As always, Giliath demands your power stones!
*****
"Looks like someone is in a good mood. Were the rewards that good? I'm still having a hard time trying to wrap this status thingy around my head. Have you really had this your whole life, Young Master?", Lechter mumbled, rubbing the temples of his head with his fingers.
"More or less. I've mostly accounted for this ability for my own growth. I haven't really experienced it with a helping hand before, so I truly appreciate what you two have done for this excursion, Tio, Lechter.", I suddenly said, causing the two to be surprised.
"Oh, what's this? Coming out of the blue like that?", Lechter said, easing his earlier confusion. He was quick to retort with a playful smirk.
"As long as whatever we did is of help to you, then I am fine with that.", Tio simply responded, ending my head pat as she took a step to the side.
"Haha! You can say that again. More or less, I can start using this baby now without any worries.", I replied, only to bring out my Enigma II.
"That...", Lechter paused. "You didn't bring this out before, did you, Young Master?", Lechter asked me.
"I didn't. I haven't had a need for t much of this before now. But this is a Combat Device personally crafted for me. It isn't on the market yet. It can store more powerful Arts that are likely still in testing phases. Right, Tio?", I asked.
"Mmm. In theory, more powerful Arts can be casted, if you have the required element Counts for them. The device you have won't reach the marketplace anytime soon.", Tio explained.
"Did I hear that right? You wound up receiving a Combat Orbment that's far more capable than what we currently can use? Now that's unfair!", Lechter complained.
"Hey, I used my own connections to make it happen. Why don't you walk into the front door of the Epstein Foundation and request them to make one, Lechter?", I replied with a grin.
"They'd probably kick me out thinking I'm a lunatic if I did that...", Lechter retorted again. "But then again, that sounds more normal, compared to the shit you've shown today, Young Master. I don't know what's better to believe in at this point.", Lechter continued.
"Hahaha! There's still a lot we don't know about this world that we're in. Whether my abilities turn even crazier, or this orbal tech business.", I simply responded, shrugging my shoulders.
I only had knowledge up to a certain point, that being Trails into Reverie. I didn't know beyond that. But knowing I can confidently use my Enigma II now will help ease whatever gets sent our way.
"That was a lot of information displayed in those messages. But if I understood it correctly, it sounds like you can start upgrading the Enigma II, Naoto? It would probably be best not to report this to the foundation...", Tio uttered.
"Yeah. And even if they find out about it, I'll just tell them you've been working on it. You did say that you wanted to be responsible for managing my Enigma II, right?", I asked, wanting to be sure.
"Mmm. I did ask that of you.", Tio answered with a nod.
"Then we'll keep it as such. In exchange, I'll help you two boost your strength, and provide any Quartz you may need. We now have a solid way of getting Sepith too. I did receive quite a bit just now. I probably have enough to unlock at least one Slot. We won't do this now, but at a later time. Perhaps when we return to Erebonia. I'll mainly use my spells for the remainder of our small adventure. Since that's going to be the case, let's see what new rewards the Party Quest will give us.", I said, concluding the matter of the Enigma II. I stored it back into my outfit. I personally kept it on me, instead of keeping it in my Inventory.
It was kind of like carrying a smartphone around in my past life, so you would start encountering lots of people carrying one around. It would act as a communications device later on. It wouldn't just be used for combat anymore.
With the Enigma II now put away, it has been a minute since I've gone over the Party Quest details. But because of those notifications, the rewards were upgraded! I couldn't help but get excited. I haven't seen the Gamer System do this yet, but there will be possibilities of this happening again in the future.
Just like how Tio learned to effortlessly navigate through her status screen, I behaved the same way. Lechter turned quiet, but I could see the surprise in his eyes. He was just exposed to the Gamer System today, unlike me. I've had it since I was born, my entire thirteen years of life, soon to be fourteen. In fact, I'll be turning fourteen later this month! I never did mention my birthday month, but it was January!
A lot is going to be sent my way in this next one to two years, compared to before. I will have to enter high society. And marriage comes with that. I don't have the luxury of waiting till I was eighteen or twenty.
Ugh, that is going to be a change to get used to. Nobles really are cut out from the rest, eh? I mean, who seriously marries someone when they're fifteen? I know I have my girlfriends, but marriage is entirely different!
I could only shake that thought away while I navigated my status window. I went to the Quest section. Here, it displayed all my completed Quests. It had a separate section for Party Quests, and Emergency Quests. I've only come across a couple Emergency Quests to date, the latest one being rescue Alisa Reinford.
I did gain not only her Favorability out of that, but also Sharon's! Considering I haven't paid Roer a visit since then, their Favorability is still quite low, compared to the rest.
I don't know if I can work on anyone's favorability when I return. Perhaps Prince Olivert's and Mueller's? I know those two haven't reached the maximum yet. Alfin's favorability already is, and so is Sherryl's. The rest of the girls were now out of Erebonia too. Tio will be with me now, as is Lechter, so there is still some bonding at hand.
Plus there's the Thunder God. I wonder if I will grow close with him, what exactly will that Blessing give?
I could only shudder the thought. He was Erebonia's strongest swordsman. I'm sure it would give something juicy!
With growing anticipation, I selected the Party Quest list. There was only one in there, as I had no other Party Quests. There was the one time back in Hamel that initiated an Instance Dungeon, but I was not personally a part of that party. I was only there for observation, so it didn't register any Party Quests then.
So this is the first Party Quest...I am sure there will be more to come.
And sure enough, I saw a plus icon next to the name, signaling it was enhanced.
[Party Quest+ - Hunt Abyss Worms]
Task: Eliminate 0/6 Abyss Worms (Used to be 5)
Rewards:
x200 Sepith (All) (New)
x75,000 Experience Points (Was 50,000)
x3 Tier II Generation IV Quartz (Was Tier I Quartz)
x3 Tier II Quartz Upgrade Token (Was Tier I)
x1 Slot Unlock Token (New)
x1 Tier III Generation IV Quartz (New)
'Wow...', I inwardly said to myself. That sure was a big boost to the rewards, alright!
Tio just stared at the screen. Her eyes remained on one thing in particular, the number of Abyss Worms we have to kill.
"Did this Party Quest increase the number of Abyss Worms we have to kill?", Tio questioned.
"It did. It went from five to six. That might seem like a bad thing at a first glance, but it'll give us one extra to familiarize ourselves with hunting them. Combining that with my ability, it'll give us a slightly bigger boost once we finish this up.", I explained.
"And likewise, an equally higher risk, with us needing to hunt one more now. You're going to take the reins, Young Master?", Lechter asked me.
"Yeah. I'll set the Party Leader back to me. I want to see how they fair against my blood needles. I might end up killing one or two before I switch the Party Leader back to you, Tio.", I explained.
"Understood.", Tio nodded.
"Blood needles?", Lechter questioned. "Is that a spell or something? Sounds ominous...", Lechter uttered.
"Haha! You didn't forget what I did back on that island now, did you, Lechter? I have a pretty cool mana pool. I can utilize a few elements at my command. One being very special~", I teased Lechter, hinting that I could use Blood Magic. I knew a few affinities, and Blood Magic was one of them. It works quite well with Water Magic. I can use both, thanks to the bloodlines I was born with!
"I saw you use a few spells back when we raided that cult base. This time, I can see it up close.", Tio responded.
"Right? Shall we be off then?", I said, wondering if the two had anything else to say.
"By all means, Young Master. I know exactly where these stupid worms are, so I'll take us there in a jiffy!", Lechter said, volunteering to lead us. I didn't deny his request, and the three of us soon wandered back inside the Mainz Tunnel.
This time around, it was much brighter, and there weren't many monsters around. But we made sure to steer clear of any side paths, and kept on the main road. We actually did see an orbal car or two pass along the main road while we ventured further inside. We didn't plan to head all the way to the opposite end. There was one particular path on the left, which would bring us to another opening. Beyond that was the Moon Temple, a desolate and abandoned ruin where much more powerful Monsters lurked. It was even rumored that monsters like Fiends and Devils lurked in its depths. It was a hotspot that allowed the three Higher Elements to come into play.
Thankfully, our target was right before that!