Chapter Nine: Olivia…
There was a long silence between Greg and his new familiar as a million thoughts went through his mind. Part of him, a very big part, was tempted by the woman's offer. Her charm was undeniable and from the look in her eyes, Greg doubted that there was anything he could want to do that she wouldn't be down with. He, however, forced his eyes closed to keep them from wandering over her curvaceous body and took in a deep calming breath. "What can you do?" Greg asked. "I get that you will fulfill every lewd desire that I have," he went on before the woman could launch into another tirade of the raunchy things she could envision them doing together. "However, I doubt that you are just a sex slave," he pointed out. "So I'll ask again, what can you do?" Greg repeated.
After going through the kinds of missions that the system offered, Greg knew that he wasn't meant to be buying sexual experiences from it. Instead, through it, Greg was supposed to seduce as many women as possible in the real world. If it's sex slaves he needed, then Greg was supposed to explore that kink with any women that were interested in it. Heck, if Greg had no moral qualms with it and was willing to complete the Twisted and Rogue missions, then even getting real slaves wasn't out of the realm of possibility as far as the system was concerned. There was simply no way that Greg would be made to buy a sex slave from the shop, even if she was a limited edition purchase. The woman before him presented herself as a treasure trove of unbridled sexual experiences. Greg, however, doubted that this was even among the major roles that she served, let alone the main one as she seemed to imply.
A smile slowly spread across the woman's face. For some reason, Greg could tell that she was pleased by the fact that he wasn't taken by her overt sexual advances. "Think of me as a helper," She spoke. This time, the tone of her voice was sober, not the sexually charged kind that she'd employed before. "You've lived your whole life in this backwater town you call home. You know nothing of the world out there, of magic, or the chance that you have received," She stated. "Had you followed the normal progression, you would have been forced to wade through all this on your own," The woman declared in a calm tone. "Whether you sank or swam, would have all been up to your wits and abilities," the familiar explained. Her voice wasn't cold in the least. Greg, however, could both hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes that she didn't care whether Greg would have succeeded or not. To her, both outcomes would have been equally as interesting.
"However," The woman went on. "Due to unforeseen circumstances," She said with a glance at the wall. Unbeknownst to Greg, the woman had just glanced in the direction of the healer who was still shaking in the lab. "You've managed to gain access to me," She stated. "As such, my role becomes to help and guide you in learning, growing, and becoming the most powerful vessel of lust you can be!" She declared. Greg then watched as a mischievous smile crossed the woman's lips, almost as if she knew she was about to say something shocking. "I also know all that there is to know about the system," She stated. Greg tried his best to keep his expression neutral. He, however, didn't fully succeed. On the one hand, any last vestiges of doubt that he'd harbored about her identity were cleared by this statement. On the other hand, even if she'd been summoned by the system, Greg hadn't been sure that she knew anything about it. As such, he'd been careful not to mention it thus far. The fact that she was the one to bring it up could only mean that she was aware of it.
"I can clear up the misunderstandings you have about the system. I can explain the parts of the system that you can't figure out," The woman went on with a glance at the back of Greg's right hand. "I can also operate the two system shops for you," She went on, causing Greg to arc an eyebrow at her. He didn't see why he would want her to do that. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure he could trust her to transact on his behalf. "You are walking through the howling desert when you feel a sharp pain on the sole of your foot," The woman spoke. From the look in her eyes, she had picked up on his mistrust. Still, Greg was confused by the sudden turn of the conversation. He, however, didn't interrupt her. "You crouch down to check and find that it's a black bone worm that's bitten you. Nasty little buggers those things," She muttered. "Only as large as your pinky finger but so poisonous that within minutes of being bitten, you'll be completely paralyzed. Within a day, only black bones will be left of you, the rest of your flesh having been reduced to a putrid soup of rot," The woman continued to relay.
"Now, everyone knows that to cure the black bone worm's poison one simply needs to chew on the petals of the sun orchid. A plant that, on top of being rare, only blooms once every five years," The familiar stated with a smile. "Luckily for you, while the sun orchid may be a rare find in the desert, it is among the items you can find in the magic shop," She declared with a smile. "All you have to do is find it within five minutes otherwise you'll be paralyzed and once that happens, it's game over," She stated. Even before she got to the end, Greg had figured out what she was trying to convey. The system shops, especially the magic shop, were simply too big for Greg to memorize. It was also now that he realized that there was no search function in the system. The only help it offered was to sort the items in the magic shop into different sections. Worse still, some sections, like the herbs section, had over a hundred thousand items in them. To try and find one item among a hundred thousand in just five minutes was an impossible task. He might as well walk around the actual desert and hope to find the sun orchid.
"Are you saying that you can find it before five minutes is…"
Greg didn't even get to finish the question. The woman simply snapped her fingers and a prompt from the system appeared before Greg's eyes.
DO YOU WISH TO BUY THE SUN ORCHID FOR 2000 MAGIC POINTS?
YES/NO.
Greg clicked on 'NO' before turning to look at the woman in shock. He hadn't been willing to disclose anything about the system to anyone, at least not until he was sure that the said person could be trusted. This little demonstration by the familiar, however, made it clear that that plan was already moot. Whether he liked it or not, she already had access to the system. On the other hand, there was no denying how useful it would be to have someone he could actually talk to about the system as opposed to blindly guessing about the parts he didn't as yet understand. Not to mention that, even if Greg had three times the IQ he presently had, there was no way he would have taken anything short of several years to figure out where everything was in the two shops, especially the magic shop. Having someone that could not only advise him but also instantly find anything that he wanted from the system was a godsend.
"Is there more that you can do?" Greg asked.
"Not for now," The woman replied briefly causing a brow to arch on Greg's face.
"What do you mean?" He posed.
"There's so much more that I could offer you," The familiar stated. "Sadly, you are too weak," She declared. "Worse still, how powerful I am is integrally tied to how powerful you are," She stated. "The system won't allow me to be too powerful compared to you. Otherwise, you'll just become weak and dependent on me to save you whenever things get hard." She explained. "In the world out there, that's a quick way to get yourself killed," She stated bluntly. "So, as I said before, not for now," She clarified.
Greg could see the sense in her words, and as such, didn't press her for what else she could do. Instead, he addressed another issue. "Do you have a name?" He asked with a smile. Greg began by being cautious with the woman and seeing how she fit into the larger picture of his new life in this world. Now that he was past that phase, however, he saw no reason he shouldn't have an amicable relationship with her. Going by her words, she had completely given herself over to him. Greg, however, didn't see that as any reason not to be nice to her.
"I'd be proud to take on any name you give me master," The familiar replied, her tone dripping with sensuality. It was almost scary how easily the woman could go from being serious to being sultry and seductive.
"Olivia," Greg said after a while of silence. A small smile played on his lips as he remembered the sunny smile on the face of a certain girl from his former life. "I think the name Olivia will suit you," He said.
The familiar's head tilted slightly to the side as she turned the name over in her head. "I've never heard of the name," she confessed, once again reminding Greg that he wasn't in his old world. A smile, however, crossed the familiar's face soon thereafter. "I like it," She stated. "I'm Olivia," She stated almost as if she was tasting the name on her tongue. She nodded to herself as she once again reaffirmed, "I like it," she declared with a bright smile.
"Well, Olivia," Greg spoke up. "Do you mind telling me what this thing is for?" Greg asked holding up his right hand to show the Eros sigil to her. Ever since he'd gotten it, Greg had been monitoring both himself and the system, trying to see if anything had changed. So far, the sigil seems to have remained inert, with no overt changes. Olivia had already stated that she could answer whatever questions he had, as such, Greg saw no need to go on guessing.
"This sigil is an investment of sorts," The woman answered. "To use it, only two conditions have to be met. The first is that the sigil can only be used on those you have slept with," she explained. "You can't just go around marking everyone you see," she stated. "The other condition is that you need to have a thousand lust points any time you wish to use it as that is what it'll take to mark someone," She explained.
Greg couldn't help but arc an eyebrow as he looked down at the sigil on the back of his hand. "So this thing is for marking everyone I've slept with?" he asked partly comically.
"You could use it that way, but if that's all it did then I doubt it'd cost more than ten thousand lust points, not to mention that it'd be a total waste of lust points" Olivia voiced exactly what Greg had been thinking. There was no way its price would have been justified if all it could do was mark people.
"So what does it actually do?" Greg asked.
"Simple, anyone you mark with it can earn lust points for you," Olivia stated causing Greg's eyes to go wide as his mind reeled with the realization of just how useful this sigil can be. "Before you start building castles in the air, you need to understand how it works," Olivia cautioned. "Anyone you mark with the sigil will be treated like your avatar by the system," She stated. "They won't see any screens as you do. They won't get any mission prompts like you. However, if they carry out any of the tasks found in your missions list, then the system with treat it like it's you doing the act," She explained. "Had you obtained it when you were powerful enough to fully utilize it, it could have been a very powerful tool for you. Sadly, you obtained it far too early," She stated causing a frown to cross Greg's expression.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"A soul link," Olivia stated. "That's how the sigil works. It creates a link between you and the marked. The greater the number of these links, the greater the burden that your soul is placed under." She explained. "There are ways to train one's soul strength in particular. However, the most straightforward way of gaining a powerful soul is to grow more powerful as a wizard," She explained. "As you are, right now, the maximum number of people that you can mark with the sigil is two. Beyond that, you'd be walking a mighty fine line and placing your soul at undue risk," She stated. "Along with the limit on the number of people that you can mark, there is also a limit on how far the marked can be from you. As you are right now, this town is probably the limit of your range," She stated. "If you marked someone in this town and left it to go elsewhere, the mark would remain but the connection to the individual would be broken. You wouldn't be able to earn anything from the ones you've marked while the link is broken. Not until they were once again back in range," Olivia informed him.
Greg couldn't help but feel part of his initial excitement fading. The sigil itself wasn't to blame. It was every bit as powerful as Greg first imagined it to be. The only limiting factor was Greg himself and how powerful he was. As soon as Greg had come to terms with the fact that magic in this world was real, he wanted to learn magic and become powerful. The situation with the sigil only further reinforced this desire in Greg. Whatever it took, Greg would become one of the strongest mages, if not the strongest mage, to ever walk this world. After gaining a second chance at life, it would be a crime not to make the most of it.
"What's an awakening potion?" Greg next asked. Now that he could, he planned to clear up any questions that he might have had about the system.
"To understand what the awakening potion does, you first have to know about mana pathways and the mana core," Olivia replied. "Your body has a heart and blood vessels to send blood to every part of your body. In the same way, a mage has mana core and mana pathways to allow them to circulate mana throughout their body," Olivia explained. "However, unlike the heart and blood vessels which by and large come already prepared for the task they are to execute, mages have to take time to constantly reinforce both their core and mana pathways in order for them to be able to handle the burden that mana places on them. How sturdy one's mana core and pathways are, is often the reason that most mages can no longer progress in their magical journey. Push beyond what they can handle and the best you can hope for is to simply destroy your own mana pathways," She stated. "Overload your core and will be looking for pieces of you to bury," She went on to say with a very serious look on her face. It was clear that she wasn't exaggerating in the least.
"In prominent magical families, their young members are made to start working on their foundation from before they are even ten. Before they turn sixteen, they won't even be taught any spells. You see while mages are always trying to strengthen their core and mana pathways, the effect is only pronounced while they are still at the start of their magical journey. Once they progress past the early stage of the first tier, there is usually very little that can be done to further reinforce their cores and strengthen their mana pathways. As such, years will be spent ensuring that they do all that they can to strengthen their cores and mana pathways. Even at sixteen, if it is determined that the particular individual can still continue to strengthen their foundations, they still won't be allowed to learn any spells until they hit the limit of what they can achieve in terms of a reinforced core and strengthened mana pathways. With a strong foundation, it doesn't matter how slowly they progress from one tier to the next, barring any other accidents, they'll eventually make it to the higher tiers of magic. If, however, their foundation is weak, then even if they are a genius that can progress to a new tier with every sunrise, they'll still hit a hard limit past which their mana pathways and cores won't be able to handle," Olivia explained.
"There are many potions out there that can help in the process of strengthening one's mana pathways and reinforcing their mana cores. Once one moves past this phase, however, there are less than ten potions out there that can strengthen one's magical foundation," She stated. "Of those potions, there is none with a stronger effect than the awakening potion," She, at last, answered Greg's question. "Countless mages out there would give up everything they have and own to obtain just a single vial of it," She stated.
Greg didn't doubt her words. He could only imagine how frustrating it must be to know that one could grow stronger, but not be able to do so for fear of death. "Without that potion, I'd advise you to take the next six to ten years just focusing on your foundation," Olivia spoke up. "Starting your journey late is a lot more preferable to ending it early," She explained.
Greg couldn't help but agree with her. Even though he was dying to start slinging spells and growing stronger as a mage, it wouldn't make any sense to neglect his foundation only to end up as a mediocre mage. "What about with it?" He asked.
"One year, two at the most," Olivia replied succinctly. "After that, you can take the potion and the net effect will end up the same," She instructed.
A while of silence passed between them as Greg processed her words and considered within himself how long he'd be willing to wait. "If I were to spend the whole ten years setting up my foundation before taking the potion, wouldn't that be better?" He posed.
"Of course it would," Olivia answered without a moment's hesitation. "However, you of all people should know that anything can happen," She offered a counter. "This world is not a safe one and death lurks around every corner. Unlike those scions of large clans and prominent magical families, you don't have anyone protecting you," she stated. "With my proposal, you only have at most two years to worry about. If you go with ten years, it's still doable but, you'll have to ensure that nothing happens to you in all that time," She cautioned. "It'd be a damn shame for you to be so diligent only to die along the way because you were not powerful enough to protect yourself," She added.
Greg turned her words over in his head. He could see the merit in her words. Rushing through setting up his foundation, would be stupid. Delaying in this stage, however, also held its own risks. "What does the Eros body do?" Greg asked after a while of silence.
An amused smile crossed Olivia's expression almost as if a funny thought had just crossed her mind. With a smile playing on her lips she answered. "I don't know whether you are smart, or just really lucky," She spoke up. "But for you, the Eros body would have been a really expensive way to die…"