Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Skullius had thought about it quite deeply. Very deeply, in fact.

He had even reviewed different options, processing them all in a relatively short amount of time because of the Omniscient Thought Cracker – the grain-sized processor within his head, capable of compartmentalising and enhancing thought.

The conclusion he had come to was that the Bashful Abomination's ability to create an affix of anything he wanted was simply too good. However, it was too limited. One of it wouldn't do, especially for what he wanted.

The Hybrid Luman thought about using [Unbound] on the sword, but he was afraid the sword would change into something completely different, after all, he didn't have much control over the choices that came out with Random Upgrades.

They were called Random for a reason.

Therefore, Skullius decided to switch to the best option he had. Vali.

"Dear Master... You want to... what?!" the Bashful Abomination asked with subtle panic in its voice.

Skullius ignored it and looked straight at Vali who seemed quite surprised.

Maxim gave the Bashful Abomination an odd look

"Your sword is already around Mythical grade, right? Is it even possible to accomplish what you want without raising its grade?" she asked, her question seemingly appealing more to Vali than to Skullius.

The former didn't answer immediately, but Skullius had his own perspective to share.

"Maybe, but that's not really important. What matters to me is getting as close to the result I want as possible. I can make adjustments afterwards," he said with a confident smile.

"But... my Dear Master... Hobbu Gogo tried to do something similar to me. She wanted Hobbu Gobbu even stronger than he was, but even her runes were not strong enough to do that," the Bashful Abomination said timidly.

"Is that so?"

Well, the second Cluster General, the old, female goblin from whom Skullius had extracted his runic skills – which included the Temporary Storage from which he had just summoned the Bashful Abomination from – was definitely formidable, but he doubted that her powers were a match for the Imagining Technique, even if it was limited within Vali's hands.

"Well?" the Hybrid Luman asked Vali who was lost in thought.

"I can't really promise anything. As I said, to reach the heights of that EverSword brat requires a lot of practice. If I had to guess what kind of training he did to be able to use such a technique flawlessly, it would have to be some kind of image training. I don't have the kind of expertise that comes with that. At best, I might be able to do what want you want, but it will take some time..." the voluptuous beauty said as she set one thigh over the other. "It all comes down to how long you are willing to wait, and whether or not you can expect a subpar result. I'm not sure this second... affix you want will be as strong as the original."

Skullius grinned.

"Don't worry about all that. That will be my own problem to deal with. I'm waiting for something, so I'm to kill some time," he said before feeling for something he had planted far away. "I won't be able to fight for a little while. I don't have any of my skills at the moment, you see..."

Vali and Maxim were a little appalled, but Skullius waved their concern off.

"I said only my skills. You don't need to worry. In the meantime, I don't have much reason to go out and look for a fight. When I'm ready, we can go and join in on the fun. In the meantime..."

Skullius handed the Bashful Abomination to Vali. The sword almost clawed for him, hesitant to leave his grasp.

Vali held it with a strange visage. The fact that it could 'talk' was unnerving to her, especially since she couldn't hear what it was saying. Maxim felt the same way.

The navy-haired beauty gripped the zhanmadao's scabbard and hilt and pulled.

"Don't unsheathe it. Trust me. Looking at its blade is pretty much fatal," Skullius said warningly.

Vali nodded.

"Alright then. Let's get this over with. No offense. Even though this is a favour I owe, I'm very sure it's not going to be pleasant for me," she said with an exasperated look.

"None taken," Skullius said as he hid his hands within the large sleeves of his dark robe.

Vali took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Right then, a dazzling lilac flame blazed from over her right palm, changing the entire colour tone of the room.

It wasn't hot but it had a tense, shaky fluctuation to it that gave the impression that it was seconds away of suddenly dashing out the door.

Vali kept her eyes closed.

The flame was her conduit from which the things she wanted could be manifested.

The Imagining Technique specialised in creating matter from nothing but the imagination, but Vali wasn't sure if giving an already existing object additional powers would make things easier or harder, yet still, she had to try.

This was where her experience with her new technique would grow, so in a way, it was a plus.

She took the Bashful Abomination and fed it into the fire slowly.

Only Skullius heard how the sword sobbed like a child that had been abandoned.

Soon, its whole disappeared in the lilac glow and Vali wore a look of great focus, sinking into her imagination.

Skullius and Maxim rose and left the room. They figured it would do her more good if they left her alone. Curiously, Skullius brought a chair with him to the corridor outside.

"What do we do now?" Maxim asked while folding her arms.

Skullius sat down.

"I want you to protect me and Vali for now," he said as he stretched his fingers.

"What do you mean you and her? Why you?"

"I'm going to check on Maqi's forces."

"While sitting down?" Maxim asked incredulously.

"No."

Skullius took a deep breath.

'It's been a while...' he thought.

Indeed, it had been.

He hadn't used this in a very long time.

...

The pink-haired woman beside him was flabbergasted when Skullius suddenly turned limb, his frame slumping onto the back of the chair, his face turning placid.

A plume of intense darkness then rose from Skullius' body and gathered just before where he sat, shaping itself into an exact copy of the Hybrid Luman... only, with every bit of it beyond pitch black!

It stood, solid on the floor, looking at its hands, its robes and all before stretching.

"What... what in the world..." Maxim wore a confused frown while pointing at the thing shakily.

The dark Skullius didn't pay her much attention. He simply nodded and soared up quickly, flying through the solid matter like nothing before appearing in the dark night sky.

The [Crude World Projection] had finally returned.