Epic of Caterpillar

Chapter 2456: Matsuo's Punishment?

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"Matsuo, based in what has happened yesterday, you're forbidden from doing any Mission or going to a Corrupted Domain for the rest of the month."

The words of the Ancestor were supreme, and like a law. Matsuo could never disapprove of them, or even refute them no matter how hard he would have wanted to.

He could only kneel and nod, it was a divine decree.

"I-I understand..."

They never gave him any reason, but he made the reasons himself, it was clear to him why they made this decision anyways.

It was for him to recover from his Soul that had been damaged, even when he was already fully healed.

But he thought of it differently...

It was as if they were looking down on him, as if they thought he was someone too delicate, that he could break at any moment.

This overprotectiveness felt like an insult to Matsuo, someone so eager to fight for his clan and protect the people of Tokyo and even the rest of Japan.

But maybe he was overthinking it too much.

"Matsuo!"

Frank, Harumi, and Erika quickly walked to him, surprising Matsuo.

"Huh? You guys are here? But there aren't any missions for today..." Matsuo said.

"We know, but we wanted to come and check on you. How are you doing so far?" Frank asked.

"We saw you training a lot, are you sure this is what you should be doing after what happened yesterday?" Harumi asked.

"I mean, I have to anyways. And what was affected was my soul, not my physical body," said Matsuo. "I can't... I can't slack off. Also why is she here?"

He looked at Erika with a bit of surprise.

"What if I'm here? I'm Harumi and Frank's friend so I tagged along!" said Erika, smiling cockily. "What? Afraid of werewolves? I don't bite."

"Hahah..." Matsuo laughed a bit. "I always thought you were on another whole... well, another vibe. But if you want to hang out with us I guess that fine. Well, not like we can do much right now. I'm banned from doing anything for a whole month."

"Wait, what?!" asked Frank. "A whole month? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I can't do anything about that, her words are a divine decree, I can't disobey them," he sighed.

"But that can't be... how about we try to change her mind?" asked Harumi.

"We can't just let you waste a whole month," said Frank. "Didn't you said that people can grow stronger by defeating monsters and absorbing their essence cores?"

"Yeah," said Matsuo. "And by fighting and developing our techniques and magic spells through this method. The core thing is rather limited, doesn't work all the time, and you need to prepare a ritual. As someone lives and experiences battles and continuously uses their abilities, you'll eventually develop them and improve them. Eventually, it's possible to forge Physiques, or even transform your heart into a Mana Heart, to increase Magic Power. There's also Magic Circuit Improvement and the cultivation of the Yin and Yang Essences."

In these times, Matsuo was still growing and struggling, but the Matsuo of the future that Frank saw through his dreams/memories was completely different.

He had already reached a divine level of power and had even surpassed the Great Ancestor of the Sun Clan of Tokyo.

Frank also recalled how he grew so strong, by accumulating techniques to reinforce his body, learning new spells to improve himself, forging and refining a physique, and also improving his magic circuits and mana heart.

And also, by cultivating his soul!

"Maybe I should tell him too," thought Frank. "I know a lot about the Matsuo from the "future", so I know what he went through, and also what he did to improve. But for that, I'll have to tell him about my dreams... I guess there's no helping it."

Frank walked towards Matsuo.

"I know you're struggling with your strength, and you're impatient about it..." sighed Frank. "So let me help you with it, even if a bit."

"You mean you want to give me your System items?" Matsuo asked. "Hah... No I don't want them Frank. I'm grateful, but I just... I want to grow on my own, not while relying on someone else's gift."

"I know you would say that, so just listen to me," Frank laughed. "I have a very funny story to tell you, I hope you're ready for it."

"Funny... story?" Matsuo tilted his head in confusion.

And then Frank went on for half an hour telling Matsuo about these "dreams" and also about the future Matsuo he had seen.

Matsuo thought that was bullshit from the start, but over time, as Frank continued telling him everything in so much detail, he slowly started to believe a bit of it.

"Wait, wait a minute, stop, time out!" he said. "So you're saying my future self-surpassed the great ancestor?!"

"Yeah you even became a new Kami," nodded Frank. "And these dreams... or maybe memories? They have become clearer as I've grown stronger, increasing my Intelligence Stat has helped me remember things clearer. I know the techniques you used, the path you went through, the training you did, everything. Well, not perfectly, I can't really tell you everything in absolute certainty but-"

Matsuo patted Frank's shoulders.

"Bro! Please tell me everything you know!" he said desperately. "I believe your bullshit! It has given me some hope... I'm all ears!"

"A-Ahahah, okay, alright, calm down man..." laughed Frank. "Let's talk then."

At the end, Frank spent several hours with Matsuo, talking about everything he knew, Matsuo rapidly started writing down everything on his own, taking it all as notes.

"I see, I never thought that the Basic Body Reinforcement Technique that nobody usually takes could evolve if I also took a Magic Circuit Refinement Technique! So they overlap?" asked Matsuo.

"It only happened to you because you're talented," said Frank. "But yeah, they'll overlap and give you a unique physique. Also make sure to buy stamina potions and mana potions and drink them after exhausting all your energies every time you train. I can be your sparring partner to help you with that."

"Frank... you would go so far for me dude?" asked Matsuo, shocked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you're my friend after all," Frank nodded. "Let's get stronger together, Matsuo."

"Sure!"