Chapter 5: Talking is Also fun!
*Erika’s POV*
Kora wasn’t surprised by being in a party with me. The Saviors had a similar system. It’s one they had made themselves and it’s not a part of the real System. She told me that she was in a party with that man that she had killed earlier. She said that he treated her like a slave but, she wouldn’t go into any more detail than that.
That said, what the hell kind of perverted system makes your kiss someone to grant them a function of it? That sounds pretty messed up to me. I’m lucky that Kora is a woman, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to make her a Dark Savior if she was a man. Thinking about this, I decided to ask the System.
Erika: “Why is a kiss required to make someone a Dark Savior? Isn’t that really perverted? Don’t you have any shame?” I say in an angry but quiet tone so Kora wouldn’t hear me.
*Ding!*
System: “Your anger is unnecessary. I said that a kiss was required but, I did not state that it had to be an intimate one. A kiss on the hand or anywhere else on the body would have worked as well. I am not to blame. You should have asked me about it in more detail.”
So said the System… Well, let’s just not tell Kora that. Otherwise, she might get angry and punch me. With her Status, she would accidentally kill me… I mean, I did take her first kiss after all. And it wasn’t even necessary to do so. Although I could probably console her by telling her that I gave her my first kiss as well, I have to take this to my grave.
I wanted to use the rewards that I had earned and increase my Stat ranks so, while I did that, Kora got some food out of her big backpack. I say food but, it’s actually just ingredients. Her backpack is one of those huge ones that you sometimes see mountain climber use. What else she stores in that backpack is a mystery.
She had a whole mini stove and a small kitchen setup stored in her backpack. She said that she would make food for us while I messed around with my Stats. Before doing so, I asked her if she wanted a few Monster Cores but, she revealed some shocking information to me.
Although she could use them, she had no control over how the points were used or more accurately, where they went. Without being able to use the system to the full extent that I can, it’s really hard for most people to get stronger.
She said that we were better off with me using them all. I kept one E+ Grade Monster Core for her to use after I’m done, though. Rather than use them all at once, I decided to hold on to hope that my Luck Stat actually does something and I didn't waste my Stat Points in Vain…
*Ding!*
1 E+ Grade Monster Core consumed.
You got 102 Stat Points from it.
Luck… My Luck Stat increases the amount of Stat Points that I get from Monster Cores? Do people not know about this? Surely Victoria or Alice should have mentioned something right?
An E+ Grade Monster Core gave me only 51 Stat Points last time… Should I gamble once again? I mean, I would be a fool to not rank up my Luck Stat. I might be screwed over for a little bit but, in the long run, I would benefit more… As such, I used 5 F Grade Monster Cores and one F+ Grade Monster Core.
*Ding!*
5 F Grade Monster Cores and one F+ Grade Monster Core consumed.
You got 325 Stat Points from them.
There is no point in keeping track of how many Stat Points each Monster Cores gives me until I max out my Luck Stat so, I didn’t use them individually.
With those points, I got my Luck Stat rank to B, I would have pushed it higher but, I need to put some Stat Points into other Stats and the required amount to rank up Luck shot up a lot.
*Ding!*
:General:
Name: Erika Ardent.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 85.
HP: 25/25 (0/5)
MP: 5/5 (0/5)
INT: A (0/125)
STR: F+ (0/15)
AGI: F+ (0/20)
END: F+ (0/10)
DEF: F+ (0/10)
LUCK: B (0/1250)
:Skill list:
Knife Mastery: Level 1.
One-Handed Sword Mastery: Level 1.
Inspect: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
Now the moment of truth… I used the last Monster Cores that I had all at once. Not counting the one that I plan to give Kora. With my fingers crossed, I hit the prompt on my inventory screen to consume the cores.
Will it just double each time? Or will it multiply on top of each double… The second outcome is too good to be true so, it will probably just double with each rank up. This System has odd delays, sometimes it works through things in seconds, and at other times it could take a minute. Oh, there’s that sound again.
*Ding!*
2 F Grade Monster Cores. 1 F+ Grade Monster Core. 1 E+ Grade Monster Core. 1 C Grade Monster Core consumed.
You got 2585 Stat Points from them.
That….That’s a lot… What… What if I got my Luck Stat even higher? Though, I really have no idea if this is a lot of Stat Points. I don’t have any reference after all. I resisted the urge to put all of my points into my Luck Stat and spread them evenly across my Stats.
Once I finished, I felt like a completely new person. I felt stronger. I felt more intelligent. I now had stronger lungs. Although my body was still silky smooth, I could probably punch a really hard object, and not only feel no pain but, break said object.
Also, I now have 250 inventory spaces that I can freely use. With how I figured out how to cheat it, I could probably store an entire battalion's worth of gear, with room left to spare.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Come to think of it, what is the difference between END and AGI? Aren’t they the same thing? I overlooked it originally but, Kora has MAG Stat instead of an END Stat… I have long since learned that when in doubt, ask the System so, I did just that.
Erika: “System, why do I have both an END and AGI Stat?” I say in a small voice once again.
*Ding!*
System: “I am very sorry. This is an error. I did not notice it. Your END Stat should have been MAG. I have fixed this issue on my end. Please check your Status to confirm it is fixed for you as well.”
Erika: “Thanks! But first, could you disable the ding whenever I check my Status, please?”
System: “It is done.”
Erika: "Thanks again. Status.“
*Honk!*
:General:
Name: Erika Ardent.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 0.
HP: 500/500 (0/285)
MP: 125/125 (0/320)
INT: S+ (0/965)
STR: B+ (0/560)
AGI: B (0/460)
MAG: C+ (0/285)
DEF: A (0/785)
LUCK: B (0/1250)
:Skill list:
Knife Mastery: Level 1.
One-Handed Sword Mastery: Level 1.
Inspect: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
Honk?… Why did the System change the “Ding!” to a “Honk!”? It sounds far worse and is even louder… At least my Stats look good. I won’t go into full detail but, I asked the System about the honk and it said that it could only switch between a honk and a ding so she switched it to that.
Once again, when I am more powerful, I can get more options with the System. One of those options is custom sounds and even the ability to either lower the volume or outright mute the sounds that the System makes. If this System was in a game, I’d bet it would get terrible reviews from the System alone.
Most of my problems have been solved now. If Kora’s Stats are anything to go by, even if she is a lower rank Savior, I should be able to steam roll them all. Although, since I’ve already completed three side tasks, I could just leave but, where is the fun in that?
If my body in my last life was as strong as I am now, I could have probably taken over the world. Who knows what other benefits that I would be missing out on if I just left now?
Erika: “System, are there any other benefits to being in a party?” I say to no one but not in a quiet tone this time.
*Ho...Ding!*
System: “There are two hidden benefits. One being that, as the leader, your members share your Luck Stat. The other is that they can use the Status portion of the System.”
Ignoring that the System almost honked again, this is quite the benefit… Kora was still cooking our food. It looks like she was making some Sausage Casserole. I actually haven’t had a proper meal since I was reincarnated so, I was looking forward to eating this meal.
Even though it’s not like it will be a luxurious meal, it already looks better than anything that I ate in the military. That’s right, I was a super secret agent and yet, I still had to eat low quality meals. And the US military wonders why they can’t keep people serving past what was on their contract. Eh, no use complaining about the past.
I told Kora about those hidden benefits, and I gave her that E+ Grade Monster Core for her to use. She was confused as to why it would matter that my Luck Stat was shared with her and, I didn’t tell her that at least from what I know so far, a higher Luck Stat increases how much Stat Points you get per Monster Core. She sure is in for a surprise.
Once she consumed the core, she was unmoving stock still. I explained to her what I know about the Luck Stat and she just listened in silence for a minute before she passed out.
I made sure to catch her before she fell. She was out like a light so, I used some of those clothes I got a few days ago and made her a makeshift pillow with them. I let her rest for a while and tended to our meal in her place.
Kora: “Ah, Erika. I just had the strangest dream. I had gotten 658 Stat Points from one Monster Core and on top of that, I could put them into any Stat that I wanted. Crazy right?” Kora said in denial.
Erika: “It wasn’t a dream silly.” I say while patting her head.
Ah, so that’s why Victoria likes to do this. It feels amazing to pat a girl on the head. I feel like I have just discovered one of the many wonders of life…
Kora: “Can I pass out again?” Kora said with spiral eyes.
Erika: “No. Use your Stat Points already. The food is almost done.” I say with a laugh.
Kora then quietly used her points in any way she saw fit. It took her ten minutes to do so. When she was finished, the food had been done for a few minutes already.
Kora had some plates and eating utensils in her bag as well. While eating, I took a peek at her Status once more. I did not tell her about this feature. If she knew that I could take advantage of those that are in my party, and just look at their Status, she might hate me.
:General:
Name: Kora Maka.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 23
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 0.
HP: 325/325 (0/440)
MP: 650/650 (0/550)
INT: B+ (0/542)
STR: A (0/732)
AGI: D+ (0/390)
MAG: C (0/352)
DEF: D+ (0/530)
LUCK: E (0/150)
:Skill list:
Item Ownership Finder: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
Wow, she really knows how to use her points extremely well. She increased her Luck Stat as well. I wonder if mine and hers can stack… I asked the System but it refused to answer.
On another note, now that I think about it, those two didn’t lie to me about the number of Stat Points required being different for everyone it seems. I might as well ask Kora about it, though.
Erika: “Hey Kora, how does the System figure out the required Stat Points each Stat needs to rank up?” I say after taking a bite of my food.
Kora: “Although I’ve never really used the System before, I do know about it. At least as far as we Saviors know, it’s completely random.” Kora said after finishing a bite of her food.
Erika: “Huh? Random? What do you mean?” I say with a questioning tone.
Kora: “I mean it’s completely and absolutely random. There was even an incident recorded where, after ranking up a Stat, the new rank required fewer Stat Points than the last one.” Kora said with a laugh. Cute!
Erika: “But, I can tell that the required amount has increased with the higher the rank of the Stat.” I say with a thinking pose.
Kora: “About that, one theory says that the higher the rank, the higher the amount needed to rank up can go.” Kora said with a smile.
Erika: “So it’s just random, huh? That’s good to know, thanks!” I say with a smile of my own.
Kora: “No problem! Let us hurry up and eat so that we can leave. I don’t want to stay next to this corpse forever.” Kora said before taking another bite of her food.
I didn’t reply and just ate my food. It was really good. I didn’t realize how much I missed good food… The last time that I had something good to eat was before I went into the military.
I should make some meals and put them into my inventory before leaving next time. I would work better if I had such good meals to eat during a mission. Leaving without any thing prepared was surely a stupid thing to do on my part.
Though, I think that you can’t blame me that much. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time. Who would be? Waking up a new body, and with weird fantasy things happening soon after you wake up.
Back to the food, we were both hungry it seems. It took us 35 minutes to finish eating since we kept going for more and more servings. We only stopped eating because we ran out of Sausage Casserole to eat. We got up and packed away the things that she got out of her backpack.
Once done, she was going to pick it back up but, I just stored the entire thing into my inventory. Once again it only counted as one item. The second time since meeting me, Kora had fainted again. Does she do this a lot? Honestly, I didn’t expect just a character trait to be so cute…
She wasn’t out long this time. She only took about a 2 minute cat nap. She cutely turned beet red when she woke up since, her little nap was done in my arms as I held her.
Once fully awake. Kora told me that very few people in the Savior camp have ever been able to use an inventory. To date, the only one left alive who is known to be able to do so is one of the leaders of the Saviors. Which is why she was shocked to see me be able to use one.
Kora: “My identity is fading…” Kora said with a sigh.
Erika: “Huh? What do you mean?” I say with a confused expression on my face.
Kora: “Ever since I became a Savior, I’d just be responsible for carrying stuff around. What am I good for now?” Kora said with a sad tone.
Erika: “Kora, how old are you?” I say with a chuckle.
Although I already knew, I can't reveal that I can see her Status. That would be weird. It would similar to if someone read your diary, and then brought up things from it that they shouldn’t know about.
Kora: “Huh? I’m 23, why do you ask?” Kora said with a questioning tone.
Erika: “Ah, so you were older than me. My guess was right, I just thought that it was funny for a 23 year old to complain about her lot in life to an 18 year old.” I say with another laugh.
Kora: “You’re only 18!?… Now I feel embarrassed. I thought you were older than me based on how mature you act.” Kora said with a red face.
Well, to be fair. I was technically older in a sense. Not like I could ever tell her that thought. Though… her reaction if I did might be cute…
Erika: “If you are worried about your lot in life. Here, take this sword and use it to fight for me.” I say after unequipping my sword and giving it to Kora.
Kora: “Are you sure?” Kora said with a conflicted tone.
Erika: “It’s not like it’s special or anything. I can make do with a dagger for now.” I say trying to convince her to keep the sword.
Kora: “Okay, fine. I won’t let you down Erika!” Kora said with a proud tone.
As such, we set off from the service room and left. Kora said that it will take us another three days to make it out of the subway. We should be able to easily kill zombies while at it. A few extra cores wouldn’t hurt.
Especially now with our Luck Stats so high. I wonder if it also helps with drops. Only one way to find out, and that is to kill some more zombies. Huh? Am I starting to enjoy this? Killing and all that, I mean…
Maybe it’s just because I’m killing monsters and not people… Eh, that’s another problem for future me to figure out. Right now, I just need to focus on leaving this subway. And to do it without getting bitten by a zombie, on top of making sure Kora stays safe...