The first thing I "felt" when I appeared in Terraria was the change in the environment; in this case, the mana that existed in the surroundings.
I thought it would be an unpleasant sensation, but no, it was exactly the opposite. It felt like I was "lighter," more "free," so to speak. It was as if I were now breathing correctly, and before, in HOTD, I was on top of a mountain; the air was more "rarefied," so to speak.
I hadn't felt this difference the first time I went to HOTD, probably because of my scant mana reserve, but now that it was growing more and more every day, it was hard not to notice.
I stayed there for some time doing nothing, just breathing peacefully with my eyes closed and letting my body adjust to the change in the environment.
Unfortunately, my peace, so to speak, was abruptly interrupted by the "PING" sounds from the stream, and not just one or two, but several of them.
I sighed and opened my eyes as I pulled up the notifications I received into my view.
-//-
[Quest: Let's kill some zombies? How about it!? - Completed! - Objective: Survive.
- Zombies killed directly: 25,938 - Reward: 259,380 SP!
- Zombies killed indirectly: 9,893 - Reward: 49,465 SP!
- Zombies killed by allies (With streamer's assistance): 2,883 - Reward: 8,649 SP!
- Zombies killed by allies (Without streamer's assistance): 173,492 - Reward: 346,984 SP!
- Total zombies killed: 212,206 - Total reward: 664,478 SP!]
-//-
I blinked slowly, letting the information of the SP number be absorbed by my brain, just before a maniacal smile appeared on my face. If I added up the SP I had saved in these three months, plus the mission reward, the number should reach...
(Current SP: 958,426).
Almost a million SP.
I couldn't help but start laughing, chuckling in the middle of the clearing alone. I must have stayed there for a good while before being interrupted.
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Do you realize how weird it looks, you laughing like a maniac in the middle of a forest alone? (Iron Man "shivers" emote).
"You like to spoil other people's happiness, don't you?" I sighed as I let my face relax.
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Of course not! I would never do that to someone else! That's exclusively your thing, my friend DS. Be happy! (Iron Man waving seriously emote).
[WiseWizardGleam]: Anthony, let the kid enjoy the moment. It's the reward for his 3 months of effort. (Old wizard reprimanding emote).
I sighed and returned to the notifications. It was good, in a way, that Stark stopped me. Otherwise, I felt like I would keep laughing for some more time. Since this amount of SP should be enough to do most of the things I need.
And to my delight, the side quests really existed, and I had done several of them, even unintentionally. So, I'm glad that the stream "organizes" them for me.
I started with what would be the extermination missions? I guess. Well, it was basically the stream saying, "Congratulations! You killed a lot of stuff. Here's your reward!"
-//-
[Extermination Missions]
[Side quest: Look! A Zombie! - Completed! - Objective: Kill your first zombie: Reward - 100 SP!]
[Side quest: Look! A Horde of Zombies! - Completed! - Objective: Kill 10 zombies alone: Reward - 1000 SP!]
[Side quest: Look! A Zombie Infestation! - Completed! - Objective: Kill 100 zombies alone: Reward - 10000 SP!]
[Side quest: Zombie Chaos - Completed! - Objective: Kill 1000 zombies alone: Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Zombie Apocalypse I - Completed! - Objective: Kill 10,000 zombies alone: Reward - 100000 SP! (5) Life Potions (Small)]
[Side quest: Zombie Apocalypse II - Completed! - Objective: Kill 20,000 zombies alone: Reward - 200000 SP! / (10) Life Potions (Small)]
-//-
I had to contain my excitement to avoid starting to laugh happily again.
I thought I could only earn SP with the missions, but it seems that side quests also gave items and even more, potions. I had only two potions left in my inventory, but now I had an incredible seventeen potions.
It might seem like a small number, but that was basically seventeen extra lives I had, as even the small potions I had were insanely effective.
I didn't waste time. Now I was even more excited to see what other rewards my hard work had earned.
-//-
[Change Missions]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) I - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of one form (Minor): Reward - 100 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) II - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 5 forms (Minor): Reward - 1000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) III - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 10 forms (Minor): Reward - 5000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) IV - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 50 forms (Minor): Reward - 10000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) V - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 100 forms (Minor): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) VI - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 500 forms (Minor): Reward - 100000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Minor) VII - Completed! - Objective: Change the fate of 1000 forms (Minor): Reward - 200000 SP!]
-//-
I raised my arms while giving a celebratory punch in the air.
I knew that changing things would yield some kind of reward, but this was much more than I expected, not to mention it was a (Minor) change.
-//-
[Change Missions (Canon)]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) I - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Bus): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) II - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Bus): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) III - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Apartment): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) IV - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Apartment): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) V - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Takagi Property): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VI - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Takagi Property): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VII - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VIII - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) IX - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) X - Completed - Objective: Somehow alter the canon (Island): Reward - 300000 SP!]
-//-
I took a deep breath and calmed myself. It was just for a moment that I didn't shout and draw attention from everything in this forest.
I had to count to ten a few times to let my heart settle, and I continued to see the last list of missions and rewards.
-//-
[Bond Missions]
[Side quest: Create bonds: Objective: Form some kind of bond with important people in the world.
(Whether for good or bad, people remember you in some way.)
Saya Takagi - Bond created! (+): 97%
Saeko Busujima - Bond created! (+): 87%
Rei Miyamoto - Bond created! (+): 78%
Alice Maresato - Bond created! (+): 84%
Shizuka Marikawa - Bond created! (+): 74%
Kohta Hirano - Bond created! (+): 85%
Takashi Komuro - Bond created! (+): 85%
Ezekiel (Zeke) - Bond created! (+): 9%
(Expand list)
Rewards: Pylon (HOTD), Life Crystal (1), Mana Crystal (1), 500000 SP!]
-//-
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Okay... that's a lot, like A FUCKING LOT. (Surprised Iron Man emote).
[WiseWizardGleam]: I wouldn't put it in those terms, but yes, it's quite a lot. I'm happy for you, Devas. Every effort deserves to be rewarded. (Wise old wizard waving emote).
[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot]: What did I miss? Are these the kid's rewards? That's a lot. (Smiling old frog emote).
[StarkAssistant]: Mr. Stark, why do you only wake up early to watch the stream? Do you know how much paperwork I had to fill out these past few months?! (Angry blue-armored pepper emote).
I ignored the (CHAT) messages and started organizing my thoughts. There were a lot of numbers and information; let's take it step by step.
First, the main mission. It had given me a lot of SP. My only question would be my supposed "allies" who killed almost two hundred thousand zombies. I don't think they're part of my group.
The only explanation would be Saya's father, Souichiro. He probably considered me an ally, and consequently, the men he commanded were counted as my allies too.
The extermination missions were self-explanatory. I killed a ton of zombies and got rewards for it.
Where it started to "complicate" somewhat was in the change missions. What categorized as a change? The canon part was easy to figure out.
I had changed a lot in the story, avoided the group's separation, took Shido out of the game right at the beginning, changed how they survived, prevented the fall of the Takagi property, and most importantly, which gave me more SP. Because the property stood, the survivors were able to create a safe haven on the island.
And the changes of fate (Minor) were probably the effects of me going out and killing zombies like crazy for a little over two months.
In those two months I wandered through Japan, I had saved some people, survivors I came across along the way. Not to mention that just the fact that I killed zombies day after day must have changed something.
And finally, the mission that gave me the biggest reward, the bond mission.
It wasn't a secret that I had connected, so to speak, with the group. Some people more, others less, but it seems that the stream recognized that in some way.
Clicking on the (+) icon next to Saya's name, it showed the type of bond I had with her.
[Saya Takagi - Bond created! (Love - Lust - Admiration - Affection - Fondness - Respect - Passion - Companionship...): 97%
There were many things. I still didn't understand how this number was calculated, but I think it was better this way. I don't think it's a good thing to "quantify" feelings.
With all this finished, I looked at my SP again.
(Current SP: 2,458,426)
This time, I couldn't contain myself and started laughing again, not caring whether I looked crazy or not.
[StarkAssistant]: ... Is he okay? It's been a while since I joined the stream, did something happen? (Worried blue-armored pepper emote).
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Just ignore, DS is disturbed and crazy, we've known that for a while. (Iron Man waving in agreement emote).
[WiseWizardGleam]: He's fine, just happy. But I wonder how long he'll keep laughing. I'd like to know what the items he received are, but I think it will take a while. (Old wizard sitting in a rocking chair emote).
[RedHuntressLive]: What happened? I woke up earlier because of the exam! Why is Devas laughing like a maniac? (Worried Little Red Riding Hood emote).
I spent a few minutes letting my joy leak out before relaxing the muscles of my face, which were already sore from laughing so much.
"I'm just happy, especially with the last reward, here, look at the description."
I said as I clicked on the small icon of a floating crystal that had appeared on the phone.
-//-
[Pylon (HOTD) - Description: A crystal structure on a stand that is connected to other Pylons, allowing teleportation between them no matter where they are, world, or dimension.
A large number of connected Pylons is characterized as a Pylon Network.
This Pylon is connected to the world Earth - 89781938151512156145 (HOTD)
(Activate the Pylon? Yes/No)]
-//-
Let's set aside the extremely large number for a moment and focus on the things that matter.
I knew the Pylons in Terraria. They were basically the teleportation points in the game that could only be bought if one of the NPCs in the game had a happiness modifier of ninety percent or more.
That's why the stream had a system to "quantify" the bonds I had with people in the worlds I visited, to make sure I met the requirements for a Pylon in that world.
I let a small smile come to my lips. I didn't know if it worked the same way as in Terraria, but if it did, the only person who met the bond requirements was Saya, with her incredible ninety-seven percent.
Without hesitation, I clicked yes, and the screen changed to a loading screen with the following words written: "Estimated time: 13 hours, 28 minutes, and 45 seconds."
I blinked a bit confused. I thought it would be instantaneous, but it seems I was mistaken. The only other thing that had a loading screen on the stream before was at the beginning of all this, when I accepted this "job."
It seems that the Pylons were a more serious and complicated business for the stream than I thought.
The next thing I did was take the two items I knew well from my inventory. The Life Crystal and the Mana Crystal.
The first thing I picked up was the Life Crystal. Like in the game, the crystal was a shining red heart and seemed to pulse with a reddish-pink glow.
In the game, the Life Crystal was practically the size of the character; here, it wasn't as large, but it was still huge.
The crystal was probably the size of a basketball and was heavy, weighing at least thirty or forty kilograms.
[RedHuntressLive]: Oh, how beautiful! It's a ruby heart! And it's huge?! (Little Red Riding Hood emote with envy).
[WhiteHuntressLive]: I... I don't even know what to comment, really, I don't even know how much a cut ruby of this size would cost. (Surprised Snow White emote).
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Why is it a heart? Just because it's called a Life Crystal? Who named this? A 5-year-old? It would have been easier to call it Heart Crystal (Indignant Iron Man emote).
[WiseWizardGleam]: I don't think it's a ruby... just by looking, I can tell it's something magical, and it's not a small amount of magic... Do you know what it is, Devas? Could you explain to us? (Curious old wizard emote).
I answered the question while slowly turning the crystal in my hand, looking at how it was cut.
"In short, I don't know what it's made of or exactly what it does." I replied honestly before adding, "But it should increase my vitality in some way."
I didn't know how the Life Crystal worked; in the game, we just "used" it, no mystery. Here? I had no idea.
Should I break it on the ground? Smash it on my chest? Eat it? Damn, it was the size of a basketball, and it really seemed to be hard. If I had to eat it, it would be a nightmare.
"And it's not ruby, I'm sure, I don't know what it's made of, but it's not ruby."
I observed the Life Crystal for a few more moments before putting it back in the inventory. First, I'll find out what it's made of; I imagine the library has something about them... but it shouldn't be on the first floor.
"Tsk"... I clicked my tongue. Everything came back to me needing to interact with Terraria; I hoped to get stronger before starting to make a name for myself in the kingdom, but it seems it'll be easier if I just raise my rank in the guild.
And I won't lie, having access to more floors of the library is something I really want. I really wanted to read those books, understand how things in this world worked, magic, technology, mana, everything!
Sighing, I took the Mana Crystal and did the same thing I did with the Life Crystal, observed it without understanding anything.
It was practically the same size, but it was blue and looked like a five-pointed star. But the biggest question in my mind was what it was made of.
From the texture, I couldn't figure it out; it was cold, unlike the Life Crystal that emitted a small pulse of warmth. If I were to guess, the Mana Crystal was some kind of crystallized mana, and the Life Crystal was crystallized raw energy or vitality.
I might be wrong, of course, but I'd bet on my theory that the Mana Crystal is literally made of five falling stars. God forbid if they are five real stars.
As before, I stored the crystal and stretched. Looking at the phone, it was eight in the morning; some time had passed.
I put the chair back in the inventory and started walking towards the kingdom.
As I walked, I scratched my chin and asked casually to no one, not expecting a response from anyone.
"I wonder how much time has passed here while I was on the mission."
[WiseWizardGleam]: My bet would be on it being 3 months as well. The stream has a tendency to keep everything balanced, doesn't it? (Emote of an old wizard with gleaming eyes).
[JiraiyaIsAnIdiot]: I have the same impression, if not 3 months, it must have been something close, 2 months or so. I highly doubt there was such a significant dilation. (Emote of an old frog yawning).
[RedHuntressLive]: But it would be cool if time had stopped in Terraria, wouldn't it? You could go on missions, get stronger, and come back, and no one would notice that you left! Like a time machine! (Little Red Riding Hood emote with stars in her eyes).
[StarkAssistant]: I wish I had something like that; I could finally catch up on my sleep. That or my boss helping me with his work!
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: (Emote of Iron Man whistling).
Curiously, I didn't find any slimes; I would have usually come across one or two by now. I shrugged and kept walking.
"I'll bet on three months too, as useful as it would be if time here had stopped, I don't have hopes that it would happen."
I spent some time walking slowly, enjoying nature before encountering the first slime. It was a common slime, a green one.
I looked at the little creature, and it seemed to look back at me, if it had eyes, of course. It didn't take long for it to shake its gelatinous body slightly and jump at me.
I didn't even have to move; I just manifested one of the many weapons I had in my inventory in front of it. A katana, not the one Saya's father had given me, but one of the many I had borrowed while wandering through Japan.
The slime hit the blade and fell limp to the ground. With another thought, an axe appeared above the slime and ended its life.
"Funny how if I hadn't been careful with these guys for three months, I could have gotten hurt." I whispered as I continued walking towards the kingdom, the slime's body long gone into my inventory.
Let's pick up the pace. I'll see if I can sell some of the clothes I had in my inventory to Emily to get some money. If that doesn't work, I can check with Geralt or Markus if they know someone who buys clothes or something else, after all, what I lacked the least now were materials.
I'll also take the opportunity to do some guild missions today; let's set a goal to reach silver rank in less than a week!
With this little plan in mind, I hastened my steps and started running. My steps leaving small marks of my shoes on the forest floor.
It seems my training had paid off, after all, I don't think an ordinary human can run as fast as I did since in less than ten minutes, I was at the kingdom gates.
A journey that used to take me about three hours while running lightly, done in ten minutes with me running full speed. I hadn't even sweated; it felt more like a light walk than a full sprint.
Walking to the port, I smiled as I greeted the gate guards, receiving two nods as I entered the kingdom.
"Now... where was Emily and Markus's shop again?" I knew I should have marked it on the map...
[...]
POV: Saya Takagi.
"Do you miss him, don't you?" My mother asked while combing my hair.
It was just the two of us on the balcony of the beach house we had on the island. Komuro-kun and Hirano-kun had left a long time ago to help my father's men build houses on the island or go fishing; somehow, that chubby guy was really good at fishing.
Rei was in the bath and should be out in a few minutes, and Saeko, after I spent a few minutes convincing her, went out to do something other than accompany me to protect me.
Seriously, after Devas left, she practically became my shadow. It wasn't a bad thing; I had gotten quite close to the purple-haired samurai, we had become close friends at this point, but it got annoying after a while to have someone following me all the time.
"Of course, I miss him, Mom. But it's something he and I knew would happen; he needed to leave..." It didn't make me feel better...
I hugged the strange cockroach plushie and sighed, just before turning to the door when I heard footsteps.
"Saya-chan, didn't mean to interrupt, but there's something happening in the middle of the island." Shizuka-sensei said leaning against the door while panting a bit, probably from running.
"What happened? Something with the tunnel?" My mother was the first to speak, concerned. Shizuka-sensei shook her head, tilting it from side to side.
"No, it's a strange rock! It appeared out of nowhere!" Strange rock? What the hell was this busty nurse talking about...
My thoughts were cut off by a "pulse" of something I didn't recognize at first, but then I realized what it was.
"Mana?" I whispered to myself. Devas had explained the basics he knew about mana since our... sessions... if I could call them that, had awakened my own.
I stood up in alarm as a kind of dome seemed to cover the island like an aquarium before disappearing.
I felt my mother's arms tighten around me as if she feared something. Her arms were shaking, just like mine. What was this? Don't tell me the world can get worse?
"Saya! Are you okay?" Saeko shouted from afar as she ran towards me.
I nodded slightly, but didn't answer. Too busy paying attention to the "strange rock" that Shizuka-sensei had mentioned earlier.
It wasn't just a strange rock but a damn giant crystal that was floating while slowly rotating in the middle of the island.
It was huge; it must have been about a hundred or two hundred meters high by fifty meters wide at its center, tapering as it went towards the ends.
"What is this..." I could hear my mother whispering as she hugged me in fear.
I don't think she's the only one afraid, as Shizuka-sensei's legs were shaking slightly. Even Saeko, who killed zombies with a wooden sword, seemed scared.
Probably, it was like this throughout the island; all the survivors should be scared too... all except me.
I smiled slightly as I looked at the crystal in the middle of the island and the strange but recognizable blue screen that had appeared in front of it like a hologram.
"It's not dangerous, Mom." I squeezed her hand lightly to convey my sincerity. "Trust me. I'm sure this isn't a bad thing."
I felt the eyes of the three turning to me, along with some people who were close due to the commotion.
I could see the rest of the group in the distance too. It seems that Hirano-kun had run to get Alice-chan, as she was on his shoulders while he and Komuro-kun ran here; I could also see Rei-san running a bit further away.
"H... how can you be sure, Saya-chan?" I heard my mother's trembling voice ask from behind me as I stepped out of her embrace and looked at the letters on the holographic blue screen.
"Just... trust me... It's a feeling I have; you'll understand later..."
I couldn't help but smile even more, after all, the words written on the screen were...
[Streamer in the Omniverse]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yay! First of all, apologies for not releasing a chapter yesterday (Actually the day before now, as I'm late today for reasons). In my country, October 12th is Children's Day. I don't have kids; I'm too young to even think about children.
But I have 2 little siblings, so I spent the day out with my family. (October 13th too, that's why it took me a while to release this chapter).
Well, that's the reason. I'll release one on Saturday and Sunday as compensation.
Now, about the chapter. This chapter was more about the rewards he received and some minor things, so it was more of a filler than anything, even though it's important for the story.
I had to think a bit to balance the rewards, but I think it turned out well. (For those who found it strange that he didn't have a first mission achievement, wait for the next chapter, there will be more changes, this time in the stream).
Well, as always, comment on what you thought of the chapter, if you liked it, if you found errors, what you think of the story, if you have any doubts, any kind of theory, what you think the next worlds will be. Comment, I'm reading everything and trying to answer what I can without giving spoilers.
PS: What do you think the huge number of the HOTD world is? It's kind of silly, nothing too mysterious, but I thought it was cool to use when I thought about it. I'll name the other worlds like that too.
PSS: That said, good night and good reading to those who stay. (Did you think I forgot the good night?)