Chapter 5: High-Level Research
The two continued navigating the treacherous forest, meticulously avoiding any high-level threats while hunting down weaker essence creatures for their cores. By the time the sun began to set, they had finally discovered a secluded, vacant cave to shelter in for the night.
Using his remaining Store Points, Yuki purchased a few basic cooking pans. He then spent an hour scavenging around the forest and the cave entrance, collecting local wild herbs and spices using the information Vee gave him.
Before long, the rich, mouth-watering aroma of perfectly seasoned snow-hog meat filled the cavern.
"Huh. You’re actually an amazing cook," Vee remarked, floating closer, completely surprised by how delicious it smelled.
"Why, thank you," Yuki said proudly, flipping a piece of meat with practiced ease. "I was worried I’d lose my Earth skills after gaining a brand-new body in this world, but it looks like they all transferred over as passive skills. Pretty neat, right?"
"Yeah, it is," Vee murmured.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Vee decided to inspect his profile. "I wonder what kind of passives he actually has." She opened Yuki’s status window and began scanning through the data.
[Passive Skills: Master Chef, Expert Skinner, Tailor...]
Vee skipped past the domestic skills cluttering the top of the list. They were all completely non-combat traits, entirely focused on taking care of a household and a family. "Honestly, Yuki would make a great father if he ever had kids," Vee thought to herself, feeling a strange twinge of softness.
Then, she scrolled down to the "Special Passives" section.
[Special Passives: Expert in Bed, Master Massager, Nimble Fingers, Anatomy Specialist.]
"..."
She froze having to do a double take.
Vee’s digital core nearly short-circuited. "Wait a minute... wasn’t this guy an introverted, shut-in gamer?! Why on earth does he have these kinds of skills?!"
A new notification flashed across her vision.
[Notice: The physical characteristics of your Master have been subtly altered from the baseline Pureblood Vampire template to accommodate his customized stat build.]
"Altered how?" Vee wondered, glancing over at him. "He looks exactly like a standard Pureblood Vampire... well, aside from being a bit shorter and ridiculously cute. I guess that counts."
[Do you wish to inspect these structural modifications for research and future tactical planning?]
Vee hesitated. "Well, as his familiar, I’m going to be stuck with him forever. I might as well gather data in case he gets captured by humans or warlords." "Show me," Vee muttered.
A secondary system panel materialized, displaying the list of anatomical changes. Vee scrolled through the entries. Most of them were indeed minor—a shift in skin undertone, extended hair length, and a slightly longer, heavily armored tail. That last one made perfect sense, considering he had dumped every single point into survivability.
Then she hit the next line.
[Tongue Length: 8 inches (4 inches longer than the racial average). Optimized for dexterity and... practical application.]
"Eight inches?!" Vee’s jaw metaphorically dropped. "And what does it mean by "practical application"?! Application for what?! Eating?!"
[Digital Dexterity: Muscle fibers in the hands and fingers have been rendered 200% more flexible and rapid. Optimized for high-tier body relaxation and massage therapy.]
"Massages... are we seriously doing this right now?" Vee groaned mentally. "System, what the hell is this garbage data?"
[Crucial information that you will definitely need later. ;)]
Vee let out a frustrated, digitized sigh, opting to completely ignore the cheeky interface. She scrolled rapidly toward the bottom, wanting to just close the terminal, but the final section of the text dump made her instantly slam the screen shut.
"System..." she hissed.
[Yes? :)]
"Why is "this" specific information even in his profile?!"
[Because you might find it highly useful for future reference.]
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
[I can see your neural pathways growing attached to this Host. It won’t be long before you start exhibiting perverted tendencies.]
"I am NOT a pervert!" Vee protested, her aura flaring a violent, defensive pink.
[Then explain why your optical sensors were just lingering on the Master’s crotch area for 4.2 seconds?]
"I—well—it’s just—" Vee stammered, completely flustered, her digital core burning bright red. "Damn it, just go away!"
[Understood... Just so you know, Yuki is planning to bathe very soon since he bought that lavender soap bars. Enjoy the view. Bye ;)]
With that final, mocking remark, the system terminal dissolved back into a standard, lifeless interface.
"Why does the core System have such an annoying personality?" Vee wondered, spinning around to cool down.
She turned her gaze back to Yuki. He was happily humming to himself, thoroughly enjoying his seasoned snow-hog steak, entirely oblivious to the chaotic conversation his familiar and the System had just shared at his expense.
Yuki spent the late evening meticulously fixing up the cave. He gathered fallen tree branches to create a makeshift frame and scavenged flat stones to lay down as floor tiles. To Vee’s absolute surprise, Yuki managed to turn the damp, rugged cavern into a genuinely cozy, comfortable dwelling.
She found the whole effort kind of dumb, considering they were just going to leave the next morning, but it clearly made Yuki happy. And no matter how much of a chaotic idiot he could be, he was still her master.
The day finally came to an end as the sun dipped completely below the horizon, leaving the rising moon as their only source of light.
Yuki sat at the entrance of the cave, staring blankly into the dense, dark forest. His vampiric night vision perfectly illuminated the pitch-black woods, making the midnight landscape look as clear as day.
Vee floated over and gently landed on his lap. "What are you thinking about?" she asked softly.
"You said earlier that there are humans hunting for demons in this forest, and that the local demons won’t like me because I’m a Pureblood Vampire," Yuki said, slowly lowering his head to look down at her. "Why is that?"
"Well, long story short, a massive war happened a long time ago," Vee explained. "Pureblood Vampires are technically classified as demi-humans, whereas regular vampires are considered true demons. Even though Purebloods are demi-humans, your ancestors officially sided with the Demon King during the Great War. Because of that history, a lot of people nowadays can’t tell the difference. They see your traits and constantly mistake Pureblood Vampires for high-ranking Succubi or Incubi."
"What exactly is the difference between a Pureblood Vampire and a regular vampire anyway?" Yuki asked innocently.
"Not much, honestly. It’s mostly just physical characteristics," Vee replied. "Regular vampires don’t have tails, they are incredibly weak to sunlight, and they die instantly if their hearts are destroyed."
"So... just like the standard vampires from Earth’s folklore?"
"Yep. Exactly like that."
Yuki blinked, a sudden thought occurring to him. "Does the whole ’destroy the heart’ thing apply to me?"
"No. Not even close," Vee chuckled, remembering his absurdly maxed-out survivability stats. "Anyway, it’s getting late. Time to rest."
With that, she curled up and snuggled contentedly into Yuki’s lap, letting the warmth of the cave carry them into the night.
