Walking Disasters and Me-Talks of the Future, Growing Worry – Ch 96
After the brief bit of levity, we all settle back down and turn back to the matter at hand. "Right, so firstly, I think you should go ahead and actually use the spare points to bring your Strength and Constitution up closer to par with your mental stats, while still leaving some in reserve for an emergency of course. That'll make the buffs you get from completing the weapon quests a
bit
more impactful, and just be safer overall for you." Ios says first, her logic making sense even with the slight nagging feeling from earlier periodically poking at my mind in the background.
I shake it off and agree with her for the most part, "Sure, but speaking of getting those buffs from the quests, won't that just have the exact
opposite
effect when we get to that point? Where my physical stats will be so
wildly
out of proportion compared to the mental ones? As far as I can remember, the last quests that gain points for Wisdom and everything else are the crafting ones, and those are just flat increases without a multiplier at the end."
Ios shakes her head, curly blonde hair rippling behind her as she replies, "I don't think that's truly going to be an issue, long term. Your techniques are game changers full stop, and Luck makes you essentially an unpredictable
nuke.
Besides, raising the base stats to the echelons of higher Ranked cultivators is actually pretty within your grasp. I know you still aren't comfortable viewing sex as a means to gain power, but honestly that'll likely be a key component to you actually reaching those heights and shoring up anything that may fall behind." I can't help but bristle a little, but in my heart I know she's right. The power gap between my base stats and something like Akiko's theoretical ones is just too large now that the juicy quest bonuses are drying up...
Whether Ios catches my muddled state or not isn't clear, as she promptly continues on her little lecture, "The stat gains from the cultivation quests will increase as well, but from what I can see they are also flat bonuses. Even if the ones for 5th Ranked ascension are quite crazy when you factor in that you'll be getting three versions of them. Also, let's not pretend that your base stats aren't already monstrous. If you split 18k points between STR and CON, which would still leave you a decent fallback amount, you'd essentially be at or above peak 4th Rank in all of your ability scores.
Also also, those later stage crafting quests
do
give out pretty hefty increases. Let's take the inscription quest line as an example. The stage up from Master level is Grand Master, and then after that is Peerless Master. The first one has a reward of 100k toward mental stats, as well as the point rewards too, but the last one is a bit bonkers, coming in at 500k." Akiko and I both nearly fall off the bed from shock, our synched expressions gasping out at this ridiculous revelation.
"Pretty crazy right~?" Ios just says back cheekily, giving us both a wink as she giggles to herself before continuing on, "The reasoning for such a huge jump between Master, Grand Master, and then Peerless Master is because the system is expecting you to achieve those levels at certain milestones in your cultivation career. Master is indicative of someone around 3rd or maybe lower 4th Rank, while Grand Master is something that takes most people mid-level Apogee Rank to earn. Peerless Master is considered the pinnacle of any crafting tree, and while uncommon, it can
technically
be achieved by a peak half-step 5th Rank who has done nothing but dedicate their lives to the craft in question."
"What utter
ridiculousness
, in the best way possible..." Akiko stammers out, still reeling from what Ios is telling us as her tails once more lay on me like a barrier. I wonder if that's a purely subconscious thing now since we've been linked or if she's actually scared for me or something? If its the former, that's fucking
adorable
and I love her~. If its the latter, that's
so sweet
and I love her~. "Spirit Ios, we have both seen and acknowledged that Amelia is not only extremely talented toward inscriptions, but also with the aid of her system, she can progress rapidly in comprehension and use of the skill. How long would it take her to reach such lofty heights if she did nothing but study the craft?"
"Hmm..." Ios ponders for a moment as I lean into Akiko, stoking a hand gently against one of her tails as we wait for the response, "Well, let's put aside that I don't think Aims would
ever
want to do that - for
multiple
reasons - but hypothetically speaking, I would say that likely within a year or so she would reach the end of the quest line provided she had enough glyphs and symbols to learn, and the means of inscribing them all to actually
progress
the quest." She turns her head to focus more towards me before adding, "Just like with the ranged weapon quests, the total requirement may be
dramatically
lessened, but you're still looking at essentially learning or creating every rune known to exist on Mara for the Peerless Master quest to be satisfied. For the Grand Master one? Probably a month or two of dedicated studying and work after completing the Master level version, if we include moments to rest, heal Sandra, and for you to eat."
I feel the bubbling sense of utter bewilderment tinged with a touch of mania as Akiko and I start loop feeding our astonishment back and forth to each other, locked in each other's embrace and at the whims of this entity who doesn't know when to
sugar coat
shit!
A 100k stat bump after a month or two of work!? Yeah, no fucking
wonder
she didn't seem worried about my stats falling behind! If anything, I'm going to have to
actively
try to not let them balloon out of control so I don't have an even bigger target on my back! Sure, it may be fine to be the baddest bitch around on
Mara
, but who the hell
knows
what's lurking past this floating disc's atmosphere as it whips through space!
Slight mental rambling completed, I shake my head to throw off any lingering thoughts of galactic threats lurking in the void between stars. "What about the other crafting stuff? Like spiritual cooking or blacksmithing? And wait, aren't formations, rune arrays, and talismans their own thing too? Are they all just as insane as the overall inscription quest line??" I say in growing exasperation.
Ios chuckles before she responds, her eyes gleaming in mischief, "To the first part of your question hun, yup~! Spiritual cooking will have a
much
more general distribution of stats, but the values are comparable to what I said earlier. Blacksmithing will obviously focus on your physical stats, but it, alchemy and poisons, and the inscription branch-off quests will have lower value rewards. They'll still be pretty crazy though, once you start reaching the last two tiers."
Jesus... Well, at least I won't be suffering from a lack of things that need doing going forward... "Alright, I don't think Aki or I can take any more of this. I feel like my heart's about to
explode
, and I'm like
90%
sure that's not just because of purely how I'm feeling right now." Akiko gives an apologetic hug, kiss, and a nuzzle as she takes a deep breath and centers herself while Ios laughs into the room at our pain. I really hope our new connection doesn't throw off her inner stability or something...
"Anyways," I say once I shoot a glare over to Ios for having so much fun at our expense, "Let's go ahead and spend some of these points, both the Ability ones and the Shop ones." I turn to Akiko and give her a peck on the cheek before following up, "I have more than enough points now to get decent body and soul manuals for you and the girls. I think we should go ahead and get them, and when the chaos from my tribulation dies down somewhat, you guys can start cultivating those paths too.
[4 Leaf Clover]
is just about off cooldown too -
finally
- so we can also grab a good soul manual for Maenai that you can keep in your ring until we see her again."
The sexy fox woman wraps me in a hug, her eager joy and relief apparent without any kind of system shenanigans as she just nods against me wordlessly in affirmation. I lean up and stroke her head a few times, my fingers splaying between the silken threads of her snowy hair in delight as I chuckle against her. "You've been so
cute
and
cuddly
today, more than usual~. I guess I'll have to keep reaching absurd heights and milestones so that this a constant thing~."
I feel the prick of her slightly elongated canines scrape against the spot where my neck meets my shoulder, right where she was nuzzling happily a second ago as a shiver of pleasure runs down my spine. "
Cheeky~.
If you want me to pamper you, all you must do is
ask
my love~." Akiko huskily whispers in my ear before giving me a gentle kiss on my cheek, the blush evident in both of our faces as she backs away further with a saucy wink that makes my heart flutter.
"Seriously, I'm buying an automatic water gun or something to use when we're talking about serious stuff. Y'all are
incorrigible
I swear." The deadpan of Ios' voice says to the growingly lust filled tension of the room. I cough and give her an awkward smile while Akiko simply grins wider and wraps me in a hug. Ios shakes her head before brining up a list of items from the system shop. "Alright, so we know Akiko's affinities are soul and ice. I suggest we get her
[Ancestor's Flowing Wisdom of the Soul (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for her soul path and then
[Frost Laden Fist of the Glacier (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for her body path. The two synch nicely to each other and shouldn't be hard to incorporate into her existing flow model for spiritual cultivation.
The soul path is actually primarily made for beast humans, pulling on their generational knowledge to aid in their own development and harnessing of the natural energies of their beast core, pulling some of that power to the soul to empower their attacks and auras. The body path is brutal and straight forward, focusing purely on destructive offensive power and bodily resilience, almost to the point of nothing else. In terms of pure power, I'd honestly give it a quasi-Transcendent ranking, but the drawback is it completely lacks ranged options and is difficult to master, like most ice-based cultivation methods.
For Jun Li, we know she is darkness, soul as well, and demonic due to her mixed bloodline. For reasons I shouldn't need to specify, we
absolutely will not
be getting her demonic manuals, so that leaves us with dark and soul.
[Teachings of the Herbal Hermit (Peak Heaven Rank)]
would be a great fit for her soul path, as it specializes in alchemy and poisons and how to imbue some of her soul energy into her crafts, while the body path I recommend is the edgily named
[Whispering Fanged Shadows (Peak Heaven Rank)]
. That manual is all about stealth, assassination, and how to overpower an opponent in a one-on-one fight with debilitating attacks to their weak spots.
Next on the list is our resident stoic blacksmith Samantha, her affinities being sun and metal. Speaking of, I would be curious to see the two of you fight Akiko, since sun is basically the only reliable counter to ice. Anyways, for Sammy girl, I suggest
[Soul of the Rising Dawn (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for soul and then
[Resolute Grasp of the Ironclad (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for body. While I did tinker with maybe having the sun attribute be her body manual, the lack of decent metal attuned soul manuals at this Rank of item kind of forced my hand.
They're both still fantastic though, don't worry! The soul one focuses on healing the user over time, as well as using the natural auras you gain through soul cultivation to have varying effects like massively raised temperatures in a given area, an increase in exhaustion and stamina usage on enemies, and others too. The body path is a much more defensively tuned one, turning her into a walking tank that becomes nearly impervious to damage while still improving her attack power decently.
Gerra was a bit of an odd case, and Aims you were asleep when I found out her attributes. She's got wind, water, and earth, which is quite an odd combination! Typically, wind and earth don't play along with each other well, but somehow she's been able to cultivate a balance using water as the medium, so props to her! With that in mind, I actually suggest we give her a complete rehaul.
[Tempest's Soaring Soul (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for her soul and air attribute,
[Flowing Tides of the Ocean (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for her spiritual path and water, and then
[Crater of Crushing Earth (Peak Heaven Rank)]
for earth and body.
The soul path will provide passive defense and distraction around her, using her auras to confuse and misdirect attacks or techniques as well as increase her ability to maneuver around the battlefield. Her spiritual rework will focus on harmonizing the network between body and soul, the meridians much more pliant and flexible to allow easier transition between functions as well as making the base connections malleable as well. Her body path, unsurprisingly, will be much more combat focused, relying on devastating area of effects, overwhelming strength, and explosive single target strikes to achieve victory."
Ios finally gets off the exposition express and lets Akiko and I process everything, my eyes turning to spirals at the deluge of constant explanations and descriptions. I'm going to make sure we install working, proper lungs on her body, just to make sure she can't just knowledge bomb us
constantly!!
Thankfully, Akiko seems to have had a much easier time following along, and begins to ask a couple questions back toward the overprepared eldritch being, "Would it not be preferable to also replace the spiritual paths for Samantha and Jun Li as well? My own is already at Peak Heaven Rank, so I do not feel the need to change it as such, but to my knowledge they both still have cultivation methods below that level. Also, will changing practices reduce our combat efficiency until we have reached the same level of comprehension with these new manuals?"
Ios shakes her head again before replying to Akiko, "We can, although I don't think it would be necessary. Having everyone, including yourself, start training up body and soul is going to give you guys an
exponential leap
in qualitative power. While Gerra may be
slightly
weakened at first, the fact that all of you are decently experienced mortal cultivators already means that she shouldn't have any issues going through the steps and comprehension required to get back to peak performance. In all honesty, once we leave this planet, I'm going to suggest that everyone transition to a Transcendent version or better for each path anyway, so at
most
we're looking at sticking with these manuals for... Oh, I'd say maybe a decade or so. Whenever Sandra is back and both her and Aims are ready to tackle the 6th Realm Tribulation.
The reason I
highly
suggest Gerra rework everything completely is because of her odd mix-match of affinities and how she likely has built a sub-par flow model to compensate. I'm not saying she's weak or she did something wrong!!" Ios quickly amends with wide eyes after noticing Akiko's tails starting to frizz out and a low growl leaving her lips at the misunderstanding, "I'm just saying that she had to do it like that to
balance
everything! With the manuals I suggested, that shouldn't be a problem for her going forward, so she can focus on making a much healthier, robust flow model!
Chill
, fox, damn!"
The kitsune huffs and turns her face away, pulling me tighter into the shared hug for some reason, like
I'm
the one who needs comfort right now. I would mention again how
adorable
she's acting today, but my face is pleasantly and completely smushed into her copious cleavage, so all my playful words come out as a muffled garble. Sadly, like all good things, this too comes to an end as Akiko stiffens up slightly, pulling me back as she looks up toward an empty spot on the wall and then sighs.
"It seems the last remaining rival elders are attempting to assault the barrier once more. They are slippery, using lifesaving treasures each and every time I have them cornered or nearly beaten... This whole conflict would have been settled before you awoke if those
blathering fools
spouting their nonsense would have just cooperated and
died
when asked!
Hmph!"
She leans down to my face, my shocked reaction at her sudden intensity fading into half lidded eyes as she rolls her tongue between my suddenly moaning lips, before breaking off the kiss with the sound of a wet smack and leaning back to lick her own lips hungrily. "I shall do my best to finally quell this
little altercation
that has vexed us so, and then we can see to letting you get back to training and crafting. I will be back as soon as I can, but Gerra will still be here in the estate so have spirit Ios reach out to her if you require anything, my love."
I give her a sleepy nod, my mind still sparking with pops of pink fireworks from the sudden tongue wrestling while I sway in heaven on the bed as Akiko giggles and stands up, dawning her version of a battle dress once again.
"Akiko!"
I say out in a rush as her footsteps reach the door, finally shaking out of my stupor as I dash over and wrap her in a tight hug. "Be
safe
, okay? I was against it at first, but I'll stay down here for as long as needed if it means you keep coming back to me."
A dazzlingly bright smile crosses her lips, her ears fluttering in joy as she leans down to share a much more passionate embrace of arms, tails, and lips. With a bit of a bittersweet feeling rubbing along in my chest, she gives a playful nip of the air between us as she retreats, before turning and exiting the door, a couple of her tails raking gently across my body and face before she shuts them securely behind her.
I let out a sigh, absentmindedly rubbing the spots that still hold the phantom of her tail's caresses along my naked body before turning back toward the bed and the smiling face of Ios. "She'll be
fine
Aims; I honestly don't think there's a cultivator on Mara that can go toe-to-toe with Akiko when she's being serious. Those other elder's are only living because of those expensive, and sure to be in
growingly
less supply, treasures. Now then, what do you want to do while we wait? Watch a movie?"
I give her a little smile as I move to the center of the bed and sit cross-legged, preparing to meditate and center myself. "While that does sound fun~," I chuckle back to Ios, "I think I want spend the points like we talked about and finish consolidating my gains from the tribulation for spirit and body. Even if I'm skipping ahead, may as well go through the pain and effort of getting myself as built up as possible while I have the free time, right?"
Ios nods back to me happily, her voice proud as she says, "That's a great idea as well as motivation, hun~! Let me know if you need anything while you're under then, and good luck!"
You have used 9,000 Points on Strength! Strength is now 14,088!
You have used 9,000 Points on Constitution! Constitution is now 14,238!
Health Pool is now: 470,019 / 470,019
Stamina Pool is now: 1,153,185 / 1,153,185
Remaining Ability Points: 1,282
I can't help but let out a lusty breath of excitement at seeing the massive jump in power, my body feeling stronger and sturdier by leaps and bounds, almost to the point where I don't even feel like the same person I was when I landed here, physically speaking. I shake off the existential thought as Ios laughs, her form finally blinking away as she gives me space to meditate, even though that turns out to be difficult at the moment.
As I close my eyes and try not to let the gnawing worry that has become more and more vocal since it first started prodding at me, struggling to get my heart under control for a moment as the anxiety proves difficult to push back against, but I eventually succeed and am once more floating adrift above the expanded soul model. Like last time, tributaries of voided riverbeds flow toward circular planes of insanely detailed glyph-ed circles of power, each radiating strength and connection to the overall whole. Below me, my dantian silently waits for purpose, the pockmarked silver moon floating pristinely in empty space. To the other side, my soul avatar who again looks directly at me, sending shivers down it's spine at the unsettling sensation before I snap to be "viewing" everything from its eyes instead.
I physically move the avatar's head around, taking in more and more of the space as I continue to avoid my actual purpose for coming straight here. Well, my
main
purpose. I
do
still want to cultivate body and soul while I have some free time. With a heavy sigh, I go to an emptier part of the model to gain some semblance of privacy as my echoey voice shakes around the space, the worry evident as I ask out into the ether, "Ios, can you come here for a second? We need to talk."
.
!
Talks of the Future, Growing Worry – Ch 96
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