There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
× × × × ×
Lucius Zogratis
I watched as Arthur used the remains of his clothing to create an improvised vest, tearing pieces of leather from the leather covers that protected his legs with his teeth and using strips of his shirt to tie them together around his waist and over his shoulder.
From the remaining strips of fabric, he made a mask to cover his mouth and nose, and wrapped the rest around his hands.
"What's the mask for? Are you trying to complete your ninja look?" Regis asked, examining Arthur new appearance.
"You're unlikely to need it, but it's still a good move," I said, bending my body to get a better feel for it, completely unembarrassed by the fact that I was naked.
But Arthur just nodded and seemed to start communicating mentally with Regis. Finishing all his preparations, he nodded to me and walked over to a large metal door. Stopping for a couple of seconds, he sighed and pushed the door open.
A second later, I noticed the system, or more precisely, several dozen unread notifications.
[Pain Adaptation + 627]
[Intelligence + 193]
[Soul + 6800]
After accepting everything except the aether, I immediately felt changes in my entire being. My thoughts became clearer, and memories I had once forgotten became crystal clear. Sighing slowly, I looked at the system panel.
[Body: Four-sided physique, seventh rank]
[Soul: Half-Otherworldly, eleventh rank]
[Intelligence: Seventh rank]
[Energy:]
[Pain Adaptation: Seventh rank]
[Echoes:]
[Eleventh rank fighter talent]
[Four-sided physique seventh rank x9]
[Thought Communication seventh rank]
[Related:]
[Arthur Leywin potential x2]
[Regis Potential x2]
"It's a little strange, but overall, the system is not very complicated. You connect yourself to someone and then choose either x10 or an upgrade to a higher rank if possible," my thoughts were interrupted by a new notification from the system.
My lips twitched slightly at what I saw.
"Who else could it be but you?" I muttered, looking at the notifications.
[Arthur Leywin]
[Pain Adaptation +7]
[Second rank chimera bone aether arrow]
[Aether +13]
[Pain Adaptation 70]
[Second rank chimera bone aether arrow x10 or upgrade to rank fourth?]
[Aether 130]
Shaking my head, I chose, "No need to think about it, take the [Third rank chimera bone aether arrow]."
[Echoes:]
[Four-sided physique of the seventh rank x9]
[Thought сommunication rank seven]
[Third rank chimera bone aether arrow]
"Hehe" - my lips curved into a smile as I looked at all these numbers.
But the smile faded when another series of messages appeared in the system.
[Arthur Leywin]
[Pain Adaptation +9.6]
[Second rank chimera bone aether arrow]
[Aether +14]
[Pain Adaptation +3]
[Second rank chimera bone aether arrow]
[Aether +13.6]
[Pain Adaptation +5.2]
[Second rank chimera bone aether arrow]
[Aether +13.3]
[Intelligence +6.7]
[Pain Adaptation +8.5]
[Aether +55.8]
[Body +8.3]
"What the hell is going on?" I thought, scratching my head. "I told him a lot, didn't I? Or did he come up with something strange and start testing it on his body as usual?"
Not quite understanding what was going on, I temporarily shut down the system and instead tried to get a better feel for my new body. It was strange. It was difficult. I was about 184 cm tall before I came to this world, and now, by my standards, I was just over two meters tall. My legs and arms had become longer, as had my whole body, in fact.
But putting aside the discomfort, I tried to repeat a couple of moves that Arthur had shown me when he was warming up and had deliberately shown me. After repeating them a couple of times, I realized how easy it was for me to do them.
"Phew," I exhaled, squeezing and unclenching my fingers, which had also become larger and whiter. "Although Arthur said that his body was very weak, this is something else. I feel ten times stronger than before."
After repeating the movements, which I understood to be the basics and could be changed depending on the weapon and situation, I took the [Third rank chimera bone aether arrow] out of the system.
Focusing slightly, my eyes saw the aether that gently enveloped the arrow like an aura.
"This arrow truly lives up to its name," I muttered, bringing it to my mouth.
In that same second, warmth spread through my body, continuing to absorb the purple aura surrounding the bone arrow, and I felt my strength growing. The warmth spread to every part of my body as the aether aura gently enveloped this new body.
My body trembled as I took a deep breath. Looking at myself, I froze and wondered what kind of person I might mistakenly appear to be to other people. A young nobleman barely twenty years old? Virginally pure skin without a single scar or blemish, perfectly defined muscles stretching down my arms, torso, and legs, which looked as if they had been painted on.
(He is 16)
A faint purple aura enveloped me, slowly fading as more and more aether dissipated from my body. However, even as the aether left me, I realized that the feeling of power remained.
The reason why I decided to take the arrow rather than directly extracting ether from the system was that I didn't know what to expect. Maybe the system would give me aether directly into my body or forcefully create an aether core, I didn't know, but it was better not to risk it until I reached the area with the big worm.
Taking the stance that I understood best, I threw a couple of punches and stopped after a second. Even my own eyes couldn't keep up with the hands I was using to hit my imaginary opponent. And although I was tempted to hit the wall, I decided not to do so because I could guess the result.
"Fuck the expected result," I thought as I approached and struck the wall. The expected pain did not come, only a slight tingling sensation that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The wall shook, dust fell from the ceiling and settled on the floor like falling ashes. Although there was barely a crack in the marble. I was pleased, looking at the wall and then at the wound on my fist, which was already closing and healing.
It was a fantastic feeling.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of footsteps interrupted my thoughts, and my hands, which had been tracing lines on my biceps and abs, calmly fell to my sides as Arthur, badly wounded, dragged a huge chimera with one hand.
"Well, look at that! You've become a little more like a man, at least your body. What did you eat while we were gone?" Regis asked, studying me.
"And you still look like an ink blot, and Arthur looks even worse, although he's also gained some muscle," I replied, waving him off.
I expected my hand to simply pass through him, but because of the ether I had just received from the arrow, I felt some resistance upon contact.
"Wow."
Regis's eyes lit up and darted around in his ether form with an expression that reminded me of a lecherous old man meaningfully raising his eyebrows. "Did you feel my muscles well?"
I wiped my hand on my pants. "Disgusting."
Regis laughed, rushing through the air as if he were flying for the first time.
At that moment, Arthur approached, his gaze sweeping over my body and then stopping on the arrow. His eyebrow rose.
"The system," I spat, flexing my chest muscles, "turns out that if x2 drops, I can either get x2 or increase the invisible rank of the item."
Another arrow appeared in my hand.
"Hold on, you look bad," I said softly, throwing the arrow at him. He caught it, his eyes focused, and a second later they widened as he realized how much more aether there was in this arrow than in the ones he had caught with his body.
Arthur sighed softly for the first time, his face relaxing slightly as he asked, "How many more arrows like that do you have?"
"This is the only one, the rest are ordinary," I lied without batting an eye.
"Although," I said again, looking at Regis, "can you give him this arrow?"
Arthur's gaze slid over Regis, and a moment later his eyes widened slightly as he realized what I wanted to test.
"Regis," Arthur's voice broke the moment of silence as his hand rose as if he were handing over a piece of fruit, "can you take it with your teeth or whatever?"
"You know I'm incorporeal, right?" Regis said in confusion, flying next to the arrow, to which Arthur and I simply nodded.
"Yes, but what if it works?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Regis flew up to the arrow, and I saw how the dense aether aura of the arrow connected with him for a moment, lifting the arrow a couple of centimeters from Arthur's palm. A moment later, the arrow fell back into his hand.
"Well, now you're convinced I'm incorporeal," Regis said in a dissatisfied tone, clearly unhappy with the result.
Arthur's gaze slid over to me, and I responded with a weak smile.
[Third rank chimera bone aether arrow x10 or upgrade to fourth rank?]
"Actually, Regis, you're getting upset too soon," I said, looking at the result and choosing to upgrade to fourth rank. "We're lucky it's x1. With this arrow, Arthur, you can increase your chances of creating an aether core."
Regis swayed as if shrugging his shoulders and flew towards my face. "You know, it's hard to read your face, right? Even when you smile, it's hard to notice, which is why I thought that..."
He swayed, too embarrassed to continue his tirade about my face.
Arthur's face returned to its calm state when he dragged the chimera over and sat down next to it, carefully examining the arrow and then the chimera.
It was a chimera with a bow.
"Arthur, I was thinking," I said, watching him and realizing what he was about to do, "maybe I could show you the whole chapter through [Thought сommunication] that I got from Regis so that you could better understand even your own thoughts, since these chapters were often from your perspective?"
"Oh, is that possible?" Regis said, flying back to Arthur. "I don't like his thoughts right now."
Arthur glanced at Regis, causing him to flinch slightly and fly to a "safe distance" from him.
"If it works, it will be a big plus. Give it a try." Arthur said in a humble tone that surprised even me, but understanding his thoughts, I smiled faintly and, connecting with his mental space, sent chapters 253 to 256 directly to him. It took some time, but thanks to my eleventh rank soul power, it didn't strain me much.
After a couple of moments, I took a few steps away from the concentrated Arthur, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts.
A couple of minutes later, he stood up, brought the arrow to me, and put it in my hand. Before I could ask a question, he approached the chimera, brought it to his mouth, and absorbed all the aether from it.
Standing up, he turned to me and said calmly, "Wait a little, it will be better if I take that big chimera for an experiment and create an aether core."
Regis glanced at me as if cursing me for giving Arthur those memories.
Oh well, it's not my fault at all, I just gave him the opportunity!
A few minutes later, Arthur Leywin was dragging something huge. The monster, which was almost forty meters away from me and the fountain, was dragging itself across the marble floor like a giant octopus. It had one and a half heads instead of the expected three, and four of its six legs were sticking out of the lower part of its long torso.
Although it had only one arm, the arm consisted of a whip with a spiked sickle at the end, which scraped the ground as Arthur dragged this aether monster.
Arthur himself looked very battered; several fingers of his right hand had been severed, his chest was somehow indented into his body, and there were several scratches on his body that were visible to the naked eye. But his face showed concentration as he dragged the boss's fused chimera with a purpose.
It was quite obvious that he was going to forge an aether core.