Picking up Girls With My System

The cave the sea lion used as its lair was big enough to fit both of them, so it did not mind having Arthur inside of it for a couple of days.

It was not a dumb beast, either. The power emanating from Arthur’s body was incredible, way stronger than the sea lion. If it tried anything funny, Arthur could end its life in an instant.

Arthur found a place far from where the sea lion stayed, but only that would not bring him a peace of mind. So, he waved his hand and cast a mana barrier around him.

With the amount of mana he had, it was easy to keep it working for a few days. The mana barrier would usually cost more mana if someone attack it, and if that happened then Arthur would try to stop his breakthrough for a few seconds and kill whoever it was.

The moment Arthur sat on the rock ground, a black substance enveloped the surrounding area, engulfing his body in complete darkness.

A shape of a giant formed behind his back. It had horns, wings, and red eyes. The sea lion was far away, yet felt the sinister aura emanating from the part of the cave where Arthur was.

“What beast is that?”

In the sea lion’s mind, there was no way Arthur was truly a human. It had guessed it was some sort of beast capable of changing into the form of a human. Not completely wrong, though.

A feeling of warmth expanded throughout Arthur’s whole body, making him feel as if he was inside a hot spring. It felt nice, but after that, his mind went blank.

Arthur passed out while in a cross-legged position, unaware of what was happening in the external world.

The good part was that the black energy surrounding his body acted like a protective mechanism, killing whatever got too close to it.

What happened was not a nap, but the beginning of his breakthrough.

“Where am I?”

Arthur was inside a mysterious place that had nothing but darkness. He could still see the surrounding area clearly, but nothing there caught his attention.

He floated in the air, aimlessly, without a direction. Even though the place felt strange, a familiar feeling appeared inside of him, which made him wonder where exactly was that place.

A long time passed. It felt like days. Arthur had seen nothing new after flying for a long time until he did.

It was an immense heart. The size of it reminded Arthur of the sun.

“How is this possible? Am I… Am I inside the Monlog Giant?”

Everything made sense now. The familiar feeling, and the strangenesses of that place.

“How can the heart of it be so big? What is the actual size of that creature?”

Arthur could not believe it. George never shared how powerful the Monlog Giant was. Arthur had a guess that not even George knew the true power of that creature.

Just the size alone was enough to crush planets as if they were mosquitoes.

It was a realm of power far from where Arthur was at that moment, and after he took a glimpse of the immense heart, he woke up.

The cave looked exactly the same as he remembered, but what was different was his body.

“I can feel the tremendous difference. This is incredible. Hahaha, I am only one step away from the rank 1 official mage.”

Words could not describe how happy Arthur was. Things were working out perfectly for him, and now the only thing left for him to do was rescue his friends.

He left the cave, and the sea lion scouted him out as a sign of respect. Arthur did not know, but the energy fluctuations from his breakthrough were helpful to the sea lion, making it easier for it to increase its power, too!

“Let me see where they are.”

With just a thought, Arthur could sense where Signy was using the mark he put on her body. Not only that, but he could see what her eyes were seeing, so Arthur was sure she was with the rest of the group.

Also, from the looks of it, they had yet to meet with the guy from the Doom Order.

“Perfect timing. Let’s go!”

Anyone that looked up would see a flickering shadow crossing the skies. Those who had a better eye could tell some features of it; an old man with a long beard and a messy hair.

Arthur was even faster than he once was. The breakthrough increased everything, and the mighty of one’s spell was also a part of it. Not only his flight spell was better but also his teleport, making him travel long distances in a blink of an eye.

Signy, Helga, Bram, and Finn were inside a town close to where they would meet with the person from the Doom Order. At that moment, a message echoed inside Signy’s mind. It was Arthur.

“I am back, Signy. You guys are going to the inn, right? I will be there in five minutes.”

The message ended, but the shock Signy had was not. After Arthur parted way with them, only Signy knew he would return, and that he was tracking them.

For that reason, the others wanted to travel even faster to make sure the old man would not catch up with them, which made them create a great distance.

But what for? They had traveled for four days before finally stopping at that town, and yet Arthur, who was a long distance away, said he would reach that place in five minutes.

She could not believe it, even for someone with an unfathomable strength like Arthur.

Arthur did not need five minutes. He was already there. Inside the inn they would go to rent a room, and had rented a room of his own.

He waited for them to talk with the inn owner, rent their room, and then Arthur contacted Signy again.

“Are you allowed to leave? If yes, do two weak knocks on the room number 7. That is where I am right now.”

Signy was inside her room, alone. They would only share rooms with there was not enough available for all of them, and after seeing there was, then each one of them had a room.

The group agreed that all of them could roam freely in the meantime, but would have to be there in three days, as that was when the person from the Doom Order would appear.

Arthur was sitting on his bed in a cross-legged position. He could feel that Signy, who was only a few doors away from him, was in a deep thought.

She did not like the idea of keeping a secret from her friends, but the temptation of reaching the sixth or even the seventh circle was too much, even for her.

After putting those conflicted thoughts aside, she quietly left her room, and then gave two weak knocks on Arthur’s room door, and then left the inn.

Signy left the town and ventured into the woods. There, a small witch cabin entered her sight. It was one of her houses, hidden in the forest, protected by many illusion formations.

She knew Arthur would follow her for a chat, and the most private place she could think of was her cabin. There was no way someone would spy on them there.

After a few minutes, an old man appeared in front of her cabin’s door. Signy opened it up and let the old man enter.

“Signy! Long time no see. Are you alright?”

The first thing she noticed was how mysterious the old man was. He was even stronger than the last time they saw each other, and even Signy could tell the difference.

“Everything is fine. What do you want to talk about?”

“Did you get more information about the location or about the friend with the ‘key’?”

“You know about that? Obviously you do. Well, all of us tried to get more information with Bram, but he did not share with us.”

“I can firmly say he plans on betraying you all when the time is right.”

“What? He wouldn’t do that.”

“Really? Aren’t you doing the same in the name of profit?”

Signy did not mutter a word after that. Arthur was right.

“Anyway, let me tell you some information that might be useful for you. This Doom Order wants something of that place where the giants live. They are already there searching for it.”

“What?”

“Yes. My guess is that this person who betrayed the Doom Order wants some profit for his own. I can assume whatever they found there belongs to the higher ups of the Doom Order, and not to someone like him.”

“If what you are saying is true, the Bram is collaborating with that person from the Doom Order since the start, and they planned on get ride of us inside that place?”

“That is correct. Anyway, let’s get to the good part. I will raise your level to the sixth circle right now, so that you have more chances of surviving in that place.”

“What? Really?”

She grabbed both of Arthur’s hands, and look at him with her two violet eyes. Signy was a real beauty.

“Should I show her my true appearance? Hum, not right now.”

Arthur then prepared himself to help her, not knowing the extraordinary existence he was about to create.