Three days.
Not long, not short.
For Shinji, just right.
Day one.
He followed the stocky man named Ido, a young man of the demon slayer village on a tour of the whole place.
The demon slayer village was bigger than he'd imagined.
The area enclosed by the wooden palisade was three or four times the size of an ordinary village. Inside, there were residential areas, an armory, a training ground, and a specialized workshop for processing demon corpses.
The smell from that workshop was strong.
Shinji glanced inside from the entrance and saw a few demon slayers dismantling the skeleton of a wolf demon, preparing to forge it into new weapons.
"This is our main business." The stocky man patted his chest. "Kill demons. Use demons. Fight demons with demons."
Shinji nodded.
He thought of Hiraikotsu. That thing was forged from the bones of over a hundred demons.
Indestructible. And it had the added effects of returning and purification. Very useful.
Day two, the demon slayers' attitude toward Shinji began to change.
At first, they weren't hostile, and they explained the village to him. But they were also wary and kept their distance.
After all, he was a demon. His demonic aura was impossible to suppress.
But when they saw him helping to carry those heavy demon bone materials, single-handedly carrying what three men struggled to lift, without even breathing hard
Their attitude shifted.
"This lord is really strong."
"Even though he's a demon, he doesn't seem like a bad one."
"I heard he's Lady Kikyō's familiar? Then he must be fine."
Shinji tossed a huge demon bone onto the pile and dusted off his hands.
"Any more?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The stocky man quickly pointed to another spot. "There's another batch over there that needs moving"
And so, Shinji became the demon slayer village's free labor.
By day three, he was familiar with most of the village.
A few of the younger demon slayers had even started calling him "Brother"
Shinji found the address a bit odd, but it didn't matter.
He wasn't here for socializing anyway.
He was here for Hiraikotsu.
These three days, he made time every day to tend to this VIP, now stored in the demon slayer village's warehouse.
Wiping, maintaining.
Talking to it.
Even taking it out to sunbathe.
These things, he could only do smoothly after gaining trust.
"You're made of bone. Sunbathing should feel good, right?" He propped Hiraikotsu against the courtyard wall, letting the sunlight evenly bathe its yellowed bone surface.
[Hiraikotsu: Affection +3] [Current Affection: 32 (Goodwill)] [It thinks this idea is quite thoughtful. Though it doesn't know if sunbathing does anything for it.]
As long as it worked.
Shinji nodded, satisfied.
Morning of day one, affection rose to 15.
By afternoon, it broke through 30.
The speed was unusually fast.
The reason was simple.
Because Shinji brought it home.
Even though it acted indifferent, this thing really did 'miss home.'
Every object had similar key points. Like catering to its preferences. If you hit the right note, affection skyrocketed. If not, you had to slowly grind away at it.
And in between,
[Hiraikotsu Affection breakthrough 30. First talent unlocked.]
[First Talent: Bone Hardening]
[Effect: You can greatly increase the hardness of your own bones for a short time. Duration depends on demonic aura consumption.]
Bone Hardening.
Shinji looked at the description on the panel, thoughtful.
A defensive ability. Harder bones meant stronger durability.
Combined with his original [Shield Bone Change], his defense should reach another level.
But clearly, this wasn't its true capability.
He accelerated the affection grinding.
Afternoon of day two, affection breakthrough 50.
[Congratulations, Hiraikotsu Affection breakthrough 50. Second talent unlocked.]
[Second Talent: Bone Proliferation]
[Effect: You can cause your own bones to proliferate and grow for a short time. Growth speed and quantity depend on demonic aura consumption.]
Bone Proliferation.
An offensive ability.
Growing bones meant he could generate bone spurs, bone blades, things like that from within his body.
Reminded him of the Kaguya clan from another work he'd seen, Naruto.
Shinji's eyes lit up.
Evening of day three, the last few hours before the duel.
He found a secluded corner, placed Hiraikotsu on the ground, and began the final sprint.
"You've been in the demon slayer village for over a hundred years, right?" he asked.
[Hiraikotsu nods, though it has no head.]
"Then you must have seen many demon slayers."
[Hiraikotsu indicates, yes. Over a dozen generations.]
"They were all good to you?"
[Hiraikotsu is silent for a while.]
[It tells you, some good, some bad. Some treated it as a tool. Some treated it as a companion.]
[Its last user was the latter.]
Shinji didn't respond.
He just reached out and gently stroked its smooth bone surface.
"If I get the chance, I'll tell your story to his grandchildren," Shinji said. "When they grow up, when they're strong enough to lift you."
[Hiraikotsu: Affection +5]
[Current Affection: 82]
[It… it's a little touched.]
Keep going.
Shinji took a deep breath.
He started telling stories.
About how he crossed over into this world. About how he went from a corpse to a demon warrior. About how he....
Hiraikotsu didn't speak.
But affection kept rising.
The moon rose. Shinji looked at the number on the panel.
[Current Affection: 97]
Just three points left.
He thought for a moment, then pulled out Yura's comb from his robe.
"Look, this is a demon I recently subdued." He placed the comb next to Hiraikotsu. "You two are colleagues now."
[Yura protests. She refuses to be colleagues with a pile of bones.]
[Hiraikotsu: It glances at the comb.]
[It tells you, this comb's demonic aura isn't very pure. Needs purification.]
[Yura is even angrier.]
Shinji laughed.
[Hiraikotsu: Affection +3]
[Current Affection: 100 (Maxed)]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked all bonds with 'Hiraikotsu'.]
[Special ability unlocked: Bone Soul]
[Effect: A fusion of Bone Hardening and Bone Proliferation. You can freely control the hardness, form, and growth direction of your own bones. You can also control their 'movement'. Your bones can protrude and grow from any position within your body, and can be freely shaped outside the body as well.]
[Hiraikotsu sends you a final message: 'You're a good person, even if you're not a person.']
['Now, let me lend you my strength.']
Shinji looked at the massive bone boomerang.
It began to glow.
A yellowish-white light emanated from the bone surface, crawling up his arm, preparing to seep into his skin
Then.
It stopped.
[Fusion Failed]
The light lingered on his skin for a few seconds.
Then slowly retreated back into Hiraikotsu.
[Hiraikotsu is confused. What's wrong? Why can't my ability enter?]
Shinji looked at the warning on the panel.
But his face showed no panic.
He'd expected this.
The abilities gained from Hiraikotsu were, without a doubt, also physical structural changes. Not changes to essential attributes.
They belonged to Body Transformation. Not Quality Transformation.
And within the limits of Body Transformation, the Sixth Change was the absolute maximum.
He had known this for three months.
The Sixth Change corresponded to the six limbs a living being could voluntarily control.
And his Sixth Change already filled every slot, each one corresponding to a part of his body.
Adding another Change was theoretically impossible.
In a way, this was also why he still only had six abilities.
Not because he'd only maxed affection with six objects, but because this was his limit. Not the system's limit.
But
"Who said one Change can only correspond to one ability?" Shinji was completely calm. He'd really thought about this before.
The Sixth Change was the limit, but the content of the Sixth Change wasn't fixed.
Like how a person has two hands, but ten fingers.
One hand can make countless gestures with ten fingers.
One Change could actually accommodate multiple abilities.
The only requirement was that those abilities had to be of the same type.
And coincidentally, among the Changes he'd obtained earlier, there was one related to bones.
Shield Bone Change.
That was the ability he'd gained from his Fifth Change. It made bones hard, forming a natural shield.
And what were the abilities brought by Hiraikotsu?
Hardening, proliferation, and… soul.
All related to bones.
All the same type.
"Then, let's just fuse directly."
Shinji closed his eyes.
Fusion wasn't addition. It was multiplication.
It was integrating the new ability into the old transformation.
The yellowish-white light surged again.
This time, it didn't try to open a new channel.
Instead, following the existing pathways within Shinji's body, it found the path belonging to [Shield Bone Transformation].
And then.
Merged, stacked and sublimated.
.
.
.
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