"Senior Disciple?"
A call suddenly rang out from behind him.
Kurozawa turned to look and saw a blue-eyed girl running excitedly toward him with an ordinary-looking boy.
Makomo, and a junior disciple, Imuki Ken.
"We'd only just entered the mountain, and we ran into you!"
With a sudden stop, Makomo came to a halt in front of Kurozawa.
Hanada Shizuka immediately went up to her and showed off her achievement. "Senior Sister, I killed a demon too!"
Her face practically screamed, Praise me already.
Makomo did not disappoint Hanada Shizuka. "Junior Sister Shizuka is amazing." As soon as she finished speaking, Makomo turned back to Kurozawa. "I ran into some demons on the way too. They were all so weak, though they did look a little scary."
Kurozawa chuckled. "For you, most of the demons here really are relatively weak."
"But don't let your guard down. I ran into a rather troublesome one this afternoon."
"If even you thought it was troublesome, Senior Brother, then it seems I just haven't encountered a powerful demon yet." Makomo's little face grew solemn.
"You entered the mountain this afternoon?" Imuki Ken keenly caught the flaw in Kurozawa's words, his bun-like face full of surprise.
"Yeah, yeah. Senior Disciple has already killed over twenty demons." Hanada Shizuka quickly answered, puffing out her chest with a proud look.
Why are you acting proud about it? Kurozawa merely smiled without speaking, fully displaying the bearing of a Senior Disciple.
After the four of them chatted for only about a minute, the topic returned to business.
"Senior Disciple, how are we moving next? I want to follow you."
Makomo tugged at Kurozawa's hand and widened her eyes.
However, Kurozawa mercilessly refused. "I have something to deal with, so I won't be taking you with me."
He did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "Shizuka, since we've run into Makomo, stay with them."
"I'm going to the mountaintop, and I won't be able to look after you."
In the anime, the Hand Demon had made a strong visual impact. It had no mysterious Blood Demon Art, but its body was like steel, capable of easily shattering even a Nichirin Blade.
Therefore, Kurozawa did not want to bring Hanada Shizuka along, afraid she would distract him.
"Alright." Hanada Shizuka felt as though she had been rejected and was a little unhappy, but she could only listen to Senior Disciple.
Makomo was not disappointed to hear that Kurozawa would be acting alone and would not let her follow. She merely nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Junior Sister Shizuka."
After once again telling them to shout loudly for help if they encountered danger, assuring them that he would rush over as long as he heard them, Kurozawa bade the three farewell and headed alone for the highest point of Mount Fujikasane—the summit.
Since it was nighttime, the demons' activity had become more frequent and concentrated. Along the way, Kurozawa casually dealt with seven demons without expending any effort.
Looking at the steadily increasing Potential Points and Power of Despair, Kurozawa felt the wonderful extravagance of being rich.
"Mm, that's enough to raise strength, agility, and intelligence once each. Haha."
"It's just a pity there isn't an attribute like a Charm Stat, even though Kurozawa's charm is beyond question."
Kurozawa, who had been walking, suddenly stopped, his face filled with shock.
Because just then, at the very moment he thought of increasing a Charm Stat, a sudden change occurred in the Gray-White at the corner of his vision.
A symbol formed out of nothing in an instant, as though it had always been there.
The moment he saw that symbol, Kurozawa understood what it represented: charm.
Charm Stat: 0.08. The instant he saw that number, Kurozawa's face darkened.
According to Gray-White's method of display, 0.1 was the average value for an ordinary person.
"My damn charm is actually below average? I can't accept this!"
Kurozawa inwardly cried that something was wrong. He was clearly so popular among his junior brothers and sisters. Gray-White had to be malfunctioning.
After feeling dejected for a moment, Kurozawa adjusted his mood and chose to accept reality.
"Mm, let's see. I have 210 Potential Points. It should be fine to use some on something unimportant, right?"
With a thought, his Potential Points plummeted by 100, making Kurozawa's expression change instantly.
"What's going on? I only wanted to increase my Charm Stat by 0.1, and it used up 100 Potential Points at once!"
When Kurozawa's physique had not been high, he had used only 20 Potential Points to raise a value by 0.1. Now, the change in his Charm Stat made him realize that this seemed to operate on a different system from physical attributes.
Charm was not a single attribute. A person's appearance, bearing, voice, gaze, temperament, even subtle movements—everything combined was what charm referred to. It was an exceptionally special personal attribute.
After his Charm Stat increased, Kurozawa only felt a fleeting rush of heat rise in his throat, after which there were no other changes.
"My precious Potential Points were exchanged for nothing but a burst of heat."
Looking at the 100-point drop in his Potential Points, Kurozawa felt his vision go dark.
"Sigh." He let out a sigh.
"It seems I still don't understand Gray-White well enough. When I have time, I need to keep exploring the right way to use it."
A magnetic voice that made people want to quietly listen fell silent.
At the same time, Kurozawa froze for a moment.
"My voice?"
"It's become a little different."
Only then did Kurozawa discover in delight that his voice had changed. On the surface, it did not sound noticeably different from before, but it carried an unusual quality that inspired trust, a deep and mysterious resonance like a demon's whisper.
Using the blade of his Nichirin Blade as a mirror, Kurozawa checked his appearance and found that it had not changed at all.
When he thought about how 100 Potential Points had only bought him the charm of his voice, Kurozawa could no longer feel delighted.
"With the remaining 110 Potential Points, I can raise physical attributes twice. That'll be enough to deal with the Hand Demon."
Now that things had come to this, Kurozawa stopped thinking about it.
Although he had spent half his Potential Points, this had also allowed him to learn of Gray-White's other mysterious qualities.
"Increase Pupil Power by 0.01." As Kurozawa slowly continued toward the summit, he tested Gray-White's newly discovered ability.
With a thought, the symbol representing Pupil Power alone appeared out of thin air. 0.35 became 0.36, while only two Potential Points were consumed.
After a faint stinging pain came from his eyes, Kurozawa's field of vision widened somewhat as well.
"So that's how it is." After testing it several times, Kurozawa understood.
Gray-White did not only allow those few fixed attributes to be increased. It was highly dependent on his will and could increase whichever physical attribute Kurozawa desired.
Is this setting me up to become a perfect being...?
Kurozawa discovered that when his thoughts were relatively vague, attributes would increase randomly. For example, since charm was such a broad concept, it had randomly increased the charm of his voice.
Different attributes also consumed different amounts of Potential Points. An attribute like vocal charm consumed enough Potential Points to make Kurozawa's heart ache.
"Looks like I used Gray-White far too crudely before."
Kurozawa shook his head, but a smile rose at the corners of his mouth.
Today's discovery was highly valuable.
He had never expected that a casual thought would let him understand some of Gray-White's uses.
Life was precisely so vibrant and colorful because of such twists of fate.
Good news lifted the spirit. After Kurozawa killed two more demons along the way to celebrate, he had reached a point only a hundred meters from the summit.
When he raised his head, Kurozawa could clearly see the outline of the mountaintop.
As well as a black shadow standing at the summit, looking down below.
Before you continue