Charm Training (2)

Astrid praised Pervy Sage. "That was pretty good…Things got a little weird at the end there, but people don't judge stories only by their endings, right? Nice job!"

Astrid thought, 'The ending is important though...If it sucks people won't read the story.' Then he realized a bizarre truth: that didn't apply to most of the web novels he read... 'As long as they're over 50 chapters and didn't end on hiatus...'

Pervy Sage looked at Astrid. "That's the power of feathering. Did you see how those females were playing with my feathers? That was a conversation topic. The feathering item also made me seem unique and interesting. Being attention-grabbing is important. All right, I did my turn, that cat over their, do an example yourself, I bet you can since you have feathers all over your body."

[I have fur, but yeah, I can do it!]

The system got up. Scanning around like an eagle, he identified three cute girls on the grass at the bottom of the hill where he stood. He combed his fur until it was at the perfect angle. Then, with a smirk radiating confidence, he walked on the grass towards his target. Each step contained a supreme swagger. There was a rhythm to his movements, like a bass beat from a catchy funk song oozing flavor and flash. Each forward motion built his momentum until he became unstoppable. That's when the system's eyes popped out.

He looked down. His legs were now behind him as his face approached the grass.

He'd tripped over a rock.

The funk song became deathstep!

Julia was having a wonderful afternoon. She hadn't seen her two girlfriends in months. They were catching up and having a wonderful picnic when she heard a scream and looked to her right. A giant white fur ball of doom was rolling towards them at horrifying speed! "Aaahhhhh!" The three girls escaped like fleeing cattle!

Strike!

The system got up from the ground. He removed the bits of grass from his mouth and fur as he looked around. Scattered sandwiches were strewn all over the beautiful picnic he had demolished. Shrugging, he picked up an apple with his jaw and held it as he went back up the hill, resuming his swagger steps.

The previous scene had stupefied Astrid and Pervy Sage. They stared with their jaws hanging down until the system made it back to their position.

The system held his chin high. "You see that? That's how you get attention. The females even left an apple to show their appreciation."

...

Next, it was Astrid's turn. This time Pervy Sage gave him a few normal lines. Astrid also felt these lines had more potential. Eager, he got to work.

But they yielded no results, he got rejected 7 times in a row, combo breaker!

What was growth?

Probably not, but even the tiniest improvements are exciting when you start at the absolute bottom!

A few times, the responses were even lukewarm!

Not cold like a slap in the face! Not piping hot like coffee! Lukewarm!

Astrid felt there was room to continue conversing. The problem was he had no idea what to say! As a result, those interactions ended with him stuttering or giving a blank stare.

Astrid returned to Pervy Sage. "What do I say after the opener?"

Pervy Sage ruffled hair as if he was shaking up his memories to find the right one. "The early phase is all about building attraction. That should be your focus."

"Attraction?" Astrid asked.

Pervy Sage clarified. "You need to attract a female before anything else. That's the first major hurdle. Only then would she be interested enough in you to consider something romantic. If a female isn't attracted, you'd be wasting your time, because the best-case scenario would be friendship."

At the word friendship, Astrid and the system showed frightened faces. It was the dreaded friend zone!

"What types of things affect and increase attraction?" Astrid asked.

Pervy Sage answered. "The obvious ones are the more universal things like appearance, social status, and charm. Then there are specific factors, which some females may prefer over others, such as personal talent , intelligence, how well-spoken you are, how strong you are, etc. The influence of the specific factors can vary depending on a female's type. The universal factors can also vary in a female's type, but not as much. For example, a male model will be attractive to the vast majority of females."

Astrid thought, 'Isn't he describing my system's stats? Appearance is looks. I'm guessing "how well-spoken you are" is communication skills. Then there's knowledge, strength, etc.'

The book spoke. "Think of it like this. Those previous attributes I mentioned set the foundation for attraction. When a female sees you at first, she'll discover some of those things on sight such as your appearance. Others she might only discover through speaking with you or others about you, such as your social status, intelligence, etc. When you add all the characteristics, it creates an attraction baseline. If your baseline is high enough, you will attract females right away!"

He continued. "Why do men do things like go to the gym, get high-status jobs, become rich, and many other things? A big reason is to raise this attraction baseline with females! Even though making gains in these areas takes a long time, even us charmers recognize the value in developing them. Raising the baseline is important because it makes everything that follows easier. Of course, if attraction was fixed and only depended on those factors, then what would be the point of us charmers? Our specialization is the last part in attraction, and also the most important—seduction skills!"

This hooked Astrid's attention. "What are seduction skills?"

The Pervy Sage smirked. "Seduction skills are ways to raise attraction in a short time! Even if your baseline was 0, with perfect seduction skills, you could skyrocket attraction to the peak! You could get any female you wanted!"

Astrid gasped. He'd only heard of such things in legends! Then he remembered the skill he got from the gatcha.

[Transcending Point]