Chapter 176
New Dog, Old Tricks
I was sleeping in a cloud, a big soft fluffy cloud that seemed to surround me and pull me in, until I was floating weightlessly.
Only after a second of this, when my mind started to fully awaken and more of my senses came online did I realize that I was not in fact floating in the clouds, rather I was resting on the ample bosom, hair wise at least, of Ms. Kujo.
What happened? How did I get here?
Those were my first thoughts, when I realized I might have been slightly ambushed by everything that happened over the past few days. Everything from beginning the process of awakening my bloodline again by absorbing part of the Mirror of the Dead. To finding a long-lost library dungeon, to taking down a world boss, or at least initial zone boss dragon monster, to hitting my five points needed to begin linking our previously cleared land masses into one giant Pangea type parcel of purified land that will be claimed by our guild, to my most recent event of teaching a dire phase wolf to cultivate.
I had apparently been successful in my endeavor, as Qi is easily flowing throughout the body of the very pregnant dire phase wolf. Well, she is not very pregnant, at least not yet. But she does have thirteen pups in her belly, which means that any growth at all by the pups is highly visible. This rapid growth meant that there would likely be complications that would arise if we were not careful. Thus, my idea of teaching a dire phase wolf to cultivate.
Cultivating should improve not only the overall health and stability of Ms. Kujo, but allow her excess energy to be siphoned off by the pups who would then be more powerful.
Granted part of my concern was from the fact that I had a quest that provided bonuses for bringing all the pups to full term. But I am not doing all of this just because of the quest, rather I am taking the quest as a sign of the true possibilities before me, meaning that the world effectively told me that saving all thirteen pups and the mother was possible.
Hidden Quest Activated: Saving the Litter (Ongoing): You managed to save Ms. Kujo’s litter by preventing a pup from dying due to prenatal deficiencies. Continue to look after the litter as time goes on to earn an even greater reward. Current remaining pups in the litter (13 / 13). Rewards: Experience, variable.
Re-looking at the quest, I realize that this quest did not care at all about Ms. Kujo, or at least I didn’t get a bonus for saving her. Regardless, I knew that I couldn’t get all thirteen pups to full term without Ms. Kujo surviving, so I was going to assume it was a given that she will survive this ordeal.
Gentle rise up.
Gentle lower down.
While on Ms. Kujo’s chest, I feel the rhythmic rising and falling motion caused by her now steady breathing. I think that was how I ended up here, I wanted to hear her heartbeat. Though I really didn’t need to do so with my third eye, I know I wouldn’t do anything as shameless as take advantage of my position as a doctor and try to sprawl out and rest on the extremely soft pregnancy fur of a dire phase wolf.
Nope, there must have been some reason why I am here, but for the life of me I cannot remember why.
Even her front left paw appears to have been draped over me for some time. The only reason I recognize this is due to the fact that I am now slightly colder. Had I been under the arm of the dire phase wolf?
A quick view around showed that Kujo was still there valiantly watching over the two of us. His back turned to us, but his body was positioned that he could make a quick sweep and see both myself and Ms. Kujo with a quick glance.
Though I can tell that Kujo has seen my movement change and that was enough for him to look at me, well the two of us, but mainly me.
Seeing him there, I decide to try to speak to him mentally, as I don’t quite want to leave my fluffy mattress, at least not yet.
“Good morning,” I state mentally, using Telepathy.
“And a good afternoon to you.” Kujo answers back, a playful tone to his voice.
“Is it already afternoon?” I ask, realizing that this is part of that non-twenty-four portion of being blind, where your entire circadian rhythm gets thrown off. For a while I had beat this, but recently with my forcing myself to new limits, I have been having a harder time keeping track of times. I really need that watch that I was going to make for myself, the one that could survive even my crazy lifestyle.
“Yes, though just barely.” Kujo replied back mentally, while looking straight up into the sky.
“Can I ask how I ended up here?” I ask, trying and failing to find a nicer way to ask how I actually ended up sleeping in the most comfortable bed ever.
“Haha. Once you taught Ms. Kujo to cycle energy within her, you then noted she needed to practice for hours. Telling her that she needed to work on being able to perform both Meditation, and Circulation at the same exact time. Then you proceeded to demonstrate, where you sat down and promptly fell asleep after an hour. At that point Melisaphant found you to be too cute just sitting there sleeping while sitting straight up in your meditative pose, and gently grabbed you, then placed you on her chest, protecting you with her paw, before she too passed out. Her last words to me were for me to guard you two.” Kujo said.
At that I realized Ms. Kujo had a name this entire time and I never once thought to mentally ask them what it was. Realizing that, I almost felt bad for what I had done.
“Oh wow, sorry. This entire time I’ve just been referring to you two as Mr. and Ms. Kujo, what is your name?” I ask Kujo.
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Chuckle.
At that Kujo laughed, well more of a deep guttural chuffing that only wolves can perform.
“Worry not, thanks to you, both Melisaphant and I are in fact Kujos, a fact that was not lost on us. A fact that we know is due mainly, thanks to you who was the first one to use the title and after a certain point others of your faction also began referring to us as the same, making sure the title stuck.” Kujo replied.
At that, I paused for a moment as I mentally tried to comprehend the information that I was receiving, then paused as I realized that I had given them a last name. Melisaphant was the first name, a name they had, while Kujo was now her last name. I pause for a second, as I realize this is almost the exact opposite of how I received my last name, where an NPC, or non-player character, gave me my last name thanks to my efforts. My last name, Spiritlight, makes it so I automatically start off as neutral with all spirits, and have an easier time when dealing with ghosts and undead.
Now I realize that not only can we do the same for indigenous creatures of this world, but I have already done so.
With a shudder, I realize this might be why there were so many epic level monsters at first, as anytime a monster managed to kill a regressor, they would generally come up with a nickname for the creature. Then as time went on and more people died to the creature the nickname would be spread about, thus increasing the overall power and capabilities of the creature, thus all but ensuring it would be tougher to kill.
And just like that, I realized two things. First, I realized that I had taken Kujo from being just a regular monster of these parts and elevated him to the status of a superstar that was of elite level, meaning he and Ms. Kujo both could take out creatures that were larger and more powerful than they were normally. And secondly, I realized that if I wanted to, I could create an army of superpowered monsters to guard our territory by giving them names that elevated them above the rest of society.
I am simultaneously impressed by this little part of the system, and also feel that it purposefully makes the game a bit tougher, but in a sneaky way.
“So you both are Kujos?” I ask, making sure I have this correct.
“Yes, both my last name and Melisaphant’s last name are Kujo. Speaking of which, I would like to thank you for that, as I have noticed the change since you gave me the name.” Kujo begins, or should I now say Mr. Kujo?
“If you don’t mind me asking, can you tell me what changes have come about due to this name? That is of course, only if you feel comfortable with this, I fully understand that this might be too much to ask.” I state, only after asking the question do I realize how it is effectively asking what your new weaknesses are. While I don’t really care about finding weaknesses of enemies, I do know that some people make it their business to see what the strengths and weaknesses of zone monsters are, which the Kujos now automatically apply given their named status. Still, being able to name an animal and that name giving that creature power is a really awesome mechanic, that surprisingly isn’t that well known. That or at least this mechanism isn’t documented that well. Probably due to the exact reasons that I just noted, as most people that would name their pets would want to keep them safer. Then if a monster was named, Snaggletooth, White-fang, or something equally pretentious, most would note the attack vectors and methods used by the creature when explaining what happened.
Chuckle.
“Hahaha. You are too funny. But, worry not, while we might be warry of most members of your forces, Melisaphant and I have decided to place our full trust in you,” Kujo begins, and like that I feel both elation and nervous from his comment. Elation at the fact that they both clearly seem to appreciate my efforts to help them, and well thinking about it, I appreciate their help as well. Then nervous of course comes from the fact that I might not be worthy of such praise, I mean full trust is a lot, but fortunately that thought is cut off as Kujo goes on.
“The surname of Kujo bestows an Intelligence and Innate Language sense. The Intelligence allows us to come up with complex thoughts, and fight patterns that help us limit the damage we sustain during battle. While the language sense part allows us to listen into conversations and understand what is being said. This means we know what people are saying to and about us, even though we normally cannot reply.” Kujo answered mentally.
“That is so cool. I knew you two were too smart for your own goods.” I state, and Teleport to be next to Kujo, well Mr. Kujo now. Going to be weird calling him that though, as in my mind he will always be just Kujo.
With that, I go over to Kujo and begin petting his soft fur as well. In comparison, his fur has more of a rugged bristly feel to it, nowhere near the soft fluffy feel of Ms. Kujo. I wonder if that is a delicacy issue due to her being female, or if there is something about her being pregnant that causes an endorphin to be released that naturally softens the fur? It would make sense that you would want the fur to be softer, as those pups would need to be able to sleep comfortably next to mother, but still this is a lot to comprehend.
Sometimes, I wonder just how the developers made this world feel so real. Even now, even though my body is dead, I know that if I tried, I could reach out and connect to Cassidy.
Somehow in the dark recesses of my mind, I know of and can still feel little Cassidy out there. It is an odd sensation and one that I still don’t fully know how to comprehend.
Pet, pat, pet.
While getting into the gentle rhythm of petting Kujo, my mind begins to drift off.
Only after a few seconds of this, do I realize that something is wrong with Kujo. Well no, he is perfect, just seemingly less perfect than Ms. Kujo.
It takes me a minute to realize what exactly the difference between the two is, until I realize he isn’t cultivating.
At this, I realize there will likely be a power discrepancy between both male and female of the group. While I am all for women’s empowerment, I can’t help but realize that at this rate Ms. Kujo, or rather Melisaphant, might just outgrow Kujo in the future.
Not wanting to break up a really good relationship, I decide to take matters into my own hands.
“Kujo, are you ready to learn to cultivate?” I ask Kujo through our Telepathic mind link.
Excited tail wagging and jumping.
At this Kujo gets up from his seated position and immediately begins prancing about, ready to receive the same or rather slightly modified set of instructions that I gave to Ms. Kujo a few hours ago.
“Okay, this might take a bit, but I think with our mind link I should be able to direct you a bit easier than it was for me to teach Ms. Kujo.”
Then just like that, I showed him his body, I showed him the way my mind interpreted the energy within his body, and then particularly how the golden motes of Qi within his body were just floating about freely.
“Now your first job, is to mentally reach out for these golden particles within your body and just try to feel them.”
With that Kujo let his big long tongue hang from the left side of his snout as he focused in concentration. I tried to keep myself from laughing, or expressing my enjoyment at the sight of Kujo focusing with such concentration.
Fortunately, after a few minutes, Kujo who had sat through and listened to me verbally telling these same exact things to Ms. Kujo earlier in the day seemed to not only accept what I was saying, but he seemed to anticipate the next step.
Then like that, Kujo’s will could be seen slowly reaching out and wrapping itself around the first golden mote of Qi.
“Good, now drag that mote of Qi to the next nearest mote of Qi. Good, now the next and the next. Yes, just like that. Now that we have a good-sized portion available, our next task is to get your body to begin rotating this energy on a given path. You should find paths that are both easy to move through and those that are more difficult. If you have had an injury, then there might be a lot of resistance, depending on how severe the initial injury you sustained was. Good, now focus on just moving your Qi around loosely throughout your body. This will get you the Coreless Cultivation skill. From there we will work on getting you the Meditation, so you can do this on your own, without any guidance from me. Then we will focus on developing your core, like Ms. Kujo now has. But we will only work on the core, once you have the basics of circulation and the paths within your body that you wish for energy to flow ingrained in your very being. Then from there we will expand.”
And like that my attempts to create monsters that could cultivate on their own began in earnest. With both parents taken care of, I was certain that either the pups would learn how to cultivate naturally, being stuck in the womb of a cultivator and all. That or, they could easily learn by watching their parents, or more importantly by me acting as their teacher and protector.
Honestly, I couldn’t wait to see what my little cultivating god-pups would look like. Even now, I imagine stealthy ninja pups sneaking into places, disabling enemy forces that might dare invade our territory, and then sneaking out just as covertly as they appeared.
Then I could take time to teach them how to fight using their Qi, making it so infusing Qi into each paw swipe was both natural and convenient for their self-defense. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t think of ways that I could be a good positive influence on them, during their life. At this, I was determined to be the best godmother for these murder pups I could be.
Only after a second did I realize one minor, but possibly important piece of information. Namely the fact that I never asked if I could be the godmother for these pups.
“Before I forget, is it too late to be the designated godmother for these pups?” I ask.
“You want to be a fairy godmother?” Kujo asked, confusion evident in his voice.
I pause, making sure to take a deep breath before I give my first response to that. Then, realize that maybe being considered the fairy godmother for these pups wouldn’t be such a bad thing. At that, I answer hesitantly, not wanting this name to be used by too many people, but the idea of being a fairy godmother, versus a regular godmother was really just a matter of where you sat on the power scale. As such, I was not overtly against being considered the pup’s fairy godmother, so I answered as such.
“Maybe…”