense of the danger.

Truth be told, curiosity was an incredibly bizarre thing.

Now that he knew he wasn't supposed to go into the sun, he suddenly really wanted to try it and see what happens.

It was like the temptation of taking apart a disposable lighter to zap yourself with the igniter—just to see how painful it would be.

"With two different kinds of immortality backing me up… I should be fine, right?"

Souta had complete faith in his immortal body.

He believed that the chance of an instant "try it and die immediately" scenario was practically zero.

"I'll just stick my hand out for a quick test."

With that, he stepped up to the boundary where the golden sunlight spilled onto the floor—

Then, he cautiously extended his hand.

In that instant—

His entire body burst into flames!

"Ugh…!"

For the first time in his life, Souta realized just how blindingly bright the sun truly was.

Despite only extending his hand, his entire being was instantly set ablaze.

His hair, his skin, his flesh, his bones—everything ignited at once!

A wave of excruciating pain overwhelmed him, and he couldn't stop himself from groaning.

Just as he was about to yank his hand back—

"IDIOT!"

From the direction of the staircase behind him, a furious voice rang out.