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Chapter 367: The Monstrous “Aurora.” [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2022-11-09 23:57:49 +0000 UTCEdit: Since I changed the Job System, here is also the new updated ones. It's new and fun looking, so have a look! At the start and around the ending.
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<Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.
[Idol]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 10 | Multiple reset accumulation finished | Prestige 2 Lv. 4
[Mage]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 5 | Multiple reset accumulation finished | Prestige 3 Lv. 8
[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 15 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 1 Lv. 14>
<Prestige requirement achieved! Job max level has increased. Experienced accumulation and reward quality increased.
[Idol] Max level -> 20
[Mage] Max level -> 15>
<You may spend your prestige points when you are ready>
Even the UI of the System Message got improved!
“KiiiiiiARRRRRRRRRRH!” A bestial roar erupted, but I was too preoccupied to actually look at it.
“Oi, that’s a rosey, Graz! Don’t touch its thorns, it's damn poisonous and can keel you over in seconds! Rank B! You need us to take it down, lass?” Krim-Slak shouted from the top of his lungs, I believed.
“… No! The rest of the dungeon is filled with rank Cs and Ds. We can probably handle it!” A girl’s voice, probably Renee’s, replied to Krim’s question.
Okay, let’s see.
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Job: Idol
Benefit Slots: [Empty]
Level: 4/20
Prestige Level: 2
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Show me the prestige menu for [Idol].
<[Idol] prestige points: 2
- Benefit Slot increase
- Job Skill: [Acoustic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Giocoso Dreamer Lv. 1] [Musical Renaissance Diva Lv. 1] [Acoustic Power Lv. 1] [Bardic Cadenza] [Musical Crescendo] [Heavenly Performance]
- Growth Boosts: [Mana] [Intelligence] [Wisdom]
- Spell song slot (3 prestige point)>
Oh, I can buy more slots for spell songs? That sounds nice, but I still haven’t used any since the Griffonpeak fight. I still have plenty of spots to make songs, not to mention I can get more from leveling up the unique skill [Idol]. But … Mana Eyes.
<Acoustic Skills: Proficiency: Increases the proficiency gain from all acoustic- or sound-based skills. Reduces breakpoint requirement by 10% * skill level>
That solves the loss of the acquisition bonuses. In addition, if you level this up to level ten, you just ignore the breakpoint requirements? Okay, that sounds quite good. This is the replacement, and it isn’t bad. So, what are these two new things? Man—
“KuuuuuuRAAAAGAHHHH!”
“Incoming! Young scale!” Grazlahta’s voice finally forced me to take this seriously, otherwise I could imagine the lecture he would give me later.
Jeez, so much noise. Can’t a girl check her Profile?
I let out a sigh before raising my head, only to see a large green wyvern with table-sized red thorns all over its body. Its large horn on the front of its head gave a certain majestic aura coupled with its well-formed, but fearsome looking head. With magenta-colored flames streaming from its mouth, this beast was charging right at me.
“Don’t kill it, Hestia!” Renee shouted at me as I readied my glaive.
“Yes, yes, I heard it. Last floor, so let’s end this! Rajah!”
[“Yes, Master!”] Rajah jumped out of my shadow, conjuring up a strong [Light] to momentarily obscure our bodies for us to dodge to the left. Once the spell dissipated, the wyvern was almost close enough for it to bite me, but before it could, I cast [Shine] like a flashbang.
“Krrrugh!” The wyvern yelped and flinched back, only to smash its spiked tail all around it, flailing in an attempt to ward us off.
Naturally, we took a step back, but any time we could buy would help the others to catch up to us. After all, the entrance into the last floor of this dungeon was through random holes on the ground which closed once anybody fell through. This meant my whole party was scattered throughout this vast, jungle-like boss stage.
Since Rajah could enter my shadow, we cheated this gimmick. While the others could see and hear the boss monster, it would still take even the fastest amongst them, Neill, some seconds to reach me. All the two of us needed to do was to buy enough time by stalling.
“Rajah.”
[“Beginning apprehension.”] Rajah immediately understood what I wanted and activated [Dark Tendrils], wrapping the monster in black bindings.
Naturally, this wouldn’t hold the monster for too long, so I blew on some of the ground, heating the ground up until it turned liquid, enabling me to use [Volcanic Blaze]. As the heat spread around the area, I manipulated the lava into chains and hardened them into obsidian once they were on the wyvern. With a simple tug, I held the monster down.
Mana Eyes.
<Rose-Thorn Wyvern: A monstrous wyvern from Aelozonia with thorns filled with neurotoxins. Although usually a docile herbivore due to its tough carapace and threatening thorns, this monster will immediately go into a frenzy if its young are put in danger. With a mighty horn to pierce through hard-to-break armor and venomous fire breaths, this monster is highly adaptable. Rank B>
Dangerous, but not dangerous enough compared to me. You’re only level 0!
“Kuura—Krack!” It tried to free itself, but the moment it did, I simply wrapped more lava around it. It was a fire element monster, so it could handle some heat, right? “Krrri! Kra?!”
“Up you go!” Just as some of the obsidian was about to break, the faint noise of a woman’s voice echoing in the forest caught my attention. When I turned my head around, I had to snap it back to the wyvern when Neill slid past me to uppercut the monster. “Aaaaaaand, takedown!”
That crazy sister of mine couldn’t help herself. As the wyvern’s head was launched into the air, Neill grabbed the beast’s neck, avoiding the thorns, and used [Air Walk] to adjust their position to land a piledriver on the poor monster.
Okay, no, really, where did she learn all these wrestling moves?! Or, maybe she just made them up herself? Gosh.
“Queeeeeeeh!” The monster yelped once again, cradling its broken horn after Sis shattered it with the impact. In this vulnerable period, Akasht ran up and tackled the monster.
“Keep it down, Akast!” Krim shouted, followed by Grazlahta throwing two spears at the monster’s legs. With chains attached to them, the two saurians then pulled on them, tripping the monster.
“Grrouuuuh!” Akasht roared out before he slammed his boulder-sized fist into the monster’s head, knocking the poor thing out completely. Looking at its Health, I could tell that it wasn’t dead.
“… A bit excessive, no?” Finally, Renee and Tasianna rendezvoused with us. Renee looked a bit flabbergasted, while Tasianna just bowed.
“We need to check the dungeon core, so we have to move past the boss. It was a necessity, just like in the last dungeon.” My maid answered, prompting Renee to nod her head.
And with that, we cleared the second dungeon which spawned in Elyonda. Honestly, if you asked me, we were faaaaar too overleveled for the both of them. It was a nice change of pace to re-enter and have some fun fighting in a low-stakes environment, considering how we just handled an invasion, but I would be lying if I said they were a challenge.
Still, it gave me a chance to level up my Jobs. Obviously, considering the dungeons we entered were presumed to be rank D and C respectively. A great score for Elyonda’s future, of course, but not adequate grinding spots for pretty much anybody on my party.
I mean, how many rank As do we have in name only? Krim, Grazlahta, Akasta, and me. Then we had Neill who was officially a rank A from today onwards, and then we had Tasianna and Renee who were just a few levels behind 100. Although Renee did mention she wasn’t ready to be a rank A, since most of her levels came from Neill hard carrying her.
“You better behave, alright? We are your new masters!” Speaking of Sis, she was exuding her [Draconic Aura], right now, scaring the poor wyvern.
“Kraaauwgh— Krruuuu!” When the monster tried to bite back, Neill just slapped it and showed the remnants of its horn she broke, silencing it. If that was her attempt to tame it, then, boy, she was rough with it.
In any case, after we tied the wyvern down, we searched if there were any treasure chests. Although the boss monster of this dungeon was rank B, it was still just born with the dungeon. Everything inside here was pretty much new. We did find some small trinkets on our way down and in the other dungeon, but nothing to be happy about. Easy money, though.
[“Found one, Master!”]
After we picked up a sizable chest, we then left the boss room and entered the dungeon core room. There, floating over a pedestal inside an ancient Maya-like ruin, a clear crystal glimmered like a priceless diamond. This was the dungeon core.
“Okay.” Renee then stepped forward and drew her sword, slashing at an invisible mana field protecting the object. With it damaged, the field began to wobble, distorting the air in front of me before Renee attacked once again, destroying it.
She then came closer to the core and placed her hand on it. After a couple of seconds, the crystal brightened up like any [Crystal of the Divine System], before it dimmed. Renee was now officially the dungeon’s master.
“Alright, this should do it. Thank you everyone for your help.” The woman saluted at us, signaling it was time to leave.
With her new authority, Renee created a door leading to an empty room. When we all entered and closed the door, the platform’s seams lit up blue, before it slowly moved us all up like an elevator. When it stopped, we were all back to the first floor.
“Hey, nice work!” We were immediately greeted by Yorshka as we exited the elevator room, before our eyes moved towards the countless soldiers and knights fighting a large wave of monsters, all while a couple of priests and mages backed them up. “This place is fantastic to train up your stronger fighters. I reckon it's a rank C. Am I right?”
As I mentioned before, most of the adventurers had left Yeos after the siege was done. A ton of the tournament fighters, too. No one wanted or could afford to help a sinking nation. Yorshka and Farron were the only other strong fighters, outside of Chahayat and the twins, who were around and able to fight.
As we ventured into the depths of this place, there had to be somebody to maintain things on the surface. They were strong enough to do so. Just ‘cause a dungeon was around didn’t mean everything was fine. Monsters could still spawn. Dungeons were there to collect the overpowering mana in the area. One dungeon was at the coast and the one we just left was in the forest.
The former herded the rampaging merfiend spawns into a underwater palace of deep blue, almost like a submerged aquarium large enough to fit sharks and whales. You could see fish, manta rays, turtles; all these beautiful marine creatures were there outside of the water bubble keeping the underwater palace intact, until the ferocious merfiends crawled themselves in.
Here, in this place with the lush trees and the humid climate, it made me feel itchy wherever I went. There weren’t any mosquitos, but there were these giant mantises and beetles, not to mention—
“Krrrruuuuu!”
— dinosaurs. As Krim mentioned when he saw that wyvern, this place was like a small invitation to the realm of Aelozonia. What a surprise that a dungeon was able to show us this. Trekking through the moist ground and the muddy swamps made me remember my time in the Belzac forest.
The beauty of dungeons made it easy to forget all of them were like prisons. Jails to keep rampaging mana from destroying the environment. It took nearly two weeks for these two dungeons to appear. Two weeks of constant monster spawnings. Our party managed to grow so many of those mana-sucking macula plants, to the point we ran out of room to store all the mana-infused water. I had to expand our storage room.
Just saying, even after all that, two dungeons still appeared. What a mana fallout from the battle. In the end, the Yeosian’s royal family got lucky and managed to land profitable dungeons. In any case, the dungeon problem was resolved, and now that Yeos has managed to contain both of them and hand the dungeon master role to somebody trustworthy, these dungeons should become the foundation for Elyonda’s regrowth.
However, as I said, dungeons only formed at the coast and nearby forest. Mana still was rampaging around where Mother fought Karhalantheel and the islands. Even inside the city. Yeostar’s dungeon was a fine place to stay in until we could build more houses, but until we solved some even more of the mana problems, the city would be like Shaturein, the undercity in Griffonpeak—constantly in danger.
As such, we had to get help. Today was the day for a visit … However, before that, there was something equally as important.
“Rajah,” I called out for my virigress after the dungeon trip was done and I could leave everything else to Renee, the saurians, and the Nordor parents. So, I went back into my subspace with Tasianna and Rajah and headed into Mother’s cave, where Shay was currently flying around, probably training.
[“Yes, Master!”] Rajah, knowing what was about to come, stiffened up just as Shay landed on the ground and turned himself back into a dragonewt to bow to me.
I nodded and then began slicing up some of the skin on my shoulder, right at the point where my scales were missing. I then gathered some of the blood, just enough for a handful and then offered it to Rajah. Tasianna frowned at the sight, while Shay jerked back in shock.
[“Princess!”] the wyvern shouted.
“Stop it, Shay. You should know about it from Saori. We’re just testing something,” I answered his worries, reminding him how Saori mutated into a dragonkin wolf after she drank my blood. I wanted to test out if it was just Saori, or if maybe there was something more special about my blood than just being Kramp’s granddaughter.
“Miss Saori evolved into her current form due to my lady’s blood. Drank it like a vampire, merged with it like a druid. I do not know anything about Belzac’s powers, as they weren’t written down in books. And we all know Lady Hestia is quite inquisitive, so this much is just natural.” Tasianna kneeled down to stroke Rajah’s fur. “Are you okay?”
[“Mhmm!”] Rajah nodded his head, although from how stiff his tail looked, I could tell he was nervous. [“Master Saori became stronger after she drank Master’s blood. Rajah thinks he’s ready. Thinks. Mhmm … Hopefully Mom will recognize me once we meet again. It’s been a while.”]
It sure had. I had to go speak with Tatsuya and Kyouya soon. I still had no idea why they hadn’t visited us once yet. Were they actually stuck up there in the vampire castle? Like prisoners? They were my only source on Saori, so I had to ask them now.
Not to mention that hadn’t I heard anything from Grimnir, Ellaine, or any of the students on their side. Svena had mentioned Ellaine was inside the subspace back on the day I was swallowed by the dimension hole, but why hadn’t any of them come into the subspace since then? It felt weird. Worrying really. I had to get the ball rolling and head out soon, now that I had done what I could for Elyonda.
“I’m sure she will. Don’t forget how she instantly recognized you when we found her injured? Instead of worrying about herself, she licked your fur clean.”
Memories of our time in the Belzac swamp reappeared in my head when I thought of Rajah and his family. How I picked him up after he barely managed to survive a monster stampede, how we found his near dead mother all greased up with mud and blood, or how we rescued Rajah’s siblings from the lizardmen.
Memories of how weak and small he was back then, like a real tiger cub, to how big he now was. I thought I would never see him again when I said my goodbyes. To become a good cat owner, to a good tamer master. To a dragonkin, blood might be important, but to me, my friends and family were worth my blood being spilt … at least in a good way, this time.
Let the past never be repeated.
These were his options.
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Evolution
[Young Brightmane Saberlion]
[Young Duskwalker Virigress]
[Young Blacklight Virigress]
[Young Noxtoxin Virigress]
[Young Bladehair Virgarcuga]
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Rajah had access to SP, so I told him to level up his holy and dark skills up to level ten to evolve them into [Sacred Magic] and [Tenebrous Magic]. It unlocked evolution choices for him, so it was important. This gave him access to the [Young Brightmane Saberlion] and [Young Duskwalker Virigress] evolutions options.
<Young Brightmane Saberlion: An unmatured sacred saberlion with fangs hard enough to pierce steel. Standing majestically, the saberlion possesses a mane capable of absorbing holy magic or sunlight to steel their fur, toughening it up before an impact. Able to mold mana to wrap the holy element around their body. Rank B>
<Young Duskwalker Virigress: A young mischievous virigress variant able to traverse the world of darkness through a pact with the Hound of Grim. As a shadow pack beast, this virigress is able to control their shadow like a part of their body, using it like a fluid to fend off enemies. Rank C>
Certainly a surprise, since the first option was rank B while the latter was rank C. In my case, when evolution options opened due to my advanced magic skills, all of them were rank B. I guess in this case, the fact that Rajah was part of Saori’s shadow pack probably influenced it. So … what about the last three?
<Young Blacklight Virigress: An unmatured mutated cat monster who accepted both holy and dark into their heart. On the precipice of being pulled over by either the light or the dark, this virigress combines both as it stalks the enemies threatening them. Holy and dark magic and attacks will possess the element of the others. Rank C>
<Young Noxtoxin Virigress: A virigress who has taken its toxin-secreting organs to the point they can bypass the resistances of even the strongest creatures. Potent neurotoxin clad the fur and claws of this beast, endangering anything flesh stung by it. However, due to its strength, the young body of the virigress hadn’t built up a resistance against it yet. Rank C>
<Young Bladehair Virgarcuga: A young evolved virigress that can toughen and sharpen its fur to the point even a strand could cut flesh when agitated. Can secret poison through its sweat glands, making even a touch dangerous for its enemies. Due to its large size and developed limbs, it can jump and pounce at a speed surpassing its previous evolution, allowing it to end enemies with its muscular tail. Rank B>
Two Bs, three Cs. One was turning Rajah into a “saberlion” and the other was a direct evolution to “virgacuga,” similar to how Saori was first a warg, then a garm, and then turned into a fenrir when she reached rank B — Not counting how she had a pitstop as a cadejo as rank C. As such, Rajah’s rank Cs kept him as a virigress.
[“Mhmm.”]
Rajah had already looked over his evolution choices for nearly two weeks now, waiting for me to give my input in it. I did feel bad I kept him waiting for this long. I really had to treat him to some premium hunting grounds once he evolved. Of course, into a rank C. He too understood he would lose SP if he went directly to rank B, even if you did gain some good bonuses if you reached that rank before your “matured.” Still, the rank B bottlecap did stifle your experience gain.
My virigress had already checked his SP shop for anything special, but I guess similar to Ellaine, there weren’t any “outstanding” skills he could buy. Nothing like Tasianna’s talent for ice magic, or Saori’s mana thread weaving, at least. As such, I was trying out the blood trick, hoping it could help him like Saori.
After nervously tapping his paws on the ground, Rajah then licked the blood off my palm. After a couple seconds, he then checked his evolution page again, but nothing new showed up. Either this proved Saori’s Belzac lineage was a bit more special than we thought, or I didn’t give Rajah enough of a dosage.
I tried it again, sapping more blood from my shoulder to the point Shay and Tasianna couldn’t help but look away. After Rajah finished his second drink, we proved there really wasn’t anything super special about my blood. At least, it couldn’t cause some random evolution. In other words, there really was something more to Saori than I thought.
… Didn’t Tatsuya become a druid after he drank Belzac’s blood or something? … Maybe I should ask him about it.
“Rajah, which evolution do you want to take?” Regardless, while a shame, it didn’t change what my cat had to do. I urged him to choose for himself with my stare, telling him just ‘cause I was his tamer didn’t mean I could choose his future.
He too was an individual. I didn’t want to choose everything for him like a mother hen.
[“… Rajah wants to help Master. Not only become strong, but be useful for Master. Fight with her! Not stay back from a difficult fight, or be a burden because Master too strong.”]
Rajah probably was talking about what happened during the siege, when I told him he had to stay at the harbor. Even if I had his [Dark Tendrils], Vifi’Yok probably wouldn’t have been held back by it for long enough to matter. Taking him with me wasn’t feasible.
As such, it seemed like he was seeking a power which could help him fit into our party. Take up a niche only he could do. The thing was, from the five options, none of them really sounded like he could do it. Objectively speaking, Aurora alone had a member for everything.
Grimnir in the frontline as our tank, Ellaine as our skirmisher with her whipsword and demonic powers, Saori as our rogue to take down the backline or crowd control the enemies, Tasianna as our main magic damage dealer, and me as the support and cleric. Even then, I had built up my skill set so I could act as a one-woman army, due to my stay in the Belzac forest and how I had to protect Saori and Tasianna when they were still weak. Now, these companions could stand with me.
As such, it made it hard for Rajah to pick something. [Young Brightmane Saberlion] was a holy mage and frontliner, from the sound of it, but that was covered. [Young Duskwalker Virigress] was a rogue, but even without Saori, we had the rest of the shadow pack. [Young Blacklight Virigress] sounded special, but it seemed like a mage. [Young Noxtoxin Virigress] felt like the worst choice since my [Corrosive Fire] could handle our toxin production. Lastly, [Young Bladehair Virgarcuga] sounded like your standard virigress, and I didn’t believe Rajah would like to be “normal.”
What should he choose? This probably was the reason why he wanted my opinion before he evolved. He just didn’t know which to choose. If he wanted to take on a niche our party needed, then it would take him quite a while to find one if it wasn’t an artisan role.
“May I give my input, my lady? Rajah?” Awakening us from this inertia, Tasianna chimed in, having thought of an idea. Rajah and I nodded for her to continue. “Thank you. Rajah, if you ask me, trying to find a niche in our party composition would be folly. Just take Master Grimnir’s new apprentice, Daichi, for an example. Too envious of Lady Hestia’s mastery of fire, the young man couldn’t think of anything else but his own place in our alliance. His role. What could he do, now that somebody stronger and more adept with destructive magic was around?”
“Right, it was a major problem. He just wanted to show-off and have people look at him more.” I was reminded of the talk I had with him, and how his bootlicking tendency came to be. “However, how does that fit with Rajah? I don’t think he’s like that. He just wants to fit into battle tactics.”
“But that is the point, Lady Hestia, he cannot. As long as we five members of Aurora are together, we have everything covered to win. From debuffs to buffs to even a Territory. Finding a niche when you alone could cover all of them alone would be hard. Outside of elemental resistances and weaknesses, would you actually need us for every fight?”
“… I can’t smith.” I tried to act smart, but Tasianna immediately saw through it so I apologized.
“Not artisan work. Combat. You can stealth, skirmish, perform magic, and support all by yourself. This is what Miss Saori and I feared so much before you evolved into a rank B. That you didn’t need us. However, would you like us to remind you how we overcame that dilemma?”
Back then, I didn’t want to evolve into a rank B due to [Battle Frenzy], since we just came out of two events where I went berserk and couldn’t control myself. [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)] inside the cave after we escaped the wyverns, and after Shiterno stole some of my skills to “gift” me his.
I was plagued with nightmares, thankfully, but it still made me feel like I was a living threat to everybody. If I became stronger, how would they stop me when I went on a rampage? Master stopped me during the latter problem, but he was a rank B water mage back then. He was already good enough to become a Saint. So, it frightened me. The scariest thought for me was how I could hurt them, possibly even lose them.
My Sloth—to see them happy. My Gluttony—to never be alone.
I … had heard Saori’s rant, of how she didn’t want to keep me back. I believe that was our second fight. After it was resolved, I hadn’t thought too much about Saori’s and Tasianna’s feelings. Didn’t even ask.
“‘Even if Lady Hestia can do everything, I will still continue. I will just be stronger than her in one aspect,’ I told myself. Miss Saori already knew she could surpass you when it came to reconnaissance and assassinations. From then, I also understood I could become a better mage than you in my own field—ice and water,” Tasianna revealed to me one of the reasons why she kept training with us so fiercely. “To protect you, I would do anything, my lady. Once again, please, don’t forget that. After all, all my efforts had culminated into this moment—I am your royal guard, eternal.”
Tasianna kneeled down like a knight. “An honor I had never thought I would receive back then when we first met. An honor I had thought the System would never grant me. However, I am always reminded how I must continue my training and journey, because I am [Hestia’s Imperial Guard]. Your first. As such, I must set the standard.”
I felt guilty. I felt ashamed that I hadn’t asked her about this back then. I felt embarrassed I had to learn it here. She was my friend, but it felt like I wasn’t curious enough about her emotions. Back then, I was only worried about myself, and how I could harm others. It was one of the reasons why Saori’s speech felt so … raw. How she and Tasianna expressed the fact leaving them would hurt them more. Even now, after all those memories I regained, I was still making mistakes as a friend.
I felt like my eyes were wet. I confirmed it when I had to wipe a tear off my cheek.
[“If I may give my wisdom on this,”] Shay asked for permission to speak, so I gave it to him. [“I agree with Tasianna that sometimes real strength doesn’t come from trying to become more special than before, but by overcoming your current self. In my 58 years of living, I had thought my sister and I were the strongest ice wyverns. Only the dragons could be stronger, however, from my travels with you, my princess, I had my fair share of contemplation on my arrogance.”]
Shay spoke how he still vividly remembered how I was able to defeat his sister, despite me being a rank C dragon back then. Sure, they were level zero back then, they had just evolved a few weeks ago, but he still found it impossible how his sister was on death’s bed ‘cause of Saori and me. Even if she had held back since I was their princess, he thought it shouldn’t have been possible.
[“The Avitor Peaks are perilous, so I thought since 23 was chosen by Astalos to help him on his Divine Quest, I thought Bethlieranha and I were worthy. Mhmm … the wyverns close to your Mother’s lair were ruthless, we wouldn’t have made it weren’t it for the help of her dragonewt relatives,”] he sighed as he recalled that memory, surprising me since neither Mother or the twins had told me about this. [“My sister and I have no special talent. We will stay true to our ice, so witnessing Tasianna train herself to the point she could rival us, made it clear how much we value her as a fellow ice mage. A rival. Someone we cannot allow to surpass us.”]
The wyvern then turned to Rajah, kneeling down to speak with him. [“Tasianna, my sister, and I seek frost cold enough to one day rival the Empress. Even if we all are ice mages, we will strive to become the best. Rajah, as the guard of our princess, you don’t need to be special, you need to be the best in something. When the three of us fought at that harbor, uhm, Port Annencia, we didn’t have Princess Hestia to protect. We just fought together. We fought, we froze, and we destroyed the enemies before us as three.”]
Wise words. I really didn’t have much more to say on this topic. All that was left was for Rajah to decide on his path.
[“… Then, I shall take [Young Blacklight Virigress].”]
“Why?” I asked.
[“Because it is the right thing to do,”] he said in such a resolute manner, staring in my eye without a single doubt. [“The light is my Master, but the dark is our other Master. You and Master Saori. If I had an ice option, I would have taken it in honor of Master Tasianna. You … three saved me. You saved my family. I came back to … to you because I missed you. I wanted to repay you back. Masters taught me much in the short time we’ve been together. So, I didn’t want to be useless, like when we first met.”]
Rajah …
[“So, I trained hard! I learned to speak! I tried to be strong and not childish … But, I understand now. I understand to repay you back, I need to be strong enough to help all three of you!”] he exclaimed, trying his best to roar to show his determination. [“The light to help Master Saori, and the dark to help Master Hestia. Even if the two of you were to separate again, I will be there to support both of you. I will become a healer just as strong as Master, but also a proud shadow pack member like Mom and the garms! [Holy Magic] and [Dark Magic] were the present the both of you gave me, so I will never throw them away for the other!”]
He got [Holy Magic] due to the blessing Aurena gave him after he left me, earned after his first evolution. He got [Dark Magic] after becoming a member of the shadow pack, so this bound him to Saori. It wasn’t a lie to call them gifts received from his interactions with us.
[“As such, I will take blacklight!”]
“So be it, Rajah. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And so, my virigress had chosen his own path. I honestly had thought he would choose [Young Duskwalker Virigress] after Tasianna’s and Shay’s advice, seeing as he would be more useful to me if he could control shadows as well as Saori, but it seemed like he wanted to commit to his evolution path. From a [Young Monochrome Virigress] into a [Young Blacklight Virigress].
In Mother’s lair, his evolution cocoon wrapped around him as his evolution began. I wanted to visit the vampire princess today, but it seemed the day was almost over. As such, I decided to retire for the day. Do it tomorrow. I also was quite curious how Rajah would look, so speeding up time by sleeping sounded quite nice.
So, I spent the evening with my group inside the subspace. The saurians and Neill were explaining what had happened after I left, mentioning how some hobgoblins had spawned close to the city. They thought these monster were members of the grimgarian army at first, but they recalled how unintelligent the hobgoblins seemed. Monster spawning really was wild.
After dinner was over, I finally had the time to look up the prestige stuff. At last, some free time. So, what did I have, again?
<[Idol] prestige points: 2
- Benefit Slot increase
- Job Skill: [Acoustic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Giocoso Dreamer Lv. 1] [Musical Renaissance Diva Lv. 1] [Acoustic Power Lv. 1] [Bardic Cadenza] [Musical Crescendo] [Heavenly Performance]
- Growth Boosts: [Mana] [Intelligence] [Wisdom]
- Spell song slot (3 prestige point)>
Right, Mana Eyes.
<Giocoso Dreamer: An [Idol] skill aimed to help the idol chase after their dreams, bringing the shining stars upon all who listen to their songs. Boosts beneficial spell song effects like barriers, buffs, and resource regeneration by 5%, increasing it by 5% per level. Anybody hearing your songs will have increased resistances against mental attacks or corruption. Can spread your songs’ effects through others, extending its range, as long as they can hear you and follow your performance. Will exclude [Musical Renaissance Diva]>
Giocoso is … Italian for playfulness. Cheery. Jeez, Papa would hate me if I forgot the terms …
<Musical Renaissance Diva: An [Idol] skill aimed to bring the dawn of a new music culture, brought forth by a generational diva. Boosts offensive spell song effects by 5%, increasing it by 5% per level. Effects will increase the more people listen to your songs at the moment of the performance, also increasing your Mana and Stamina regeneration. You are able to play two spell songs, applying both effects. Will exclude [Giocoso Dreamer]>
… Damn. Exclude? Are you serious? So this was how the Unique Job System wanted you to develop your Jobs. By taking such powerful skills, or evolution deciding ones, with benefits and detriments. In this, would I develop my [Idol] skill into a supportive “dreamer” or an offensive powerhouse of a “diva?”
Honestly, it was a hard choice, and thankfully not something I had to pick right now. Good thing was I could choose the other skill I was robbed of from the old [Idol] Job. It was good to have [Musical Crescendo] again, since that prevented my songs from being blocked by [Air Shield] and such.
It also seemed like you could get flat stat boosters with the “growth boosts” section. Was it a one time thing, or could you gain multiple? How much did you gain? The System didn’t say, so should I buy a skill and test the boost out? I didn’t want to make a choice on those two new skills, just yet.
<[Idol] Prestige spent. [Musical Crescendo] [Intelligence] gained>
… An increase of 50 Intelligence. Shit! That’s nothing for me! Damn, I should’ve saved that option when I went to the [Mage] options. Damn! Hasty me. Urgh, whatever, it was for science. System Voice, can I buy Prestige points for SP?
<No>
Fuck off!
Well, mistakes were made. I tunnel visioned a bit too much on the whole testing stuff that I forgot I had to choose the rewards for [Mage] and [Tyrant Hatchling], too. I could’ve asked Renee about it, too. “Haste makes waste.” Well, lesson learned. I should probably check out—
“Hestia.”
And just as I was about to check things out, somebody interrupted me. Well, I could keep the others for tomorrow.
I turned around, seeing Renee had tapped my shoulder. She visited us, wanting to ask me if I wanted to speak with Uzerra now. “I think I’m ready. Anasthasia wrote down how many buildings we needed and how we could ask the archerudite to help us. We just need to call on that favor for ‘illustrating our portraits.’ Would you come with me?”
“Sure.”
Uzerra was staying around due to his fascination with me. As the most knowledgeable man alive, one of the strongest mages, and also the leader of Aleistunum, we had a lot of things we wanted to ask of him. He could be the key to help the city out, now that they had dungeons to finance the nation’s rebuild.
We could always ask for help from Artorias and Estralia, but both nations were multiple countries away from Yeos. It just wasn’t feasible, and I didn’t want to turn into a cargo transporter with my nexus. Also, with the grimgarian army literally occupying the ports of other countries, traveling with a ship from Port Annencia to Elyonda could be risky. This grimgarian war wasn’t over, even if I wasn’t dealing with it right now.
As such, getting help from Aleistunum, a neighbour, would be for the best if Yeos couldn’t rely on the Empire, or didn’t want to. Renee had to strike a deal with Uzerra, no matter what. Fortunately for her, I was willing to help.
“Are you sure he’s still awake during this time?” I asked as we exited the subspace and the castle, on our way to the beach where you could see his island literally floating above the coast.
“Oooh, probably. He likes reading, right? Just use the bookmark he gave you,” Yorshka reassured me.
Accompanying us was Yorshka and Tasianna. The former just wanted to make sure we didn’t get a bad deal, while Tasianna was Tasianna. Neill wanted to come to but—once again, despite how she said she disliked alcohol—she was drunk and sleeping like a log right about now. Goodness gracious, the girl couldn’t handle her drinks. Lightweight. Smiled like an idiot after two mugs.
“As rude as it might be, the archerudite had visited our subspace once during midnight,” Tasianna informed me, saying it happened two days after the siege was over. “If he’s awake, then there should be no problem. We can also fly up and knock on his door. I don’t believe he should have a problem with that.”
“Maybe appraise that bookmark, though,” Renee suggested. “Rajah mentioned how there was some magic field around the island when he visited it. None of us really visited him outside of your virigress, so maybe there might be a trap for unwelcome visitors. Check if the bookmark has a clue or not.”
Good point. I haven’t appraised this thing once yet.
With that in mind, I took out the bookmark Uzerra gave me and use—
“Eyaak!”
What?
A scream.
“—oooooooooooooo!”
Followed by a man’s groan.
“Dammit. I expected something would happen, but this is still not acceptable!” Renee donned her helmet and ran towards the screams echoing through the night. It was just for a moment before they were muffled, but they clearly were the screams of a woman and a man.
The city ruins already had some buildings here and there, made from earth mages, so all of them were pretty much uniform in appearance. Some braziers were placed around the rebuilt houses and arena, so people could still walk around the night.
Usually, there would be knights and mercenaries patrolling the streets as well, since there was a risk of disputes amongst the people. Even if they were united to rebuild their home, some people were less enthused about it. These troublemakers would cause unrest if we didn’t stop them.
With this in mind, Yorshka, Tasianna, and I followed behind Renee, darting through the ruined streets and its rubble, before I noticed a few figures hiding in a corner with my night vision. When we came closer, I noticed three well-dressed men standing over a woman and man, both dressed in patched up clothes.
Wait, aren’t those—? I immediately noticed the faces of the two, recognizing them as two of my patients. Looking closer, I noticed how both of them had their mouths agape, staring into the starry skies with twitching eyes.
“—elp … Krok!” The man on the ground tried to mumble at us, but was swiftly given a kick by one of the three men standing over him.
“Sssz! You incompetent morons. Must you dine on these street rats so curtly, they managed to eke words out? Bumbling fools, a lot of you!” The man who delivered the kick lamented about the situation to his two associates before turning around, revealing two long elven ears hidden behind long black locks, carefully taken care for until they shimmered under the moonlight.
“Rrrah. Phew!” One of the other men turned to, spitting something red onto the ground. “Nasty, rancid beasts. Forgive us, my comrade. I would not have let go weren’t it for the fact we are dining on low-tier beef. I require a palette cleanser immediately.”
“Grrgrggr! Mhmm!” The third took a long whiff in our direction. “Females, too. Although, one of them looks like a wind elf. Cannibalism, my friends. Let us invite her to some tea later. Indulge her in the finest tea, one not even her low-born woods could produce. We are gentlemen, after all. We should treat her little girlfriends well.”
The first licked his lips, revealing four long fangs. “True. It would be an embarrassment for us to act in any other way. Don’t drink for too long, yes? We shouldn’t kill them, otherwise the princess would find out.”
“Rrrr … Two lizard women would do the trick. Exotic. How delectable.” Mister “Palette Cleanser” noted before taking a step forward.
“… Who are you?” Renee unsheathed her sword, forcing those words through the unbridled anger I could hear from her helmet.
“You dining partners, knight.” The last of the three elf men sniffed like a dog, before his shoulder jerked up as two bat-like wings burst out from his back. “FOR OUR DINNER!”
All three growled as their forms morphed into something grotesque and unreal, looking like thinner felgheists, those giant vampire bat monsters. Once their forms changed, they charged at us like hungry beasts.
“Vampires!” Tasianna screamed.
Comments
Thanks. That was part of the first draft, and I forgot to remove that.
Justin "Johnist" Johanson
She comments about leveling up Idol and Champion of Aurena, as well as Bard being maxed out, but she's not part of the old system anymore
Diego Rossi
even if you did gain some good bonuses if you reached it before your “matured.” -> you “matured.” I need to be strong enough enough to help all three of you! - maybe a comma (,) between the two enough?
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