Chapter 519 519
Chapter 519 519
Armed with a basic array of new spells that Jin found were more mana efficient than the ones she knew from her past life, she felt that she was ready to face the trials.
All is the beastkin in line had been very understanding when Cain informed them that she was a first-day transfer and that she would be in the Tower all day getting herself up to an acceptable standard.
[Quest: Complete the trial of the tower 1 Time] Reward: bonus experience, 1 chance at a random item.
The Quest message greeted her when she passed through the door, exactly as Cain had told her it would, and the Dragonkin marveled at the level of Mage that must have been needed to create all this. She even considered the possibility that Cain was actually favored by the God of Magic and not the Laughing God.
The moment she chose to enter the trial, Jin was thrown into a simulated human village, where she was immediately attacked by a group of three level 1 goblins.
She had been hoping for something easier, maybe some nice feral dogs or something, but goblins would have to do. There wasn't time for a long casting chant or the creation of a magical circle the way she used to cast spells, but Cain said she could activate her class-granted spells with just a thought.
Jin lobbed a [Fireball] toward the charging goblins, then cast [Arcane Blade] to finish them off if they survived. The flaming orb hit the center goblin and exploded, killing all three at once without her even needing to use the ethereal purple blade.
She kept it active though because she would need to save her mana for the upcoming levels. Or so she thought.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
Each time she gained a level her stats increased, and she regained some of her mana. She had only cast two spells, but they were ones with reasonable mana costs, so she was now back to full and looking forward to the second level when a message came from the tower.
[User Level out of range. Beginning Trial from floor 1]
The scenery shifted around her, and the goblins were back, but this time she was in a cave.
[Fireball]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[User Level out of range. Beginning Trial from floor 1.]
Jin giggled in excitement. This was going to be a great day, she could sense it. Every time she gained levels, it would reset the challenge. That meant with all the experience gear she had on, she might actually get a pretty decent reward by the time she finished the challenge for the first time.
It should certainly be better than what would be awarded to a first or second level warrior, she hoped.
The third attempt at the Trial brought her to a clearing in the forest with a pack of wolves. Seven to be exact, and all her level.
With the bonus experience for every kill, large numbers were her friends, even if she had to fight them off with her arcane blade so she had enough mana remaining for the next fight.
She hadn't learned yet that she could keep one enemy just barely alive to give herself time to recover, and she hadn't had time to look through her class skills to give herself more options either.
Jin knew she would only be ejected when she finally lost, so she could upgrade her skills and abilities then.
She was level twenty-one before a single fight was no longer enough for her to gain a level, but Jin didn't fret and instead extended her claws to get ready. She had realized a few fights ago when a fast-moving fae got the drop on her that applying [Arcane Blade] to her own claws wouldn't cut her hands and made up for her lack of skill with other types of melee weapons.
When she finished the day, she resolved to have Guild Master Cain find her some clawed gauntlets for tomorrow's attempts to get her level up to an acceptable standard.
But now the fight in the second level was beginning, against a group of Stone Trolls, and she needed to focus or her partially depleted mana wouldn't last the fight.
While Jin fought her way up through the levels, Jessica, the much harassed Bunny God cleric, managed to activate another Quest.
[Quest: Solve Lady Anil's fertility problem.] Reward: bonus experience, 1 class-specific blessing.
"This quest says it will give me a Class Specific blessing, are those good?" She asked Nemu quietly while looking at the merchant whose appearance in her shop window appeared to have triggered the Quest.
"That's a blessing from your goddess. It should be good, but I don't know what it will be." Nemu explained and the Bunny started to think hard about her options to successfully complete the task she was assigned.
"I can't see anything wrong with her fertility though. I do have a spell that might help, but only if she has been mating very recently." Jessica muttered while walking towards the door.
"Hello? I have a Quest to help Lady Anil with a problem, do you have time to talk with me?" She asked and the Were Tiger female working the counter gave her a toothy smile.
"That's wonderful dear, but my daughter, Lady is busy upstairs with her new husband." The woman replied with a wink.
Nemu got a rather cunning smile on her face, but she didn't say anything before she pulled out a small wineskin from her inventory. "Jessica, why don't you bless this juice for them? It will help, I am certain."
Jessica, fully trusting her new friend's judgment, happily cast a fertility charm on the juice and handed it over to the mother, who ran upstairs with it.
"So, Lady was a name, not a title. That's a bit strange, but not everyone names their children the same." Jessica told Nemu while she waited for the Quest to complete.
"They were a bit upset that I barged in, but they've finished the juice between them." Mother Anil told them happily when she returned and Nemu began to panic.
"I didn't forget to tell her the dosage did I? Does anyone have healing portions?" The Felian asked in a hushed voice.
"Were they not supposed to drink it? Oh my. What do we do?" Mother Anil asked.
"Oh, they're supposed to drink it, the juice has long duration stamina restoring effects, and it is a potent aphrodisiac, Mythic Grade in fact. I meant to tell you they only needed a sip at a time. The whole flask at once is definitely going to be overkill, and they won't be leaving that room for a while." Nemu told the shopkeeper, but Jessica was too distracted by her System interface to notice the hushed conversation.
"Quest complete. She is guaranteed to be pregnant by tomorrow." The bunny declared happily, just as the sound of moaning and banging, followed by shattering glass came from outside.
People were stopping in the street with looks ranging from shock to cheering and laughter. The bed in the young couple's room had shifted and broken the window, dispelling the soundproof enchantment that had been placed on it.
Mother Anil made a gesture and the sound stopped, but the damage was done. City residents were dropping baby presents on her front step already, a local tradition to wish new couples a large family.
The two had married in secret because her extended family didn't approve of the groom, thinking he was too weak to father strong children.
"How long will the effects last?" The Were Tiger asked, but Nemu just shrugged.
"Eight hours at the most. If your family has a problem with him, just send them to me tomorrow. I'll tell them that Ancient Cain and the Bunny God approved the union."
Nemu backing up the union gave the merchant some peace of mind. Felian men tended to be significantly smaller than even the females of the Were Tiger clan, so there was some bias, especially from the Were Tiger men, who towered over the Felians and viewed them as weak and effeminate, not suitable to mate with the daughters of the Were Tiger Clan.
But the Guild Master and the Bunnies were both well respected, so if they said it would work out most of the family would give the couple a chance.
"We need to go, the bakery is open already." One of the Blood Dancers called from outside, her announcement instantly causing Laura to drag Jessica toward the door.
The cookies were best while warm and fresh, but the first batch of the morning sold out fast to families who wanted to pack them in lunches for students or those working away from the house. Laura wasn't going to miss out just because Nemu didn't understand portion sizes.
"Sorry for the trouble. Really, I am." Jessica called as she was dragged away, making the crowd in the street giggle and form theories about what was really going on in that apartment above the shop.
With the Blood Dancers forming a protective circle around Jessica, they could move much more quickly through town. The number of people stopping her for a blessing, or a chat, or simply wanting to pat the Bunny for luck dropped dramatically with the interference of the demons.
The four copies of Tracii, who were leading the group at the moment while Tasha brought up the rear, didn't get nearly as many requests now that word that they were a much harder to pat variety of Bunny had spread through the city.
That let them reach the bakery in only a few minutes, whereas the kilometer to downtown had taken over an hour.
"This whole city is crazy. Or is it just because I'm new?" Jessica complained, after trading a lucky head pat for a half dozen mint chocolate chip cookies at the bakery.
"It's definitely because you are new. Once everyone has met you at least once, they should calm down. Do you want us to arrange something so that you can meet everyone all at the same time? Maybe we can set aside some time to have a speech the next time we have a city-wide gathering dinner?
They happen pretty much every weekend lately, so it wouldn't be a problem to give you a few minutes to talk to everyone and let them get to know you all at once instead of one at a time." Laura suggested.
That sounded much better to Jessica. If she had known how popular she was going to be, she wouldn't have volunteered to head downtown her very first day here.
"Can we detour and see the farms instead? The Bunny Goddess also blesses farm animals and wildlife." She suggested, hoping to get away from the crowds.
"Good idea. The wolf who married the Druid girl, out at the edge of the valley makes great pie, and they've got puppies coming soon. That's like double the reason to visit." One of the Blood Dancers declared.
"Um, how do I tell you apart? I don't know any of your names yet." Jessica asked softly while finishing off her cookies.
"We haven't picked names yet. Once you do, they're finalized in the system, so we all want a really great and epic name, and we're willing to wait." One of the cleric-type Blood Dancers informed her, leaving Jessica even more confused.
"We will explain the whole thing as we walk. It's a bit of a convoluted story involving Ancients, extinct species, and a Demon King who loves children."
The Blood Dancer's description of how they came to exist as ten copies with no names made Jessica laugh, then hesitate before laughing even harder as she realized that they weren't joking. This world was definitely one that the Laughing God would approve of. Who else gifts resurrected children from an extinct species to a Demon King as adopted children without any warning at all?