Dai clicked on the choice. A menu with several abilities popped up before her eyes.

Name: Universal Translator (B)

Description: (Passive) Translates all languages both spoken and written. Useful when traveling outside the home planet.

Note: Even if you have the translator activated in the shop, you have to rely on your mind, hands, and feet outside the shop.

Name: Second Breath (C)

Description: (Passive) When you are running low on energy, the Second Breath is activated to replenish some of your spiritual energy and stamina.

Name: Reinforced skeleton (C)

Description: (Passive) The skeleton is strengthened and reinforced. The fragility is reduced by half.

Name: Camouflage (E)

Description: You hide your presence and blend in with your surroundings.

Name: Spring Jump (E)

Description: Your legs gain the properties of a spring and you will be able to perform much higher jumps.

Name: Fire Affinity

Description: (Passive) Gaining Fire Affinity

Dai looked them over and felt slightly disappointed. Not that they weren't good skills, but.... she was expecting something epic! Overpowered! Wasn't the System quite powerful? Why did it only offer her such... meh? Plus, why are most of those abilities passive? How about the bone-strengthening? It sounds really good, but if she wanted to improve that ability wouldn't it be necessary for her to break them repeatedly?

Dai shivered, realizing that none of those abilities had a description of how to strengthen them. She sensed a hidden danger!

And then Fire Affinity. Looking back at the things she had available, quite a few of them had to do with fire. Was the System trying to indirectly guide her on that path? Was it trying to make her a fire comet? First, it wanted her to focus on strength and punching with her fists. Now fire... That was not suspicious in the slightest!

"Boss, it's just a mere coincidence." The System spoke up on defense.

When Dai looked at the skill offer, she couldn't stop doubting.

"This is an automatically calculated reward. I don't have the authority to manipulate it directly," it defended itself.

Dai noticed. "But indirectly you can?"

System: "Boss, when are you going to stop suspecting the System of dishonesty?"

Dai snorted. "The moment you start giving me things that don't have a hidden catch."

The System responded: "..."

"These items are minimal in number." It objected.

Dai looked down at her fluffy slippers. It was true that not everything had some backlash.

"And what about the pervert after I used the balm?" she asked.

The System replied: "Pain Lord Suffering Balm is a premium product. However, Pain Lord has an eccentric behavior."

Dai rolled her eyes. "You call that eccentric?!"

The System replied: "It's just harmless fun, boss."

Dai swallowed her curses at both the System and Pain Lord. Harmless fun my ass! People of a weaker nature would go crazy!

Dai may have managed to get a glimpse into another perspective of the System. While she was looking for the best safe option. The System preferred the best effective option. Simply put, the System went over the dead bodies. As long as it was effective, it didn't matter if it broke her body. If she survives, it's okay. At least that's how she was beginning to see it. So unless she wanted to be like someone who is a victim of abuse, she had to be careful what she chose. Otherwise, she'd suffer like a beast.

That was right. She mustn't forget it was a toxic relationship. Just because it acted nice now and then didn't mean anything.

Dai stopped discussing it and focused on choosing a skill. She started comparing what the shop had to offer. She needed to combine them well. If she picked something just because she liked it... she might have a completely broken fighting style. She checked her balance of Star Coin 482. She had to subtract the amount she needed to unlock Shelter 1, so minus 100 SC, she was left with 382 SC.

She snapped her fingers. Alright, here we go.

She started imagining different possible combinations in her head. Of course, she had no idea if it would work, but even a rough idea was better than nothing. After a while, she made up her mind and started spending.

First and foremost, she bought a Long-Horned Dragon Gazelle, which she definitely needed for travel. She then bought Court and Sentence, as well as Fog Fan. She could imagine quite well how she would use both items. Until she was strong enough she would have to rely on what she did best and that was sneaking. Besides, who says she only had to use one weapon at a time? She'd use the illusion of mist and then stab the enemy... or run away. Dai didn't think assassination style was something for her, but she was going to use whatever she can to help herself. Dai paused on the techniques for a moment before buying the Hidden Weapons Technique. She never actually used weapons, so that was the most useful thing for her at the moment. Plus it suited her speed. Granted the kicking technique would be useful too, but she didn't feel like she had enough strength in her legs. Even if they were her best asset according to the System!

Her balance was not bad at 190 SC. She looked at the abilities again and chose one very carefully. Camouflage (E). She was hesitant at first because she would have a fire beast at her side, but she could send that one away and then hide, right? And it could serve as bait.

Dai wished she could be more combat-oriented, but she'd have to make do with what she had as best as she could. She looked at the Faster Time Pillow on the store's menu, it was the only item she was really worried about. Cultivation on it would be really fast and she could improve quickly. But will it be worth it?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

She turned away and instead bought two Blizzard for her store and three Caramelized Celery Sprouts. She had 130 SC left over. So she gritted her teeth and bought a Faster Time Pillow as well. The balance ended up at 30 SC. Why did she feel broke again?

Dai moved to look at her Status.

Name: Keeper4

Alias: Dai

Profession: Shop Owner

Cultivation: Low Realm

Life Providence: None

Power: 10/ -1

Vitality: 10/ -1

Intelligence: 12

Speed: 14/ -1

Endurance: 10/ -1

Luck: 3

Injuries: Minor vitreous damage

Abilities:

Appraisal: E->E+

System Management: A+

Camouflage: (E)

The blood clot seemed to have finally soaked in and so ended up where it started. Hopefully, she'll get rid of what little damage she got from getting the cultivation. The next thing she added was a new ability, Camouflage. She'd have to try it out later.

For a moment, she was confused that the items didn't show up in her inventory before she realized that only her rewards were placed there. So she had to go to the warehouse. She paused for a moment, frowning. Something was wrong. Then she realized it. She kicked off her fluffy slippers and ran downstairs.

'Where does the System put the Long-Horned Dragon Gazelle?! It's a mount!' Surely it won't fit in her tiny warehouse!

Dai stormed back into the store and rushed to the warehouse, but didn't burst in like water in a rush.

She was worried that the mount would knock her down once she opened the door, but when she stood to the side and the door opened, nothing happened. She peeked into the warehouse. The Fire Beast was nowhere to be found.

She walked in and looked around the shelves. The warehouse was one-third full. There were her weapons, her purchases, and the pillow. And in the cage was a tiny beast. She walked over to the cage and stared at it through the bars.

"Please boss, what do you have System for? The oversized items have been reduced to an adequate size until they can be taken outside the store area." The System announced to her.

Dai sighed. Couldn't he tell her straight away so she wouldn't have to worry?

"So all I have to do is take it outside and it will change to its original size?" she assured herself.

"Yes, boss. But I recommend you build a stable outside for your pet as soon as possible," the System suggested.

Dai knew how many Star Coins she had now. Yeah. Maybe later.

Dai looked at the creature, which now looked almost like a toy. She reached into the cage and carefully placed it on her palm before rushing out. The system alerted her to the incipient size change, so she quickly put it down and backed away.

This time it lacked any effects, as was the case with the shop change. Dai just blinked and the little creature turned big. Just like that. Could it be that the System had stopped trying to impress?

The animal made a sound similar to a melodious clucking. The Long-Horned Dragon Gazelle had a body structure more akin to a zebra than a horse. It was about a head and a half taller than Dai, but if you counted the long horn sticking out of the forehead, it was more like two and a half heads. Connected to the thick body was a long and slender neck that ended in a smaller head with a long horn. The body was covered with short fur of a darker red color which was decorated with randomly placed black stripes. The underside of the body from the rump to below the chin was covered with hard scales of a dark blood color, and the tail was long and narrow, reaching to the ground. The animal dug in its front hoof and shook its head. Gazelle looked at Dai with black eyes.

Dai felt a strange sensation. "You really are a beauty." It was love at first sight.

Dai wasn't going to pretend to be something she wasn't. A woman who liked beautiful things. How could she not fall in love with this wonderful creature, so graceful and noble and capable of beating enemies with a fiery whip while impaling them on its sharp horn? Simply.... magnificent.

Dai's eyes were shining. "Your name will be Stigma. Will you pierce people for me?" She smiled, before walking up to her, hand extended forward. Stigma blinked her black eyes, she was her Pet so some taming wasn't necessary, and stuck her dry snout into her palm. It was warm.

Not far from the Store, something woke Worm from his sleep, and he raised his eyeless head and instinctively turned in Dai's direction.

Something was wrong. No... another pet! Worm felt hurt. He was Master's first pet! But even though he had worked hard to be the best Worm in the world, and had done the meritorious deed of destroying that evil woman, Master had never once spoken to him or given him a name!

Sticky saliva oozed out of the Worm's toothy mouth, perhaps symbolizing the tears of unhappiness he could not cry.

*wiggle wiggle*

Dai looked back as she heard a shuffling sound and saw a very energetic Space Worm heading towards her.

Filn, who had been alarmed by the creature's sudden activity, slowly followed it, watching it carefully, not even paying attention to the Stigma.

Uh.... what's going on?

Dai tried not to pay attention to Worm for Filn's sake so that he wouldn't get some bad impression. She couldn't be nice to the creature that killed his wife. And so far what was relatively easy because Worm.... was digesting. But now, suddenly, the creature, about the size of a small piglet, was moving towards her. The dewy body shook almost in panic as it rushed. Filn was nervous about Worm's behavior. He began to shift his gaze from him to Dai and back again. Finally, he ran to get ahead of him and stood in front of Dai.

The corner of Dai's lips twitched. Was Filn trying to protect her from her pet?

Worm stopped, lifted his head, and rolled to the side to avoid Filn. He stepped into his path again. Worm tried the other side. Filn moved too. Dai watched, and so did Stigma. Her hand twitched to hold back the urge to facepalm.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

Filn stood in front of her, legs spread and arms outstretched to look like some sort of defender. "He's acting weird and suddenly he's coming after you!" He replied in a serious voice that was inconsistent with his ridiculous stature.

Dai felt like getting on the Stigma and riding away from them.

"I... thank Filn, but he won't do anything to me. He's my pet, so he wouldn't hurt me." She said slowly. She had been assured of this by System. Pets were absolutely loyal to her.

Filn hesitated and looked back at her. Dai flinched and got serious. There was pain in his eyes.

"Before you get any weird ideas, I didn't order him to eat Teru!" She said quickly.

At least that was true. Filn lowered his eyes, as if ashamed that he had thought of such a thing.

*wiggle wiggle*

They both looked at Worm, who was suddenly... somehow.... green?

His body shivered dewily and greened more and more. All three took a few steps back.

System: "Notice. The Space Worm has decided on its next evolutionary stage. It has begun evolution into the embryo of the Face Ripper."

Dai turned pale. "Oh shit...."