NNNggnnhehnaaa!~ I'm way too tired for this right now. Sadly, I woke up from hunger. It's sunset, and I can smell the Fish being cooked so that might also be part of it. After getting dressed and looking around, it seems that most of my Clansmen are in the nearby vicinity. Joining the meet and feast, I begin to think while observing my surroundings. My cult is starting to look pretty diverse. Just counting the stronger guys of every race, we have two Cats, two Scarecrows, one Werewolf, two Crows, a Weeping Angel, a Bat, three unique Goblins, a One Eyed Lizard, and a Drake. Well, to be fair; the Goblins aren't really in my cult. They're more like their own cult. The other Cat isn't really in my cult either, she's more like a groupie at this point. The One Eyed Lizard and Drake are just kind of here, so nyah. The Crows are starting to look like the weaker side of my following, but I know for a fact that there are more Crows currently wreaking havoc in the Beastkin Kingdom.
If I had to say what our biggest shortcoming is at this point in time, it's probably our MP supply or lack thereof. I can heal the semi-starving new monsters that I have by regenerating my MP over time, which is fine for now. However, if there's ever a time when an actual army stomps through the Lost Kingdom then that army will probably possess cargo related to items that restore MP. They would likely have some kind of camp set up with Healers to make use of that MP and convert it into HP. With that frame of thinking, if an army would outlast us in battle, even if my Clansmen are more powerful than their soldiers... They would still defeat us.
My only current way of gaining MP which I can save up and amasse for wars or long battles is [Daily Candy]. It gives me 360 MP to save every single day. If I can secure some kind of trade deal with a Candy man, then I could gain more Candy every day and it might even be worth more MP per piece of Candy. The problem is that I have nothing to trade with the Candy man. I'll have spent all of my Coins after making my deal with Rudou, so I need to think of another form of goods which I can barter with. Either that, or I can inquire about the ingredients needed to make the Candy, and go gather them for the Candy man. The only problem with this logic, is how do I sweeten the deal for the Candy man? Surely just giving ingredients alone is not enough. How about Fishing? I Could try giving him Fish in exchange for Candy? Candy is probably more valuable than something which can be barbarically attained actually. OH! Why not clothes?!
I currently hold the reins to one of the most prestigious Clothing Brands of our current day and age, after all! It's the Cat's Costumery! Whenever I use [Disguise+2], I obtain a random piece of merchandise from the Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand! It's a high end brand making use of 21st century manufacturing techniques. I look pretty snazzy from time to time due to the high quality materials made through artificial means simply not possible in this world. It requires a knack for fashion to choose the best options out of this tasteless brand though. That's my opinion, anyways.
It might just work! I should try striking a deal with a clothing store in the Beastkin Kingdom, sell a large number of products and then use the profits to buy Candy for the war effort! Yosh! It sounds surreal to think about Candy as being necessary for the war effort, or about needing to secure profits for a gross amount of Candy by none other than clothing deal endorsements… But it can't be helped! [Claw Fishing+1] and [Disguise+2] are my most lucrative abilities! Fish can't be sold to attain Candy! It just doesn't make sense! Fish are too cheap to result in gross amounts of Candy, besides that would basically be me deciding to commit further massacres forever!
Alright then, it's settled! I'm going to marketize the Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand in a Kingdom where I am probably a wanted criminal! I only have two buckets of Candy currently, so I'll need to be careful not to run into any rogue TempCats seeking justice for slavers. Use the merchandise to disguise yourself into not dressing the exact same way as you did when you went to commit crimes in that very Kingdom? Nonsense! That would be too troublesome. My clothes have decent stats, okay? I like them just fine for now. It's probably going to take me like a week to get consistently higher stat pieces than this which also look as good as this!
No time for that! I need to go do things, Lauren! Stuff! Things! After slamming a Fish bone down on the ground while immediately standing up and grabbing my Broom, it seems that Cetilla caught on immediately and realized that today is another productive day. We can't waste this time right now! There are too many open ends! We have to resolve this stuff! Farmers are no doubt losing their minds over a large number of unclaimed Clansmen wreaking havoc, though the Farmers totally deserve it. Unborn Scarecrows are currently condemned, there's practically been an all-time low of Candy supplies lately, my pocket Coins are to be depleted at a set deadline rapidly approaching, I have no current way of providing myself with more coins for the future, our Fish storage probably isn't even that good right now, and I just brought home two new gluttons!
I must handle at least two of these problems every night or the list will never end! I have too much on my plate these days! Thinking such things, I set off with Cetilla towards the Beastkin Kingdom. She seemed to have noticed our destination because she asked where we were heading. To my honest response, she seemed even more shocked. Probably because we just launched a crusade there very recently. Honestly though, that's all the more reason. If we go there, we can gather the rampaging Crows. She should already know that Crows count as my Clansmen, as they're usually somewhere flying nearby. I don't understand why she doesn't seem to understand. I thought she was intelligent?
Regardless, I wound up mansplaining it to her and she now seems to fully comprehend the situation. We need Coins, Candies, Crows, and Cats. The four Cs of the Beastkin Kingdom. I gotta catch 'em all! It took us a relative 15 minutes to arrive in the Beastkin Kingdom, and as expected Crows are seen flying in flocks around the farms. Fantastic. My Clansmen! Come to me, your Chivalrous Cat! Nah, I'll let the Farmers continue to pay penance while I go secure Coins first. We can't actually secure Cats for a while as per the arrangements with Rudou, so we'll let that one slide too. Flying above the Castle City, I had Cetilla point me towards the more prominent Clothing Shop.
On entry, I see that it's a finer establishment with relatively nice clothing prepared for nobility. There are numerous staff waiting around on customers all around so I asked to speak to the Owner regarding a business deal. Probably due to my striking and unique apparel, I was led towards the Owner relatively soon after asking. I was led upstairs and into an office type of room. I'm sitting in front of a desk and behind it is a window with extravagantly sculpted wooden frames. The entire establishment is well made, but that window is just phenomenal. Cetilla is beside me as we're both sitting on a sofa of sorts. On both sides of the rooms are numerous wooden shelving units with documents seemingly overflowing from them. After about a minute, the Owner who's a Cheetah Man, walked into the room and sat behind the desk. He looks more like a Cheetah than a man.
"Why hello there, what strange apparel you possess. My name is Clive. To what do I owe the pleasure?" [Clive the Cheetah] inquired happily.
"Greetings to you~ I'm called Nero, I'm a travelling Cat who owns the rights to the Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand. My brand offers uniquely manufactured pieces of Clothing ranging as heavily in sturdiness and proficiency as they are ranging in size, color, and design. My Clothing Brand offers uniquely random styles of all sorts which can be mixed and matched to produce outfits such as the one I am currently wearing. Of course, each article varies in sturdiness and style, so each piece also varies in price." [Nero] said while opening his raincoat and taking it off to expose the interior design as well as other pieces of clothing and accessories hidden beneath.
"Oh my… my! How wonderful! Such fine quality stitching~ And these materials! Why, its remarkable!" [Clive the Cheetah] exclaimed rather excitedly.
"Yes, of course~ All of the products created in the Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand are created with quality taken into concern above all else! Even if a piece has low sturdiness, it will still look and feel just as good as the higher sturdiness counterpart! Anyways~ What I came to discuss with you was a potential business deal." [Nero] said cheekily.
"A business deal?" [Clive the Cheetah]
"A business deal. Lets say, Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand promises to supply shipments of clothing and accessories to your establishment and you sell them on the market. How does that sound?" [Nero] asked.
"Well it sounds fine, but just what are your rates?" [Clive the Cheetah]
"Half of your actual profits when all is said and done with paying your workers among whatever other expenses related. These items have never been introduced into the economy before, so you can choose the price accordingly. If you desire as a startup, we can purposely only include the least sturdy of all the clothes as something to sell. That way, you get to feel around and see if there's even a desire for these styles. I'll come by and check the books every week to collect my cut when I come to bring new products. Do we have a deal?" [Nero] asked while reaching out his hand.
"Very well. We have a deal." [Clive the Cheetah] answered after a long pause before shaking Nero's hand.
"Great! To get you started, here are a little over 120 pieces of the least sturdy level of clothes!" [Nero] said triumphantly as he began to repeatedly cast [Disguise+2] for the following 10 minutes.
"Alright then~ I'll see you next week! Pleasure doing business with you!" [Nero] called before leaving with Cetilla without giving any explanation, ignoring the clearly flabbergasted Cheetah man's expression.
"Are you sure that it was okay to just go ahead and show him your ability like that?" [Cetilla] asked after exiting the establishment with Nero.
"Eh? Oh... Yeah. I'm sure that it will be okay, besides it was way more convenient to create the clothes on the spot than to lug them all the way here." [Nero] explained as if the whole ordeal is simply too troublesome before getting on his Broom and extending a hand to Cetilla.
"I suppose that you're right, as always~ It was certainly more enjoyable this way as well." [Cetilla] replied in a giggle as she took the hand of Nero.
And with that, we rode towards the Crows. Candy is still out of the question until we have Coins, and they're probably closed right now anyways. It's a wonder why the Clothing store is open during the night. Then again, they had customers; so why not? After arriving at the southwest of the Kingdom, I had my Clansmen do another sweep of the area. This time, I sent my Crows to do the talking. I had them gather all of the Crows in the Kingdom while I slowly made my way towards the fort gate on the border towards the Lost Kingdom.
Watching the Crows flock together is a lot less chaotic than the Scarecrows. There's way less damage being done, but most if not all of the damage already done by the Scarecrows remains. No one has tried to fix anything because the Crows basically removed the possibility to farm. Fixing the mushroom houses probably requires growing brand new houses as well. It's not something that can be done overnight. I still find this punishment justifiable though. The Scarecrows were forced to brave the weather, so should the Farmers. It's called justice. After not even 15 minutes, all of the Crows had gathered. Wow. They're fast! Okay, here goes~
"Greetings everyone~ I am called Nero, the one and True Halloween Cat! Lend me your wings until the day that I die and I will sate your hungers. Fight on behalf of the Halloween Clansmen and join your brethren!" [Nero] called upon the Crows while his current Crows cawwed. Lifting his lantern into the sky, he cast [Capture Clansmen]
Moments later, a bright orange glow emitted from my Lantern and beamed up into multiple different directions, scattering amidst the flock of Crows currently flying in the skies above. The light engulfed the Crows and after about a minute, the light disappeared back into my Lantern. I had obtained 135 Tier 1 Crows and 32 Tier 2 Crows. Roughly a dozen Crows remained in the skies and proceeded to fly away. Moments later, dozens upon dozens of glowing orange rays of light reached from my Lantern, back into the skies. All of my Crows prefer to stay outside it seems. That's fine and dandy, but [Soul Merge]~
The result? One Tier 2 Crow, 1 Tier 3 Crow, and 1 Tier 6 Crow. Sorry, Crows who had their souls were slashed dozens of times. I just can't be responsible for that many lives. It's too much. Honestly speaking, if I were to die right now the monsters which I release would not eat as much as the hundreds that would have been released if I completely ignored [Soul Merge]. That's probably the best thing about Soul Merge. I decided to check over the stats of my new Tier 6 Crow while I flew back towards the Lost Kingdom.
Name: Unnamed Monster
Race: Crowli (Halloween)
Class: Aerial Reaper
Tier: 6
MP: 352/1280
P. DEF: 160
M. DEF: 96
STR: 320
INT: 128
DEX: 256
LUK: 128
AGI: 640
Titles:
[Vulture+1], [Sky Reaper], [Halloween Clansmen]
Abilities Learned:
[Aerial Dive+2], [Sharpened Claws+1], [Enhanced Eyesight], [Flock Storm], [Return to Halloween]
Oi! What the heck is this?! The Crow seems to evolve into a Crowli at Tier 6?! It's stupid strong! The MP values are off the charts, the AGI is sinister, the STR is broken, and it's also sturdy as hell! It flies too! The Crowli seems like it could very well become a catastrophe monster if I Evolve it any further! That's it! Come forth! Just what are you?!
After being summoned, wow. The Crowli looks like a freaking grim reaper who has an overly long beaked, Crow skull mask with the beak now much longer and drooping downwards. He's wearing a cloak, his empty eye sockets have an orange glowing flame light being emitted. The light reminds me of the eye and mouth sockets for Mr Scarecrow. Back on topic, it has long black wings, making a somewhat humanesque bird form body. Similar to a Harpy, but more thin and bony. It has talon feet. But the strangest thing is even though it has wings that feel like they should be arms similar to the Harpy wings, it also has skeletal type arms and a skeletal type upper body, as if he's wearing the Crow, but the skeletal parts don't have actual legs, they have the a mix between Harpy and Crow legs. It's a catastrophe, alright.
Thinking back on it, the glowing flame light in Mr Scarecrow's eyes and mouth change color depending on the time of day as well. My eyes dont look like they're constantly on fire, but the Crowli and Scarecrow eyes do. It might be a trait embedded in the Halloween Races. That being said, none of my other Clansmen host that same glowing flame light. White Wolf Lady's flames are more natural looking. If Mr. Scarecrow were to reach Tier 6, he would also be incredibly strong but he wouldn't be as strong as Crowli. This guy is just too much. There's no longer any doubt in my mind. If you asked me to tame my Clansmen, I wouldn't have the ability to do so. My stats have been left in the dust~
After having reached the Goblin Village while still having some time left to spare, I started feeding my extra MP to the Crowli. I say that, but I'm really just sitting down with my MP being at full. I've still not fully healed the Bat monsters, but this guy is way more hurt than they are. I'm thankful that I have the ability to prioritize healing towards one given Clansmen through the Clansmen menu. I've been trying to not use Candy on my new Clansmen. If I run into actual danger, then I'll splurge on Candy. Until then, I'm just using spare MP that I gain over time through either [Enhanced Meditating+1] or [Recovery by Sleep]. It's fine, but it takes a long time.
When I returned to the hut, I found that only the One Eyed Lizard and Drake are here. I should really give them nicknames, but I don't know what to call them. They're friendly enough, but they just don't seem like part of the family yet. I guess it can't be helped. They're new around here, after all. Thankfully, I have now learned that I can start a fire using White Wolf Lady's [Flame Paws]. So I no longer need to wait around for the Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama or his compatriots to return in order to feed my new friends. Things are finally looking up!
Having a meal with Cetilla, One Eyed Lizard, and Drake while my other Clansmen spend some time around the fire together, I learned that Weeping Angel also has a beautiful singing voice. She makes up for the lack of a treble in our band, so she fits in nicely. I say that it's our band, but I'm just the talent agent. I'm sure she'll make it big as an idol one day though. You can feel the emotion when she sings. It might be because of her being a Siren class, but I don't know. She's a tormented soul, that's for sure. It's my fault? What?! When did I torment her soul?! It wasn't me!
After a few hours of song and Fish while I slowly healed the wounds of my Clansmen, the sun was beginning to rise. I still don't know where the Goblin trio ran off to, but I'm sure that I'll see them tomorrow night. [Daily Candy]. Goodnight~