BAMN: Chapter 1/5

Chapter 1: Little Teal Mask

"The air here is better than on Earth, no matter which side."

The young man stood at the edge of the forest. He lowered his head and looked at the little one beside him. "How does the new world feel, Ogerpon?"

"Poniii?"

Ogerpon is a legendary Pokémon from the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet game.

She has a green body adorned with white flowers and yellow circular patterns, with black outer legs, white inner legs, and two green leaves between her toes.

From her appearance, Ogerpon seems to be wearing a green cloak, with large black thorny vines growing on the upper part of the cloak, and the two topmost thorns resembling horns.

At this moment, hearing Rin's question, her small mandarin orange-colored face, with two starry eyes, happily narrowed into slits. "Poniii~ Poniii yo! (New world, Ogerpon likes it)"

"Good that you like it."

Rin looked at the little one jumping and making joyful sounds, and couldn't help but smile.

He gently patted Ogerpon's head, then opened her attribute panel.

[Ogerpon]

Contractor: Itoshi Rin

Race: Elemental Spirit

Existence Value (magicules): 6500

Magic: Grass-type Pokémon Magic (Grass-type moves)

Intrinsic Skills: Element Absorption, Ability Enhancement

Unique Skills: Destroyer (possesses the power to destroy any substance), Growth (can continuously grow by defeating opponents)

"Destroyer and Growth, huh?"

What appeared before Rin was not a Pokémon's attribute panel, but a status bar unique to this world.

A month ago, Rin awakened his memories from his previous life.

In this life, he was a farm boy from a village on the outskirts of the Falmuth Kingdom.

The Falmuth Kingdom is located northwest of the Jura Great Forest, with a population of thirty million citizens, plus ten million Free Guild members, totaling forty million people, making it one of the largest nations among the Western nations.

However, the lives of ordinary commoners in this country were not good.

Falmuth is a feudal country ruled by nobles, and commoners can only ensure they don't starve to death. Their purpose is to be exploited and bled dry by those high and mighty rulers.

From the initial confusion and helplessness to the excitement under the world's voice.

In just a few tens of minutes, Rin learned what kind of world he had transmigrated into.

Falmuth Kingdom, Jura Great Forest, aren't these place names from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime?

The young man looked exactly like Rin in his previous life, just younger, about fifteen or sixteen years old.

As for the reason for transmigration...

Rin's last memory stopped at a dirt truck flashing white light.

"So, did I soul-transmigrate, or reincarnate into another world and only now awakened my past life's memories?"

If it were the former, Rin did not detect another soul.

His former self's memories from childhood felt as if Rin had experienced them firsthand, with no sense of incongruity whatsoever.

"No matter which one, being able to live again is a gain anyway."

Rin, with a 'when in Rome' mindset, began to accept his new identity.

Soon, Rin discovered that his identity in this world was very delicate.

Although he was a half-demon, his former self did not inherit much of the demon's power. Instead, he suffered discrimination from normal humans and was very unwelcome in the village.

Fortunately, Rin was not without anything.

As a transmigrator, he regretted not awakening a system, but Rin did have a unique golden finger.

Returning to the present, Rin closed Ogerpon's attribute panel.

"Open panel."

Then, Rin's thought moved slightly, and a new panel appeared in his mind.

---

[Itoshi Rin]

Race: Half-Demon (Human and Demon Hybrid)

Existence Value: 3500

Magic: Energy Cube Creation, Spirit Space, Appraisal

Intrinsic Skills: Adaptability (Your body can adapt to the power of any system)

Unique Abilities: Traveler [Exceptional] (You can open a door to an unknown world and traverse it), Leader (By recruiting followers, you can increase your own Existence Value), Capturer (Sign contracts with other creatures and convert them into dependents)

Dependents: Ogerpon

Marked World: Pokémon World

---

In the world of Tensura, there exists a peculiar power called the world's voice, which provides feedback from the 'world's voice' when an individual changes, gains skills, or evolves skills.

In short, the world's voice can be understood as the rules and system of this world.

Whenever you acquire a new skill or undergo a new change, as long as its impact can pluck the string of the world and leave a mark on it, you will receive a gift from the world.

Rin has three Unique Abilities: Traveler, Leader, and Capturer.

The first one, Traveler, perhaps due to Rin's identity as a transmigrator, received the 'Exceptional' suffix.

[Unique Skill: Traveler]

Possesses the ability to allow an individual to leave the Cardinal World and traverse between planes and planets within the Tensura worldview.

Rin's Unique Skill goes a step further, capable of breaking through worldviews and traveling to other worlds.

The worldview of Tensura is not small. It can primarily be divided into three parts.

"A material world without magicules."

"A spiritual world of pure magicules."

"A chaotic world with both matter and energy."

While examining his own attributes, Rin also explained the common knowledge of the new world to Ogerpon. "The chaotic world, depending on the abundance of magicules, also has distinctions of high concentration, medium concentration, and low concentration."

For example, Rimuru's Earth before his reincarnation in the original work was a material world without magic.

And the world Rin is currently in, where Demon Lords and the world's voice exist, is the top one among the chaotic worlds.

It is also known as the Cardinal World, the cornerstone and hub of the three major world systems: material, spiritual, and chaotic.

Furthermore, because the Cardinal World has always been bathed in high concentrations of magicules, its essence has undergone tremendous changes.

"Po?"

Ogerpon bent down, she poked at the dirt and stones on the ground with her small hands, then tilted her small head. ("Poniii feels that the things here are no different from the original world?")

"That's because you've also become stronger, Ogerpon."

Rin said, "Every blade of grass, every tree, even a grain of sand here, possesses a solidity and density incomparable to other worlds."

To make a simple analogy, although humans in the Cardinal World and humans on Earth look and function physiologically the same, there is a dimensional gap in their physical capabilities.

What could destroy an area with a radius of several kilometers on Earth might only create a hundred-meter-wide pit in the Cardinal World.

This is also Rin's confidence in daring to travel between worlds without fear of sudden death.

Although he is just an ordinary E-rank human boy in the Cardinal World.

But put him in the Pokémon World he just traversed, he's definitely a super-super true newcomer.

"Ponooo!"

Ogerpon suddenly understood. She stood up and looked at Rin with admiration. ("That's why Rin is so amazing, he helped Pon! Popon defeat those bad guys in a flash)

What Ogerpon was referring to was Rin's first journey.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 2: Demonic Potential

Traveler's world-hopping is mainly divided into two types: one is going to worlds already visited, and the other is opening a new world's passage.

The Pokémon World was the first world Rin traversed, and so far, the only one.

For this traversal, Rin made ample preparations.

He spent half a month arming himself as much as possible before daring to open the door to a new world.

For his first traversal, Rin landed in the Sinnoh region.

At that time, he was penniless and could only exchange the Cardinal World's ores he had prepared in advance with the residents of the local town.

Fortunately, the first world Rin traversed was the Pokémon World.

As is well known, most people in the Pokémon World are warm, hospitable, and simple-minded.

This made Rin's process of acquiring travel funds quite smooth.

With money, Rin began to plan his itinerary.

The duration of the otherworldly gate opened by the Traveler's ability is not fixed. For example, the Pokémon World could only be maintained for a short seven days.

After that, he would be forcibly sent back to the Cardinal World.

Then he would have to wait seven days for the cooldown before he could open it again.

Within seven days, the easiest and most cost-effective legendary Pokémon Rin could think of to capture was Ogerpon.

Ogerpon's battle capabilities in the game are very strong, and her various mechanics are very powerful.

Furthermore, she has a gentle personality.

Although a bit mischievous, her nature is kind, and she fears loneliness, longing for closeness with others.

'Close proximity, low difficulty.'

'Other Pokémon still need to be trained, and I might not even encounter them.'

Only Ogerpon, once her location is clear, can be approached.

Having made up his mind, Rin immediately bought a train ticket to Kitakami.

Rin's luck was truly good.

He still remembered that day when he climbed Mount Ogre and, in an empty cave, saw that pitiful, lonely figure clutching a jade-green mask.

No matter what Rin's initial thoughts were,

At that moment, Rin genuinely wanted to give her a warm home.

"Hello there, Ogerpon."

Thus, after some interaction and communication, Rin successfully gained Ogerpon's favor and helped her retrieve her lost mask. "Do you want to come with me and see the outside world?"

What Kitakami villains.

Rin used this super Cardinal World body to show them what true strength was!

Yes, he didn't need Pokémon at all.

Alone, with just his fists, Rin single-handedly swept through the entire Kitakami!

Of course, Rin didn't actually harm anyone.

At most, he destroyed the shrine where the masks were enshrined and gave Momowarou a powerful skull-crushing blow.

All in all, Rin's trip to the Pokémon World was very successful.

He took Ogerpon with him and also gained the abilities of Energy Cube Creation and Spirit Space, which are defined as 'magic' in the Cardinal World.

As the name suggests, Energy Cube Creation allows Rin to transform fruits into Energy Cubes of various flavors.

After the world's transformation, Energy Cubes are not only suitable for Ogerpon but can also be consumed by ordinary people.

Their nature is more like the compressed biscuits from Rin's previous life, condensing a large amount of nutrition into a small cube.

As for Spirit Space, it was the result of the world's voice analyzing the Poké Ball after Rin returned with it.

The Poké Ball disappeared, replaced by a personal space that Rin possessed, capable of storing his dependents.

These were all the benefits Rin gained from the Pokémon World using his Traveler ability.

"It's time to leave."

Rin turned around and glanced at the distant village, with little reluctance in his eyes.

This land belonged to the Falmuth Kingdom.

Having read the original novel, Rin knew how deplorable this country was.

The nobles levied exorbitant taxes, lived lives of extravagance and debauchery, and cared nothing for the lives of ordinary people.

Furthermore, the humans here had an extreme aversion to monsters, which naturally included mixed-blood demons like Rin.

Rin's race, mixed-blood demon, refers to the offspring of demons and humans.

However, perhaps because the era was too ancient, the demon bloodline within Rin was too diluted.

Before awakening his memories, he had not displayed any characteristics different from ordinary humans.

But even so, Rin's life in the village was still difficult.

The idea that monsters are evil was deeply ingrained in Falmuth, and mixed-blood demons like Rin were also discriminated against by the people.

This kind of life continued until a month ago.

On that day, Rin suddenly awakened his memories from his previous life and then heard the world's voice.

The world's voice bestowed upon Rin the Unique Skills.

And besides the extraordinary Traveler, Capturer allowed Rin to acquire dependents through contracts.

This Unique Skill is somewhat similar to the 'Beast Tamer' profession, only more convenient and powerful.

As for Leader...

It has a complementary relationship with Capturer.

Whenever Rin gains a dependent, the latter's existence value will, to a certain extent, feed back to Rin, increasing his existence value.

Similarly, as Rin's existence value increases, his dependents will also benefit.

The so-called existence value is a special definition within the Tensura worldview.

Existence value is somewhat like combat power, but it is not entirely linked to strength. Rather, it affects the individual's total magicules and the rank they possess.

Like Ogerpon, after she came to the Cardinal World, she was automatically granted the Unique Skills of Destroyer and Growth by the world's voice.

She also gained the energy system collectively known as magicules.

If it were the original Ogerpon, even if she were a legendary Pokémon from Scarlet and Violet, mastering various Pokémon moves, in the Cardinal World, at most she would only receive a D-rank evaluation.

However, because of Rin's Capturer Unique Skill.

A master-servant relationship was established between Ogerpon and Rin.

This allowed her to be recognized by this world upon returning to the Cardinal World.

Ogerpon could also see her own status panel, and she pointed to a certain attribute and asked, ("Is it this thing called magicules?")

"Yes, it is."

Rin praised, "Ogerpon is amazing. She has 6500 magicules, which already meets the B-rank standard in the Cardinal World."

("B-rank?")
Ogerpon asked in confusion, ("What about Rin?")

"As for me,"

Rin looked at his 3500 magicules and said, "Probably C-rank."

In this world, apart from ordinary animals, races harmful to humans are collectively referred to as 'monsters'.

Among them, highly intelligent races are 'demons', and human-shaped monsters with powerful strength are 'demon people'.

Based on the danger level of these monsters, a simple classification system has been freely combined for them:

"Special S (Calamity Level): A level that a single nation cannot handle. Humanity must unite various nations to deal with it, concerning the survival of humanity.

S (Disaster Level): A level that can be handled by deploying the combat power of a major nation.

Special A (Catastrophe Level): Possesses a danger level capable of threatening an entire nation.

A (Hazard Level): A level where cities will suffer severe damage.

B: Black Spiders, Great Ogre Clan, etc., individuals capable of destroying a village.

C: Lizardmen, Pegasi, etc., slightly stronger than professional soldiers who have undergone combat training.

D: Orc Clan, etc., where 3 to 4 ordinary adults facing them also risk their lives.

E: Goblins, etc., slightly weaker than ordinary adults, always appearing in groups.

F: No combat power."

According to the calculation of existence value and magicules amount, the current Ogerpon is roughly comparable to a B-rank Great Ogre Clan, possessing the powerful destructive ability to single-handedly slaughter a village of several hundred people.

If combined with her Destroyer Unique Skill and the Growth ability that can continue to make her stronger, Ogerpon's actual combat power and potential would be even higher.

In short, one sentence...

Rin gently patted Ogerpon's head and happily said, "My Ogerpon has the potential to be a Demon Lord!"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 3: Go On!

"Poniii um..."

Praised by Rin, Ogerpon happily bounced and circled him, looking exactly like a cute little loli.

Ogerpon's curiosity about the new world was simply unstoppable.

There would naturally be no danger.

This was the edge of the forest, close to a human village, where Rin usually lived nearby, so he was very familiar with it.

What he was truly concerned about was the little one's complete disregard for the dirt and grass on the ground.

In just this short while, Ogerpon had already gotten herself quite dirty.

"Poniii~ Poniii~ (Demon Lord, Demon Lord, Poniii wants to be a Demon Lord)"

The little one had no idea what a Demon Lord was.

But since Rin said a Demon Lord was powerful, it must be true.

"If Ogerpon wants to become a Demon Lord, she must first master her newly acquired power."

Rin felt that this place was far enough from the village, so he found an open space and said, "Come, unleash the skills you've mastered, and then get used to the changes in your body."

"Ponooo!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Ogerpon immediately began her practice.

Ogerpon has the potential to grow into a Demon Lord.

But this does not mean that every Pokémon has Ogerpon's potential.

To gain the recognition of the Cardinal World and be endowed with magicules, they must first be converted into dependents by Rin.

And the upper limit of dependents Rin can have is closely related to the strength of his Capturer Unique Skill.

Currently, Rin can only contract with a maximum of 3 dependents.

The scarce slots made Rin hesitant to easily capture Pokémon.

It could be said that the poor little one from Kitakami, 'Ogerpon', was the easiest legendary Pokémon for Rin to acquire that he could think of.

According to Rin's understanding, only Second level god, First level god, and Mythical Pokémon possessed the potential to grow into a Demon Lord.

"Every contract slot is incredibly precious."

It's not that Rin hadn't thought about capturing more Pokémon.

After all, even the weakest Pokémon, if brought to the Cardinal World, could still be trained into decent combat power.

Unfortunately, given Rin's current situation, even if he had more dependent slots, he wouldn't be able to protect weak Pokémon as they grew.

"I'll just have to wait until later to go to the Pokémon World and capture Gardevoir..."

If asked about Rin's favorite Pokémon, Gardevoir would certainly have a place.

However, reality was cruel, and Rin could only tearfully abandon his Psychic Queen.

"Poniii!"

"Pon! Popon!"

Completely unaware that Rin was eyeing what he didn't have, Ogerpon was waving her thorn vine stick, performing various Pokémon moves.

Hmm, they can't be called Pokémon moves now.

After the transformation of magicules and rules, all the Pokémon moves Ogerpon mastered had been converted into 'general skills'.

Because the moves are no longer simply released by the elemental energy within the Pokémon's body, but are now driven by magic power, they can also be seen as a certain type of special magic—Pokémon magic.

("Ogerpon feels so much stronger.")

Ogerpon looked at the large tree she had broken with a single strike, and comparing Kitakami with this place, she said, "My strength has increased several times, and my stamina has also improved a lot."

"It's not just a simple few times."

Rin gently stroked the little one's head and explained, "The physical rules of the two worlds are different."

"The Pokémon World belongs to a low-magic chaotic world."

The Cardinal World is even higher than high concentration. It's considered a super-concentration chaotic world.

According to the simplest calculation, for every increase in concentration level, an individual's performance will increase by one tier.

Like Ogerpon now, she can smash a large tree with one strike in the Cardinal World and receive a D-rank evaluation.

A single blow capable of breaking a giant tree is equivalent to D-Rank, which is generally universal across most worlds.

At high concentrations, this blow would rise from D-Rank to C-Rank.

If this were the Pokémon World, after Ogerpon returned, facing beings like Groudon and Rayquaza, she might only need to lift her hand to knock them out of battle.

("Ogerpon doesn't quite understand, but it sounds very powerful!")

Ogerpon looked bewildered yet impressed. She wasn't very smart, but since Rin said she had become stronger, it must be true.

For her only good friend in hundreds of years, now her family, Ogerpon had absolute trust in Rin.

"Try to adapt to your newly acquired power as soon as possible."

Rin looked into the depths of the forest. "To find a suitable location to build a new home, we'll probably have to travel quite a distance."

He had already decided to leave the human village and develop in the Jura Great Forest.

Possessing the abilities of Leader and Capturer, Rin decided to emulate Rimuru's path and turn this ownerless forest into his own territory!

("Ogerpon is super strong.")

Ogerpon held her thorn vine stick high and said happily, "Don't worry, you can leave the work of building a new home!"

"Woah~~"

Seeing Ogerpon's confident and adorable appearance, Rin didn't wait for her to react and directly picked her up from behind.

"There are many powerful magical beasts in the forest, you know."

("Ogerpon isn't scared!")

Rin lifted Ogerpon high, and after her initial panic, the little one was now curiously looking at the Jura Great Forest before them.

('Rin, Ogerpon will protect him!')

Pokémon Trainers, Pokémon, travel, battles, Ogerpon had only seen these things on people who traveled to Kitakami in the past.

And now, Ogerpon also had her own Trainer and was about to start an adventure!

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

With Ogerpon's protection, Rin didn't have to worry about the threat of monsters.

Thus, Rin left the village where he had lived since childhood and entered the Jura Great Forest.

Along the way, the two encountered many magical beasts that emitted dangerous auras.

Fortunately, their strength was not great. Facing Ogerpon, who was B-Rank but whose combat power was enough to contend with A-Rank magical beasts, almost none could last a single move.

These magical beasts all turned into Ogerpon's experience points (magicules), becoming the nourishment for her to grow stronger.

"Thump thump thump!!"

Suddenly, Rin, who was exploring forward in the forest, felt the ground beneath his feet shake. "Something big is coming, Ogerpon!"

"Po?!"

Without Rin needing to say more, Ogerpon had already summoned her thorn vine stick and stood in front of him.

"Roar!!"

Soon, a dark figure nearly 4 meters tall, like a wall, appeared before the two of them.

It was a black giant bear exuding a brutal aura.

Its arms and legs were covered with tough bristles, and black energy faintly flowed over its body. A pair of blood-red eyes were currently fixed on Ogerpon and Rin behind her.

Clearly, this guy was coming for them.

Most monsters in the forest have extremely strong senses of smell and hearing.

And two obvious targets like Rin and Ogerpon couldn't escape the magical beast's perception at all.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 4: Terror Bear

"Are we being seen as food?"

Rin had already recognized the identity of this black bear. "C-Rank magical beast, Bombing Terror Bear. Do you have confidence to deal with it, Ogerpon?"

("No problem!")

Ogerpon was not fighting the magical beasts of this world for the first time.

Just a C-Rank level was not enough to make Ogerpon afraid.

"Good."

Rin quickly retreated to a safe position.

He stared at the Terror Bear in front of him, with a similar longing in his eyes. "If you want to eat us, then be prepared to be eaten yourself."

"Go for the kill, Ogerpon."

Rin: "It just so happens we're having bear paws today!"

("Understood!")

Ogerpon held her thorn vine stick, and green Grass-type magicules gathered throughout her body.

The next moment, the little one's figure had already vanished from its original spot.

"Swish!"

"Swish swish swish!"

Ogerpon transformed into a green stream of light, rapidly darting through the trees, causing the previously ferocious Terror Bear to instantly fall into a daze.

One after another, illusory afterimages made the Bombing Terror Bear unable to keep up.

"Now!"

"Poniii!"

Suddenly, a three to four-meter-long thorn vine stick, entirely composed of energy, descended from the sky and slammed violently onto the Terror Bear's crown.

"Boom!"

"Rumble~~"

Its skull shattered, blood splattered, and along with it, the Terror Bear's massive body, comparable to a house, collapsed.

"Poniii!"

Ogerpon leaped down from the air, landing steadily in front of Rin, not forgetting to strike a cool pose.

[Notification: Individual 'Ogerpon' defeated C-Rank magical beast 'Terror Bear']

[Unique Skill 'Growth' successfully acquired magicules]

[Obtained Existence Value: 3EP]

In just a few days, Ogerpon's magicules value had increased from an initial 6500 to 7000.

It must be said that the Unique Skill, Growth, is truly overpowered.

As long as she continuously defeats or kills opponents, she can gain magicules.

And magicules is key to a monster's evolution.

"Well done."

Rin praised her. "The application of magic and the control of power, Ogerpon, you've completely mastered them."

"Poniii un~~"

Ogerpon dissipated her thorn vine stick into Grass-type magicules. She shyly scratched her head, a little embarrassed by Rin's praise.

"Your magicules also increased by 500."

"If only we encountered more magical beasts, Ogerpon, you could become even stronger."

Rin thought of Rimuru in the original work. Predator was even more abnormal than Ogerpon's Growth.

Of course, existences like Rimuru and Ogerpon, who can grow stronger by devouring and defeating other monsters, are rare in the Cardinal World.

So, don't think that monster evolution is easy.

In fact, before Rimuru appeared, A-Rank Ogres were considered a legend that hadn't appeared among the Great Ogre Clan for a thousand years.

Although not many, it's also not few. If she can defeat another 1000, Ogerpon will be able to evolve into an A-Rank magical beast.

("Ogerpon just got a little bit stronger again.")

("I feel like Ogerpon has gotten so much stronger recently.")

Ogerpon hopped back to Rin's side, tilting her head, and curiously asked: ("Is it because I obtained this thing called magicules (EP)?")

"That's right."

Rin praised and patted Ogerpon's head, explaining: "In this world, magicules is closely related to a monster's strength."

"Normally, the more magicules, the stronger the monster will be."

Of course, this doesn't apply to humans.

Humans use more of something called technology, rather than skills like monsters do.

"The Bombing Terror Bear we just defeated was a C-Rank monster."

"And Ogerpon is B-Rank."

Rin told Ogerpon the information he knew. "After B-Rank comes B+Rank, A-Rank, and then the higher A-Rank."

In the Cardinal World, the general conversion between Existence Value and rank is as follows:

0-1000: E-Rank

1000 ~ 3000: D-Rank

3000 ~ 6000: C-Rank

6000 ~ 8000: B-Rank

8000 ~ 9000: B+Rank

9000 ~ 10000: A-Rank

Then, 10,000 is a watershed. Breaking through 10,000 Existence Value allows one to become an A-Rank monster and receive the evaluation of 'Calamity'.

10000 ~ 100,000: A-Rank.

The A-Rank span is very large, completely on a different dimension from previous monster ranks.

Generally speaking, an A-Rank Calamity-rated monster appearing in the human world could destroy a city by itself.

At the higher Special A-Rank, it becomes a 'Disaster' capable of destroying nations.

Breaking the 100,000 Existence Value bottleneck allows one to gain the Special A-Rank evaluation.

Of course, Special A-Rank also has different levels.

Among Special A-Rank, some monsters that haven't continued to advance are given the name of Disaster.

And a Special A-Rank that can break its own limits and continue to evolve will become what humans call a 'Demon Lord,' or a Demon Lord, the moment its Existence Value breaks through 200,000.

A Demon Lord, an ultra-large-scale disaster that can threaten and even destroy a country.

Once such an existence appears, millions of people will perish, and tens of millions of humans will be displaced.

Let alone in the Cardinal World, even in modern society, it would be a major global disaster.

"Ogerpon wants to become a Demon Lord!"

Ogerpon's determination to become a Demon Lord grew even stronger. Her thought was simple: ("That way, Ogerpon can protect Rin even better.")

"Haha."

Rin felt a warmth in his heart.

"Come lend a hand, Ogerpon," Rin said, "I'll make you something delicious!"

Rin and Ogerpon couldn't possibly finish such a large Terror Bear by themselves.

But that was fine.

Rin had a Pokémon Space, where he could store the remaining bear meat without worrying about spoilage due to the passage of time.

The two of them weren't short on food. Rin's space contained a large amount of supplies purchased from the Pokémon World.

However, Rin had only heard of something like bear paws in his previous life.

Now that he had the chance to taste it, he certainly couldn't miss out.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Rin saw Ogerpon looking at the dead Terror Bear.

"What's wrong?" He guessed her thoughts and said, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

("A little, but not much.")

Ogerpon shook her head. The Pokémon World also had normal animals.

She wouldn't kill a Pokémon because they were her kind.

But as for ordinary animals, there was nothing to care about.

This was similar to the relationship between monsters and magical beasts in the Cardinal World.

Monsters were intelligent, possessed their own language, could communicate, and had emotions.

However, magical beasts like the Terror Bear were monsters completely dominated by emotion.

They weren't even products of normal reproduction.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 5: Half-Demon

"It seems I need to explain the origin of these magical beasts to you, Ogerpon."

During this time, Rin and Ogerpon had defeated many magical beasts, and also some monsters.

But neither of them had dealt a killing blow.

Whether it was killing or defeating, the magicules that Growth could obtain was the same.

This made them prefer to defeat opponents rather than engage in unrestrained slaughter.

"First, this magical beast don't let its flesh and blood, which we can eat, deceive you."

Rin said, "In reality, its body is entirely composed of magicules."

"Completely composed of magicules?"

"This world has three major existences:

One, the Astral Body, which envelops the soul and is the most fragile.

Two, the foundation for accumulating power—the Spiritual Body.

Three, the Material Body, which is directly connected to the world."

"…"

Seeing Ogerpon's expression of (I don't understand, but I'm greatly shocked), Rin couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, alright, I know you don't understand these things, Ogerpon."

"Simply put, the magical beasts of this world, no matter how strong, are products of the fusion of a Spiritual Body and magicules."

"They do not possess something called a soul."

Spiritual Bodies are ubiquitous, formless, and intangible. You cannot eliminate them using the rules of the physical world.

When the Terror Bear died, the Spiritual Body that drove its actions had already dissipated.

What remained was just a pile of meat chunks containing magicules.

"And someone like you, Ogerpon, is called a monster."

Monsters possess souls. They are not essentially different from humans.

("Ogerpon is a monster.")

Ogerpon tilted her head and asked, ("Then what about Rin? Is Rin human or a monster?")

If judged solely by appearance, Rin would definitely be identified as human.

However, that was not the case.

Rin was a Half-Demon, meaning the product of a union between a Demon and a human.

Here, it's important to distinguish that a Half-Demon is not equivalent to a Demi-Human.

Demi-Human generally refers to a human transformed into a Demon, also known as a Human Demon Race, which is a completely different concept from Rin's Half-Demon.

("Demi-Human, Half-Demon.")

Ogerpon scratched her head, still not fully understanding, but she generally grasped some of it.

"Actually, I'm not very clear about this either."

Rin said, "As far as I know, Half-Demons should be extremely rare in this world."

Humanoid monsters were called Demons.

And when Demons combined, if they left offspring, a large portion of the parents' magicules would be inherited by the progeny through transmission.

This was for reproduction between Demons. If it were between a Demon and a human,

It's no exaggeration to say that the Demon parent would simply cease to exist.

Losing a large amount of magicules is equivalent to losing most of one's lifespan for a monster. Even the Star King Dragon, the ceiling of this world, was like that.

The origin of my predecessor is indeed a bit strange.

Even though he's a Half-Demon, he doesn't know what kind of monster the non-human part of his bloodline came from.

Fortunately, Rin wasn't particularly looking forward to the power brought by the monster bloodline.

Even if he didn't awaken it, it wouldn't have much impact on Rin.

Having monster blood is good enough; why ask for more?

In the Cardinal World, monsters were far more favored than humans and found it easier to become stronger.

This can be seen from the fact that the protagonist of the original novel was a monster.

Because of his Demon bloodline, Rin also possessed the monster's ability to constantly evolve by increasing his magicules.

The only regret was that Rin didn't have Rimuru's convenient abilities.

If he wanted to increase his magicules, he could only train himself, relying on accumulation to gradually become stronger.

Besides that, he relied on Ogerpon.

Before traversing to the Pokémon World and obtaining Ogerpon, Rin's Existence Value was only a mere 300, barely enough for an E-Rank evaluation, almost on par with a Goblin in the forest.

And as Ogerpon's Existence Value increased to 7000, Rin's Existence Value also underwent a drastic change.

From 300 to the current 3800, a total increase of 3500 points, which is half of Ogerpon's increase.

An Existence Value of 3000 to 6000, according to the Cardinal World's standards, has already reached the evaluation of a C-Rank monster.

As for specific combat power,

Unlike Pokémon like Ogerpon, who are naturally skilled in combat,

Rin, having lived two lives as a human, had not received professional combat training.

His three Unique Skills did not involve combat-related boosts.

If it came down to a real fight, Rin simply couldn't unleash the combat power of a C-Rank monster. He could only rely on brute force, performing at the level of a D-Rank Orc.

As mentioned before, Existence Value is related to the quantity of magicules.

The more magicules, the greater the magical power.

The relationship between magicules and magical power can generally be understood as the relationship between max mana, current mana, and mana recovery speed.

The original work does not have magical power; it is still magicules

But for ease of understanding, the settings of magicules and magical power are separated here

To give a simple example, 1000 magicules and 10000 magicules seem to have only a 10-fold difference.

However, the former can recover 1% of magical power per second, while the latter recovers 5%.

Converted into values, the former can waste 10 points of magical power per second, while the latter can waste 500.

With one increasing and one decreasing, just the basic magical power output has a 50-fold difference, and this doesn't even count the latter's additional magic, inherent abilities, Unique Skills, resistances, and so on.

Of course, the outcome of a battle does not only depend on values and abilities, but also on combat skills and practical experience, which also affect the result of the battle.

The best example is Hakurou from the original work.

Hakurou's magicules value was not high, around 100,000.

However, he was able to fight enemies far exceeding his magicules value by relying on his swordsmanship.

This is the bonus that practical experience and skill can bring.

"Crackling ~"

After the firewood was ignited, the flames greedily devoured the dry fallen leaves, making crackling sounds.

The skewered bear meat was placed on the grill, and the aroma of the meat quickly spread through the fresh air.

The meat slices gradually turned from bright red to golden yellow under the heat of the flames, and oil droplets fell into the fire, stirring up bursts of smoke.

"Gulp~"

Seeing Ogerpon drooling, Rin picked up a skewer of bear meat and handed it to the little one: "Here, eat it."

Ogerpon took a big bite, and her eyes immediately narrowed in happiness: ("So delicious~~")

Rin also took a skewer for himself.

It had to be said that everything in this world, whether mushrooms from the forest or animal meat, was incredibly delicious.

Is this the change brought by magicules?

Rin could only say that things from a high-level world were indeed extraordinary.

While eating, Rin wasn't idle. He took advantage of the break to ponder his future path.

"Combat skills, magic, practical experience…"

"I have absolutely no way to acquire magic and combat skills."

"Practical experience is too dangerous."

"Indeed, the Trainer profession suits me well."

Rin's positioning for himself was very clear: he was a Summoner, the type who just needed to stay behind his summoned beast and cheer them on.

Coincidentally, Rin's Leader and Ogerpon's Growth were the best partners.

Ogerpon could gain Growth, meaning an increase in magicules, by defeating or killing monsters and enemies.

Of course, this defeat was not without limits.

Firstly, each individual could only be defeated once before they had a major breakthrough.

Repeatedly defeating the same individual would not yield experience points.

Moreover, this magicules increase had an upper limit and was not endless.

No matter what, Growth was only a Unique Skill.

It was already remarkable that it could allow Ogerpon to grow into a Demon Lord.

And to break through Special A-Rank and reach S-Rank, which is the True Demon Lord level, the Unique Skill Growth would need to advance further.

As for how to improve further...

Rin cast his gaze towards the cooling system: "I wonder if the next world will have a way for Ogerpon and I to become stronger?"

(To be continued.)