"Your reward," The woman spoke with a soft smile. "Is a skill I, myself, only had. A skill that my God bestowed upon me, Observation." A ball of light flew from her chest into mine and a sudden warmth overcame me. "You now have the power to see others stats and level. It will help you in battles to come."
"Oh?" What the hell is she talking about!? This is a useless skill! I can't even use it in an actual fight. Why couldn't I get some kind of power like the others? Talk about unfair.
A window appeared in my HUD telling me I learned a new unique skill while that AI voice spoke in my head again. "Skill Observation learned. Skill level 1."
Thanks for letting me know....
"Welcome."
Wait...Did that AI just speak back to me? I doubt it, I was just imagining things, after all, we were all tired form the dudgeon....Right?
Maybe I was going crazy. I had no time to think about it as the transparent woman spoke. "To leave the dungeon and return to its entrance, please step into the light," she pointed to her left and sure enough a column of light appeared out of nowhere.
"Who are you?" The words left my mouth out of habit. I mean, I had wanted to ask. The woman just looked at me and smiled as she slowly started to vanish.
Fine then don't answer my question, I don't care.
The night sky was filled with thousands of stars that scattered across the night like white dots painted on a black canvas. The moon was full, and its light cast shadows as we walked tiredly through the forest. Every so often the wind would blow, giving a coolness to the warm night air.
The trees were silent, but as the wind blew, they'd dance in harmony together, their leaves rustled, acting as a lullaby to the sleeping animals, and an alarm clock to the nocturnal ones.
We'd run into enemies here and there, but they posed no threat to us and we struck them down quickly.
By the way, when we left the dungeon and entered the column of light, the dungeon had vanished. The door was gone and all that was left was a giant rock that had originally been the cave. As for the skill I got, it was actually kind of cool.
Every time an enemy popped up I would use it and it would tell me information, such as its stats, level, weaknesses, and strengths.
Each time I used the skill, it would gain EXP and by the time we reached town I had it to level 3.
I wasn't able to use it on humans though, and because of that I assumed it wouldn't work on stronger monsters. I would most likely have to level it up more first.
The town was quiet at night, which I hadn't expected. There were still people roaming around the streets, though they were drunks that just came back from the bar and were heading home. Guards patrolled the allies and streets, checking for any crimes or suspicious activity. The trio and I headed to the same Inn we stayed at last time. The same receptionist greeted us.
"Same thing as last time?" She asked without looking up.
What happened to her?
She was much cuter before. Curse this world! I was getting ready to say yes when Sora whispered in my ear.
"I want a room with you." My face went red and my eyed widened. My heart started to pitter-patter fast and I froze up. I started breathing slowly to calm my nerves when a window appeared in my HUD.
EXTRA QUEST
Quest details: Sleep with Sora and increase affection system
Rewards: All stats increased by 50
Wait, what?! Was this a trick? Was this real? If I slept with Sora my stats would increase again? Wait, that's not the right question, the right one is why the hell is this a quest?!
I mean, Sora was pretty, very actually. I felt her gaze on me like she was waiting for an answer.
"Do it," The AI voice spoke in my head.
I knew I wasn't crazy!
Who are you? I asked in my head.
"That does not matter. What matters is you increasing your affections with as many people as possible."
Why does that matter!? And why the hell are you rooting me on?!
"Because it increases your stats, and the more stats increase the stronger you get, Mr. Hero," The AI started to sound a bit cocky near the end there. Was that a sneer at the end?
Hey! I'm not some man whore who just sleeps with people!
"She wants it though, and deep down you do too." She was right... I did want this...but I couldn't do it, it didn't feel right.
"Sorry, Sora. I can't do that," I held my head low as I gave my answer.
"You said you'd do anything I asked," she puffed her cheeks as she used my promise against me.
"Y-Yeah, but this is-" she interrupted me with a laugh.
"I'm joking. How about....," she put a finger to her cheek. "We go on a date when we can, just me and you?"
"...That's cool," I muttered. Better than the latter.
EXTRA QUEST
Quest details: Go on a date with Sora and increase affection system
Rewards: All stats increased by 50
That's way better.
I let out a sigh. I couldn't bring myself to sleep with her, I barely knew her. Like I said, I'm not some man whore. Going on a date with her would be easy, and wouldn't be hard. So I'm perfectly fine with that.
We paid for the same rooms we had last time and all headed to our rooms.
That night I had dreams of Sora, a dream that I did as she asked and slept with her. Man, I really regret not sleeping with her now....
I awoke the next morning and stretched. I had fallen asleep with my full gear on, except for my sword which was resting against the wall. I picked it up and put it on my back. While doing so, Han was getting ready, and as I waited for him I started to think.
Why am I getting these weird extra quests, and how is affection increasing my stats?
An answer came to me in the form of an AI voice, which I had decided to name Yue.
"You have something no one else has, a blessing. And because of it, you grow stronger due to peoples affections towards you," she said to me.
Oh, so I'm not weak! In fact, I'm the strongest!