Chapter 122: Best Friends! Best Friends!

Nuan carefully picked out exactly 180 leaves. "Pheeww... I’ll leave these smaller ones behind so I can come back and collect them later."

She transferred the massive stack of leaves into her system inventory and nimbly climbed down from the mossy boulder.

"All done, we can head back now, Kael!" Nuan called out cheerily, walking closer to the two silent apex predators.

"Hm? Kael?" Nuan waved her hand right in front of his face. The giant silver wolf beastman was standing still, totally lost in his thoughts.

Oi, oi, oi! Nuan’s internal radar went off. She instantly whipped her steel knife out of her inventory, holding the blade defensively between herself and the python. "What did you do to my friend, snake? Did you use some kind of paralyzing poison?!"

"Psss..." Eryx licked his lips as he chuckled softly. "I didn’t do a thing. He just seems to be deeply lost in thought."

"Hm??" Nuan stared blankly at Kael’s half-opened, vacant eyes. Wow, hold the phone. I never actually knew he had the mental capacity to think deeply about things.

Nuan slipped her knife back into its slot and vigorously shook Kael’s broad shoulder. "Oii, Kael! Stop daydreaming! Wake up to reality!"

Kael slowly blinked, lowering his head down to look at Nuan before suddenly wrapping his long arms around her, pulling her into a tight, heavy hug.

"Hm?" Nuan found herself pressed flush against his warm torso again, her cheeks buried right into his ripped, muscular chest. In the quiet jungle, she could clearly hear the slow, steady thump-thump of his heart.

"What happened, Kael?" Nuan mumbled, her voice muffled against his skin as she tentatively hugged him back.

But Kael didn’t say a word.

Nuan gently patted his broad back, her inner monologue softening slightly. "Are you sad or something? Did Eryx do something to you behind my back?"

"No... Nuan..." Kael whispered, his voice sounding uncharacteristically small.

"Hn, yeah? What is it then?" Nuan asked, tilting her head back as much as the hug allowed.

"What am I?"

"The wolf Alpha of the silver-grey clan!!!" Nuan said loudly, completely hyping him up like a supportive cheerleader.

"No... what am I to you...?"

"A good friend," Nuan murmured. After all, the cheap system only gave me a hammer head for the ’Good Friend’ tier, tsk, she thought to herself.

"Is there a big step in being a friend that makes me a replaceable friend?" Kael asked, his ears dropping flat against his silver hair.

Ehhh?! Who the hell told him he was even remotely replaceable?! Nuan’s protective instincts flared instantly.

"You are absolutely not replaceable, Kael! Who gave you that ridiculous idea?! You are my best friend! You are literally my closest friend in this entire world right now!" Nuan declared fiercely.

Instantly, Kael’s drooping silver tail started wiggling back and forth happily against the dirt. He squeezed her significantly tighter. "I’m the closest? I’m the best friend?"

"Yes, best, best!" Nuan repeated emphatically. "Why on earth would you ever think I’d view you as a replaceable friend?!" she hissed.

"Then we are best friends?? I am your first best friend?!" Kael asked, his face radiating pure, triumphant joy.

"Yeah...?"

"We are best friends special!!!!" Kael murmured happily against her hair.

Ding!

[ Emotional bond detected: Good Friend → Close Friend → Best Friend. ]

[ Close Friend tier unlocked mutually! ]

[ Best Friend tier unlocked mutually! ]

[ Milestone reached: The host’s emotional manipulation—ahem, strategic bonding—has succeeded! ]

[ Reward for Close Friend tier unlocked: One heavy-duty Broad Axe and one Carpenter’s Adze! ]

[ Reward for Best Friend tier unlocked: 50 Kilograms of pure, high-grade forging steel! ]

[ Congratulations, Host! Your inventory is now legally heavy! ]

Eh? Ehh? Ehhh!!!!!!!!

Nuan’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She instantly let go of the hug, staring blankly at the floating blue screen in total shock, then looked back up at Kael’s radiantly happy, smug face.

Without a single second of hesitation, she threw herself right back into his arms, squeezing his neck with fanaticism.

"Ohhh, you are truly the bestest friend I could have ever asked for, Kael!!!" Nuan chirped at the top of her lungs, mentally dancing a victory jig over her newly acquired mountain of industrial steel. Civilization, here I come!

Kael’s silver tail practically blurred from wiggling so hard behind him, thrashing the loose leaves on the forest floor into a frenzy.

"Best friends!" Kael cheered, his deep voice carrying a wave of pure, unadulterated triumph.

"Yes, best friends!" Nuan shouted back, caught up in the sheer financial ecstasy of her huge system payout.

She started jumping up and down while still locked in his vice-like grip. Kael, not wanting to be left out of the ritual, instantly started bouncing right along with her.

The two of them bounced in a clumsy, heavy circle, spinning around on the dirt path while chanting, "Best friends! Best friends!" like two completely unhinged cave-dwellers celebrating a rain dance.

"Huff... huff..." Nuan finally tapped out, loosening her arms from Kael’s neck and dropping straight onto the grass to catch her breath. Her lungs were burning, but her soul was soaring.

She wiped a stray strand of hair from her face and looked around the quiet clearing. The path was empty. "Hahh... hahh... wait, where did Eryx go?"

"Hmph," Kael scoffed, dusting off his bare chest with an immense amount of mocking pride, his ears standing tall. "He must have gotten incredibly jealous of our supreme bond and slithered away to cry in a bush!"

"Hmm... or maybe we just terrified him with our weird jumping dance, haha," Nuan chuckled, picturing the terrifying, ancient python beastman fleeing from a sudden display of aggressive friendship.

Taking a quiet moment, Nuan mentally opened her blue system screen, her eyes immediately locking onto the crisp digital icons of the heavy broad axe and the carpenter’s adze sitting beautifully in slots four and five, right next to a massive block labeled 50kg Pure Forging Steel.

Whoaaa!!!! Nuan’s internal monologue screeched with absolute euphoria. I can literally clear timber now! I can shape wood! I am going to build actual functioning wheels with this adze! Ohhh, dear blue buddy, you are the absolute best system to ever exist in the history of the multiverse! she chirped internally.

Ding!

[ Told you, Host! I am the absolute best! ]

[ And I promised you would love these milestone rewards. See? I provided the exact technical utility you drastically need to survive your upcoming wild journey! ]

Yes, yes! Real, high-grade tools without a single prompt asking me to mate, engage in ridiculous foreplay, or sell my soul?! What is happening right now, am I dreaming or something?

[ This is reality, Host! ]

[ I am merely your loyal, digital well-wisher who genuinely wants the best outcome for you. ]

Oh, I love you! Seriously, blue buddy, having a broad axe in a primitive stone-age world is a divine blessing! Nuan chirped, practically ready to kiss the interface screen.

[ So happy for you, Host. ]

The neon text blinked warmly before the system screen smoothly faded out of her vision.

But deep back in the dark, shadowy recesses of her subconscious mind, a low, mechanical, utterly menacing laugh suddenly echoed.

[ The host is getting beautifully greedy with these high-tier rewards... ]

[ Soon, she will be enthusiastically using this Mate-Collecting System to collect every single high-quality mate in the world just to unlock the industrial age. Everything is going according to plan. ]