Sorry for taking so long but from now until the 10th there should be at least 1 chapter out per day maybe more. As for the harem tag it is staying for various reasons but (and this is without any malice or intended offense) if you are reading a story solely for the harem tag or similar tags don't just scream at the author for not having it the way you like or not visible yet (the case here). It is a part of the story but not THE story, I put the tag there so it will be a part of the story.
Also I don't mind you guys bringing it up as a question but doing it over and over again in an aggressive way only really makes me annoyed and agitated. Stuff like that really dents someone's motivation to continue (although in my case it was more work taking over all the time I had than anything).
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Nothing happened during the night except some certain sounds that made it harder for me to sleep that originated from a certain trio. I think I miss dreaming, it feels kind of weird to close your eyes one second in the night then wake up to see the sun rising in the next. I wonder how it'll feel to never have to sleep. Maybe I should ask Jane sometime since she was on the watch the entire night, being a soul she needed no rest.
"Morning," Ben was sitting on top of a tree branch whittling at a chunk of wood, his face neither friendly nor hostile. "I heard from Jane and Mina that you were a good cook, can you make breakfast for us?"
"Wha- I refuse to eat the food he makes and you should too," Carey is unexpectedly stubborn about it, last night she ate from her own pack, if possible I would like to get along with her... but at this point I'm just thankful she isn't trying to kill me, probably due to the influence of Lunaela.
"Come on, the food we have is just dry bread and other tasteless stuff meant for long travels. Plus he's the one providing the food a small vengeance if you think about it that way."
"I... I still refuse," stating so Carey went to sit away from us and started chewing on some really tough looking bread-like object.
Ben shrugged, "Your loss, so what's for breakfast?"
Let's see, we 20 potatoes, 3 rolls of cheese that's kind of like cheddar, 39 wolf meat, 6 one day old bread, 12 balls of lettuce, 16 eggs, 30 tomatoes and 50 of a teal coloured fruit that is shaped a lot like an apple.
"What is this Mina?" Pulling the fruit in question out from my inventory.
She was staring at me with wide eyes, "How did you do that?"
"Eh? Umm a special type of magic? It allows me to store things and it won't go bad and as far as I know can't be stolen."
Carey looked over at that, "Spacial magic? But that's one of the highest level magics in the world!"
"Didn't Jane and Brandon have that?"
"Nope, we only had the option to view our skills and status. Perks of being the chosen of the Reaper huh?"
"Wait we are getting really off topic, so what is this exactly Mina?" Once again I held the fruit out to her.
"Oh that's a Telin Fruit it tastes sweet wit ha bit of sourness; it's a special product of the village my parents went to before we met you guys. They also produce a Teal silk from the silkworms that feed off of the fruits, we have a couple bundles of it in the wagon." Mina explained with a bunch of useless trivia on the side all the while with a serious face, not a face a child would have.
Hmm... I guess an impromptu burger with juice would work?
*Ding
Recipes retrieved:
Burger - 1 unit of Bread, 1 unit of patty, 1 unit of lettuce, 1 unit of tomato, 1 unit of cheese. 10 mins cooking time + 5 mins per additional Burger. Fire required nearby.
Patty - 1 unit of meat. 1 min of cooking time + 0.5 min per additional Patty.
Juice - 2 units of fruit. 3 mins cooking time + 1 min per additional Juice.
Mina was looking at me weirdly, I think it might be because my eyes are popping out of their sockets. Is this because of the [Cooking] passive? Of course when it came to games crafting was a major part of it, but I never expected it to be like this. Units... does that mean an inventory unit? Let's try it. Craft Patty 10.
An icon with a pot over a fire and a number 10 appeared in the upper right of my vision, mentally hovering an imaginary mouse over it popped a message up.
Cooking - While cooking your movement speed is reduced by 50% with every additional item further reducing your movement speed by another 50%. 5 mins remaining.
So I can't fight while cooking, guess that makes sense since most games make you sit there staring at a progress bar although the time is much less. The stacking debuff should have my movement speed to be at around 0.1% so if I try to move. As I tried taking a step with my right leg, it moved in super slow motion regardless of how much I tried to push it. Actually I think I'm moving slightly faster when I use more force although my stamina is draining a lot quicker. Moving while crafting seems impossible although my upper body seems to be unaffected.
"What are you doing?" Mina had her head cocked to a side and looking up at me, it gave me the impression of a small puppy.
"Umm... Well cooking technically."
"You just look like you're trying out to be a clown... and failing." Yup, I look like a random idiot trying to do a slow mo of something while my upper body is moving like crazy; I guess waving my arms around wasn't the best way to test if they were affected.
"I know how it looks but I really a-" I almost fell over as my leg suddenly went forward knocking me off balance.
*Ding
Cooking of 10 Patty is now done.
Throwing my hands forward I barely saved myself from face-planting into the ground. Brushing myself off as I got up ignoring the looks of pity directed at me, I looked in my inventory. There were 10 wolf meat patties, so every wolf meat I used counted as 2 units of meat. Damn and here I was thinking of exploiting the unit system by making every speck of food into a unit.
Cook Max Burgers, Cook Max Juice
If there's leftovers I can always just throw it into my inventory, I wonder does it spawn utensils and containers as well? This time the debuff's status displayed 52 mins. "Alright it'll take about an hour to cook."
"What are you making?" Jane asked with the impression of a drooling dog.
"Burgers and some juice, that's pretty much the only thing I can make with the ingredients we have on hand." At that her eyes seem to have a dangerous gleam to it. Did she miss the food from our world that much? "By the way where are the others?" Mary, Clara and Liliana were nowhere to be seen although I can feel that two of them are nearby.
"Right here," Walking out of the dark forest dragging bags leaking blood was the trio that looks like they came right out of a horror movie. Liliana dropped the bag a bit away from the camp and started using water magic to clean herself off. "We were just taking proof of kills off of the black wolves, we can turn them in for a reward at the guild as well as collecting the hide." She glanced towards Clara, "It would be better if we got the ones from the other wolves but Clara was against it."
"How much are they worth?" Considering how many I have we probably won't have to worry about gold for a long time.
"The bones when ground up should be worth about 1 silver per pound, the teeth about 75 copper apiece, the hide would be worth about 25 silver each. Would be more if we could process them into pelts, even better if we can turn them into good pieces of equipment but I don't think any of us here can do that. My parent's had a fiend who works with leather so if you want we can probably stop by and get a good deal off of it."
"Yo-you sure know a lot Mina." Carey commented while everyone stared at the source of the blob of information.
"I'm the daughter of a merchant you know? I need to know at least this much." She stuck out her chest in pride.
"But aren't the wolves summons? How did you get the price for them?"
"It's a rough estimation, considering the size, colour and condition and using normal wolf hide as a reference. Normal wolf hides go for around 5 silver coins per piece. The bone and teeth are also estimated based off of a normal wolf's prices."
... That's beyond pure memorization isn't it? Isn't she like 10? For some reason I feel like the early years of my life was wasted. "By the way how much are the bounties worth?"
"Goblins are worth 1 silver each, the wolves probably around 20." I looked up at Ben who answered unexpectedly with a bewildered face. "What, I know how much things cost. I don't just fool around you know."
"Or rather he knows how much it is because he uses that money to fool around." Jane sneered, in that way we joked around until the food was done. Despite him saying otherwise I'll say he's being pretty friendly, it may just be his personality though.
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"This... This is amazing!!! Carey you have to try this." the camp was in quite an uproar over the burgers with Ben and Jane trying to force Carey to try some. Was it really that great? Giving in to desire I grabbed a burger despite not needing any sustenance.
Holding the burger with two hands I can smell the delicious aroma of the meat, it was mouth watering and created a sense of hunger in me that should not have been possible. Taking a bite the crispy bun, the juicy patty, the cheese that was perfectly melted, the fresh taste of the crunchy lettuce with the refreshing tomatoes made the burger divine. Cooking skill is so amazing, this is better than any other burger I have ever had.
The juice was equally as amazing, despite just being squeezed juice its sweetness rivals that of honey but it wasn't too overpowering because of the sourness. Recreating a taste that was close to lemonade but so much better. Carey caved in to the aroma`s and peer pressure and soon the plentiful amount of food consisting of 10 burgers and 25 glasses of juice (utensils and containers do come with the food) was gone despite three of us not needing any food.
"That... That was sinfully good." Carey stated with face that seemed to be confused whether to be in love or grumpy. It was quite funny although saying out loud or staring is unwise, I've played enough games to know that much.
"You can make a living off of that you know? I'll manage the place an everything, split it 50/50?" Ben was trying to convince me into making a store. It makes me wonder how good will the other stuff be when I get the crafting skills. If I can make Divine level items it would make everything so much easier.
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"Indeed, this burger and juice combination would go for 5 gold? No probably 10, and the way it stimulates your appetite you could make several platinum a day. Even leaders from all races would seek your food." Mina muttered, did she get caught up in the money making scheme Ben was proposing.
"Ah I have a question." Everyone's attention got focused on me in an instant... That's a lot of pressure there! "How much is a gold coin worth by the way?" Despite being told the way currency functions by Mary and buying several things I'm still not sure exactly what it is worth. Like how much is it for a simple meal, clothes, etc.
"Oh yeah we had this same problem before, think of it like this. Peasants and lower class takes anywhere from a month to a years work to get a gold coin. On the other hand lesser nobles get a couple gold coins per month. Upper nobles get a couple platinum a month. A country as a whole gets a couple mithril coins in a year and gemmed coins are pretty much unobtainable and are national treasures. You could BUY a country with one gemmed coin."
Carey glared at Jane "You and Brandon wasted a bunch of money before too."
Thinking back our spending was quite extravagant, rather why did we spend so much in lodging. The fee for the adventurers guild makes sense though in a business sense, its a pretty hefty price just in case you go and die but if you are capable you can make a good living off of it.
"Wait why are gemmed coins so rare?" If it's used as a currency shouldn't there be a bunch of them?
"Gemmed coins are not made by us. While it is listed as a currency since it is a coin it hardly ever changes hands and the few that do get their hands on one usually from a dungeon or divine favor are treated with great awe and respect. They are made from solid gem with a lot of magic imbued within, mages believe that the coins were gifts from gods or from an ancient civilization." Mina again spouted off a bunch of information.
"That and the fact that the coins can store a huge amount of magical power making it even more precious. Items that can hold magic power in any real capacity are very highly sought for." Carey holds out a necklace made of gold, it was in the shape of a lady dressed in a simple robe with wings spreading out from behind her back. It clearly resembled Lunaela minus the elf ears. "This can store up to 500 magic power and was a gift to me from Lady Lunaela, as far as compared to other items goes the highest capacity that wasn't a gemmed coin was a crystal sword wielded by the leader of the vampires which stores up to 5000 magic power. However it stores power by drinking blood so it is not used and kept safe by the vampire hunters."
Mary twitched a bit at that but said nothing although both Liliana and Clara glanced at her a bit. This means the soul stones are really valuable provided anyone else but me can use them. I wonder what Carey's stats are but I guess I can't just stare at her for an hour.
"Well, I think it's about time for us to head out." Surprisingly it was Ben who brought it up. "Me and Carey are headed to the holy city of Svarlin... I assume that you won't be coming with us, Jane?"
"Wha-Why? You are coming with us right?" Carey was looking at Jane with almost pleading eyes.
"Nope, I'm going with Shin. I'm not going to ask for too much," Jane bowed her head a little to me, is it about the thing with Brandon?
"Figures, well what are you going to do Clara?" Ben turned towards Clara who had her mouth and eyes open in surprise while restraining Carey.
"Eh? Er... I don't know?" It seems she hadn't thought about it before.
"Lupa asked me to take care of you but if you want to go with them you can," I looked towards Ben and Carey, "I'm sure they can take care of you better than I can right now. I'll provide some funds as well of course."
"Guess it's decided then, it was fun playing with you," Mary gave Clara a kiss on the cheek then walked a little distance away to where Liliana was standing. She looked at me, "What? if she had a choice she would take that, since she hates you. But how are you going to provide the funds? It's not like they can carry this stuff all the way to the Svarlin and they aren't going to head back to Kane with us either."
I smiled awkwardly, "Benefits of a cheating ability I guess, I got some money from the defeated enemies." I walked up to Clara and placed a weighty bag into her hands, inside was 50 gold. "This should be more than enough for a while, as long as you keep it away from Ben."
Opening the bag Clara's eyes almost popped out of her head, "Thi-This is too much!!!"
Hastily Ben and Carey went over to look at the contents, "The-There's around 50 gold coins in there!!!"
"Cheat ability sure is overpowered," Jane was looking at me, "How much more do you have?"
"Not that much, we'll get a bunch from the materials we have so giving that much should be fine." If worse comes to worse I can always sell food for a while.
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Ever since we went our own ways I've been practicing magic, I had my right hand facing palm up with a strong fire continuously burning. In my left hand I held April's Watering Can pouring creatures into the fire who's souls I then ate. It may seem cruel but this helped me level multiple skills at once and it was clean since they just burned to ashes before hitting my hand.
While we were packing up I had tried to learn some combat skills from Liliana but it seems that I need to be in actual combat to learn them cause aside from gaining 1 Strength, 1 Endurance, and 1 Agility I didn't get anything else. I kind of wish I could teleport, create portals or something because this slow pace is eating away at me.
Wait isn't there usually a mount skill? Dumpley is doing well for his age but if I can boost his speed...
"Liliana can I try driving for a minute?"
Liliana looked at me doubtfully, "You aren't going to crash us into a tree or something right?"
I laughed nervously, "I shouldn't, plus Dumpley's smart enough not to right?" Dumpley snorted in response and continued trotting along.
"Alright then," She gave me the reins then sat behind me reaching around to put her hands over mine. Her hands were small although a little rough from practicing the sword they were still soft... Wait what am I thinking, focus here!
"You do this if you want him to turn left, this for right, to go forward and to stop." Rather than giving directions she directly showed me, when she started teaching me about how to get Dumpley to go forward or stop I could feel her modest chest pressed up against me. Along with the way she taught made sure that I remembered next to nothing.
*Ding
Due to your actions you have gained a new skill:
Driving (Passive): You can drive a pulled wagon or carriage properly, higher levels of the skill increase the speed and efficiency of your driving as well as stability. Adept 5 - 13%, You drive 75% faster, 75% more efficient and with 75% more stability.
Due to your actions you have gained a new title:
Pervert: Normal organisms of the opposite gender are 1000% more repulsed by you while organisms of the same gender are either 1000% more hostile or 1000% more friendly.
Oh!!! Did my experience from driving a car carry over? Suddenly Dumpley sped up by almost double his normal speed surprisingly the passengers.
Jane glared at me, "Warn us before you use a skill you cheater." Seems she no longer surprised by the things that I do. Then again if you know that there's a cheater there then most things that defy logic are explainable.
"Sorry, I just got it so didn't know it would do this." At best I thought it would only give me a small bonus, this was quite nice. I am going to be completely ignoring that title gain though.
.......
Yup going to ignore it, and the menacing window that popped up. I don't see aaaaanything. So in no time at all we made it all the way back to Kane, without me gaining any experience in anything but Driving.
"Hmm? Is it just me or are there a lot more people around?" We had just turning in the trophies for a 21 goblins at 1 silver each and 157 black wolves at 22 silver each we got a nice sum of 34 gold and 75 silver along with shocked faces from the attendants at our triumphant return. It seemed like there was a lot of whispering and staring from the adventurers there too, did we over do it too much? We left the materials for latter since I want to try crafting. On the streets seem to be a lot of people, notably a lot more carriages.
"Oh right, today's the slave auction." Jane made a disgusted face, while the other's faces varied from displeased to absolute hatred. "It's held once a month and anyone can participate, you need a lot of money to get a good slave though. Aside from personal connections and visits this event is the only way for people to get quality slaves so it draws a lot of attention, it's also a way for nobles to flaunt their wealth."
That would explain a lot, Mina was also visibly shaking. If we think about the circumstances of this world then it wouldn't be strange if she had ended up a slave if the person that found her wasn't us. Mary was also nervously glancing at me, she's still worried I'll try to sell her isn't she?
"Out of the way!!!" a commotion brought my attention back from my thoughts as a body came barreling into me knocking us both down.
"Stop that slave!!!" A couple of brutes, came running up and restrained the runaway with an out of breath weasel looking man following behind.
"Let me go!!!" The girl with wild brown hair up to her shoulders snarled snapping her mouth which had sharp teeth. On her head was a pair of furry ears and her hands were clawed. The grunts were having a hard time holding her still while they were trying to put a new set of cuffs and collar on her, it seemed she broke her old ones.
"Very sorry about that sir," he bowed a bit, beady eyes glued to the bulging sack of coins I had hanging from my belt, I really should put that away or it's going to get stolen. "You're not hurt are you? We'll make sure to discipline her properly so this won't happen again. If you don't mind..." He gestured towards the center of the city with a little bow, "How about you take a look at our merchandise first, I'll personally give you a tour and it'll be free of course. You can even purchase some of it if you wish, although..." He looked back towards the beast girl, "the more special merchandise will be for auction only."
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There will probably be another chapter tonight at some point, if you like binge reading I suggest waiting till the 10th because then the chapters coming out will probably hit a stop for a bit depending on what my work schedule is like. Next month though I can probably keep it to at least 1 chapter a week if not earlier since I resigned from one of my work places (still need to work there for two weeks after my break though).