[Quest Available: Golems Gone Wild]
Oh no, it was a combat quest?!
I raised a hand to get everyone’s attention and said, “Everyone, stay back! I need to subdue these creatures!”
Scholar Wu appeared by my side in a flash. “Lady Violet, it would be a real shame to damage these rare magical creatures, but if they’re a danger, I’ll dismember them.”
“Give me a minute, I’ll check their information using my bloodline inheritance.”
[Golems Gone Wild:
The ancient golems have begun to malfunction due to their age. Their codestones, the hearts of their being, are no longer functioning properly, causing them to behave erratically.
To restore these golems to their former state, you must replace their malfunctioning codestones with new ones.
Smash the codestones: 0/5
Create new codestones: 0/5
Replace the codestones: 0/5
Reward: ???]
That sounded easy enough.
I mentally clicked on the [Accept] button which triggered the combat screen to overlay my field of vision. The spots on the golems’ bodies where the [Codestones] were located were highlighted and the nearest one was automatically set as the target. The spots were either the golem’s forehead or the center of the chest. I read the text to Scholar Wu and said, “I think I won’t even need to do anything. Mr. Bear, I chose you!”
[Puppet Name: Mr. Bear
A magical plushie unlike any other. This cute and cuddly bear is made of a special type of plush cloth and magical stuffing that gives it special powers. When its owner is in danger, this bear will come to life.
Though Mr. Bear is a wizard type, this puppet is also equipped with hidden metal claws and teeth.
Type: Magic
Base spell: Fireball
Upgrades: 14/99]
My puppet expanded until he was twice the size of a human, and I equipped him with a basic [Magic Wand] but used the absolutely adorable [Butterfly Bear Dreamweaver] Cash Shop cosmetic override because I didn’t want to scare the kids with a real battle.
[Butterfly Bear Dreamweaver:
Turn your puppet into a bear with butterfly wings and a wand. As the puppet moves, shimmering butterflies will flutter around it, and the wand will shoot pink and silver butterfly dust.]
The costume would make combat look cute instead of dangerous.
Mr. Bear ran off, with me staying six feet behind him.
As for me, I only had level 12 Magic, and all combat equipment had a level requirement. This meant that the only things I could use were the [Spider Silk Robes] set and [Spider Wand], but I used a matching [Butterfly Dreamweaver] cosmetic set override. The Cash Shop item made my robes pastel-colored and gave me large illusory pink and yellow butterfly wings. My attacks were followed by sparkly dust and a twinkling sound effect.
[Violet
Level 50
HP: 5,000/5,000
MP: 40/40
Strength: 50/99
Attack: 48/99
Archery: 46/99
Magic: 12/99]
A player’s level was only the base stat. What mattered was his or her Battle Rating.
[Battle Rating:
The Battle Rating (BR) of a character in a video game is a number that represents that character's overall power and fighting ability. The higher the BR, the stronger the character is. The BR is determined by a variety of factors, such as the character's stats, equipment, puppet, bonuses, and abilities.]
Since I had equipped only low-level stuff, my BR was low though it didn’t really matter for this quest since all I had to do was to destroy the [Codestones].
[Violet
Level 50
HP: 5,000/5,000
BR: 105]
“Are the codestones those round rocks with the writing on them?” asked Scholar Wu, who was keeping pace beside me. “I can take care of them for you.”
“Thanks, but Mr. Bear can handle it.”
The words were barely out of my mouth, and then my puppet cast his first [Fireball] which hit the target dead center. However, the force of the flames was not enough to crack it. The golem swung its arms down ponderously, slow enough for Mr. Bear to dodge easily.
In the combat screen, my action bar showed three available skills.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
[Magic Bolt
Magic Claw
Magic Explosion]
I followed up my puppet’s [Fireball] with a [Magic Bolt].
[Magic Bolt:
Using a wand or staff, channel a Spell Stone’s magic into a focused beam of energy that explodes upon contact.
Cooldown: 5 seconds]
A [Spell Stone] crumbled into dust.
In Adventure Incarnate, players were humans with no innate magical abilities or energy. Mr. Bear and I could only cast spells using the [Spell Stones] in our inventory which functioned kind of like a magic battery.
My [Magic Bolt] attack hit the [Codestone] and cracked it. The golem stopped moving and the slight glow in its eyes died.
I really wanted to use my strongest skill, [Magic Explosion], but it was an area-of-effect attack and I didn’t want to damage the golems.
[Magic Explosion:
Focus the power of a Spell Stone through your wand or staff to unleash a devastating explosion of magical energy in a targeted area, damaging all enemies within its radius.
Cooldown: 10 seconds]
Likewise, [Magic Claw] couldn’t be used because it didn’t have pinpoint accuracy.
[Magic Claw:
Unleash the energy of a Spell Stone to conjure three destructive beams that shoot forth from your weapon, tearing at enemies like claws.
Cooldown: 5 seconds]
Thus, I continued to cast [Magic Bolt] and Mr. Bear cast [Fireball] while we dodged the golems’ slow attacks.
Scholar Wu stayed beside me and seemed highly amused by it all.
“How cute!” she cooed whenever Mr. Bear cast a spell. “I wish I had a sweet and charming sidekick like him, too.”
A few spells later, all the golems were deactivated, and it was time to create the new [Codestones] for them.
Scholar Wu, Mr. Bear, and I walked back to where the others were.
“Kids, can you get five smooth river stones for me?” I said to my apprentices. “The System says I need them to make the new [Codestones].”
“Yes, Teacher!” they chorused.
[Creating Codestones:
Find 5 smooth stones from the river bed.
Carve the pattern on them using a chisel.
Sprinkle Diamond Dust on the stones.]
While they were looking for the materials I needed, I took out a hammer from my toolbelt and used it on a [Diamond] to make [Diamond Dust] which I then stored in my inventory.
“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” I said to Yinuo when I was done. “Should I set up some tables and chairs for us to use? It’s almost lunchtime.”
“Aren’t you going to finish the quest first?” asked Scholar Wu.
“No rush. When the quests are all done this place will no longer be like an unspoiled paradise.” I raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I assumed you wanted to examine the place more closely before I make radical changes.”
“Thank you. I didn’t think you would wait for me to do more tests.”
“I’m in no rush. Take your time, especially since the kids and I have only a little energy left after today’s farm work.” I turned to my maid and said, “Why don’t you tell the staff they can explore after lunch? There’s a lot of fish in the river if they want to catch some for our dinner.”
The staff helped me set up tables and chairs under the shade of an oak tree. Since it was noon and quite hot outside, I put a few large misting fans around the perimeter. The kids came back with the stones which they placed a few feet away under the direct sunlight to dry.
The demon chef and his assistants went back through the portal and returned with platters and tureens full of salads, vegetable soups, sliced fruits, and other fresh produce previously harvested from the farm or Foraged from the Ancient Hill Forest.
After winter, people normally got tired of preserved meats and picked vegetables and craved fresh ingredients. This wasn’t exactly true of us since we had spent last season on a tropical island, but the chef still wanted to feature the traditional spring dishes.
Also, he had expressed his concern that we were eating too much meat. Therefore, today the food was mostly vegetables with a little bit of chicken or fish mixed in for more flavor.
“Lady Violet, how much time can you give me to test this area?” asked Scholar Wu.
We were seated at one round table with Lari, Kharli, and Mo. Scholar Wu’s household staff and mine ate separately from us since I had given up asking them to dine together with us. They said they felt more at ease that way, which I guess meant they didn’t want to spend their break with their boss. My apprentices piled their plates with choice morsels from the various dishes as Scholar Wu and I chatted.
“Well, you see, right now is too close to the planting time on the farm and that’s no good. If the pocket dimension and the farm have the same planting and harvest times, the kids and I will run out of energy.”
Scholar Wu made a humming sound as she thought about that. “Then are you planning to start mid-season?”
“Yes, that seems to be the most logical way to go about it. So you should have enough time for all the tests you want to do.”
“Perfect!”
“That’s for the crops, but we will start on the other things first.”
We spoke a bit more about the details while we ate, and she also filled me in on the most recent gossip among the clans.
“Whatever they’re doing in the training camps, I bet they don’t have food as good as this.” I took a bite of the spicy eggplant and shivered with delight at the hot and sour flavor. I followed it up with a spoonful of bitter melon soup to savor the contrasting tastes. These dishes were really the type to wake one’s senses up after a long, dull winter season.
Scholar Wu shook her head and smiled. “Most people are subsisting on jerky and dried fish, but a few of the wealthier clan members brought their own chefs to the camps!”
We all laughed, and I smiled a bit smugly when I thought about how I had luckily snapped up the best chef in the continent, possibly the world.
“I can’t believe I’m having lunch inside a magical portal to another world!” said Mo.
“Scholar Wu, has Teacher told you about the mythical animals yet?” Kharli refilled my bowl with more soup.
Lari poured tea for everyone whose cups were empty and said, “I’m going to learn how to ride them as soon as I can.”
“Don’t count your chicken before they hatch!” I said.
“What? They are chickens? I thought they were magical horses,” said Scholar Wu.
“It’s actually all sorts of animals!” I said.
“But I was talking about the pretty horses,” said Mo.
“There are also giant chickens and toads,” I said.
“Nooooo!” Mo scrunched up her face adorably. “Teacher, please. No one wants slimy, ugly giant toads.”
“Hey, hey, don’t say that. You’ll make the Toad clan cry.” I was just teasing her, of course.
“I still think the tiger is the better idea,” said Lari. “Think of it, we could enter the city riding on a golden carriage drawn by giant white tigers.”
Scholar Wu and I smiled indulgently as the kids discussed their dreams of riding mythical beasts.
After lunch, I took the stones and used an inkbrush and black ink to draw the runes on them. Then I used a chisel to carve the shapes and sprinkled [Diamond Dust] on them which turned the river stones into [Codestones].
“We’ll add these to the golem when we’re ready,” I said to the others who were watching me work.
“Yes, my lady,” said Fengying.
Most of the staff went exploring, fishing rods in hand. My apprentices and I showed Scholar Wu the land’s boundary.
“When we saw those hills in the distance, we all thought this place was huge, but as you can see, we can only walk up to this place.” I waved a hand at the open field in front of us. “Only the fields and river in front of the door can be used.”
I estimated that the total land area was roughly 1,200 acres, but not all of that was usable since around a third of it was taken up by the river and wild strands of trees which I had no intention of cutting down.
Scholar Wu probed the air in front of her with a stick device for measuring qi. “It’s like there’s a solid but invisible wall here.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ll fly up and see how far it extends.”
She flew higher and higher until she was a mere black speck in the sky and returned with the news that the invisible wall went up as far as she could fly.
“This is the most fascinating thing I have seen in my entire life! I almost wish I could spend a decade studying it.” Her eyes were glowing with excitement as she waved the device in front of her.
I smiled and shook my head. “Sorry, but no can do. Anyway, I’m sure this place will be just as fascinating after I activate the golems.”
“It will probably be even better!” she said. “Excuse me. Let’s part ways here. I’d like to fly all over the land.”
“Sure, see you later.”
She flew off and we waved our goodbyes to her.
“Time to rest,” I said to my apprentices. “We’ll be quite busy tomorrow.”
***
Three days later, when Scholar Wu finished analyzing the land, I slotted the [Codestone] into the empty spots on the golems’ bodies.
[Golems Gone Wild: Quest Complete
Reward: All Farm Modes Activated]