Chapter 2

Waking Up

After waking up, I got a light breakfast from Zoe. Then I was visited by Sophie and had to placate her again for another 15 minutes once again, since Zoe snitched on me about me falling and hurting myself last night. I only got her to leave after promising her that we could have lunch together after her studies for the day are finished.

After that, I was left alone to have rest. But this time, instead of waiting outside my room, Zoe was inside, keeping an eye on me so that I wouldn't do anything like yesterday and trouble everyone by hurting myself again due to my weak constitution.

So I did the only logical thing I could have, I pretended to rest with my eyes closed while talking to Boo and Ivy so that I would know more about my current predicament in order to make more rational decisions instead of making my current position even worse.

'Boo, is there a way you can tell me about how strong I am as compared to other people of this new world?'

{Yes, in words, you are as strong as an ant in this world as compared to the powerhouses of this world and if you had to quantify it, your status would be

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Strength: 1 (This includes Muscle strength, Bone density and body endurance.)

HP- 1 (This includes the amount of damage you can take before dying.)

Dexterity- 1 (This refers to how much control you have while using your strength, speed or magic.)

Speed- 1 (This includes Rate of Reflex Action, agility, etc.)

Mana- 0 (this includes your mana reserves, which tell how many spells you can use.)

Intelligence- below average (you can use multiple different innovative ways to use magic if you have the required intelligence and dexterity to use it.)

Spells/Skills- none

Resistance- none

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'Hey Boo, is there anything I can get for free? I mean it is not likely since you are such a scammer for gold but I can have my hopes up, r-right?'

{You can get candy if you really want one.}

[I want one, can I get it? GIVE ME ONE!!]

'Can't I get something better, I am not a kid you know?'

{You are an eight year old kid though. So candy it is.}

'Ugh, I would be 26 years old if you had to count my actual age.'

{No, we all get one candy each day.}

[If you don't want one, I will gladly eat yours.]

'NO! This is my candy and I will eat it.'

[Fine, you can have it.]

{Rock candy- Tastes like rock, but has a soothing effect on the mind, along with minor body strengthening but is as hard as a rock too.

WARNING - DO NOT BITE, there have been cases of people breaking their jaws.}

'Is that even candy if it tastes like rock?!?!'

{Yea, it is rock candy. Very tasty, isn't it?}

'As soon as Boo said that, A big heavy brown orb about the size of my palm appeared on top of my hand and started pressing down on it.'

"ARGH!"

Meanwhile...

(Master Andrew looks very pale. I hope he gets better soon.)

While Zoe was thinking that while looking at Andrew's peacefully 'resting' face, Boo gave Andrew the Rock candy.

"ARGH"

"Master Andrew, what are you doing? You will hurt yourself if you-"

(Huh? Wait, is that a Rock candy? How did the master get one which is this hard, heavy and big? It shouldn't be available for sale in the Empire unless Master got them for an exorbitant price.)

Zoe said that while lifting the rock candy fairly easily but soon got shocked by the actual weight and size of it since it was rare for there to be large rock candies outside the dwarf domain unless they were stolen goods.

As soon as Zoe lifted the candy about 2 metres away from Andrew, a suction force started pulling on the candy which brought it on top of Andrew again whereas Andrew tried his hardest to push it away from him.

This ridiculous scene of pushing and pulling continued till Zoe gently placed the candy on the bed, right next to Andrew.

'Boo, you should have warned me before giving it to me, now what do we do? And why was it constantly flying at me again and again?'

Andrew started rambling to Boo while panting heavily as he got some respite from the pushing.

{Master, the candy can only be taken and used by the master himself or anyone else he voluntarily allows or trusts enough. This is done by me to prevent any theft or so you can't ask for the replacement of the products in case it is stolen.}

'I don't know about the theft part but you are probably correct in not wanting to give out replacements.'

"Uhm Zoe? Could you maybe keep this whole incident a secret from mom and the others?"

"As you wish, Master."

'Everyone is so formal, I don't think I can get used to having servants.'

(I guess I won't tell the Miss about it right now since Master Andrew asked me, but I need to verify things in case Master starts getting bad habits.)

"Master, Where did you get the candy? You should have asked me if you needed anything."

"I bought it from the money I saved earlier and then hid it so I could eat it later."

'I am pretty sure she won't buy this excuse but it's worth the try since from the memories I recall, I can tell that I was saving money to buy some tasty desserts to enjoy.

"Okay, Master."

(Why would the Master be trying to lie to me?)

"Anyways, can I eat it now?"

"Of course, Master."

Saying that, Zoe went back close to the door from where she was keeping an eye on me earlier.

I tried to pick up the candy, only to realise I didn't have the strength to pick it up and had to call Zoe over again while embarrassing myself.

"Zoe, c-can you feed me the candy?"

"Master, if I put it in your mouth, it could damage your teeth since it's too heavy for you to eat and your mouth won't be able to support the heavy weight of the candy."

While saying that, Zoe picked up the candy by using two fingers and started bringing it near my mouth as if to indicate for me to lick at it while she held it.

"Zoe?"

"Start licking if you want to eat it Master, since there isn't any other way for you to safely eat this candy."

As Zoe said, there was no other way to do this so I brought my tongue out and started licking it even though I was feeling very embarrassed. It had a fleeting feeling that Zoe was actually enjoying feeding me the candy like that, but i dismissed that thought since it didn't make any sense.

As soon as my tongue reached it, it started melting and it tasted like a rock...

Suddenly, I started getting a weird feeling along with my throat warming up which amplified and started spreading all around my body, making me feel good while also making me want to lick more of the candy.

I started moving my mouth closer to the candy and licked at it with a lot more vigour, which caused a loop with me starting to crave more of the candy.

Slowly the candy continued shrinking till it was the size of a pearl and then Zoe put it in my mouth so I could eat it all at once even though she was very confused about Andrew's preferences since the people who ate it said that it tasted like literal rock and didn't want to eat it unless they really had to even though it provided various different benefits to the body.

After finishing the candy in my mouth, the craving still didn't stop and I started going towards the only other place where I could taste more of the candy and started licking Zoe's fingers, which surprised Zoe and she fell onto the bed due to the surprise whereas I moved while following her fingers and ended up on top of her, still licking her fingers.

Suddenly, they heard a scream from the door along with a system prompt from Boo coming at the same time...

"BIG BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???"

{Consumed Rock candy,

+25 Strength

+3 Intelligence

+Calming feeling

Bonus Rewards for level 1 system authorisation

+10 Strength

+2 Mana

+10 Intelligence for 2 hours (active immediately, 1 hour 59 minutes 59 seconds left)

""It's not what you think it is!""

Both Andrew and Zoe shouted at the same time but it was too late and Sophie had already run out of the room and zoomed towards their mother's room.

'Hey Ivy, GIMME THE GOOD STUFF'

[Stop talking like a drunkard, I will only give you my candy if you let me out of here.]

'What if I gave you a lot of head pats and let you out, then could I take all your candies?'

[Not like I wanted your head pats but fine.]

Before Andrew realised it, Zoe was already back near the door as he was lying on top of the bed. Where another candy similar to the first one appeared but this time, due to the help of the additional strength he gained from eating the first one, he was able to ravage it without any help from Zoe after he sucked on it a bunch to make it lighter, after which he put it into his mouth.

While Zoe just stood there observing him 'eating' the candy, astonished at how another one of the rock candies appeared out of thin air. When Andrew finished every last bit of the candy another notification came from boo, a bit different from the first one.

{Consumed Rock candy,

2 consumed (The more candies you eat, the more the gains in your status increase over time.)

+35 Strength

+8 Intelligence

+1 Mana

+Calming feeling

+3% Craving resistance

Bonus Rewards for level 1 system authorisation

+10 Strength

+2 Mana

+10 Intelligence for 2 hours (active immediately, 1 hour 59 minutes 59 seconds left)

"I WANT MORE!"

***

Soon Adriana came with Sophie behind her back and started questioning both Andrew and Zoe (mainly Andrew) about it.

After many explanations, the misunderstanding was resolved, where Andrew had to reveal that he was eating a rock candy but he didn't say where he found it and surprisingly, his mother didn't ask anything about where he got it from.

Apparently, Adriana had too much faith in her children that she believed they wouldn't do anything wrong and since the candy did benefit him overall, she didn't make much of a fuss about it and left soon after enquiring about Andrew's health.

Andrew's new status ( not including the temporary boosts)

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Strength: 1+60

HP- 1

Dexterity- 1

Speed- 1

Mana- 0 +1

Intelligence- still below average

Spells/Skills- none

Resistance- craving resistance (3%)

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