Most Importantly: She Protecc

The main focus of the job, that is waiting on tables, has always been easier for Reed. The customers are the daily patrons in rush and just order without much formality. In fact, Reed came to know most of the patrons over the month, and by now, it was a simple greeting before taking their orders. Nessie was the same. In fact, Reed learned much about the job by observing Nessie in the early days.

By eleven, the cafe was almost empty once again. Reed helped Gary take away the dishes before finding the time to let him know about the conversation he had with Nessie this morning.

"What? She said she didn't like Diesel Skull?" Gary narrowed his gaze at Reed before quickly taking out his cellphone.

"You fucking casual, look at this," he grunted while showing Reed the screen.

It was a post with Nessie in some concert. The background in the picture showed many fans holding fluorescent sticks of various colors while Nessie herself wore a red crop top with brown pants.

'Wow... she has a piercing in her belly button?' Reed glanced at her exposed stomach for a bit longer. He did not expect such a thing but he was impressed nonetheless.

→@NessieG11: Just love the rock of Diesel Skull! ;)

Reed read the screenshot and then looked at Gary, "You really want me to say what it means then? Cause I'm not lying, buddy."

Gary's smug expression stiffened.

His lips trembled slightly before a defeated expression took over his face and body language.

"Fuck..."

"Yeah. That's rough," Reed shrugged. At least, when he asked Juli out, she didn't lie about her likes and dislikes.

"Say... you want those tickets? It'll only cost you 3000 bucks!" Gary held Reed by his shoulder while Reed's expression paled.

"Are you stupid? 3000 for two tickets? I could have bought a better-looking pet! Or a scooty!" Reed growled. Even his bank balance did not exceed 4000 dollars.

"How would I not know?" Gary pursed his lips, "Well, I'll just post the tickets online and see if someone wants to buy it," he shrugged but he still looked slightly bitter.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," Reed finally said.

"Yeah, I know," Gary nodded and left to do the dishes.

Aside from this small event, Reed's day was pretty normal. And with nobody turning into a lizard demon and trying to devour him whole the entire day, Reed began to believe that this really is the real world. And if it is, he needed to learn more about warlocks.

Previously, he was destined to be a plebian but now, with the spiritual capacity of 7 points, he could, in theory, contract with six more pets. Strong ones, instead of a cat.

At this moment, his glance fell on Manager's bonsai. Just the one he kept for show. He simply didn't have the temper to raise and nurture a bonsai garden.

And something clicked within Reed at this point.

For the entire day, during breaks, he had been learning more about warlocks and the mysterious profession but the more he learned, the more he understood that he had overlooked the most basic aspects of being a warlock.

"Goodbye, Manager," Nessie's voice broke Reed out of his thoughts. She had already changed out of her uniform.

She glanced towards Reed and nodded slightly before walking out of the cafe. Outside, on a black V-cess sat a handsome youth, and now that Reed scrutinized the youth, he did look like Nessie a little bit.

As if sensing Reed's gaze, the youth looked towards him with an innocent gaze. Nodding at each other through the glass pane, they both looked away.

'Man... Nessie gets to leave at 7 while I need to slave away till 9. Ah... oh, fuck! I completely forgot about Cinnamon. Wait, how can I forget about Cinnamon with enhanced memory? Nevermind, not important.'

Reed's expression changed greatly.

"Manager, I need to use the restroom," Reed looked at the Manager anxiously.

Glancing towards Reed and recalling his amazing performance today, the manager nodded slightly, "Be quick about it."

Reed nodded and hurried to the restroom. Choosing the farthest stall, he locked himself in and calmed down for a moment.

'First thing first, I need to remember that I have another responsibility now. Maybe that's why I forgot about Cinnamon in the first place. I didn't consider her my responsibility.'

Reed looked at his ring and sighed deeply. It was just a simple hope of his but he couldn't help but think— Can I see Cinnamon without taking her out?

At this point, his vision suddenly changed and he found himself looking at the resting Cinnamon. He sighed to himself.

Obviously, he wasn't able to have every single wish come true.

"But why is she still sleeping?" Reed thought and tried to stroke her head.

"Huh..."

Reed tried to move his hands but he didn't 'feel' anything. He 'looked' down and saw empty air. He wasn't standing or sitting. He didn't exist in this weird place but he could still see Cinnamon.

"Cinnamon!" Reed called out loudly but she didn't respond even to his voice.

'Is this some sort of spy mode to sneak up on the pets?' Reed frowned.

'Is she dead?' Reed wished to observe Cinnamon closely and as he thought of this, his 'body' seemed to move closer to Cinnamon.

'Interesting,' Reed thought. After observing Cinnamon for a few moments, he realized that she was simply sleeping. He still didn't know if she was tired or hungry since he didn't feel any form of negative response from his connection with Cinnamon the entire day.

With that, Reed came out of the space but obviously, his night had gotten busier. He would set up recordings once again to check the response of this new mode of entering. He still had to see if this new mode— spy— allows him to use the functions of the system.

After staying in the bathroom for a few minutes, Reed finally came out, washed his hands, and set out to work till 9.

---

"Thank you," Reed grunted as he got out of the bike and paid the driver his due before he left. Rubbing his sour butt after sitting on the bike for more than 20 minutes, Reed walked into his apartment when he found a middle-aged man walking down the stairs.

"Hey, kid, did you see a cat running around somewhere?" The man had a balding spot in the middle of his head and he looked extremely tired.

"A cat?" Reed tilted his head in confusion before shaking his head.

"No."

"Tch. If you see a grey cat with black stripes, tell me about it. I live on the third floor, apartment 11. Shit, I don't know where my Little Grey's gone, too..."

Reed nodded and as the man left, realization struck Reed.

'He must have meant Cinnamon. Shit, I forgot that I own Cinnamon again... and little grey?' Reed looked towards the receding back of the man with contempt, 'It's because of people like you that pets feel extremely frustrated. What would happen if I call you little baldy or little fatty? Cinnamon's a proper name!'

With that inner monologue, Reed entered his apartment and slumped down his couch. He didn't need to eat dinner and now, it was time to resolve some of his newfound discoveries.

Taking off his shirt and pants, Reed stretched his waist slightly and drank a glass of chilled water before summoning Cinnamon out.

Looking at the deeply sleeping Cinnamon, he tried to feel the connection developed by the contract and fell into deep thought.

The situation hadn't changed. The connection with Cinnamon was still hazy and vague. He figured like this morning, he would only be able to sense sudden outbursts of emotions.

And now, after focusing his research on pets and communication, he knew the reason, or at least, he had a simplified conclusion to the matter.

In practice, being a Warlock was nothing more than a glorified pet owner, or pet trainer.

Just as a pet owner would develop feelings and connection with its pet by carrying out various activities and feeding the pet, a warlock feeds, trains, and takes care of a totem beasts necessities. In doing so, the connection developed by the contract fluid is strengthened and the simple bond of the contract becomes much sturdier. This, in return, allows the Warlock to fluidly command totem beasts and communicate with them without being impeded by the speech barrier.

This was the learning curve.

Reed needed to make an effort to familiarise himself with Cinnamon. Just naming her clearly wasn't enough since he had forgotten about her existence occasionally.

And therein lied a small problem for Reed.

By now, Reed didn't feel any hunger from Cinnamon. It was quite strange, clearly. Why wouldn't she feel hungry? Is it because the space in which she slept had another form of nutrition?

After all, she would need nutrition to survive and plenty of rest to grow. And within the Miracle Beast Management System, Cinnamon seemed to have gained the two of these things in plenty. How? Reed didn't know. And the only way of knowing the answer would be by strengthening the bond with Cinnamon so that she can communicate with him without any problem.

But if he takes her out and the owner happens to recognize her, the situation will be terrible. Even if he claims that he didn't steal her, how would he produce the evidence that he bought Cinnamon from a pet store?

Where's the receipt?

So, he had to be careful as to where he brings out Cinnamon.

"Hey, Cinnamon, are you hungry?" Reed stated softly. He didn't show the same immature action by jump scaring her. After all, the quicker he strengthens the bond, the quicker he will get his answers.

"Puurrrr~!" Cinnamon purred softly as her eyelids trembled. Slowly waking up, she looked around before slowly standing up and stretching. Her off-white muzzle and whiskers trembled as she shook her body.

"Do you want me to feed you?" Reed inquired as he slowly set up his cellphone.

He wanted to record himself while using the spy mode to enter the space of the system.

Feeling the rejection from the connection, the only thing he had felt since morning, Reed calmed down. He didn't plan to store Cinnamon in that space once again. At least, he wanted to try and spend a couple of hours with her and try a few things he learned online.

With that, he thought for a moment and his vision changed once again.

Easily, he could access the functions of the system, which greatly pleased him.

Then, coming out of the space, he exhaled deeply.

"Hmm? Why did my cellphone fall?" Reed frowned and looked at his cellphone lying on its back. He then looked away and saw Cinnamon lying on the couch next to him. She continued to look towards him silently.

"Did you do this?" Reed inquired while pointing at the cellphone.

Much to his surprise, pointing at the cellphone triggered a response from the connection. She accepted the gesture and smacked her left forelimb on the couch before growling softly.

"Do you want to eat?" Reed inquired again as Cinnamon stood up and jumped from the couch towards the table while alongside rejection, Reed also felt annoyance.

'Interesting... she clearly is able to communicate. And she probably knows it. Then why can't I use this connection? Even if I cannot communicate normally, can I try and translate my emotions? What should I be feeling right now... sleepy?'

Reed frowned. He felt that this method would not have much effect.

Animals, pets, clearly are more temperament and thus, are able to translate emotional outbursts more easily. They have practice, after all.

Reed, meanwhile, only occasionally will have such a moment. Like surprise quiz, or break-up, or waking up in a nightmarish land—

"Scrreeee!" Cinnamon suddenly hissed dangerously as she jumped in front of Reed. Her posture tense and limbs slightly spread as if ready to pounce at anything or everything. Her thick, short fur stood at its end and her tail arched up anxiously.

'Hmm?' Reed blinked.

He had thought about his 'Birthday Present' and the experiences he went through many times. But only now did Cinnamon show any reaction.

'Did I do it? Did I just transfer my anxiety?' Reed continued to gaze at Cinnamon. Thinking for a moment, he stretched his arm out and gently scratched Cinnamon's chin. Someone in the forums said that the chin is usually one of the many common weak spots of feline pets.

"Hrrrrrr~!" Cinnamon purred before her torso returned to its relaxed state. She looked around cautiously before jumping on Reed's lap and crouching down.

"Not bad," Reed chuckled.

Only now did Reed feel that maybe...

Warlock wasn't simply being a glorified pet owner.

Not after seeing Cinnamon's crazy reaction.