Resource Allocation

Gil had only one major task remaining in the days before his next portal opened: allocating his resources. He had a fair number of them, after all, of multiple varieties. Cards, credits, and more.

The first and most obvious purchase was Nuzlocke Rules, which would give him a free Beastmaster sphere whenever he entered a new world. Oh sure, there would be limits upon it, but a free binding was hardly ever a bad thing to have. If the first target he encountered was unpalatable, he could simply ignore it. Alternatively, Silky had thus far proven an excellent example of what a blank canvas could be used for.

Localization was also promising, and extremely convenient. He took it; way too many worlds would panic at the sight of Keilnei and that would just be blasted inconvenient. There was also the chance of showing up in a world where Gil's own status as a white man would paint him in a negative light. Not as common as people freaking out at the sight of a 7 foot tall blue satyr, but easily enough to be concerning.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem likely that Ireena would accidentally stumble into the next mission for the Ammen Vale. It seemed like the kind of thing she might be interested in doing, given the chance, but a little bit too big and specific to leave to chance.

Golden Timeline

Secure an alliance between the Draenei and Alliance Naval Command

Reward: 5 credits, Flag of Truce

Flag of Truce: once, you may wave this flag to end all aggression in your immediate vicinity. All parties will abandon violence and negotiate for whatever it is they want, or otherwise pursue their goal nonviolently. There is no guarantee they will negotiate in good faith, but they will not even consider initiating violence for at least an hour.

The last thing he decided to purchase was Symbolic Tattoos, a stamp upgrade. Supposedly it would allow him to alter his stamped girls by tinkering with their tags. That? That had potential. It was definitely worth the 25 stamp credits it cost him.

Once she was feeling better, Gil brought Candress with him to his tent. She didn't ask much, and would consider getting fucked to be a reward for good work. While he considered his options, she rubbed his prick gently. Her delicate hands were pleasantly warm.

He toyed with his options for the cards, especially Levi. Years of active combat training was no joke. There were beings strong enough to completely invalidate that kind of experience, but they were in the minority. Generally speaking, an armed gunman could make their voice heard in most situations. The question was, of course, who?

Gil toyed with taking the skill for himself, but dismissed the idea quickly. If he didn't want to take the whole package, heroin addiction included, Gil would need to isolate one part of Levi's skillset. His skill with firearms seemed like the biggest prize, assuming Gil could get his hands on one, but there was more to the effective use of a gun than technical knowledge of how to use it. Gil wouldn't be able to put that knowledge to its best use on his own, but he knew which member of his retinue would be able to.

Candress was already a trained ranged combatant, with a military background and the ability to throw fireballs. She had the right mindset, but was comparatively useless if she couldn't use her magic. Guns, on the other hand, tended to work fine in most settings. Occasionally you get some bullshit about the atmosphere interfering with gunpowder, but generally if you were packing heat that would work wherever you went.

Gil watched Candress carefully as he used the card, and was almost disappointed by the lack of fanfare. Her arms grew slightly more toned, and her fingernails were trimmed shorter. Otherwise, there was no real overt sign of Candress being very different. The changes were small enough that she didn't even notice, simply continuing to dutifully pump her hand up and down his shaft, her other hand cupping his balls.

He didn't even have a gun to hand her yet, though later she proved to be a moderately better shot with her bow. At least some of the skills seemed to transfer, so she would probably be at least a smidgeon more able to contribute from the backline, even without magic. Good enough.

The other card… Gil toyed with it. He didn't want to rush into anything, after all. Shiho wasn't anyone special. No superpowers, no special training, no tags: just a pretty face and a fit body. There was no immediate need to make use of that card; it would keep.

On the other hand, he had plans for Symbolic tattoos. He decided to wait for the moment, rather than tinkering with Ireena or Rose/Flechette's tags immediately. He wanted to see how this worked first, somewhere he could personally observe things as they happened. That meant Zena and Snow.

He scrolled through his options for Zena, not finding most of them particularly impressive. Removing her addiction to magic seemed like a valid option, but he wasn't entirely sure it was optimal. Ever since he'd used the Golden Rule, she'd been much more well behaved on that front. She still regularly angled to get into the sanctum, but she hadn't come close to draining it dry in days. More importantly, he'd been taught early on that when all else failed you should go for something irreplaceable; he'd already been presented two opportunities to give her addiction defense, and had it himself. It would wait.

What he finally settled upon was "Leveling," which had always been among the most dangerously useful tags. People in litrpgs and video games sometimes had that tag, allowing them to gain power through experience points. Exactly what rewarded those experience points varied, but the key takeaway was that most people with that tag had the potential to multiply their power level tenfold through dedicated effort. Sometimes far more. It could be slow, but he only got to tattoo Zena once in this way, as far as he could tell.

Snow, in contrast, was easy. Healer. Not even a question. He briefly considered making her a fighter, but he didn't know if doing that would alter her personality. For all he knew, putting a sword in her hand would make her into some kind of abrasive, arrogant version of herself. Healer, in contrast, was a combat useful role that didn't have a connotation of strength. Keilnei wouldn't always be available, nor would she always have a charge up on Gift of the Naaru. Better to always have some form of healing available.

Gil selected both tags, and initiated the change. He heard a startled gasp from the girls outside his tent. Candress looked up, pausing with her hands and listening with concern. Gil gently pushed her away and stood up, still very much erect, and stepped outside.

Snow was patting her chest with alarm, as if searching for something under her clothes. Zena was staring at her wrist with confusion. Gil walked over and looked at the elf girl's wrist, and found a tiny serpentine dragon starting just beneath the palm, stretching an inch down her arm at an angle.

"What the hell is that?" Zena demanded, correctly guessing who was responsible.

"A tiny dragon, looks like." Gil said, "do you feel any different?"

"No?" Zena said, frowning. "What did you do to me? There's no way it's just the tattoo, not with a reaction like that."

"It should make you stronger, over time." Gil explained, "I don't know details; sorry. Snow, can I see your chest?"

The princess pulled her dress down with a mild blush, only briefly looking at the other girls and Gil's wood. Her chest now had a large teardrop with a heart at the center, etched directly over her heart.

"Snow." He said, not sure exactly how this would work. "Do you know how to heal someone injured?"

"Heal?" She asked, "What do you mean?"

"Of course it's not that easy." He sighed. "It'll need to be trial and error. I might as well explain; everyone listen up."