Chapter 33: Greed 2
Mineta knew he was wrong for thinking about something he shouldn't do.
While what he was saying previously might seem exaggerated, he hadn't done anything sorry toward Ibara since he was just chatting and talking with other girls, so it shouldn't be considered cheating, right?
But...
'Who am I fooling for?'
He knew that he was wrong, but he just couldn't stop it, and it was a decision he made after a long consideration since the temptation of power was just too hard to resist.
The three rewards he gained from Ibara were all amazing.
The first reward was the "Support Drink" ability (Expert).
While this ability sounded strange, it had a literal meaning.
This ability made him able to create a drink that could recover 50% of stamina, injuries, strength, etc., along with detoxifying effect.
If he gave an example, it was like a potion on an MMORPG game.
He hadn't told Ibara about this ability, but he had tried it and drank it himself when he trained.
Frankly, the effect dumbfounded him since this ability affected him on a metaphysical level.
It was a fantastic ability since one could recover instantly as long as one drank his drink.
Even if it was only 50%, it was already good enough since it meant it could give them a second chance to live.
If he wanted to, he could sell it, but he didn't lack money now.
Still, the only type of drink he could create was grape juice, which might happen because of his original "Quirk."
This ability also didn't take much of his stamina, and if he wanted to, he could create 1,000 of them easily.
He could also change the effect of the healing within 50% of the range, and by doing that, it would decrease the amount of stamina he used to create the drink, which made him able to create even more drinks.
However, this drink couldn't be drunk infinitely.
One could only drink three times a day.
After that, the effect of his drink would be lost until 24 hours from the last time one consumes his drink.
He was also under this effect, which made him speechless.
Even more troublesome, the drink couldn't be stored for more than a week. After a week, the drink would disappear, dissolving into nothing.
However, while this ability was amazing, the second ability he got from Ibara was even more amazing.
Squeeze Manipulation (Expert).
Frankly, he loved this type of ability the most since it manipulated the concept of the "squeeze" itself. After all, this type of ability could be developed without a limit as long as it was still connected to the concept of his ability.
The squeeze manipulation might be strange for some people, but it was a powerful ability and strangely suited for him.
This ability allowed him to drain liquid from both living and non-living things by squeezing them, as well as absorbing liquid into himself and anything he wanted to.
It was a unique ability, without a doubt.
What he needed to do was squeeze something akin to squeezing out a soaked cloth to extract liquid from them.
His squeezing didn't cause any physical damage, no matter how severe, and seemed to bring a pleasurable sensation rather than a painful one.
As for how he found out, he tried it on Ibara, and she moaned pleasantly, which made him speechless. However, he didn't extract any liquid from her body since he feared she might suffer from dangerous dehydration.
This power was dangerous since if he wanted to, he could turn healthy people into shriveled pale husks.
The liquids extracted by this ability could take the form of special juices that could be drunk, which surprised him and seemed to have a variety of delicious flavors depending on what they were extracted from, even if derived from something that would have originally been hazardous to consume.
He had tried it on the bamboo tree, and it didn't taste strange. Instead, it tasted quite refreshing and delicious.
Even Ibara also had tasted it which made her speechless somehow.
However, the two were quite hooked by this ability, and they tried to taste the juice from various things, such as rare fish, candy, and many things that they almost couldn't count.
While he had only tried it once, he had tried to squeeze electricity too, which made him realize this ability gave him immunity to a specific element as long as he squeezed it. Still, the taste of the electric juice was unique and delicious, but it was quite tingling, akin to a soda for some reason.
However, while the juice was delicious, it didn't have a special property like his "Support Drink" ability.
Yet, if he wanted to, he could combine the two abilities, giving him the juice he squeezed to have the effect of the "Support Drink."
Still, this wasn't the end of his ability since the liquid he absorbed into his body made him larger and heavier. He could also release stored-up liquids as a massive super-pressurized blast, and when he became larger, his physical ability also increased along with the liquid he absorbed.
Frankly, there were many things he could do with this ability since, as long as it was within the "squeeze" concept, he could mostly do anything.
Similar to his "Spin Manipulation," as long as it was within the concept of "spin," he could do anything within the spin concept.
However, his "Squeezing Manipulation" was at an expert mastery, making him able to use this ability even more skilfully.
Yet compared to his last reward, those two rewards were far too pale.
Lunar (Master).
He only had one word for this ability.
Crazy.
Yes, crazy!
This ability was simply overpowered!
As long as the night came, he would become stronger.
This was the effect of this ability. It was simple and amazing.
When the night came, and the moon rose, he would become stronger and have unlimited stamina. All the damage to his body would also regenerate instantly at night.
Then, the question was, how strong was he at night?
On the full moon, which was at its highest, he would become 800 times stronger. On the other hand, on the new moon, he would be at his weakest since he didn't receive an improvement in his physical ability.
Cool, right?
He was simply invincible at night.
He was unmatched.
Except for the new moon, naturally.
Even if Ibara was greedy for his liquid, he was simply unbeatable at night.
However, when the morning came and the sun rose, everything would disappear, and he would turn into how he was usually, which made him speechless.
The disappearance of the boost of power made him sigh.
If possible, it was better to get stronger during the day, but he didn't complain since it was good enough.
Charm: 8 (+1)
Physical ability: 9
Intelligence: 8
Quirk: "Pop Off (Intermediate);" "Speed Augmentation (Intermediate);" "Color Manipulation (Expert);" "Hardening (Beginner);" "Ultimate Eyes (Intermediate);" "Spin Manipulation (Beginner); "Support Drink (Expert);" "Squeeze Manipulation (Expert); "Lunar" (Master)."
Skill: "Fishing (Master);" Cinema Art (Master); "Sculpting (Master)"
Points: 29,000 points.
"Wow..."
This was the only word he could come up with after seeing his status.
In front of such a temptation, could he wholeheartedly say love to a single girl?
Knowing he could gain power, which could make him live peacefully without worry, just by getting more girls, could he refuse it?
While some might confidently say, "I can do it!"
However, he couldn't do that. He was a realist. He also didn't dare to confess to Ibara first back then since he knew if he was rejected, everything would end.
Still, she took the initiative and confessed to him even though it was embarrassing for her.
He knew he owed a lot of things to Ibara since she was the one who gave him a chance to transform, but their feeling was mutual since she was also happy by his side.
Love was like this, after all.
The two sides couldn't be completely fair, even, or equal.
In most cases, some had to pay more.
Yet he had made a decision and prepared for the consequences since this was the path he had chosen.
He took his fishing rod, and under his skillful operation, he was able to get flathead fish.
The fish was fat and huge, but it was slightly disgusting.
However, one would be wrong to underestimate this fish since it tasted amazing.
Before the fish died, he applied "Ike Jime," a technique to destroy the fish's spine to maintain its freshness. He then put the fish in a cooler box before stopping the camera and drone after he had finished his video.
"Is it done, Minoru-kun?"
Ibara, who had been waiting in the nearby pavilion, approached him. She wore quite thick clothing since it was quite cold at dawn, and her face was slightly reddened because of the cold temperature.
Spring had arrived, but the cold temperature from the winter still remained.
"Yeah."
Mineta smiled and said, "We should be able to have sashimi later."
Ibara also smiled, but somehow her smile was quite restrained.
Mineta took her hand and asked, "Are you nervous about the announcement?"
"Un."
Ibara nodded since she knew she couldn't hide it from Mineta.
Mineta kissed Ibara's lips and said, "The letter won't come soon, so how about we visit a nearby hotel first."
"...."
Ibara blinked her eyes, but she followed him obediently since she must admit she would be lying if she didn't expect this from the beginning.
The sun hadn't risen yet, so it was a perfect time.
"Minoru-kun."
"Hmm?"
"Did you bring that?"
"...I will buy it at the nearby convenience store."
Their relationship was as good as ever, but his greed changed everything.
However, ever so, was it wrong for him to wish to stay in this relationship and wish to make her happy?