With no idea when Mercy will return, you turn your mind towards the as yet still uncompleted expansion. You park yourself in the goblin cave, alongside the scarred goblin and a kobold. They're still muttering to each other in a tongue you don't speak when you surprise them with your presence. Both lapse into awkward silence in your presence, so you attempt to fade into the background somewhat while working. It's not long before they start talking again, although quieter than before.

“Grombakka karn. Likkajik mol thinkarim.”

It's utter nonsense to you of course, but you spend some time seeing if you can learn anything. After an hour of work all you have gleaned is that it is possible your minions are playing a long term prank by speaking tongues when you're around. Or possibly that learning a language is harder than just listening to two people speak for an hour. You're not fully sure either way. It's not like you've had much cause to study before. You're about ready to give it up as a bad job when Amanda enters the cave. You jump down to meet her, once more marvelling at your new body.

“Hey Red. Mercy just got back. I thought you would like to know.”

You give her a nod, and the two of your head back to the entrance hall, where the half-dryad in question is waiting for you.

“Sup? Amanda said you'd had an idea for me?”

You take a moment to look her over. It's clear that her feeding was successful. A healthy glow surrounds her, and her words are clear and quick. You give her a half nod.

“Something like that. It's all based on magical concepts I don't fully understand-”

Mercy lets out a bark of laughter. “Sounds like a blast. I'm in.”

You send her a mock glare. It's a lot more effective than it would have been before your evolution. “But! Hopefully it will help solve your power issues.”

Mercy shifts a little, with a flush rising up her neck. “Look boss, as much as I'm half,” she cuts off and glances around, “Half you-know-what, the other half of me isn't that into the idea of jumping into a pit of kobolds every night.”

You raise an eyebrow ridge at her. “Been thinking about it much?” She opens her mouth, closes it again, blows out a puff of air and shrugs, before going to speak, but you bull onwards without letting her. “That's not even remotely what I was suggesting. How would that even use magic?” Again she goes to open her mouth, a coy smile playing around her lips but you push on before the conversation can degenerate any further. “Never mind, no, I don't want to know.”

You press on, outlining the plan, with Amanda jumping in whenever your own knowledge fails you. By the end, Mercy is nodding in appreciation.

“That,” she starts, “Should work. You're not one hundred percent right about all of...” she gestures vaguely, starting with Amanda and then expanding to encompass the lair in general, “Magic, but you're close enough that I should be able to create a demon essence for you. You're sure you can make a demon tree? I've never heard of anything like that. In the Never-Realms as far as I'm aware greenery just, you know, isn't. This isn't like you're just making something out of composite parts. Far as I know, you'll be making something brand new.”

You nod, although her speech has taken some of the wind from your wings.

“Then I'll help.” The statement was deceptively simple, but as Mercy spoke, a flash of purple light shot from her torso, and a burst of sparks scattered through the air. You can feel a strange weight settle on your shoulders. With a noise like an old man coughing, a popup shuddered into place in front of you.

Quest issued!

Both of you stare at the popup box. After several seconds, it shudders, and more text appears, each word jerking into position a second or two before the next.

Mercy has offered to provide the power needed to create a Demon Essence, but needs you to make and use it.

Requirement: Use a Demon Essence to create a Demonic Tree

Reward: 5x Demonic Trees, 200 Fame, 1 week of +50% attraction chance for Demonic Creatures

Mercy gapes at the popup. You gape at Mercy. After several seconds, Amanda speaks up.

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“You did say you used to be a quest giver, right?”

Mercy's mouth opens and closes a few times. After several seconds she visibly pulls herself together. “I don't think I've been able to give quests for a decade. I don't think I've ever given one out on a whim.”

“How else would you give them out?” Amanda asks. Mercy waves her off, still pulling herself together.

“The world was different, back in my day. Smaller. Things ran more or less on the whims of god.”

“God?” you ask, confused. To further your confusion, it's Amanda who speaks up.

“Mailliw. The god of creation. He's the one who shaped the continents, and coded the first life. It's said he banished himself to holding the outer gates, through which gods and spirits walk, shortly after the pantheon emerged.”

“Where did you learn that?” you ask. Mercy voices her confusion too.

“Aren't you like... waaay younger than Red here?”

“David. His spirit was basically a historian, and even though mine never listed to him, I did. It's where most of my magical knowledge comes from too if I'm being honest. And as much as I'm fond of you, Red, you don't exactly spend much time reading.”

You shrug in acceptance, leaving all of you standing in silence for a moment, before Amanda shakes herself and gestures towards the quest popup. “We got distracted. That a quest has triggered at all makes it seem like Red can do as he says, but also that it may not be as simple as we hoped. Quests rarely are, especially for rewards that good.”

All three of you jump with a start as another voice intrudes on your discussion. “Can you make more?”

Stood in the shadow cast by Mercy, Sapphire shifts slightly, causing the dim light to shine on her scales for a split second.

“How long have you been there?” Mercy half shouts, clutching at her chest.

“A while.”

Mercy looks like she wants to shout at the tiny kobold, who barely reaches the half-demon's knee. But she doesn't seem to be able to quite find the words. You glance at Amanda while your smallest and tallest companions stare each other down. The redhead sends you a smile, and then rolls her eyes at your confused look. She glances back at the others and then mouths “I'll tell you later” at you, leaving you even more unsure as to what is happening.

Mercy's skin is darkening, you realise. Shifting from pale green to a muddy red like someone is swirling paint under her skin. You take a half step towards them as you see Sapphire's hand twitch as Hyena steps into the room.

To your surprise it's Mercy who looks away first, glancing at you for a split second. Whatever caused it, it's apparently enough, and the stand off is broken as if it was never there. Mercy's skin fades once more and Hyena silently pads out of the room as if he'd just been going for a walk. If it weren't for the odd, satisfied smirk on Sapphire's face and the reddening of Amanda's cheeks you'd almost thing you'd imagined the whole thing as Mercy continues speaking as if Sapphire had never spoken.

“I highly doubt I can make them at will, as I'm sure I would have done so long before now if that-”

She falls silent as Sapphire speaks up again, her voice louder than the half whisper you have come to expect from her.

“Maybe it's something you've been given because you're one of us now?”

“Why do you think that... Sapphire?” asks Amanda, with a small pause as she squints at the kobold.

“Well, it changed while you-” Sapphire gestures towards Amanda, “were talking, earlier.”

You all glance down at the quest box to see that she's right.

Mercy has offered to provide the power needed to create a Demon Essence, but needs you to make and use it.

Requirement: Use a Demon Essence to create a Demonic Tree before the next Full Moon

Reward: 5x Demonic Trees, 200 Fame, 1 week of +50% attraction chance for Demonic Creatures

“The next full moon? How long does that give us?” you ask.

“Four days,”

The response comes from both Sapphire and Mercy. You decide to ignore whatever is going on until you can get an explanation from Amanda .

“Any idea as to why it changed?”

“I was talking about... the gods? History? My life before, well, before?”

“No,” this time Mercy speaks alone. “You were talking about how quests are rarely so simple when they offer good rewards.”

Your eyes fall back on the innocently still quest.

“Well then. We'd best get going.”