“Well, well, well. I suppose I should congratulate you for losing your virginity.” A rainbow haired lady joked at me, as she was sitting opposite to me.
Yeah. The Goddess had pulled me from my sweet dreams between Alice and Lua, and called me for a chat.
“... you know I wasn’t actually a virgin any more…” I just commented. “You should be saying that to Lua and Alice.”
“It is your first time in this world, so I believe that it counts. Kind of like a second virginity.”
“Yeah… Let’s agree to disagree.” I simply said. “I assume this chat is for something else than just talking about my … private life. So what can I do for you, Goddess?”
“Straight to the point as always. Well, I do like that about you. Yes. I do indeed have a few things. I was going to leave this to Aulis, but I got a bit of free time, so I came instead.
“Let me start off with this. Good work on those ‘mana flowers’. They are quite something. I never knew it would be possible to make mana without having to rely on the Chaos God Dimension.” The Goddess stated.
“... wait? Are you saying the flowers don’t pull power from there?” I asked. I’d assumed they would, since… well, that is where mana comes from, as far as I know.
“They indeed don’t. It is something Great Sage Arcadia was really interested in, and she spent the last years of her life looking into. But she never could figure out how to make something that could make mana without splitting apart the Chaos God Energy.” The Goddess explained. “So for you to make something like that. It is quite something.”
“... wow. I didn’t even realize they were that good. I actually assumed I might have made the barrier situation worse by using them and I was ready to apologize for doing something slightly foolish.” I admitted.
“If I am to be honest, we also assumed the same. But even if that was the case, the Chaos God Core would have dealt with the unwanted backlash, so we let you go through with it. And I was the one who gave you the idea of making the dungeon into a floating island, so it is partially my fault as well.” The Goddess answered. “But that did not come to pass. And now that we know about this, I have this small request. I know you have a lot of them all ready, but this one should be simple. Don’t keep those flowers just for yourself and your HomeBase. Let them spread across the continent. This will lessen the amount of Chaos God Energy needed to give mana to the continent and will possibly lessen the burden on the dimensional barrier.”
“... alright. I think I can do that. The only problem will be the mana stones I’ll need for it.”
“Don’t do it alone. Work with the nobles. The ones in charge of these areas. Were you to reveal your true status, and your relationship with me, they will likely listen to what you say. And if the nobles don’t, the descendants of the Hero and his party, who run the adventurer’s guild, the Sage’s tower and the Church, will.”
“... Yeah… They probably would. I just don’t really like using it. It makes me feel… not human.”
“You are not a human any more.” The Goddess pointed out.
“... I know. But I do mostly look like one, so it isn’t something I really worry about. I just don’t want to be treated as some sort of an angel, or something like that.”
“Well, if you don’t feel like working with nobles, you can just make flower fields outside of populated areas, using cards like Ground Collapse to keep monsters away from the flowers. You could use all of the money you are making to buy the magic stones as well. But I will leave it for you to decide on how you want to do it. I will also send a mission about it soon.”
“I see… thanks.”
“Oh. And one other thing. It is a personal request coming from the System Agent Joan. She would like you to take on a mission to look into the origins of that old slave mark which was drawn on Individuals Einar and Eline. She would like you to find the source and eradicate it. Would you like to take that mission as well?”
“... maybe give it to Alice?” I suggested. “I heard from Lua that she is a bit… disappointed that she doesn’t have a longer term mission, other than making a spell that might be impossible to make.”
“I see. I will inform Agent Joan about your opinion and have her send the mission to Holder Alice Mana.” The Goddess agreed to my suggestion. “I shall return you now, unless you have any further questions. Your wives will wake up soon, and you should be there then.”
“Just one. There hasn’t been a fissure in a while. So how is the barrier situation?”
“... not well. It is holding for now, but it isn’t getting any better. I am still trying to figure out a way to fix all of it at once, but it isn’t looking good. At least no place is in need of immediate repair, but the situation might change quickly, so I ask you to be ready to act at a moment's notice.”
“Alright. I understand. Well, when you need me, I’ll do my best to help.”
“Of course. You are a good child after all.”
“... please don’t call me a child.”
“I’ll try not to. I suppose I’m just too used to calling people my children. I shall see you later, Holder Brian.”
“See you then, Goddess.”
As the Goddess warned me, Lua and Alice woke up soon enough. Lua was just fine despite last night, but Alice did feel a bit… off. Well, until Lua healed her up a bit.
I quickly told them about my little chat with the Goddess and then we took a quick look at our two new missions.
Mine was simple.
| Spread the Flowers |
| Info: The Goddess wishes that you spread the mana producing flowers across the continent. Plant patches of the flowers in places of your choosing and let them spread the mana they produce. |
| Goal: Plant many patches of mana flowers across the continent. |
| Reward: Varied based on the location, the size of the flower patch and other factors. Can include new sets being unlocked, new promo trades being unlocked, or receiving single cards. |
So yeah. Something nice and simple, right?
Nope! You would be wrong. Remember that one little fact? On how my flowers work? Well, they don’t make mana, they make Spell Counters.
Same thing, right? Well, not quite.
See mana can just … exist in the air. Spell Counters can’t. For my own mana factory, it doesn’t really matter as the Spell Counters get instantly converted into mana when they reach either the True Core or the Citadel Core.
So yeah. It isn’t quite as simple as you might assume to do what the Goddess requested. I’ll first need to develop a compact Spell Counter to mana converter and then a mana emitter. It shouldn’t be that bad, but it will take a few days of development and testing. Then I’ll also need the monster cores and/or the magic stones for it, and all of the copies of both Magical Plant Mandragola and Pitch-Black Power Stone.
Spoiler
[collapse]
And for Alice.
| Mission: Eliminate the Old Mark |
| Info: The System doesn’t like the old slave mark still in use in some areas. Find the sources spreading information about it and destroy them. Also deal with people who are currently using it, either by removing the knowledge about it from them, or by eliminating them. |
| Goal: Destroy information sources that tell of the old slave mark. Also get those that are using it to stop using it. |
| Reward: Extra Skill: Erasure Magic will be unlocked. Other rewards may be given later. |
So yeah. That is what she got.
The extra skill promised as a reward is actually quite interesting. It can just … erase stuff. Anything from very specific things to large scale destruction. With that skill, she could do something like erase a negative side to a weapon or a piece of equipment. For example, my parasite armor. It takes some HP when I wear it. Well, my Health Conscious negates the damage, but in theory, Erasure Magic could erase that part of the armor, thus making it better, without killing the parasite, like what happened when I tried to install Spell Economics into a Factory copy of my armor.
At least that is what I think is the case, based on the info Kekri got access to after Alice received her mission.
But yeah. Two new missions for us to look into. Not that we don’t have any to begin with, as the day after tomorrow, Lua, Ria and I will be getting into contact with the dhampirs living in a safe village close to Burch city. I had them wait a few days, because now with HomeBase off the ground, we could potentially bring them here for training. You know, True Blood Magic training with Lua.
And speaking of bringing people here. How do you get to a floating island? Well, simple really. One, you can just fly. As long as you have the permission to get through the defensive barrier. Alice, Lua, Ria and Agunan all do have an item that gives them the permission. For Lua, Alice and Ria, it was in the form of the teleportation rings I made for them. If you don’t remember, after we cleared this dungeon, but before I decided to lift it off the ground, I decided this would be a good hiding place if something went wrong, so I gave all three of them a ring that allows them to teleport freely inside the dungeon.1In CH.270
Of course Agunan has his Master’s terminal and I have the Founder’s terminal, so we don’t have any issues. The Citadel is just an extension of the Chaos God Dungeon after all.
Wilma and the catfolk don’t have anything like that yet, but it doesn’t really matter, as they couldn’t get here anyway. They don’t have wings or airships or anything else like that. They'll just have to travel with one of us.
Now, for the second way to get onto this island. Well, it isn’t actually implemented yet, but I did reverse engineer the teleportation beam thing from my B.E.S. monsters and used it to make a teleporter that could beam people from the ground to the surface of HomeBase. I just need to build a few rooms where the teleported people will appear in, do a few other things and then that will be all set.
So yeah. That is how you get to HomeBase. Either fly up here and be vary of the barrier, or get beam teleported up here.
“Alright you two. It is time to begin your training.” House Dragonmaid commanded the two catfolk.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I had made both of them outfits with the Chaos God Dungeon, so Einar was now dressed in a full tuxedo, while Eline wore a Victorian maid outfit. I’m not sure if butlers classically wear tuxedos or just business suits, but I decided to go with a tux, as I think it fits a butler a bit better. But that is just my personal preference.
The two catfolk were going to have two two hour practice sessions each day. One with House and the other with Kitchen Dragonmaid.
Spoiler
[collapse]
House Dragonmaid would be teaching them general chores, while Kitchen Dragonmaid would focus on cooking and food related tasks. The cooking part would also double as them making our dinner for us, so that was nice.
I really just wish I’d get more Dragonmaids, so I can get them training in other areas. If I recall correctly, there should be a Parlor Dragonmaid, Nurse Dragonmaid and … I think it was Laundry? Yeah. So three more. Out of them, the one I currently want the most is Parlor. Parlor skills will be important if I bring guests over. Nurse will be nice for when… well, things happen and Laundry will sadly not be that useful, as Storage can already take care of that.
Eline was actually happy to learn all of these skills, but Einar was… a bit hesitant. Because he was, I decided to talk to him for a bit after the lesson.
“Einar. Is something wrong?” I just asked.
“Lord Brian. It - It is nothing. Please do not concern yourself with me.” The catboy answered, in a somewhat awkward manner.
“You know you can just talk to me. You aren’t a slave any more, and I won’t treat you as if you were one. If you have a problem, please do tell me about it, so I can do something about it.”
“... It… I’m just… wondering about something.” Einar admitted.
“Well, if you want to share, go for it.”
“It's just… why?”
“Why what?”
“Why take us in? My sister and I. I don’t see the point. You could have just killed us. We attacked you. Attempted to kill your companion. But you just took us in. I know you said it was because we were slaves and had no choice, but still. Why treat us so well? And even if there was something bad about the previous slave mark, why not just take us to a different slave trader and have them mark us again? Why give us a wage on par with professionals, when we have no idea what we are doing?”
“Oh? So that is what is bothering you. I see. Well, if you want to know, I did it because I can. I need people working for me. This place. I have big plans for it. And you and Eline will be necessary for those plans. That is part of why I took you in.”
“... only a part?”
“Yes. I also took you in because I just honestly don’t want you to die. … yeah, kind of sad coming from the person that… well, I’ll talk about that another time.” I don’t think Einar knew that he literally died by my hand, so I’ll just keep the lie that he just almost died alive for now. “I really don’t like the fact that someone tried to attack Wilma. And you are involved in that. They were willing to kill Wilma for what I see as petty reasons, so there is no way they wouldn’t be willing to kill you and your sister. That is why I want you two to stay on HomeBase, where you should be safe. At least until we find the person responsible. So do you think you can wait for that?”
“Yes. If that is what you think is for the best.” Einar said, before he bowed slightly. It wasn’t exactly a clean bow, but it was fine for a beginner.
He will make for a fine butler one day, and we have… I was going to say all the time in the world, but that isn’t right. But we do have plenty of time, so easy does it.
“Well, well, well. I suppose I should congratulate you for losing your virginity.” A rainbow haired lady joked at me, as she was sitting opposite to me.
Yeah. The Goddess had pulled me from my sweet dreams between Alice and Lua, and called me for a chat.
“... you know I wasn’t actually a virgin any more…” I just commented. “You should be saying that to Lua and Alice.”
“It is your first time in this world, so I believe that it counts. Kind of like a second virginity.”
“Yeah… Let’s agree to disagree.” I simply said. “I assume this chat is for something else than just talking about my … private life. So what can I do for you, Goddess?”
“Straight to the point as always. Well, I do like that about you. Yes. I do indeed have a few things. I was going to leave this to Aulis, but I got a bit of free time, so I came instead.
“Let me start off with this. Good work on those ‘mana flowers’. They are quite something. I never knew it would be possible to make mana without having to rely on the Chaos God Dimension.” The Goddess stated.
“... wait? Are you saying the flowers don’t pull power from there?” I asked. I’d assumed they would, since… well, that is where mana comes from, as far as I know.
“They indeed don’t. It is something Great Sage Arcadia was really interested in, and she spent the last years of her life looking into. But she never could figure out how to make something that could make mana without splitting apart the Chaos God Energy.” The Goddess explained. “So for you to make something like that. It is quite something.”
“... wow. I didn’t even realize they were that good. I actually assumed I might have made the barrier situation worse by using them and I was ready to apologize for doing something slightly foolish.” I admitted.
“If I am to be honest, we also assumed the same. But even if that was the case, the Chaos God Core would have dealt with the unwanted backlash, so we let you go through with it. And I was the one who gave you the idea of making the dungeon into a floating island, so it is partially my fault as well.” The Goddess answered. “But that did not come to pass. And now that we know about this, I have this small request. I know you have a lot of them all ready, but this one should be simple. Don’t keep those flowers just for yourself and your HomeBase. Let them spread across the continent. This will lessen the amount of Chaos God Energy needed to give mana to the continent and will possibly lessen the burden on the dimensional barrier.”
“... alright. I think I can do that. The only problem will be the mana stones I’ll need for it.”
“Don’t do it alone. Work with the nobles. The ones in charge of these areas. Were you to reveal your true status, and your relationship with me, they will likely listen to what you say. And if the nobles don’t, the descendants of the Hero and his party, who run the adventurer’s guild, the Sage’s tower and the Church, will.”
“... Yeah… They probably would. I just don’t really like using it. It makes me feel… not human.”
“You are not a human any more.” The Goddess pointed out.
“... I know. But I do mostly look like one, so it isn’t something I really worry about. I just don’t want to be treated as some sort of an angel, or something like that.”
“Well, if you don’t feel like working with nobles, you can just make flower fields outside of populated areas, using cards like Ground Collapse to keep monsters away from the flowers. You could use all of the money you are making to buy the magic stones as well. But I will leave it for you to decide on how you want to do it. I will also send a mission about it soon.”
“I see… thanks.”
“Oh. And one other thing. It is a personal request coming from the System Agent Joan. She would like you to take on a mission to look into the origins of that old slave mark which was drawn on Individuals Einar and Eline. She would like you to find the source and eradicate it. Would you like to take that mission as well?”
“... maybe give it to Alice?” I suggested. “I heard from Lua that she is a bit… disappointed that she doesn’t have a longer term mission, other than making a spell that might be impossible to make.”
“I see. I will inform Agent Joan about your opinion and have her send the mission to Holder Alice Mana.” The Goddess agreed to my suggestion. “I shall return you now, unless you have any further questions. Your wives will wake up soon, and you should be there then.”
“Just one. There hasn’t been a fissure in a while. So how is the barrier situation?”
“... not well. It is holding for now, but it isn’t getting any better. I am still trying to figure out a way to fix all of it at once, but it isn’t looking good. At least no place is in need of immediate repair, but the situation might change quickly, so I ask you to be ready to act at a moment's notice.”
“Alright. I understand. Well, when you need me, I’ll do my best to help.”
“Of course. You are a good child after all.”
“... please don’t call me a child.”
“I’ll try not to. I suppose I’m just too used to calling people my children. I shall see you later, Holder Brian.”
“See you then, Goddess.”
As the Goddess warned me, Lua and Alice woke up soon enough. Lua was just fine despite last night, but Alice did feel a bit… off. Well, until Lua healed her up a bit.
I quickly told them about my little chat with the Goddess and then we took a quick look at our two new missions.
Mine was simple.
| Spread the Flowers |
| Info: The Goddess wishes that you spread the mana producing flowers across the continent. Plant patches of the flowers in places of your choosing and let them spread the mana they produce. |
| Goal: Plant many patches of mana flowers across the continent. |
| Reward: Varied based on the location, the size of the flower patch and other factors. Can include new sets being unlocked, new promo trades being unlocked, or receiving single cards. |
So yeah. Something nice and simple, right?
Nope! You would be wrong. Remember that one little fact? On how my flowers work? Well, they don’t make mana, they make Spell Counters.
Same thing, right? Well, not quite.
See mana can just … exist in the air. Spell Counters can’t. For my own mana factory, it doesn’t really matter as the Spell Counters get instantly converted into mana when they reach either the True Core or the Citadel Core.
So yeah. It isn’t quite as simple as you might assume to do what the Goddess requested. I’ll first need to develop a compact Spell Counter to mana converter and then a mana emitter. It shouldn’t be that bad, but it will take a few days of development and testing. Then I’ll also need the monster cores and/or the magic stones for it, and all of the copies of both Magical Plant Mandragola and Pitch-Black Power Stone.
Spoiler
[collapse]
And for Alice.
| Mission: Eliminate the Old Mark |
| Info: The System doesn’t like the old slave mark still in use in some areas. Find the sources spreading information about it and destroy them. Also deal with people who are currently using it, either by removing the knowledge about it from them, or by eliminating them. |
| Goal: Destroy information sources that tell of the old slave mark. Also get those that are using it to stop using it. |
| Reward: Extra Skill: Erasure Magic will be unlocked. Other rewards may be given later. |
So yeah. That is what she got.
The extra skill promised as a reward is actually quite interesting. It can just … erase stuff. Anything from very specific things to large scale destruction. With that skill, she could do something like erase a negative side to a weapon or a piece of equipment. For example, my parasite armor. It takes some HP when I wear it. Well, my Health Conscious negates the damage, but in theory, Erasure Magic could erase that part of the armor, thus making it better, without killing the parasite, like what happened when I tried to install Spell Economics into a Factory copy of my armor.
At least that is what I think is the case, based on the info Kekri got access to after Alice received her mission.
But yeah. Two new missions for us to look into. Not that we don’t have any to begin with, as the day after tomorrow, Lua, Ria and I will be getting into contact with the dhampirs living in a safe village close to Burch city. I had them wait a few days, because now with HomeBase off the ground, we could potentially bring them here for training. You know, True Blood Magic training with Lua.
And speaking of bringing people here. How do you get to a floating island? Well, simple really. One, you can just fly. As long as you have the permission to get through the defensive barrier. Alice, Lua, Ria and Agunan all do have an item that gives them the permission. For Lua, Alice and Ria, it was in the form of the teleportation rings I made for them. If you don’t remember, after we cleared this dungeon, but before I decided to lift it off the ground, I decided this would be a good hiding place if something went wrong, so I gave all three of them a ring that allows them to teleport freely inside the dungeon.1In CH.270
Of course Agunan has his Master’s terminal and I have the Founder’s terminal, so we don’t have any issues. The Citadel is just an extension of the Chaos God Dungeon after all.
Wilma and the catfolk don’t have anything like that yet, but it doesn’t really matter, as they couldn’t get here anyway. They don’t have wings or airships or anything else like that. They'll just have to travel with one of us.
Now, for the second way to get onto this island. Well, it isn’t actually implemented yet, but I did reverse engineer the teleportation beam thing from my B.E.S. monsters and used it to make a teleporter that could beam people from the ground to the surface of HomeBase. I just need to build a few rooms where the teleported people will appear in, do a few other things and then that will be all set.
So yeah. That is how you get to HomeBase. Either fly up here and be vary of the barrier, or get beam teleported up here.
“Alright you two. It is time to begin your training.” House Dragonmaid commanded the two catfolk.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I had made both of them outfits with the Chaos God Dungeon, so Einar was now dressed in a full tuxedo, while Eline wore a Victorian maid outfit. I’m not sure if butlers classically wear tuxedos or just business suits, but I decided to go with a tux, as I think it fits a butler a bit better. But that is just my personal preference.
The two catfolk were going to have two two hour practice sessions each day. One with House and the other with Kitchen Dragonmaid.
Spoiler
[collapse]
House Dragonmaid would be teaching them general chores, while Kitchen Dragonmaid would focus on cooking and food related tasks. The cooking part would also double as them making our dinner for us, so that was nice.
I really just wish I’d get more Dragonmaids, so I can get them training in other areas. If I recall correctly, there should be a Parlor Dragonmaid, Nurse Dragonmaid and … I think it was Laundry? Yeah. So three more. Out of them, the one I currently want the most is Parlor. Parlor skills will be important if I bring guests over. Nurse will be nice for when… well, things happen and Laundry will sadly not be that useful, as Storage can already take care of that.
Eline was actually happy to learn all of these skills, but Einar was… a bit hesitant. Because he was, I decided to talk to him for a bit after the lesson.
“Einar. Is something wrong?” I just asked.
“Lord Brian. It - It is nothing. Please do not concern yourself with me.” The catboy answered, in a somewhat awkward manner.
“You know you can just talk to me. You aren’t a slave any more, and I won’t treat you as if you were one. If you have a problem, please do tell me about it, so I can do something about it.”
“... It… I’m just… wondering about something.” Einar admitted.
“Well, if you want to share, go for it.”
“It's just… why?”
“Why what?”
“Why take us in? My sister and I. I don’t see the point. You could have just killed us. We attacked you. Attempted to kill your companion. But you just took us in. I know you said it was because we were slaves and had no choice, but still. Why treat us so well? And even if there was something bad about the previous slave mark, why not just take us to a different slave trader and have them mark us again? Why give us a wage on par with professionals, when we have no idea what we are doing?”
“Oh? So that is what is bothering you. I see. Well, if you want to know, I did it because I can. I need people working for me. This place. I have big plans for it. And you and Eline will be necessary for those plans. That is part of why I took you in.”
“... only a part?”
“Yes. I also took you in because I just honestly don’t want you to die. … yeah, kind of sad coming from the person that… well, I’ll talk about that another time.” I don’t think Einar knew that he literally died by my hand, so I’ll just keep the lie that he just almost died alive for now. “I really don’t like the fact that someone tried to attack Wilma. And you are involved in that. They were willing to kill Wilma for what I see as petty reasons, so there is no way they wouldn’t be willing to kill you and your sister. That is why I want you two to stay on HomeBase, where you should be safe. At least until we find the person responsible. So do you think you can wait for that?”
“Yes. If that is what you think is for the best.” Einar said, before he bowed slightly. It wasn’t exactly a clean bow, but it was fine for a beginner.
He will make for a fine butler one day, and we have… I was going to say all the time in the world, but that isn’t right. But we do have plenty of time, so easy does it.
