Chapter 178
Let Sleeping Dragons Lie
I am in the process of watering my sixth connection spot, which would attach three more plots of cleared and cultivated lands together.
It is a times like these, that I realize just how great Mallory is at running a guild and how I would not want to do any of these things that she does. Just dealing with logistics and people would be too much for me, especially if I wanted to spend that particular day going out and learning something new, or experimenting with one of my crazy theories.
Actually, even teaching is fun, as it forces me to truly internalize what it is that I am doing, in order to make sure that what I am doing is the correct process. Often, being a teacher has taught me that the way I prefer to do things is not necessarily the easiest way, but rather the easiest way for me to do things.
Honestly, I like that, as it means that there are many ways to get to the same answer.
Take for instance casting simple ecosystem changing spells that not only rain down purifying water that gets rid of an ailment that was thought to be impossible to remove, but also makes the lands extremely fertile and livable.
One could assume that since I am on my sixth casting of this spell today, that I might know what I am doing, and that having to move and set up amplification pillars is just a waste of time, money, and resources, but what do I know. Those other six mages that are helping in this task have all successfully cleared their first cluster spot and have now moved onto their second spots.
While those second spots have not been cleared, they have all finally started the process and apparently one of those mages is apparently close to completing his second spot. It doesn’t help that the mage that is the farthest along is the insufferable Arch Sky Mage Belton, well perhaps that is me being too biased. Now that he can’t talk to or about me, thanks to my winning a magical duel against him, he isn’t nearly so annoying.
In fact, the fact that he had to listen to me talking to others made it so he seemed finally interested in what I was teaching and might have something to do with his current progress in comparison to the other mages.
Of course, this could all just be wishful thinking on my part, but I have to dig for hope where I can.
As for Zero, I find that he has taken the form of a skin tattoo to be interesting. To my senses he all but glows with a dense energy that is both similar to my own and different. It is clear that Zero is not a cultivating dragon, which I feel is a shame given that he is in the form of an eastern worm-like dragon that can float. So is that me just being prejudice in assuming he should be a cultivator? Or does it mean he can eventually cultivate if I show him how to do so? I don’t know.
I do know that he has part of my soul in him, but recently he has been extremely tired. I don’t know if it is months of being forced to stay in the Mage’s guild hall that has made him complacent, or if there is something deeper to him. All I do know is that he has taken nap time to an extreme.
Though I did find something interesting about him. Or rather about this new power of his, as apparently it is a new class specific trait.
Yes, like me, Zero has his own unique class that can grow and evolve based on our shared achievements. Meaning every milestone that I reach he too reaches, which kind of makes sense given that he levels up at the exact same rate as I do.
Name: Zero Spiritlight Race: Ethereal Spirit Dragon Class: Cassiopeia Spiritlight’s Familiar (Unique) Level: 262
Yes, Zero only gets a level that is equivalent to my primary class, meaning he doesn’t get all the levels and attributes from secondary and tertiary classes, which means he is drastically less powerful than I am. Especially with all my levels that have been enhanced by my Legendary Bloodline bonuses.
Still, from his open mind and spiritual connection to me, I was able to reverse engineer a look at his personal information.
Well not all of it, as I was fairly certain I saw places where the Attributes should be, but all I saw were random glyphs that seemed to make no real sense.
Instead, what I found was that for reaching level 200 of the unique class Cassiopeia Spiritlight’s Familiar, Zero got a new class Trait, which he used for a unique Trait called: Bonded Linking Tattoo.
Bonded Linking Tattoo: The ultimate form of trust. In this form the familiar will bond with their companion as a tattoo that rests directly over the skin of the companion’s body. In this state, the familiar will be able to integrate their personal Attributes life force into the body of their companion. As a living tattoo, a fraction of the familiar’s natural health and vitality are shared with the companion. Additionally, the familiar enters a trance like state where they can help with regenerating all missing energies of the bonded companion. In this state, the familiar is even able to substitute their own sleep achieved in this meditative state for the sleep of their companion.
Note: In this form the familiar is considered to be a physical component of the companion. Any damage directly to the tattooed portion of skin will directly injure the familiar. If too much damage to the tattoo is accrued, then the familiar and by extension the companion will die.
Seeing the Trait, a tear formed in my eye.
Honestly, it was the most selfless act I could think of. With that one Trait, I didn’t have to worry about leaving behind Zero when I use my personal Teleportation, a fact that I proved moments ago. Similarly, it meant that he would be by my side constantly.
Also, the description of the decreased Attributes would likely explain why I couldn’t find an exact value for his Attributes as they were all minimized due to merging with my own.
I think about it, but then another thought hits me and I realize, did he take this Trait just to justify sleeping more?
If so, then I must admit that this is likely the most intelligent use of a Trait to avoid physical labor I have ever seen. In fact, he gets sympathy points while napping, I don’t want to think that Zero did this just to be lazy and sleep all day. But if he did, then hats off to him, as this was a well-played movement of using the world to help you get what you want.
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For a moment I thought about this exchange. For a moment I wonder if my using Zero to be an artificial Attribute enhancer and extra power source that can help stave off the effects of being tired are truly worth the loss of missing Zero. Then I realized that today, I will likely need all the help I can get.
At this moment, I will let Zero sleep as I can tell being in the mortal realm truly is impacting him harder than he would like to let on. In fact, if it weren’t for my Ethereal Healer Class’s Trait Death Shroud, then Zero just by being here would be subject to continual damage over time as his spiritual body would be slowly ripped to pieces by the opposing energies that exist here in the mortal realm.
In a way, I could understand their being a slow adjustment period. As even Mallory seemed to have a time needed to acclimate to the spiritual environment of the Arcanarus Tower, before she was able to be of assistance there. Even when she was going, it was clear that she was restrained quite a bit, not enough to really slow her down, but enough that comparing the her from the tower to here was a huge difference.
Odd, but that is the way these realms work. Honestly, I wonder if I change at all in either realm? As a mortal would I be better suited to living in the mortal realm? Or would my class and strange inclination and the fact that I have a spirit familiar make it so I was more at home in the spirit realms?
I honestly have no clue, but I guess there could be ways to test out my capabilities in both realms. Also, I would be interested to see the effect of Golden Qi in the Spirit realm, compared to the effects of Spirit Qi here in the mortal realm. Something that I can only test if I am constantly shifting between both realms at a standard rate.
Actually, with Zero being able to sleep for me, I could get the absolute most out of my climbing and teaching experiences. Meaning I could devote twelve hours of the day to exploring different floors of the Arcanarus Tower, and the other twelve hours could be spent here working on different projects that might or might not directly affect my advancements.
The only problem would be that my mind wouldn’t synchronize nightly, meaning the experience my familiars gained from reading would likely come at one point when I finally collapsed from exhaustion, but that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Right now, it takes a stupid amount of experience to level, meaning the roughly three thousand experience points I get each day from my Simulacrum’s reading rare and exotic books doesn’t mean much to me on a daily basis. Yet, the cumulation of ten to thirty days of reading experience would show dramatic changes.
Of course, I still will not allow myself to fully begin exploring the tower, until I get a third Simulacrum. Something that I think could, or should happen once we complete this epic level Guild Land Reclamation quest. By exceeding the standards for the quest by so much, I can’t help but hope that part of the variables will include me being able to get a third simulacrum.
That or if this isn’t enough, then hopefully the bringing the pups to full term will be enough.
If those two don’t work then well, I will have to find something else to do, but I figure between the two of them, particularly with how wonky the rewards to these quests seem to be, I should be able to get unlock a third Simulacrum that is roughly a fourth of my total spiritual essence. Granted that means that I will have three additional ways to die, well four if you include Zero, but so far two are relatively safe. The only one that would be remotely vulnerable would be the Simulacrum that got stuck wherever I randomly chose to rest for the night in the Arcanarus Tower.
Thinking about my Simulacrum being left to their own devices, I sigh as I remember the last time, I trusted a Simulacrum. I was there in the middle of the desert, and my Simulacrum apparently took it upon herself to begin roaming about the Blighted desert region aimlessly. Fortunately, I managed to get out of there, but I need to make sure that something like that does not happen again.
At first, I had wanted to leave Zero there with the Simulacrum, but that might be too much for the little guy, particularly if he is now sleeping for two as my tattoo.
No, I will need to come up with a plan that both makes sense, and feels safe. That said, my Simulacrums all have regular eyesight, meaning they are effectively blind, except to things like seeing the sun, being able to tell directions based on the orientation of the sun, and likely being able to color coordinate their clothes for the day. You know, having normal eyesight might not be that bad.
Chime.
I was so lost in my thoughts from casting the same monotonous spell for the sixth time that I almost missed the notice of completing my sixth point.
Acres of land claimed (351 / 20).
With a quick check at the timer, I see that we are still making good time, relatively.
Time left to defend your land (12 hours 02 minutes 58 seconds).
Yes, even with my taking two quick naps, teaching a pregnant dire phase wolf to cultivate, and wrestling a random behemoth sized dragon, I still managed to complete more than half of my maximum of eleven total merging points. Soon, once the last mage completes his second integration spot, an additional 129 acres will be added to the total. Of course, this mage is one of the slower ones, so this will likely take some time, but will be worth it once he completes his second casting.
As for me, it is about time that I go to my seventh spot, of my maximum of eleven that I somehow knew I would need to complete for the day.
Poof.
Poof.
Poof.
Within no time I get to the spot, it has a marker that notes (Burns 3, Spiritlight 7). Yes, this would have been the third spot for Burns, or my seventh point. Since I am the first to get here, the honor of converting this place falls on my shoulders.
Letting out a breath, I focus my mind, only to realize that this is slightly easier than I expected. With a start, I wonder how much of this is my comfort with the spell, and how much of this is actually based on the bonuses and regenerative boosts that are now being provided by a sleeping, I mean Meditating, Zero.
Thunderclap-crackle.
In just a few seconds, I already have the baseline formation of the Cleansing Rain Clouds forming in the air, then in a few more seconds I have the spell going from a two dimensional plane, to a three dimensional form, and am about to begin weaving more and more energy into the spell structure, when I hear it.
Well, maybe hear is the incorrect term, as feel is a better response.
GRAHGHTHAHHHAAA!
A mind piercing shriek lashes out over the lands, as I feel the challenge for an attack coming.
In a second, I instantly wonder if that dragon from the east suddenly got free, but no this attack was different, this attack was far more projected and had a slightly deeper resonance of wind magic than the first dragon had.
At a glance of the magical energy being used, I could tell that this creature was similar to, but also different from the earlier dragon we face.
A quick notice of the time remaining showed why this creature chose now of all times to appear.
Time left to defend your land (11 hours 59 minutes 53 seconds).
Yes, we apparently hit the twelve hour mark and spawned a new monster to face.
Then just as I had this thought, a quest finally appeared for this secondary event that was happening in conjunction with our main land reclamation quest.
Hidden Guild Quest Unlocked: Mastering the Cardinal Protectors: Your Guild, the Midnight Hunters, has begun the process of conquering the four key protectors of the great wastelands. Legend has it that if the four Cardinal Protectors fall, then the monsters that plague the wastelands will be free to spread their pestilence and attack the inhabited territories of the world. You must protect your lands, while not fully destroying the Cardinal Protectors of the Wastelands. Current status of protectors that have been subdued, but are still living (1 / 4). Rewards: Experience, Guild Title, variable.
Then just like that, I realized that I had yet another quest that I could use to help earn the right for a third Simulacrum.
Realizing the hidden quest, and feeling the direction of the obvious challenge roar I felt, I decided to follow the force of the roar and head towards the second monster that we will be forced to subdue as part of our land subjugation quest.
While the difficulty for these quests has risen, I can’t help but feel that this is a challenge given directly to me, as a way to help me achieve my goals. Not for the first time, I wonder exactly how much of my internal thoughts the world picks up on and attempts to use against me on a daily basis, but at the same time, I do realize that even if the world does tend to use my own thoughts against me, it at least rewards me in a suitable manner when it does so. As such, I can’t really complain.
That or I can complain, but only I and the world will apparently hear these complaints.
Poof.
Poof.
Poof.
In just a dozen jumps I make it to the end of our cleansed territory.
I am about to pause and wait for another sigh, but out of the periphery of my detection range, I notice a large contingent of ghost warriors charging forth from the purified lands into the unconverted portions of Blighted desert lands. Seeing them, I realize that they are heading in a northeastern direction from me. Figuring that these spirit warriors would have little reason to go into the desert unless it was to protect the lands we are claiming, I decide to go closer to them, while also maneuvering ahead of the formation of soldiers.
There just three jumps later, I finally see it, a much bigger, but larger monster that just radiates danger and power.
Worse, this creature seems to be more ephemeral than the dragon we just faced. A dragon that if I had to give it a magical categorization would have to fall into the realm of earth magic, now that I think about it.
I realized that with these directions there might be a slight theme now, realizing that water and fire would likely be next, in that exact order, but that didn’t mean much now when I realized my plan up to this point had been to punch the creature until it submitted again.
The only problem, how do you punch the wind?
I was contemplating this, when I saw another massive form begin to appear from behind me. Then like that, I realized things might get far worse, before they get better.