We had spent the day walking and talking as we searched for a place to make camp as apparently my sense of day and night is screwed up. In my defense since the underworld is tidally locked making the sky look like it's always noon. Plus my new phone can't connect to any service and that means no standard clock reference for it to use. All that combined with me not sleeping for days some times as [Gamers Body] makes me no longer require sleep, though I can if I want to.
Vali came to the isle at what's considered around 8 o'clock so she was planning to make camp soon. After walking and talking we found a spot and made camp. Something I hadn't noticed due to the intense situation our meeting was is the small backpack she had. But since this is the supernatural world the backpack holds more then what it should for its size, like a tent.
She packed a tent, two sleeping bags one meant to be a spare but is now mine on her assistance, a basic campfire cooking kit, two weeks of rations, and a cute stuffed bunny she tried to hide in embarrassment. I asked why only that was what she packed and she told me its all the bag would hold. Fare enough.
So we made camp and I made a fire. I decided I'd cook for us in part due to my class. I was so happy to cook using actual cooking tools even if their basic. I actually enjoy cooking so I don't mind doing all the cooking to level up the class.
After our meal, in which Vali asked me to marry her after tasting my food, I got a notification that I got 2 levels in [Chef]. The system told me that when I give my food to others and they like it I get more exp for the class. That sounds like the best grinding method would be to work at a buffet, not that I'm going to do that.
During our talks I gained another 5 affection with her before calling it a night. We decided to take shifts keeping watch just in case of demons, and I decided to take first watch. I did this in part to look at the tutorial for the relationships menu. As I clicked it I couldn't help but smile about how well Vali and me are getting along. I never had many strong or meaningful personal relationships in both lives except my second life's mother.
Now to check this out.
[Relationships Menu Tutorial]
[The [Relationships Menu] is the menu to keep track of your standing among individuals and groups. When the user gets a relationship to the 50 and 100 milestones a reward is issued. The dragons inside your sacred gears will not have a visible value to access or gain rewards from until they are able to exist outside your soul (AKA given a body to use of their own). There are three separate relationship meters that exist though one individual or group can only possess two and one of those two is guaranteed to be obedience. You will only receive rewards for affection and reputation.]
Nothing I didn't think would be there but it does explain why I didn't unlock it from interacting with Ddraig and Mortiea, I'd like to think I have a high value since we get along. And I've had no one else to talk to for a month.
'Yeah I think it would be at least 50' Ddraig said to me.
'Thanks partner, by the way where's Mortiea? She usually talks with us to' I asked in curiosity.
'Oh… she's asleep' he says.
I just shake my head and wish him goodnight. After he says the same I stare at the fire and continue to think on what all my plans are for this world. I know I'm going to eventually gain the ability to world travel, but I feel that this one will stay the one I come back to. Especially with all the work I'm going to put into it.
One of the main things I need to try and do is get the Biblical factions to form their alliance sooner rather then later while making myself have a position of authority in said alliance. I don't even have to worry about paperwork if I can learn shadow clone jutsu from Mikoto.
I also need to get other factions on my side to. Finally the only other main goal I think has precedence is killing Vali's grandfather or having her kill him, both are good.
"(Sigh) This is going to be a pain… but nothing worth doing is easy as they say" I say aloud. I may have gotten into the habit of voicing my thoughts aloud this past month. Thank Satan for Vali.
The night passed with me changing with Vali and getting some sleep. She woke me up in the morning at the time we agreed and I offered again to cook, which she had no problems with. I think I actually saw her drool a bit which made me laugh. We then packed up and I offered to store the bag in my storge.
She looked at me quizzically and I again blamed [Abyss Amulet] and said it was a kind of storge ability, it helped that I didn't lie on what it is just the origin. She just handed me the bag and watched in fascination as it disappeared in an instant, then huffed.
"Well your just full of surprises" she says good naturedly. I just shrugged in response which made us both smile.
We then walked some more and found a clearing after a while. She brought up the idea of a spar and I agreed cause we're both battle maniacs. When I accepted I activated training mode as a result. It allows me to train my stats but they can only increase in increments of 5 in order to make calculations easier. I haven't actually used it as I've been focused on leveling.
We walked to be about 50ft from each other and I spoke up to determine the rules.
"Alright how about no sacred gears and physical attacks only and the first to concede or pass out losses?" I ask and receive a nod in return.
We wait for about 10 seconds and then kick off from our position to meet in the middle. She goes for a standard punch to my center mass which I doge due to just how much slower she is compared to me even with holding back some. I go for a basic kick using the skill of the same name automatically, thanks to the system, aimed for her middle. She blocks with her arm and goes back about 15ft back.
Glad I didn't hold back in force since she's still fine but impressed with the force. She falls into a boxers stance and I enter a defensive one. She kicks off again and lands an axe kick which I block with my arms crossed in an x. I was pushed back a few inches from the strike and then uncrossed my arms sending my opponent back from me again but not as much as the first time. She flips in the air as she lands with an graceful combat maneuver.
I dig in my heel and kick off towards her to try and push for any advantage. However her combat instincts are to great and she steadies herself leading to us exchanging blows and blocks. I use [Basic Combo] liberally during this exchange. I soon realize this is leading no where fast and decide to try and end this.
I use my speed increase skill after dodging a blow that my opponent put to much weight in. I practically flash out of her view and appear behind her. I then try something brand new and use both [Speed Strike] and [Surprise Blow] simultaneously. I get a ping signaling a delayed important message, a setting I asked for when in combat.
Vali is surprised by the blow to her middle back and she goes flying. She eventually starts skidding on the ground and stops in a heap. Vali groans and then taps the ground twice, the standard signal of yielding. I start walking towards her and give her a hand up.
She takes my hand and gets to her feet, dusting herself off after. She then gives me a small smile that shows both joy and exhaustion.
"You are a really strong one you know. I haven't had a spar like that in a while! And that speed you showed at the end was crazy!" she said with an excited tone while talking about our fight.
"Yeah, it was really fun! I'm glad we could do this. As for my speed at the end it was a movement technique that increases my speed temporarily at the cost of my stamina" I say in a happy voice while explaining the best I can for now.
We decide to rest in the clearing now that our spar is over and recover before heading any further. During this I check my notifications from the system.
[Training Results]
+10 STR
+15 END
+15 DEX
[System Alert!]
[You have discovered the ability to use active similar skills in tandem with each other. This is a limited ability. In order to combine skills like this you must add the cost of all skills used and then multiply it by the number of skills used. Enjoy this new feature with caution going forward.]
+5 Affection with Valina (Vali) Lucifer (40/100). You showed great skill and even beat her in a spar, the battle manic sees that as a good thing.
It's great that I gained more affection with Vali, I guess we have enough in common that it's easy. I'm also glad to know how to use multiple skills together, even if it's not viable in a prolonged fight with the powerful skills.
After our rest we decided headed out to fight some weaker demons to get Vali used to fighting such bestial opponents. As we head into the jungle once again we trade playful shoves like old friends. All I can do is smile at it all, I finally don't have to be lonely.
Two Weeks Later.
It's been two weeks since our spar and it's been fairly productive. I maxed out the [Chef] class due to feeding Vali, who got shocked at the fact that I have gotten better at cooking. I also found out during these two weeks that she has an appetite like Saber when given the opportunity. She blushed when I said I didn't know where she put it all, and all she responded with is that she can't get fat anyway since she's a devil, all be it half. That's how I found out that devils and the like don't put on weight like humans. Yeah me!
I also leveled up the [Mage] class a bit from hunting down all these demons. It was also funny when I used my magic skills in front of Vali for the first time.
Flashback- 4 Days After Vali Arrived.
We were resting at camp after a long day of walking and fighting. Then we heard from the jungle to our north a growl. It then pounced when it realized we were looking at it. Once we could see it I recognized it as a fairly weak demon known as a Demonic Tiger, about Middle Class in terms of a devil.
I was tiered and just wanted to rest, so I used [Mana Shot] and killed it in a few hits as I spammed it at the overgrown cat. After that I went back to my food and only looked up once I realized Vali hadn't sat back down. I saw her standing there with her mouth open looking at me and I realized that my partners undersold another of my abilities in this world.
End Flashback.
Yeah, it seems that manipulating pure mana like that is a very high level power in this world. It's because mana is very easily influenced by outside forces so it's easier to just change it to a specific type of mana yourself so you get your intended result. If you can use pure mana that means you have more control over mana then the grand majority of mages.
So once she got done freaking out again she just became impressed. That netted another 5 affection from her, so that was helpful. Since then I've been using magic more often when we fight together. It's been a good time and we've gotten stronger. This is what we look like along with my new skills.
[Name: Valina (Vali) Lucifer]
Title: [White Dragon Empress]- Increase time in Balance Breaker safely.
LV- 112
Race: Human/Devil Hybrid (High Class)
Rank: Veteran (2x)
HP: 13900/13900
SP: 13900/13900
MP: 11000/11000
STR:245
END:278
DEX:140
INT:170
WIS:110
CHA:280
LUK:150
[Name: Damien Barbatos (Formally Smith)]
Title: [Survivor]- Increase the effect of all survivor skills by 2x.
Main LV- 178
Job LV- 111
Main Class- Mage
Job Class- Noble
Race: Human/Devil Hybrid (High Class)
Rank: Rookie (1x)
HP: 38625/38625 ((END x 25) x2) REGN. 19312.5 per 30 sec. (END x 2.5)
SP: 38625/38625 ((END x 25) x 2) REGN. 19312.5 per 30 sec. (END x 2.5)
MP: 10750/10750 (INT x 50) REGN. 5600 per 30 sec. ((WIS x 5) x 2)
STR:275 (+50%) = 412.5
END:530 (+50%) = 795
DEX:630 (+50%) = 945
INT:255
WIS:560
CHA:420
LUK: 365 (+50%) = 547.5
Chef LV40-50 Skills
[Cooking Proficiency (Legendary)] (Passive)
100% increase to all cooking Skills.
Increase skill and flavor of all cooking.
[Master Recipes] (Passive)
Grants knowledge of master recipes.
[Freestyle Cooking] (Passive)
Grants the ability to cook recipes of your own design.
[Legendary Recipes] (Passive)
Grants knowledge of legendary recipes.
[Taste and Copy] (Passive)
Grants the ability to replicate any dish by tasting it.
-[Noble] 0/50LV
+5 WIS and +5 CHA per LV
LV0-10 Skills-
[Noble Bearing (Apprentice)] (Passive)
20% increase to all nobility Skills.
Increase the respect you inspire.
[Noble Aura] (Passive)
Grants an aura to the user that makes them feel like a person of nobility, even if they're not.
Based on CHA.
[Noble Etiquette] (Passive)
Grants the knowledge on proper etiquette that a noble is taught.
[Speech of a Noble] (Passive)
Grants an increase to the effect of the user's speech giving skills and its effect.
Based on CHA.
[Social Impact Knowledge] (Passive)
Grants the knowledge on how to predict the social impact of the user's actions.
Based on WIS.
250 INT Perk Gained
[Mana Manipulator]- Gain the ability to manipulate mana easier. Allows you to control your spells even after you cast them.
500 WIS Perk Gained
[Mana Reactor]- Gain a magic core that works like a mana reactor and double the effect of WIS on MP regen.
All 250 Perk Gained
[Blood of Champions]- Gain an instinctual level skill in all forms of combat.
Now we're at camp again and I decided to finally ask her my question. We are both sitting on some logs to rest and be close to the fire we (aka me) made. The fire is more so to cook food when needed as its pretty warm all the time here. I look at Vali and clear my throat getting her attention.
"Yeah Damien?" she asks with a small tilt to her head.
"Well I've been thinking" I start out "that when we go to the devil faction I'll probably get a set of evil pieces if my family is so important."
"Hm, I think your right. But why bring it up?" she questions.
"I don't want you to go back to the Fallen, it seems like your unsafe there. However if you go to the devils as is they might try to use you in… unpleasant ways if they're anything like human nobles" I explain my thoughts to her. I took the [Noble] class for a reason, to make sure I don't fuck up to bad.
"…I see. I understand that but what do you think I should do? I can't go anywhere at this rate! I'm not strong enough to survive a fight against the leaders of the biblical factions! Honestly Heaven would be the best to fight because at least they'll just kill me!" she shouts at me or more so to me. As she yells tears begin to appear in her eyes, tears she's probably held back for a long time because she knows the situation she's in and can't find an out.
"I have an idea" I say as she catches her breath from her yelling.
"And what is it?" she says with a fragile hope that I swear to myself not to break.
"Since I'll get evil pieces I'll use one on you, my first peerage member. That means you'll be under my protection, and we don't even have to tell them who you are before I do so, after that there's nothing they can do about without alienating me. Hell we could introduce you and I'll simply say I won't join without you becoming my peerage member" I explain my plan to her in the most convincing and caring manner I can manage.
"… You think that'll work? You'd go so far for me? Why?" she asks in a stunned and more hopeful tone then before.
"In order, yes, yes, and because you are my first real bond besides my mother that I've had in years. You and I share a lot in common and I don't want to leave you to such a fate that seems to await you" I answer honestly.
+5 Affection with Vali (Valina) Lucifer (50/100). You showed you really cared, rare for a gamer.
Perk Gained
[Battle Buddy]- Grants an increase to relationship gains with those you fight together with or spar against.
[Alert! New Feature Unlocked! Party Menu Now Available! Tutorial Postponed Due To User's Current Situation! Tutorial Will Activate Once The Party Menu Is Accessed!]
All right checking that out soon. Anyway I need to focus right now.
"Thanks. I'll take you up on your offer. What piece will you use on me… my King" she answers and says the last part in a teasing voice.
I look her in the eyes as I give my answer. "Well what else but a queen for the White Dragon Empress" I say in a matter of fact voice.
I got the reaction I wanted from her, wide eyes and slightly open mouth. She collects herself quickly and looks at me seriously.
"You really are good at politics for someone who is new to this world. You know that if I'm your Queen then no one will step against you or me on me being in your peerage" she says in a slightly impressed voice.
You see apparently trying to take away someone's Queen is an incredibly rude thing to do in devil culture. It would be practically political suicide in many instances, like if they tried to do so to a member of the 72 pillars. Since I will be the head of a pillar family if all goes according to plan, which it should, I can exploit many political maneuvers normally not possible otherwise.
I nod to her and we enter a calm silence. Suddenly she stands up and goes next to me. She seems contemplative for a moment then nods to herself. Vali then dose something a bit unexpected to me, she hugs me tight. I haven't been hugged in a long time, longer in my previous life, so I just kind of sit there not knowing what to do for a second.
Once I get my shit together, in what I hope was a small amount of time, I hug her back. We stay like that for a while and I decide to check out my new menu.
[Party Menu Tutorial]
[The [Party Menu] is the place to monitor and invite party members. When you do so they gain a reduced version of the system and their stats are stream lined to better utilize the minor system that they now have access to. You can only invite people that have over 50 Reputation/Affection with or you summoned from champion gems as they can know about the system in the first place. There is no limit to the number of party members you can have.]
I look at the screen and want to yell out in celebration at my luck. I have an actual party system! Yes! This makes things so much easier. I then look at Vali and decide to tell her now so she doesn't get angry if I waited.
"Vali I have something to tell you, something I couldn't tell you till now" I say as I look in her eyes "Do you trust me?"
"Yes, I trust you" she says with a curious look in her eyes.
"Then don't freak out. Party invite Vali" I say and can't help but snicker at the look of pure confusion on her face as she looks at a screen that thankfully we both can see. After she pushes accept with me nodding at her a conversation follows explaining everything. From the system to my past life and everything in between.
She was surprised yes but in the end she said it didn't change anything about who I am and the person she's gotten to know. Apparently reincarnation isn't that big a deal here however me coming from another multiverse is strange, she also discounted my knowledge of this world's story as just dimensional fuckery as she put it. Plus this is different than the story I read/watched anyway so not important. The system she just said is like a really powerful sacred gear so I'm not that strange on that front to her either.
Needless to say I was surprised at how well she took in the information, then she told me the minor system comes with [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body] so it helps. We then explored her new system and figured out how it works.
She only has classes and perks, no other menu. However she doesn't need to take starter classes before she can take other classes instead they have requirements that are unknown until unlocked in order to take them. Her stats also changed, the stream lining that the system mentioned. They look like this.
[Name: Valina (Vali) Lucifer]
Title: [White Dragon Empress]- Increase time in Balance Breaker safely.
Main LV- 224
Job LV- 0
Main Class- [BLANK]
Job Class- [BLANK]
Race: Human/Devil Hybrid (High Class)
Rank: Rookie(1x)
HP: 13875/13875
SP: 13875/13875
MP: 11000/11000
STR:490
END:555
DEX:280
INT:340
WIS:220
CHA:560
LUK:300
It reset her rank to allow her to gain it through the system and become stronger. However it made sure her stats and main level increased to keep things the same, except making sure the stats are all a multiple of 5.
After all that she naturally felt drained mentally, despite [Gamer's Mind] which I understand. So she went to get some sleep and I kept watch like normal. I decided that we should go into the I.D.s to speed up leveling. When I brought it up to Vali she agreed so we talked about which one to enter. We choose to enter the [Slime] dungeon at blue difficulty.
When we entered I got a new quest, another thing Vali doesn't have.
[Dungeon Quest!]
[Slimes Everywhere! 2]
Clear this small village of slimes and defeat the boss to clear this dungeon.
Objectives:
Kill all the slimes (0/99)
Kill the boss (0/1)
Rewards: A upgraded Title, a Rare item, and the next color for the slime dungeon.
Note: Quest progress will be reset if you leave before completion.
I go to explain the quest to Vali and then she suddenly can see the screen. So it turns out I can choose to show party members my screens, so that's helpful. I then use observe on a red slime that I see.
[Red Slime (M)]
Title: N/A
LV- 10
Race: Slime
Rank: Rookie
HP: 200/200
SP: 200/200
MP: 100/100
Description: A low level slime made from fire mana. Possesses the ability to use its mana to cast weak spells.
Well that's different, I guess this is what happens at higher colors of a dungeon. I show the screen to Vali and she nods to me. Despite not knowing each other for long fighting together like we have has improved our communication a lot, at least during battle.
I quickly equip the [Slime Slayer (Novice)] title and give Vali the [Ring of the Slime Slayer] which I explained before we entered. Now that we're geared up it's time to level grind!