"What about me though?"

Showing up without any regard for the calmness of our hearts, Bonger simply stood a single meter away from us, as if he was actually standing there since a long time ago. Now, there weren't any remaining hints that would give away his unorthodox origins. Right now, he seemed to be just another normal cultivator, enjoying his life in the capital city of the apex branch of this world.

"Bonger… It's been a while."

Instead of acting surprised - something that I was quite positive that Bonger hoped to achieve - I simply acknowledged the fact that this now autonomous system of mine was here. After all, it was Bonger that gave me the hints necessary to figure out the problem of using the spatial rips to travel around. Given that, it would be hard to imagine that he himself wouldn't be far more proficient at doing this than I still was.

"Indeed. And from what I can see, you didn't progress almost at all. Bart, tell me. Is something wrong with you?"

Looking at me with a worry overflowing from his eyes, Bonger still managed to greatly improve my mood with that. While I would never dare to admit it openly, this kind of little and friendly banter with him was an element that I greatly missed ever since he left the confines of my head to roam the world freely.

"Nah. It's just that my body needs to get used to living normally after a parasite left it."

This statement was clearly negative. In one moment, the situation turned tense with Eve unable to decide where should she cast her sight. Yet, instead of the conflict escalating, the spell of the enmity broke apart when the two of us rushed forward only to fall into each other arms.

"Gosh, I think this is the first time when we were apart for so long. While I hope it won't make my dearest any bit jealous… It still feels nice to be able to give you a hug."

I couldn't stop those words from escaping my mouth. As much as it could put some doubts in Eve's mind about the truth of my sexuality, in reality, it was nothing more than a joy of someone who finally managed to express his familial love to his friend.

"Right back at you. Either way, you do realise that doing literally anything right now puts you in a strange spot… Just like I managed to increase your capabilities by growing myself, whenever you reach greater heights, the same effect applies to me. That's why… I would be damn happy if you could spare some thought to what you are actually doing with those scraps!"

Pointing his hand at my crafting circle, Bonger looked at me with fake desperation in his eyes. Yet, all jokes and poking fun aside, I could understand where this dear system of mine was coming from.

"Wait a bit. Is anyone here willing to put me up to speed?"

Finally regaining her voice after a few moments of just watching our natural yet uncommon interaction, Eve stood between the two of us, forcing this manly hug oozing testosterone to end. With her face perfectly expressing the annoyance of being left out of the loop, I knew that if I dared to hold her away from the information any longer, the coming days would turn from fluffy time to a hellish one.

"In short words, this is Bonger. Given how you meet him already, I assumed you guessed that he is that legendary yet broken system of mine."

Sending a light nudge to Bonger's side, I refocused my attention back on the crafting sphere. Listening or explaining things to Eve didn't require all that much of my attention spawn, allowing me to focus on actually turning the seemingly useless treasures of this trash dump into something practical.

"That I know. But I would like to know what did you guys meant with those… upgrades? How come cultivation of one affects the cultivation of the other?"

Sitting down on a random piece of metal that once had a dream of becoming a sword or other form of glorious weapon, Eve looked at me sternly. While she had to be aware that the normal means of this world didn't really apply to me all that much, but I could also understand where her slightly forced attitude was coming from.

No matter how many times did I have sex with other girls, she wouldn't care all that much. While she already proved that she preferred to be fully exclusive with me, I knew that for Eve, having multiple women was just the way in which this world worked. But what was important here, was that the only commonly known way of influencing cultivation of someone else with one of one's own… was dual cultivation.

And I didn't dare to guess what would this fierce woman do if her worry about my orientation turned to some vile guesses!

"It's… quite complicated. I will simplify the things to the point that they are no longer anywhere close to the original truth, but you could say that Bonger… Is actually a part of me. That's why, whenever I grow my strength, his potential increases. Obviously, it works in reverse as well, whenever Bonger's personal power grows, I can see my limits distancing itself away from where they used to stand."

Quickly explaining the general idea, I suddenly stopped talking. Focusing all my attention at the crafting sphere in front of my eyes, I started to infuse it with some great amounts of energy. For some reason, while I could freely mould and modify the ores inside, actually intervening their qualities and turning them into finished product seemed like a black hole in terms of how much energy it required!

"Finally. You really like to take your time…"

Shuddering with a sudden excitement as soon as I finally finished my work and pulled out a simple yet elegant light sword from the crafting sphere, Bonger reached a state where he was barely holding on his legs. The very next moment, I could see his cultivation suddenly exploding, clearly breaking through the limits that I was unable to even name as my own power was simply too lacking for that task.