Let's Do It Together!

. . .

"Sorry, Samael... but I don't fully trust you yet. We've just met—and I don't know what you're really like," Lein said hesitantly, rejecting Samael's offer and letting out a gentle sigh.

"Isn't that strange? We've just met—and yet you're helping me become stronger. What do you really want?" Lein furrowed his brow and gazed sharply at Samael.

"Didn't I tell you before... You're interesting, and we have the same power, Lein," Samael said, standing up from his chair and patting Lein's shoulder.

"You have mental issues, you're a psychopath—and you got suspended from military academy because of it, didn't you?" Samael added.

"Yes, I know that—but I want to know one thing: what do you mean by our powers being identical?" Lein continued to gaze intently at Samael, but his face began to calm slightly.

"Of course, reality warping, causality, fate, probability distortion—our powers don't just distort reality, but we can also do anything we want, Lein." Samael replied to Lein.

"And now you know you can learn new abilities like summoning. I can help you if you want, and I'm not forcing you," Samael said, offering to help Lein once again.

Lein gazed at the stack of books on the table. He looked at them hesitantly before finally stepping towards the table, picking one up, and opening it.

"Maybe I'll refuse to merge with you—but please, I need more power to trust you," Lein said, gazing at Samael with a serious expression.

"Alright, at least I have five days to make you trust me," Samael smiled faintly and nodded slightly.

Samael cleaned up the blood that had flowed from Lein's body earlier and also healed the pain caused by the Cultivation absorption.

"You should deactivate your summoned creatures first. See, it's still here. If not, you'll have trouble dividing its energy later," Samael said with another faint smile.

Lein complied and deactivated his summoned creatures, then returned his gaze to the book in his hands.

"How about we try Nature Magic? The book you're holding," Samael said, nodding towards the book in Lein's hands.

Lein gazed at the book in his hands, then nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll try this,"

A little while later, Lein had absorbed around three books and was utterly exhausted—his brain was starting to experience strain and stressed, but he persisted, helped by Samael.

"Good job... You've learned Cultivation, Nature Magic, and Mana," Samael said, applauding.

"Alright, Lein... Now, fight my summoned creatures with your newfound strength. I'll summon something quite powerful, so you'll need to put in effort," Samael said, snapping his fingers, which transported them both to Samael's subconscious realm, turning it into an arena.

----

Samael summoned his creature, and to Lein's surprise, it was an angel—identical to the one Lein had slash when he trying to evacuate himself to the helicopter before.

Lein wasted no time. He channeled Mana throughout his body, radiating an aura to amplify his strength, and summoned his own creatures to fight alongside him.

He use his Flux and Nature Magic, conjuring a sword of flames. With a burst of teleportation, he charged forward, slicing through space and time with his sword, aided by his summoned creatures. However, it wasn't enough to breach the angel's defenses.

"What the fuck... This angel is stronger than the one I face it before. Is it because of Samael?" Lein thought to himself, he think how to take it down that angel.

Lein channeled more Mana into his body and abilities, causing his eyes to bleed. He then teleported, and this time—he amplified his Flux to the point where it could pierce through extra-dimensional space and time.

The angel's movements were swifter, and it launched a rapid attack. But before the strike could hit me, I swiftly repositioned my summoned creatures to act as a shield.

The angel's attack struck my summoned creatures, but I swiftly countered with a blast of extradimensional flames, slicing through space-time with my sword.

Both the angel's body and Lein's summoned creatures were annihilated. The angel was defeated effortlessly, and Lein turned his gaze toward Samael.

"Why... Why was it so easy?" Lein asked, panting heavily.

"Yes, your abilities are quite impressive... That's good," Samael replied with a thin smile.

"I want to ask you something. Why can you summon an angelic creature?" Lein asked, his gaze piercing.

"Didn't I already tell you... It's because I've also studied the books I obtained with great difficulty. That's why I was able to gain that power," Samael replied calmly with a smile.

Lein fell silent for a moment before asking again, "So... Where did you get all those books?"

Samael snapped his fingers again, and they were transported back to Samael's house as it was before...

"Of course, it wasn't easy—I sought out those who possessed it, bought, hunted, and even created my own powers and experimented," Samael replied to Lein's question.

Lein remained silent, asking few questions and trying to stay calm, but his eyes still narrowed suspiciously at Samael with a piercing gaze.

"How about my previous offer, Lein? Do you agree to merge with me—so that we can become stronger together..." Samael once again made his proposal to Lein.

Lein fell silent for a moment, deep in thought for a considerable time before finally nodding and accepting Samael's offer.

"Thank you, Lein... Now hold my hand and close your eyes," Samael said with a faint smile.

Lein could only comply, he closed his eyes and hold Samael's hand.

Samael then utilized his Mana Resonance ability, merging his abilities with Lein, combining their powers...

The pressure and stress they were under made their grip even tighter, draining both of their energy.

After a few moments, they finally succeeded. Lein felt his body become incredibly light and strong, sensing that his Flux energy, Cultivation, Mana, and Nature Magic had increased tenfold.

"W-what's this... I feel like my body is so light and I'm stronger," Lein said in surprise and curiosity.

"It's because we've combined our powers into one... Your strength is my strength, and my strength is your strength, simply put, it's like 2+4=6," Samael said with a faint smile.

"And it can be like this too," Samael transformed into a shadow and merged with Lein's shadow.

Samael utilized his Flux power to store all the books he hadn't learned yet into that boundless storage dimension.

"W-woah, this is amazing, I didn't expect it to be like this," Lein said in awe.

"You can also enter my shadow, Lein... But let's get out of this house and take a walk," said Samael, who dwelled within Lein's shadow.

Lein nodded and quickly walked out, passing through the walls of Samael's house. He didn't expect that he could also use the ability to phase through objects like Samael.

Together, they strolled around Medarie Capital City, and Lein could now teleport without exhaustion since his energy capacity was now on par with Samael's.

Feeling they've walked for too long, Lein decided to return to the military academy. He teleported from a distant location, instantly arriving at his dormitory without feeling exhausted...

"This is awesome, Samael," Lein said with a faint smile on his face.

"Good, then, Lein... So this is your dorm room, huh," Samael said while looking around Lein's dorm room.

"Yeah, sorry if it looks small room," Lein said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine, Lein... Besides, I can dwell within your shadow," Samael replied with a faint smile.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why, but after walking around for a while earlier, I don't feel hungry or tired at all," Lein said.

"Of course, it's because now you are me, and I am are you," Samael replied.

"Really? If that's the case, then why were you the one who got this kind of power?" Lein asked curiously.

"It's because I once obtained a book from the Qin Dynasty that had artifact—like properties. After studying it, I never felt hungry or physically tired, but I could still feel mentally exhausted or stressed," Samael explained calmly to Lein.

"That's awesome, Samael... But I don't want to get strong just by relying on you alone. I also want to help my friends Reo and Grace grow alongside me. I want you to help me with that, Samael..." Lein said with an enthusiastic smile, raising his hand.

"Yeah, I'll help you, Lein... We'll grow together and defeat those angels," Samael replied, raising his hand in a gesture of agreement.

Both of them smiled enthusiastically and gave each other a high-five, and Lein said...

Let's Do It Together!

. . .