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CH.369 Level Ups and Installs
CH.369 Level Ups and Installs
With our little sidequest of seeing horses done, HomeBase was once again in full swing preparing both for my meeting with the Prime Minister and the Royal Knight captain, and of course the eventual HomeBase grand reveal. But now with a few more tamed monsters living here, we had some new things to do.
The horse I tamed, whom I named Rani for … I actually have no idea what it means, it just felt correct. Anyway, Rani was simple. She is a gentle girl and both Molly and Cina love her, so they almost stole her from me. Thank god Rani still ran to me when she had to choose between the three of us. And because of Rani’s exceptional behavior, I was planning on using her to teach HomeBase residents to ride a horse.
The two hippogriffs we brought home on the other hand… well, they were a bit more high maintenance. And they weren’t quite as willing to listen to reason. I named mine Glad because he was gladly tamed, but now I’m almost regretting that name, as Glad really didn’t listen to anyone but me. And Agunan, but I think that is more survival instinct than actual subservience.
Unika named hers Nitrum, which really got me questioning her naming convention. I mean, her iron foxes are named Fer and Rum, resulting in Ferrum or Latin for iron. I questioned how she knew that, until Laura pointed out that in the local language, iron is ferrum. As in, when I don’t use Language Comprehension (humanoid) to understand what is spoken, if someone speaks of iron, I’d hear ferrum. I still question how the exact same term is used in a completely different world, but considering both myself and the Hero, there is a full chance others like us have ended up here, and one of us might have been a scientist that made this world’s equivalent to the periodic table and named all of the elements.
Anyway, back to Glad and Nitrum. The two of them, both males by the way, butted heads a lot. It was their common pastime, and most of my workers really didn’t want to get between two C-rank monsters when they fought. Sure Unika could easily stop them, if she shot them with paralyzing arrows, and Agunan could deal with the two easily. I could stop them with Telekinesis or just by yelling. Well, yelling didn’t work everytime, but most of the time the two stopped, and they were getting better with it. I think Ria, Lua and Alice could also stop the two hippogriffs, but they are away currently, so I don’t know for sure.
But to deal with the clear superiority fight the two were having, and just to burn off some of their excess energy, I ended up taking the two inside the HomeBase dungeon. It has plenty of monsters for the two to burn energy on, so that was nice. … if they didn’t get scared any time a B-rank monster showed up. And in HomeBase, B-rank monsters are common, even on the early floors. Sure most monsters on the early, and even some of the later floors, are C-rank, but there are B-rank monsters starting from floor 1, so there was no C-rank only floor.
But despite the trips to inside HomeBase often ending with the hippogriffs running, and hiding behind Unika and I, it was still effective. Because while Unika had some difficulty dealing with B-rank monsters, I dealt with them quite easily, increasing the respect the two hippogriffs had for me.
Then there were Molly and Cina. As I decided earlier, I was now going to start leveling the two up. I mean, they wanted to evolve into centaurs, I wanted them to be stronger, so our interests align.
For that, I of course asked the two to come to my office and had them reveal their status to me. Molly was quite open about it, but Cina did question why I needed to see their status, but also agreed after I explained that it was necessary for me to help them evolve, like I had done with Einar, Eline and Wilma.
Both of them had some decent skills for their levels, but man, that defense. Both of them are frail as anything. At least the somewhat alright HP can help a bit, but still. The two need Defense Boost badly.
They both of course had the Horse-folk racial skill Gallop. It made them run faster and made running take less stamina. Not that this world has a stamina meter, but whatever. Molly had an aptitude for Fire Magic, and had learned how to use Internal Magic Technique from Ria, while Cina had Wind Magic, and she had studied under a few Spellcaster monsters. Though both of them mainly used their magic to enhance their speed, not really attacking. They had both also gotten the Cleaning skill from practicing under my Dragonmaids.
“Alright you two. I’ll level you up now.” I told the two, as I got out some cards. The two did have questioning gazes, but they didn’t ask, so I don’t have to answer. “Molly, you first. I’ll increase your overall level, Level Up. I’ll also increase Cina’s overall level, Level Up.” I said to activate the two Level Up!s.
From all the experience with Ria, and also Lua, I knew nicknames like Cina would count for the Level Up. Sure you would have to be accurate with skill names, but targeting a person and targeting a specific skill are two different things.
“Alright. Take a look at your status.” I told the two, and they did as asked. Cina even ended up opening her status again, even though I didn’t ask her to do so. “As you see, your level increased by two. That is what I can do, but not all that I can do.” I told them. “Other than your main or ‘overall’ level, I can also level up your skills, but I won’t be doing that today. I’ll install a card in both of you instead.” I told them.
As I said earlier, these girls need more defense, badly. And I have a card that when installed gives Defense Boost, so why not? No need to hold back like I did with Wilma. Actually, I never installed cards into Cailie, Unika, Einar or Eline either. Well, they’ll be next.
But first come these two. I started off with Molly, as she was the more willing test subject. I installed The Reliable Guardian into her, and then into Cina. Molly took the install pains … feelings, quite well, while Cina seemed just a bit overwhelmed by them.
I then sent the two to their rooms to rest, as I called for Einar and Eline. I think it is their turn.
“Master. You called?” Einar asked.
“Yes. Come in, both of you.” I told the two, and they entered my office.
“Is this about our level ups?” Eline asked. “Molly and Cina were acting a bit strange when they told us to come here. Did you ..?”
“Yes, I just leveled them up.” I confirmed. “But not just that, I also gave both of them a new skill, and now it is your turn.”
“... I don’t know if I should ask, Master, but how can you give out skills? Is it something to do with the … SS?” Einar asked.
“No. Even the System Support isn’t that powerful. At least not as far as I know.” I told them. “But you two do know what is. My cards.”
After giving the two a second to consider what I said, I continued.
“I have two options for skills for you.” I said, as I brought out the cards from Storage. “First is this, Darkness Approaches. This will work with your Night Stalking skill, as it will make an area of darkness around you, similar to Alice’s Shade spell. I do believe you tested out that it works with your racial skill, like I requested?”
“Yes Master. We did.” Eline answered.
“What about the second choice?” Einar asked.
“It’s this. Dark World Lightning. With it, you’ll get a Dark Lightning racial skill. It is a form of Lightning Magic, but unlike regular lightning magic, it produces very little light and sound.” I explained what I knew of the possible skill.
“So, which one do you prefer?” I asked. “And remember, you don’t both need to get the same skill.”
I let Einar and Eline talk about their options for a bit, while I focused on some other things, but soon enough, they had their answer.
“... Master, can we have both?” Einar asked.
“Yes, but not on the same day. Getting a skill can be quite intense, so you will need to wait about 2 weeks until you get the other skill.” I explained.
The two then looked at each other, before they answered.
““Then both, please.”” They said in unison. Einar then clarified. “We will take the Darkness one first.”
“Alright. Works for me.” I agreed.
The two had also gotten the skill Service from their time practicing under my Dragonmaids, just like how Cina and Molly have Cleaning. It is good to know that the System acknowledges the effort they’ve put into learning how to serve the upcoming guests.
After the installs, and Level Up!s to their overall level, I sent the two to rest and called for Cailie and Unika.
“Hey Brian. Is it time for our level ups?” Unika asked.
“Yes. That and also maybe the next install. Depending on how you feel about it.”
“... I’m not so sure I like the idea.” Unika said. I guess she still remembers the last time. She did almost pass out from the mix of pain and pleasure.
“I don’t mind, but are you sure? You said we should wait between installs?” Cailie asked.
“Don’t worry about the time, Cailie. It is only really important later, when you’ve had more cards installed into you. To be honest, I never waited for as long as I’ve waited with you when I started out installing cards into people. In fact, Alice’s aunt Paulina got two cards installed into her at the same time, and she did just fine.” I told the two.
“But the last time, you said that the cards give or boost our magic affinities, right?” Unika asked. “So are you planning on giving us a second attribute, or was the first boost not enough?”
“I said the cards will change you in different ways. Giving or boosting magic affinity is just one way. The more common way is giving a skill.” I told them.
“... Like a skill orb?” Cailie asked.
“Yeah, basically.” I confirmed.
“... at least tell me it is something good.” Unika said. “Might make it worth feeling like that.”
“I do have a few options for both of you.” I said, as I got out a few cards.
First, for Unika I had Shooting Star Bow - Ceal and Spell Shattering Arrow, giving the skills Spirit Shot and Spell Destroying Shot.
Cailie also had a few options. Actually a few more than Unika. There was Raimei for Lightning Magic, Power of Kaishin to evolve her racial skill from Swift Swimming to Great Sea Swimming, Misfortune to power up her Charming Voice into Bewitching Voice and of course Aqua Chorus to give her the Battle Song skill.
To no one, or at least not to my, surprise, Cailie quickly wanted the Aqua Chorus install. I think she did consider Lightning Magic, but refused it for now at least. Great Sea Swimming and Bewitching Voice didn’t seem to interest her.
Unika was a lot more torn between her two options. Both of them are fantastic for her, so it is no wonder she can’t really choose, but she did end up going with the Spirit Shot.
I did make sure to remind the both of them that they can get their second option later. This isn’t a one time deal. It is just a one at a time deal.
It is great to see that Cailie’s crossed out One that is Abused title has disappeared, but in its place is now something different. One that Sings to Nature is a simple title that makes plants that she sings to grow faster, grow more beautiful, and if they happen to be edible plants, makes them taste better. Quite the OP title, if I’m to be honest.
Unika on the other hand had a different special thing about her. Her level. It just went from 49 to 51, so she might evolve. I warned her of that, and asked her to spend the night in the medbay, and I also made sure one of my monsters in an avatar doll would be there keeping an eye on her. If she does start an evolution, we’ll have an evolution tank ready for her.