Leveling Up With Monster Girls

Julius recalled the foundation skill from the bond protocol and how it was supposed to improve his physique. He wondered why the system was sending a quest now.

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

He laid back on the bed. "Your definition of optimal is me working out on an empty stomach?"

[yes.]

Julius let out a sigh. On one hand, the system wanted him to be strong for whatever the main quest actually entailed. However, there was no way he could do this quest every day.

He was a procrastinator and his gym membership was a testament to this.

But right now, he needed to know if there would be problems with the system.

"Are there any penalties if I miss the quest?"

[No.]

"Then it’s settled, I can do it tomorrow or the day after. Right now, I’m hungry." He looked and realized Yumiko still wasn’t back. He had left her in the common room after talking to the goblin. He filed that away.

For now this was an opportunity to explore the system in peace. He needed to know how it worked if he was going to exploit it.

[I heard that]

First thing to address was this access to his thoughts and if he could communicate using said thoughts.

[You can]

"Since when?"

[Always. I told you earlier]

"The screen I read before talking to Yumiko?"

[yes]

"You asked if I was interested in an intimate meld," Julius said in protest. "You know what, forget it."

Julius took a deep breath. He had mostly willed the interface to appear but he wanted to test commands.

Open Inventory.

The blueish grid appeared again with his items in it. He tested it with other commands such as the Architect skill section and the bond protocol and eventually got the hang of it. He tried putting his phone in the inventory but it was rejected.

Architect path.

A screen appeared showing his progression. The path progression was at builder and contained the abilities and the skills he had unlocked. The next tier was locked. Crafter.

Julius looked at the inventory. The logs and pelt were there but he also noted the initial items the system had given him the first time it booted. The Wardstone and Anchor.

The wardstone was a rechargeable shield that blocked the bear’s attack but what were the limitations?

He clicked and held it. A popup appeared with its details.

[Item: Wardstone]

[Generates a barrier that blocks physical attacks. Recharge time is five minutes.]

"Five minutes is a long time." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He clicked the anchor

[Item: Anchor]

[???? - Reach Crafter tier to view detail]

There was no information on the item. He wondered why the system gave it to him in the first tier. His goal was to increase his tier levels as fast as possible.

He brought up the tab for the Architect path and clicked on the builder section. There were two skills: Extraction and Processing.

He clicked on the log icon. There were two options to process or delete. He was curious how the deleting worked. He could figure that out later.

He clicked the process and got an option.

[Firewood]

He didn’t know what would happen if he clicked it. He confirmed from Iris that process items would go to his inventory. He clicked the process button and confirmed the number of logs.

[Processing...]

[Processing complete. Firewood obtained.]

A wave of exhaustion hit him at once from the mana drain. This coupled with the hunger from not eating breakfast made him close the interface to rest.

As he laid on the bed he contemplated the most important necessity to survive and that was money. The bear pelts were sitting in his inventory alongside the chopped firewood.

He didn’t know the market and didn’t want to put himself in problems. He needed information, and the best person to ask would be Mudgob but for now he wanted to sleep.

He closed his eyes.

A distant scream cut through the air.