Chapter 18: Exploring the Nearby Forest

"Is that so, mommy? Is that rare?" asked Annabelle after seeing the surprised face of her mother.

"It is, Annabelle-chan! This kid will get big when he grows up!" said Cathyl while waving her cow tail around.

"I don't think it's that big, I only know two spells, this one, and the inventory spell… I can heal and save things, but my fighting capabilities are quite bad, well, I am confident in using a farming tool" said Frank, knowing that he could be a nice farmer with the Farming Technique Skill he had.

"This… This kid is way too talented! Two spells are not simply that! Does he not realize? If he can simply keep learning spells… his future is as brilliant as any of the previous natural dual mana core users… He will become someone great… Good, it is nice that I have him on my side, I will not leave him to go away from me, I will make sure to raise him well and also… to take a piece of that cake! It's not like I am a cunning person or anything like that… but such opportunity, I cannot let it slide away from me" thought Gwendolyn as she decided to not let Frank get away from her grasp, making sure to make him stay with her as he learns more spells, so when he becomes big and rich, she can get some of that and live comfortably with her beloved daughter.

"Frank, Annabelle, Cathyl, it would be the best if we were capable of leaving what we had said as a secret for now… if such information is leaked in the outside, I am sure that some aristocrat will try to capture and enslave Frank, even more, that he is not a citizen yet…" said Gwendolyn, she was genuinely worried about Frank even more than before now, such a talent and ignorance were not a good combination, one bad move on his part and he will become the slave of an aristocrat and converted in either material or into a slaved champion to serve to the aristocrats while never experiencing freedom ever again.

At least, if Frank were to be a citizen, it would be harder for them to catch him, as the church would be protecting him to an extent, but if he were to be simply a non-citizen, he was as good as nothing, there were no rights for those without the mark of Abraddon in the Nation, and no one would be able to appeal for them nor try to protect them in court, they wouldn't even go through court, they would be immediately sent into prison and sold as slaves or… have their mana cores extracted and then killed in the process.

Such as the harsh truth of such a tranquil nation, such truth that Frank was now being introduced to before something bad could ever happen to him for real. However, even if he were to be in trouble, Frank believed that as long as he teleported back to Earth, he should be capable of escaping most troubles… however, the thing was that if he wanted to go back to Terra, he would be teleported right in the same place and position that he was earlier.

But even then, by applying such cheat, there were many possibilities that he had at the time of running away or being cornered… as long as he had his phone on hand, he should be able to click in the World's Gate app and get out of Terra for the time being.

But even then… Frank felt something wrong with such a cheat, it shouldn't be as easy, right? Not everything was so nice in life. He was sure that there might be some limitation in how much he can teleport between worlds, as if he could simply go in and out, it would be way too unbelievable. And as such questions arose on his mind, the system, for once, decided to answer his curiosity.

[You can travel through worlds at any time you want as long as you enter first into the World's Gate]

[There might be certain events triggered by actions that you make in a world, depending on them, the capacity of traveling to another world instantly might be altered]

[Be aware of not making too much trouble]

"Too much trouble? No way… am I being scolded by the System now? So it's all depends on my actions? Perhaps if I trigger a quest in the middle of a battle, I might be forced to finish it instead of escaping, is that what the System means? Damn… It does make sense in some ways, if I simply run away from any challenge, I have all the time, how can I even grow stronger? I have to prepare well if anything like this happens…" thought Frank, as Gwendolyn glanced at him as he seemed to have spaced out.

"Boy, do you understand? Are you okay?" asked Gwendolyn.

"Ah! Yes… I am fine, thanks, miss Gwendolyn… I understand well such thing, this is a dangerous world after all…" muttered Frank with a humble yet bitter smile.

"Don't worry, my mouth is shut! After all, you are the one giving me a new opportunity at life, Gwendolyn" said Cathyl with honesty.

"I won't say anything either mommy!" said Annabelle.

"Alright… Phew… Very well then, now that you have revealed such talents, it would be nice to teach you as much magic as possible, and possibly how to cultivate your cores, you need to get stronger fast, after all, boy" said Gwendolyn.

"I see… Well, I will try my best then, miss Gwendolyn, though for now, I kind of want to do what you're paying me for…" said Frank.

"Ah! Farming! You are right… Very well then. How about you do me a favor for today? Take a spear in the backyard garage and go hunt a few horned rabbits, it will be a good experience for you, the dropped Mana Cores can be yours" said Gwendolyn.

"Really? Can I? Are they not dangerous?" asked Frank.

"Horned Rabbits are the weakest type of monster, only fools would die by their tiny horns… your physique and magic are enough to survive against a horde of them with ease, even without offensive magic. Your healing magic seems potent enough, you have strong Cores" said Gwendolyn.

"Is this my luck? This opportunity is way too good! With this, I can bring Ruby here and pretend as if I found her around the forest and she took a liking on me or something. Monsters exist in here after all, and now that I've become quite precious to Gwendolyn, I don't think she will complain as much as she would have done before…" thought Frank cunningly.

"Very well then! In which area should I look for them?" asked Frank.

"You see that area below that plains we are in? There is a small forest with a clearing inside, there are many Horned Rabbit Nests there, it is rather easy to find them eating grass in small groups or alone. As long as you are fast enough, you can hunt a few and bring them here easily with your storage magic" said Gwendolyn.

Frank not only found the perfect case to bring Ruby but also found a good way to finally begin leveling a bit more through defeating monsters. If Quests gave him EXP, killing Monsters should also do so, right? He was now something similar to a game-like character, so such an assumption was obvious.

Frank finished eating the pancake he had left as he set himself into his little quest, which would let him bring Ruby here for a more comfortable life where he would leave her here in a world that would not go as fast as the Monster Pet Nursery whenever he went to Earth. The Monster Pet Nursery was honestly quite a good feature, but the way it worked made him worried about Ruby not being able to interact with him for hours, which would end up worsening their bond.

Frank wanted to be a responsible monster tamer, and Ruby was already on his heart as more than a pet but part of his family, she was too adorable to simply leave her alone for so long, and he honestly felt a bit bad for her.

Ruby saw Frank as her only family member, probably something like her big brother or even a father, which might make their bond weaken if she was not capable of seeing him for long… She also needed to eat a lot.

Until he is capable of finding a feature in the Monster Pet Nursery where he can make time go slower there instead of faster, and perhaps another that could give him food automatically of some kind, he will bring her to Terra.

Frank walked out of the house as he rushed towards the backyard, entering a small wooden room where there were many tools and weapons, some of them which were used by Gwendolyn in the past when she participated in the war with her husband before being pregnant.

Frank grabbed the spear, which seemed to be made of steel, it had a small and strange, purple-colored jewel, encrusted in the middle of the blade, which Frank could not distinguish what it was.

"Could this be a Mana Core extracted from a monster? I can feel some kind of energy inside…" muttered Frank, grabbing the spear as he felt that the jewel activated, slowly draining a bit of his Mana until it was full.

"What the…! A Magic Weapon? Damn, I wish I had something like Appraisal to find out its details…" said Frank, walking out of the small storage room and moving towards the direction given to him by Gwendolyn.

After a few minutes of a carefree walk, while enjoying the bathing of the sunlight, Frank reached the entrance to the small forest.

The moment he did so, he went inside and immediately opened his status, calling back Ruby through the 'retrieve monster pet' function of the Monster Pet Nursery.

Flash!

A tiny spatial portal opened as Ruby jumped out of it!

"Grooooowl!" she said, releasing flames and burning Frank's face partially…

"Agh! Gift of Life, Gift of Life! Sigh… Ruby, don't get angry at me… Sorry for leaving you alone for so long…" muttered Frank, as Ruby began to rub her snout on Frank's legs, she seemed to have missed him.

"Groowl…" she muttered.

However, when she realized where she was transported, she suddenly became paralyzed.

"G-Grahhh…?!"

A vast forest, beautiful scenery, and a seemingly endless landscape, decorated with a clear as water sky and the sunbathing the world carefully with its sunlight, Ruby saw 'the outside world' for the first time.

"Welcome to Terra, Ruby," said Frank with a smile.

"Graaoo!"

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Author's Note: If you like the story please give any powerstone you could spare, if we reach a nice number there will be bonus chapters at the end of the week, it all depends on you!

Thank you very much for reading!