There was another hot bath prepared in my room. A nice touch. My excessive generosity was showing its benefits.

I didn't expect a knock on the door barely half an hour later. "Your books are here, young master," the waitress said. "May I come in?"

"Yes, come in," I said, not bothering to leave the bath. The bathroom door was open as well, but the flower petals had covered the surface to make the scene acceptable. "Bring the books here," I said, not wanting to leave the comfort of my bath.

After camping for over ten days, the comforts of civilization were too good to resist.

She entered, a small pile of books in her hands. Eight, I counted. Not a bad number, but something else than the books had caught my attention. She had changed her outfit, something that might have been appropriate looking when tied correctly, but certain parts of it had loosened while she had been carrying books, creating a large slit that revealed her soft thigh to an inappropriate amount.

Even if I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an accident, I could not, as she had also found time to reapply her makeup.

Someone was determined to put in some extra service.

Risky, but tempting.

"I have found those books, young master," she said as put them on a chair, using the opportunity to make her top slide, and give me a deep glimpse of her cleavage.

Daring, and tempting. I thought about accepting her invitation … but then, I wondered whether I could hit two birds with one stone, and test the System more while also relaxing a little. "Massage my shoulders. I'm feeling stressed," I ordered.

"As you wish, sir," she said enthusiastically, and moved behind me. But, as she moved behind me, she adjusted her clothing a little more, widening her cleavage. She had a clear idea of how the night would end.

I had a different idea … maybe not about the final destination, but certainly about the path that I had to go. Instead of pulling her in the bath like she expected, I grabbed one of the books about apothecary techniques that looked simplest, and started reading with rapt attention … even huffing and puffing in the process.

Reading about the absolute basics of pill refinement was an interesting experience after the System's advanced lesson.

I was never the most efficient student when studying alone — or in general — and the book I was reading was written poorly enough to make it even more difficult. It wasn't filled with mysterious poems and diagrams like the Martial Arts technique, but that wasn't enough to make it a good book. That the concepts that were described in the book went against every scientific principle that I remembered from the occasional biology class I dropped by was supposed to make it even harder.

Yet, I could understand the weird concepts with surprising efficiency, even catching several mistakes.

It wasn't a stretch to assume that the System-assisted lesson handled my sudden burst of insights. Just like it did for cooking, it allowed me to generate some kind of intuition that required some serious effort to develop.

Unfortunately, it differed from the sensation I received when I had been reading the Tiger Fist manuscript. At that time, even the most troublesome parts felt like they could be deciphered as long as I practiced for a while. Like I was a veritable genius. I already knew that it was the benefit of the Martial Aptitude pill.

A benefit that clearly didn't include herbology.

Luckily, my cheat wasn't just one time.

I wanted to add skills for two reasons. First, as far as I could tell, based on my experiments, the System only cared about the cultivation stage and not my power. It was something I noticed during the week I worked with Marana. By working on the Initiate realm punches of the Tiger Fist repeatedly, my potential combat effectiveness rose significantly, yet there was no change in the cultivation multiplier.

Since I was afraid of increasing my cultivation realm, adding new skills was a good way to increase my safety. The attempt to drug me back at the inn was a good warning. At that time, I was saved by my enhanced senses, but I might not be that lucky the next time.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Also, there was a flip side to it. I could also use poison to defend myself. I still wasn't sure whether I could kill someone even if I faced personal danger, but using a mild poison that would leave them unconscious for a moment was far more acceptable.

As for the System, convincing people to gift me sleeping drugs and poisons might be more difficult than making them give me a book.

The second advantage was equally important. I wasn't planning to stay in Markas forever. In the next city, I could try to pull the young scholar's role again … but that had its limits. More skills meant a bigger flexibility.

With everything concluded in my mind, I turned my attention back to the massage I had been receiving. Her hands were dancing on my shoulders skillfully enough to show that she had been trained.

I wanted to ask her to teach me. But not immediately. First, I needed to put her in the right frame of mind.

It was why, while I had been reading about the apothecary, I was making a point of acting stressed and desperate; turning the pages sharply, gasping, groaning… All to somehow trigger the pity of the waitress, which was difficult considering that, from her perspective, I was more fortunate.

Difficult, but not impossible.

Back on Earth, I remembered many women pitying their favorite celebrity because of their difficulties, even if said difficulties were trivial. Considering the interest she had been showing me was outside her job definition, I hoped to trigger a similar effect. A useful experiment to better understand the limitations of the system.

More importantly, it would give me a very useful skill.

"I'm ruined," I muttered as I slammed the book close, doing my best to sound desperate, acting like I had forgotten her presence.

Rude, but she didn't seem to mind. "I-is there something I could do to help, young master?" she said, her concern genuine. It felt believable.

I sighed. "I didn't expect to get the attention of two dangerous masters. Now, I need to impress them, or I'm ruined …" My words and tone implied some significant negative consequences, which certainly didn't exist, but I needed to distract her.

I couldn't afford her asking for payment once I asked her to teach me to massage, or the System wouldn't trigger. Worse, it couldn't even had her expect that implicitly, or fear the consequences of rejecting, or the System wouldn't trigger.

Freeloader System, indeed.

"A-actually," I stammered, doing my best to sound small and pathetic, trying to elicit her sense of pity deep enough to overwhelm everything else. I even turned my best puppy-eyes gaze at her. "C-can you teach me how to massage? Maybe it would help?"

"Of course, young master," she said, her face shining with sympathy. It looked like a success, but I said nothing, just maintained that desperate expression. "The first thing you need to know for a good massage is the general location of eight gates and one hundred and eight acupunctures that handle the natural energy flow of the body…" she started.

With that, she started going through a surprisingly detailed explanation, peppered with a lot of stuff about different types of gates, acupunctures, yin and yang energies, and other concepts I would have written off as complete nonsense if I wasn't able to throw magic punches that could shatter trees.

More interestingly, her explanation fitted well with my knowledge of the Tiger Fist, particularly the Initiate realm. The more I listened to her, the more I realized those poems and diagrams were about manipulating energy through different channels.

The manuscript didn't explain those in detail for the same reason an advanced physics book didn't explain how to do addition. It was supposed to be fundamental knowledge.

There were some gaps, but they were filled by medicine knowledge from the System lesson, as it was another way to manipulate the essence in the body.

I couldn't help but shiver as I realized the only reason I didn't kill myself was the pill I received from the System while I practiced martial arts, making me a genius when it comes to manipulating my essence. Without that, I might have ruined myself.

The cute waitress read the reason for a sudden shiver differently. "Don't worry. I'll do my best to teach you," she said as she continued explaining, doing her best to be comprehensive. I asked several questions, both making her explain every theoretical aspect she knew, and also making her go through every single technique.

Thanks to my own Martial Arts experience, and some assistance from the advanced apothecary knowledge, I could get a hang of the techniques she showed relatively easily.

"That's all I know, young master," she said, almost four hours later. "The rest is practice."

[Pity Bonus - 10 (Capped)]

[10x Return - Massage Technique Lesson, Beginner]

I triggered, and once again, my mind was flooded with external knowledge, like I had been receiving a much more focused lesson from a true expert.

The difference in learning was incredible. The quality and the detail level of her teaching effort had made a great difference, allowing the System reward to be enhanced appropriately. Even better, my own experiences with massaging also helped, allowing the System lesson to focus on the other details.

The more I knew, the more efficient the System classes were.

"Excellent work," I said, smiling widely as I grabbed and kissed her palm. Her blush was spectacular. "How about we try those techniques, Master?"

Her blush was spectacular, but not as spectacular as the sudden arousal in her tone as she gasped. Using the traditional title of respect affected her even more greatly than I expected.

Fascinating.