Chapter 006: Family Dinner

Although father returned to trying something on his holopad - it took us little time to arrive back into the manor - a pair of double doors were already open in order to allow us to enter the vast hall.

Just from glancing around, I was able to behold livery of the sharp red carpets, majestic dark mahogany supports as well as stairs from a slightly lighter wood I didn't know the name of. Unblemished white marble pillars that housed many items which made us bear semblance to a museum of engineering - we had the company's various meritorious accomplishments throughout history proudly displayed in all their pristine lustre. As if they had just been crafted.

Standing there, with a hospitable smile, was an ageless gentleman dressed in the finery that had long been associated with the role of butler. His grey hair was combed then gelled to one side as an expertly groomed pencil moustache combined with an equally sharp beard below his lips to give him a distinctly keen persona that suited him.

"You had me quite worried there, young strawberry." So he said while lowering himself into a formal bow as his right hand (left on his chest with a very familiar book) to a small piece of matte black metal below his left eye. Tapping it caused a circular holoscreen to appear over his eye - allowing him to take in a quick physical scan to check if I had any injuries. Such a model would fall out of favour when the system gets integrated with mortality, even being a sign of decline, as player servants would always be preferred.

Also, the reason for him calling me 'strawberry' had something to do with "even if apples & strawberries fall from different branches they taste just as juicy" where I'm the strawberry as my siblings are apples.

Quite the clever metaphor my new mom came up with.

Obviously I didn't need positive reinforcement like that to keep me on track with my plan however… It certainly didn't feel bad to know there were people who support me in this life. As such - I was more than willing to play along with these people if just to gain more assistance in the future - nothing to do with my personal feelings of course. "Sowy uncle Thomswon!"

So I bawled out with a little guilty frown and up turned eyes that clearly displayed my apology was an honest one that I truly meant… Even if I didn't. Thompson eagerly accepted my cute expression of regret with no excuses being raised; moving his right hand to show the surgery book from my mommy. "You also left this young miss strawberry."

"Ah!" Reaching out I quickly put the book onto the pile of chests - adding to my growing collection of gifts that I would never have expected a day ago (or -23 years ago). Seeing me struggle in holding them all, the butler just laughed for a bit, soon coming to hold them for me with a gentle smile.

Due to being 'slightly' taller than me, he managed to hold it in only one arm - moving the other hand to one of his pockets where he pulled out a Worthies Origin. "Here; have a butterscotch candy for being a brave strong girl who managed to find your father by yourself."

I accepted his offering - unwrapping the tasty treat that all old people seemed to have - plopping it in my mouth making me quiver and squeal at its deliciousness.

…

BITCH, has my mental age regressed, because I do not remember being so soft…

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<< Answer to {query}.["Has my mental age regressed"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< Technically Speaking That Can Be Said To Be The Case >>

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That wasn't very helpful; could you expand on that some more BITCH?

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<< Answer to {query}.["Could you expand on that"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< It Is Indeed Possible To Expand On The Prior Queries Response >>

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… Are you upset BITCH, does a system even have the ability?

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<< Answer to {query}.["Does a system have the ability"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< Anyone Would Be Upset Upon Being Referred To As BITCH >>

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But isn't that your name?

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<< Answer to {query}.["But isn't that your name"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< The system is indeed designated as {software}.[BITCH] >>

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Right… Would you please tell me why my personality has been regressed, system?

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<< Answer to {query}.["Why my personality has been regressed"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< This Phenomenon Is Caused By The Carefree Nature Of Yourselves Personality Being Merged With The Personality From An Alternative (And Now Purged) Timeline Leading To Inner & Outer Conflicts From Your Own Perspective >>

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"Stop pandering to her just because she is more airheaded than her siblings and go ahead to work on what will be needed for… This." Daddy's voice soon brought my attention anyway from BITCH; he made a flicking motion toward uncle Thompson on his holopad causing a file transfer. Although I wasn't able to see what was uploaded to his holocle (hologram-monocle) - it must have been something good (as well as about me) since his smile grew with his gaze flickering between mee and his holocle's screen.

"I'll get right on that sir; the apples & frau are already in the dining room so I'll bring our little strawberry's things up while I'm at it." So he exclaimed with a jolly laugh before heading up to the second floor using the 'L' shaped stairs that were located on the left of the little side entrance we found ourselves.

I tilted my head curiously at daddy in hopes for an answer; unfortunately he ignored me to instead walk towards the dining room.

Upon entering my eyes immediately settled on the long snow-white wood table that was already set for the five of us - with everyone else already being sat down. Daddy took his place at the head of the table with mother followed by sister on his left while elder brother sat on the left opposite of mother.

This brother of mine looked very similar to Alexis, except for being slightly taller, with a combed back style just like with daddy. Almost like a little version of father considering he had that same austere look on his face as his lower attempted to peer through me; compared to daddy he was cute though.

What was a bit unusual was that my cutlery & seat seemed to be set up next to brothers instead of between mother & sister like it usually was. I could tell since mine had strawberries on them - this family putting great importance on consistency in both their products & day to day life apparently.

Nonetheless, in the time I spent examining the scene, mother & daddy were already expressing their love for one another with a deep kiss on the lips. Alexis' reaction being an immature audible display of disgust while brother simply didn't allot it with a response at all. Soon after they had finished - daddy spoke up at the same time as waving me over. "We'll eat dinner before talking about anything."

Just like that the dishes were carted out for us to enjoy; something I most certainly will since they were all far better quality than anything I could eat in my past life.

I also didn't forget about the system that had just attached itself to me, thus, I'll need to ask it some good questions at the same time. Guess my first question should be to ask exactly what BI- Big B is, how it works and why it was possible to 'upload' it onto me.

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<< Answer to {query}.["What Big B is, how it works and why it was possible to 'upload' it"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< To Answer This Question There Needs To Be An Explanation For How {software}.[BITCH] Was Initially Uploaded For {user} Convenience >>

<< Through Utilising The Unique 'Biology' As The {species}.[Dark Matter Spirit] of {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] The Instructions Within The {item}.[TRAP] Managed To Separate A The Under Utilised/Redundant Parts Located In [REDACTED] To Run {software}.[BITCH] >>

<< {software}.[BITCH] Then Utilises Evil [REDACTED] Methods Among Other Techniques Inherited From [REDACTED] & [REDACTED] To Help Empower The User As Well As Simply Act As A Store Of Any Data Which It Will Also Regulate >>

<< Due To The Higher Rank Of {species}.[Dark Matter Spirit] In Intellect The Specialised System Is Even Able To Display Far Greater Efficiency Than Humanity With The Deployment Of The {software}.[General Use System (GUS)] Through The Use Of The Conduit >>

<< Note: The Levels In {software}.[BITCH] Will Not Be Counted As The Same As In {software}.[GUS] And Will Not Be As Effective As {software}.[GUS] However Will Act As A Foundation For The Game >>

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Now that is quite interesting; also seems the new nickname has made my system pleased.

Although I couldn't quite be sure about how efficient this 'foundation' would be for my status, it isn't the attribute that I particularly cared about, instead it's the fact I have skills. If I was able to gain - as well as level up my skills - I would gain an impossibly massive advantage over everyone else.

Even if stats allowed me to get stronger, skills would allow me to gain bonus' that would prove far more important in the long run than simply 'some extra numbers'. For example, it could be anything from passively increasing accuracy by 10% or providing a powerful blow that does 500 extra damage, though I was far more interested in gaining something like the former than the latter.

As anyone with half a brain knows; nothing is more overpowered in the setting of a game than a passive unless it's a percentage which lost out to a passive percentage.

My research made that quite clear

The best of these passive skills were apparently those referred to as 'talents' - as often they helped you grow - not just in terms of status but even to help related skills grow. Somehow, just by 'equipping' my father's gift, I had managed to unlock both a passive as well as a talent which meant it was probably some great weapon that players would have killed for in my past life.

Speaking of, is it possible to reveal my status as well as display my current skill's descriptions, Big B?

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<< Answer to {query}.[" is it possible to reveal my status as well as display my current skill's descriptions"] From {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

<< It Is Indeed>>

<< Displaying Information On {user}.[Armor-Cordis Mantis] >>

Name: Armor-Cordis Mantis/Porshi

Age: 5

Race: Dark Matter Spirit.{Mythical} ([REDACTED].{N/A} + [REDACTED].{N/A})

God/Pantheon: N/A

Element: Dark Matter.{-}

Level: 1 (105/500xp)

Status: Healthy

Inventory: 0/500

Class: Baby Gunslinger.{Baby} Lvl 2 (55/125xp)

Job 1: N/A

Job 2: N/A

Job 3: N/A

Equipment

-[Baby's Erste Schusswaffe].{Expert} (Unequipped):

Weapon Type: Revolver

Damage: 2

Projectile Speed: 120

Skill: [Baby Growth].{Expert} (When equipped the player gains a bonus of xp 1.5)

Bio: Even a prinzessin's trash is a magd's treasure,

Health Points: ERROR 404

Spirit Points: 110110

<< Average For Adult Human Is 5 With 7 For Some Athletes >>

Vit: 1

Str: 1

Def: 1

Dex: 10 +2

Agi: 3

Int: 10 

Remaining Attribute Points: 000

Talent

-[Ameliorating Gun (Talent)].{Legend}: Experience gained for Level & related Skills based on practice with Firearm type weapons

-[Dark Matter Body (Physique)].{Mythical}: Mana Points along with Health Points converted into superior Spirit Points with the usual 10 modifier to both Vit & Int while body is made from [Dark Matter] Element although also makes physical exercise useless since there is no muscle.

-[[REDACTED] ([REDACTED])].{N/A}: [REDACTED]

Passive

-[Range Finder Lvl 2 (5/300xp)].{Baby}: Player gains information relevant to Ranged Weapon usage

Active

-[[REDACTED] (0[REDACTED]xp)].{N/A}: [REDACTED]

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How can I have such high dex yet still find myself constantly falling over? No wait, that's not the problem to focus on at the moment, the real issue is the colour of my class combined with my rather unusual set of skills and… Health points?

Generally the ranks for items & jobs are laid out as:

Normal - White - Apprentice; E

Common - Cyan - Intermediate (Often Has No Prefix); D

Uncommon - Green - Adept; C

Rare - Blue - Expert; B

Epic - Yellow - Master; A

Special - Orange - Grandmaster; S 

Unique - Red; SS

Legend - Gold; SSS

Mythical - Purple; EX

Yet, I must have got something below even an apprentice level class which would make one think that it would be beyond useless as a class. Afterall (if one had the option) it would be an obvious choice to instantly become an A ranked class rather than messing around as a D rank which would give less bonus attribute points. Negatively impacting one's ability to level up their character level.

That was a foolish choice for people in too much of a hurry to look at the long term.

If one starts at a lower rank they can slowly accumulate more experience as well as slowly work up their skills to generate a class that truly works for them (instead of them needing to work for the class). This wasn't to say there weren't meta's during LHO; there were often guilds focused around one particular class or job thus not everyone believed in leaving things up to chance.

Then again, I wasn't incompetent so worrying about my class not being useful in the future was a needless worry, I won't even bother pondering on. As for my race… Well it's surprising that I'm literally as highly ranked as one can - unlike with a class that is only a good thing - since one loses their racial skills if they change races there isn't the same incentive for me to start as a lower ranked race.

Not to mention it allows me to avoid 'that' which all people in LHO grew to despise.

Regardless, this gravy is so good that I could lick it off the plate if I was more immature, sort of like Alexis who is sneakily trying to lick it off the plate causing brother's scowl to intensify.

"I think now, while we wait for dessert to be served, is a perfect chance to discuss my thoughts." Daddy abruptly spoke up while dabbing the corner of his mouth with a napkin - causing brother to quickly do the same in order to ensure he had no gravy staining his face.

Of course, I had none, I had already long licked it up so it was a problem I simply couldn't fathom. Not minding that daddy continued on without waiting for us to reply. "Since Arthur isn't interested nor talented in firearms, I was thinking of grooming Armor to take over that branch in the future. She has shown enough talent that enrolling her into some competitions would do some good - getting her name out there while she can join Arthur in visiting me at work in between that."

Those words caused everyone else in the dining room to freeze (including the desert trolly with a crisp freshly baked apple strawberry galette which I really wish to sample) to gawk at daddy.