Chapter 58: A comprehensive discussion

Daniel could not stay for very long after his final outburst remembering something important he had to do and soon booked it, leaving Simon with his tames and Rana, whose posture seemed to relax a little.

Simon, however, was currently too interested in his questions to give his friend much thought. His constant excitement numbing him to the gaunt boy's final remark.

"Hah... Normally who come here at least have an idea of what the system is. But you are digging deep."

Simon only shrugged his shoulders given that both his hands were currently occupied with petting his monster girls who were currently check out in rapture.

"As someone told me recently, I am apparently from the boonies."

He said with a smile remembering a very recent conversation.

"I wonder if there are more super hillbilly tamers down there?"

Rana gave him a smirk which while fearsome felt less menacing. She jutted her hip to the side which only brought attention to her rock-hard abs.

"That... I cannot help you with. I do not have an idea of how I ended up here."

Simon only tilted his head, slightly confused with the shift in her demeanor.

"Yeah. You 'fish out of water' types always say that."

She was thoughtful, her bright yellow eyes staring into the distance.

"I see... So about the things I asked."

She snorted.

"I am getting to it. Sheesh..."

She coughed into a very powerful fist, one that looked like it could crush his skull, then started in a very awkward fashion.

"Alright. So first thing I should explain who all of this shit works. First! You need three monster girls. Second! You need to be certified from a sanctioned trainer."

Simon was taken aback by the delivery but a massive raised raised finger kept his mouth shut.

"Third! You need to spend merit points to earn the right of entry to any of the Universities in-house dungeons. Forth! You are ranked based on how much stuff you bring out of delves. This leads into Fifth! The ranking system dictates what sanctioned dungeons you can enter. If the dungeon is not under jurisdiction, you can enter willy-nilly but you ain't getting any of the protections the powers that be have in place. Sixth! Any stuff you find while delving can be sold to the school for merit points and buy things. Seventh! The actual Tamer's guild endorses the university so anything you get can carry over. Eighth! Please do not skimp out on an 'escape crystal' like please don't. And... I think that is it."

She let a breath along with a gag that looked like she spat something vile.

"What is with the style?"

This time it was her turn to shrug.

"Yeah... well, can't help it. The tamers that keep me fed wants it be to be LOUD AND CLEAR when I spout this stuff so here you go."

Simon had a raised eyebrow as he stated something that had been brewing in the back of his head.

"You are being very different than when you assessed my monster girls."

She gave him a wide toothy smile and it was toothy given that she had lower canines that was considerably larger than the rest.

"Well. You are gonna need a 'supervisor' cause you are still a novice and technically your 'assessment' is only really over after you come out of the novice title. But fuck, Since you are platinum grade, you could probably even whoop my ass. But since I am on the list, I might as well show you how I am like on the field in case you choose me."

Then she took a breath as if bracing for something.

"I will also be straight with you. No bullshit the reason I am doing this is cause if you choose me and I help, there is a payment. Which is that the tamer has to feed the monster girl for services rendered or use merit points to feed them the mass produced gruel. I am hoping that since you are platinum you are gonna give me some premium stuff. So... is it working?"

Simon wanted to say 'Yes' for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest of which was a conversation he had with an annoying individual the last day. Also there a surge of sensations that made him blink while rapidly shake his head.

"That's a bit to unpack but can we move a step back?"

Rana raised one of her red eyebrows.

"Sure."

Simon used a question to get a handle on the sudden wave of emotions. A slow glow in his rings.

"What are ranks and grades?"

"Oh! Right! So rank is like general quality control and decides how complex quests you can accept. Things like, 'this rare collector wants this rare monster drop. Please get it!' that sort of thing. Your rank is like a guarantee of your skill, it goes from novice to rookie to journeyman to adept to expert to master to grandmaster to hero. Grade is like... what tier of monster girls you can field. This one goes from Stone, Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Elite, Lord and finally Divine."

His curiosity and her answer helped and he felt more normal by the time the explanation ended.

Now that he felt like he was in the driver's he answered.

"Yes."

Rana tilted her head, causing the two dangling front braids to go off kilter.

"To?"

"I would like to take you as my 'veteran'."

Rana pumped on fist into the air, a massive scimitar appearing in her hand.

"YES!"

Again that burst of emotions.

"What did Daniel mean when he said Aura holder?"

Rana looked like she was about to leap into the air but stopped when she heard his question.

"Oh! That! That's simple. Tamers don't amount to much in a fight be so any supportive ability is held in high regard, auras are like the pinnacle of this and there is an entire field of study dedicated to it. An epic aura is only second to a legendary aura and you can't teach either so it makes you very desirable as a party member."

Simon took it at face value and moved on. But before he could think of another question, one was thrown his way.

"Wanna delve right now?"

She looked very very excited.

"Sure?"

Simon answered.