With the skinny guy with glasses as a precedent, the others naturally knew how to answer.
They might not fully believe that Jay could help them, but at the very least, he represented hope.
And all they had to give in return was a simple compliment.
Thus, Jay easily fulfilled the fusion conditions.
~[Condition Met: Overwhelm your peers with your beauty, make 20 people verbally admit you are more handsome (or beautiful) than them. Fusion of "Koyuki" (White) successful!]
Everything fell into place!
Jay hadn't expected to fuse his second character card so quickly, even though it wasn't particularly useful.
But being handsome lasts a lifetime!
After dismissing the group, Jay finally loaded the [Hand Demon] (Blue) character card.
Then, returning to his room, he took out the dozen severed hands he had previously stored in ice.
As 13 of the hands disappeared in a flash of white light, the [Hand Demon] (Blue)'s additional ability, [Dexterous Hands], was successfully activated.
Jay immediately felt his hands becoming far more nimble.
The difference between [Slightly Enhanced] and [Moderately Enhanced] was pretty significant.
However, the new fusion conditions that appeared were on a whole other level of difficulty.
~[Fusion Condition: Cut off the left hands of 44 people and turn them into specimens.]
Not only had the difficulty skyrocketed, this was downright twisted!
Jay suspected that this was due to the nature of the character cards themselves.
~[Yujiro Hanma] (Red) was a battle maniac, so its activation conditions were mostly related to combat and self-improvement.
~[Mitsuri Kanroji] (Orange) revolved around "eating" and "love", fitting her character traits.
~[Hand Demon] (Blue) was simply a "monster", so its conditions weren't just related to hands, but were also extremely gruesome.
This suggested that the difficulty of activation conditions wasn't just tied to rarity, the nature of the character played a huge role as well.
Jay quickly stored away the remaining severed hands.
There was still a lot he needed to learn, such as yoga, dance, and perhaps… specimen preparation.
Even Yoshikage Kira would give him a thumbs-up for this!
Oh, and if the opportunity arose, he needed to get himself a boar-head mask.
What was true performance art?
True performance art was:
Wearing a boar-head mask, eating sakura mochi, doing push-ups and yoga, then suddenly pulling out a severed hand, shaking hands with you, and breaking into a disco dance.
Damn, that's one eerie scene!
For some reason, Jay had a feeling that he was straying further and further down the path of a "weirdo."
After all, no mentally stable person would do these things.
The Next Afternoon
The massive training ground was filled with soldiers standing in pairs, except for the new recruits assigned to miscellaneous tasks.
Today was combat training.
And what Jay lacked most was real combat experience.
As training began, Jay's opponent rushed in with a punch, attempting to gain the upper hand.
If this had been Jay from a month ago, he would have been knocked down immediately.
But now?
Jay might not have undergone a complete transformation, but he was no longer a pushover.
"Too slow."
As his opponent's "feather-light" punch came toward him, Jay simply opened his palm and effortlessly blocked it.
Not only that, he barely even felt the impact.
Then, as he tightened his grip and pressed down on his opponent's fist…
His opponent's face twisted in pain, his entire body instinctively crouching down.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…!"
For over a month, Jay had focused on strength training and endurance.
This was merely a warm-up.
"Again."
Jay let go and signaled for another round.
Perhaps out of stubbornness, his opponent rubbed his wrist and charged again, though more cautiously this time.
After just a brief exchange, Jay was certain:
His strength completely crushed this guy.
If Jay fought back, it'd be over in an instant.
So, in the spirit of making the most out of a weak opponent, Jay decided to train his reflexes and evasion.
Closing one's eyes in a fight was a big no-no, but without proper training, most people did it instinctively.
It was something he needed to overcome.
Since Jay wasn't counterattacking, his opponent mistakenly believed he had a chance to win…
Completely ignoring the fact that he hadn't landed a single hit.
With [Hanma Blood] granting Jay incredible adaptability, he quickly memorized his opponent's attack patterns and saw through every move.
Out of boredom, he began calling out the attacks before they happened.
"Right punch, right punch, kick, left uppercut..."
Soon, his opponent was drenched in sweat, looking visibly shaken.
Not just from exhaustion, but from the crippling realization that every move was being read like an open book.
"Screw this! To hell with my dream of being a Marine! I'm done!"
After throwing one last desperate combo, and still missing every hit, his opponent broke down, screamed, and ran off crying.
Jay blinked.
"Huh… Guess his mental fortitude wasn't great."
Feeling the weird looks from those around him, Jay awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Now that his sparring partner had fled, Jay turned to ask the instructor for a match.
Only to find that the instructor was fast asleep, reeking of alcohol.
This Marine branch was beyond rotten.
With no other choice, Jay scanned the area, searching for a worthy opponent.
That's when a loud noise caught his attention.
BANG!
A skinny figure was slammed into the ground with a brutal shoulder throw, his glasses flying off.
"Hey, get up! If you wanna be a punching bag, act like one!"
The attacker was a burly, crew-cut soldier, no less muscular than Johnson had been.
Even though the glasses-wearing guy's body was barely holding together, he wobbled to his feet and took a shaky stance.
SLAP!
The crew-cut soldier smacked him across the face, sending him crashing down again.
His left cheek swelled instantly, blood trickling from his nose and ears.
"I said GET UP! You hear me, you worthless piece of shit?!"
The burly soldier then kicked him repeatedly.
The skinny guy curled up, protecting his head and gritting his teeth in silence.
Was he strong-willed?
No.
He knew that if he cried out, the instructor might notice, but that would only make things even worse.
That was a lesson he had learned the hard way.