Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
*****
Feny turned his head to look at the Red Skull, his face a mask of utter confusion. What use did he have for the Red Skull? Was he supposed to keep him around to read people's names and identify their fathers?
Even if Feny had wanted him, the Soul Stone wouldn't have been willing to let him go; it required a guide to explain the rules to those who came seeking it.
"I have nothing I can give you," the Soul Stone finally declared, leaving Feny's brief spark of excitement to flicker out.
"No, you definitely do!" Feny retorted, clearly dissatisfied. As one of the six rarest and most powerful stones in the universe, the idea that it couldn't even offer an apology gift was something no one would believe.
"You are too weak. You cannot withstand my power, and I cannot break the rules I have set for myself."
Although Feny desperately wanted to argue that he wasn't weak, he knew the stone was right—he likely couldn't endure the price of wielding an Infinity Stone directly.
"I need your energy," Feny said after a moment's thought, presenting his demand.
The Soul Stone pulsed with light. "But your body would collapse."
"It's not for me!" Feny explained. He summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, held it high, and tossed it toward a nearby clearing. "My turn! Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
As the majestic and ferocious Blue-Eyes White Dragon manifested, the Red Skull's expression didn't flicker. To him, it was just a dragon; nothing was a big deal anymore. Even if the dragon suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman, he wouldn't have been surprised.
"Roar!"
Upon appearing, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon let out a low, resonant cry. It leaned its neck down to rub against Feny, displaying a clear sense of affection.
"I want you to give the energy to it," Feny said, stroking the dragon's smooth, shimmering scales. Although his original intent had been to "consume" the Space Stone, switching to the Soul Stone wouldn't make much difference to his plans.
"To turn a dead object into true life, and one that possesses a soul... how exactly did you accomplish this?" The Soul Stone seemed genuinely startled by the dragon's appearance, completely ignoring Feny's previous words.
"Give it the energy first!" Feny urged, staring at the Stone. He obviously couldn't explain that this was the "Great Power of the System."
"Even this creature cannot withstand my power," the Soul Stone replied truthfully. While the Blue-Eyes White Dragon looked tall and mighty, its physical constitution wasn't actually much stronger than Feny's.
"Just try it first!"
Feny wasn't actually worried about the dragon "dying." If its body truly collapsed under the energy strain, it would simply revert into a card and remain unsummonable for a short period. This lack of permanent consequences was exactly why he had dared to eye the Space Stone before.
Seeing Feny's determination, and harboring its own curiosity toward the dragon, the Soul Stone relented. "Have it hold me."
Feny issued the command. The dragon obeyed, walking over and awkwardly clutching the small Soul Stone within its massive, sharp claws.
Suddenly, the Soul Stone erupted within the dragon's grip. An orange glow surged through the dragon's entire body, and fine cracks began to appear across its pure white scales.
"ROAR!"
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon let out a deafening shriek of agony. Its body began to grow, inch by painful inch. Feny felt a pang of guilt; though this was for the sake of forced evolution, the process looked excruciatingly cruel.
Just as Feny was about to call a halt, the dragon's body was engulfed in a blinding flash of light. It vanished, reverting into a card.
Ignoring the Soul Stone as it clattered to the ground, Feny snatched up the card. At a glance, he saw that the second star on the card had become significantly clearer.
However, he wasn't particularly happy. The current Blue-Eyes White Dragon was still too weak to handle the Soul Stone's raw output. Though it had absorbed some energy, the suffering it endured was heart-wrenching to witness.
Feny frowned, looked at the "Unavailable" status on the dragon card, and dismissed the skill, letting it dissipate into the air.
"It can evolve by absorbing energy," the Soul Stone remarked, finally understanding Feny's motive. It added, "But it is still too weak."
Feny remained silent, deep in thought. A single burst had almost completed the dragon's second-star evolution, proving his theory was viable. The only problem was the pain. He didn't want to force his companion through that repeatedly.
After a long silence, Feny looked over at the Red Skull and asked the Stone, "Aside from making him read names and origins, do you have any other abilities?"
"That is the duty I have bestowed upon him," the Stone replied.
"I mean... can he fight me?" Feny asked bluntly.
He had realized that there was no urgent need to return to Earth. Things were quiet there. On the Hulk front, Banner was starting to feel the downsides of the Hulk's frequent appearances. As Hulk became more "mature," his control over the body increased. Banner feared that one day their roles would swap—Hulk would be the default, and Banner would only appear when the giant was in a good mood.
Consequently, Banner had begun to resist Feny, who only ever called Hulk out for combat but made no progress on actually separating the two.
As for Skye, she now had enough self-defense capability that even Tony Stark might "flip his car" if he underestimated her. That left only his training at Kamar-Taj and using Mordo as an "Experience Battery."
But here on Vormir, his Gilded Seven-Branched Sword (Great Arcanum) had no restrictions. His experience gain speed was vastly increased, more than making up for the lack of Kamar-Taj training. If he could use the Red Skull—a guy who didn't need to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom—as a 24/7 "Experience Battery," Vormir would be the perfect grinding spot!
Feny could prepare for his seventh skill draw while feeding the dragon fried chicken rolls to evolve it normally. Once the dragon was strong enough to handle the Stone's energy, his power would skyrocket.
"Why fight? His mission is only to guide seekers and recount the rules," the Soul Stone said, confused.
"Can't I just be bored?!" Feny snapped. "What if he runs into someone who doesn't believe the rules?"
"Whether they believe or not is their own concern," the Stone replied matter-of-factly.
"So he really is just a total tour guide!" Feny sighed. If he could only practice skills without a combat target, Vormir's value as an "EXP Dungeon" plummeted. Unless... he waited for a powerful alien to accidentally crash-land here? Given his chat with Red Skull, he might have to wait decades for a single decent opponent to show up.
But the Soul Stone's next words surprised him.
"I can temporarily grant him a soul-solidified physical form to accompany you, provided that the matter of your teleportation here ends now."
"You also have to be responsible for sending me back later, and provide energy for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the future," Feny added, securing his terms. "Then we're even!"
(End of Chapter)