We ended up spending the night on Jala’s island instead of in the water, mostly because it just is more comfortable to Alice and I. Also, Lady Janina returned to the coast.
Sure we could have slept under water, and I could have used my new race while doing so, but … it is still a bit awkward.
Cailie actually noticed my Swift Swimming skill before I even told her about my new race. She was able to spot my improved swimming skill, thus realizing that I likely gained a new skill. At first she assumed I installed a card for it, but I told her what actually happened.
She was naturally happy to hear that I was accepted as a member of the clan, but she was ecstatic when I showed her my mer-folk form. And I swear it looked like she wanted to lick my tail or something. Her eyes turned into literal hearts, and that is just a bit alarming.
It came up later in the evening that Cailie confronting her sister, well her past as a whole, was actually something both Alice and Lua wanted her to do. They called it Cailie’s ‘last test’ before she was officially part of my harem, so now that that is over … well, you can imagine what we did that night.
And mer-folk are interesting in that regard. Because they have this scale covering their privates that they kind of … slide out of the way before fun time. Yes, I have one too if I’m a mer-folk, and I have to say, it is an interesting experience.
The next day we returned to the sea. And this time, I was flexing my new mer-folk race. Alice was also in her mermaid style swimsuit, so we all looked like we fitted in.
Took me a bit to get used to breathing with gills, as it is kind of its own style of breathing, but I did have a great instructor, so I didn’t end up drowning.
My mer-folk form looked … well, the top half looked like I always do. My tail on the other hand was mostly dark gray, with some white stars in it. It was kind of plain, but I liked it.
At first, the locals assumed that I was wearing a swimsuit similar to the one Alice has, but I then explained my skill and they seemed quite impressed. The few children even asked what other races I have, so I quickly ran through the races from them.
They really liked my dragon race, or to be more accurate, my dragon form, looking up at me as if I was a great guardian. Probably because I was half dragon, and to them, dragons are guardians. And yes, my dragon race and dragon form are two different things. When I’m Dragon Hearted, I look basically just like a human, except that I have a dragon scale on my skin, over where my heart is. My dragon form on the other hand is me when I use the Draconic Body skill.
When then took a few members of the clan, Cailie picked them, and headed for where the banished members of the Nixie clan had situated. And since I told Jala we’d be doing this today, he sent one of the adolescent dragons under him to deliver the message to the other adolescent dragon who guarded them, just so we wouldn’t get into a fight.
I enjoyed the swim over, really got me more used to swimming as a mer-folk.
{Oh. It is you. I was informed of you coming. This way.} The adolescent dragon was the first to see us and after checking us over, he led us to where the banished clan members were.
The buildings on this side of the island were a lot worse compared to the main ‘city’. I call it a city, but it is more like a town. It is just that the architecture and all of that makes me think of a city instead.
But yeah, this side is more like the slums. Buildings that aren’t built very well, which look like a powerful wave could knock them over. I was going to say powerful wind, but there isn’t a lot of wind under water.
And looking at the people here, it became obvious why everything was so haphazard. This half of the clan were clearly the weaker and lower leveled clan members, which means they likely don’t have the skills needed to build high quality housing.
Now you might be asking, how do I know these people are lower level? Well, it is actually pretty simple. With Mana Vision.
With it, I can get an approximate estimation of how much mana people have in their bodies, which generally gives me an estimation on how strong they are. … at least when it comes to magic. Sure someone can have amazing physical skills and Mana Vision wouldn’t let me catch onto that, but if that is the case, they generally look big and buff because their strength is all physical and not magically boosted.
But yeah. They just don’t have the skills to make good buildings with magic, so they just have some basic structures made from whatever plant matter they could get their hands on.
I do wonder why the dragons didn’t help them more, but maybe it is something akin to the dragons deciding that if they can’t survive this, then they don’t deserve to live.
I asked the adolescent dragon about it, and at first he didn’t feel like answering, but after I showed him one of Lady Janina’s scales, he quickly began to talk.
It was actually because the dragons don’t know how to build buildings. They live in caves and caverns for a reason. Some earth dragons do apparently build their own houses, but even that is rare.
The dragons did help the mer-folk in some of the material gathering, getting stuff from the island and waterproofing it with magic. But just having materials doesn’t make one a builder, so things are how they are.
But that will no longer be a problem, as we are bringing everyone back. Cailie spoke them all into it, telling them that her sister was no longer in charge, and would never again be in charge. There were some that hesitated, but they were willing to go check it out.
The trip back was originally going to just be a swim, but a few of the mer-folk were a bit too weak for that so I improvised.
And by improvised, I meant that I summoned a giant whale to give us a ride. Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness to be specific.
Spoiler [collapse]We then just sunbathed on its back while we rode back to where the clan actually lived. We did have to dive under a few times, just so no one dried out too badly, as the mer-folk here don’t have those water bracelets to keep their skin moist when they are on the surface.
Well, the clan has some, as the dragon heart dungeon can make them, but the banished members don’t have any. And yes, I have a few in Storage, but not enough for everyone.
We almost caused chaos for the main part of the clan when we rode back, but luckily the adolescent dragon escorted us back, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
After a quick reunion party, which revealed a few bad apples that were in the main part of the clan, we had another meeting to decide on some other things.
First was what to do with the ‘bad apples’. That included Iremur, or as I call him, Amilie’s ultimate simp. They did consider banishing him, but the clan agreed that there had been enough of that lately, so instead he was given a different punishment. One of forced labor, or I guess you could call it slavery. Even if a slave seal wasn’t involved.
Other than that, the clan members asked me for something. They asked if a dungeon could have multiple masters, so that they could make a council of masters, so that no one could ever again hold all the power like Amilie did.
The answer is of course yes, but it is normally not recommended, as it can lead to conflicts of interest and the dungeon favoring certain masters over others, but considering that their dungeon is a special case, it might be different with them.
To confirm this, I again hacked the dungeon core, this time with approval from the current master. Sadly I couldn’t fully tell if this dungeon would prefer some people over others, so there was nothing we could do except try it out and go with it.
The only problem was picking the people who would be the members of the council.
The old man, who is the current master, would be one.
The second was Larkos, the mer-folk warrior Cailie picked to come to HomeBase to train to be the next leader.
Third was a mer-folk woman who was the first to be banished after Cailie. She was the one who got the adolescent water dragon to protect her and the others that were banished, so she was kind of like the leader of the banished half of the clan.
Forth was a middle aged male and one of the people who were held prisoner inside the dungeon. He was skilled in Earth Magic, so he mostly built stuff around here using it. But after he refused to make a giant statue of Amilie, he was thrown in prison.
The fifth and last member was another banished female mer-folk named Kikumi. She was about Cailie’s age and she technically wasn’t ever banished. Instead left on her own after she didn’t want to be whipped by Amilie any more. Apparently Amilie had used her in the place of Cailie after Cailie’s banishment and she just didn’t want to take it any longer.
Out of the five, two would come with us to HomeBase to learn. Kikumi and Larkos. They’d both have leadership lessons with me, no clue why I have to be the one to teach that, but whatever. And then they can pick whatever lessons they want to learn. We have the second set of Ruiso kingdom dhampirs currently on HomeBase, so we do have lessons running. They can just enter whatever feels right, magic or otherwise. I can even have some of my Mermaid monsters teach them, if they prefer that. Mermaid Knight teaching underwater CQB and stuff like that.
Spoiler [collapse]
And, because Cailie brought the banished half of the clan back to rejoin the regular half, her first System mission was completed. And thus, she got her reward for it.
Spoiler| Name: Cailie |
| Race: Wind Spirit Mermaid ? |
| Level: 64 |
| HP: 1595 [+50] |
| Mana: 5260 [+150] |
| Strength: 768 |
| Defense: 1067 |
| Magic: 2700 [+70] |
| Skills: |
| Purifying Winds LV.1 (unique) [new] |
| Spirit Magic LV.3 (racial) |
| Marvelous Swimming LV.3 (racial) |
| Aerial Swimming LV.2 (racial) [+1] |
| Create Wind Spirit (racial) |
| Charming Voice LV.4 (extra) |
| Summon Wind Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Water Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Earth Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Nature Spirit (extra) |
| Knife Technique LV.1 |
| Hiding LV.2 |
| Sneak Attack LV.1 |
| Spiritual Wind Magic LV.7 |
| Spiritual Nature Magic LV.3 |
| Spiritual Mana Control LV.10 |
| Magic Boost LV.3 |
| Quick Cast LV.4 |
| Instant Cast LV.4 |
| Magic resistance LV.3 |
| Gardening LV.4 |
| Singing LV.5 |
| Battle Song LV.3 |
| Performance LV.3 |
| Daughter of Anemoi |
| Greater Spirit of West Wind |
| Thalassa’s Blessing |
| Gaia’s Blessing |
| Hegemone’s Blessing |
| Half Spirit |
| Spirit Singer |
| One that Sings to Nature |
| One that Swims through the Air |
| Hallow Prison Prevailer |
| One that Returned from Banishment |
Purifying Winds is a skill the System cooked up by mixing my Sprite Purifying Mirror and Wind Magic. It is effectively a way to clear away miasma with Wind Magic, but as a unique skill.
… And I won’t say it, but I feel like this is the System using us as test subjects again. They realized they can steal my card tech and mix it with what they already have, but it has to be tested.
So just give Cailie both a System Support, so they can stalk her, and the new skill and see what happens.
But I’m not complaining. Most of the time, miasma is purified by Holy Magic, so having more ways of doing so is definitely good.
And in theory, Purifying Winds can purify sprites where Holy Magic can’t. At least as far as I know. There might be some high level Holy Magic spell which can, but Albus, our priest, doesn’t know of one.
But now Cailie has an option for it that isn’t my card. Which fits her very well. She is a spirit, so purifying spirits should feel natural for her.
nro_8 There is going to be one more chapter with the Nixie clan, and then back to HomeBase.
We ended up spending the night on Jala’s island instead of in the water, mostly because it just is more comfortable to Alice and I. Also, Lady Janina returned to the coast.
Sure we could have slept under water, and I could have used my new race while doing so, but … it is still a bit awkward.
Cailie actually noticed my Swift Swimming skill before I even told her about my new race. She was able to spot my improved swimming skill, thus realizing that I likely gained a new skill. At first she assumed I installed a card for it, but I told her what actually happened.
She was naturally happy to hear that I was accepted as a member of the clan, but she was ecstatic when I showed her my mer-folk form. And I swear it looked like she wanted to lick my tail or something. Her eyes turned into literal hearts, and that is just a bit alarming.
It came up later in the evening that Cailie confronting her sister, well her past as a whole, was actually something both Alice and Lua wanted her to do. They called it Cailie’s ‘last test’ before she was officially part of my harem, so now that that is over … well, you can imagine what we did that night.
And mer-folk are interesting in that regard. Because they have this scale covering their privates that they kind of … slide out of the way before fun time. Yes, I have one too if I’m a mer-folk, and I have to say, it is an interesting experience.
The next day we returned to the sea. And this time, I was flexing my new mer-folk race. Alice was also in her mermaid style swimsuit, so we all looked like we fitted in.
Took me a bit to get used to breathing with gills, as it is kind of its own style of breathing, but I did have a great instructor, so I didn’t end up drowning.
My mer-folk form looked … well, the top half looked like I always do. My tail on the other hand was mostly dark gray, with some white stars in it. It was kind of plain, but I liked it.
At first, the locals assumed that I was wearing a swimsuit similar to the one Alice has, but I then explained my skill and they seemed quite impressed. The few children even asked what other races I have, so I quickly ran through the races from them.
They really liked my dragon race, or to be more accurate, my dragon form, looking up at me as if I was a great guardian. Probably because I was half dragon, and to them, dragons are guardians. And yes, my dragon race and dragon form are two different things. When I’m Dragon Hearted, I look basically just like a human, except that I have a dragon scale on my skin, over where my heart is. My dragon form on the other hand is me when I use the Draconic Body skill.
When then took a few members of the clan, Cailie picked them, and headed for where the banished members of the Nixie clan had situated. And since I told Jala we’d be doing this today, he sent one of the adolescent dragons under him to deliver the message to the other adolescent dragon who guarded them, just so we wouldn’t get into a fight.
I enjoyed the swim over, really got me more used to swimming as a mer-folk.
{Oh. It is you. I was informed of you coming. This way.} The adolescent dragon was the first to see us and after checking us over, he led us to where the banished clan members were.
The buildings on this side of the island were a lot worse compared to the main ‘city’. I call it a city, but it is more like a town. It is just that the architecture and all of that makes me think of a city instead.
But yeah, this side is more like the slums. Buildings that aren’t built very well, which look like a powerful wave could knock them over. I was going to say powerful wind, but there isn’t a lot of wind under water.
And looking at the people here, it became obvious why everything was so haphazard. This half of the clan were clearly the weaker and lower leveled clan members, which means they likely don’t have the skills needed to build high quality housing.
Now you might be asking, how do I know these people are lower level? Well, it is actually pretty simple. With Mana Vision.
With it, I can get an approximate estimation of how much mana people have in their bodies, which generally gives me an estimation on how strong they are. … at least when it comes to magic. Sure someone can have amazing physical skills and Mana Vision wouldn’t let me catch onto that, but if that is the case, they generally look big and buff because their strength is all physical and not magically boosted.
But yeah. They just don’t have the skills to make good buildings with magic, so they just have some basic structures made from whatever plant matter they could get their hands on.
I do wonder why the dragons didn’t help them more, but maybe it is something akin to the dragons deciding that if they can’t survive this, then they don’t deserve to live.
I asked the adolescent dragon about it, and at first he didn’t feel like answering, but after I showed him one of Lady Janina’s scales, he quickly began to talk.
It was actually because the dragons don’t know how to build buildings. They live in caves and caverns for a reason. Some earth dragons do apparently build their own houses, but even that is rare.
The dragons did help the mer-folk in some of the material gathering, getting stuff from the island and waterproofing it with magic. But just having materials doesn’t make one a builder, so things are how they are.
But that will no longer be a problem, as we are bringing everyone back. Cailie spoke them all into it, telling them that her sister was no longer in charge, and would never again be in charge. There were some that hesitated, but they were willing to go check it out.
The trip back was originally going to just be a swim, but a few of the mer-folk were a bit too weak for that so I improvised.
And by improvised, I meant that I summoned a giant whale to give us a ride. Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness to be specific.
Spoiler [collapse]We then just sunbathed on its back while we rode back to where the clan actually lived. We did have to dive under a few times, just so no one dried out too badly, as the mer-folk here don’t have those water bracelets to keep their skin moist when they are on the surface.
Well, the clan has some, as the dragon heart dungeon can make them, but the banished members don’t have any. And yes, I have a few in Storage, but not enough for everyone.
We almost caused chaos for the main part of the clan when we rode back, but luckily the adolescent dragon escorted us back, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
After a quick reunion party, which revealed a few bad apples that were in the main part of the clan, we had another meeting to decide on some other things.
First was what to do with the ‘bad apples’. That included Iremur, or as I call him, Amilie’s ultimate simp. They did consider banishing him, but the clan agreed that there had been enough of that lately, so instead he was given a different punishment. One of forced labor, or I guess you could call it slavery. Even if a slave seal wasn’t involved.
Other than that, the clan members asked me for something. They asked if a dungeon could have multiple masters, so that they could make a council of masters, so that no one could ever again hold all the power like Amilie did.
The answer is of course yes, but it is normally not recommended, as it can lead to conflicts of interest and the dungeon favoring certain masters over others, but considering that their dungeon is a special case, it might be different with them.
To confirm this, I again hacked the dungeon core, this time with approval from the current master. Sadly I couldn’t fully tell if this dungeon would prefer some people over others, so there was nothing we could do except try it out and go with it.
The only problem was picking the people who would be the members of the council.
The old man, who is the current master, would be one.
The second was Larkos, the mer-folk warrior Cailie picked to come to HomeBase to train to be the next leader.
Third was a mer-folk woman who was the first to be banished after Cailie. She was the one who got the adolescent water dragon to protect her and the others that were banished, so she was kind of like the leader of the banished half of the clan.
Forth was a middle aged male and one of the people who were held prisoner inside the dungeon. He was skilled in Earth Magic, so he mostly built stuff around here using it. But after he refused to make a giant statue of Amilie, he was thrown in prison.
The fifth and last member was another banished female mer-folk named Kikumi. She was about Cailie’s age and she technically wasn’t ever banished. Instead left on her own after she didn’t want to be whipped by Amilie any more. Apparently Amilie had used her in the place of Cailie after Cailie’s banishment and she just didn’t want to take it any longer.
Out of the five, two would come with us to HomeBase to learn. Kikumi and Larkos. They’d both have leadership lessons with me, no clue why I have to be the one to teach that, but whatever. And then they can pick whatever lessons they want to learn. We have the second set of Ruiso kingdom dhampirs currently on HomeBase, so we do have lessons running. They can just enter whatever feels right, magic or otherwise. I can even have some of my Mermaid monsters teach them, if they prefer that. Mermaid Knight teaching underwater CQB and stuff like that.
Spoiler [collapse]
And, because Cailie brought the banished half of the clan back to rejoin the regular half, her first System mission was completed. And thus, she got her reward for it.
Spoiler| Name: Cailie |
| Race: Wind Spirit Mermaid ? |
| Level: 64 |
| HP: 1595 [+50] |
| Mana: 5260 [+150] |
| Strength: 768 |
| Defense: 1067 |
| Magic: 2700 [+70] |
| Skills: |
| Purifying Winds LV.1 (unique) [new] |
| Spirit Magic LV.3 (racial) |
| Marvelous Swimming LV.3 (racial) |
| Aerial Swimming LV.2 (racial) [+1] |
| Create Wind Spirit (racial) |
| Charming Voice LV.4 (extra) |
| Summon Wind Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Water Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Earth Spirit (extra) |
| Summon Nature Spirit (extra) |
| Knife Technique LV.1 |
| Hiding LV.2 |
| Sneak Attack LV.1 |
| Spiritual Wind Magic LV.7 |
| Spiritual Nature Magic LV.3 |
| Spiritual Mana Control LV.10 |
| Magic Boost LV.3 |
| Quick Cast LV.4 |
| Instant Cast LV.4 |
| Magic resistance LV.3 |
| Gardening LV.4 |
| Singing LV.5 |
| Battle Song LV.3 |
| Performance LV.3 |
| Daughter of Anemoi |
| Greater Spirit of West Wind |
| Thalassa’s Blessing |
| Gaia’s Blessing |
| Hegemone’s Blessing |
| Half Spirit |
| Spirit Singer |
| One that Sings to Nature |
| One that Swims through the Air |
| Hallow Prison Prevailer |
| One that Returned from Banishment |
Purifying Winds is a skill the System cooked up by mixing my Sprite Purifying Mirror and Wind Magic. It is effectively a way to clear away miasma with Wind Magic, but as a unique skill.
… And I won’t say it, but I feel like this is the System using us as test subjects again. They realized they can steal my card tech and mix it with what they already have, but it has to be tested.
So just give Cailie both a System Support, so they can stalk her, and the new skill and see what happens.
But I’m not complaining. Most of the time, miasma is purified by Holy Magic, so having more ways of doing so is definitely good.
And in theory, Purifying Winds can purify sprites where Holy Magic can’t. At least as far as I know. There might be some high level Holy Magic spell which can, but Albus, our priest, doesn’t know of one.
But now Cailie has an option for it that isn’t my card. Which fits her very well. She is a spirit, so purifying spirits should feel natural for her.
nro_8 There is going to be one more chapter with the Nixie clan, and then back to HomeBase.
