Chương 18: System Rewards

For a moment, Scarlet considered going through her Action Log. What level was that bat? Had she made any improvements? The urge to see if she'd made progress warred with her desire to collect whatever treasures these monsters had gained her. Then Maus pressed his little paws into her face, and her stomach roiled.

"Maus," she groaned, scooping the docile little guy into one hand and grabbing her sanitizer with the other. She placed the mouse on her thigh with a firm warning to not touch her skin again until she'd given him another scrub – a command he took with all the sullenness of an abandoned puppy – before she applied the sanitizer to her hands and, less liberally, to her jaw. Yeah, yard first. She'd loot, clean then see if there was anything about this quest she could get started.

Scooping Maus up in one hand she gave him a firm look, communicating multiple times that he would lose shoulder riding privileges if he didn't behave. It took him longer to agree than it had to explain the battle plan to him, but eventually he relented, climbing onto her shoulder, and facing his tiny, blood-splattered back to her. She pushed herself back to her feet, ignoring the lingering ache in her body as her eyes scanned the battlefield the once pristine yard had become.

It was a mess of gore, debris, and disturbed ground. Scarlet took it all in, then let out a quiet breath, wondering if landscapers and cleaners might receive related Skills, and if services would be more or less expensive as a result.

"On the one hand, apocalypse," she muttered, "on the other hand… apocalypse." She shrugged, wiped the blood off the blade, and sheathed her cane. The property was quiet in a way that was not entirely natural. Mana added a layer to the world that changed the way she felt it at a fundamental level. Now that she had a chance to breathe, to reflect, she was able to genuinely appreciate this new sense she had gained. Mana Sense resonated with her in a way she could not describe.

It wasn't just a new awareness, it also amplified something she'd felt was always there, but she was only now beginning to explore. Like realising an instrumental song she loved, had lyrics she'd never heard, in a language she didn't yet understand, but recognized. She'd get there. In time, for now she began walking towards where the roidcoons had fallen. They weren't far, considering all the engagements had happened just outside of the bunker entrance.

The bodies were where she had left them, sprawled across the ground in various states of dismemberment, the aftermath of the earlier encounter still visible in the disturbed earth and broken undergrowth around them. Scarlet slowed as she approached, her gaze moving over the scene as she stepped closer.

"Do I just…" She queried the Guide. [System rewards may be generated after significant battles, accomplishments or objectives are completed. To check if you have been awarded a System Reward, focus on the concept within your Interface.] Wait, what? She stopped moving. She had questions. [Neither time nor proximity are a factor in claiming System rewards. They do not expire unless explicitly otherwise indicated, and they cannot be involuntarily taken or transferred until they have been claimed.] She had to clarify because what she was reading simply could not be true. Or maybe she was misunderstanding something?

"Did I receive one or more rewards for killing the murderous trash-bandits?" [Yes]"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath as she stared vacantly at the macabre tableau before her.

"Did I need to be anywhere near these bodies in order to claim my reward?" [No] The Guide didn't even hesitate.

"You mean I could have collected this 'loot' inside?" she put finger quotes around the word, spitting it out like a particularly vile expletive.

"From the safety of my bunker?" No shadow bat ambush, no need to risk her life? [Yes] She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to five before reopening them.

"Explain." [System rewards are awarded by the System. Any additional materials, including, but not limited to, parts of beasts, plants and natural treasures, must be collected by the individual.] Ah, she supposed it was interpreting 'loot' as more than just what the System awarded someone after they accomplished whatever it was the System deemed impressive enough to give out a reward for. That actually made a lot of sense.

Considering just how durable some of those roidcoons were, she could see how, as mana density increased, and the world continued to change along with it, harvested materials would become increasingly necessary. Not just for the exceptional quality, but for its unique properties as well. Materials like shadow bat leather. She could see, that even in death, the creature maintained some of that supernatural stealthiness. Like shadows that shifted and tried to mess with her perception.

Okay, she was a little less incensed, but her emotional capacity was absolutely shot. She just stood there in the yard, mouse on one shoulder, cane in one hand and thought about System rewards. [You have received System Rewards] [View Contents] [Retrieve Contents] Scarlet paused, perhaps it was a safety mechanism? The Guide offered no response.

"Fair enough," she murmured. [View Contents] The response was immediate. [You have been Rewarded: SC1000 (System Credits) Initiate Storage Bag Skill book: Inspect - Tier 2 Knowledge Tome: Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging] That was, a lot? Scarlet was working with depressingly little information to compare this to. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She could have been doing this from her chaise she lamented numbly as she went through the list in detail. As she'd done with her Status, when she'd first received it, she started at the top. System Credits? A new form of currency? [System Credits (SC): The only form of currency usable in System facilitated transactions. Credits come in five denominations: ISC — Inferior System Credits LSC — Lesser System Credits SC — Standard System Credits (System Credits) GSC — Greater System Credits SSC — Superior System Credits] She nodded once. So, the system had its own currency. Not surprising, though the implications were numerous, and for someone like Scarlet who was used to trading goods and services in non-standard currency, exciting.

It didn't seem like the System barred anyone from using other forms of currency – her recent domain name purchases were proof of that – just that this was the 'System' version of a currency standard. Was it a fiat system or did each credit hold actual value, like gold. She queried the Guide. The Guide did not respond. Scarlet didn't even have the energy to be disappointed. Another question for the notebook, she supposed. Her attention shifted to the other items on her loot-list. [Initiate Storage Bag] A bag?

She focused on querying the interface to clarify what she was looking at. [Would you like to Retrieve Initiate Storage Bag?] No, she would like to know what it was. She tried again. [Would you like to Retrieve Initiate Storage Bag?] She stared into the empty air, face blank, eyes distant. [Yes] She watched as something began to materialize in front of her. It was like watching a hologram fade in, getting increasingly realistic until it constituted into reality.

The bag looked surprisingly mundane for something that had appeared so miraculously. Just a dark leather satchel. It was impeccably well made, but no more 'magical' looking than any other bag she owned. That was until it fully materialized, and a new notification popped into her vision. [Bind Initiate Storage Bag?] [Yes | No] Scarlet side-eyed the still sulking Maus, the only other type of 'bond she had experience with. The bag wasn't sentient… right?

Her thumb brushed absently along the edge of the leather as she considered the wording She narrowed her focus slightly, testing the prompt rather than accepting it outright. The interface shifted just enough to clarify. [Binding this item will establish a soul-link. The linked item cannot be lost or stolen. It will return to the soul space after a prolonged separation. Access to contents of the bag is restricted to owner and approved entities. Access permissions may be bypassed through sufficiently advanced skill and techniques.] She read through it once, then again more carefully. Her gaze flicked briefly toward Maus before returning to the prompt. [Bind Initiate Storage Bag?] [Yes | No] [Yes] There was no flash, no dramatic shift, just a quiet awareness of something new. It felt as though the bag had become a part of her in a way entirely different from Maus. The bond felt, inert.

She was both grateful and a little disappointed to realize that no, the bag was not sentient. Scarlet turned the bag in her hands. Hoping that now that it was bound to her literal soul, she might be able to gleam more information from it. She didn't even need to query the guide to understand the functions of the bag. It was spatial storage. Something the Conman informed her was both a staple and often a rite of passage for the main characters in many of his favourite stories.

She opened the top flap of the storage bag, glanced inside, and marveled at just how mundane it all was, despite her knowing instinctively that it was bigger on the inside. Not only was it bigger, but technically the bag itself was just an anchor for a portable subdimension. It did not look any different, but she could feel the space there She knew, somehow that there was a single cubic meter of 'free' space, and 5 'stacking-slots'.

So, she could throw a bunch of random stuff in there and fill it up, or if she had items with a similar enough 'signature', she could stack them into one of those 'slots'. Though each slot only had enough capacity to hold up to 1 cubic meter. In theory, she could put two rather large rocks in one slot, or hundreds of notebooks, so long as they were similar enough in composition. The most incredible thing, however, was that the 'slots' had a stasis effect on them. Well, more of a time dilation effect.

However, the difference was negligible to Scarlet as with the bag running at 1-to-1-million time dilation, it would take twenty+ years before, say, a thousand litres of perfectly brewed tea became tepid… As a completely off the cuff example. She just couldn't stuff anything living in there. She tried to ask the Guide why but received no response. You win some, you confuse some, she figured. She'd get answers eventually, she'd make sure of it.

For now, she'd appreciate the limited, but immensely useful reward she'd earned. Her attention moved on to the final two rewards the system had deemed fit to give her. She lifted the first book, turning it slightly before focusing. [Skill book: Inspect - Tier 2] Much like with the bag, she tried to query for more information. She received a partial answer. While the guide outright ignored her curiosity about Inspect, it did tell her what a skill book was.

[Skill book: A System-supported artifact enabling direct skill acquisition. Potential outcomes of skill acquisition using a skill book are determined by the quality of skill book, the skill itself, and the traits and qualities of the skill-learner.] [Artificial methods of skill acquisition, including but not limited to skill books, are not moderated by the System. Caution is always advised.] She waited for more. More did not come…

"Well, that was ominous," she said as she stared at the prompt asking her if she wanted to retrieve the Inspect skill book. She'd never received a warning before, let alone unprompted advice. It was unnerving but also gave her a greater understanding of the functions of the Guide itself. This was the first time she'd felt like the Guide was actually giving guidance, and it was on a System reward she not only wanted but probably needed if she was going to not just survive, but thrive in this post Integration world.

She tried to ask follow-up questions, like, what else was considered 'artificial' skill acquisition, what made it 'artificial, was the opposite of artificial skill gain 'natural' skill gain, and if so, were there other types of skill acquisition? What did it mean by 'moderated'? Why was non-artificial skill acquisition moderated at all, and how? So many more questions flooded her mind, and the only thing keeping her from being overwhelmed by all the new information was her superhuman INT.

She hadn't felt a dramatic difference between 9 and 10 INT, however passing that threshold had exponentially increased her capacity to metabolize information. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do with information she didn't have. Right now she had piles and piles of questions, each new insight blooming into more and more, and this skill, if it functioned as an actual analysis skill, would help her get some actual answers, and continue to help her stay ahead. Plus, it was a Tier 2 skill.

The last T2 skill she'd acquired had given her a title. She didn't believe she'd get one now, but it did mean that T2 skills were exceedingly rare right now. Rare and powerful. Once she'd made up her mind, Scarlet didn't hesitate. [Would you like to Retrieve Skill book: Inspect – Tier 2?] [Yes] She watched as the book underwent the same process as the bag, only the book itself stayed slightly immaterial. No that wasn't the right word. It was like she was holding the concept of a book. Solid and real, and yet, not.

She supposed it made sense if this was actually a skill in book form. [Skill Available: Inspect – Tier 2?] [Yes | No] She found it interesting that when she focused on learning the Inspect skill, she was shown the same prompt she always received. The book remained in her hands until she selected 'yes'. Then the 'book' disappeared from her hands.