' Hmm, that's it ? '
Checking the rewards didn't take long, it was just a glance at a text, but it was just way less than what he had expected.
The wolf surely wasn't of high level, and maybe because it was considered an expedition outside instead of a normal hunt or story chapter, the experience received was halved, and it was the same thing with the coins.
Though out of the two, the experience wasn't his in the first place, but Mariane's one.
The experience of a player was different than the one of a character, as the player could only grow by doing quests and receiving rewards from various things.
A character, instead, could grow by receiving experience points from hunting raid monsters, using experience potions, or just battling and surviving in general.
In any case, it wasn't something for him to worry about right now, he already had some materials for her evolution from the affinity level, though he'll need a lot more, with each evolution happening every ten levels, but it wasn't something he should worry about right now.
" Inventory "
By calling upon the small window, he could see that after claiming the quests rewards, he didn't receive a single item, leaving his inventory as empty as it was before they stepped out, lowering his expectations a bit more.
' If I have a bunch of cards, and can use every single one of them at the same time since it's not a game anymore, won't I be able to fill my inventory at least.. ? '
Surely, there shouldn't be a penalty saying that he could only summon five cards at the same time, and even so, he could send characters in expeditions across the world at one point or another.
Though that was for a far future, as of now, with a single rainbow card and short by one shard to summon even a single blank character, he was in a deplorable state compared to his previous glory.
' Too bad, that thing doesn't have a note book option. '
Scrutting at the floating game window in front of him, he sighed as he couldn't even take notes of characters that were somewhat interesting to get.
After all, not every characters were good, and while a lot could be fun to have and enjoy some time with, if they couldn't help with fights and such, it wouldn't be a good pull at the start, he had to aim for the strongest, or at least the one he could make the best uses of.
' A three star character.. Was there one that was even good in the first place ? '
For players of 'Erotic Card Maestro' , even a three star character was just the most basic one, below that were characters mostly used for the diversity of sex scenes and tutorials, and only four stars and above were worth keeping in battle teams.
Based on that, he started questioning himself and if he should choose a character with a sex scene that he liked or maybe a rarer tag that he could enjoy, but his thoughts were short as Mariane just came back.
" Master, I brought back some edible fruits. "
Her sweet voice coming from the wooden door, he got up from the chair he was sitting on and went ahead to open the door for her.
" Good work, anything to report ? "
Seeing the woman coming in with a box under her arm and a bunch of fruits in the bucket that was previously filled with water in the other hand, he didn't really know how to feel about it, but accepted her help and care nonetheless as he went back to the table but didn't sit yet.
" If master is asking about a monster, I haven't seen another one at the moment, though that might change later when I will be searching for a city nearby. "
Her answer, close to what the expressionless Mariane would give, showed once more that she could take her job seriously and do the part between a moment between them and one where she received work.
While it was a small detail that only he would look about with his knowledge of the game and their characters, his stare on the expecting maid didn't change.
" Well done, and sorry to have to count on you like that. "
Lifting his hand, he finally did something he wished to do since he summoned her.
" ..- !... "
By patting her head, it seemed that she didn't even expected it, her tail and ears suddenly perking up.
When he started rubbing his hand against the top of her head, also caressing her fluffy ears since he could do it, he really enjoyed the feeling of her soft hair and fur against his hand, as it was really close to petting a pet.
" .. M-master-... I'm not a dog.. "
" Do you not like it ? "
Her small complaint was answered by a question which the answer was pretty obvious, seeing her tail wagging excitedly behind her, she lowered her head as if embarrassed about it.
" ... I do.. "
Eventually, she mustered a soft whisper out of her lips, and with only the two of them here, he easily heard that and ended up smiling.
" Then just enjoy your reward a little longer. "
He couldn't be honest and say that he just wanted to touch her ears for a moment or how her tail would make a good pillow for a nap, especially as they had a lot to do, so enjoying that small moment with her, he was also the one the one to put a stop to it.
If she was at a low affinity level with him, she would be the one pulling herself away directly or even ask to be released after some time if it was somewhat higher, but with a max affinity, what couldn't he do to her ?
Being pretty sure that she would enjoy his every touches, there was no way she would want to pull away by herself, instead, it was admirable that she could control herself to the extent of not asking for more.
" .... "
" .... "
What followed was a long silence as her tail slowly stopped moving, with her visibly trying to calm herself.
" ... I'll go now, master. "
" Mhm, I'll see you later then. Be careful out there. "
Watching her leave the small house he was summoned in, he waited a bit before sighing and sitting back on the chair, staring at the bucket full of various fruits.
A card didn't really need to eat, they could do it and enjoy food tastes, but it wasn't necessary for their survival, so all those fruits were just for him to take.
Grabbing one and taking a bite of it, it was a bit sour, but not that bad either, and if it was edible and he could calm his hunger with it, then he'll eat probably anything at that point.
Now that he was thinking about it, he really learned a lot about cards in a small moment earlier, though just really simple things, it was things that the game wasn't letting be known.
Like the fact that a card didn't need to go to the toilet either, if one was hurt, they could be called back and after some time, their injuries would have disappeared, even death wasn't a concept for them, instead, they just couldn't be used for a few days at most.
And there was one thing that he learned that marked him more than anything else, especially since she seemed quite hesitant about it when she told him, but cards couldn't get pregnants unless the master, or him, willed it.
Was it a good news ? It sure was.
But while telling him about it, he could guess why she gave such a reaction to those words.
Most of cards had a tag for creampies, but none of them had one for pregnancies, as it didn't exist as a tag, and though there were milfs, only a small part of them really had a child described in their stories, while most of them were womens of age, being a lot more mature.
' Well, she must be scared to not be chosen for carrying a child while others would, but I don't really want kids as of now.. '
Keeping his thoughts for himself, maybe that would change later, but with his current state, not even considering his choices on the matter, he didn't feel like he was ready to be a father, his situation as a whole being too precarious.
" Oh, that one is quite good. "
Eating a fruit that could be compared to a bigger red apricot, he carefully avoided the core of the fruit with his teeth, feeling slightly bored since he had nothing else to do.