Fortune Favors (QQ) Chapter 10 (Patreon)

My face twitches slightly as Tsukasa's tail tickles my nose, I crawl just behind her as I am led through the winding network of pipes within the walls, ceiling, and floor of the little addon she had built onto my little tube bedroom-house. "So, where are we going?"

"I wanted to show you that thing I was working on." The girl smirks as she glances over her shoulder.

We seem to pause at a completely normal turn in the pipeline-

Tsukasa sticks her fingers down into a small indent in the floor and pries free one of the sections of the wall, revealing a new pathway, making it a Y instead of a simple bend.

Honesty? I never would have found that.

The new tube seems to be slightly angled downwards.

Leading who knows where.

I follow her down the pipe, not caring that we could possibly be vertical right now and come to a fairly homely looking room.

A room?! In a pipe?!

We can do this?! I didn't know we could make pipes that are larger than a simple tunnel!

I gaze around what looks like a nice and homely little living room.

"Wait... you made all this?!" I question, looking to the girl who looks a little bashful, glancing around nervously to see if I like it.

"Well... not completely... I bought the furniture... but I did put it all inside and decorate!"

There are quite a few little holes in the walls, more pipes, seemingly leading elsewhere. She drags me over to one.

"Look!" She grins while gesturing into the pipe.

On the other side is a circular room, two chairs sit on the far wall, slightly angled inwards, a small table between them, the walls of the room have indents in it, allowing them to be used as shelves.

"A library, because I saw how many books you were getting." She begins, only to pull me away and to another hole gesturing into a small room which is practically filled with a single king sized bed. "A better bedroom... with a much larger bed."

"I'm curious where you are getting all of this furniture." I note, blinking owlishly as I look around the room.

"I have gained quite a few favors in my life... a little nudge here, a whisper into the right ear, people were practically giving these things away.

"I see..." I mutter as I am brought to another room, some sort of kitchen. This room is a little bare bones out of the other rooms I have seen so far, there's only really a sink and a lot of counter space... though I guess that's alright as we don't really need to cook food, as it is generated from the tablecloth which Tsukasa threw over a large rectangular table.

She pulls me again towards the fourth and final hole. "This is the most important room!"

She drags me forwards, through the pipe, we come to a fairly small room that has been painted a light blue, clouds seem to have been drawn on the ceiling, but that's not what is drawing my attention, what is, would be the baby cradle sat right in front of me.

"…"

Tsukasa turns to me. "I want a baby!"

I am still struggling to overcome the sheer stun lock she inflicted upon me.

"I want us to be a happy loving family, Argo." She continues.

I shake my head, looking to the blushing blonde as she expectantly looks between me and the cradle.

"Tsukasa." I frown. "No. I-"

"Do... D-do you not love me?" She whimpers, eyes tearing up. "Argo... please... I... I-I've never had a real family. I've always been so lonely. No parents. No siblings. I've always just been alone... unloved. All of my life I've yearned to create my own family. To give my child something I've never had."

"Tsukasa I am far too young for this." I deadpan. "Also I'm like... Ninty eight percent sure you're using your power to try and gaslight me into knocking you up."

She pauses briefly, then lets out a weary sigh, wiping her teary eyes. "Alright. Fine. I won't do the whole sobbing thing. But. I have not told a single lie this entire time. That is the exact way I feel. I never had a family, so I want to create one. With you."

"I am far too young to have a child. I can barely take care of myself let alone a small, babbling, electrical outlet-seeking germ magnet." I frown, mildly annoyed that she would try to abuse the fact that I'm not a complete asshole and would feel bad if any girl started crying near me.

She looks genuinely hurt by my blatant apparent dislike of children. As if I had just slapped her in the face.

I'm not really a fan. I'm pretty sure it would be different if it were my own hell spawn, but overall, I'm not really all too keen on having children. But. That look of hurt does look genuine... and it does hurt me a little as well.

I step forwards, planting a quick kiss onto Tsukasa's lips. "But... that doesn't mean I'll always feel this way. Like I said, I'm still so young."

My hand gently brushes against her cheek as I give her a small, sad smile. "I have barely even taken my first step into adulthood... and, well, having a child is far out of my comfort zone. I love you; I really do. But as I am now? I just can't see myself being a father. I'm sorry."

She pouts up at me. "Argo..."

"Tsukasa." I reply in the same pleading tone.

"Then how long! How long do I have to wait?!"

"I don't know... like... a decade... maybe a few?" I shrug.

She crosses her arms then lets out an annoyed huff. "Fine. Whatever. Ten years."

Her tail lashes out behind her in irritation as she turns and crawls back through the little tunnel she pulled me through.

"…"

Well.

This has made me a little uneasy about our relationship going forwards.

Eh. I have at least ten years to figure myself a way out of this mess and convince her to just... not... that should be more than enough. I'll push this whole thing off until I know her better and our relationship has deepened a little more.

Through our slight link, I can feel that she has more or less walled herself off to me... for the moment, at least.

I peer through the pipe, watching her disappear into the kitchen.

I... think she wants to be left alone now.

I slink through the pipe and gaze into the kitchen. Watching her summon a large piece of meat and tear into it angrily.

Yeaaaah. I'm just gonna... go and let her... work that anger out.

--Linebreak--

Fire crackles around my hand as I let out a low hum.

I'm finally getting around to testing my new capabilities.

The novice destruction spell 'Flames' comes far easier to me than it did beforehand.

Before... calling upon this power was slightly draining. Now? I actually feel like I am regaining magicka.

The spell itself also seems quite a bit more powerful.

Before, I could probably cast flames for about thirty seconds without stopping. Now I could probably manage it for about sixty.

However, I used to only be able to conjure a gout of flame that reached about five feet away, but now? It easily rockets through the thirty foot aura of my 'domain', then seems to extend outside of it a couple of feet.

So basically, instead of a five-foot line of fire... it's now a thirty-five foot line of fire.

'hn... I wonder... can I- oh! I can.'

My aura begins to shrink, quickly collapsing to fifteen feet, then ten.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

And I'm down to one.

I frown as I look to my hand, the crackling power I had called upon in order to 'prepare' to cast a spell is now draining me at roughly the same rate it had been before I got the power.

'huh? My... regeneration slows the smaller my aura gets?'

I release my hold of my 'domain' causing it to spring back out, and yes, I begin to recharge what little mana I had lost in the past five or so seconds, returning to full quite quickly.

I let out a low hum as I look to my hand, slowly shrinking my aura yet again. Stopping at around fifteen feet.

I hold out a hand.

FWOOOOOOSH

I flinch back as a truly massive gout of fire shoots from my hand. Rocketing to the edge of the fifteen foot area, shrinking abruptly, then continuing on for a further five or so feet.

'what the fuck?!'

It...

It grows more powerful the smaller my zone of control?!

I half the area again and try again.

A five foot explosion of fire shoots from my hand, then a fairly wimpy gout continues further after it reaches about seven feet.

That wasn't a double. It was more along the lines of a fifty percent increase.

I half it again to roughly three feet, roughly the limit unless I want the fire to be uncomfortably close to my body.

A large ball of fire appears in front of my hand, then shrinks as it leaves my radius.

Interesting.

That was roughly a twenty five percent increase... so it appears that the benefit I am getting is growing smaller...

Or rather, it is saying the same.

Half... is a times two multiplier. Half of that is times three. Half of that is times four.

Hypothetically, wouldn't this continue to improve the smaller I make this little 'domain' of mine?

I snuff out the fire crackling in my open palm and condense the aura so it is barely an inch outside of my body, I cross my arms over my chest.

I practically explode with golden light. My healing spell being multiplied almost tenfold. The magicka cost seems to have increased quite a lot as well. The spell draining my remaining reserves I under a second.

I had noticed my magic growing more costly the closer I drew in my aura.

Regardless, it is still less than what casting the spell eight times would have been... not that I can even do that, only having two hands.

It appears the Physical illusion magic was not the true treasure I received... it was my aura of control. I should honestly test how durable my fake illusions are when I draw the aura back to around five feet or so.

Plus, more magic should help, all things considered, maybe I should practice the illusions themselves. Eventually I might even be able to conjure my own dragons to do my bidding.

My biggest priority should be finding a way to expand this domain or mine.

Will it always be locked to thirty feet, or will it grow as I continue to gain more experience with it? Can I change its shape from a circle to a long pathway? If so, that would be absolutely glorious. Just create like... a faux railgun to shoot a stream of basic novice level fire magic over one hundred feet! It'd be hilarious to see the face of some mage in the distance... freaking out as my basic flames spell manages to hit them from across an entire battlefield.

I gaze around my little domain slowly. 'I should really find out about all the ins and outs of this ability as soon as possible. I know it is more or less stopped by objects, and it seems to extend my reach for my spells.

More experimentation is needed, but it also increases the power of my spells the smaller my aura, and increases my regeneration the larger it is. Instead of allowing the magic around my immediate person to seep into me like a normal mage recharges. Am I doing that for the area within my entire aura? Am I now sucking the magic from a thirty foot area instead of a five foot one?

If my aura continues to grow, won't I technically gain infinite magic?

I clap my hands together. "Well let's go get some reading done."

Perhaps I should take a look at Longstrider. With my new domain, that power should be quite a potent one... or I could go all in with illusion. I've got some novice level spells, then some stealth magic, an empowered calm could prove useful in the near future... almost as much as Longstrider.

--Linebreak--

I sit within a small room, a book on alchemy in my lap, as I kick my feet up on a small stool.

My alchemy lab is to the left, quietly puffing away, making some fairly vile poison.

I had gotten lucky with my portal this morning and seemed to appear in the swamps near Morthal. I popped out right beside a deathbell bush.

Which is great luck as I had a little nightshade as well... and let me just say, Deathbell? Far more poisonous than I originally thought. I tried making some poison out of some Nightshade and some Blue Mountain Flowers- which are apparently toxic, who knew. But I guess that's why mages don't necessarily use mana potions that much with such a common ingredient- but anyways... the potency- at least according to my sensitive nose, the reek of death it exuded- doubled when I added the deathbell.

With a crackle of error signs, Yui appears next to me.

"The bestiary is completed." The girl supplies.

"That's great!" I grin as I sit up, my book shutting with a dull thud.

Ten copies of a fairly thick book appears on the floor next to me. "This... is the amount the Cardinal System has deemed acceptable to be created."

"I see..." I mutter slowly. "So, I've got to ask. I'm going to be giving them out as quest rewards. Do you have an idea for what I could do for a nice repeatable quest? Are there any special unique objects on the first floor? Some sort of rare ingredient I could seek out?"

Yui tilts her head, letting out a low hum.

"The new overhaul of enemies has resulted in a few new classes of them being created. Firstly, each pack of wolves will have an alpha. A wolf that is one to two levels higher than normal. If a wolf pack grows beyond one hundred members, the wolf alpha will evolve further into a Wolf Monarch, being a special field boss enemy capable of dropping the Meadow Blade."

"That sound far too difficult." I scoff.

"Well, normally yes. But the level of a Wolf Monarch is only eight." The Ai hums.

I glance upwards.

Argo Naut (NPC) - Level 27 ​

Ah. Right. That.

My level improved because of my domain.

"It is a dire quest, one which could easily snuff out the lives of the people you take with you. A pack of one hundred wolves are almost impossible to defeat in a fair fight for anyone below level twenty... regardless of the huge amount of experience they were to receive. however, if you were to... say for instance... tell them to climb a tree with a bow and arrow and take on the wolves yourself."

"I'm going to stop you right there, Yui. My level? All of it is purely because of magic."

"Some monsters in the future use abilities that are similar to magic. I see no reason as to why an NPC shouldn't also be able to." The black haired girl smiles brightly.

"I can't fight one hundred wolves. Hell, I doubt I could take ten. Yet you're telling me to fight one hundred AND some sort of super wolf while babysitting a bunch of extremely squishy players!"

"You can fly, can't you? Wolves can't fly." The girl observes.

"…"

I let out a low hum, thinking on it more deeply. "That is true. The main issue would be approaching the combat zone. How would I draw the wolves to us after we got prepared?"

"The scent markings of another Wolf Monarch?" The girl suggests. "Putting it close to the territory of the first?"

"How many 'wolf monarchs' are on the first floor?" I question with a raised eyebrow.

"As of this moment? Two." She smiles.

I let out a low click under my breath.

"Subjugating such a large pack of wolves could be seen as a main quest for the floor." Yui continues. "As a main quest, the rewards will be quite substantial, plus, if you say the correct things, you could ensure the drop of the Meadow Blade."

"It would likely require a lot of effort. A couple of quests worth at the very least." I note. "The thing is, I don't want to go into this halfcocked. I want to kill all of the wolves... and I have a general plan. That plan is to lure them all into one spot, then surround us all with fire so they can't run away. Then the players can take pot shots at them with bows and arrows from the trees."

I let out an amused snort as I look down. "Ugh. I feel like I'm running a D&D campaign."

"So. First quest. We need to find a lot of oil. Or would the game supply enough to me if I dropped a line like 'I've already bought some supplies'?"

"Hn. Yes. It would." The ai nods once. "For a quest like this, I believe it should be possible."

"I feel like I am not abusing the fact that the system gives me stuff, enough... you know my race is one that can manipulate luck, right? Soooo why not have me trip over a rock or two and find out it was actually a diamond?"

"The system is unable to truly manipulate the world in such a way, however, if you were to say... create a quest to find a certain item, you would likely be given it."

"Huh... alright, I guess I should start abusing this more. More money is more power and more things I buy for the people trapped here in SAO. Soooo let's go over the first part of my quest."

"Yes." The girl nods quietly.

--Linebreak--

Pov: Elsewhere

Ugh. Aincrad's grown whacky.

Monsters run, group up, and hunt now... they kill each other... hell, they even... act like... real... animals...

Huh.

Maybe that's what Kayaba was going for. He wants to make this world as realistic as possible, right?

The Blonde glances to the side, letting out a low hum as she re-reads the message she received.

"Uh, Hey, Argo? I think Argo- the fox one- has a new quest.
But he seems to only want to give it to people who have a positive relationship with him. So, like, only me, you and Kirito.
It seems pretty important as well, he mentioned something about a shipment of swords going missing?
I'm not going to venture outside yet, there's still so many requests for making and upgrading weapons, but you and Kirito could probably do this!
Oh... he's also level twenty seven now... for some reason." - Lisbeth 14:34 ​

She approaches the shop, 'Fortune Favors', a small frown on her face as she steps up into the store.

After the first day, the shop has gotten fairly busy. The only time there is less than ten people inside buying stuff is in the dead of night, and even then, there's likely to be one or two.

The girl glances around the store, not seeing the resident fox merchant anywhere.

She turns and walks down the stairs, towards the forge where according to her ears, Lisbeth is hard at work.

She comes to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, seeing some dude standing nearby.

"Oi. Lisbeth. Where's Argo the Fox?" She questions.

The pink haired girl glances up. "Oh. Argo. He should be upstairs in the left room."

"Hey! Don't lose focus! I don't want you ruining my damn sword! I spent hours looking for that copper!" The teen who Lisbeth is apparently making a weapon for snaps.

"Oi." The blonde points at him, glancing up at his name. "Shut the fuck up."

Kibaou - Level 3 ​

With that she turns and walks up the stairs, making her way up from the basement, to the ground floor, and eventually up to the second floor.

She has never been up here before... normally the system didn't allow it as it was 'trespassing'. But... it looks like she is gaining a few more benefits from doing this guy's quests.

She pauses in front of the left door and knocks on it.

The door opens a moment later, far too quickly.

As if the figure was on the other side of the door waiting for someone to knock.

Argo Naut (NPC) - Level 27 ​

Yep. Level twenty seven...

Why and how?

"Ah! My friend!" The boy beams, his black fuzzy- cute- fox ears perking up. A quest marker above his head. "Please, come in."

He steps aside, allowing the blonde to step inside the room, her eyes instantly lock onto a fairly advanced alchemy set which seems to be producing... something.

Several vials sit on a nearby shelf.

Lesser Nightshade Poison:
A concoction made of simple ingredients and the Nightshade Flower, not the most potent poison, but the ingredients are relatively inexpensive.
Deals 80 damage over the course of 60 seconds ​

Poisons?

Nightshade Poison:
A better variant of the nightshade poison, using stronger secondary ingredients.
Deals 150 Damage over the course of 30 seconds ​

"It is good that you are here." The beast-kin teen behind her smiles brightly. "You see, I have quite the issue on my hands."

"Oh?" The blonde girl questions as she turns to face him. "What can I do to help?"

"Well, you see, I actually had an order of swords coming towards the Town of Beginnings. However. They never made it."

"Swords?" The girl echoes. "What kind?"

"Not the best you could find in Aincrand, but they surpass bronze by a fair bit, they also seem much more adaptable and seem to have quite an affinity for a blacksmith's enhancement. More than a Bronze Sword's at least."

An order of swords that surpass a weapon which can be crafted at floor three. So some sort of special weapon. Probably comparable to a field boss' drop on the second or third floor.

"So, you need my help finding them?" The blonde asks.

She watches the Npc pause for a moment.

"…"

"Perhaps it would be better for you to return with more people." He intones, his face almost blank.

"Shit." She lowly curses. It is a party quest.

"How many more people?" She quietly asks.

"Hm." The fox hums, cupping his chin. "Well, at the very least, four others should do."

The blonde lets out a sigh and turns to the door. "I'll be back."

"I await your return!" The fox beams.

She'll be forced to call in a few favors to get this party... Kirito will do it, surely... let's see if any of the other beta testers she remembers got into SAO before it became a death game.

--Linebreak--

Pov: returned.

I tap my chin as I let out a low hum under my breath.

The ethereal voice of Yuuki echoes in my ears. "The player, Argo, has returned. She has partied with four other people. Three from the beta test, the final who is a new player with seemingly little to no experience with games in general."

"We could have done worse." I whisper as there is a knock on the door.

I open it again. "Ah! My friend. You are back! I take it you have gathered some allies?"

"I have." She nods once.

"Wonderful! I shall tell you more after we begin walking." I turn and walk around her, then make my way down the stairs.

"Escort quest." The girl sighs. "Fuck."

I gaze at three people stood around the black haired swordsman that is supposedly going to save this world.

The first, a girl with chin-length brown hair, blue eyes, and a leather chest piece and skirt combo, a blue shirt underneath. She has two daggers at her hips.

Spoiler

The next, a girl with pinkish purple hair that is tied in a ponytail, she has a violet cloak wrapped around her shoulders and has a purple variant of the 'level one noob gear' that everyone in SAO has.

Spoiler

the final member is... huh... Asuna...

Spoiler

Weird. I guess they met up early this time.

Said girl is looking at me in wonder, eyes wide as they flick from my level, my fox ears, to my tail.

Other than that, they seem quite a bit stronger, all things considered.

Kirito - Level 8
Argo - Level 7
Philia - Level 7
Mito - Level 5
Asuna - Level 5 ​

"Welcome back to my shop, friend. I see you have brought some newcomers. If it is you, they surely must be trustworthy." I smile as the blonde who stole my name comes down the stairs behind me.

Asuna flinches back as quest screens appear in front of all of them.

"Shall we walk and talk?" I hum as I step past them.

The group steadily follows me as I lead them through the shop and out the front door.

As we turn and begin walking out of the town of beginnings I glance back, seeing that they are all following me.

"Alright. So, the basics are this. I went out a while back to order some weapons for the store, knowing the general... quality... of weapon you can find around here, it just wouldn’t be enough. I snuck out to some distant lands, looking for a bunch of weapons that could be of use. Quantity was the main thing I was looking for, but Quality was also on my mind." I begin monologuing as I begin walking forwards, a small moderator screen visible only to me, thanks to Yui's interference.

Argo's Plight:
Argo has recently purchased a few swords for his shop, the only issue is that they never arrived.
What happened to the shipment? Bandits? Kobolds? Or maybe just simple incompetence.
Either way, he's not happy and is looking for his missing products.

Objective:
Travel to Horunka Village: [ ]
Travel to Medai Village: [ ]
Find a clue about the missing cargo for Argo: [ ]
Defend Argo from the attacking wolves: [ ]

Reward: +1000 Exp, +100 Cor, Alchemist's Guide to Monstrous Ingredients (Volume 1) ​

They, of course, can't see the quest objectives beyond the first, nor the rewards. But regardless, they seem eager to help me, or at least Argo and Kirito do, due to my previous rewards of unlocking smithing, alchemy, and giving them a ranged weapon.

"I got lucky." I continue. "Well, not with the missing shipment, but I mean in general. I found a pretty decent blacksmith who was a bit down on his luck, looking to sell in bulk and bought twelve identical swords from him at quite a hefty discount. Meadow Blades I think he called them. But don't let the girly name fool you, these swords are actually fairly impressive. Tougher than bronze. Maybe a bit weaker than Iron, but more accepting of a blacksmith's enhancements."

"Yep. Those blades were going to make me a mint! And I got such a good deal on them! Ugh. Regardless, this is where you all come in. The shipment should have passed through Tolbana town, then Medai Village, and through Horunka village. Then it should have come to the Town of Beginnings. I plan to follow the route it should have taken, and I'll need guards for if I get attacked by any of the wildlife."

"You look pretty strong. Couldn't you just handle all of this yourself?" Argo questions, fishing for information.

"Hn. I will admit, Youkai are naturally stronger than you humans... however. Fighting just takes up too much energy and I start getting hungry." I look at my hand, holding it in a slightly claw-like manner as my palm faces upwards.

"Youkai?!" The blonde mutters.

My fingernails sharpen and lengthen, not looking like human nails any longer, but long, sharp claws that wouldn't be out of place on a hawk or eagle of some sort. "Though, I might give whoever took my swords a piece of my mind."

"Wait wait wait wait." Argo cuts in. "Are you a kitsune?!"

"Hm?" I hum, folding my arms behind my head as I turn around, walking backwards. "A kitsune?"

I let out a quiet snort. "I wish. Kitsune have it easy. They gain power just by living long. They don't have to work for it like the rest of us. I am a Kuda Gitsune. A Tube Fox. A youkai who manipulates fortune and wealth~ I was practically born for the life of a merchant."

I flash them a toothy grin- and I can swear the other Argo blushes slightly- then turn around. "Now. Shall we pick up the pace? I want to get this done as soon as possible."

I begin running, checking momentarily to see the group running after me.

They are keeping up quite well with my natural speed. Half of it at least.

I follow a red line on the dirt path beneath my feet like a good little Npc, making sure to keep an eye on them as I slightly speed up a little more.

They are starting to look a little exerted at that speed, so I tone it back a little bit.

Yes. This speed will do.

I wonder what sort off quests I could do on the next floor? I'm going to need to do this for all of the floors, after all.

Yui has been far more useful recently. Giving me maps and general information.

Floor two has something called a 'Trembling Cow'. Something that drops some apparently very tender meat and some apparently creamy milk upon killing it. Maybe I could offer the book to whoever brings me a lot of that.

Wait. Meat and milk go bad.

Never mind. I can think of something better.

There is a cave on that floor that has an cursed old man wielding a 'magic blade' of some sort.

Looking at the stats, it's roughly on par with the Meadow Blade, but it does let you use a unique Sword Skill called 'Bloody Hex' as long as you wield it. I wonder how that would transfer to me.

I'll probably study my resources more closely. See if I can't find any unique plants that aren't a thing in Skyrim.