As Azrael summoned Pride, a mass of black and red liquid materialized before his eyes, flowing like living shadows given form. The symbiote moved with predatory grace, each ripple suggesting barely contained power.
In the next instant, the alien matter surged forward and attached itself to his body, disappearing beneath his skin without leaving the slightest trace of its presence.
"Hello, Azrael."
A neutral, distinctly inhuman voice echoed close to his ear, with undertones that suggested vast experience and ancient knowledge.
Azrael turned his head to discover a grotesque black and red visage protruding from his shoulder like so nightmarish growth. The creature's terrifying maw stretched in a grin that was far too wide, while its scarlet tongue flicked through the air with serpentine malevolence.
"You don't even need electricity to hold a concert with that voice," Azrael remarked dryly, recognizing the symbiote's distinctive appearance but unable to resist the urge to comnt on its dramatic presentation.
Pride tilted his hideous head in confusion, clearly not understanding the reference to entertainnt technology or performance venues from another world altogether.
After the brief mont of levity had passed, Azrael began to systematically evaluate his current physical condition through careful internal assessnt.
Originally, the feedback from his enhanced ntal powers had registered his body as that of a normal person who exercised regularly, healthy but unremarkable in terms of raw ability.
But now, everything felt different.
Azrael clenched his fist experintally, feeling the power flow through muscles that seed denser and more responsive than before. His current strength felt enough to literally kill a bull with his bare hands, a transformation that defied rational explanation.
However, Pride quickly provided a crucial clarification that tempered his excitent.
"Primary physical enhancents do not manifest imdiately," the symbiote explained with the patience of an ancient teacher addressing an eager student. "You must maintain our bond for at least a month before these improvents beco permanent."
As if sensing Azrael's thoughts, Pride continued, "Your current increase in strength is the result of my direct intervention, not biological enhancent."
Hearing this explanation, Azrael felt no disappointnt whatsoever. His current ntal reserves were more than sufficient to maintain the symbiotic bond indefinitely, provided he avoided catastrophic injuries requiring extensive regeneration.
Let alone a month, he could sustain Pride's presence for years without any significant drain on his ntal energy.
"Then this is your current power level," Azrael observed, analyzing the enhancent he could feel coursing through his enhanced physique.
Obviously, this was only a fraction of Pride's true capabilities. The symbiote remained severely weakened from its cosmic journey and subsequent recuperation.
Curious to see the full extent of their combined potential, Azrael relaxed his stance and spoke with growing anticipation. "Show your full strength, Pride."
The mont his words finished echoing through the apartnt, black and red liquid erupted from every pore of his body, consuming his human form from within with terrifying efficiency.
Where a high school student had stood monts before, a towering monster of writhing muscle and alien horror now dominated the living room. The transformation was complete and utterly inhuman.
"You're quite considerate, you didn't break the ceiling," Azrael's voice erged from the nightmarish form, carrying notes of genuine amusent despite the dramatic physical change.
Indeed, the symbiote possessed incredible shape-shifting abilities that allowed it to adapt precisely to its environnt. Pride had automatically adjusted their combined height to nearly ten feet, perfect for the generous ceiling height of the apartnt.
In this altered state, Azrael experienced sensations beyond normal human perception. His consciousness remained fully intact while being augnted by Pride's alien perspective and fighting instincts.
Staring in fascination at his massively muscled arms, Azrael focused his will and watched as the appendages flowed like liquid before transforming into shimring blades that reflected the room's light with razor sharpness.
The transformation was seamless and instinctive, requiring no conscious effort beyond basic intent.
However, rembering Pride's [Battle Master] trait from his card analysis, Azrael decided to defer combat decisions to his more experienced partner.
"The money you saved on gym mberships better go towards buying chicken," Pride's distinctly hoarse voice rumbled through the apartnt, the sound carrying alien harmonics that made the air itself seem to vibrate.
The symbiote had clearly absorbed aspects of Azrael's personality during their brief bond, already demonstrating his tendency toward pragmatic humor and sarcastic observations.
But symbiotes also amplified the underlying desires and impulses of their hosts, a potentially dangerous side effect that could destabilize weaker-willed individuals.
Perhaps due to the mystical restrictions that prevented the cards from harming their creators, Azrael felt no such negative influence on his emotional state or decision-making processes.
With a simple ntal command, Pride flowed back into his body like a receding tide, leaving only a perfectly normal-looking teenager standing in the now-quiet living room.
"Excellent camouflage capabilities," Azrael murmured with deep satisfaction, reviewing Pride's performance across multiple criteria.
The symbiote provided combat enhancent, healing, superior defensive protection, and perfect camouflage, a comprehensive package that addressed virtually every vulnerability in his current strategic position.
No onlooker would suspect that an ordinary looking student like himself was hiding a terrifying alien predator within his own flesh and blood.
"Co to think of it, Pride should be compatible with Pidgeot," Azrael realized, his tactical mind already exploring new possibilities for synergistic applications.
Without hesitation, he summoned his trusty bird companion to test this theory directly.
Pidgeot materialized with his usual graceful precision, but imdiately fixed Azrael with a distinctly wary gaze. So primal instinct clearly warned the creature of so inexplicable threat emanating from its master's transford presence.
"No need for complicated procedures," Pride announced, manifesting its grotesque head from Azrael's right shoulder without warning.
The sudden appearance startled Pidgeot considerably, causing the bird to ruffle its feathers in alarm. However, seeing Azrael's completely calm deanor, the Pokemon gradually relaxed despite its lingering unease.
"We're conducting an experint, Pidgeot. Don't be afraid," Azrael said gently, reaching out to stroke the creature's head with reassuring familiarity.
His original plan had been to have Pride completely envelop Pidgeot in order to enhance its flight capabilities, but since the symbiote seed confident in its approach, he decided to allow Pride complete autonomy over the process.
As he spoke, several dark tentacles erged from his body and extended toward Pidgeot, carefully wrapping around the bird until it resembled an exotic black and red aerial predator.
Observing the organic links connecting him to his transford mount, Azrael nodded with growing appreciation. "No need for saddles or harnesses now."
With Pride in direct control of their shared nervous system, Azrael would remain perfectly stable in flight, regardless of wind conditions or evasive maneuvers.
"And weather won't affect our performance either," he added, recognizing another crucial advantage.
Wind, rain, or temperature extres would prove irrelevant to soone protected by a symbiotic organism capable of environntal adaptation.
A card with dual functionality, the efficiency was remarkable.
Azrael was now convinced that creating a symbiote was the most strategically sound decision he'd made since arriving in this world.
After returning Pride to his body, Azrael dismissed Pidgeot's summons to conclude their successful experint.
"Self-defense problem solved, transportation problem solved," he tallied with satisfaction, ntally checking the items off his strategic priority list.
"The irony," he reflected with dark amusent. "A superhero gadget like the Mark 3 serves my criminal identity, while an antihero Alien lifeform protects my public student persona."
The thought of future scenarios in which he could pilot the Mark 3 armor during Crimson Oath Society missions while fighting his own symbiote during university activities painted an absurdly complex picture of divided loyalties.
However, when his dual identities eventually rged, or when he acquired additional transformation-based equipnt, Pride would have significantly more operational freedom to demonstrate his full capabilities.
Azrael could imagine enemies breaking through his summoned cards, then fighting desperately to penetrate his armor, only to face a symbiote with supernatural regenerative abilities as their final obstacle.
The scenario promised beautiful despair for anyone foolish enough to challenge him seriously.
"The only remaining problem is storage space," he muttered, already turning his attention to the next item on his developnt agenda.
Pulling out his phone, Azrael began to search trade sites for materials that might address his logistical limitations.
After an extensive search, he sighed in disappointnt. "Bronze-level materials with spatial manipulation properties simply don't exist on the market."
The problem wasn't that he didn't want to create storage solutions, but that spatial abilities were extrely rare and typically required high-level materials beyond his current access level.
There were no suitable components available at the Bronze level, forcing him to temporarily abandon storage-related projects.
"I will wait for Fredrika to contact ," Azrael decided, accepting the limitation while planning his next steps.
He settled into a ditation posture on his bed and began the familiar process of ntal energy cultivation. After all, there was still more than a month before classes began, and he had few other obligations at Pixar.
Well, except for recreational nightti activities with his female cards, though such pursuits seed more appropriate for the evening hours than broad daylight.
For intimate encounters, Azrael had no intention of allowing Pride to observe, despite the symbiote's apparent lack of conventional gender characteristics. So experiences required privacy, even from alien parasites.
After several days of peaceful routine, his phone buzzed with an incoming ssage that imdiately caught his attention.
[Fredrika: Dear Brother, Sister misses you. Are you free to visit today?]
Recognizing the ssage as standard operational cover rather than genuine affection, Azrael replied imdiately with characteristic brevity.
[Azrael: Yes].
Even if Fredrika's invitation had been motivated by personal interest rather than Crimson Oath Society business, his response would have remained unchanged.
Frankly, with Heart-Under-Blade and Nami providing companionship that perfectly matched his preferences, Azrael had no intention of pursuing relationships with actual human won in this lifeti.
Not to ntion the additional female cards he might create in the future as his resources and abilities expanded.
Two-dinsional relationships remained superior in every asurable way.
If Fredrika ever discovered his thought process, she would probably curse him as a hopeless otaku with questionable priorities and social developnt.
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