'What happened, Haruto? Did you see the new mission!?'
Haruto was stunlocked. He couldn't believe it. Another character meant more powers. And more powers meant he would grow stronger faster.
'You might have a new roommate soon, Megumin.'
'A new roommate?' Megumin asked, slightly puzzled with a soft tilt of her head.
Haruto put aside the new mission for now and mentally selected the Template Roulette Deck.
The card lifted off of the table as everything behind it was shrouded in darkness. As the darkness cleared, the only thing left on the table anymore was the Template Roulette Deck.
Haruto spotted the same slender pair of gloved hands that had appeared before him the first time as they cleverly manipulated the cards by cutting and shuffling them in front of him.
The cards were fanned out but this time Haruto noticed a difference in them.
Not all cards were made equal.
Some cards had a regal background made out of gold and platinum while others looked to be made of lesser materials like silver, brass, copper and stone.
'The last time it was a SSS-rank card draw…'
'I guess this time there are lesser ranked cards mixed in.'
'But seeing their backgrounds, can't I just choose the ones made out of gold and platinum and win anyway?'
As if reading his thoughts, the cards were picked up by the gloved hands and tossed from one hand to the other as if the cards were a spring.
When there were too many cards in the receiving hand they automatically teleported back into the throwing hand and the flowery act continued.
'Huh?'
'What am I supposed to do?'
'Say stop?'
Haruto observed the cards flying through the air carefully just as he noticed a platinum card be flicked from the edge of the gloved hands he shouted mentally, "Stop!"
Too bad there was a slight delay between his eyes and his shout.
When the gloved hands stopped, another card had already been thrown into the air.
'A silver card huh…'
'Not bad…'
The gloved hands collected all the other cards and stacked them into a neat deck before placing the cards away and focusing on the single lone card on the table before Haruto.
With a simple flick, the card was flipped.
The silver patterns stretched to the front of the card, and within it was a young boy no older than eighteen, wearing his long blond hair in a single braid that rested over his shoulder, golden eyes, and curiously a metallic right arm. He wore a thin red cloak over his body and black inner wears with thick military boots and a thick yellow belt.
As soon as Haruto's eyes met with the young boy's they fired up with light.
The eyes in the card looked around in confusion for a few seconds before they settled on Haruto's as if recognising something. Within seconds after that, the figure vanished from the card entirely.
Haruto recognised the figure, how could he not, after all the fans of this anime were hell bent on keeping it the best rated anime until Frieren took the top spot.
Haruto looked at the now empty card and nodded at the dealer before leaving the card drawing space.
Haruto paused for a second, deciding to check on the mission that Megumin had issued before going into the template inventory space to check on his new tenant.
===
Mission Aim : Capture Hiruko Before He Successfully Defects From the Village.
Mission Assigned By : Megumin
Mission Reward : Knowledge of Megumin's Explosion Spell
===
Haruto's eyes lit up at the mission reward but he simultaneously frowned.
'It's going to be difficult to reveal Hiruko's plot and get him captured…'
'To do that I will have to get close enough to him that he'll let me be a part of his secret research…'
'But how do I do that?'
Haruto thought back to his new fire release talent.
If he could train his fire release some more, couldn't he pretend to have Pakura's infamous scorch release? And then wouldn't Hiruko be interested in his supposed kekkei genkai?
Haruto pinned the idea for now and decided he would think about it later. Instead he decided, it was time for him to meet his new tenant.
So with but a thought, Haruto was back in his Template Inventory Space.
There the first thing Haruto saw was-
"Edward-kun don't worry! Big sis Megumin will take care of you, okay?!"
Haruto face palmed, because in the next instant Edward's ahoge twitched-
"Huh!? What did you say you damn brat!!" Edward's eyes lit up with fire.
"Ahhh!!!! That hurts!!! Is that a metal arm!!? Why do you have a metal arm!!??" Megumin screamed as Edward manhandled her head with his automail arm.
Haruto finally stepped in after a short few seconds where he cursed the heavens to separate Edward from Megumin.
"Enough!!! You're an adult Edward!! Keep your hands to yourself!!!"
"....hmpf… I'm only leaving you alone because he asked me to… you get that you brat!!!"
Megumin looked at Haruto tearfully before sneaking up behind him to protect herself. It would've been fine if she'd left it at that, but then she went ahead and taunted Edward further, "You're the brat!!! You shrimp!!!"
Edward nearly flew towards Megumin.
Haruto held him back with all his strength, which was not surprisingly too little to hold back a state alchemist at which point, Haruto finally tried distracting Edward with a new question-
"How come you're here? I thought you lost all your alchemy powers after giving up your gate of truth to resurrect your brother Edward?"
"Huh? How do you know that?" Edward asked, confused, but he stopped trying to get to Megumin, for now.
What followed was Haruto giving Edward the same explanation as he'd given Megumin about the Authors of his world and how this was possibly a trial for him to become one.
Along with that Haruto also explained to Edward about the world of Naruto, about its story beats and moments and all its power systems before they took a break.
"So an Author in your world saw my story through… hmm… the God of my world told me that as long as I helped you out, he would let me go back to the real world with my alchemy. Of course I don't want to lose my alchemy if possible so I accepted his deal… So I have to help you out in stopping the Otsutsuki Clan from taking over this world and sacrificing everyone in it to create a chakra fruit? Sounds a bit like the philosopher's stone all over again…"
"Yes… and you can give him the equivalent of your power in this world by issuing Haruto missions." Megumin helpfully interrupted from behind Haruto.
Edward's brows furrowed. "My abilities… you mean transmutation and alchemy?"
"Exactly." Haruto nodded. "If I have your intelligence with alchemy, I should be able to easily make up various jutsus and reach the peak of this world."
"Peak of this world… do you really think that's possible… after all, you're not even in an academy where you can get trained in the basics… and self study can only take you so far… even a genius like me needed a teacher to bring out my full potential… so you're definitely going to need one."
Haruto frowned for a few seconds before his eyes fell on the gigantic crater Megumin had created only a few weeks ago, his eyes widened as words slipped out of his mouth immediately, "Can't you train me in combat? Inside this Template Inventory Space?"
"Me? Train you?" Edward was slightly surprised. His eyes widened and he thought for a few seconds before he nodded, "Of course… that's possible too…"
"Then it's decided… You'll train me from now on, Edward-sensei!"