Chapter 31: That's Thoughtful! Old Man

"Ah... but letting you come over and lie down now seems a bit early."

Seeing the Unit-01 Pikachu lying on the ground, staring him with big eyes, Cat felt a little awkward for a moment.

"Move a bit to the side; I'm going to attend to something else first."

Not expecting this Pikachu, which hasn't been infused with intelligence yet, to understand, Cat gave it a quick flick of the tail and tossed it aside.

ヾ(*>∀＜*)(ﾉ∀｀●)⊃

The yellow, ball-shaped Pikachu bounced its way into the corner, emitting a dull thud.

"..."

Seems I was a bit heavy‑handed.

Watching the Unit-01 with a blank stare, staying upside down motionlessly as if nothing else mattered besides its brain, Cat sighed and turned to attend to his own great undertaking.

First, Cat followed the steps used to create the Unit-01 and molded twenty first‑generation clones anew.

This time, while editing their program… magical settings, Cat added a newly acquired dummy setting to the existing configuration and also incorporated recent recorded battle‑training data with Witch Miss into the settings.

Battle experience and countermeasures are never too many, no matter what.

Add setting — record the entirety of each battle and synchronize it with all adult Pikachu.

Although Cat doesn't yet know how to grant the Pikachu a "learning" setting, he can proceed step by step.

First enrich the database; when someday he can develop that function, launching it immediately won't leave the database empty.

Preparing for rain before it falls, nurturing growth and the like—Cat is best at that.

Moreover, Cat thinks that since he's setting them as a population, he can't just be the creator here cranking out monsters.

What they need is reproduction!

Lay eggs, Pikachu!

First, add sexual dimorphism: female Pikachu have a tiny black heart at the tip of their tails;

Second, the sex ratio of Pikachu hatched from eggs should be fifty‑fifty.

All this is for the prosperity and flourishing of the species.

Wait.

Since that's the case, shouldn't the female proportion be a bit higher?

(ﾒ｀ﾛ´)/ No, no, harem biss, long live pure love!

Add setting — Pikachu will choose only one partner for life; after the partner dies, they will not select a new one but will devote themselves to education, transforming into 'Instructor Pikachu' to assist and guard newborn Pikachu, easing the burden on other partners in the group.

Phew.

Cat certainly doesn't want, someday, to see a Pikachu hugging both sides, swaggering past him and inadvertently dealing a critically effective mental blow.

The reproduction step is defined as "Divine Union", no unhealthy perverse behavior.

Right, Pikachu doesn't need those (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧; it's truly not out of jealousy that this was set.

The so‑called "no bitterness in the heart, drawing the sword naturally divine"—all of this is for Pikachu's sake!

Adult Pikachu, paired male‑female, can reproduce after sleeping a night together in a designated nest;

If they have a partner and no juvenile Pikachu currently need care, they will reproduce on the night of the new moon;

Methods for constructing the specific nest…

Egg incubation period is seven days…

Newborn Pikachu draw energy from their parents; adult Pikachu will share excess energy with juveniles, ceasing supply once the Pikachu reaches adulthood (two months).

Ordinary Pikachu in the species have no ranks; their skill growth, power level, knowledge acquisition, collective goals, and so on all depend on the king of their race — Unit-01 Pikachu;

Unit-01 can designate a particular individual as Manager, assisting it in overseeing the population and granting that individual certain special abilities;

The bestowed special abilities are selected by Unit-01 from its Acquired Skills and powers.

When Pikachu defeat monsters, they collect the monsters' crystals, stockpile them, and hand them to their Manager; if no Manager exists, they deliver them directly to Unit-01.

Taking wolf packs as a reference, Cat made the most beginner‑friendly choices when designing the Pikachu species.

As long as this linkage holds, future Pikachu updates or expansion pack installations only require updating Unit-01 Pikachu.

Considering Pikachu's reproduction speed and easing Unit-01's management load, Cat even thoughtfully added a backup setting.

How could there be such a considerate creator.

…

Cat scratched his ear with his hind foot while repeatedly reviewing the settings he wrote into the magical statutes.

"Hmm… this is about all I can do for now."

"Pretty complete, huh!"

"Well, I am indeed~"

While boasting, Cat realized the most crucial step had arrived.

—Inject a soul into Unit-01.

He needs a decent-quality monster crystal to successfully release this otherwise purely theoretical magic.

So, where does the crystal come from?

Cat just swayed his tail twice and thought of it, then, unable to hold back, let out a Gengar‑style laugh,

"Jie jie jie!"

When something's missing at home, of course you go to the Manager!

Without a second thought, Cat slipped into the shadows; the next moment, while still in the mansion, he found himself at the Manager's room door.

He lifted his long tail, his expression like the Cheshire Cat's,

"Ding ding ding, Manager? Manager?"

"..."

Having just finished a meticulous cleaning of the house with the servant, Lin Du, feeling he could go back to his room, sit down and sip some hot tea, suddenly couldn't hold back a little "pfft".

This lousy Cat, aren't you going to school with the miss?

He came again? What does he want from me again?

Still knocking on the door?

This time you even know how to knock?

Thinking of that, the butler couldn't help but shiver.

Just leaving a crack in the door, the butler peered through the gap at the Cat sitting outside with a forced smile, and said,

"If you have business, just say it; you don't need to come in."

"Alright, alright."

"..."

"Ahem, then I'll say it, ha."

"Great Old Sword Saint, you wouldn't want your reputation trampled, looked down upon by me and the people in this house, would you?"

"..."

Bang!

The butler, without any hesitation, shut his room's door.

(ΩДΩ)!

So decisive, you stinky old man!

The last person who disrespected a Cat like you, I smashed all the table legs in the house; look at me today…

Bang bang bang bang bang bang, the sound of the Cat wildly slamming the door with its tail, and while doing so, it shouted wildly from outside,

"I respect you, so I call you…

Old thing, I'm telling you!

The chance won't be lost again, give me a monster crystal of excellent quality, and I'll save your dog's life now!"

Clack.

The door was pushed open, and standing before the Cat was the Old Sword Saint, veins bulging on his forehead, forcing a smile.

"Lousy Cat, I'm giving you a chance to reorganize your speech."

"Generous Old Sword Saint, give me a monster crystal of the highest quality."

"Don't close the door! Wait, wait, wait! Including our previous deal, I'm now giving you the highest‑grade healing magic I can currently cast."

From above the fifteenth level, raised to the highest grade I can currently cast.

Tasting the subtle differences, the Old Sword Saint chose to trust his intuition.

"Alright."

Thus, though very reluctant, the Old Sword Saint still invited the Cat into his room.

After entering, the Old Sword Saint returned to his chair and sat properly, while the Cat sat in front of him.

(●ↀωↀ●)✧

"..."

"What do you want to say?"

"How about you give me the item first?"

...?

"I'm afraid you won't have time to deal with me later."

Considering that the Cat wouldn't scam him on such a big matter, the Old Sword Saint, without hesitation, agreed.

"Fine."

"What do you need it for?"

"Huh?"

"I ask, what do you intend to do with the monster crystal? If there's a suitable attribute or high adaptability, wouldn't that be more convenient?"

Hearing the Old Sword Saint's explanation, the Cat understood; this old fellow has quite a collection!

He can even let him pick like this!

So the Cat decisively spoke frankly,

"For experiments, life creation."

Life creation?!

Indeed, for an evil existence like him, a thumbnail couldn't possibly…

Life creation…

Has he already become this strong now?

"Current" "highest grade I can release", recalling the terms the black sphere discussed at the door, the Old Sword Saint's heart twitched again.

If he regains his full power, how terrifying that would be.

Fortunately, whatever faction or purpose he has, he has already signed a Symbiotic Contract with the miss.

This black thing is powerful; even if he is the leader of some evil force, a target for extermination, he can still ensure the miss lives peacefully.

So… helping him complete some experiments and granting some favors while his strength hasn't recovered shouldn't be a losing deal.

The Old Sword Saint quickly pondered, worrying pointlessly for a while, then continued to ask,

"Is it the yellow meatball, or the red‑skin monster?"

"... the yellow one, it's called Pikachu."

Is that his illusion?

He always felt that this old thing was especially good at giving others nicknames?

"Oh."

That big yellow rat's main attribute is lightning, right?

Ah, if it were that magma monster I actually would have some, but this lightning… tsk, it's a bargain for you.

After clicking his tongue, the Old Sword Saint produced a huge transparent orange‑yellow crystal with a backhand.

"This is a crystal from a young adult Thunder Dragon, its level before death was 148. It should be enough for you to use in an experiment, right?"

Crystals below level 100, the Sword Saint himself doesn't even keep on his person.

And for lower‑grade items, he'd feel embarrassed to try to fool this crafty black soot ball.

What he intends to do is a life‑creation experiment!

As a member of the front lines, before he withdrew due to injury he had heard that scholars had proposed researching magic related to creating life, but because humanity lacked the strength to meet the conditions, the experiment ultimately came to nothing.

He doesn't understand magic, doesn't understand research, but he understands that strength equals level.

Originally I planned to give him some artifacts around level 120 for research, but who would have thought this black ball needs exactly a crystal containing thunder‑attribute magic.

This is the loot he obtained during his last dungeon exploration.

That year, he followed the front‑line assault team into a B‑Level dungeon to subdue it.

But… nobody expected that inside this dungeon there was actually another dungeon.

When they accidentally stepped onto a special teleportation circle, by the time they tried to retreat it was already too late.

Just subduing this Thunder Dragon cost half the members, and after that… they encountered the Colorless King.

"Enough already, old man!"

Cat showed no mercy, leaping up and slapping the Old Sword Saint with a sweeping tail swipe, pulling his thoughts back from memory to the present.

Cat was very pleased, circling the big bright crystal a few times and patting his chest to assure the Old Sword Saint,

"Rest assured, I will definitely not let you down on this deal."

Cat's sudden surge of confidence isn't just because he leveled up; we also have to mention what he gained from secretly browsing… another harvest from his perusal of those special sites.

By scrolling through some messy papers and practical theories, he gained a deeper understanding of his conjectures and new theories about curses and healing magic.

Curses, at their core, can be summarized as—death filled with suffering.

Conversely, the best way to lift a curse is to grant an individual—life filled with hope.

If we take this as the entry point, then what is needed to lift a curse is not merely the broad‑defined light that opposes darkness.

Indeed, light‑attribute spells are indispensable, but the healing and curse‑purifying potential hidden in grass‑ and water‑attribute magic, as well as in the overlooked earth, fire, and even thunder attributes—known for destruction—cannot be ignored and deserve focused study.

It is well known that the interpretation of life basically falls under grass‑ and water‑attribute magic.

But the earth is also the foundation of all growth, and thunder in the East more so represents breaking before building, so this viewpoint was raised early on by researchers of the Eastern Alliance.

And the theory can be supported by the shelved research from years ago, the other part of creation‑system magic—creating 'flesh'.

Cat, while creating a mimic Pikachu, inadvertently already grasped the first step of this domain.

Cat changed "creating life from nothing" to "granting life the meaning of hope and dispelling curses," and after seeing experts' more detailed speculation, their understanding of using magic in this area rose a level.

Sure enough, using magic still relies on outstanding imagination.

Once the creative spark in this area is pierced, the ideas for building a Magic Circle flow like an endless river!

Since they obtained something far better than they imagined, Cat feels they should seriously cure the curse on this Old Sword Saint.

He really treats himself as Witch Miss's grandfather; Cat can see that.

His ability to rejoin the ranks of the powerful is a strong and reliable safeguard, both for Witch Miss and for himself.

The Old Sword Saint who guards the hero's advance?

Or rather, the Old Sword Saint who is favored and willing to spread the Dark Demon King's virtuous conduct within the human camp?

Cat's lips curled,

"You… just sit here."

"It's starting now."

Under the Old Sword Saint's astonished gaze, Cat closed their eyes and began constructing the second super‑large magic of their cat life.

The curse of the Colorless King highlights a torment and baseness.

This reminded Cat of the legendary black dragon and serpents that gnaw the root trunk of the World Tree.

When the black dragon finished gnawing, it ushered in the twilight of the gods; when the Colorless King finished gnawing, it brought a stifled and powerless death. To avoid that outcome and to save the tree that had been chewed by the evil dragon and poisonous snakes, he needs dew, nutrients, and warm light.

In addition, the root must grow sturdy and firmly anchor deep in the soil…

In the instant of imagination, centered on Cat, a massive teal Magic Circle materialized beneath his feet.

Under a Magic Circle dominated by green, inscribed with extremely complex Magic Text that rotated, the circles representing earth, water, and fire elements were arranged in stable triangles and also began to operate.

Self‑strengthening without cease and then awaiting the holy light's illumination is what gives meaning.

Thus, in the end, Cat overlaid a light‑attribute Magic Circle imbued with healing, blessing, and purification.

And this final overlay of the light‑attribute Magic Circle completely enveloped the room in magic.

The astonished Old Sword Saint, as the pale yellow halo slowly descended, was also forced to close his eyes and return his consciousness to emptiness.

A large portion of the incantations the mage chants are praises.

By reciting allusions, by expressing emotions, or by singing of achievements, magic is given a "form."

Magic draws upon the natural forces left in this world created by the gods; all things have spirits, and the elements in nature likewise, with elementals being their manifestation.

Releasing magic of this caliber, even Cat must chant something.

Gathering this massive magical energy into a "form" to achieve one's desired goal.

Great… beloved…

Hmm…

The Cat, who has never been good at language, got stuck for a moment.

But does it have to be so grand? Must the scope be so expansive?

Could it also be okay to make this "form" more concrete and more powerful?

Experiment.

While testing the analogical applications of creation‑type magic, the Cat also experimented with the conditions for chanting incantations when releasing magic.

He thought that what is needed to break a curse should be a blessing.

Then… the most sincere blessing in his heart should be…

Just a few seconds later, after the Cat exhaled, the first incantation of its cat life began.

"Grant you gentle sunshine and drizzle like a mother."

"Grant you reliable, unbreakable roots like a father."

"Grant you land as stable, fertile, and nourishing as a home."

"Grant you the deepest warmth and hope in this world."

"All evils, disperse."

As the words fell, a sound suddenly rang beside the Cat's ear.

Dong, dong, dong.

It sounded like a knife chopping on a cutting board.

In a daze, the blurred vision returned to the familiar porch.

Kada.

It was the sound of a door closing.

Standing before him was an elderly person with neatly groomed, graying hair, wearing reading glasses yet standing with a straight back.

He stepped forward, grabbed himself, and asked with a concerned face,

"Back? It's snowing outside, is it cold?"

"..."

"Go back and rest a bit, your mother is still packing dumplings."

He couldn't hear what he had actually said, and this first‑person view kept moving forward.

"Your brother? He went out to buy wine, saying you finally got a job, so he'll have two drinks with you."

"Huh? Why bring up so many things!"

"Sigh, look at you, just got a job, why bring so many things home?"

"Your brother and sister‑in‑law don't live close; you might not have time to come back for a year or more. At home it's just me and your mother—can we finish all this food?"

"Sigh, also buying milk and calcium tablets; keep that money for yourself, use it to supplement yourself."

"..."

The view shifted, and he was pulled into the hall.

The elderly person in front flushed red, shouting loudly toward the nearby kitchen,

"Kid's mother, our Xiao Li Zi is back. Da Li Zi? Went out to buy wine.

Hurry up and wrap it, everyone's waiting to eat."

"#*$&@()**#)…"

"Alright, alright, heard you, heard you. Stop scolding, I'll go in to help."

…

…

"Wish that this warmth heals your cursed body, clears the pain you've endured, and returns you to new life."

Sure enough, this magic is truly magical.

What blessing could be more vivid than this?

Look at the array after activation, the beautiful aura formed by condensed magical elements; he truly is a magic Cat.

【You are overloading magic】

【Your body is taking damage】

【HP-650】

"..."

If it weren't for him leveling up again yesterday, now at level lv5 with HP700, he would already have been dead, right?

Is his constitution really that hopeless?

The risk is too great, indeed he must find a way to protect himself.

Casting without showing MP… that's wrong; this magic he improvised, he doesn't even know its limits, what system could inform him…

Sss…

Moreover, releasing a super‑large magic above the fifteenth tier at lv5 does seem a bit excessive.

Five minutes later, the array slowly dissipated, and the room gradually became calm.

Sword Saint opened his eyes and, looking closely at the corner of his eye, could still see faint lingering tear marks.

When he closed his eyes and immersed himself in the healing, he seemed to see his parents who had passed away years ago.

He seemed to return to a time before magical energy revived, back to when he had just entered middle school, and the whole family was eating the New Year's Eve dinner together.

It was a long‑missed feeling of warmth and security.

Moreover, at the moment he opened his eyes, he could feel the astonishing vitality bursting from his body.

He… could it be that he's been cured?!

Only that, just this once?

And that's only five minutes?!

He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, and the Sword Saint felt his eyeballs were about to pop out.

He couldn't even bother the little black scruffy cat sitting proudly beside him, and directly activated magic on himself,

"Self-Assessment!"

Self-Assessment, an intermediate-level spell, lets one instantly know one's own stats and condition anywhere.

A stream of numbers appeared before the Sword Saint's eyes, as he inhaled a gasp of cold air that he never exhaled.

"What...?! This... this is..."