The first thing I "felt" when I appeared in Terraria was the change in the environnt; 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 ti 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 so ti doing nothing, just breathing peacefully with my eyes closed and letting my body adjust to the change in the environnt.
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 so 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 strear's assistance): 2,883 - Reward: 8,649 SP!
- Zombies killed by allies (Without strear'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 soone else! That's exclusively your thing, my friend DS. Be happy! (Iron Man waving seriously emote).
[WiseWizardGleam]: Anthony, let the kid enjoy the mont. 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 . Otherwise, I felt like I would keep laughing for so more ti. 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 .
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 excitent 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 ti. 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 so kind of reward, but this was much more than I expected, not to ntion it was a (Minor) change.
-//-
[Change Missions (Canon)]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) I - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Bus): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) II - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Bus): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) III - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Apartnt): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) IV - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Apartnt): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) V - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Takagi Property): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VI - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Takagi Property): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VII - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) VIII - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) IX - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Shopping Mall): Reward - 50000 SP!]
[Side quest: Changing Fate (Major) X - Completed - Objective: Sohow alter the canon (Island): Reward - 300000 SP!]
-//-
I took a deep breath and cald myself. It was just for a mont that I didn't shout and draw attention from everything in this forest.
I had to count to ten a few tis 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 so kind of bond with important people in the world.
(Whether for good or bad, people rember you in so 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) ssages 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 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 an ally, and consequently, the n 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" sowhat 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 ga right at the beginning, changed how they survived, prevented the fall of the Takagi property, and most importantly, which gave 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 going out and killing zombies like crazy for a little over two months.
In those two months I wandered through Japan, I had saved so people, survivors I ca across along the way. Not to ntion that just the fact that I killed zombies day after day must have changed sothing.
And finally, the mission that gave the biggest reward, the bond mission.
It wasn't a secret that I had connected, so to speak, with the group. So people more, others less, but it seems that the stream recognized that in so way.
Clicking on the ( ) icon next to Saya's na, 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 ti, 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 sothing 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 agreent 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 dinsion.
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 extrely large number for a mont and focus on the things that matter.
I knew the Pylons in Terraria. They were basically the teleportation points in the ga that could only be bought if one of the NPCs in the ga 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 t the requirents for a Pylon in that world.
I let a small smile co to my lips. I didn't know if it worked the sa way as in Terraria, but if it did, the only person who t the bond requirents 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 ti: 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 ga, the crystal was a shining red heart and seed to pulse with a reddish-pink glow.
In the ga, 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 comnt, 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 nad 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 sothing 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 so way."
I didn't know how the Life Crystal worked; in the ga, 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 seed 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 monts before putting it back in the inventory. First, I'll find out what it's made of; I imagine the library has sothing about them... but it shouldn't be on the first floor.
"Tsk"... I clicked my tongue. Everything ca back to needing to interact with Terraria; I hoped to get stronger before starting to make a na 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 sothing 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 sa thing I did with the Life Crystal, observed it without understanding anything.
It was practically the sa 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 so 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; so ti 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 ti 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 sa impression, if not 3 months, it must have been sothing 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 ti had stopped in Terraria, wouldn't it? You could go on missions, get stronger, and co back, and no one would notice that you left! Like a ti machine! (Little Red Riding Hood emote with stars in her eyes).
[StarkAssistant]: I wish I had sothing like that; I could finally catch up on my sleep. That or my boss helping with his work!
[GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: (Emote of Iron Man whistling).
Curiously, I didn't find any slis; I would have usually co 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 ti here had stopped, I don't have hopes that it would happen."
I spent so ti walking slowly, enjoying nature before encountering the first sli. It was a common sli, a green one.
I looked at the little creature, and it seed to look back at , if it had eyes, of course. It didn't take long for it to shake its gelatinous body slightly and jump at .
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 , but one of the many I had borrowed while wandering through Japan.
The sli hit the blade and fell limp to the ground. With another thought, an axe appeared above the sli 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 sli's body long gone into my inventory.
Let's pick up the pace. I'll see if I can sell so of the clothes I had in my inventory to Emily to get so money. If that doesn't work, I can check with Geralt or Markus if they know soone who buys clothes or sothing else, after all, what I lacked the least now were materials.
I'll also take the opportunity to do so 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 about three hours while running lightly, done in ten minutes with 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 ti ago to help my father's n build houses on the island or go fishing; sohow, 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 sothing other than accompany to protect .
Seriously, after Devas left, she practically beca my shadow. It wasn't a bad thing; I had gotten quite close to the purple-haired samurai, we had beco close friends at this point, but it got annoying after a while to have soone following all the ti.
"Of course, I miss him, Mom. But it's sothing he and I knew would happen; he needed to leave..." It didn't make feel better...
I hugged the strange cockroach plushie and sighed, just before turning to the door when I heard footsteps.
"Saya-chan, didn't an to interrupt, but there's sothing happening in the middle of the island." Shizuka-sensei said leaning against the door while panting a bit, probably from running.
"What happened? Sothing 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 sothing 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 do seed to cover the island like an aquarium before disappearing.
I felt my mother's arms tighten around as if she feared sothing. Her arms were shaking, just like mine. What was this? Don't tell the world can get worse?
"Saya! Are you okay?" Saeko shouted from afar as she ran towards .
I nodded slightly, but didn't answer. Too busy paying attention to the "strange rock" that Shizuka-sensei had ntioned 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 ters high by fifty ters wide at its center, tapering as it went towards the ends.
"What is this..." I could hear my mother whispering as she hugged 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, seed scared.
Probably, it was like this throughout the island; all the survivors should be scared too... all except .
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 . I'm sure this isn't a bad thing."
I felt the eyes of the three turning to , along with so 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 as I stepped out of her embrace and looked at the letters on the holographic blue screen.
"Just... trust ... 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...
[Strear 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 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 so 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 achievent, wait for the next chapter, there will be more changes, this ti in the stream).
Well, as always, comnt 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. Comnt, 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 na 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?)
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