A Gamer Into Trails

As always Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

All ten Mottled Killers and two Mottled Murders disappeared into thin air, leaving behind zero dead carcasses. When each one fell, I did see phantom treasure chests open one after another. Those were likely Sepith chests. Monsters were known to give ingredients, drop items, and even Quartz too, but that probably didn't happen with these. You would see Quartz, in particular, drop Quartz and rare items. Just like how you would normally see in the games.

And guess what Monster we have left to clear this Instance Dungeon? It was the mole!

The three of them didn't immediately wander toward the other end of the tunnel, where the mole was likely lurking around. We did just kill twelve spiders, and that was a lot to kill at once. Aerial successfully managed to group them altogether with the help of my Taunt. Seeing as there were no spiders left, we decided to use this time to view our notifications. It sure was a lot, alright!

[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Party has finished combat. Now calculating tactical bonus...]

[Ding! Vanquisher (+20%), Unscathed (+20%), Swift and Sure (+10%), First Strike (+10%) has been applied.]

[Ding! Tactical Bonus has been calculated. Granting additional +60% Experience Gain to Party.]

[Ding! Now calculating total experience gain...]

[Ding! Tactical bonus has now been applied. Party Member Tio has received 4728 Experience Points.]

[Ding! Due to Party Member Naoto's Title, Party Member Tio's Experience has been doubled.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has received 9,456 Experience Points!]

[Ding! Party Member Naoto has received 9,456 Experience Points!]

[Ding! Party Member Lechter has received 2 Experience Points.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 490/900 -> 900/900. Lv10. Total EXP: 9456 -> 9046.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1000/1000 Lv11. Total EXP: 9046 -> 8046.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1100/1100 Lv12. Total EXP: 8046 -> 6946.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1200/1200 Lv13. Total EXP: 6946 -> 5746.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1300/1300 Lv14. Total EXP: 5746 -> 4446.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1400/1400 Lv15. Total EXP: 4446 -> 3046.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has leveled up! -> 1500/1500 Lv16. Total EXP: 3046 -> 1546.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio's Current Level: 16 (1546/1600)]

[Ding! Party Member Naoto's Current Level: 111 (13,546/1,146,900)]

[Ding! Party Member Lechter's Current Level: 100 (5/496,900)]

[Ding! Party Member Naoto has received several Sepith Drops. Inventory has been adjusted.]

 -Earth: 136

 -Water: 53

 -Wind: 23

 -Fire: 20

 -Time: 146

 -Space: 174

 -Mirage: 153

'Wow, the Sepith drops are already starting to increase rapidly. It isn't enough to unlock another Slot on Tio's Combat Orbment though. Even if you start piling up one element, you won't be able to unlock a Slot that easily. No matter which Slot it is, it requires all Basic Elements to unlock. Once it reaches Tier 2, I'm sure it will start requiring Sepith belonging to the Higher Elements. I do have plenty of Earth Sepith from the Basic Elements, but not enough Water, Wind, or Fire. Tio's Slot Two required x30 of each Basic Element, while Slot Three required x50 of each Basic Element. Slot Four will likely consume much more than that, I'm thinking either x80 or x100 of each Basic Element...', I mused to myself, thinking how much Sepith is going to be required for Tio's next slot.

If it's in the same Line like Tio's is, it becomes increasingly expensive, but the payout is just as big. She'll earn much more EP compared to others. With her new unlocked Slots factored in, she already has over 500 EP!

Still, thanks to that battle, Tio's Level Ups almost doubled her original level. Before this battle, she was Level 9, but now she was a whopping Level 16!

Granted, my title did play a big factor in making Tio much stronger than this Instance Dungeon. I fear she may even one-shot the Boss monster lurking in the back. The Instance Dungeon suggested Level is only Level 10. That's a six level gap if the Boss is Level 10, so I'm sure she'll have an easy time with the Boss.

As for me personally, I now have over one percent of the required experience to reach 112! All of that was leached off the Harem Seeker title. Whoever is in my party and if they're girls, all that experience gain will get transferred over to me. It really is a busted title when I'm looking to strengthen myself. It will blossom even more once the entire party is filled with girls. The default was 20% with my person, and with Tio being in it, my current increase was 40% to my stats. If the other four members were girls, that would increase my stats by 120%!

I seriously can't believe this system of mine gave me such a broken title. But then again, there is danger lurking around the entire continent, including otherworldly beings like gods, demons, and angels. The Sept-Terrions and Divine Knights were no jokes either. I wonder, is this the system's way that I need to continue getting stronger?

Regarding Tio at least, I just saw her in a state of observation, going through all those notifications we received. It really was a lot of notifications to go through, considering she leveled up quite a lot.

"So if I'm reading this correctly, I "Leveled Up" seven times?", Tio asked me. I nodded my head at her question.

"You did. Part of that did come from one of my equipped titles. That is why you are seeing such a rapid growth of your Combat Parameters. Whenever I have this title equipped, it doubles the amount of experience, as you just saw. The requirement is that you have to be a girl inside my party.", I explained.

"You have to be...a girl to get this effect?", Tio asked. The moment she heard me say this, her eyes slanted downward, revealing her deadpan look.

"Just what in Aidios's name is this thing called, Young Master? If it's a title, it does have a name, right? That really does sound like a stupid ability to have.", Lechter responded, unsure as well.

"Promise you two won't laugh at the name?", I said to the two.

"Now you're making me even more curious about it. But I'll humor you, Young Master.", Lechter answered with a nod. I simply saw Tio nod her head in silence.

"It's called Harem Seeker. As embarrassing as the name sounds, its effects only apply to girls inside my Party, and likewise, I have similar effects from it.", I explained, scratching my head.

"Pervert.", Tio immediately retorted.

"Harem Seeker huh? Now it's starting to click why I have been getting the short end of the stick here. I'm basically a third wheel to all this, haha!", Lechter replied with a playful laugh.

"Didn't I say to not laugh at the name? It doesn't matter who it is, as long the Party has girls present. It's not restricted by age, which is what makes it so broken. I don't need to be in an active relationship with that girl to get the effect either, for that matter.", I explained with a more serious tone.

"So as long as you have girls beside you, you'll be buffed to all hell? Now I know not to make you angry when you're in a scenario like that...", Lechter retorted, sucking in a cold breath of air.

"Right?", I replied with a playful grin.

"That does beg the question, though. Will you be seeing yourself in such a situation in the coming future? Didn't Her Majesty formally announce that you're creating a royal harem?", Tio asked with interest.

"Heh heh. Don't tell me you're interested in that, kiddo? You are a girl yourself you know.", Lechter mused.

"I currently do not have any interest in pursuing romantic interests. I am still a kid. I don't need to worry about that for several years. I'm enjoying my time working and studying at the Epstein Foundation. That much is enough for me right now.", Tio answered, shooting her dead eyes at Lechter.

"Sheesh. Shot down immediately. But you are still a kid, so it is true you shouldn't have to worry about such a thing, haha!", Lechter replied with a hearty laugh.

"In most situations, yes. Unless you're a Noble or part of a Royal lineage like me. Most of your future is already laid out for you. Every action you take is perceived by everyone around you. Most times, you hardly have a say in such matters, so I was surprised Grandmother actually permitted me to form a Royal Harem.", I responded with a nod.

"True. You are subjected to more arranged marriages than us normal folks, Young Master. You even got Erebonia's Treasure in such a situation.", Lechter replied.

"Are you really going to be marrying that princess, Naoto? It is still surprising.", Tio questioned.

"For now, it looks like I will be marrying Alfin in the future. Most likely when she debuts in high society. Right now, Alfin is ten, and most Nobles enter high society when they turn fifteen or sixteen years old. Nobles aren't like most normal folks, considering you know, conserving the family lineage and all that jazz.", I explained, rolling my eyes. This concept was meme'd on a lot in my previous life, but it was a true fact that Nobles and Royal Families did marry far earlier than other normal people did.