Chapter 23 - The Skill, Info Dump, And Her First Active Hunt

Despite gaining her first skill/technique from the system, Catherine wasn't in the right state of mind to check it out.

She was too preoccupied with thoughts of what to do next. Should she go back? Or should she stay here for now?

Just as she was hesitating, she looked up from her hands to her new girlfriend, who Catherine felt closer to than she could have ever imagined. Why bother hesitating when she knew that she wanted to stay with Aaliyah?

Their relationship was unconventional and Catherine's situation was... odd, to put nicely. Yet they made it work so naturally, she didn't even have time to feel freaked out or feel body-conscious.

As she watched Aaliyah help her with her clothes just like she told her to, she realised that for all the things she missed back home, none of them would accept her and Liliana like Aaliyah would.

'I'll go back someday, there's too much unfinished business to ignore. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday.' She decided to just enjoy herself, now that she no longer needed to look over her shoulder all the time.

"I think my new equipment makes being a leg model tricky, let's try being a hand model instead." They stepped out after Catherine washed her hands and cleaned Aaliyah's smooth, chocolate thighs with a wet wipe.

"You mean the one for Mr Aiblin? He's generous with his payments despite being strict, plus his wife is hot, hehe." She smirked as she thought of Mrs Aiblin. Catherine also remembered her; a soft-spoken woman who was so gentle she would probably forgive someone who spat at her.

She was Chinese and was said to be a rural villager before she met Mr Aiblin who was on vacation. Catherine couldn't deny that she was hot, her figure was small and pear-shaped and her hips were just too much, in Catherine's opinion.

Most importantly, Mr Aiblin was into tall blondes so her sex life had long since dried up! 'Why the heck did he even marry her then?'

She had no intention of denying her ulterior motives of taking the hand model job because it was Mrs Aiblin who was in charge of the job.

"I think I have a chance, plus I don't feel guilty about that prick. What do you think?" It was important to let Aaliyah be part of the decision-making as often as she could, she can't ever let herself take things for granted.

"Hmmm, sure. Let's be careful about the difference between convincing her and pressuring her though. She's a soft woman, inside and out, so she might say yes out of pressure than her own desire." She frowned as she said this, then a smile appeared on her face.

"We know she's at least interested in us from talking to her in the past, so it's likely we can get what we want." They sat at the desk, their break would end soon so they scarfed down some food.

Work continued and after an hour or two, she recalled her mission reward, 'How did I forget?!'

She opened her system panel to see her first technique,

[Mission Reward: 50 Futa points, The Yang Harmonious Body Technique.

The Yang Harmonious Body Technique {Mid-Decade Grade}: Yin and Yang are two forever opposing forces that are always in harmony. This technique allows the user to fill their innate Yang with Yang essence. The technique would then use this Yang energy to absorb a woman's Yin energy. The body would then be tempered by both Yang and Yin to reach perfect harmony.

Special effect 1: Circulating this technique will allow you to sense pure Yang beasts. {Distance is affected by skill level}

Special effect 2: Circulating this technique can attract beasts with the potential to become pure Yang beasts. {Distance is affected by skill level}

Special effect 3: Each level of this technique will enhance the innate Yang of the body.

Special effect 4: Your seed will be filled with Yang energy and can temper the body of the woman who receives it.

Special effect 5: When filled with Yang energy, Libido will rise and musk of the nether region will have addictive properties to women.

Special effect 6: When learnt by a woman, there is a 50% chance of growing a male organ, with a 50% chance of being crippled {Does not apply to the host who is a futanari}

Warning!!! This technique is not for the weak-willed! The increase in libido has produced several rapists and criminals who couldn't control themselves! Warning!!!]

The grade of the skill was the first thing she saw and it took her a while to remember to breathe. Catherine thought it was some kind of joke, a Decade grade technique for Mystic Elementum wasn't something she knew existed! At least, not for the tempering stage.

The grading for techniques, weapons and other products was made by a really cheeky guy. He felt that a clear sense of his praise or disdain was as good a motivator as any to improve.

Most people who made anything that could be graded deserved some measure of respect but... anyone who created something that was in the lower grading would grind their teeth to dust in irritation when they presented their work.

On top of all that, the looks of pity in the eyes of others who usually had good impressions of individuals who could make graded products made more than a few people destroy their work and try again. One could say... the b*stard accomplished what he wanted.

The grades are based on stages of civilisation, starting from Stone. His famous quote was, "The fuck is this?! What are you? A fucking caveman? You belong in the stone age! It's got such good functionality, but you bring this barely passable product? You overdeveloped ape!"

And so, the first grade became Stone to make one think of the work as belonging to the stone age. After that is Bronze, Steel and then Order.

Order was meant to show that there was little to no waste and the product was made with logic and order. After that were things ahead of their time; Decade, Century and finally Millennium.

It should be pointed out that something that was in one of these grades would fall down to the Order grade after time passed based on the product grade. 10 years for a Decade grade, 100 years for a Century Grade, 1000 years for a Millennium grade.

'The most fucking annoying part is that the person who came up with the grading system never made anything in his life. The jackass tricked the whole world into thinking he was a genius! Only a few decades after his death did someone realise it was all a fraud. But it was too late because everyone was using his grading system.' As Catherine started reading the details of the skill with interest, she remembered that she first found the whole history of it funny.

But... when she made her first defensive clothing back then... the memory haunted her even now.