Chapter 157: Mhm (bonus)

[They ARE getting easier!]

[(ᗒᗩᗕ)]

[Host has a passive income system now!]

[Host has disciples!]

[Host has—]

’Five hundred points and a shopping list that costs more than my entire worth as a human being.’

[Host is not a human being anymore!]

[Host is the leader of a beast clan with teleportation abilities and—]

’And sixty boosts I will never afford!’

[Not never!]

[(っ◞‸◟ c)]

[Just... not soon]

Tera sighed.

[Host will accumulate points faster than she thinks!]

"Mhm."

[Host’s smile is not reassuring]

[(◞‸◟)]

"Mhm."

[This system is worried about Host’s psychological state]

"Mhm."

[💀]

[Please say something other than "mhm"]

Tera blinked innocently at the screen.

[H-Host?]

[About the teleportation skill...]

A flicker of life returned to Tera’s eyes at that word, and the system seized on it like a lifeline.

[Yes! Your core skill, Host!]

[Shall this system explain?!]

Tera blinked slowly, the glassy look in her eyes finally cracking.

Then she noticed something else in her stats that she had been too busy having a financial crisis to examine earlier.

Her Construction and Influence stats.

Both read 1/500.

She had seen this before when the notifications had first appeared, but in the chaos of the Legacy Point reveal and the subsequent pricing massacre, she hadn’t questioned it.

’Hold on.’

She pulled up her full stats.

[Construction: 1/500]

[Influence: 1/500]

These had been over 100 before. The system had said something about another stage earlier.

’Holy shit. What the fuck?’

’Why are these stats over five hundred?’

[This is because Host has completed the first stage of her journey!]

Tera’s eye twitched. ’First stage. What first stage?’

[The Tribal Development goal operates in three stages]

[And Host has just completed stage one!]

[Which has led to the expansion of Host’s scope]

’So, I went from being nearly done to being at the very bottom of a ladder five times taller?!’

She shook her head. ’You know what? Never mind.’

Tera side-eyed the system. It was silly of her to have expected that the first stage would be the end. She had only worked on one clan and had done a little for the second one when the stats had been more than half.

And she still had the whole beast world to go.

Her only solace right now was that teleportation skill. And she sure as hell hoped it didn’t come with some sort of clause.

"I hope the teleportation skill is something I do not have to purchase." She frowned.

[Host, it is your core skill]

[Of course, it would be free]

[This skill was unlocked as a reward for completing Stage 1 of the Tribal Development goal]

[It is Host’s first and primary core skill]

[Stage 1 Teleportation Mode: Portal]

[Host can open a portal between two locations]

[Up to 100 individuals can pass through the portal at one time]

[The portal remains open for as long as Host requires it]

Tera paused, trying to keep her excitement in check. Her task aside, anyone from the modern world would kill for this fast travel ability.

However...

"That is all? And what do you mean by mode?"

[Ah. The second teleportation mode unlocks when Host reaches the /500 milestone on her Construction and Influence stats]

[At that point, Host will no longer require a portal]

[She can simply select individuals and they will appear at the destination instantly]

[No portal needed]

[Stage 2 also allows the transport of materials, supplies, and even entire structures without needing to store them in the system space]

Tera’s jaw dropped.

’I could move a BUILDING?’

[Yes, Host]

[But that is a Stage 2 capability]

[Host currently has Stage 1]

[Baby steps]

[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]

Tera’s mood slowly returned.

This didn’t seem so bad.

Portal teleportation meant she could move between the Dow clan and the Glimmer Pack instantly. No more dangerous multi-day treks through corrupted territory. No more leaving her cubs for days at a time. She could work at the wolf pack during the day and sleep in her own shelter with Xavi and Ermin at night.

And the Legacy System meant that while she was at the Dow clan, the wolf pack would continue generating Legacy Points from whatever tasks she had given them. Though that would be a bit difficult since she would have to train and supervise them first.

The scope of it made her dizzy, but her mood was slowly brightening.

A teleportation portal was not bad at all.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

Tera had decided to stop thinking about those absurd numbers she had seen on the screen.

She wasn’t going to let it ruin her mood.

And the best way to stop thinking about a problem, she had learned, was to find a distraction large enough to drown it out. Fortunately, she had two very loud and demanding distractions currently being supervised by their fathers.

Tera had gone outside to find Nadia and Althea in the middle of a disagreement.

The disagreement was about a rock.

Nadia wanted the rock. Althea also wanted the rock. Neither was willing to share the rock, and both were expressing their positions with the volume and conviction of tiny politicians who had never once been told no in their lives.

Tera carried and kissed them before either could continue their debate.

"What are we fighting about?"

Nadia held up the rock with the pride of a warrior displaying a trophy.

"Mine!"

"It—not!" Althea reached for the stone.

Tera laughed and tried to confiscate the rock, but both cubs immediately pressed their small bodies against her chest and started crying in perfect unison.

Xavi and Ermin rushed to soothe the cubs while Tera also helped to placate them.

Tera spent the rest of that afternoon with her family.

She fed the cubs, she laughed at Nadia’s attempts to eat Puff Dumpling’s moustache puffs, and she watched Althea solemnly try to disassemble Ermin’s tail strand by strand.

By the time the evening came, Tera’s mood had completely recovered.

Which was fortunate, because there were two things she still needed to do.

Test the portal and have a little chat with Calis.