Chapter 14

"I wonder," I mused out loud while placing things in place. "Was it Alaya or Gaia that targeted me?"

"What are you yapping about?" Ladora grumbled from beside me as he helped me out. He knew a thing or two about piecing stuff together since he had been doing menial jobs for years before Saiborg picked him up.

Ladora told me he had spent his teenage years working in a factory of all things. He, one of the last remaining Bunes, the arrogant guy who could turn into a Dragon, had been nothing but a common laborer!

If it wasn't for Saiborg, he would still be struggling to make enough money to feed his family. And here I thought that the members of the seventy-two pillars families were supposed to be like royalty in the Underworld.

"Just wondering if it was the Will of Humanity or the Will of the Planet that ganked me in my home," I explained while we added the finishing touches.

"You know…" Ladora looked at me seriously. "You are a lot more pleasant company when you keep your mouth shut."

"You know…" I turned to him. "You're a fucking asshole."

"Yeah?" Ladora snorted and grinned. "I can turn into a Dragon."

There it was, his patented response. The worst part was that it made sense to me! If I could turn into a Dragon, I would also act however I pleased.

"Meh. Just an overgrown cat with scales and wings." I shrugged and looked away.

"That just sounds like you are jealous." His grin widened when I didn't respond to that. "Yeah, that's right."

"Bitch." I smirked at him. "Just you wait. I'm gonna figure it out and find a way to turn myself into a Dragon."

Ladora's expression flickered, his arrogance disappearing in the blink of an eye. "You're… You're not actually going to do that, right?"

"Watch me!" I replied, enjoying how quickly he changed his tune. Though…

Ladora let out a sigh of relief, catching me by surprise. "Looks like you're not planning on turning yourself into a Dragon."

"You don't know that!" This was something that I had considered, but I figured it was too much work. There were much easier paths to power than changing myself into a Dragon as cool as that sounded.

"Oh, I do," he insisted.

"We'll see about that." I turned around with a snort and focused on my work.

"Shit… you're not that petty, are you?"

Oh, I fucking was! I wouldn't focus on this, but I was going to figure out a way to take the form of a Dragon that was at least twice as big as Ladora'a transformation. He would hold this over my head for only so long, and he would rue the day he provoked my pettines. That was a promise.

"Micha–"

"And it's done!" I declared as I finished setting up the last part before adding, "Almost done."

Ladora sighed, realizing that I wasn't going to answer his question and looked at my creation. "So, why did we build this scrap of metal?"

"This scrap of metal," I said as I walked around the suit of armor, making sure that everything was in place. "Should double the physical abilities of whoever wears it… In theory, that is."

"In theory?" Ladora looked at it with a critical eye.

"Yes, in theory because it will fall apart if someone too strong puts it on since the materials we used won't be able to keep up with the strength of the user."

That was the first problem with this armor. However, I didn't care about this since I didn't intend on using it. No, I made this to get a better grasp on Twice Critical's ability and to figure out how to apply it to myself.

I would have my Dragon Ball power up technique, even if it was inferior to anything shown in the show!

"The other issue is the power source," I continued as I reached the front and opened up a small compartment in the chest plate before slotting in the Sacred Gear inside it.

"This thing can generate an infinite amount of energy, but its output is limited. Which means that it will barely boost the physical abilities of someone like Borg."

"Why did we even bother making it then?" Ladora grumbled in annoyance.

The obvious reason was because I wanted to gain Twice Critical's ability for myself. As for the other one? I shoved my hand in his face as a red orb appeared in my palm. "Because of this!"

"So you can summon it out of the armor?" Ladora dubiously looked at me.

"Fuck, no!" I stated before opening the compartment on the armor, showing him another identical orb sitting inside it.

Ladora's gaze switched back between the two, eyes blinking in confusion as he tried to comprehend what just happened. "What the fuck?"

I puffed up my chest, waiting for him to praise me.

"No, seriously, what the fuck?" He stepped back, watching me as if I was some strange anomaly. Rude much. "How?"

I grinned. "The First True Magic!"

It wasn't really, but it was close enough… I think.

"What does that even mean? What is this First True Magic?"

"Denial of Nothingness, of course!"

"Yeah, but what does it do?"

"Huh." I paused and stared in the distance, my mind going through all of my memories of diving the Nasuverse wiki. I nodded a moment later with a proud look on my face. "I don't know!"

"Then why do you keep insisting it's that?"

I shrugged. I just wanted to call my newest power something cool. Plus, it kind of fit the bill since I was making things out of nothingness. Though there were limits to it.

Normal materials and ingredients that didn't have a hint of Magic were restocked in my pocket space the moment I used them. Used was the keyword here since it would take them a month to restock if I didn't make something with them. It wasn't a true Duplication Glitch, but it was close enough.

Magical ingredients were a different story, however. They could take from a day up to a month to restock depending on their rarity and value even if I used them to create something. I wasn't sure what decided the value and rarity of the materials, but the Sacred Gear I just duplicated would take a month to restock itself.

Another thing was that I had to have used those materials in the creation of a magical product before they started appearing in my pocket space. So I wouldn't be getting something like Adamantium simply because I could utilize it. No, I would first have to find it myself and make something with it before it appeared in my pocket space.

"Fuck… you're not His bastard son or something, are you?" Ladora suspiciously asked. "Shit! Your name is Michael! It's been right in our face the entire time!"

"I don't think I am?" I replied thoughtfully.

The Celestial Grimoire was suspicious, and I didn't know how I had obtained it. However, that was the only thing that stood out to me. Other than my reincarnation, but I didn't think that was the doing of God.

"I mean, I never really met my parents since they passed away while I was still a baby, but I'm fairly sure I'm not his bastard son."

"Yeah?" Ladora raised his eyebrow.

"I don't have any Holy or Light energy," I pointed out. "So that should rule out that possibility. I also can't be a Miracle Child for that same reason."

Apparently, Angels could have children with humans as long as they don't feel any lust while having sex. Otherwise they risk the chance of falling.

"But you're also stupidly talented in anything you pick up," he argued, making me grin.

"That's because I'm just that awesome! It's all natural!" Of course, that didn't convince him one bit.

"Look, would a bastard son of His be mingling and be best friends with a bunch of Devils?" I asked, taking this more seriously. "Hell! I'm even dating a Devil."

"Huh." Ladora thought about it for a moment before nodding. "That makes sense. Though…"

"What?"

"Even if you aren't, we should probably lie about it," he said with a nasty grin. "Can you imagine how much our status will improve if it gets out that we had brought His bastard son to our side?"

"Fuck no!" I stopped that idea right there and then. "That will bring way too much heat on my ass! I don't want to deal with that shit."

"Just think about it."

"Nope!"

"Come on, do it for us."

"I'm gonna shoot a laser up your ass!"

"If that's what it takes…"

"You're disgusting!"

We went back and forward like this as we left my workshop. Our bickering continued until we reached the training ground and the Gravity Chamber. I popped my head inside and waved at the rest of the peerage, who were busy training.

Me getting attacked had lit a fire in them, and they were pushing themselves even more than before. I didn't even think that was possible, but they proved me wrong.

"Yo! Who wants a Sacred Gear?" I grinned and waved the two in my hands, enjoying their shocked faces.

"What's going on?" Kuisha asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Michael is just being Michael," Ladora informed them, and I looked at him weirdly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, that makes sense." They all nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Don't just agree with him!" I called out, though they all ignored me.

"So you finally figured out how to recreate one of His artifacts? It took you what? A few weeks?" Beruka, the Fake Astolfo, clapped his hands, congratulating me for my achievement. At least one of them appreciated me.

"Not really," I replied as I scratched my head.

"Then how?" Misteeta curiously asked.

"The First True Magic!" I grinned and raised my arms in the air. A slapping sound echoed from beside me from how hard Ladora facepalmed.

"I take it that's not the case?" Kuisha asked, chuckling softly.

"No!" Ladora replied.

"Sure is." I kept grinning.

"You…" He shook his head and looked at the rest. "Ignore him. He doesn't even know what this so-called First True Magic is supposed to do."

I looked away in embarrassment. It wasn't my fault that Nasu never explained it! All I knew was its name and that it had something to do with Ether clumps. If I knew more about it, I could probably figure out a way to replicate it with enough time.

At least I knew what two of the other four were supposed to do, so I was confident in recreating them in the future. Though I had no idea how long that would take me. Probably a decade or so if I was lucky.

"You can make more of those?" Saiborg pointed at the two Sacred Gears in my hands.

"Once a month." I nodded.

It was unfortunate that this was one of the weakest Sacred Gears. Still, I learned quite a lot from studying it and there was much more I could gain from it. However, that didn't change the fact that it was one of the weakest.

"Which means that I can technically supply you all with one, but I don't think that's the right call."

Twice Critical just wasn't the right fit for all of them. Not all of them were physical fighters even though they all made sure to train their bodies every single day.

Plus, it would be mighty suspicious if their entire group suddenly turned up with Twice Criticals. There would be a lot of questions if that happened, and I wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences.

But in the future? When I was strong enough to handle all the heat? That was an entirely different story. Though I doubt that a simple Twice Critical would even matter to us at that point. It was a good equipment at the moment, but I saw it as nothing more than an early game item.

They had a short discussion on who should take it, mostly just confirming if they all agreed on their previous decision. I did, after all, inform them that I didn't want to use it myself and planned to give it to them, so they were prepared for this outcome.

Gandoma received it without too much fanfare and slotted it in. He was the one that needed a boost the most since he lacked the versatility of the others. Everything turned out okay, and he now had a fancy gauntlet he could summon on demand.

"What do you want in exchange for this?" Saiborg turned to me while the rest were making sure there were no problems with the Sacred Gear.

"Gimmie a Phoenix Tear." I grinned at him.

Kuisha's head snapped in my direction, her eyes wide open in realization. "You don't…"

"Hell yeah, I do!" I replied with a cackle.

They all understood exactly where I was going with this, judging by their shocked expression. I wasn't sure why they were surprised, considering this seemed fairly obvious to me.

"You're going to end up copying the traits of all seventy-two pillars at this point," Cori said with a dejected sigh.

"Huh." I looked away thoughtfully. Now that sounded like a plan.

"Cori, please!" Kuisha looked at her with begging eyes. "Please don't give him crazy ideas like this. We can get in so much trouble if this gets out."

"Which is why we tell no one," Saiborg declared, looking at them all with a serious expression, making sure they all understood this.

"Yup," I nodded along, glad they understood that this had to remain a secret. I wasn't exactly sure how others would react to my abilities, but I was certain that there would be a lot of greedy people that would try to monopolize me.

This information would eventually get out. Someone would learn it by chance or simply decipher it with a unique ability. I had no doubt about that. This was a world of Magic, so there had to be ways to obtain information that I just couldn't prepare for.

However, what I could do was train and improve myself as quickly as possible. Once I was strong enough, I wouldn't give a rat's ass if someone was aware of my abilities or not. Because at the end of the day, this was a might makes right world. The truly powerful could control the fate of others. I just had to be as strong as them to ensure they couldn't control me.

Saiborg brought me the Phoenix Tear shortly after, and I took it off him. My Cooking Magic came into effect, providing me with the most optimal ways I could use it. A tired sigh escaped my lips as I started walking towards the custom kitchen they built for me here.

My steps carried me to my mortal enemy. The fucking blender. Even with all the magical ingredients that they supplied me with, this shit still continued to make miracles that trumped any of my meals.

While grumbling how unfair this was, I made a smoothie using the Phoenix Tear as one of the ingredients, all the while hatefully glaring at the machine that went, "Brrr!"

Once I was done, a new ingredient got added to my collection, and I could now produce a single Phoenix Tear a month. With this out of the way, it was time to start grinding again. Increasing my strength was my top priority at the moment, and I knew what I needed to do for that.

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A/N

Honestly, this isn't even that OP. The way I see it, this story will last a year or two max in-story. Meaning he'll get like twenty-four Phoenix Tears/Twice Criticals at max. Not to mention that he'll be capable of making far better stuff by that point. All in all, it's pretty good, but it isn't that oppressive.