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74.59% Dual Class / Chapter 232: Chapter 224: Machinations of Evil

Chương 232: Chapter 224: Machinations of Evil

Araleen sat in the courtyard of the makeshift Elven castle made from twisted roots summoned from the several Plant Mages Valor employed. Her eyes gazed up at the branches of their god, the World Tree Felaern. The one and only tree allowed on the planet. The only god to remain from the transition. Felaern was still young in terms of World Trees but still held the power and majesty all the same.

On their old home, Avalon, there were many trees like this, with sprouts and seedlings aplenty, before the Grand Tree decided to push them into the cycle of growth. A constant battle of life and death.

She sighed deeply, staring up at the branches that held such power of both life and spirit, a stark reminder of where she had come from.

"I miss you, Mother… Father… If only you both were here, maybe the people would rally," she croaked, choking back a sob.

"No.. I must be strong. Valor may have forsaken our people, but I have not!" she growled through clenched teeth.

Araleen looked down at the seed in her other hand.

[Seedling of the World Tree][Legendary] [F-Rank]

As every first prince or princess of the royal line was, she had been tasked as the Guardian of the Royal Sapling that would grow into the next world tree used to bathe the capital city in the glow of life and spiritual rebirth.

She steeled herself, making a decision that she knew would create civil war among her people.

The sounds of footfalls grew behind her, the snow being crunched under leather boots growing closer.

"My lady."

Araleen turned, a small company of loyalists kneeling in respect.

"What is your decision?" the lead captain asked, not raising his gaze.

Placing the seedling back into her inventory, she stood, her eyes hardened and the look of royalty ready to decree law taking hold of her.

"We go to war. We go to save my sister. Prepare!" she commanded.

"By your will!" the company shouted in unison, rocking the area with a deep cheer.

—-------------------------------------

Drake stared at the gate in disbelief, his face pale at what stared back at him.

"Why is that there…?"

"Whatever do you mean my Lord?" Theodore said, shimmering into view next to him, deliberately on the side Sah Ul' was not.

"What do I mean…?" Drake growled exacerbated, pointing an accusatory finger at the gate, "I mean what is my face doing over the gate, Theo!?"

Theodore, fixed his monocle, "Oh that. This one believed it was reasonable to construct the face of his Lord over each of the entrances to showcase the profound glory of his liege! It was only natural, there is no need to thank this one," he said matter of factly.

With a pop, a snicker Natto appeared on Drake's shoulder, a hissing Quetz clinging to him on the other.

"Yes, do not thank dear Theodore. It was only n-n-natural…" she guffawed, failing to stifle her pure ridiculing snickering.

"Did you put him up to this?" Drake frowned.

Natto put a hand to her chest in faux offense, her mouth hanging open dramatically, "Who…. me…? Why I would certainly never!" she scoffed.

"Hey, hey, Drake, I don't like the mean little person! Always making fun of Drake and Quetz!" Quetz chirped, slumping off his shoulder to walk on the ground.

"Yes, I know Quetz. I'm starting to like her less and less too.." Drake agreed.

"Enough of your whining. Why have you returned so soon?" Natto asked, "I can not imagine it is anything advantageous."

Drake sighed but thumbed to the group of people behind him, "First let's get these people situated. Can you do that for me?" he asked, but not before he pointed with his other hand a stone bullet firing out and embedding itself into his own face above the gate.

He quickly manipulated his magic to flatten the face, erasing it from the gate wall.

"And get rid of those faces!"

Theodore frowned but nodded, "This one shall have them removed from the other gates…" he answered with some sorrow, "This one supposes he should also remove them from the school entrance as well…"

"You put them on the school too?!" Drake said, his ears reddening in embarrassment slightly.

"The faces?" Quetz asked, hearing Drake, only understanding half of the conversation.

"Yes, the faces…" Drake cringed.

"Haha," Quetz chirped, "I think they're cute! Yep yep!"

Drake laughed warily and tried to get back on track.

"Alright Quetz, let's get everyone together, it's about time we get started."

"Hey, hey, what do you mean started?"

Drake cracked his knuckles, "Started with your guys' training."

Natto stopped him with a tap to his side from his shoulder, "You should explain what is going on with the trouble you faced first. I would also like to update you on what has happened while you were gone."

"Update? I was gone for less than a day."

"Yes, but we have already implemented several policies. Several for visitors and new citizens. We have regulated the use of both the system center, auction, and library for the moment. I will need to go over more with you in detail before you do anything else."

Drake sighed but nodded, "Fine. What's this about visitor policy? Are you surveying people or something as they come in?"

"Yes, we are doing such things as a preliminary survey as well as a full body scan of all visitors. I have also done the same for current citizens."

"You did this for people living here already? Why, did something happen in the time I've left?"

"Unfortunately yes, there have been several people detained due to having their races changed somehow. I can not tell when the change occurred but they have been changed to ghouls and vampires somehow. There is also a problem with…" Natto paused, taking a moment to form the correct words, "Certain items making their way into the town."

"Items?" Drake parroted, but felt a tug on his arm, Quetz looking up at him expectantly, "Ok let's get this all done. Do you want to tag along, Quetz?"

Quetz beamed a smile, wrapping her arms around his, nuzzling into his hoodie, "Yep yep!"

Sah Ul' gave a slight scowl, but sighed and relaxed her expression into a soft smile as she looked at Quetz.

"What about you Sarah?" Drake asked, noticing her gaze.

"I will check with my father first, then I will return before we depart once more."

Drake nodded, Sah Ul's back growing distant as she made for the gate, then turned to Theodore.

"And you?"

"This one is unfortunately full to the brim with the directives my Lord has requested of thyself. I merely wanted to welcome thy Lord back," Theodore answered, giving a slight bow and shimmering out of sight.

"Ok," Drake said, "So how does this check for new people work?" he asked.

Natto pointed to the gate, "It is relatively simple, they will pass through the gate like normal. As a territory assistant I am able to actively scan anyone within the influence of your town, seeing simple information such as names, race, level, and affiliation," she explained then paused, "But, If they are wearing an item of or of higher Rank than I currently am, the scan would need to be consensual."

Drake gave a wry grin, "You're scanning people without their consent?" he laughed.

"There is a sign… When entering the town they are made aware they are under surveillance, although they do not know it is I that is doing it. I should also mention that although we do not have the largest and most fortified wall currently, anyone who does not go through a gate is seen as hostile. Many of the guards have apprehended some people trying to do so recently."

"Well that's good that we have at least a system right now," Drake nodded, "Alright everyone!" he pointed and shouted, "Please go through the gate, you will be scanned and let in, once inside you will be directed to a place you can live temporarily and given the bare essentials if you require them. You are free to register as an affiliated adventurer or remain here until you are ready to move on to another town. But, do not cause trouble in my city."

The group behind him finally unfroze at being addressed and began moving towards the directed gate. Drake and his own small group moved as well alongside them, as he saw the boy Daniel give him a wave before he was lost in the crowd.

"Can you tell me how many people go through once it's done?" Drake asked, "I didn't exactly take a headcount when we left."

"Certainly," Natto said, a screen popping up in front of her, "There are exactly 372 people in this group, I can not break it down further until they pass the gate and this does not include the people that could be removed if found to be undead or having the particular item in their possession."

Drake's eyebrow raised again at the mention of the item.

"You can scan for that as well?"

"Every person who enters the town has their items inventoried when they enter. With the system giving everyone the ability to store items out of sight, it is a valuable feature designated to TA's. I can do nothing to their inventories but I have the ability to make a file for each and every person. They are also scanned before and after entering the Auction, Center, Bank, or any building really. There have been zero successful thefts of course and I have dealt with any attempts myself."

"Yourself?" Drake smiled curiously.

"Yes! Certainly, I have the stats to compete with nearly anyone now," Natto grinned.

Drake scoffed, imagining seeing Natto taking down people several times her own size with arm bars and rear-naked choke holds. Could she even get her arms around someone's neck?

"You aren't killing anyone are you…?" he asked skeptically.

"Only if they deserve it," she answered flatly, "Unfortunately no one has done anything that severe yet…" she said slightly downcast.

"Hey, you should be happy about that," Drake grimaced.

Natto waved her hand dismissively at him.

"Ah, it seems we have caught one," she said, pointing to the boy stopped at the gate.

It was Daniel.

Drake frowned, "What was he stopped for? He isn't…?"

"No, he is not undead. He seems to have an item on him, in his pocket," Natto answered, disappearing with a pop, a moment later returning with the same sound on Drake's shoulder.

Dropping the item into his open hand she sighed.

"It is running rampant at the moment. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do outside of banning its use within the town as it is a legal system item."

Drake inspected the item.

[Low-Quality Core Steroid] [Common] [F-Rank]

Stat Boosting Steroid that gives a temporary increase to all stats by 10%

Duration: 30 Minutes.

No Cooldown

Made from various herbs and the crushed core of an F-Rank Monster.

He frowned deeply, waving to have the boy brought over.

"A steroid? And from a Monster Core. I should have guessed it was a thing with how the system has nearly every job as a non-combat class. Why wouldn't it have drug makers…" he sighed.

"The problem does not lie with it being a drug. There are many pills as you have taken yourself and many others in the multiverse. The issue is it is highly addictive. And unlike how using Cores and Skill Stones normally to increase your level and proficiency, where they will eventually reach a cap until you have Ranked Up once more. These Steroids stunt your growth indefinitely…" she spat in disgust, "And the higher and more pure the product, the more addictive and potent it is, while shortening the time until it destroys your potential."

Daniel finally made it to them, his head down.

Drake kneeled holding the bottle of the dull purplish-red powder.

"Why do you have this Daniel?" he asked.

The boy wouldn't meet his gaze for a short time, but Drake was unrelenting and waited patiently for an answer.

"I-I wanted money…" Daniel said finally.

"Money? You were planning on selling this for coins?"

"Y-yeah. Those people you killed, back at the town… They were forcing it on people and then selling it after. I just thought whatever it was would let me get a few coins so I could eat, maybe get some good items or something when I turned 16," Daniel admitted.

Drake frowned deeply before he sighed.

"Here," Drake said, waiting for the boy to open his hand, dropping several coins into his hand, "Natto, direct him to Janey. Tell her to let him stay for the night before sending him to Theodore and Harley. I want him placed in school," then he looked down at Daniel, "I expect you to know better than to touch this again. I'm giving you an opportunity to never have to. Don't waste it," he smiled, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Daniel's eyes widened before his bottom lip shook and he nodded, his bangs falling over his face.

"Go on, get yourself a warm meal and a good night's sleep. And the house has video games, don't break the controllers," Drake smirked.

Daniel ran off for the line at the gate once more, gripping the coins in both hands as tightly as he could.

"I hate this system sometimes," Drake muttered, looking at the boy, "I don't want kids like him having to do things like that."

"He is not the first and will not be the last Drake. You can not save them all," Natto said.

"Yeah, maybe, but like I said in the tutorial. I can try," he sighed, ruffling Quetz's feathered hair next to him, her violet eyes turning into upward crescents at his touch, "How are people getting ahold of this stuff?" he asked.

"It is a basic alchemy item, not hard to come by. It is also a commonly sold item at the auction but I highly doubt it came from us. It was not in the town until we opened up to let in people in preparation for the auction in several weeks," Natto answered.

"Then the undead are using it as some sort of recruiting method?" he asked back.

"I am not sure. Converting races into undead is a moderately long process. It requires specific items and depending on the transition race as well as the race they are changing into it could require certain terms, conditions, and catalysts. It is not just basic undead, vampires, and ghouls that we have seen. There are tales of some adventurers coming from the West who have seen lesser ghosts and banshees. It is troublesome, to say the least, if the undead have a hold on this planet already."

Drake had yet to look into the vampire's spatial bags but after their conversation with Daniel, he opened up the several that had dropped from the bodies. And as he expected there were large quantities of the Steroids.

"Can you dispose of the Steroids for me," Drake grimaced, dropping the items in a massive pile in the snow.

"Certainly," Natto replied, pulling the items into her sleeve in an instant.

"Then, let me know if anything happens. Once the integration of the new people is finished we can talk more. I'm going to go see the kids for now. I don't think I need to explain after this, but the undead are working something in the background and I won't let my family stay out of reach any longer. We are going to rescue my family."


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Chương 233: Chapter 225: Or Forever Hold Your Peace

Drake's eye twitched uncomfortably as Quetz bobbed back and forth on her heels, using his arm as an anchor as she hummed to herself.

"W-what is this?" he muttered.

"Do not be so dense, it is a home," Natto said matter of factly.

"Yes, but why is it here? It's only been a day! And why is it so big? I don't need a house, I don't need to sleep!" Drake sighed, putting his hand to his head.

"It is not just for you stupid," Natto scoffed.

"Oh? Who is it for then? You?" Drake asked accusingly.

Natto whistled in the other direction for a moment, "N-no… it is for all the stray kittens you seem to be picking up as well as," Natto snickered, "Lovers?"

Drake flinched.

"Oh yes, my dear Patriarch, do not think I have not noticed the air between you two. Warmed up to you has she?" Natto smirked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"None of your damned business," Drake muttered, "So are the kids here?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, they are inside. The house is still in construction. I took what wood we had used to temporarily make the frame, it should be finished by the time you come back from picking up your family."

Drake looked at the massive three-story building on the island. It was a mix of traditional and modern style construction. The base frame was made of wood just like Natto had said, a wooden walkway circled the house with jet-black walls that seemed to be made from his own earth magic. The walls continued up with windows of wood marking each floor. The roof was made of the same black earth but turned into slated shingles that reminded him of the Auction house.

"So this is the style we're going for in the town?" Drake asked, his heart beating a little faster as he looked over the house again.

"I assumed you would like it," Natto smiled, "We unfortunately do not have the materials to do it justice but once we obtain some skilled craftsman and better materials it will be swiftly rectified. It should be mentioned we are in desperate need of materials, the resources that you obtained in the tutorial are wearing thin."

"Already?" Drake asked surprised, "I had a mountain of stuff!"

Natto shook her head, "You had quite a lot for one person, yes. But we currently have," Natto paused, pulling up a screen, "Just short of two thousand citizens and more by the day if you continue your recruiting efforts."

Drake frowned, "I'm not recruiting anyone," he sighed, "I just can't help bringing people here because of the conditions outside."

"Yes, well if you continue to do your hero's rescue for every lost soul. We will certainly run out of not only food and shelter but space and material to house them. The homes we have temporarily erected in the residential area are quickly becoming cramped. And we do not currently have enough mana iron ore to reinforce the waste collection system below the streets that will need to be built and many other ventures that we have promised. Which brings me to another point, have you collected any of the slimes I have requested?"

Drake shook his head, "I didn't have a chance, I'll make a point of doing it when I go out with the kids."

"Shame," Natto sighed, "Our current measures will only last so long before it becomes unsanitary I should have you know. This mass of people will only grow larger over the days I am sure which will also require more resources. This town was hastily made in order to have you gain a title, which we failed at I might add… However, we did not have the funds nor material to maintain this level of growth. If we had more personnel we may be able to stabilize," she scoffed, "Thankfully we now have the library."

"Oh, the manuals inside?" Drake asked.

"Yes. The manuals have helped in strides with the problem. And somehow the books you retrieved from the colleges have also allowed many of the people to gain more advanced crafting and non-combat classes. But it is still slow-moving as of now. They still need to be nurtured and given time to gather profession experience. I have to hand it to the Treant inside, his library is vast. Even at the lower level there are fighting manuals, profession manuals, and general knowledge that rival even my own."

"Well technically it's better since he has manuals," Drake teased.

"Then I suppose you would like to go read up on your questions instead of asking?" Natto huffed, turning her head.

"Forgive me, your greatness," Drake apologized, bending down enough to have her fall off his shoulder.

Natto picked herself up from the snow-covered ground with a frown, holding her open hand up.

Drake smiled and placed a bag of cookies into it, "Will this suffice as an offering?" he scoffed.

"It is acceptable, although a pauper's apology…" she sneered, quickly opening the bag and snapping a cookie in half as she leered at him.

"Yeah, ok," Drake chuckled wryly, "Can you go grab everyone Quetz? We're going to go to the system center together," he said turning to the humming avian.

"Ehhhhh…. But, but, I don't want to…" she groaned.

"Be a good girl and go get everyone alright?" Drake admonished with a grin.

"Fine…" she chirped, walking off with dramatic strides, her arms swinging at her side showing off her colorful feathers changing different shades of a playful orange.

Once she was inside the house Drake turned back to the snacking Natto.

"Alright, can you go over the skill stones I will need for the kids? I might be able to get a few rares with the loot I got from the vampires on the way back, but I'll need a comprehensive list. And I'll also need one for the twins."

Natto gave him a lazy wave of her hand, "Yes, yes. I've had dear Theo purchase a few of the stones. But I had to turn him down when he tried to give me his entire inventory… He needs to manage his coins properly if he is to be a father soon," she said, sighing exacerbated remembering the exchange.

"The children that you have so far… Let me see. As I have told you, the girl, Charlotte, is straightforward. She will start from a warrior class upgrading into a Lightning Spearman Main Class, yes?" Natto asked, to which Drake nodded.

"Then she will require several Lightning Skill Stones. She can either use common body and warrior stones to fill some of her slots for her more general use skills or if you wish to have something more specific there are uncommon Spearman skill stones. Her Subtree can either be the commonly used Internal Mastery or something similar. Most of that rarity are very general purpose and all-around beneficial for any fighting class. If you wish to have her trained in a specific direction though, there are other options. She could focus on pure technique over the elemental augmentation the class uses, going for combat-oriented Sub-tree boosting stones. Like the Vanguard Sub-tree, but it is unfortunately another rare stone. You would be able to access the same skill pool from a Guardsman Subtree, but since it is an Uncommon rarity there are more duds in the pool. My suggestion however is to have her lean into the elemental augmentation of her future class. It may be expensive but a Valkyrie variant of Substone would be perfect."

"A variant? Why not just get the Valkyrie stone itself?"

Natto shook her head, "You are asking for too much. The specific Valkyrie Stone is a Main Class Stone for one, and the stones within the same category are Epic Rarity. The Valkyrie are also a powerful race within the multiverse so the stones are hard to come by, the equivalents however are of Rare and Uncommon rarity, making them more accessible. They are the Clouded Skies Sub-tree Stone and Warband Subtree Stone. I would have her take the Clouded Skies Stone and pair it with a specific weapon mastery stone. Perhaps a lance or short spear specific."

"Short spear or lance, huh? Why not just a regular spear or maybe a pike? Is there a reason she needs to have something shorter? I don't think her strength will be lacking due to the system helping with stats," Drake asked.

"Without waiting for higher quality stones and a proper teacher for her class, she will not be able to have the proficiency needed to adopt a full-length spear. I believe she will need to supplement it with either a shield or another short spear. Hence the suggestion for the Valkyrie Stones."

"I'll take a look when we go to the system center. I know they have up to uncommon rarity stones for sale on the cheap so we might have to work with what we have or end up waiting. With me around I don't think there is a rush to finish their classes, but we will need the subtree stones to bring them up to F-Rank… Then there's the problem of a teacher. Not many people I've seen use a spear and most of the Orcs are ax wielders…" Drake mused, "You said Theo purchased some stones?"

Natto nodded, pulling out ten crystalline stones, "He was able to purchase ten in total, based on what you have told me there are two lightning stones, two wind stones, two ritual stones, one clouded skies subtree stone, one fierce gale subtree stone, one transcendence stone, and one meridian stone. Unfortunately for the Orc boy, there were not many stones available for purchase for the class you planned for him. Ki User is a versatile class however and almost anything will work well for it."

Drake eyed Natto with a slight grin, "You suggested some of the stones you already had Theo purchase?" he scoffed.

"I certainly may have thought ahead a bit," she smirked, "The other boy, Landin, was it? His class is another versatile class but the stones required are always in demand. Honestly, they ate through most of poor Theodore's reserves. Ritual Stones are multi-use stones for summoning and taming classes which are in high demand in the multiverse."

"Why's that?" Drake asked surprised, "His class is a cleric base class, I would have expected more people to move towards pure buffing or healing classes with that initial selection."

"That is certainly logical, but with summoning classes, the summons are usually immortal in a sense and can be used indefinitely for battle so long as the summoner is alive and has a large reservoir of mana. Ritual-type classes that also use the stones need to be done in large groups for massive war arrays and battle circles. Because of that, older empires and forces quickly buy up the stones for their auxiliary forces. But we were able to get two without much trouble," Natto said proudly, "Although at a high premium cost…" she added quietly.

"Then what about Quetz?"

"The birdbrain is somewhat straightforward, much like the other girl. The class you presented me with, the Wind Gunman can branch into many other classes once it reaches its second upgrade but for the most part, she simply needs dexterity-oriented stones. I suggest peppering in a light smattering of Assassin and Stealth stones for good measure and survivability, but we did purchase her a Fierce Gale sub-tree stone which will turn her into a flying little monster…"

"Then we have most of what we need for them already?" Drake beamed.

"For the most part, yes, but you will pay Theodore back. He may willingly follow you but he is not a piggy bank. He has his own family to think about as well. While none of your party members seems to have brought family with them, which is terrible. He is building one here with Harley," Natto said firmly.

Drake grinned at her, his eyes thinning, "Awe, look at you! I always knew you cared," he teased.

Natto humphed and turned just as the sound of snow-crunching footfalls came closer.

Drake turned and gave a wave to the group, "Yo!"

"Good morning," Charlotte said, giving a wave back, her face slightly flushed.

"Greetings Lord Drake," Atropos bowed slightly, her brother, Clotho, following suit without a word.

"Yo," Landin waved back, "I thought you were gonna be a few more days?" he yawned.

Surprisingly Kalik Tu' was also here, staying just slightly behind the others as he greeted Drake only with his eyes before turning his head away.

"Some stuff came up and we're removing up the schedule. Bad people doing bad things and all that," Drake said in a light tone, trying to keep the conversation bright for now.

"The new boy Daniel is already inside the house," Charlotte reported before Drake could continue.

"Oh good," Drake replied, "Hope he gets along with Brodie and Cid. He's been through some stuff… Damn it feels like I'm saying that about everyone recently," he sighed.

"I'm going to be very direct with you all," Drake said to the six teens, "This is the last time I will ask if you wish to back out. Once we start, there is no turning back. You will no longer be kids in my eyes, you will be adults and I will instruct you as such."

Charlotte and Landin shuffled on their feet a bit but said nothing.

"Since you saved me, I have always planned to follow you and repay you with a life debt, Lord Drake," Atropos said, bending at the knee to kneel, "By my clan, I will serve you beyond the best of my ability."

Drake was taken aback by the abrupt declaration and the turn of her head Atropos gave Charlotte before facing downwards again. Her brother Clotho, looked to have chewed on something sour before he also bent at the knee and bowed his head slightly without a word.

"I have never been a child. If following you is what I must do to protect my tribe, I will suffer through the dishonor," Kalik Tu' said from behind the twins with a scowl.

"Dishonor….huh?" Drake muttered sourly.

"Hey, hey. Quetz will go anywhere with Drake. I don't have anyone else so Drake is my flock now," Quetz answered, her face curved into a smile, but her feathers turned a deep purple betraying her expression.

Drake looked sympathetically at the teens. He knew they had all been through different troubles, but all had been through things many adults couldn't even compare to. And he would have to force them through even harder trials still.

"Then, speak now, or forever hold your peace," Drake said coldly.

He looked at them, knowing he had to lock away the part of him that wanted to call off the whole thing and put everything on his shoulders regardless of the consequences. Regardless of how insurmountable the task seemed or what Natto told him was impossible for one person. He wanted to protect these kids, protect everyone he could. But he couldn't stop what he had put into motion now. The waves of change brought by the system were too big.


SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Arthur_Inverse Arthur_Inverse

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