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Unfortunately for Jack, after everyone kept insisting, he had no choice but to abandon the brilliant idea of taking a slime as his familiar.
And with that, his plan to use a slime in actual combat also fell apart.
He had already imagined it perfectly: next time a fight started, he'd send the slime in first to "burst clothes," instantly dropping the enemy's morale by a thousand.
Even if he ran into some shameless type, the slime could just harass them verbally until they fell apart mentally. Then he could find an opening and pin those female enemies down to… rub them into the dirt.
Yeah, the strategy really was kind of beastly. He'd probably end up being hunted down by every woman in the world…
Fine. Whatever. Forget it.
Meanwhile, the Azure Thunder Dragon had smoothly connected with Asia.
The little guy flew onto her shoulder and nuzzled the cheek of the blonde beauty, clearly taking a liking to her.
"The young lady got lucky," Zatouji said. "Azure Thunder Dragons are extremely rare. This little one might be the only one in the entire Familiar Forest."
Everyone was genuinely happy for Asia.
This tiny dragon could command blue lightning to attack enemies. With it by her side, Asia finally had some real offensive power.
They immediately helped her form a contract with the Azure Thunder Dragon, and the group continued on.
"Mr. Zatouji, are there a lot of strong familiars in this forest?"Asia asked on Jack's behalf, hugging the dragon in her arms.
The little guy sprawled comfortably against her chest, its tiny claws boldly planted on her breasts.
Jack glanced at it, narrowing his eyes.…Don't tell me this thing's a male dragon?
Zatouji seemed to adore Asia's pure, adorable personality and answered cheerfully:
"There are plenty of strong familiars here. Hard to say who's strong or weak though. Some familiars mutate, so you can't really tell before they grow."
He patted his chest. "But don't worry. If we run into a familiar with strong potential, I'll definitely recognize it. I won't let you miss a single good one."
"That's wonderful! Thank you, Mr. Zatouji!" Asia beamed and flashed Jack a sweet smile.
Jack returned a gentle look. "Thanks for worrying about me."
"I just should."
They continued forward. Under Zatouji's guidance, Jack did encounter many decent familiars, but none caught his eye.
Their abilities were all far too ordinary.
Not even as interesting as the slime…
At least the slime could mess with women's magic power.
Just when Jack was starting to think he might not find a suitable familiar this time, Rias suddenly let out a soft sound.
Everyone stopped and followed her gaze toward a nearby canyon.
"What… is that?"
Asia covered her mouth in surprise.
Inside the canyon, countless colorful figures were floating in midair. Each carried a noticeable wave of magical power. There were at least a thousand of them.
"All of those are familiars?"
Rias was shocked. Zatouji's expression shifted as he fell deep into thought.
"These seem to be elemental spirits."
"Ahh, and they look like they're worshipping something…" Akeno gazed toward the far end of the canyon.
Zatouji suddenly clapped his hands, excited."That's it! This kind of scene means a Spirit King has been born!"
"Spirit…" Jack muttered. "Don't tell me it's like that water spirit, Undine, we saw last time."
If it was, he would turn around and leave on the spot.
"Tsk, tsk. Amateurs will be amateurs." Zatouji was not nearly as friendly toward Jack as he was toward Asia. With some arrogance, he lectured:
"Spirits come in all kinds of attributes. Their abilities and appearances vary a lot."
"Then let's go see what attribute this Spirit King has." Rias brushed her long hair back and smiled.
They circled around from another direction and soon saw the entire canyon.
At the front of the vast crowd of elemental spirits floated a metallic silver sphere of light. Nothing else accompanied it.
That was the Spirit King?
"What? It's a metal-attribute Spirit King?" Zatouji exclaimed. "That's extremely rare, even among Spirit Kings!"
Jack's heart stirred. His instincts told him this Spirit King would be incredibly strong in battle.
Perfect. Exactly what he needed.
"I choose that one."
A familiar this rare would be stupid to pass up.
Zatouji laughed loudly. "Then follow me!"
He charged forward. Jack went right after him.
As soon as they approached, a strange wave pulsed from the Spirit King, covering everyone.
Their bodies suddenly felt heavy. The magic inside them became sluggish.
"Anti-magic?!"
Rias gasped, eyes blazing."Jack! You must get it!"
Not that Jack needed the reminder.
This Spirit King had anti-magic abilities. In a real battle, that would be insanely powerful.
It was basically a better version of the slime.
"Be careful, kid. It'll attack us!" Zatouji warned.
As he spoke, countless metallic constructs materialized in the air around them. Sharp metal shards shot toward them in waves.
Magic was sluggish, but Jack remained calm.
He wasn't like Rias or Akeno. He didn't rely heavily on magic. Anti-magic barely affected him.
A flash of light.
The Shield of Divine Weeping appeared before him. Its invisible protective field wrapped both him and Zatouji. All the incoming metal shards bounced harmlessly away.
"Oh? Not bad," Zatouji laughed. "Guess I should show some real skills too!"
He let out a low shout. Whatever technique he used, a ripple spread outward, freezing all the elemental spirits in place and sending them dropping out of the sky.
"Hurry! I can't hold this long! Its real body is inside that light sphere! Grab it!" he shouted.
Jack didn't hesitate. He sprinted straight toward the Spirit King. The sphere, seemingly frightened, summoned a storm of metallic blades to shoot at him.
But none of them could break through his divine artifact.
The Shield of Divine Weeping was simply too strong.
Jack thrust his hand forward and punched into the metallic sphere, pulling out a handful of silver liquid.
"..."
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