“Yes, this is edible,” Grillion said as he plugged a mushroom.

Three days later, when they were traveling through the forest, Grillion showed off his skill as a long-time chef. He showed Toby what could be eaten, what couldn’t be, and most importantly, what could be used as ingredients for cooking.

As they traveled with Toby lying on Grillion’s head, Grillion moved swiftly and picked up ingredient after ingredient to either put them in his backpack or some jars that hung on his backpack.

It was quite a novel experience to sit on someone’s head and let them do all the work.

Toby once dreamt of piloting giant heroic mecha and fighting against evildoers when he was a kid. From his perspective now, if he did achieve the dream of piloting a mecha, then it would be something similar to this. Whenever he pointed at something and asked about it, Grillion would go there and pick that thing up, then explain it to Tobby.

From bugs to herbs to plants that digest animals with acid. Toby learned a lot from Grillion.

But there was just one question that kept surfacing in Toby’s mind.

“Why do all your dishes involve some kind of bugs, Grandpa Grill?” He asked.

Grillion stopped walking for a brief moment before scratching the back of his left ear. He let out an awkward laugh while having an equally awkward smile.

“Well, you see, little Toby. Grandpa is old and his physical condition isn’t the best. It takes a lot of effort to hunt for big animals or monsters that can be used as cooking ingredients. It isn’t because your grandpa is weak and can’t hunt.”

If his life as an office worker ever taught Toby anything, it would be to never outshine the master and let them save face. He wanted to eat some meat but that would force them to hunt. A fish is fine too but it seemed Grillion was reluctant for some reason. So he just went with the flow.

“I see. Thanks for letting me know Grandpa.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Finished setting up a campfire, Grillion put his frying pan on the fire then squeezed a purple juice over the pan. The juice fell and made a sizzling sound as it came into contact with the heated surface. Soon, the juice evaporated its purple color, leaving behind only a thin layer of greasy-looking liquid. Finally, a new meal.

Grillion took out some bugs that looked like grasshoppers this time and snapped off their legs one by one before throwing everything into the pan. The old goblin chopped the mushrooms they just picked on a plate, then put them into the pan. He took out the plates and put them on the ground in front of them. When the grasshoppers were brown and crisp, Grillion tried to pick up the pan and pour the meal into their plates but was stopped by Toby.

“I can help with that.” He raised his flipper.

“Oh? Can you now?” Grillion smiled as he let his hand off the pan’s handle and leaned back.

Seeing old Gramp agreed, Toby covered his flippers with [Magic Hand] and used them as if they were his hands. He lifted the pan and slowly shook it to get the grasshopper off and into the plates. One shook, two shook, three shook. They didn’t come off cleanly so Toby had to slap the bottom of the pan with his flipper.

That was a dumb mistake as the bottom of the pan, which was hovering on the campfire just moments ago, was hot as hell.

Toby retracted his flipper and shook it as he blew the burning feeling away.

Old Gramp chuckled before focusing on eating his meal. Toby put the pan on the ground while grumbling before he started eating. It tasted like vegetable tempura. The outside was crispy but there was a soft and light taste inside. The purple fruit juice left behind a subtle richness around the exoskeleton while the freshness of the mushroom kept everything from being too heavy.

[Fried Hyjm consumed for the first time]

[Reward: 10 Life Exp. Life Exp: 40 -> 50]

[Thanks to (Healer Path), the Mana recovery effect of the meal is enhanced by 5%]

Not only was it a great meal, but it even gave Toby enough Life Exp to Rank Up. Once he finished the satisfying meal, he asked Grillion.

“Grandpa Grill, do you know about Rank Up?”

“Of course, I do. Everyone knows about Rank Up.” He nodded before continuing. “Usually, people go to one of the Celestial Temple and receive the blessing of the stars to Rank Up. When that happens, they can receive a random Skill of the same rank from their Path.”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin before continuing, “But that's what it's like for the majority, the Anthrals.”

“Anthrals? Is that a race?” Toby tilted his head at the unfamiliar word.

Grill smiled softly as he shook his head. “Anthrals are those of mostly humanoid lineages. Think of humans, elves, dwarfs, races like that. Putting it simply, if you glance at someone and don’t think you can try cooking them. Then they are considered to be an Anthrals.”

“Ok? Not the best way to put it. But, got it, Grandpa.”

“Back to the explanation, going to the temples is what the Anthrals do to Rank Up. While we, the Primalis of monster’s lineages, work a lot differently. We don’t have to collectively go anywhere. Each individual has a different way to Rank Up. For example, my way to Rank Up is to cook and create a new recipe. Think of it like this. Anthrals are like different types of fish, they all need water to live. While Primalis are like fried rice, you can put almost anything in and it still works.”

Nodding, Toby said, “I see, that’s interesting. But.” He paused. “Aren’t that categorizing people based on their appearance and lineage? That’s racist.”

Raising one eyebrow, Grillion asked back, “I have no idea what racist means. But how else would you do it? And separating like this isn’t a way to create division or hostility. Throughout history, it has been proven that this way, anyone can recognize and respect one another unique attributes and cultures. It’s a way to foster understanding and appreciation for many diverse ways of life.”

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Rendered speechless, Toby had nothing to say about it. He was someone from Earth. It was difficult to change his perspective in a day or two. But he still nodded, as the saying goes. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

So he accepted it and continued to ask questions.

“Then how do I know what to do to Rank Up if each individual has a different way?”

Grillion smiled like a proud grandfather, “Close your eyes and listen to the voice inside you. You’ll know.”

Listen to the voice inside of me? The System? Alright then, easy enough. Hey System, how do I Rank Up?

[To Rank Up, the user must perform the following actions.

Step one, walk backward while keeping a steady gaze at the front for twenty steps.

Step two, stand still and swing your flippers from side to side with one flipper at the front and one at the back five times.

Step three, turn one hundred and eighty degrees and walk backward to the user’s original location.

Step four, raise your flippers forty-five degrees up in the sky and shout your appreciation to life.]

“…Hey Grandpa,” Toby turned toward Grillion. “Does Rank Up instruction usually as long as a novel?”

“Again, I don’t know what you are referring to. But usually, the Rank Up instruction we get is a sentence that pops into our mind.”

“Ok, thanks, Grandpa.” Toby turned his head back. System, you asshole, you’re pulling my legs, aren’t you?

[Turtle System is not pulling the user's legs since the user has no legs, only flippers.]

Aha, I got you now. That means you are pulling my flippers and making fun of me.

[Turtle System has no obligation to answer that question.]

…Bastard. Fine. Then to Rank Up, I have to moonwalk, do the floss, moonwalk back, then praise the sun, right?

[Yes. That is the correct sequence to Rank Up for the user.]

Toby let out a very long sigh.

“What’s wrong little Toby?” Grillion asked as he stood up and sat closer to Toby. Seeing that Toby didn’t respond, he patted Toby’s shell gently.

“It’s fine. I know how to Rank Up now. It’s just… please don’t laugh at me.”

“I would never do that little Toby.”

Toby took a deep breath. And danced.

Under the full might of the sun, Toby moonwalked with his shell gliding smoothly against the earthen ground. His magnificent movement made him look like he was sliding on a magic dance floor.

Once he stopped, he threw his flippers on the right with one flipper beneath his neck and the other touching the side of his shell. It was like middle school dance contest all over again. He repeated the movement five more times.

The floss was completed. Toby spun in place and professionally moonwalked back to his original spot. But with grace and elegance, he put one flipper on his head as if he was holding on to an invisible classy-looking white fedora hat.

When he was back in his original spot, he raised his flippers high along with his head and shouted with an almighty voice that cleared away all evil, all lost souls, and all coldness of death.

“PRAISE THE SUN.” Thus, Toby returned the world to the Age of Fire.

Opening one of his eyes and peeking at Grillion, he saw the old man had a warm look like that of an adult who was looking over a child when that child did something adorable. To make things worse, Grillion was even clapping. He was clapping.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” Toby slammed his flippers on the ground. “Kill me. Kill me now.”

[Rank Up sequence detected. Commencing Rank Up]

[Calculating cost. Life Exp: 50 -> 0]

But before Grillion could heal the poor turtle’s soul with his meal, pure Mana without attribute rushed toward Toby like a flood and swirled around him, covering him from head to toe, embracing him in a cocoon of Mana.

Three seconds passed, the Mana cocoon dispersed, leaving behind Toby.

He felt stronger. His muscles felt tight and connected, like a well-oiled machine ready for some heavy lifting. The Mana that ran through his veins turned from a creek into a stream. He not only had more Mana, but the Mana itself felt more alive.

Toby looked at himself, expecting some major changes.

But he looked exactly the same. Just bigger.

If he was the size of an adult hand before, then he was the size of two adult hands after his Rank Up. It wasn’t the best thing to get, but it was still an improvement.

[Rank Up completed. The user is now Rank 2]

[Function unlocked: The Shop]

“Good show little Toby, congratulations on your Rank Up.” Grillion patted his shell, “Well, not so little Toby.” Grillion smiled.

“Thanks, Grandpa Grill,” Toby said as his mind wandered toward The Shop. I need to test this out.

“Grandpa, is there any place safe around here? There’s something I want to test.”

“Safe place? Of course.” Grillion put Toby on his head again. “You gain some weight, little Toby.” He laughed as he dashed across the forest like he was running through a plain. Quick and precise steps that ignored any roots and only found the ground.

Soon, Grillion arrived at a small cave with a makeshift bed and a burn-out campfire.

“I have been in this place for five days before. This place is safe.” Grillion said as he put Toby down.

“How did you move like that? That was amazing.” Toby exclaimed.

Grillion took out a necklace with a bronze tag on it and grinned, “I’ve been an adventurer for more than ten years.” Then he prepared their make-shift camp as he always did.

As for Toby, he couldn’t wait to play with the new function he just unlocked. The Shop.

“Open the Shop.” He mumbled.

[Opening The Shop]

[Welcome to The Shop, new user. Would you like a tutorial on how The Shop works?]

“Yes, show me everything.” Toby couldn’t hide the eagerness in his voice.

[This is The Shop, where the user can purchase Skills and Items of the same Rank or lower than the user by using Life Exp. To see what Skills and Items you have access to, please think of the word display]

Toby did just that and saw a catalog appear in front of his eyes. It looked exactly like Bmazon shopping website. But with simpler categories and demonstration videos. There was also a search bar and a payment cart.

The navigation bar had a few categories like Today’s Deal, Skills, Items, Upgrade, Exchange, and Order.

Under the navigation bar was a big red neon letter that said "Today’s Deal" above a video of a faceless crash test dummy using some kind of suction force to pull a water bottle into its palm.

The video title was “Rank 2 Skill – Gather” with a big zero percent discount label, the subtitle was “Create a suction force to pull an object toward the user”, underneath the subtitle was “Today, all elements are in balance, Gravity-related Skills can’t never be any cheaper. Buy one get none free. With just 50 Life Exp, the user can have a Rank 2 Skill. Amazing. Buy Now”

Slapping a flipper on his forehead, Toby looked up at the sky with closed eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Toby scrolled down. Under the video was a chaotic list of random and messy Rank 1 and Rank 2 Skills from many Paths. After messing around a bit, Toby managed to switch the format. With the new format, under Today’s Deal was a bar with Paths tag.

There were [Warrior Path], [Mage Path], [Summoner Path], [Healer Path], [Craftsman Path]. But what caught Toby’s eyes the most was [The Dark Lord Path], [Hero Path], and [Stars Path].

But when he tried to click on any other Path from Dark Lord, it just popped a window that said.

[The user has yet to gather information from anyone who walks the Path. Please do so to unlock the category]

Having been reminded of that, Toby turned toward old Gramp and used [Insight] on him.

[Grillion Crumblepot – Craftsman Path – Chef – Rank. ??? – Lv. ???]

[The user successfully uses Insight to gather information about a Path from another being for the first time]

[Reward: 20 Life Exp. Life Exp: 0 -> 20]

Hearing the sweet sound of payday, Toby couldn’t help but smirk.

With the joy of a child on his birthday, he kept on playing around with the other functions of the Shop.

The Items category was similar to the Path category but instead of Skills and Paths, it was Items and Elements. There were Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Air, Light, and Darkness along with the corresponding Items in their category. The Items list looked like a list of equipment from an RPG with armor, weapons, and accessories. But that wasn't all, there were also natural Items like seeds, wood, rocks, leaves, snow, lava, so on and so forth. Toby scrolled around the list of Rank 1 and 2 Items and Skills as he felt like he was going window shopping since he didn’t have any money.

But before he could continue to play with other functions from The Shop, a child-like voice shouted.

“I’ve found you Dark Lord. I, Lukas, Hero of Might will slay you. Prepare to die.”

Toby turned toward the cave’s entrance and saw a kid with wolf ears.