NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79 - Drastic Development
"Yesterday, they were pushovers. If they had seen what we saw, they would have been just as surprised. Personally, I'm quite amazed." ~Valor'el zel Valar
"Miss Shallies, we would like to make a proposal."
The Chef was already aware that something was going on the moment Coraline and three young members of the Gaiamaxims Guild arrived for dinner. Of course, she wasn't one to deny any potential customer. But to make sure her students weren't distracted, she sent them to continue meditating while standing. Since she wouldn't be around, she restricted them from walking, in order to avoid any accidents.
"Go on," Shallies said, serving Coraline's dish. The Vice Guildmaster sat at the bar, leaving her younger members to eat at a table.
The youngsters looked promising. They were obviously keeping to themselves, but they failed at subtlety with regards to judging her humble abode. These were rich folk who were easily enamored by the simpler things. Gaiamaxims, after all, nourished curiosity and philanthropy. They had no space for arrogant rich kids, who were unable to show any interest to those who had less.
Not that Shallies had less…
"We'd like to hire you as a teacher after the whole Thrush'ven Alir Raid is over," Coraline started. "Not in an official System-Integrated Mentor, just to be clear. Nothing that committed. We simply would like you to teach us, and some of our promising members this Perpetual Method that you're currently teaching your students."
"I heard about Yoshelle, is she okay?" Shallies asked, buying herself some time. Not that she needed to, but she had to act as if she was unsure of whether to initiate negotiation for the proposal or outright deny it.
Besides, she genuinely wanted to know the Guild Princess's condition straight from one of her parents.
"Yoshelle underwent a trance. Fortunately, Valor'el and Phey'lan arrived expecting exactly what had happened. She's fully recovered now and undeterred. If you're worried that we're holding a grudge against you for making our daughter go through something like that, then please rest assured that we're not harboring any ill will. And with Sir Valor'el's assistance, she's now able to prevent herself from falling into a trance."
"That's good to know."
Vice Guildmaster Coraline's expression was still the same. Her eyes were keen, unafraid to keep looking at Shallies. She was expecting an answer for her proposal and wouldn't allow for a mere distraction to get in her way.
Shallies sighed. "What do I get in return?"
Coraline smiled confidently. She opened her System Console and shared the display. It was a simple Quest Contract, as far as Shallies could surmise. One that clearly stated that she would need to make sure that at least eight members of the Gaiamaxims Guild would be able to use The Perpetual Method in combat. Out of the eight, two must be Coraline and Maxims, and a conditional third in case Yoshelle would still not be able to use the method after Thrush'ven Alir. Aside from that one specific clause, she was free to teach however she liked. She was even free to choose and change which of the remaining five or six students she would teach, so long as they were members of the guild.
The contract was non-binding and fully flexible. It had no restrictive termination clauses, nor was there anything she could interpret as predatory or abusive. She just needed to teach eight promising students and it would be considered contract fulfilled.
For such a relaxed contract, the compensation included was incredibly generous.
A sign-in bonus of 200,000 bits, with a promised 100,000 bits per student, for a total of one-million bits. Shallies could already see where Coraline's confidence was coming from. But aside from this monetary compensation, she was also offered help to make managing the tavern and her would-be teaching duties a bit easier.
"You're giving me a Door…" Shallies said. She didn't bother hiding how impressed she was.
"A Door To Somewhere," Coraline clarified. "And we'll entrust to you the only key to it. We'll connect your tavern to all of our major bases, this way you don't have to physically travel across kingdoms just to teach us. Of course, we'll still give you the necessary permits for travel."
"I have to admit, it's pretty tempting."
Coraline's smile didn't waver nor widen. She remained composed. "Valor'el showed us how powerful The Perpetual Method could be. We think it's a worthy investment."
"Why didn't you ask him first?" Shallies asked.
"I did." This time, the Vice Guildmaster's smile slowly disappeared. But she maintained her composure, showing understanding instead of regret. "The master seraph declined, saying that he wasn't truly confident enough with using The Perpetual Method to teach many people at once. He said that his guidance with Yoshelle would stop before she could use it properly in combat. Instead, he mentioned that we should reach out to you."
Shallies nodded. There was absolutely nothing stopping her from agreeing to the contract, especially since they had included a Door exclusively for her. A Door with limited openings, sure, but that was all the convenience she needed. While she could travel anywhere in Ysvil using just a few Sight Steps, she didn't want to have to explain how quickly she could move from one place to the next.
Of course, even Favored Class holders couldn't cast their Sight Steps that far.
"How long do I have until I have to decide?" Shallies asked.
"We're hoping to receive an answer any time before we have to leave Cinterbrim Town. But technically, we're not giving you a time constraint on this contract. If it takes you a year or so, then we'll gladly wait."
"Alright. Thank you. I'll see how my students fare with the sub-raid, then I'll decide."
Coraline's smile returned. "You seem confident that they'll win the duel. Just to clarify, the contract doesn't guarantee they can join."
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"Of course," Shallies said, smiling back.
The next morning, before sending everyone to Valor'el's training session, Shallies took all their updates from their System Profiles.
[Name: Grace Allturia]
[Class: Mana-Edge Sentinel (Advanced 17), Mana Weaver (Base 6)]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 20 (+5)]
[Constitution: 20]
[Mana-Affinity: 42]
[Focus: 27]
[Unallotted: 0]
[New Skills]
Dual-Wielding Mastery (Mana-Edge Sentinel)
Flametongue - Blaze Edge (Mana-Edge Sentinel - Apprentice)
Frostbite Blade (Mana-Edge Sentinel - Beginner)
Haste - Improved Haste (Mana-Edge Sentinel - Apprentice)
Lightning Surge (Spell Sword - Apprentice) - Thunderclap (Mana-Edge Sentinel - Apprentice)
Manaweave: Focus (Mana Weaver - Beginner)
Sword Stance - Improved Sword Stance (Mana-Edge Sentinel - Apprentice)
As far as Shallies was concerned, Grace was following a natural progression in terms of choosing her Skills. It was a natural choice for most people to upgrade their favorite Skills. Even her Attribute distribution was appropriate, though the Godkiller would've preferred a more even split between Agility and Focus.
Not the end of the world. Shallies figured that the half-orc's choices were heavily influenced by Tayin, who had recently displayed how a high Focus Attribute could be helpful in a pinch.
Speaking of…
[Name: Tayin Laughlap]
[Class: Chronospark (Advanced 18), Star Gazer (Base 16)]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 15]
[Constitution: 20]
[Mana-Affinity: 42 (+3)]
[Focus: 40]
[New Skills]
Cosmic Infusion (Star Gazer - Beginner)
Dancing Stars (Star Gazer - Beginner)
Nurture Stellar Mana (Star Gazer - Beginner - Destiny Adhesion: Faint)
Star Map (Star Gazer - Beginner)
Shallies saw her younger self in Tayin's Skill choices, as far as their Star Gazer class was concerned, save for Nurture Stellar Mana. When the Godkiller first took the Class, she had also taken the same set of Skills.
Shooting Star was one of her staples. Even now, as an Astral Lord, she would still use the Skill and its upgrade variants depending on the situation. She also acquired Star Map and Cosmic Infusion as soon as possible. The former ensured she would never get lost while automatically mapping out new areas, including dungeons and raids. The latter was for flexibility, allowing her to infuse armaments with cosmic mana.
Then there was Dancing Stars. Shallies reminisced the times she had enjoyed using that Skill. It was the same one she had used to guide Grace the first time they worked together. For a Star Gazer looking to ascend into a Guiding Star, Dancing Stars was probably one of the most catered Skill for this particular route. A simple point, and a small star would appear at an intended location or target. When struck, beams of cosmic light would pepper said area.
Back then, Shallies had used this Skill to point Grace towards the treants' weak spots. Dancing Lights wouldn't appear on a weak spot automatically. The Godkiller had to be particular where to point them back then. And now, Tayin had the same potential.
Well… Only time will tell if she keeps matching my choices…
[Name: Ren Salvatur]
[Class: Shield Knight (Advanced 16), Disciple (Base 20)]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 40 + 4]
[Agility: 15]
[Constitution: 30]
[Mana-Affinity: 20]
[Focus: 22]
[New Skills]
Mana-Refined Agility (Disciple)
Mana-Refined Constitution (Disciple)
Mana-Refined Focus (Disciple)
Mana-Refined Mana-Affinity (Disciple)
Mana-Refined Strength (Disciple)
"Now that's interesting…"
Ren choosing to take all the Mana-Refined Attribute Skills right from the get go simply meant one thing. The Disciple and Shield Knight was the first among the three to be able to engage each Attribute at the same time. Though he had only managed it for a few seconds, it was still a feat worth chasing.
Utilizing the Mana-Refined Attribute Skills in an attempt to make engaging them easier was definitely a good choice. But Shallies never told Ren anything about that. And yet, he made the correct decision.
"That's some crazy instinct, right there…"
She even noticed him trying to engage an Attribute while attempting the first steps of The Perpetual Method. That, Shallies didn't bother correcting. It would be impossible to do so, in the first place. Only when they had completely nullified the mana's pull, and made themselves immune to the trance, only when they could meditate while being able to fight, would they be able to engage an Attribute at the same time.
For now, she would let them realize that on their own.
With two days remaining and her students still having next to no progress with learning The Perpetual Method, Shallies didn't actually change anything in their routine. Ultimately, she trusted her students to either find a breakthrough, whether it was with regards to the method, or coming up with a way to fight Yoshelle.
While their training was to help improve their chances to join the sub-raid, the initial intention for it was, and had always been, to prepare them for a potential Divine War. Their growth, though it would greatly benefit from a sub-raid, was never dependent on it in the first place. She had already devised a few alternative plans, just in case they failed their test.
Still, whether her students had the same mindset as her or not, that wasn't even up for debate. A simple look was all it took, as their expressions turned from desperate to determined, trying to land a hit on Valor'el. Her three rough gems desired to be polished in the roughest way possible.
Unlike the first time, Grace was now calmer. Her eyes were intent, and her body quickly adjusted to her analysis. It was still not as fluid as an instinct, but the disconnections between mind and movement were barely noticeable now.
Ren was valiant. Before, he was struggling to catch up. But now, he could deflect almost half of Valor'el's attacks, whether they were meant for him or someone else. He was wielding a training sword, but he was treating it like his Death-Dealing Arming Sword. While the seraph could handle the amount of death mana the weapon could wield, it was still a good gesture by the Shield Knight to avoid the potential complication.
The surprising part was how he was constantly engaging his Constitution, while pairing it with a different Attribute as needed. Agility if he needed to catch up. Strength if he needed to match Valor'el. Focus if he needed to analyze. Mana-Affinity if he needed to fortify his defenses even further. Each attribute, engaged and combined with Constitution at the same time, yielded effective results while avoiding the absurd drain if he had chosen to engage all of them at the same time instead.
It was a creative and effective improvisation.
Tayin was more quiet. Shallies had to tap her already engaged Focus, just so she could hear the Chronospark's invocations clearly. But the most surprising part was that the halfling was attempting to mix invocations. She was attempting to twin-cast a Shooting Star while also preparing a Flame Lance in the same breath.
Shallies had only given Tayin a few pointers regarding this invocation technique. Utilizing similar phrases of two different Spells, investing mana separately, then filling in the blanks for both in order to make them manifest. If the halfling had missed a single syllable, whether by stuttering or misassigning them, the entire thing would fizzle quickly.
But these were Tayin's two favorite Spells. She had uttered their invocations thousands of times. She knew them by heart and knew which phrases matched.
All together, with these advanced techniques that no normal Advanced Class holder had any business wielding that early, the three engaged Valor'el.
As for the seraph, who had noticed all of these drastic developments in just a couple of days, smiled simply. He wasn't planning to let them win just because they had improved.