I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

Chapter 61: Cold as Steel

"What are you two looking at? I see nothing in front of you. And yet, you and Merleen are fiddling with something that I don't know!!! Are you keeping secrets from me? Because if you do, I will pulverise you into pieces!"

That puzzling reaction from Fenrir made me realise she did not have a system. The villagers, too, were not wary about this system and the upgrades they should have. If I had not introduced those powers to those people, maybe we wouldn't have had a chance of fighting Uruk-hai.

That event reminded me of the past. And now, I had the power to share it with Fenrir. I just needed to guide this overpowered hound girl to fight by my side throughout this journey.

It was a wish reaching for the stars.

"I can share the system with you, Fenrir. Just promise me not to use that power against me," I asked, and waved my hand, activating the set-up from the system.

All I had to do was add Fenrir to my party, just like what I did to the Morgana Family. When I added Afenos and Rain to my party, those pairs immediately received their shared powers. The system appeared in their eyes, showering them with massive arcane.

However, when I nearly died and fell from the cliff, that party got severed, kicking me out from the team. We had no other means to contact each other, and the friend's system refused to work until now.

If I could apply the same theory to Fenrir, that wolf girl would also get the system. And since she was not a villain in my eyes, I believed Fenrir would take the right path of justice Well, as long as she would stay by my side.

"System? Additional power? Why do I need one of those, and why do I have such ability, Arthur?" Fenrir asked, but I couldn't give her my answer.

I knew little about the system in this world. All I did was apply everything I learned from the game while knowing that this world became mine.

"I will explain later once I give you the system," I announced.

After a brief silence, Fenrir nodded her head and replied, "what should I need to do? Since I could sense powerful magic surrounding you despite your... weak aura, I will trust you, Arthur."

Those words meant a lot to me since nobody from my previous life trusted me. It was as if that phrase became the saving grace of my brain.

The system finally blared a high-pitch sound, telling me that the party request went out successfully. After a few seconds, the translucent window appeared before everyone, surprising the wolf girl beside me.

"What's that, Arthur?" Fenrir asked, as she pulled out her claws and prepared to launch an attack.

Fenrir had the eyes of a tiger despite being with the same species of a dog. She growled at the floating box, expecting something horrible to happen to her. The only thing that stopped Fenrir from using force was my hand blocking her view.

"Hold it, Fenrir. That box you're using is the system. And you can't destroy the system, since it belongs to you and inside your mind," I explained, while analyzing the texts written on the party set-up.

"My what?"

Thousands of question marks appeared above Fenrir's head, wondering the meaning behind the blank square. Within a few moments, the box filled itself with words, confirming something to her.

[Congratulations! You added Fenrir as your Comrade and a Party Member!]

[You need at least ONE member to complete the party set-up!]

[Arthur Wyllt- Leader (Knight)]

[Merleen Sylvestris- Partner (Mage?)]

[Fenrir Cavall- Comrade (Lycanthrope)]

[-------------------]

[-------------------]

[-------------------]

[-------------------]

The same old texts with their design welcomed our eyes as they popped up before us. These words already appeared when I introduced the system to Merleen. It was as if the system knew that I would need more party members to stop something throughout my journey.

But I pushed those pessimistic thoughts aside and focused more on the present.

Fenrir received a different title compared to Merleen. That wolf girl had "comrades" beside her name. I could only think that the system thought of her as my friend from our recent exploration. However, little did this system know that she just joined the party. And Fenrir never treated me as her equal or a friend.

If I had to put it in words, that wolf girl thought of me as a decaying food on her plate.

Fenrir also received extraordinary statistical power. That wolf already had the power to kill the mightiest foes I could ever think of. And yet, the system granted her more arcane, statistical power, and status points in her identifications. I could only hunch that she was now three times stronger than her usual self.

However, the problem was that I could not see through her identity. My system obstructed my eyesight every time I tried viewing my party's information. I even tried that to Merleen, but it did not work.

"W-Wha?!" Fenrir gasped, as she tried waving her hands, shooing those boxes away from her.

That girl looked like a dog having fun with a toy given by her owner. But if I told that to Fenrir, I better prepare my death wish and pack everything I owned inside my bag.

As soon as Fenrir realised she could not get the boxes, she stopped and rested on the ground. Even in this situation, that wolf girl still acted tough, telling us she did not break a sweat.

"Is this the power that you talked about, Arthur?" Fenrir asked.

I gave her a nod.

"I gave you that boost since you'd accompany us throughout our journey And you don't seem to be a villain in my eyes, considering that you're a mother of... four puppies?"

That last sentence I said came out as a question, not a declarative sentence. Fenrir widened her eyes upon hearing my phrase.

"What do you mean by 'mother'?" she asked. "Are you talking about the time you tried to play the hero with the mercenaries-which I did not need your help?"

Fenrir had a sharp tongue when talking. She would always spout whatever came inside her mind, letting everyone know her thoughts without giving a damn.

And that theory I deduced turned out to be the wrong one. Fenrir was not a mother even though she had puppies by her side. It was from the first event we met inside the dark arcane forest.

"Then why do you have puppies beside you?" I asked.

"It's because I'm training them to kill This world is going to experience famine, and I need to let those puppies learn how to kill! But I underestimated my powers, and got cornered by those bastards.. They took three of the puppies Those were my warriors! They. Nevermind."

Fenrir cut off her sentence and stormed ahead. Merleen shouted for her name and went after her. Merleen also told me she did not want Fenrir wandering on her own inside this village.

And around an hour, the world would soon cover itself with the night sky once more.

"Let her be We will look for her later, okay?" I suggested, and caressed Merleen's crazed hair.

Merleen trusted my words while nodding her head. That mage girl flashed me a faint smile as she looked at the road Fenrir ran off.

From the world I knew before, people did not want to get their pride trampled by others. When I brought up the fight between the mercenaries and her, Fenrir did not wish to accept that she lost that battle. If it were not for me, maybe Fenrir would have badly injured herself with the puppies wiped out from existence.

According to her story, Fenrir lost three puppies before Merleen and I appeared in the fray. When Fenrir said that, a sting in my heart reminded me to feel it again. I blamed myself for coming to her aid late.

"If only I rushed towards that area... maybe I could have saved her?" I kept pondering inside my brain, imagining reversing the events.

However, that part already happened. And Fenrir could not accept that she was getting less powerful every passing day. I could only guess that stress and the famine hit her hard like a truck.

After five minutes, I urged Merleen to look for Fenrir. Those minutes might have been enough for Fenrir to self-reflect on her actions. I did not want Fenrir to blame herself too. So Merleen and I needed to comfort her when we would see her.

"Speak of the devil," I murmured.

Fenrir's figure welcomed my eyes as she stood in the forest's depths. As Merleen and I approached the shape, the eerie background howled through our minds. It was as if we went inside a haunted house in the middle of nowhere.

And the ghost was... Fenrir herself, pressing our dreadful thoughts. She showed me her true coloures behind that dark fur.