Chapter 115
Kids, Always Ruing Your Life Goals
The day started off so well. I honestly knew that something bad was going to happen based on how well everything was going.
First, my Second Simulacrum, or SS as I like to refer to her had the fortune of finding yet another five hidden chambers to the dragon library. This was relayed to me both through my own internal feelings of contentedness that coursed from my own spiritual connection to myself.
Then my next clue was when I was forcefully ripped away from where I was. We were of course resting, because of, you guessed it, Mallory Sandbags, which turned out to be a fortunate thing.
Positional Switch.
Then the next thing I know, I feel the pull and release of Space magic around me. One second, I am on a tree branch waiting for Mallory to recover enough to begin flying again. Then the next second I am ripped through space at an exceptional pace and appear inside a library that glows golden to my senses.
There in the library I see, or rather now can see the fact that my SS counterpart managed to find not one but five different halls of magic.
I am about to ask what happened, when I realize that there is a pile of books that all have been closed, and on top is a piece of paper with gently flowing script. In an instant, I recognize the handwriting, as it is my own bubbly handwriting, or at least the handwriting I used to have as a teenager. Then my mind instantly reads the note, letting me know what the task I am supposed to do, or rather why my Second Simulacrum would pull me down here to work quickly.
Found the magical relay loop and managed to disable the traps.
There are five doors, with nearly infinite books, but I will need you to grab the important ones now.
Please hurry up, and get all the glowing books for us.
Truly,
Cass
P.S: Sorry about….Well, never mind, you will see when you get there.
That was it, my note to myself. Clearly the task assigned was easy to understand, there were a number of glowing books all of which could help us, or most importantly help out my new class that I am trying to improve upon, the secret class that I was more than a little excited about getting.
Realizing that there was some odd mechanism closing that was slowly closing all five hidden rooms of books, I decided to act. Mentally the books glowed to me, the only thing was this part of the great tree Yggdraspirit glowed so much that it was nearly impossible for me to see these hidden rooms, at least not with the limited time I originally had. That said, my second Simulacrum had enough time to not only find the traps but intuit how they were able to be bypassed. Seeing how sneaky even my own Simulacrum is, I couldn’t help but smile and almost feel like patting myself on the back.
“This world really isn’t ready for the three of me. MUWAHAHAHA!” I say to myself as I mentally expand my mind and my senses into each of the five secret rooms and begin Telekinetically lifting dozens of books off of all the shelves at once. Then quickly pull them into the main room next to the note.
Once that is done and all the glowing books are removed, I realize that there was a faint glowing residue that was left behind on an altar within each of the libraries. Just as I was wondering what I did to those empty altars, I realize that the trap doors have sprung themselves shut.
Then a second after the doors shut, I felt an instant pull and tug of magic. Then I feel the moment when my second Simulacrum once again forced me to hurl through space, with my own hard earned class Trait.
Positional Switch.
Poof.
I am back on the tree branch where I had been five? Five-ish minutes ago.
There is a moment of disorientation, then I see the moment when Mallory seems to recognize that it is the real me. Yet, for some reason she still has a look of confusion on her face.
“You are really weird.” Mallory said.
I hold up a finger as if to protest, but then realize that my Simulacrum also likely did something here, while it made me dance to its tune while in the Akashic library. Honestly, I would be really impressed with myself, if I didn’t feel that this was somehow a scheme against me in some way.
“I would try to argue agist that assessment, but I don’t even know where, nor how I could begin that counter argument.” I state, then defeatedly lower my own finger as I realize I somehow lost to myself and Mallory. Truly we are a formidable team.
“So, what exactly did I do?”
At that Mallory pauses, and then stares at me for a moment. Then I can see the moment a mischievous grin crosses her lips. Just seeing the smile lets me know I am in for it.
“Let me guess, I did something big, and you know but won’t tell me about it, so you can mock me later?” I ask.
Mallory pauses, trying to piece together the logic of my last statement, but then after a second, she seems to nod and smile brightly at the prospect.
“Yeah, that about sum it all up.” Mallory begins, and I am about to call it a day, when Mallory sees my willingness to drop the subject entirely states, “but bravo. I’d dare say this is probably one of the coolest things you have managed to do so far.”
Dang it, she is getting me. I think I even told her that I won’t see the quest notifications that my Simulacrums complete on behalf of us, I just see the experience gained once I rest and the experience is able to be shared with my entire soul. Thus, why I don’t know about the daily trash pickup, until I rest or invariably pass out from exhaustion, only to wake up with lots of levels and added experience.
I want to turn away, I want to call her childish, but my inner need to know has been sparked and, well I need to know.
“Fine, I’ll play,” I say dejectedly as I know this isn’t going to end well. I could read her mind with Telepathy, but that is an invasion of privacy and only something I would do if I was really annoyed with her.
Hearing me, Mallory all but dances on the spot, “oh good. Now let’s see, I will let you ask twenty questions. Also, no trying to read my mind.”
“What? How dare you even insinuate the thought of me trying to read your mind. But okay, so this is fairly impressive, I take it?” I ask.
Hearing that, Mallory nods emphatically, “yeah, you could definitely say that.”
“The most impressive thing I’ve done?”
“Yeah, I’d probably say so.”
“Wait, I cured the Blight, I can reforge magic cores, I am even possibly going to be the first Qi user in the world. And this is task done by my Simulacrum is more impressive?” I ask.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Hearing that Mallory pauses, and gives my words some serious consideration, before her face pauses. Then her face bursts into a giant gotcha’ smile. “Oh my goodness, you are jealous.”
“What, no I’m not.” I state, and I’m not. Well, kind of. Stupid Simulacrums having real eyes and being able to use my skills to disarm traps while being able to see in magically dense rooms that blind me. I could have found the secret trap too, had I been stuck in that room for two or more extra hours as well.
“You are too. Oh, that is so cute. Look at you.” Mallory all but squeals as she tries to reach out and pinch my cheeks again. I artfully dodge, or try to, but she has really high physical Attributes that make dodging her all but impossible.
“Stop that.” I say, knocking her hands away, then trying to distract her I continue. “All right, so it is big. Like world changing big? Or just Mallory thinks it’s cool big?”
“Oh, it is both, world changing big, and I think it is really cool big.” Mallory states.
This is so annoying, and I am trying to think about what it could be, then my mind begins putting the pieces together.
I remember with the last line that was almost an apology, but then said, “I will see when I get there.” Which is bad, as I could do a Positional Switch with my SS, where I would then have to leave a note for myself asking for more details. I’m about to do that, when I realize that Mallory would notice the sudden change and then tell my SS not to tell me anything. I could do a switch with my First Simulacrum, then from the Guild Hall on the second floor of this tower switch with my Akashic Librarian SS, then leave a note for the SS, switch back with the SS on the second floor, then switch out with the FS that would no doubt be told by Mallory not to do anything, but that would just be a lot of extra effort.
That said, I think I already have the first major clue as to what happened. There were five empty altars in each of the different library rooms.
Seeing that, I get a smile as I know how I can get Mallory to tell me exactly what happened, without doing my alternating Simulacrum shuffle. Work smarter not more convolutedly, Cass.
“I know what it is,” I begin, making sure to add more confidence to my words.
“You sure? You didn’t seem so certain a while ago.” Mallory notes, her tone still the mockingly playful tone I have grown so used to.
“Yes. I believe I have.” I begin, then begin to state the facts, as I focus, I realize that each library had a particular power set that fit with each room. “Yes, you were given the items on the altars.”
At that Mallory’s eyes bulge wide for a moment, a slight micro-expression of shock. This lets me know that I am on the right track. Then I continue, focusing on the facts of each room. While I only had seconds to look into each room, my memory is amazing, particularly where magic and discerning magical residue are involved.
“Yes, five of them, each dealing with a different form of magic. In fact, I will name the types of magic used right now, as there was one dealing with Fire, one with Water, one with Illusion, one with Divination, and one with Light.” I state confidently.
At this Mallory just pauses and then confirms, “you know I’m going to trust you on this, as I have no clue what types of magic they would be, nor how to figure that out.”
Well, this is good, as I was just guessing that the items from the specialized magical rooms were color coded to the magic. It made sense, the fact that each room would at least leave a magical residue on any item placed within them was beyond understandable.
“So you know what it is?” Mallory asks, trying to feel me out.
With this, I lay into my acting skills, trying to put on an air of confidence. I continue to describe what was left behind on the altars. Even seeing the shape of something missing can often provide clues as to what originally rested there. So thinking back, I realize that at the center of all five altars was a round shape, a dish? No wait, a sphere.
“Hmm,” I begin, trying to call up my most convincing detective speech who is just trying to get the murderer to confess to the crime that he has no method of proving. “Lets go over the facts and see if we can deduce everything, a sphere, on an altar, within a secret dragon library, hidden away from prying eyes for millennia. An item so rare that it would likely change the landscape of the world. Gee, I wonder what it could be.” I state.
With that, Mallory looks defeated. “So you already guessed?”
With that I nod, “it was kind of obvious.”
“Yeah, especially when you lay it out like that.” Mallory stated, then she said, “but still kudos to you for finding live dragon eggs.”
I nod, knowing that I could get her to squeal if I just pressed correctly. I try not to act, but then realize what she said.
“WAIT! Live dragon eggs?” I nearly shouted, as I felt my heart begin to race with all the implications of this. Dragon eggs, and there were five of them. What?
I begin to think about everything, then realize that yeah, of course the only items that could fit all the descriptions I had were dragon eggs. Now suddenly I feel stupid for not realizing the answer myself sooner.
“Oh, you didn’t know they were alive?” Mallory noted.
“What?” I begin, shaking my head at the sudden thought, then realize she gave me the out I needed. “Yes, I figured with the dragon eggs being here in the spirit realm they would be dead.”
At that Mallory looked at me for a second, no doubt trying to see if I didn’t know the answer. Which I totally didn’t, but I am not going to tell her that.
Realizing she is waiting for me to make a move; I lock eyes with her. I even go so far as to cock my head to the side and make sure our eyes line up, or line up as close as possible to hers.
“You’re lying.” Mallory stated.
“Rude,” I say, but then realize she needs this one. “What makes you say that?”
“Because your mouth is moving.”
“You know, there are nicer ways to say you love me.”
“GAH!” Mallory says looking exasperatedly at me. “So, you didn’t know?”
“I mean, clearly I was close.” I say, trying to meet her halfway.
With that Mallory pauses frustrated with herself for clearly not dragging this out a bit further. Then I begin, “also, it wasn’t very nice of you trying to keep the fact that I discovered a way to bring dragons back to the world.”
With that, Mallory looks slightly abashed, “yeah, well I would have had to have brought you in. Apparently, your Simulacrum knew the eggs were alive, but couldn’t figure out a way to spark them to life.”
Hearing that, Mallory pulled out the golden egg, the one with a clear affinity to Light magic and held it out for me to inspect. Shaking my head, I realize that I really need a spatial storage bag like hers, one that could apparently keep eggs alive, but they are all so expensive. No so much that I couldn’t afford one, but that my Broke flaw would make owning one a nightmare.
Seeing the egg, I realize instantly that there are holes where I can easily infuse Life magic into the mix to get the little life inside to grow.
Just holding the egg, I see a quest marker pop up, letting me know that a timer has been met.
Hidden Quest Found: Rebirth of the Dragon Eggs: You have found five dragon eggs that need to be hatched and let loose within the real world to flourish. Take the eggs, hatch them, then release them into the wilds of the real world. Current progress 0 / 5. Rewards: Experience, Title(s), Badge(s), variable.
Seeing the quest prompt, I couldn’t help but feel excited. There were stories of dragons that had existed, but most were hunted out to extinction over the years. Even those that had at one point been domesticated were all hunted down by people who were jealous of the beast riders and wanted their bodies and hides for spell components. To see that the game wanted me to not only hatch these five, but then release them into the real world seemed odd, right? Though I guess this was part of the game’s way of telling me that I needed to do bigger and better things outside of here.
Seeing the egg and the prompt, I realize that it is likely time. Reluctantly I nod and hand back the egg to Mallory.
“You aren’t going to hatch it?”
“Not on a random tree branch overlooking oblivion, no.” I say, then gesture to the wide-open sky beneath us.
Seeing that, Mallory looks over the edge, then nods in agreement.
“Good point.” Mallory stated. Wanting to change the subject I add my own comment.
“So you ready to go to floor two hundred already and hatch some eggs before we scramble?”
With that Mallory just looks at me, then shakes her head slightly.
“What too soon?” I ask, as a slight smile, but the moment does feel a little forced.
“An egg pun, really?”
With that I let out a sigh, as I know she is right.
There is a moment of silence between the two of us. Then finally Mallory asks the all-important question, “so, Doctor, are you ready to collect your Second Doctorate?”
Hearing that, I pause and then smile as I realize we are so close, just one floor away from reaching the vaunted 200th floor and getting my second doctorate degree, one that will forever mark me as someone capable of doing Magical Enchantment Surgery. Just thinking about that, I realize once again that the degree is just a piece of paper telling others that I can do what I already know how to do. Still, though, it is important as there will be bonuses associated with the soul bound item that will be invaluable to me in the future.
Then just as I am about to say yes, I get a message that makes me feel like I am on cloud nine.
New Class Claimed: Akashic Qi Master (Unique-Personal-Non-Trainable-Non-Transferable Class): Current Class bonuses: Bronze Qi Manipulation, Golden Qi Movement, Bronze Qi Fighting, Divine Qi Cultivation, Golden Coreless Qi Cultivation. Class Bonuses: +2 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +1 Attractiveness, +1 Intelligence, and +2 Willpower per level.
Apparently my second simulacrum had finally speed read her way through the pile of books I provided and managed to unlock my third class. And well, it was pretty amazing, if I was saying so myself. No clue what the gold and bronze medals for my skills meant, but they sounded cool.
“YES!” I shouted in excitement, as I got an amazing class right from the start. One that was no doubt empowered by my Legendary Bloodline and the six draconic blessings I had just received and were still active within me.
Then I got the next message, letting me know that this class might have been a set up.
World Announcement: The First Qi Cultivator Reemerges: The vaunted class of Qi cultivators has now been made into a playable class. Go seek the hidden master and find their secrets to unlock the new class and field of study.
“Yuck.” I say, realizing that I will likely have people seeking me out to train them in this odd class that I just got. Suddenly the message of the class made sense. Also, it partly explained why I didn’t have a title associated with my class, as that would imply that I was a class trainer for my class, which cannot be transferred to anyone else. Still, there is some type of chicanery going on here.
“Come on, let’s just go.” I say to Mallory taking off as I am ready to puzzle out what is going on. There is just so much, clearly I am meant to take this Qi master class outside of this tower, something that is especially obvious with the world message of me being a Qi Teacher, and the suddenly found five dragon eggs by my simulacrum, that just so happened to have appeared right now.
“You, okay?” Mallory asks.
At that, I want to complain, but then realize that, “I don’t know.”
And I don’t, there is just too much that is going on all at once. Then I get the final message that causes me to pause mid-flap, causing Mallory to crash into me.
“Are you okay?” Mallory asks, grabbing onto me, as I just kind of float away from the random contact.
I want to respond, yes, but I end up shaking my head no, as I am met with my last puzzling system message for the day.
Congratulations: Your lineage of the Esoteric Arcanist Elves has been continued by your child: Jackie (Cruise), would you like for them to take on your last name of Spiritlight?
And just like that, I felt my mind shatter as my daughter was here, with me, and just like the first time when she was born, I realized I was completely unprepared for this. Grabbing hold of Mallory, I state the first thing that comes to mind with this news.
“I don’t even have my degree yet.”