Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

53  I sought answers and now I have even more questions

In the end, Fay's mother decided to go through with my suggestion to leave the gold for later and take care of the gifts that we brought first. Some time has already passed, after all, and not all the foods that we brought over could survive for long outside of a fridge. Yet, as soon as we gathered ourselves and moved out for the main clearing, Fay pressed herself even tighter to my side. And once her mom got some distance from us, she tightened her hold over my hand as she snuggled up to my shoulder. "Are you sure you are okay?" Fay asked in a silent whisper, the slight worry painted all over her anxious face. 'What does she…' It took me a moment to figure out what Fay was even talking about. And if my guess was correct, she still had some doubts regarding my reaction to the corpses of my own making. 'The weird thing, I'm actually okay,' I thought, sensing no negative effect on my mental state from all the gore I saw and bore quite a bit of responsibility for. And while the brutalized corpses I noticed were quite a sight… It simply didn't feel like something that was traumatic enough to trouble me in my sleep later. "Yeah, I'm okay," I spoke back while responding to Fay's squeeze by grasping her hand a bit tighter on my own. "Also, I believe I owe you congratulations," I then added, removing the thoughtful look from my face in favor of a small, genuinely happy smile. "Your English is impeccable now. If you can speak in this fashion, you should be able to slowly start going outside," I pointed out while reaching out and gently tapping the girl's shoulder. I exaggerated nothing. The rate at which Fay learned the language would put all the linguists of the earth to shame. But quite honestly, by now, I held no expectations whatsoever when it came to Fay's ability to learn. It wasn't that I didn't expect her to achieve anything worth nothing. I simply opted not to hold any expectations not to have Fay constantly break past the most ambitious hopes I would have, proving over and over just how narrow my thinking would be. Rather than constantly living through surprise, I decided to accept whatever genius Fay would exhibit at face value. And as I looked down on her face covered with a pride-brimming smile… 'Yeah, that's how it should be,' I thought, releasing Fay's hand only to wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her to my side as we followed the footsteps of her mother. The slightly intimate moment didn't last long, though, as our journey took us merely a minute or two. And when I was about to let go of Fay to present all the goods we brought to her mom… It was actually Fay that escaped from my hold, rushing ahead with the prideful smile on her face growing even stronger. 'But I thought…' I reached out after the girl, only to lower my hand right away while allowing a helpless smile on my lips. I then shook my head, trying to ignore the look of excitement as Fay rushed to showcase all the modern goodies. "Try this first!" Fay happily pulled out the bag that I recognized on sight thanks to the big, yellow logo of a certain letter written all over its sides. And when she pulled out a paper-wrapped sandwich, it finally struck me. 'She wants to give her the same ride-through tastes that I gave her,' I realized, hesitating for a second before opting to back off and sit down in the shade of a nearby tree. By the time I finally managed to find a nice spot, Fay was already passing the unwrapped burger to her mom. 'She's so genuine,' I thought, unable and quite frankly, unwilling to hold back my smile. "And that was the plainest of them all!" Fay announced, all excited, when her mom's face froze as she tasted the guilty pleasure of the modern world in the form of unhealthy food. Seeing Fay all merrily play the role of the host and showcasing the goods of the modern world, I felt a strange sense of warmth spread throughout my soul. A warmth that I hadn't felt in years, ever since I said my goodbyes to my own mother. Warmth of a family. Yet, as I continued watching two beauties, one youthful and energetic and the other mature and elegant, I couldn't help but realize. 'Isn't this the right time to finally get to my system?'

I was peacefully lazing away under a tree while watching how the attitude of Fay's mother changed under the influence of the tasty treats. Soon, her elegance gave way to curiosity as she started to sink into the pleasure of eating good food and adoring nice clothes that Fay had just now started to pull out. 'I guess I will let them have their fun. And in the meantime…' This time, my attention fully moved over to my system. The fact that I didn't really have the moment to see the changes to my system through was one of the main reasons why I haven't made any moves or decisions yet. After all, what was the point of doing so if the changes to the system could easily upset the situation I was in?

[Battle log:

- Average attribute level of the kill: 7.3 Participation: 69%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 6.2 Participation: 68%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 6.7 Participation: 68%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 8 Participation: 70%

15:18

- Average attribute level of the kill: 5.9 Participation: 70%

- Participation kill bonus: Average attribute of the kill: 6.5 Participation 10%

- Participation kill bonus: Average attribute of the kill: 5.8 Participation 10%

- Participation kill bonus: Average attribute of the kill: 4.9 Participation 10%

- Participation kill bonus: Average attribute of the kill: 6.2 Participation 15%

- Participation kill bonus: Average attribute of the kill: 7.7 Participation 15%

- Total level growth: 2.74]

[Gained Tribute: Consecutive Kill

- Increases Darkness affinity

- +1 virtual point in physical attributes]

[Gained Tribute: Fighter

- No effect of affinities

- +1 virtual strength point]

[Unlocked: Eye of time

- Darkness Affinity skill

- Temporary raises intelligence by 3 virtual attribute points

- Cooldown: 1 day]

[Unlocked: Blood Tribute

- Darkness and Blood affinity skill

- By offering the source of one's life, the wielder of this skill can put the flow of time to a temporary stop. - Efficiency raises with Aura and intelligence

- Effect grows proportional to the sacrifice

- Cooldown: N/A]

[Leveling up system]

[Peter Von Ziaq]

[Level: 2] > [Level 4] (/74)

[Strenght: 1.25] > [Strenght: 3.25]

[Agility: 1.25] > [Agility: 2.25]

[Wisdom: 4] > [Wisdom: 4]

[Inteligence: 4.25] > [Inteligence: 4.25]

[Endurance: 7.5] > [Endurance: 7.5]

[Aura: 3] > [Aura: 5]

[Usable points: 0] > [Usable points: 4]

Just reading through all the changes was enough to make my head spin. What was the system that calculated the growth of my level? That, I could pretty much guess. And after fiddling with the numbers, the math turned out to be pretty simple. The participation, whatever it was, indicated the percentage of the average attribute points of the killed enemy that would be taken into account. Judging from how the participation level didn't go above point seven, there was something siphoning off a part of my growth. Yet, after the initial annoyance that this realization brought, I focused on the next part of my battle log. 'This has to be the bonus I got from the Fay's and her mom's kills,' I soon realized before figuring out the simple math behind the growth. After adding up all the values of the average attribute points of the enemies we killed and having them match the participation value, they would all be added up. A tenth of the final sum would be the final result of my level of growth. Simple math… but one that brought forth a certain issue. Because from the looks of things wasn't genocide the easiest way for one to grow in this world?

As worrying of a thought as it was, I quickly moved on to the further mysteries hidden in the pop-up messages that covered my entire field of view when I focused on my system. What were affinities? How could I check them? Was there any other way to gain skills? And just how in all hell did I gain the ability to control time? What's more, was the pain in the eyes an after-effect of using my newly obtained "eye of time" skill? And if so… then just how did it work, to begin with?

I shook my head, overwhelmed by how my wish to get some answers resulted in even more questions. But there was also one, vile regret left in me. 'Usually, milestone levels bring bonus rewards, don't they?' I thought to myself, squinting my eyes as I weighed the options I had now. 'I wonder what will happen once I reach the fifth level?'

Today's chapters: 3/6

MotivatedSloth n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om