Giliath demands your power stones, let's try to get over 500 this week!
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[Ding! Player Naoto has entered a new location: Vander Dojo - Main Hall.]
[Ding! As Player Naoto is currently his foundation and improving his swordsmanship, the system has issued two Quests to Player Naoto. They are now available for viewing.]
[Ding! Please advise Player Naoto still has unclaimed rewards from the previously completed quests: Pass the Arseid School's Test and Be Triumphant Against the Stormwatcher.]
As I stepped inside the Vander Dojo, a wide, slightly elevated platform came into view, but at the same time, a couple of notifications struck the inside of my mind, causing my walking to come to a brief halt.
'Some new quests eh? I was holding off on claiming the rest but might as well claim them now. Let's see what these quests are too. Each previous location only gave one, so I'm surprised to see there are two this time.', I inwardly thought to myself.
'Claim quest rewards.', I continued to think, only to start hearing more notifications sound off inside my mind.
[Ding! Granting quest awards...]
[Ding! Player Naoto's Level has risen to 106.]
[Ding! Player Naoto's Level has risen to 107.]
[Ding! Instance Dungeon Key - Lohengrin Castle - One Floor (2 people) has been deposited into Player Naoto's inventory.]
[Ding! Player Naoto's favorability has increased to 50% with Laura Arseid.]
[Ding! Player Naoto's Level has risen to 108.]
[Ding! Player Naoto's Level has risen to 109.]
[Ding! Player Naoto's Level has risen to 110.]
[Ding! Instance Dungeon Key - Juno Naval Fortress (4 people) has been deposited to Player Naoto's inventory.]
[Ding! Master Quartz Level Boost Stone x3 has been deposited into Player Naoto's inventory.]
[Ding! Kurt Vander's favorability meter has been unlocked and risen to 50%.]
Hearing these notifications sound off inside my mind was music to my ears. As they did, my body began to get wrapped in a yellow glow. This aura was invisible to most if not everyone present, except for me. The only time I would see this glow was when I leveled up.
A smile crept over my lips seeing this yellow aura appear over my body, and a continuous one at that. The last time I had seen this aura was when I completed that emergency quest on the Reinford's family rooftop. I had hunted some monsters since then, but there wasn't anything to take note of during that practical combat experience. Those mushroom monsters didn't give much overall, but it still gave me a good time fighting monsters. But compared to earning experience from monster hunting, it seemed quest rewards was the way to go, considering completing these two quests directly rose my levels even further.
Knowing that the present level cap was 250, it did beg the question as to whether I could transcend that, going even further beyond. As for the Vermillion Trials, it's recommended level was Level 100, but I wasn't going to take any chances with these trials. The better prepared for them, the better. And seeing that I can likely bring a party into it, it will most definitely increase the difficulty.
And seeing those rewards too....
Until now, the Gamer system hadn't rewarded me with any instance dungeon keys, so I wasn't sure if that was going to be a mechanic. The one time back in Hamel might have been a one-time instance, but it would seem even the system is preparing me, or perhaps it will give me such rewards to prepare me of whatever is to come.
Still, seeing these instance dungeon keys dropping into my inventory only rose my interest even further. I saw that there was a person count attached to it, meaning I could likely bring a party into said instance dungeon. Normally the more people one required, the harder the dungeon was. I'm not that unfamiliar with instance dungeons. It's basically a giant construct meant to give a Player practical experience in fighting whatever the dungeon had to offer. It could range from Monsters to Demons, even Humans. And with one of the keys being Juno Naval Fortress, my guess is that most of the enemies that will appear in there will be officers of some fashion, and high ranking officers.
I still had two months' time before the Vermillion Trials so I definitely had enough time to use these instance dungeon keys. One went to Lohengrin Castle, and seeing that I got this one from the Arseid School quest, it made sense. From its description it was only one floor to which I could bring in a single person with me. I could only guess that it was against a strong boss monster of some sorts. Yet the other instance dungeon key was a full dungeon. Instance dungeon keys came in all shapes and sizes.
On top of that, beating the Stormwatcher gave me level boost stones for those Master Quartz. We did open all of those reward boxes back in Grancel Castle, which have then in my personal Inventory. It would definitely look suspicious if I had just let them sit in the corner where my laptop setup was. I didn't do that with the weapons and armors I have obtained from the weapon and armor boxes though. It was quite funny to see the royal officers lug equipment around that had suspicious origin from my private quarters down into the Royal Treasury. Yet they knew their position, they were soldiers, they couldn't question why the room I share with Kloe suddenly had a big pile of equipment like that.
But it went to say my inventory still had quite a bit of items stored in it, mostly for my Enigma II. The Quartz we all opened up seem to target the cold steel in terms of what each one does, where a singular Quartz granted either an Arts that could be cast, or a boost to a particular stat. I was curious to see if the Enigma II would go the Line route, where if someone had a certain amount of elemental quartz, more Arts would get unlocked, but that wasn't the case for the Quartz I received. Each Quartz played out just like receiving them during the cold steel games.
I still have my Enigma II device on me, despite its new host, AI KeA, being absent. Even with her presence, I could still slot in Master Quartz, and with the incoming spar I will be having shortly, I did have interest in slotting in Quartz, and seeing what my overall stats would get boosted to.
For now though, I inwardly smiled seeing these rewards deposited into my inventory. It was also nice to see quests boosting favorability. It didn't matter if I chose to romance a certain person or not, the more favorability earned, the better overall my stats would reach regardless. Those Blessings weren't something to be trifled with.
I did see the system did give me two more Quests as well. I decided to use this time to see what those two Quests had to offer.
[Win Against Sherryl Sky]
{Sherryl Sky has used this last year or two to strengthen her own resolve, as well as her foundation, learning that she has talent for martial arts. Determined to remain at Player Naoto's side, Sherryl holds interest in seeing how she fares against her Master. She brought Yin's successor to her knees. Do not underestimate her.]
Reward: One Level. Unique Equipment: Sherryl's Adoration (Earring). Sherryl will initiate a date with Player Naoto.
Penalty: Sherryl will ignore Player Naoto for the next month and fully dive into her role into studying the practices of servitude. She will remain at Princess Alfin's side, unable to spend time with Player Naoto.
Hearing this notification sound off inside my mind, I raised my eyebrows. So it was a Quest in regards to the spar I'm about to have. It's good that the system treats things seriously, but it does seem it wants me to come out victorious. It wasn't a lie of the system saying that Sherryl came out as a winner to Rixia, and that battle happened just at the start her journey she had with Zin. Sherryl was just turning ten years old this year, I really am curious to see how strong she has become. Has she reached the levels of Renne and other members of Ouroboros?
With growing anticipation, I continued along, still hearing notifications sound off inside my mind. That was the first quest that was offered to me. I continued to see what the second Quest had to offer, which compared to the Quest against Sherryl, it even made me more dumbfounded.
[Deliver A Blow To The Thunder God]
[Having passed the Stormwatcher's test, the Thunder God now holds Player Naoto with interest. Wishing to deliver a test of his own, the Thunder God holds a desire to test Player Naoto as he begins his learning at the Vander Dojo. After having a spar with Sherryl, the Thunder God will initiate a test with Player Naoto. Be triumphant against it, and Player Naoto will earn the favor of the Thunder God.]
Task: Deliver a blow against the Thunder God.
Reward: Two Levels. Three UR Quartz boxes (random). One piece of the Thunder God's equipment set (4). Kurt Vander favorability increased to 75%.
Hidden Task: Bring the Thunder God down to one of his knees.
Additional Reward: Three Levels. Five UR Quartz boxes (random). Two Lost Arts Quartz boxes (random). Two pieces of the Thunder God's equipment set (4). Kurt Vander favorability further increased to 100%. Mueller Vander favorability increased to 75%. Thunder God's favorability meter unlocked.
Penalty: N/A
"...", I tried to utter seeing what had just been displayed inside my mind, but couldn't find any words for it. A test from the Thunder God himself...Moreover, not only it had a task, but a hidden task along with it. I do recall in the games that some bosses changed their lines depending on how much damage one would do to them. It didn't want me to come out victorious against the Thunder God, only for me to bring him down to one of his knees. I guess from his eyes, that would be consider my victory.
Seeing this information, I turned quiet, and observed the tall statured man walking toward the opposite end of the dojo, ignoring the other students who still had swords in their hands. Yet at the same time as I observed the Thunder God, Aurelia's eyes grew with interest, turning her head my way.
"...You didn't just happen to get stronger now did you, Naoto?", Aurelia mused to herself, revealing a grin as my attention was brought her way, not expecting her to say that. Well she wasn't wrong. Even though the aura was invisible to her, I did gain five levels just now. She wasn't one to earn the title of strongest swordswoman for nothing, I guess she was sensitive to another person's strength eh?
"Eh, you'll get used to it.", I simply answered, causing Aurelia to blink her eyes at me, letting me remain vague of the gamer system that I had. Only Roselia knew of its existence since she read my memories, and I wanted to keep it that way.