Outside Quartz City

  Martyn was in theoretical hell. To call it a mind-splitting headache would be an understatement. It felt as though someone was using his brain as a punching bag.

  His tail quivered, and his ears flopped down. In front of him was a charred circle of grass.

  “Fuck!” He hissed like a cat, remembering the waste of materials.

  A summoning circle wasn’t cheap; all that money and help had gone down the drain, only for a sudden wave of pain to assault him. The help he had gotten from a benefactor had gone to waste. At that moment, he regretted opting to summon a monster to bond with.

  [You have gained a few titles! Your skill “strong mind” has leveled up!]

  Then, there was the system that did not care about the situation. His mind opened with various memories.

  [Title: Breacher: You have crossed the boundary of the abyss, an act rarely seen in centuries where souls are washed and made new. Though by accident, as this soul was still partially intact, it is still an achievement in itself. With the merger of two souls, your potential as a being has increased.] [+2 extra points per level]

  Two souls, like fraternal twins, simir in all things except origin, the Martyn whose soul he accidentally summoned was from another world. As they merged, he unpacked the data.

  ‘No magic? Only humans, wow, and still people are shit.’ He thought as more memories flooded him.

  Everything became clearer with time; it became easier to distinguish which memories were which, and with that, his mind calmed, and his soul was no longer in pain.

  A new Martyn was born; no, a better word would be that the current Maryn of Prisma is now empowered with otherworldly knowledge and experience.

  [Your existing title has evolved: Graduate > Schor > Silver Schor > Sage]

  [Title: Sage: You have proven yourself to various academics, and with you carrying the knowledge that has yet to be released to the world, stand proud. Your mental fortitude is not so easily shaken. Absorbing information becomes easier for you. Some of your experiences have been quantified as skills; others will appear when you train them.]

  [You have gained +6 points from your title evolutions.]

  [Your arcana and vitality attributes have increased.]

  With rapid, shallow breaths, Martyn sat on the grassy floor, sweat trickling down his body.

  “Thank God, I’m still me. I was worried I was going to be possessed.”

  His status rang a few more times, drawing his attention.

  [Title: Bookworm: Greedy for knowledge, you have read countless books, and as a result, retaining and comprehending literature comes easier to you.]

  [You have gained +1,100 experience from your titles.]

  [The following skills have been registered: Biology (1), Appraisal (1) Cooking (1)]

  Taking a moment to absorb everything, Martyn rose, forgetting the torment he was in just moments ago.

  “This is amazing! Appraise!” He called the skill’s name as the excitement from all the titles took hold of him.

  It highlighted the objects around him—trees, grass, and pnt life. Taking in the information, he saw his biology skills rise in level. This skill meant a change for him; various opportunities were avaible to him now and a brighter future as well.

  ‘This can’t be happening, can it?’ He thought while pinching himself multiple times to ensure he was awake and that none of this was a dream.

  ‘All real, I can’t believe a world without mana exists, but damn if only I could get more besides what I got,’ he hummed, greed fshing in his eyes.

  His dark panther tail and ears twitched back and forth. Martyn merged with a washed soul or a soul in the process of being cleansed, as the system called it.

  Martyn only gained knowledge and no emotions from the soul, meaning it had died a while back, so for all intents and purposes, Martyn was still himself; his body wasn't hijacked.

  Otherworldly experience and knowledge would tend to skew one’s thoughts, but in this case, they allowed him to view things from another perspective. Things in another world that would be considered immoral were normal here; he had to make sure he was still truly himself.

  He pondered what would’ve happened if the soul was recently deceased; if it hadn't been washed, would he have lost himself?

  ‘Doesn’t matter anymore,’ he breathed as another system prompt appeared.

  [Due to the improvement in soul strength, your bond capacity has increased from 1 to 3.]

  Now, he was more grateful than before.

  “Let’s go! Yes! I’m not a one-monster tamer! Even though I had to accept I could only tame one monster, having options now is much better.”

  ‘I’m not even mad about failing the summons; all this is much better.' He thought as a gleeful squeal left him.

  “How long was I out for anyway?” he asked, looking up at the sun halfway through the sky. ‘Okay, not that long.’

  Today, he wasn’t taking any quests, so he could sit under the tree and ponder. There was a lot of information to unpack.

  For one food. There were a lot of foods he’d never heard of or seen before present in his mind. Martyn let out a beastly growl, imagining their tastes. Thankfully, some of the vegetables or fruits required were simir to those in his world.

  ‘The first thing I’m doing back in my room is making garlic bread.’

  That was a set goal. Next was entertaining some misconceptions and information on what the world without magic considered fantasy; not all of it was wrong, though it was just not accurate.

  What did pique his interest was the sexualization of monster girls; it begrudgingly raised a tent beneath him.

  Shaking the thought, he toiled with the idea. But with only one taming option, he was going to opt for an eagle monster, something powerful and reliable for transport; it was one of the many basic choices amongst monster tamers, and being a carrier as a monster tamer brought good money as very few could take to the skies.

  And for those with his rare skill, it opened possibilities because he could learn monster skills from the monster he tamed.

  “I’ve already got the sensory, agility, and night vision, too.”

  Since forming a bond with a monster was such a sacred thing—a bond that made one as close as family—why not have pleasantries with it as well? Why not try to live his best life?

  The idea of having a monster girl wife—powerful and pleasurable—excited him. Monster girls such as Beastkin existed, but they weren't overly powerful.

  He too was one, a Panther-kin or pantherian as they called themselves, human-like with panther ears and tails.

  They couldn't be considered real monster girls, as with the evolution came a title. On the other hand, those who were born as one didn't have it.

  'Besides, it’s prohibited for a monster tamer to form with the aligned races, such as Orcs or Beastkin, aside from the threat,’ Martyn pondered.

  Something he learned in the st years at the academy was that if the tamer died, the monster would go berserk from the link to a dead soul, and feeling the anguish and pain of death would drive them mad and often result in a disaster.

  Normal monsters often went feral and returned to their animalistic nature or became domesticated by beast masters, but it was hellish for a monster girl if they died in a truly gruesome way. Death by old age, accident, or even monster death in the dungeon would only lead a monster girl to a depressive and reclusive state that they could be brought out of.

  But if it was a gruesome death, such as torture, then they would lose reasoning.

  “But there’s nothing against taming a monster and evolving them into a monster girl.” He said.

  It was a great idea to tame monsters to train and evolve; it was practised by Monster Tamers to understand the origins of various races, which helped in various science and magical communities, putting aside costs and other requirements; his only issue was options.

  A leaf fell, dancing in front of him, smiling. He used his tail to keep the leaf afloat in the air.

  He was limited by where he lived, even though it was a rge city with a great forest and dungeon. From his lessons in the academy, he remembered.

  Female Ogres wanted to be dominated in battle. Before even considering accepting the bond, they were simir to Orcs, except they cked their intelligence and boasted a rapid healing factor. They were C-ranked monsters and above; they didn’t look like the images from the otherworld; they could if they evolved into high Ogre or Oni.

  Evolution under a bond would skewer slightly to the master’s taste, and more so if the feelings were mutual.

  “Damn it all. I’m not strong enough to even fight one.”

  The next option was a goblin, and though they did not look like the goblin waifus, that was only in their base forms; hob-goblins have looked more human-like. But not often, to the point of being attractive as they suffered from poor nutrition.

  “A goblin champion monster girl did come through the city once,” Martyn recalled. She was an adventurer and looked like what you’d expect hearing the words goblin and waifu.

  So it wasn’t impossible. “But I’m not doing that.” He shook his head, resting the leaf on his tail.

  It’s not that the idea didn’t please him, but goblins were notorious for their ck of hygiene and wild, rapist nature. Not only that, but female goblins were one to five; the only challenge was to find one with good potential.

  “Too much of a hassle.”

  Also, slime girls, though they do exist, were rare, even among monster girls, as little to no knowledge about their evolutionary line was recorded. So he’d go in blind, but he did consider it for his second tame. But the first was the most important, as it was essentially the leader, and others had to obey; things could get messy if they didn’t.

  Further down the list was one he could see as a possibility: a lizard girl or, more accurately, a Kobold.

  Kobolds were more appealing to him; He ran into some that were, as you would expect, bipedal lizards with smooth white bellies and textured scales; females even wore bra straps, but it was a rare sight since they were unanimously small.

  And lizard-kin, not so much with their beautiful main bodies and faces as with their scaled lizard-like hands, feet, and tails, the length of which varied. Some, instead, looked more human-like with textured skin.

  Females had slightly thicker legs and a smoother curvature compared to males.

  Martyn had to change his thoughts before another erection sprung, but it sounded more like a valid option.

  “Uh, this is making me too horny.”

  Martyn’s body fidgeted in pce, his ears twitched, and the growing erection in his pants was pulsing with need. It was worse because he had never relieved himself since he turned sixteen.

  It was a training method done by beast-kin such as his to earn a mental resistance skill, and to level it up, he was close to reaching level 5. Normally, most would stop after just gaining the skill, but he wanted a subskill; his strong mind was just one level away.

  He had to resist every temptation, especially when he was hot. After two years of hard resistance, soon to be three, the need only grew with time.

  “In and out, focus on anything else—the wind, the trees—don't lose yourself.”

  He focused on his senses—the billowing winds and rustling trees—and eventually, his hunger calmed.

  “I never even wanted this css, but I can’t be mad considering the opportunity to learn skills outside my race and ability.”

  ‘It shouldn’t be too hard to learn of their evolutionary paths; I’d have to check out the library, though.’

  Martyn spent more time thinking of any monsters in the vicinity he could tame, but he always returned to Kobolds as the best option.

  “Better get going then.” Martyn rose, dusting his reinforced baggy white shirt and leather pants with arms and tail.

  He hopped back on the fttened dirt road, heading back to the city. He didn’t forget the sack he brought to do the summoning.

  Quartz City Gate

  It wasn’t long—only an hour away—as he arrived at thick, tall sandstone walls. The gates were open as he walked by the knights standing guard.

  He checked his shirt to ensure his adventurer’s badge was there, dispying the letter E in golden carving. It was also a title for his status.

  The city was fairly rge, with two to three million people. What made this pce stand out was that next to it was a dungeon, one of seventeen created by either gods or natural causes set to challenge mortals and often existing to keep threats away for the right adventurers to come and end it.

  Martyn went past the inns to the market; peppers and spices wafted his nose. Heightened senses were sometimes a pain.

  ‘I think all I need is garlic. I’ve got the other items at home.’ Martyn went to the nearest vendor, a nice-looking Satyr woman.

  He pointed to the garlic, earning a surprised look from her. “I know the taste is strong for beast folk like me, but a friend recommended a way to use it.”

  “Oh, well, sure thing. Let me know if it turns out well,” she smiled, handing him a paper bag of garlic.

  It cost twelve bronzes. Not too much for him, who made roughly two silvers a week from doing quests, not including dungeon diving.

  Before heading to the inn, he stopped by the guild. It was a rge building with two floors: the ground floor, which held the reception, quest board, and tavern, and the second floor, which had the guild master room and more.

  Stepping into the sour scent of booze that entered his nose, there was a bar that also provided food.

  Moving past the tables, he made his way to the reception desk, where he was greeted by an elf who smiled.

  “How can I help you today, adventurer?” He asked.

  “Hi, I was wondering if I could get a temporary pass to the city library, only for a day, if that’s alright.”

  “Oh, sure thing. Are you trying to learn about your css?” The elf inquired, pulling out a sheet and card.

  “It’s reted, yeah,” Martyn shrugged.

  "Well, I wish you the best of luck,” he said, signing the sheet. “Show this to the guards and the card to the librarian; you won’t be allowed to take a book with you, so don’t think of stealing.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Martyn smiled, leaving the partially empty hall.

  With that, Martyn made his way to the inn; it wasn’t as bad as his first one, where he barely made ends meet; only after successful dungeon dives and questing did he save enough to rent a room at the Muddy Boots Inn for six silvers a month. It was a three-story inn.

  Walking in, he saw the lounging area close to being empty. ‘I guess others are in the dungeon.’

  Making his way up the stairs, he went up to his room on the first floor, which he felt was lucky; the room wasn’t too small, with a bed, desk, stool, wardrobe, and chest, and a smaller room for the bathroom.

  ‘Despite the differences architecturally, my world is a step further; using magic to make things simpler in areas the other world doesn't.’

  One of the examples was soundproofing. All it took was a few sigils on each wall, and that's it. It was the same for heating, plumbing, and such.

  Martyn went to his chest, pulled out a baguette, and took out a knife and the butter, which was in an enchanted small box just to keep it from melting.

  He did as the memories suggested, and in doing so, his status lit up. Of course, he didn’t have a stove in the room; instead, like many, he used mana.

  The magic hand was a simple spell and an effective one; the invisible hand held the pan in midair, peeled and diced the garlic with some legumes, and threw it all in a pan.

  A blue mist left his palm, travelling beneath the pan and igniting into a weak blue fme. He kept it as such only for a few moments and stopped. He then poured it all into a bowl and waited for it to cool and harden.

  He sliced the baguette, toasted it with a magic fme, and spread the butter on top. He also threw some bacon, which he kept for a different day.

  The smell of garlic wasn’t overwhelming his senses, and with a gulp, he bit into the creation.

  Shaking, tail swishing, and ears perked, he devoured the bread and made more. Before he knew it, he was out of bread, bacon, and garlic butter.

  [Cooking (1) has leveled up! (2)]

  The notifications went to deaf ears as he was solely focused on his "original" creation.

  “Fuck… That was too good. I need to make those other meals—pizza and sagna. What the hell does a pudding taste like?”

  Martyn ter went to sleep, imagining all the possible meals he’d partake in soon.