Tutorial Time Remaining: 32 days, 9 hours, 14 minutes.
Survivors: 809/2000.
The five doggy dinos around me each released the tails of the others and vomited at the exact same time. There was some kind of magic established around the teleport location that cleansed the area, and it flared to life. The mess dissipated in motes of multicolored lights.
“Y’all can go lay down for a bit,” I told them as Bethany, Selka, and Jenny approached. Jenny’s eyes went wide and she ran to give the big fuzzy beasties head pats as they laid down to rest off the nausea.
“Oh, those are stupidly adorable,” Bethany said, holding a hand out to Selka, who begrudgingly slipped a small pouch into her hand.
I raised an eyebrow. Uh, wait, no. I no longer have those. Eye-ridge? I guess that works.
“I bet they’d be adorable, because I know that if they weren’t you probably would have just eaten them.”
“They are very high level. Are you sure they’re good to be here?”
I nodded and stepped over to where they were getting scratchies from Jenny. They all perked up with wagging tails. Kneeling at the nearest one, I patted it on the head. “Listen up, you bunch of adorable little yahoos. I have to use this token thingy I got a while back and will likely be gone for a little while. I need you all to be nice and listen to Aunties Jenny and Bethany, okay?” I pointed to Jenny, whose eyes glistened at her nickname. My new pets jumped up and started giving them both vigorous kisses.
“You know you probably can’t keep them after we leave this place, right?” Selka said with her typical frown.
“I have to go see the Mistress of the Deeps in a minute, so don’t go trying to make me all weepy, okay? We’ll deal with that if it comes up.”
“Oh, you can finally use that token?” Jenny said as she laughed between dino-doggy kisses.
“What token?” Selka asked.
I explained how we got it and showed her the token.
Token of the Deeps. Divine. This token allows you to pay a visit to the realm of the Mistress of the Hunger of the Deeps. Requirements: Level 50+ in any humanoid race.
“But before I use it, Bethany, do you have the last Control Sphere?”
She got out from under the shaggy pile of pets, brushed herself off, and retrieved it from a pouch.
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“What are our new numbers here?” I asked.
“Seven hundred and sixty-four people. We’ve increased the bubble size to hopefully draw in the stragglers. Speaking of, who is that Talui fellow you brought along?”
Picking up the pile that was Ernest by the scruff, I turned him so he wasn’t facing my new pets and gently tapped him on the cheeks. He started awake and glared at me.
“This is Ernest,” I said, turning him to look upon the others who were gathering around, though they were mostly there to see the veloci-labradors. “Ernest, this is General Selka, Admin Bethany, and Jenny.”
Ernest’s eyes grew bigger and bigger as I introduced them, and his mouth dropped open when he saw Jenny. I understood immediately that I may have made a mistake. His face became annoyingly smug, and he tipped his invisible hat, his gaze never leaving Jenny.
“Mi’ladies! I am Ernest, the Chosen of the Chainwright, Battle Conductor Extraordinaire!”
Selka and Bethany rolled their eyes. Jenny smiled and waved.
“He has abilities related to controlling monsters in battles. I don’t know the specifics, but he will likely prove useful in whatever the next quest is. Let’s find out.” I put the final Control Sphere in my Soul Chamber and awaited the notifications.
As you have collected all 199 Control Spheres into your Soul Chamber, you now gain access to the Tutorial Tower System.
Quest: Forced Teamwork COMPLETE!
Objective: The monsters about the tutorial space have grown stronger and now wish to gain control of the spheres. The protections that were in place have faltered, and you are in danger. To regain protective bubbles, you must team up and get at least 50 control spheres together.
SECRET OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: Gather all 199 Control Spheres into your Soul Chamber.
Control Spheres within your Soul Chamber: 199/199.
Control Spheres Controlled by You: 199/199.
Total Control Spheres Controlled: 199/199.
NEW QUEST!
Quest: Besieged.
Objective: Now that all Control Spheres are under the control of one group, the Siege will begin when the time left reaches 30 days. Waves of enemies will continue to buffet your designated ‘Tower’ until it falls or 100 waves of foes are survived.
Waves Survived: 0/100.
Tower Health: 100%.
Survivors within your designated Tower area: 752/764.
“I’ll recall the few we have out on patrol,” Selka said after she’d finished reading the quest updates. “I’ll set up a meeting to begin preparations.”
“We have almost two and a half days to prepare. That’s much better than it could have been,” Bethany said, her eyes flashing as she dove into the new system.
“I agree. I need to use my token, but I will try to keep it to less than a day so I can help when I get back. Ernest, you aren’t stupid, so I expect you to help out here while I’m gone. And don’t go trying to control my new dogs anymore. Jenny will tell me if you did.”
“And you wouldn’t want to upset me would you, big boy?” Jenny said coyly, leaning toward Ernest suggestively. He nearly fell over from shaking his head so hard. My stifled laugh came out as more of a snort. Jenny, who’d had many a similar boyfriend in the past, knew just the right buttons to push.
As they all hurried off to get a jump on preparing for the siege. I sat a few meters away from the designated teleportation area and removed the Token again from my amulet. It seemed more blue than before, and sparkled at my touch. I hadn’t really looked much at the token before now. On one side was the profile face of a beautiful woman with horns that were crab legs and hair like seaweed. The other side of the token displayed a large table piled high with platters of prepared food, most of which was varying forms of seafood.
After taking a deep breath, I pushed a bit of mana into the Token of the Deeps, and my vision went black.
