Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 118 — Fifth Soul Pact: Yui

Chapter 118 — Fifth Soul Pact: Yui

"Fourth Summoned Beast~"

A rare flicker of excitement rose in Xia Ya’s heart.

After all, as a Transmigrator, he still held a sense of sentimentality.

And more importantly, Xia Ya’s current personal strength had already reached a bottleneck.

Back when he had just broken through to the Fourth-Ring, Xia Ya had managed to kill an experienced Titled Beastmaster like the Silver Fox, Lir, by leveraging his opponent’s arrogance and other favorable conditions.

But now, with his advancement to the Fifth-Ring, paired with his mastery over various ahead-of-the-curve skills and self-created abilities—

And of course, his undying body—

With intelligence on his side, even the top-tier Titled Beastmasters were no longer figures he particularly feared.

Legend-tier, however, was an exception. That was a different realm altogether, where quantity transformed into quality.

Though Xia Ya’s undying body was ridiculously OP, that didn’t mean he could recklessly charge in without consequence.

After all, if an enemy figured out how his undying mechanism worked, there were still ways to counter it.

Being undying didn’t mean being invincible. If he were trapped in a mithril cage that blocked spatial laws and suppressed transcendent powers, then sunk to the ocean floor—or sealed up like the half-body of the Twilight Ancient God once had been by the ancient Cangting Kingdom—

Then no matter how undying he was, Xia Ya would be completely screwed.

And precisely in the Historical Echo of Aisgania, Legends weren’t exactly rare.

Or rather, based on intel from Xiao, there was a high possibility that during this joint siege led by Futigon and the Abyssal coalition, an Abyssal Lord with Legend-tier power might show up on the battlefield.

“In terms of pure transcendent creature strength... total mental energy and mana increase gradually with age.”

“In that aspect, I’m still lacking in accumulation. Compared to those old farts who’ve lived over a hundred years, there's a gap I just can’t cross yet.”

“If that’s the case, if I want to gain Legend-tier combat strength through an alternate route, I’ll have to rely on some special methods.”

Xia Ya’s gaze sharpened.

Mechanist.

Though right now, Mechanists and their associated Steam School only made up a small, relatively unknown faction among the many transcendent groups on the Western Continent—

As a Transmigrator, Xia Ya naturally knew the potential of the Mechanist path.

In his previous life, even powerless mortals could harness technology to achieve strength comparable to that of a Titled Beastmaster.

Let alone in this world, where magitech fused magical runes with machinery, pushing the upper limits far beyond what was imaginable in his past life.

Xia Ya stepped into Workshop No. 7.

What came into view were two massive metal containers, instantly reminding him of the trailers from his past life—like the ones Optimus Prime used to carry extra gear.

And between those two metal containers stood a mirrored cube, shimmering with a pure silver luster.

Xia Ya focused his gaze on the mirrored cube.

In the next second, a deep blue system panel surfaced in his mind.

——

【Species Name: Yorha-type Machine Lifeform—132B】

【Category: Mechanical Lifeform】

【Attribute: Metal】

【Stage: Juvenile】

【Soul Pact Status: None】

【Combat Level: 40 (Fourth-Tier)】

【Species Tier: Low-tier Imperial (Sixth-Tier)】

【Beast Skills: Fire Source (Beginner), Metal Genesis (Beginner), Megastructure Armament (Beginner)】

——

And as Xia Ya’s attention locked onto the skill list, new details emerged one by one.

【Fire Source】

【Attribute: Mechanical】

【Tier: High-tier】

【Proficiency: Beginner (0/100)】

【Skill Description: The core spark that grants life and intelligence to mechanical beings. Only by igniting the Fire Source can cold, lifeless metal transform into a sentient machine lifeform.】

——

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【Metal Genesis】

【Attribute: Mechanical】

【Tier: High-tier】

【Proficiency: Beginner (0/100)】

【Skill Description: A unique ability of Yorha-type Machine Lifeform—132B. Allows fluid control over metal particles and restructures them through an alchemical matrix according to the Beastmaster’s will.】

——

【Megastructure Armament】

【Attribute: Mechanical】

【Tier: Transcendent-tier】

【Proficiency: Beginner (0/100)】

【Skill Description: A unique ability of Yorha-type Machine Lifeform—132B. Based on stored schematics, enables the manifestation of massive mechanical constructs using a large quantity of metal particles.】

【Currently Stored Megastructure Blueprints: 1】

【Blueprint Code No. 1: Danger Wanderer】

——

“Perfect.”

Looking at the list of skills on the system panel, Xia Ya couldn’t help but snap his fingers.

Unlike when he previously chose contract beasts as a Beastmaster—where everything was left up to fate—

Mechanical-type beasts, as genuine artificial lifeforms, were fully customizable.

Aside from a few mass-produced models, each custom high-tier mechanical-type Summoned Beast had a one-of-a-kind species name, and even its racial skills were entirely unique.

For this fourth Summoned Beast, both Xia Ya and Suren had poured a tremendous amount of effort into the project, aiming for perfection in every detail.

Even the species tier had been maxed out at "Low-tier Imperial," thanks to Xia Ya’s abundant funding.

That was currently the highest tier mechanical beasts could be manufactured at by the Steam School. Any further advancement would require long-term nurturing by a Beastmaster.

After all, this was a man-made beast species with no historical precedent, so everything had to be explored one step at a time.

Xia Ya didn’t waste any more time and released his mental energy directly.

This was his dream machine, crafted with his own hands... He already knew all its specs inside and out, so things like "checking compatibility" could be skipped. Time to fast-forward straight to the Soul Pact.

The moment Xia Ya’s mental energy touched the mirrored metal surface, he felt a faint resistance.

But soon, as the imprint of his mental energy was recognized and matched with the information stored in the database—

In the next moment, Xia Ya’s mental energy flowed into the mirrored metal surface without resistance.

The fifth Soul Pact was silently established.

And right at the moment the fifth Soul Pact was completed, Xia Ya immediately performed a point allocation.

【The mechanical-type skill "Fire Source" of the "Unnamed" has broken through in proficiency, upgrading from "Beginner" to "Mastery."】

……

【The mechanical-type skill "Fire Source" of the "Unnamed" has broken through in proficiency, upgrading from "Expert" to "Perfect."】

The skill level of "Fire Source" in a mechanical-type Summoned Beast directly determined the intelligence level of the mechanical lifeform.

So, to avoid the hassle of dealing with a glorified robo-idiot, he definitely couldn’t skip the point allocation.

As for where the free EXP points came from... yep, he got them from the "Weekly Warm-Hearted Gift Pack," which gave him a few small EXP Crystals.

“Master?”

As soon as the point allocation was done—

A gender-neutral mechanical voice rang out in Xia Ya’s mind, channeled through the Soul Pact.

“That voice is unpleasant.”

Xia Ya gave it a moment’s thought.

“Based on the voice samples I gave you, from little wife Xiao Ai to big wife Lady Xibao, mix and blend a tone that best matches my personal aesthetic.”

“……”

What answered Xia Ya was a long silence.

Fortunately, the Perfect-level "Fire Source" AI apparently had the capability to even fulfill such a spoiled request.

Over a minute later—

“Master?”

A voice rang out by Xia Ya’s ear—ethereal and crisp, as melodious as wind chimes.

Xia Ya gave a slight shudder.

Not just Xiao Ai, but Sylvia... Isadella, Suren, and even his Golden Elf instructor Hathaway...

From that voice, Xia Ya actually picked up hints of all five of them.

It perfectly matched his tastes.

“Master?”

That graceful, airy voice spoke again, now tinged with a slight chill.

“You haven’t given me a name yet…”

Xia Ya answered without hesitation:

“Yui.”