Chapter 42: [Favorability: 10] still better than [Favorability: -10]

A notification appeared before Zarek’s eyes.

[Bond Established: Ayesha]

[Favorability: 10]

Zarek stared at it for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh.

Ten points.

That was Ayesha’s opinion of him after everything that had happened between them.

He couldn’t help comparing it to Elsa’s initial favorability of minus ten. At least Ayesha had started ten points ahead.

What a comforting thought.

He laughed again, genuinely amused by how pathetic the comparison was. Then the humor faded as another number came to mind.

Elsa’s favorability was only thirty.

He had already spent time and resources on her, helped her improve her combat abilities, and given her opportunities to prove herself. Yet thirty was all he had to show for it.

And Ayesha was starting at ten.

At this rate, I’ll be waiting forever for decent returns.

Zarek leaned back against the headboard. He had barely escaped with his life, and now he was lying here thinking about numbers.

Still, the numbers mattered.

The Investment System wasn’t something he could afford to ignore. If he wanted better rewards, he needed to make better investments and ensure that the women he invested in could actually accomplish something with what he gave them.

Favorability was another part of that equation, and his current results were disappointing.

He needed to figure out how to improve it.

There were two obvious approaches.

The first was simple.

Break them.

Zarek’s mouth curled slightly as he considered it. He could keep applying pressure, make resistance increasingly difficult, and gradually wear down their will to oppose him.

Fear could make people obey. Repeated pressure could make them stop fighting back.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar idea.

But there was a problem.

If he pushed too far, he might damage their minds badly enough to affect their potential. A woman who had lost the ability to think clearly, learn, or act on her own wasn’t necessarily a useful investment.

Obedience meant little if she could no longer achieve anything worthwhile.

He didn’t particularly care about their suffering. That wasn’t the issue.

He cared about wasting something valuable.

And Elsa and Ayesha both had potential he hadn’t fully explored yet.

So breaking them might work, but it could also ruin the investment.

Annoying.

Zarek rubbed his chin, searching for another approach.

Then an unpleasant possibility occurred to him.

He could show them some care.

He stared at the ceiling.

Food. Training. Proper equipment. Letting them recover when they needed it. Perhaps even listening when they had something worth saying instead of treating every interaction as an opportunity to remind them who held the power.

His expression twisted.

Seriously?

Was the apocalypse turning him into some kind of decent person?

He had escaped prison, discovered a system that could help him grow stronger, and found a world where the old rules were falling apart. He could finally do whatever he wanted without worrying about the life he’d left behind.

And now he was considering behaving like a normal human being because it might improve his investment returns.

How ridiculous.

A laugh escaped him, growing into a brief fit of amusement before his ribs reminded him that he wasn’t in any condition to laugh too hard.

"Fuck. That’s actually funny."

He had to admit, though, that the idea wasn’t entirely useless.

Showing them a little consideration didn’t mean he had to become kind. He could give them what they needed to grow stronger, let them make progress, and see whether their opinions of him improved along the way.

There was no reason to make their lives miserable simply because he could.

If treating them better produced better results, he would do it. If it didn’t, he could reconsider his approach.

He wasn’t making a promise to change.

He was looking for a method that worked.

Fine. Let’s try acting like a human being for once.

The thought alone nearly made him laugh again.

His attention shifted to the two women now tied to his system.

Elsa had already proved that she could survive under pressure. She had fought monsters while injured and exhausted, and she had managed to kill them. Whatever else he thought of her, she wasn’t useless.

He needed to continue training her. The stronger she became, the more opportunities she would have to accomplish something significant.

And if those achievements translated into better returns, all the time he spent developing her would be worthwhile.

Ayesha was a different matter.

He knew she had experience with firearms, which made her useful in a world where a single mistake could get someone killed. But he hadn’t yet seen the full extent of her abilities.

He would need to train her properly, too.

Zarek shifted against the pillow.

He had weapons and ammunition stored away, along with enough equipment to get started. Once he recovered, he could begin putting those resources to use.

Perhaps he could even find a way to train both women without wasting too much time.

That would be convenient.

Then he remembered his remaining bond slot.

He had started with three. Elsa and Ayesha occupied two, leaving him room for one more investment.

He needed to find a third woman.

Preferably someone with abilities that complemented the other two. Another capable fighter would be useful, but someone with a completely different skill set might prove even more valuable.

He didn’t want to fill the slot just for the sake of filling it. The system had already shown him that potential mattered, and he intended to be more selective with his next investment.

Besides, the building still held plenty of unanswered questions.

There were survivors on the upper floors, and he had no idea what other dangers might be waiting for him. He had barely finished dealing with the creature in the lower section, and that encounter had nearly killed him.

There was no need to rush blindly into another problem.

He could explore the remaining floors, look for useful people, and assess his options when he was in better condition.

He closed his eyes, a faint smile lingering on his face.

"Let’s sleep for now."