Chapter 282
Hidden Updates
(20 Minutes Ago)
“Okay, now that that is over,” Mallory stated while realizing I didn’t have any additional information to give her. She went into her clearly planning mode.
This was that look she got when she pressed her lips together in a form of intense focus, and would undoubtedly come up with the best solution for how we could get out of the situation we currently found ourselves in.
“How do you suggest we get home, knowing that we only have fifteen minutes to get back into place before the world will start up again?” Mallory asked.
“Wait, what? We have fifteen minutes?” I ask, suddenly realizing I have been given the equivalent of five days’ worth of Confidentiality all at once, and worse, I was apparently not prepared for this, and not aware.
“Yeah, it was our quest reward for completing the World Quest,” Mallory stated in that, are you dense voice of hers.
It was about this time that I realized I had been holding back my notifications for long that it apparently became second nature to me.
“Wait, one second,” I state while holding up a finger and I let the flood of completed but never claimed quests pour out of me like a burst dam that is set to flood the lowlanders.
Hidden Quest Complete: Forming a Perfect Qi Body: You have advanced your cultivation base to include your entire body. Not only have you resolidified your previous gains, but you have experienced exponential growth of your previous benefits gained from your Qi reservoirs. Rewards: Tier V Perfect Qi Body (already provided), Experience, Skill.
With that one I had already gained the perfect Qi Body, as such it was just a skill that was the variable.
New Skill Gained: Perfect Qi Body Enrichment has increased to level 1. Perfect Qi Body Enrichment is a Strength X3, Dexterity X3, Endurance X3, Attractiveness X1, Perception X1, Intelligence X1, and Willpower X1 based skill.
Looking back, I can see that the skill being offered was pretty impressive, and also likely meant as an encouragement for me to allow more of these quests completion prompts to go through without any issues.
That said, it was bad form to offer me a skill only once I completed the quest. Rather than while performing the quest as most of my skills come. Still, I was not going to look a gift Skill in the mouth, particularly one that seemed to focus on me improving my body and the way energy flowed through my body.
There was a flash of numbers, but the number kept spinning up wildly as the next completed quest details popped up, and flared to life before my eyes.
Hidden Class Quest Complete: Making the Kujos the Ultimate Pack on the Blighted Plains (Ongoing): You have helped the pack of the Kujos expand their dominance of the Blighted Plains by joining two different packs together under one super pack. Rewards: Experience, new Mythical Level Class Available: Mythical Pack Creator (already provided).
This time I only got the experience as I managed to pawn off the class to Penelope, again I need to thank her for the major save there.
Last thing I want to do is be left in charge of caring for pets and being named a dark lord, due to my apparent creation of sacrificial altar networks, due to my want to have a clean dog hair free house when I get home.
Then the next Quest completion notice came.
Hidden Quest Updated (Completed): Saving the Litter of Godpuppies (Ongoing): You managed to save Ms. Kujo’s litter by preventing a pup from dying. You have also proven yourself to be a stable member of the Kujo family, and have asked for the ability to be the fairy godmother for the future pups. Pups that survived (13 / 13). Rewards: Experience, Bloodline Evolution Perk (Fairy Godmother) activated, healthy birth bonus.
Yep, onto quests from earlier today, so we are finally getting close to ending this, though I still must go through the minutia associated with each quest completion.
Bloodline Evolution Perk (Fairy Godmother): Ability to bless a child at birth, or before their teenage years. Type of blessing depends on level of involvement Fairy Godmother takes in the child’s life. The earlier the blessing applied, the more powerful and variable the cumulative blessing can be.
Note: Fairy Godmother blessing will supersede Healthy Birth Bonuses.
Seeing that, I can understand why my subsequent helping out of my now Granddaughter was so easy to apply, and how it seemed to counteract the negatives that I had placed on Cassandra Redding. Then with but a thought, I pull up the initial message.
Congratulations: Your grandchild Cassandra Redding has accepted to use the Spiritlight last name and only the Spiritlight last name, increasing your eternal connection to this child. As a result of this change, (Cassandra Redding) Spiritlight has altered her bloodline to that of (Legendary Spiritlight Bloodline variant, with traces of dormant Pixie influences).
In a way I should be flattered, as it seems that she chose me and my lineage over that of her own Grandmother’s. The Fairy Godmother perk also helped me to easily activate multiple blessings which I took at the time as being additional starting Merits. In a way they were, but I wonder if these were hidden Merits that could only be achieved in the world. If so, that meant that this newest perk, that of being a Fairy Godmother made our Guild and me even more targetable by people with ulterior motives.
Still that was future Cassie’s Problem, as current Cassie was still going through the various quest completions, trying to see what Mallory was in fact talking about.
Why did I start this whole update process? I wondered, but was soon met with another quest completion notice.
Hidden Quest Complete: Fairy Godmother’s Blessing: You have given your first blessing as a Fairy Godmother to a child. Resulting in the child having blessings that others could only dream of. Rewards: Experience, New Title, New Badge.
Yep, there was the notification that I did give my first blessing to Cassandra Redding, which apparently got me more experience that was being cumulated and tallied, and a new Title and Badge.
New Title Gained: The Fairy Godmother: A position of respect and lore. All crave the blessings provided from favorable encounters with The Fairy Godmother, all but demanding respect from anyone who knows of you and your title. Effect: All sentient creatures who know of you are instantly Neutral, while those who have kids or are trying to have kids will treat you with awe and reverence.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
That one is sort of nice, not so much the awe and reverence part, but this basically means people shouldn’t be mean to me, once they know who I am.
I was in the process of figuring out how to tell others, when I got the next notification.
New Feat Recorded: The Fairy Godmother (MAX): You are the Fairy Godmother, the person capable of blessing a cursed child, or who can cause the fates to favor a child of future destiny. This feat is irrefutable and can be given out infinite times to prove your true identity as many times as needed.
This was my first time seeing a Badge noted as MAX. Most had a value that would theoretically depreciate the more you used it. This was a way to not use the same great feat over and over to get better prices, or to be accepted at more places. Whereas this seemed to be the opposite of that, basically letting me be the instrument of my own future annoyance. For the more I told people about my ability to bless their children, the more I would be tasked to do just that.
Bleh, honestly, I have to hand it to the system for coming up with a perfect poisoned apple approach there. Really, well done, as I wouldn’t even want Mallory to know about my status as a Fairy Godmother.
Though I can tell she saw the notification and Title appear, as I am still activating the abilities, so I can then deactivate them and work my way through the next completed quest.
Then before that quest fully cleared, an announcement that I normally would fear came to life.
New World Announcement: First Child of Destiny Ordained By The Fairy Godmother. Rejoice for Redding Spiritlight has emerged into the world and been blessed by The Fairy Godmother to have a blessed life and future. Sparking the way for many more children to also be blessed.
Seeing that message, I let out a sigh of comfort as I had been holding that one back for a bit. While I was glad I was able to hold this world announcement back, it still caused a mild to severe burning sensation in my chest. I think this one was slightly easier to hold back, as it didn’t affect me directly, but it was one that I enacted on a second person, making it somewhat easier to hold back. Still it hurt.
Clutching my chest, I cannot help but take a few deep breaths as that one was burning me up inside, I wonder if I can get antacids for reflux caused by holding back Quest updates and announcements? Maybe a new alchemical formula could be created. I am about to go into what I think might be the baseline ingredients needed for such a concoction, when I pause to look at Mallory who is just standing there staring at me patiently. Then I realize what just happened and that I might get a bop on the head or other form of reprimand for my actions.
“You are okay right?” I ask, making sure I didn’t just trigger her again.
“What?” Mallory asked, her face a mixture of mirth and excitement. “Why wouldn’t I be, my granddaughter got blessed, by you, I take it?”
With that I pause, realizing that this World Announcement didn’t call me out specifically, rather just my title, which I was fine with. Though again, Mallory had to have already seen that title as I just dismissed it a moment ago.
“Yeah,” I answer somewhat nervously, making sure she isn’t going to lash out.
“Why would I be?” Mallory exclaimed while jumping forward and giving me a tight hug, I must have flinched at the charge as she seemed somewhat perplexed by my instant reaction of fear.
“Why are you flinching?” She asked.
“You aren’t mad at the World Announcement?” I ask somewhat sheepishly.
“Oh wow, do you honestly think I get mad for you making ground breaking changes?” She asks.
“Sometimes?” I offer.
Huff.
With that Mallory took a half step back, and looked at me, while still holding me in her arms. I think this was done mostly for her, so she could take in my entire body to gauge my reaction.
“Look, sometimes I do think you need to slow down, and I do get worried about you,” She began.
I was about to protest, which was then Mallory pointed to her left, towards the spot where the tentacle abomination monster who might be an extremely powerful elf from an alternate dimension not necessarily related to BiPrism trademarked, once stood. Now only a gaping chasm, with three desiccated Cthulhu bodies lay amongst a city that was only now starting to get its protective outer coating of coding reapplied to it, a sign that I was apparently wasting precious seconds of the fifteen minutes I might or might not have been given.
“Right,” I say, and mean it as I realize that sometimes I might be too focused on the results, versus the mess I made while achieving those results.
Then after nodding, she looked at me, and saw that my posture must have changed slightly, as she pulled me in for a tight hug again.
“Sorry, I don’t know if I have come across as I’ve wanted to recently. This has been a very stressful time for me, and you are the only one I know will come up with a solution. Maybe not the best, or easiest to achieve, but you will offer up a solution, and it will be done come Cthulhu beast, rotting city, or enemy invasion. That is why, when you do things that break the world, or the way the world has been run to this moment, I worry. That said, I mean it when I say, sometimes you need to slow down.” She states, and I cannot help but nod in agreement.
“That said, are you ready to get us out of here?” Mallory asked, completely contradicting her earlier statement.
“But, but… you just…” I begin but then realize I still have a few more quests to go through.
“One second…” I state holding up my finger as I continue to scroll through the remainder of the quests I’ve completed.
We are close, I can tell, as the pressure against my mind is releasing greatly.
Hidden Quest (Complete): Fairy Godmother For Umbra (Ongoing): You have found a way to help Umbra, future destroyer of the plains alive and uninfected with the Blight. Continue to care for Umbra and ensure that she remains Blight free in order to prevent future calamities from unfolding. Rewards: Experience, Skill (already provided), Fairy Blessing Applicable.
Once again I see the scrolling number for my experience click over as the experience here gets wrapped up into one rather large number.
Then I get a Fairy Blessing Applicable.
Fairy Blessing Available (Umbra Kujo): You have taken an albino Dire Phase Wolf pup into your company and have chosen to help ensure it survives to maturity. This gives you a one-time chance to awaken all of the latent blessings in Umbra Kujo, as their guardian protective Spirit: The Fairy Godmother.
That, now that was kind of cool, as it meant I would have a chance to awaken blessings within Umbra Kujo and ultimately get more points of analysis to see what blessings are possible for both humans and creatures alike. While also seeing if we can get more details on what each potential blessing means. I know I managed to light up quite a few for Cassandra Redding, who apparently is now going by Redding Spiritlight.
Still, I cannot stop here, as I have but one last and final quest to get through.
WORLD QUEST Completed: Went To Timult, Stop The Being of Indescribable Horrors From Fully Entering Our Reality, Now Get Back To the Wedding Before Anyone Notices. You have completed a potentially world ending task by going to Timult, the capital of the Legrand empire, where you managed to stop a being of extreme power from fully entering our reality and thereby breaking BiPrism as we know it. Rewards: Experience, fifteen minutes to get back into place before time starts up again.
Time Remaining: 12:47, 46, 45…
I was going to call it a day, and finally begin to plan around this almost wasted opportunity to get tasks accomplished, when I was suddenly flooded with a stream of energy.
Cumulative Experience Gained:
3,750,000 / 1,875,000 / 1,875,000
Ding
Level up.
Divinely Akashic Qi Master has increased by 54 levels to level 390.
Quintessential Ethereal Simulacrums Master has increased by 48 levels to level 416.*
Quintessential Ethereal Healer has increased by 70 levels to level 571.
My head was spinning after the updates.
It took me a moment to realize that I just cashed in seven individual quests, which apparently all had a danger completion bonus for being completed in the zone with the Cthulhu Void Creature, giving a 1.5X bonus experience completion for each.
Some might say this was me breaking the system, I’d say it is rather a matter of my procrastinating paying off as usual.
Not that I want to reward myself for procrastinating, but if the system will reward me for procrastinating then I am all for it.
Go me, for waiting apparently. Though I do have to admit that the sudden change was a lot to take in.
I stagger for a second, which fortunately Mallory is there to grab me from the air like a drunken bee, and hold me close.
“You okay?” She asks, “you finally got the update?”
“Yeah,” I state, and am about to Teleport us, when I realize that this is a bad idea. Then pausing for a moment, I need to check on something.
With a few quick applications of Positional Switch, I relax, knowing that my Simulacrums are apparently better at not procrastinating than me, as they are all up to various tasks. Some of which I think I might want to stop and ask what they are doing, or why they are doing this task that way, but ultimately I trust them. Well me, I trust me to have my best interest in mind, while I do things.
Which reminds me, I still only have?
Time Remaining: 12:24, 23, 22…
Yep, only a few minutes to do all the things that need to be done.
“Yes, you ready?” I ask.
Mallory just nods, “yes, the sooner the better.”
Hearing that, I can only nod in agreement. I almost pull up the Teleportation matrix that I have been used to, when I remember how badly that went for us to get here. Granted there was a whole invading monster from another dimension, but it still made me question my abilities.
For a moment I almost think about asking her to walk with me, but I realize we only have Twelve minutes left on what is effectively a stacked Confidentiality.
Not wanting to waste this moment by walking, I pause wondering what to do, then I realize there is an easy solution that is like Teleporting, but not.
“Yeah hold on, this should work,” I state.
“You always know how to instill my confidence,” Mallory responds dryly.
Not giving her words enough time to ruin my train of thought, I focus and activate a power that has to work, one that isn’t like Teleporting at all.
That’s right, I use Arcane Geomancy Teleportation, yes the name is similar, but the effects are anything but.
And before I can question my choice, I choose it, and force the two of us through yet another spell-work structure that might or might not be affected by the status and conditions of extra dimensional energies being applied to our otherwise sanitary magical environment.
Nothing to worry about at all…