"A title anchors a certain aspect of you in reality," Olivia answered, causing Greg to show a look of confusion. He understood the words separately, but put together, Greg couldn't understand what she meant by them. "Think of it this way, when you come across a surface with no bumps, cracks, or roughness of any kind to it, you call it a smooth surface, do you not?" She posed. Greg didn't reply, knowing that it was a rhetorical question. And sure enough, Olivia continued. "But is the surface smooth because you called it smooth? Or is the smoothness of the surface a part of reality, regardless of whether you call it smooth or not?" She stated.
'The latter,' Greg mentally replied.
"Well, a title functions in much the same way. It anchors the aspect of you that it deals with in reality. Take this title for example. As you currently are, whether a woman finds you arousing or not, is purely a matter of their preferences and opinions. If you were to gain this title, however, that would no longer be the case. The title would make it a fact of life that the longer the amount of time a woman spends around you, the more easily they'll be turned on by you," The familiar informed him.
Greg couldn't help but swallow hard with desire. The title was almost like a cheat code. All he'd have to do was to find a way to hang around any woman that he was attracted to and with time they'd eventually fall victim to his charms. Greg almost ignored the two other cards and selected the title. Reason, however, prevailed and Greg forced himself to move to the next card.
The third card read; STALWART BLESSING. The description read: This blessing negates half of all physical damage received!
Greg sucked in a cold breath, unable to believe what he'd just read. This was nothing short of a life-saving card. Greg had picked up on the fact that the blessing would only protect him against physical damage. Still, it didn't make the card any less desirable. Greg didn't for a second doubt that there were individuals out there that were much more physically gifted than he was. If he was ever to fight one of those individuals and they didn't employ magic against him, it would be like Greg had armor on that defended him from half the damage they could have inflicted upon him. And if he happened to have armor on at the time, then the damage would be even more reduced! Greg once again found himself very tempted to ignore the other options and go for the one before him.
Gritting his teeth, however, Greg forced himself to look at the last card. There were only two words on this last card. 'SOUL BOW'. However, unlike the other cards which only had text, this one had the image of a finely carved longbow. But while the longbow appeared to be finely carved, Greg couldn't pick up on anything else that was special about it. It just seemed like a normal longbow. Greg couldn't help but feel like this was somewhat anticlimactic. The rewards seemed to have been growing in value, from ten million lust points to a very tempting title, to an almost unbelievable blessing. To end with just a bow felt like a bit of a letdown. Still, he decided to inquire from Olivia just in case he was missing something.
"What's a soul bow?" Greg asked.
"A soul bow is one example of a class of magical items known as soul gear," Olivia answered. "Soul gears are items that are attached to one's soul, meaning that they can be summoned and dismissed at any time at the user's whim. Soul gears can come in many forms, including weapons like swords, daggers, staffs, maces, and so on. They can also come in the form of armor, enchanted robes, a personal item like a pendant, a ring, a hairpin, and so on," Olivia laid out. "Soul gears are among the rarest and most sought-after magical items out there," She stated. "Chances are, if you miss out on this one, you might never come across another one again in your life," She added.
Greg was stunned by the familiar's words, not having expected this mundane-looking item to be as precious as she seemed to be making it out to be. No matter how he looked at the bow, Greg couldn't see what was amazing about it. "What makes it so valuable? " Greg decided to ask directly.
"As I said, the item is attached to your soul, which means two things. The first is that whatever school of magic you fall into and whatever magic you practice, you're soul gear will be attuned to, and even amplify it. For example, if you were a fire mage, and you had a dagger as your soul gear, that dagger would be attuned to the element of fire and be able to cause fire damage on top of just physical damage. If you were a necromancer, that dagger would have the capacity to cause injuries that almost immediately necrotize, and so on. And that's even before you pour your mana into the weapon. If the fire mage were to pour their mana into the weapon, it'd probably be able to cut through armor like it was nothing. If a necromancer were to pour their mana into the dagger, they'd probably be able to attack your soul directly," Olivia explained. "Unlike weapons that were forged for someone else, soul weapons are perfectly adapted to the particular individual to whom they are attached. Not only do they synergize well with them, but they also reinforce and amplify their wielder's power. And this isn't even the best part," The familiar continued. "What makes soul gears really valuable is the fact that the stronger your soul grows, the stronger it becomes," She answered. "And do you remember the easiest way to gain a stronger soul?" Olivia asked.
By now, all the disappointment Greg had felt with the last item had faded. His excitement at the last item shot several notches higher even as the answer to Olivia's question came to him. Greg's eyes went wide with the implications even as he answered. "To grow stronger as a mage!" He said.
"Exactly!" Olivia concurred. "As you are right now, the soul bow will be no different from a mundane bow. When you become a first-tier mage, it'll also become a bow suited to handle the power of a first-tier mage. The same with the second tier, the third, and so on. While you were on the low end of the magical hierarchy, you might not see the value of a soul weapon. However, as you grow in power, you will find that there are fewer and fewer weapons that can handle the amount of power you can put out," She explained. "From tier six going forward, you'll have to get your weapons custom-made for you, otherwise, most simply wouldn't be able to last long in your service. Having a bow that can not only bring out but enhance the power of a sixth-tier mage or higher, isn't anything to scoff at," Olivia explained.
Greg found himself showing an agonized expression as he looked at the four cards before him. Had any single one of these cards been offered to him as a reward for the feat of lust, he would have been more than satisfied. To have all four of them before him and only be able to choose one, however, was just pure torture. The first card offering ten million lust points was the easiest one for him to give up. Perhaps Greg had been spoiled by the rare chance of earning lust points from a seventh-tier mage. He just didn't find this first offer as tempting as the others. The second card was just too tempting as far as Greg was concerned. If any reward had perfect synergy with the system itself, then this was it. To be able to passively seduce women just by being around them was nothing short of a game-breaking cheat! The third and fourth cards were all about looking ahead. To either have a powerful defense or a strong offense through a weapon that could grow in power with him.
"How long would I have to be around someone before the title takes effect?" Greg asked. If he was going to pick one out of the three cards, then just looking at the pros of each card wouldn't be enough to allow him to decide. He needed to figure out the limitations of each before choosing.
"The title will work in much the same way as the rewards of the milestone missions work," Olivia answered, causing a look of confusion to cross Greg's features. "Allow me to explain, " The familiar continued when she noted Greg's confusion. "You see, your understanding of the milestone mission rewards is flawed," she declared. "Take the groping milestone for example. The reward you got for hitting the first milestone of one was 'A slight increase of women's desire to grope you' " she quoted. "Now, in your guess, you estimated that perhaps the word 'slight' amounts to roughly a ten percent increase. Meaning that out of a hundred, you'd attract ten more women to grope you than would have otherwise done so naturally. That, however, isn't how it works," She informed him.
"Every living being on the planet has what you'd call willpower," Olivia continued. "Think of it like a measure of how stubborn that particular being is before they give in on any given subject. Press them past this limit, and you can get them to give in and do whatever you wish to have them do. Naturally, different individuals have different strengths of will. Some people are easily swayed from one opinion to the next. Others, however, can stand firm as a mountain in whatever position they presently hold. This is a function of how strong their willpower is. There is a lot more that you'll eventually have to learn on the subject of willpower. What I've thus far told you is a gross oversimplification of the subject of willpower and barely even scratches the profundity of it. It, however, should suffice to help you understand how both the title and the milestone missions work.
"Think of the willpower of the different women you might want to seduce as a hurdle that you need to jump over," The familiar continued to explain. "How high that hurdle is, varies from one woman to the next based on their willpower. What the milestone missions rewards do, however, is elevate the ground on which you are standing. Every time you hit a milestone, you permanently increase the elevation of the ground on which you stand. In so doing, you make it much easier and more probable for that event to happen more times in future," She explained. "The title, on the other hand, works from the opposite direction. Instead of raising the ground on which you stand, It slowly, over time lowers the hurdle over which you have to jump," She explained. "However, unlike the milestone mission rewards which offer permanent changes, the title's effects only work so long as you are around someone for a long period of time, meaning that long periods of separation will probably reset the effects of the title," She continued. "All this is to say that there isn't any straightforward answer to your question of how long the title will take before it affects someone. All that can be said is, it depends on how strong their willpower is to begin with. If they are strong-willed, then the hurdle will be set very high and it may take you weeks to months to pull it down to a point where you can jump over it. If, however, they are weak-willed, then anywhere from a few hours to a few days will be enough to have them tangled in your web," She stated.
