SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

The Association’s official vehicle slowly came to a stop at the end of the familiar road in the Eastern District of Stoneheart City.

The door opened, and Zich stepped out, carrying Slimy in his arms.

He stood there quietly, not taking a step forward immediately.

Strictly speaking, he had actually already returned earlier than this.

After the Chosen Tournament ended and his rather interesting conversation with Razeil, as usual, Ascension Mountain had sent every participant back to the exact location where they had entered the competition.

And before entering the tournament, he had been in his own bedroom.

However, at the time of his return, the house had been completely empty.

Before he even had the chance to properly look around, a specialised aircraft from the Association Headquarters had already landed outside the courtyard and taken him directly to the Association.

The reason was simple.

He was no longer just an ordinary boy from Stoneheart City.

He was the champion of the First Layer Chosen Tournament.

More importantly, he was the first newcomer to defeat two Nullborn in succession.

Within only a few hours after the tournament ended, the area surrounding Stoneheart City had already been flooded with reporters, representatives from every major force, and countless people hoping to meet him.

Naturally, the Association could not allow him to remain at home by himself.

Only today, after confirming that everything had gradually settled down, did Arthur personally arrange a vehicle to bring him back.

The driver did not get out. He simply spoke respectfully.

"Mr. Zich, if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact the Association."

Zich nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."

The vehicle slowly drove away.

The entire street returned to silence once more.

Slimy poked its little head out from Zich’s arms and looked around curiously.

"Bo?"

"Mhm."

Zich smiled gently.

"We’re home."

Step by step, he walked toward the courtyard gate.

He pushed open the familiar wooden door.

The courtyard looked exactly the same as when he had left.

In one corner stood the wooden rack holding his father’s repair tools.

On the other side grew several flowers that his mother loved the most.

The faint scent of soil mixed with fresh grass still lingered in the air.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Zich realised that the tension which had accompanied him throughout the entire journey had quietly melted away.

He arrived before the front door.

His hand slowly rose.

But he did not knock immediately.

The tournament had lasted little more than ten days.

But everything he had experienced made it feel as though years had passed.

From his first encounter with the Nullborn.

To the championship battle.

To everything Razeil had revealed to him.

Thinking about everything Razeil had revealed, Zich’s expression immediately became serious.

...

Few days ago...

"From today onward, I will become your mentor."

As Razeil’s gentle voice slowly fell, the Central Arena, which had already fallen silent, seemed to sink into an even deeper stillness at that moment. Only the evening wind continued sweeping across the high platform, stirring her long silver-white hair and causing her pure white dress to sway gently beneath the golden sunset.

Zich did not reach out his hand.

He simply stood where he was, his gaze resting upon Razeil’s flawless, pale palm, while the words she had spoken moments ago continued echoing through his mind.

’The Angel Race... Level Two Hundred... Mentor?’

Every single one of those words had already far surpassed his original understanding of the world.

Before participating in the Chosen Tournament, Zich had never even truly left the region surrounding Fire Shelter. In the world he knew, a professional above Level Fifty was already powerful enough to dominate an entire region, while someone like Arthur, who stood at the very peak of humanity’s First Layer, was an existence most ordinary people might never witness with their own eyes throughout their entire lives.

But now, the silver-haired woman before him, who appeared to be no older than her early twenties, had calmly told him that she was a Level Two Hundred mage.

More importantly, from beginning to end, neither Arthur standing behind him nor the highest authority of the entire Players’ Association had shown even the slightest doubt towards her words.

"Why me?"

After a moment of silence, Zich finally spoke.

He did not immediately accept merely because of her strength and beauty, nor had the identity of a Level Two Hundred mentor clouded his judgement.

Instead, he directly asked the question he cared about most.

Hearing this, the smile on Razeil’s face seemed to deepen slightly.

She did not withdraw her extended right hand.

She simply looked at Zich quietly.

"What do you think?"

Zich frowned slightly.

"Because I won the Chosen Tournament?"

"That is one of the reasons."

"Because I defeated two members of the Nullborn?"

"That counts as well."

Razeil nodded gently.

"But merely winning a tournament on the First Layer would not have been enough for me to travel here early from such a distant place."

Zich immediately noticed a particular word in her sentence.

"Early?"

"That’s right."

Razeil finally withdrew her hand.

She turned around and looked once again at the arena below, which had already become completely empty.

The golden afterglow fell upon her pale-golden eyes, making them resemble two quietly burning suns.

"According to the original arrangement, I should only have met you after you completed your first official Ascension and truly left the First Layer."

"But your performance during this tournament caused me to change my original plans."

"Nameless, Lucien, Ainos."

She spoke the three names one after another.

"When facing Nameless, it was your first true encounter with the Nullborn, yet you quickly discovered the pattern behind how their abilities operated during battle. You then used the number of your summons and their poison to continuously restrict his movements, ultimately securing your first victory."

"When facing Lucien, your class, level, and attributes were all inferior, yet you were able to determine the interval between his Solar Spells within a short period of time before defeating him in the close-range combat he was least proficient in."

"As for Ainos in the final..."

At this point, a faint trace of appreciation finally appeared in Razeil’s eyes.

"He was originally the strongest Nullborn contestant in this tournament."

"Whether in level, combat experience, or mastery over Null power, he far surpassed Nameless. Even if Lucien had faced him at full strength, his chances of victory would not have exceeded forty percent."

"But from every previous battle fought by Nameless, Arnos, Veyron, and Ainos, you had already gathered information regarding their combat habits and the characteristics of their abilities, allowing you to prepare a strategy specifically designed to counter him before the final even began."

"So, in a certain sense... Ainos did not lose during the final. The moment he first stepped into the arena, he had already begun walking towards defeat."

Zich tried his absolute best not to display much joy at receiving such praise from a powerful existence such as Razeil.

He merely shook his head gently and tried to remain humble.

"Without Slimy and my other summons, I could never have won."

"Summons are naturally part of a Summoner’s strength."

Razeil spoke calmly.

"A swordsman does not deny his own strength merely because he relies upon a sword to achieve victory, and a mage does not believe that defeating an enemy with magic means the victory does not belong to them."

"The fact that you are capable of making summons that were originally not particularly powerful display combat strength far beyond their levels is itself part of your talent."

She paused slightly.

"And that is precisely what I truly value."

Zich raised his head.

"Not the grade of my talent?"

"Of course not."

Razeil smiled.

"An SSS-Grade talent may be exceptionally rare on humanity’s First Layer, but when placed across the entire Mountain of Ascension, or even among the truly powerful races, it is nowhere near as special as you imagine."

"Some races are born with talents equivalent to A-Grade or even S-Grade."

"Some lifeforms naturally reach beyond Level One Hundred before they even reach adulthood."

"There are also ancient bloodlines that have survived since primordial times. They do not even need to undergo a First Awakening like humans. Simply relying upon their inherited bloodline is enough for them to wield power capable of destroying an entire city."

’This...’ A clear change finally appeared in Zich’s eyes