13 years later...
"I'm tired. I'm so tired. As I level up, the quests are becoming more difficult and tiring as well," Amber commented while panting in exhaustion. She sat on the ground and looked up to see the clear blue sky. It was another beautiful day. "System, I want to go out of the forest now. Do you think those people would be able to recognize me?"
System: "I'm 99.99% sure that they won't."
"Why not make it a hundred?" Amber retorted as she rolled her eyes at the invisible partner inside her. She pressed her bracelet to see her status board and saw that she still needed to do a lot of quests to level up.
Race: Human /?
Age: 25
Level: 88 / 100
Space Storage: 44 cubic meters
Funds: 256, 389 Bronze Talas (*Tala is currency)
Health Status: healthy, calm; an unidentified poison found in the body (sealed) - not enough level to get rid of the toxin
Rewards: 1.) Mask Presence 5 hours - cooldown is half a day
2.) +7 years of life
3.) Body heals in 15 minutes
4.) Beast Tamer efficacy 55%
5.) Access to high-valued merchandise is thrice a week
6.) +1 organ protection – heart
"Before going out of the forest, I'd like to try taming a beast," Amber said while pressing her bracelet to keep the status board away. "Let's start with small animals."
System: "Go for it. If something goes wrong, you can always hide your presence."
Amber went back inside her house which she painstakingly built in the last thirteen years of her life in this world. Appearance-wise, she looked young for a 25-year-old woman. However, compared to her original age plus the years spent in this life, her appearance didn't match her age of 33 at all.
"You know what, I still don't understand why the pen is classified as high-valued merchandise," Amber expressed while changing her clothes to a new set. "If I sell it in this world, would someone even buy it?"
System: "You can try doing that to get an answer to your question."
Amber was beyond speechless. Her system was indeed helping her in the last thirteen years, but it would also jab her from time to time.
System: "For a woman who lives alone in this world, you are pretty rich compared to other people. I'm even worried that someone would rob you."
"I don't think so," Amber retorted while putting on her brown canvas bag. It was something she bought from her system store and it was so expensive that she had to gather tons of herbs and other things just to get her hands on this. Sometimes, she was really doubting if the system was helping her.
With her space storage, Amber didn't really need to get this bag but she was worried about what others would say if she would get something out of nowhere. so, even though she was bleeding internally because of the price, she still bought it.
This was also the reason why she wasn't able to level up a lot because the herbs she collected were sold to the store for this bag.
[Enough of my deepest regret.] Amber told herself and sighed. She walked out of the house, pressed her bracelet, and placed her house inside the storage space.
After making sure that she didn't forget anything, Amber went deeper into the forest.
She could smell the scent of the woods and shrubs. There were plenty of herbs around her as well and it helped her calm her mind. She loved the forest. She loved its wildness and refreshing scent. She even thought that if the capital or the town wouldn't accept someone like her, she would just live in the forest for the rest of her life. She could survive there with her beloved system anyway.
However, she still needed to leave the forest for her sake. The remaining quests in the system had something to do with the townsfolk and she would not be able to accomplish them if she wouldn't leave her hideout.
Amber continued to walk stealthily. She kept her eyes and ears open for any movement in the forest. In the last thirteen years, she encountered a lot of danger in the forest, but she was always able to avoid them all because of her dearest system. If it wasn't because of it, she would have died a thousand times already.
System: "There is a rabbit 50 meters to your east. Do you want to take it?"
Amber rolled her eyes once again and placed her hands on her hips. "Seriously? You classified that rabbit as a beast? Wait! What exactly are beasts here in this world?"
System: "Beasts in this world are animals with an affinity to magic."
"Really? So, even if I am not very strong like those superheroes in my world, I would still be considered powerful if I have a powerful beast, right?"
System: "That is absolutely right."
Amber's interest in beasts was piqued because of the system's words. In the past, even though her beast-taming efficacy was increasing, she never tried testing it because she was afraid. She had other plans and taming a powerful beast was something she didn't list as her priority.
This time, since she needed to leave the forest, she wanted to get a beast to guard her.
"By the way, I never asked you about this before since I didn't see the need to do so, but today is different. Is there a limit to how much you can appraise an animal? Since I'm just level 88, would you be able to see something beyond my level?"
System: "No. I can only see something within your level."
Amber nodded her head in understanding. She wasn't disappointed at all because even when her system couldn't appraise anything beyond her level, it could still detect if something very dangerous is approaching her. It happened a lot of times.
After an hour of walking, she finally arrived in the middle of the forest. The thick foliage and the big trees were blocking the sunlight, so it was a little bit darker compared to the outskirts where she lived.
[Can you detect anything within my level?] Amber asked her system telepathically. [Just tell me everything you can detect and I'll choose which one to tame.]
System: "Wide range detection activated. Beasts detected."
Amber checked the list of beasts that the system found for her and she was quite surprised when she saw the long list in front of her. She deleted the ones below Level 65 and it greatly helped shorten the list. "A white fox?" she muttered softly and clicked on its information.
Race: Beast /?
Level: 72
Status: Wounded
Magic Affinity: Wind and Water
Characteristic: Playful, Smart, and Loyal
Ability: Wind Cutter, Ice Twisters, Water Prison,?
[I'm seeing this question mark again.] Amber told herself worriedly. [Maybe she has another ability that she hasn't discovered yet. Anyway, it's not like I can't protect myself. I only needed some additional protection.] She closed the information about the fox and opened the map to see where this fox was.
She hurriedly went over to find it and as she had imagined, it was indeed the beautiful white fox that she had seen in anime when she was still alive on Earth.
She slowly approached it, but a twig snapped under her feet and the fox bared its fangs toward her. Fortunately, it was gravely wounded so, it wasn't able to attack her.
Amber caressed its head as slowly as she could while analyzing the wounds it received. They were from a bigger and stronger beast in the area. She checked the system store to find something she could use to cure the fox but there were only things that humans use.
[At times like this, I really think you are a bit useless.] Amber told the system who immediately closed the store on its own. [Alright. Stop sulking. Open the store. I'll get antibiotics and gauze. I don't know if this kind of medicine would work on a magical being, but we should try.]