Quest Updated!

[A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good]

5/5 Catgirls Successful!

Quest Complete!

Matt has gained: 486 XP!

Matt is now: Base Level 9!

Matt is now: Class Level 9!

Matt has gained: 500 Bells!

Please allow up to one full day to receive your funds.

New Quest!

[The More the Merrier]

Congratulations on mating with 5 catgirls! Nyarlea depends on you for its continued longevity! Successfully mate with 8 catgirls and reap the rewards!

Rewards

1 Base Level 1 Class Level 5,000 Bells

I was seated at the edge of Keke’s bed, idly scrolling through the notifications on the iPaw. It fell out of my hands as I read the new rewards to myself in a whisper. It landed on the floor with a loud thud and my mouth hung open.

“Ahh!” Keke shot up and put her hand on my bare shoulder. “Oh, Saoirse, you scared me. What’s wrong, Matt?”

I scrambled for the device and quickly turned it off. Not like she could read it, anyway, but why take the chance? “Sorry about that. Butter fingers.”

She frowned, obviously confused. “Butter—”

“Clumsy hands,” I said with a forced smile. I rose to my feet and dismissed the iPaw. “I got a few things I need to take care of. Espada’s given me a to-do list. Leatherworker’s in town today too.” I was quick to put on my shirt and jacket. I don’t know what was possessing me, but I was suddenly in the mood to get out of the room as soon as possible.

“O-oh. Okay.” Keke neared the edge of the bed and a playful smile tugged at her features. “Will I see you later tonight?”

“Yeah. Think so.” The comment wiped the smile away in an instant. “Sorry, just a lot to do. I’ll be back soon. Gotta meet up with Ceres too.” I paused. “She’s staying with Cannoli, right?”

Keke nodded. “Yeah.”

I shut Keke’s door behind me and made my way over to Cannoli’s home. I knocked on the door and took a deep breath. What the hell was wrong with me?

Ceres answered wearing a long nightgown with complex patterns embroidered into the fabric. It looked mighty expensive and accentuated her curves in that fun sort of way clothes do when fabric cascades over more prominent features.

I swallowed and averted my gaze, the new quest still fresh in my mind. “Good morning.”

“My Lord!” Ceres said, delight in her voice. “It’s so good to see you! I expect that you require my presence?”

I nodded. “Gotta get your measurements to Espada.” When the thought of collecting ore by myself came to mind, a sudden idea accompanied it. “I need to go up to the mountain to get some ore afterward. Do you want to come with?”

Her eyes widened. “I would be delighted!”

“Ceres, who’s at the door?” Cannoli asked as she leaned against Ceres’ shoulder, eyes shut and her hair tangled over her face.

Can’t even be bothered to open her eyes? How much did she drink?

Ceres smiled warmly and ran a hand through Cannoli’s hair. “Lord Matt.”

“Tell him I said hi and that I love him,” Cannoli said in a whisper that was barely audible. She spun awkwardly on her heel and stumbled back into the house. My heart skipped a beat.

“I shall do that. My Lord, pray, give me but a moment to get dressed.”

“Yeah. Take your time.”

I couldn’t calm down. My brain was all over the place. The promise of what felt like a damn fortune lingered in my mind’s eye, taunting me. It’s not like it was a difficult quest either. Could probably get it done in a week. Hell, Tristan could have finished it in a few days from what it sounded like. Yet, I felt like my heart was being torn in two different directions. The sooner Ceres came out of that house, the better.

“My Lord?” A voice asked, breaking me out of my daydream. “Are you prepared?”

“Yeah. Let’s get going.”

Ceres curtsied. “Of course.”

The process was short and sweet. Espada had clearly done this hundreds, maybe thousands of times at this point. Ceres’ full measurements were scribbled down within minutes with a single elastic band and a pencil. The blacksmith scratched a series of numbers onto a sheet of old, yellowed paper, then set it under her counter.

Espada rolled and played with the pencil between her lips and teeth. I teetered on mentally checking out when she finally spoke. “Alright. Got a few good ideas. Going to need the ore though, Matt.” She concluded her remark with a raised brow.

“I know. You’ll have it. We’re going to go collect it shortly.” I turned my head, but didn’t see anyone different from the usual crowd. “You mentioned a leatherworker?”

“She’s sleeping off her hangover from last night. It might be a while.” Espada shrugged. “She’s an unpredictable type.”

Clearly not the business savvy type either.

“That’s fine. We’re not going anywhere for a while.” I turned my attention to Ceres. “Ready to go grab some ore?”

She wore a confident smile. “Yes, my Lord!”

After packing the appropriate gear, Ceres and I took the path up to the mountains that I was familiar with. Occasionally, she would point out the stray Encroacher, pause to admire the view, or comment on the crisp scent of the ocean. I remained as attentive as possible, but couldn’t bring myself to say much outside of curt answers.

“Appear, iPaw.” The device fell into my hands, and I scrolled through the screen until I had the option to distribute my points.

“Has my Lord made more progress?” Ceres asked, her hands resting in front of her.

“Yeah.” I realized how short my responses had been coming off, then attempted to put on a better front. “I got a Level from last night.”

Ceres tilted her head in thought. “My Lord, that is wonderful to hear! Do the options vex you?”

I shook my head and laughed. “Nah, I feel like my path has been fairly straightforward so far. Hit harder, get tankier.”

“Tankier?” Ceres asked, tilting her head.

“Tougher. Uh, so I can take more hits. Have more [Health Points].”

Ceres nodded. “Understandably. If I may be so bold to say though, balance is also of the utmost importance.”

I paused. Out of concern that I was suddenly doing something wrong, I pulled up Ceres’ Stats and Skills.

Ceres

Base Level 13

Magic Knight Class Level 9

Health Points: 98/98

Myana Points: 73/73

Energy: 45/48

Strength: 6

Magic: 6

Vitality: 5

Dexterity: 2

Agility: 4

Resistance: 2

COMBAT SKILLS

Two-Handed Mastery 1

Polearm Mastery 1

Two-Sided 1

Invoke Mastery 1

Invoke Frost 1

Icicle Shard 1

Titan of Ice 1

Magic Armor 1

Two-Sided 1

Now that I was looking at it, a lot of things were starting to make more sense. Her Stats and Skills were all over the place. I knew that some of the girls had mentioned that every Stat was important, but her capabilities felt like they were spread thin.

I thought back to the fight with the Defiled, and wondered for a moment how Two-Sided worked. “Didn’t you say your [Magic] Stat was higher?”

“Yes, my Lord. I could feel my [Strength] leave me. Thus, there could not be a more appropriate time to use [Two-Sided].”

I wanted to check out the details on [Two-Sided], but I was quickly getting off-track. “Your Stats are all over the place. Why?”

“[Health Points] are useless without armor, my Lord. [Strength] has no value if you can’t land a hit. Conversely, [Dexterity] and [Agility] are of little use without proper application.” Ceres took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. When she opened them, they remained glued to the dirt path. “Tipping the scale is dangerous, my Lord. Move forward too far in any direction and you risk exploitation.”

Maybe I was getting a big head, but I couldn’t think of a situation where my [Agility] or [Dexterity] would’ve saved anyone. If anything, keeping the enemies distracted long enough had proven its worth time and time again.

“I think [Strength] and [Vitality] are the way to go.” If I had better damage and I wasn’t the only tank, then maybe I could consider other Stats. Ceres’ presence might help to make that possible. But if their Stats remained how they were, then I was obviously the better pick to tank. “[Vitality] saved me from dying.”

Ceres frowned. “I may be speaking out of turn. So for that, I apologize. While I do not deny that your [Vitality] was a strong factor in determining your survival, it was also your decision to pass the entirety of the antidote to me.” Ceres drew a deep breath and looked up at me. “I would not have spared a moment to share the antidote with you had I known it was the only dose.” Ceres’ fingers writhed. “No single entity, no single person is without flaw.”

I felt like I was getting schooled again. Wasn’t really in the mood for it. “I get it. Thanks.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but only a sigh escaped her lips. “I understand, my Lord. I apologize for my behavior. Shall we proceed?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that. Everything in moderation. Disappear, iPaw.”

Ceres was a quick study. She managed to teach me a few tricks along the way as well. After locating a few healthy helpings of iron, we descended the mountain just in time for the sun to set. Espada was closing up by the time we arrived.

I jogged over to her counter out of breath. “Glad I caught you!” I opened my [Cat Pack] and put a few ores down on the counter. Ceres did the same.

To my surprise, Espada whistled. “I’m impressed, Matt. The two of you got all of this yourself?”

“We did,” I breathed. “Is this enough to suit her up?”

Espada’s eyes scanned over the helping of ore. Periodically she’d look back up, then reference the sheet on which she’d written Ceres’ measurements. After about a minute or two, she smiled and nodded. “When do you need it done?”

I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. “Just in the next week or two. We’re going to be here for a while.”

“Leave it to me.” Espada swooped up the ores and piled them into a basket for safekeeping before departing into a back room. When she returned, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and wiped her hands. “You’re shapin’ up nice, Matt. Keep up the good work.”

I was elated to hear those words. Up until now, I was convinced Espada just dealt with me because she had to. I was beginning to realize she appreciated a person who was self-sufficient.

“Thanks, Espada. Really.”

Ceres raised her hand. “Espada.” A pink decorated her cheeks. “May I please request a design for the armor?”

Espada crossed her arms. “That’s not a problem, but it’ll be a bit extra.”

“That is acceptable,” Ceres said with a nod of her head. “I will require the night to design it. May I deliver it to you in the morning?”

Espada stifled a laugh. “Fine, fine. What about you, Matt?”

“Hm?”

“Still need your armor looked at? Quinn’s available now.” Espada pointed down the road where an extraordinarily petite catgirl with tanned skin and long, white hair was speaking with Saphira.

I tried to line my vision up with where Espada was pointing, convinced she was talking about someone else. “You’re not talking about that super short girl, are you?”

“Don’t let looks deceive you, Matt,” Espada warned. “She’s got more fight in her than I do.”

That’s impossible. “Alright. Guess I’ll go talk with her.”

Espada’s hand caught my shoulder. “Good luck.” She let me go with a wry smile, retreating into the back room.

“Do I have my Lord’s permission to retire?” Ceres asked.

“Yeah. I think I’ll pay everyone a visit after I talk to Quinn. Thanks for coming along, Ceres.”

Ceres bowed, walking off in the direction of Cannoli’s home. I took a deep breath and made my way over to Saphira’s stand. Her beautiful blue eyes caught me and I felt a dopey grin tug at the corners of my mouth. I waved as I approached.

“Heya, Saphira. Excuse me,” I said as I repositioned myself to face both her and Quinn. “Are you Quinn?”

“I’m busy here, can’t you see that?” Quinn snapped.

Saphira smiled, but even I could tell she was forcing it. “Quinn, it’s quite alright! Matt has a lot to do, so I understand. Please, don’t mind me. We can talk later!”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked.

“Away from here. I need a break anyway, and you’re not helping.”

This isn’t going to go over well, is it?

I waved goodbye to Saphira and made a mental note to visit her again soon. It’d been too long, and I was dearly missing her company.

After we got some distance away from Saphira’s stall, Quinn stopped abruptly behind one of the houses. She clicked her tongue and pulled a roll of herb wrapped in paper out of her [Cat Pack], lighting one end with the tip of her index finger. She blew out the flame and breathed deep of the substance, then breathed out a puff of smoke. “So what do you want?”

Is that seriously a joint? “You’re not what I expected.”

“... Choose your next words carefully, shithead.”

Ah, there’s the attitude Espada was talking about.

My voice caught. “I, uh, just needed to get my armor checked out. It was damaged. Just want to make sure it’s still in working order.”

“You got eyes, don’t you? You need me to tell you if some stray spear is going to go through a hole? I refit and build armor. If you can’t tell the difference between a working piece of gear versus a piece of trash, then sure, I’ll take your damn money and make you something new.”

I shook my head. I was letting her lead the conversation, and I needed to pull her back in. “I’d like to avoid that. I’m getting bonuses from my gear.”

Quinn took another puff from the rolled herb and blew the smoke into my face. “Fine. Let’s see it.”

I set the backpack I’d been carrying around to hold the iron down against the wall of the house. “[Combat Mode].” My casual clothes vanished in an instant, replaced by the gear I wore in every fight. Quinn held on to one end of her, uh, cigarette, and checked me over in silence. I fought the urge to cough. I’d never smoked before, but my time away from the old world had saved me from secondhand. Felt like I was back at my parents’ house.

When Quinn was done, she sighed. “Yeah, it could use a touch up.” She clicked her tongue. “What a hassle. Well, whatever. It can be fixed. Whoever made it knew their stuff.”

“Great. How much will it cost?”

Quinn’s eyes looked me up and down. “Call it one-fifty and we got a deal.”

For a touch up?! “Uhhh, can we go a little lower than that?”

“Take it or fuck off.”

Strange that I remembered hearing something similar when I tried to bargain with Espada so long ago. I sighed and relented. “Fine. Hundred and fifty.”

“Cool. Take it off.”

I paused and reached for one of the straps. “Sure, give me a second.”

“Come on. Strip, boy! Hurry up! I don’t have all damn night!” she snapped, clapping her hands together.

Once I got the top off, I handed it to her with a bit of apprehension in my grip. “When can I pick it up?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. Espada’s place. Don’t be late.”

“Sure, thanks.” I swapped back to [Civilian Mode] and shouldered the bag. “Payment on pickup?”

Quinn eyed me sourly, the ash at the tip of her smoke glowing red, then nodded. “Sure. But don’t you dare think of shorting me. I’ll rip it to fucking shreds.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” With another awkward goodbye, I left my gear in her—hopefully—capable hands.

God. 5,000 Bells. But, still… I had a lot to think about.