"Alright, I was just messing with you about all that."
Seeing Panda's suspicious dot-eyes, Eichi smiled, ending the topic of riding Pandas.
"Phew, I knew it! How could anyone…"
Panda finally relaxed and decided that if he had the chance, he would visit Sichuan Province. It would be great if he could collect a real Panda to bring back.
Although Panda didn't like eating bamboo, he loved collecting Panda ornaments and plushies.
"But riding a Panda next door is real."
"Eh?"
Panda's eyes turned into dots again.
'See you in my dreams, legendary homeland of Pandas.'
"Actually, I think you should change professions," Eichi suddenly said, staring at Panda with a serious expression.
"Do you take me for a game character? Tell me, do I become a Qi master or a Drunken Fist master? It can't be a Shaman or a Monk, can it?"
Seeing Eichi talking nonsense with such a straight face, Panda crossed his arms, ready to enjoy Eichi's performance.
"Qi master and Shaman are a bit difficult, but Drunken Fist and Monk are possible."
Eichi stroked his chin.
"Are you interested in being an Assassin?"
Eichi offered the first profession change.
"Have you ever seen an Assassin this big?"
Panda went into Make complaints mode.
"Even though you're big, you're agile! A big guy as agile as you is rare in this world, isn't he?"
"Panda isn't big, I'm just a bit round. Besides, if Panda wasn't round, would he still be Panda?"
Eichi imagined a skinny Panda.
"Hmm, good point. You should eat more."
"I told you so."
Panda also nodded in satisfaction.
"However, my suggestion for you to become an Assassin is serious. You are a cursed tool, you have no life aura.
And your limbs all have soft paw pads and fluffy fur, so you can move completely silently. If you just learn to conceal your Cursed Energy aura, you'd be a perfect Assassin."
"That actually makes sense," Panda nodded. He originally thought Eichi was just bored and chatting with him, but he didn't expect Eichi to actually be giving him advice.
"The only problem is the lethality. If the opponent is a Curse User, it's fine, but if it's a large Cursed Spirits, your claws aren't sharp, and attacking with your fists and palms isn't lethal enough."
Eichi stroked his chin, feigning distress.
"How about we remove one hand and replace it with long, sharp claws or mantis-like scythes?"
Eichi clapped his hands together, smiling as he said something that made Panda shiver.
"No, absolutely not!"
Panda shook his head repeatedly, refusing.
He was very satisfied with his current cute and charming appearance and completely unwilling to be transformed into something strange.
Not even if it made him stronger.
After all, strength is temporary, but cuteness is for life.
"No?"
Eichi showed a look of regret.
'He's messing with me, this is definitely messing with me.'
Panda was speechless internally.
"If an Assassin Bear isn't to your liking, how about a Cannon Bear?"
Eichi suggested again.
"Cannon Bear?"
Panda tilted his head in confusion.
"That's right, carrying a Gatling Bodhisattva of Great Mercy, loaded with Depleted Uranium rounds of Six Pure Roots, showing great mercy to Cursed Spirits."
As Eichi spoke, a wild Panda image appeared in Panda's mind: a red bandana tied around its head, ammo belts draped over its body, and a Gatling gun in its hands, wildly firing.
"If you're worried about insufficient power, you can carry a few rocket launchers too."
This time, the image in Panda's mind became even wilder.
Two rocket launchers crossed on his back, a streak of war paint on his face, and grenades hanging from his waist.
"No, Panda is a Panda, not a terrorist."
Panda felt that Eichi was being a bit inhumane, and not treating him like a Panda.
"You don't like this one either? What a shame, I thought your fleshy body could hold a lot of weapons."
Eichi sounded a little regretful.
"Wait, don't just assume my cute body is an armory! I'm flammable! Flammable!"
Panda felt that while he wasn't human, Eichi was even less human than he was.
"Then there's only Battle Bear left."
Eichi ignored Panda's complaints and continued.
"Battle Bear? A warrior?"
Panda nodded, feeling that Eichi had finally proposed something somewhat reliable.
"No, it's a battle suit. You could also call it armor."
"Battle suit?"
Panda felt that things were once again heading in a strange direction.
"That's right! Just shout 'Panda Armor, Body Integration!' and you can become an Armored Warrior.
Additionally, you can use different armors for different combat environments. Use Rocket Bear for flying enemies, and Giant Cannon Bear for swarms…"
"If you encounter a powerful enemy, just shout 'Emperor Panda, Body Integration!' and you'll become the coolest bear at the High School!"
"Even if I don't do that, I'm still the coolest bear at the High School, since I'm the only Panda at the High School," Panda retorted.
"Ah, that seems to be true.
Never mind, tomorrow I'll have the principal make you a younger brother. Then you won't be."
Panda was speechless, feeling that if they talked much longer, his position as the High School's number one mascot would be in jeopardy.
"Ah, Maki and the others are done running."
Panda saw the people on the track gradually stop, immediately stood up, picked up the water bottle Eichi brought, and ran over.
Although Panda already knew that Eichi was just bored and came to tease him this time.
But Panda didn't really mind; over the years, many people had come to him out of curiosity about his Panda appearance. Having these people play with him to pass the time was quite nice.
And even though Eichi seemed to be joking, some of his suggestions actually had value worth trying.
For example, relying on his cursed tool to hide his aura, then stealthily getting behind an enemy and beating them for 10 minutes.
Or hiding some cursed tools for various situations in his body, which he could use if he encountered enemies he wasn't good at dealing with.
After all, he was going the Kung Fu Panda route.
If he could successfully engage in close combat, that would be good.
But if the enemy was flying in the air, or if their Cursed Technique prevented him from closing the distance, having a cursed tool that could perform long-range attacks also seemed like a good idea.
"Gulp, gulp, ha~ Much better."
The group, who had just finished exercising a few minutes ago, felt much better after drinking a cup of diluted salt water.
"What were you two talking about for so long?" Maki asked curiously. With her extremely strong physique and remaining energy during the run, she had seen Panda's facial expressions change several times earlier.
"I was giving Panda some advice," Eichi said, walking up behind Panda.
"Does Maki want the teacher's private guidance too?"
After saying that, Eichi smiled and looked at Maki.
"Can it make me stronger?"
"Yes."
"Then please give me private guidance," Maki replied crisply.
'Maki is a bit too serious. Panda is more fun to tease.'
"Maki, what you need most right now is to train your perception."
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