Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

Explaining that you were about to do something not only dangerous but extremely reckless to someone whose intelligence level is equivalent to that of an eight or 9-year-old was already a stretch, to begin with.

Frankly, if Glacia hadn't been present each of the times Aoni had upgraded his stats in the past, there was no doubt in the Lad's mind that it would have been a hard sell to explain.

Yet as he sat there trying to calm down his two summons, Aoni could feel their fear, their concern flowing through his soul, like it were his own, and those feelings touched upon something he didn't quite understand.

Being only 16 years old, Aoni had barely begun his life; he hadn't truly been through any adversities; sure, bullying is one thing, but the death of a loved one wasn't something he'd come to know.

He still had all four of his grandparents, for crying out loud, and although the world of Genovia was filled with peril and danger, he was lucky enough that each member of his large family who was a traveler had returned home.

Without having felt the true meaning of loss, how could he, a teenager wet behind the ears, understand what was running through the minds of Glacia, who had an innate fear of loss, or Nyria, whose entire world had been flipped upside down while watching everything she loved destroyed before becoming a slave.

Placing a tender palm atop the heads of both his summons, Aoni wrapped his arms around his floof and birb and pulled them into a warm hug.

"Hey, I'm not that easy to get rid of you two. I know it's a scary thought, but you two have grown much stronger, and now it's my turn."

"Will it be hard to watch? Absolutely. Will you be able to interfere and stop it? Unfortunately, no. Trust me when I say I am looking forward to this about as much as you guys, hah, it's going to hurt…a lot, but I need to do this and will continue doing it in the future." Meeting their eyes with steeled resolve, Aoni mustered up a quirky smile.

"There's a saying I want you two to remember: There is no Gain without pain. What it means is you must first give something to earn something, and it's the same thing I need to face head-on."

"In four days, the barrier we use as protection will disappear. This is something I have warned you both about a few times, but the time is close."

"gaoooo…"
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"chee…"

Offering up small words without literal meaning yet filled with emotion, Glacia and Nyria nodded in acceptance, with eyes glistening with tears.

"I got this and will need you two cheering me on, so cheer up, and once I get stronger, that's when the real fun begins. Think about all the cool things we can do in the future." Lovingly petting their heads, Aoni stood up and shed his coat before taking off his shirt and allowing his alabaster skin to shine in the light.

"Glacia, my coat will be your responsibility; make sure it doesn't get all dirty, and Nyria…" Leaning down and undoing the straps of his boots, Aoni kicked them off and got ready to hand his shirt and boots over to the birb.

"These are yours to protect," folding everything carefully and placing them on the log, Aoni's posture and mentality was that of a soldier going off to war.

While it may seem dramatic, the fact still stood: he was about to dive headfirst into hell, knowing full well that what awaited him would be several times worse than the first time he boosted his stats.

"Okay," spinning around on his bare feet, Aoni ran over to the crafting station and returned to the campfire holding two wooden boxes.

"Now, this first box has those fruits you helped me with last time, Glacia; if you see me unable to continue staying awake, use them on my body just like you did before; they helped a lot in cooling me down." Opening the larger of the two boxes, Aoni brandished its contents so the two summons could see inside before placing it on the ground with the lid open.

"As for these, each one of these bars I've made is created from several different plants; if there comes a point where I look really skinny, it means im super hungry, so shove this in my mouth and make me eat it."

Honestly, the contents of the second box looked disgusting. Basically, what the Lad had done was crush up a bunch of what he determined to be high in caloric content fruits, berries, and plants into a gross-looking bar.

Of course, this could be considered a cross between alchemy and cooking, as to get them into their present form, it was required to stew it all up and then mold them like clay.

Scrunching up his face slightly because the bars looked like turds and anything but appetizing, Aoni looked at Nyria for help because he knew that if push came to shove, she was the smarter of his summons and, as such, would likely pick up on his bodies situation before Glacia.

"Last thing before I begin, if at some point a strange pressure comes down on the area, don't panic; from what I can tell, it isn't there to hurt any of us and is somewhat triggered when I add points to certain things." Looking at Glacia in particular, Aoni saw her shiver as she clearly knew what he was talking about.

"I know it's scary, but it helps me get stronger, right? Okay, better get on with it then; it's time to start." Leaning over, Aoni did something new for the two summons and planted a soft kiss on the top of their heads in a display of care and affection.

With one last smile, the Lad took a few steps backward into an open space free of anything he could potentially hurt himself on and sat down with his legs crossed.

'Show me my Traveler's display," the first thing Aoni checked was his Progress points, and although his heart ached at the fact that he now had less than 500 points after spending over a thousand on the Rampart…

Progress Points: 442.78

The only thing he could do was hope it would be enough because his goal was to push everything up to the minimum E-.