Altyria stared at Chrome, who knelt on the ground with his left leg. His right arm rested on his right leg.

[How did you change into human form? If I’m not wrong, this world cannot support any trait  higher than rank C…]

Chrome smiled and replied, “Normally, that would be the case. However, I am considered an exception. Apparently, the other half of my blood allowed me to change into human form after 5 years from the time I was born.”

Altyria blinked her eyes with interest. What could his other half of his blood be? It was so powerful that it allowed him to change into human form so quickly. She felt somewhat envious; after all, being in human form was more convenient to do things.

Chrome saw the envy in her eyes and gently rubbed her little head.

“Altie, are you ready to leave? I must go back to take care of things?”

Altyria nodded, then said, [Wait, I want to bring my materials with me. I don’t know if I will be able to find more of them later.]

Chrome gently picked her up into his arms and started walking back to the cave. With his long legs, it only took a short moment to return. Along the way, Chrome gently caressed her back and gazed at her tenderly as she flicked her ears once in a while.

Altyria gazed at their surroundings in interest due to the difference in height. It was almost like a whole new world for her!

Upon arriving at their destination, she jumped down from Chrome’s arms and entered the cave. Chrome had to wait outside because the cave entrance was only large enough to fit small creatures.

Altyria picked up her materials and wrapped them in leaves. She brought it outside for Chrome to hold and went back into the cave. She did not forget to grab the flower crown that Chrome had made for her the other day. Before exiting the cave, she paused for a moment.

Should she dismantle the spiritual array and bring those materials used for it with her?

After thinking for a couple seconds, she decided to bring it with her anyway. Who knew when it might come in handy in the future?

After double checking that she got everything that she wanted to bring with her, Altyria headed outside to where Chrome was.

Chrome took her little packages of leaves, along with the flower crown, and placed them in his space.

[Let’s go.] Altyria felt a little excited to leave the forest. She jumped into Chrome’s arms and pawed at him excitedly.

“Feeling excited, huh?” Chrome laughed.

[Of course! I have only left the forest a couple times throughout my entire life. Those few times were not good memories though…]

When she woke up in this world, Altyria had gone to the closest city to find materials. She had been mistaken as a stray cat and was often chased away by humans. Sometimes, she would get lost in alleys or almost get run over by cars.

These ‘few times’ that she left the forest also included her previous life. She was a crazy researcher on spiritual arrays and inscriptions. The times that required her to leave the forest she lived in were only when she ran out of materials she needed. Because she would isolate herself in the forest where no one else lived, Altyria would often be behind in times. She would often pay a large amount of money for materials when the price should have been cheaper. She had no friends that she could ask for the current prices besides her ‘best friend’ who eventually killed her. However, that ‘best friend’ of hers would often scam her and tell her the wrong prices. In the beginning, Altyria did not notice that her friend was scamming her, but when she found out, she was already chained up by her and had her crystal core removed.

Altyria was lost in thoughts when she heard Chrome say something.

“It’s okay. Those bad memories will be replaced by happy ones later.”

Chrome turned around and stepped into the portal that had appeared out of nowhere.

In a blink of an eye, their surroundings changed. Altyria looked around curiously. She searched through the information that she got from Chrome through the soul bond and found out that this was an office room.

Chrome placed her on the couch and sat down beside her.

“Altie, since you have decided to be with me, then I’ll need to explain some things to you.”

All of a sudden, a screen popped up in front of Altyria.

It said:

<Chrome has invited you to join his team>

<Accept/Decline>

Altyria looked at Chrome in surprise. Seeing that he was just staring at her without saying anything, she hesitated for a moment before pressing the ‘accept’ button.

*Ding*

<Altyria has joined the team>

A new screen popped up in front of her.

“What you should be seeing right now is the menu screen. From there, you can see a list of options, such as your current stats, party members, items, and tasks. I’ll explain more to you later. For now, you can familiarize yourself with the system. The system will be very helpful in the future. When you don’t need to see the menu screen, you can turn it off by thinking ‘close menu’. Similarly, you can think ‘open menu’ when you need it.”

Chrome saw Altyria engrossed in exploring the system and walked out of the office. Altyria heard Chrome speaking with someone outside as she closed the menu for the time being and curiously looked around the office.

The room was simply decorated with black, gray, and white furniture and ornaments. There was another door at the back of the office. She jumped down from the couch and walked towards that door. Using her spiritual power, she opened the door and took a look inside. It was a lounge with a large bed, bathroom, and a closet.

Altyria heard the door open and walked back outside to the office. Chrome had returned with some snacks and drinks.

Chrome saw that Altyria had gone into the lounge to explore and smiled.

“Do you like this place?” Chrome placed the snacks and drinks on the table.

[It’s pretty interesting, but this room is poorly decorated. You should add some bright colors to this room.] Altyria jumped onto the table to sniff the snacks and drinks.

“We can go shopping later, and you can help me choose some decorations.” Chrome rubbed her little head. “These are some cookies and sweets that were available in the company cafeteria. I brought you tea, soft drinks, and juice for you to try. If you want more let me know, and I’ll have someone bring more.”

Altyria slowly nibbled the different snacks and savored the flavors. She took a sip of the different drinks. Her little face wrinkled when she tried the soft drinks.

[What is this? I don’t like it.]

“It’s called a soft drink. If you don’t like it, you can leave it aside and I’ll throw it away later.” Chrome chuckled, caressing her little face and gave her a kiss. “I’ll start working right now. If you’re bored, you can play with this tablet. If you are confused how to use this thing, let me know, okay?”

[Okay, go make yourself busy.] Altyria waved her tail as if dismissing him and continued tasting her snacks while familiarizing herself with the system.

Chrome sat in his seat and began reading the stacks of documents that had piled up because of his long absence.

One person and one ‘cat’ quietly spent their time in this office.