Fortune Favors (QQ) Chapter 11 (Patreon)

"Excuse me. Did a horse driven cart come through here?" I question one of the guards standing post at the edge of the village.

"No, I don't believe so." The unremarkable man replies with a small head shake.

"Damn. Not here either?" I let out a low hum, looking over to Argo-fem who is stood nearby, looking over me with some confusion. "Let's go to the next town."

"Argo!" Asuna runs over with a wave, having come from other parts of the village. "A person here apparently came from Tolbana town. They said that they saw a cart being loaded up with green swords."

"Oh, so it wasn't utter incompetence or corruption." I hum as I scratch my chin, spying the others of the group quickly walk over. "Well, that can be slightly more problematic. You see, the swords wasn't the only thing I ordered from that blacksmith."

Argo tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

"The metal is what makes the Meadow Blades special. It's made out of simple copper, but through an alchemical reaction, it grows more flexible, durable, and more accepting of enhancement. I had actually managed to purchase this recipe from the blacksmith for... a lot of money."

I let out a low click. "I probably should have waited for him give it to me, but he had to write it down, and it was taking a while, so I just told him to send it with the shipment."

"You wanted to give the recipe to Lisbeth?" Argo questions.

"I wanted the recipe for myself, I thought that if I could find a correlation between how all the materials worked together that I might be able to make a better version in the future." I continue. "If I could make Copper comparable to Iron, what would happen if I figured out a way to induce this transformation onto Iron? What about Steel? What about stronger metals like Frostite, or Emburn ore?"

"So... this metal is replicable?" The blonde girl smirks viciously.

"Well. Yes, but that's what has me a bit worried. Books are a lot less durable than swords. A lot less useful to illiterate people and monsters. Books also burn well. That book, was worth more than the twelve swords combined.

"How much did you even spend?" The brown haired girl- who isn't Asuna- questions.

"twenty thousand." I admit as I turn and begin walking. "Let's pray that the book is fine... if it is, I might be able to make some more of the Meadow Metal and get my blacksmith to make you more specialized weapons."

With that, I begin running at my earlier speed, following the red line.

After around four minutes of running, Yui's voice whispers into my ear. "You are coming up on the carriage."

I slow my run slightly as I come around a bend, the five players coming to a stop behind me, most of them a little winded, but Asuna being the worst off.

Argo and Kirito merely look a little red in the face, while the others are breathing a little heavily.

Before me rests a cart flipped on its side, the horse which was apparently pulling it lays dead on the dirt road just before it, the body is ravaged and torn, flies buzz around it as I slowly walk forwards.

"Well. There's the cart." I note with a small frown.

I glance over the overturned cart as I cross my arms. "Be on your guard. This looks old, but there very well could be monsters around. The scent of rotting flesh attracts all sorts of things."

I crouch by the cart, spying a small bag hung over one of the wooden corners.

I slowly open it, revealing a small booklet.

I open it, a grin appearing on my face. "Alright! The recipe survived! That's great! Wonderful even! Now this trip won't be a total loss!"

My eyes stray to the lack of anything else. "I would like to get my money's worth, though."

A frown appears on my face as I look around.

"There are marks on the ground." The purple ponytailed girl, Mito, calls out, gesturing to the dirt floor.

I walk around the cart and gaze at the floor, following the scuff marks with my eyes as it appears something was dragged off into the forest.

"So, should we go out and find them?" Asuna questions.

I frown at the marks, cupping my chin as I slowly gaze upwards.

"No... not yet."

"huh?" She questions. "Why not?!"

"Because it's likely that all of you would die."

"…"

"What?" Kirito questions, looking genuinely befuddled.

"These marks on the horse. Beyond one type of wound, there are no other injuries on it. The cart's wood is cracked and buckled, as if it were struck by a large weight... this horse was torn to shreds by wolves." I begin before gesturing forwards. "And that way, is the territory of a Wolf Monarch."

"WOLF MONARCH?! THE FUCK?!" Argo two shouts. "SHIT!"

"Ki-bou. It looks like that god complex fuck added new things to the game. We should be wary around the bosses."

"I heard that Illfang the Kobold Lord found a new weapon." I smile, abruptly in an almost robotic way.

Their eyes stray to me, then stray to each other.

"What kind?" Kirito eventually asks.

"Wait!" I call out, raising my hand. "I smell wolves."

I turn my head, looking over the five. "You all are still pretty weak... you should use this as a learning experience."

With a few quick hops I land on the side of the overturned cart and take a seat. "Good luck!"

The five player's eyes briefly flick to the quest as they all draw their weapons, carefully looking around.

Suddenly a large grey furred figure leaps from the underbrush, Kirito's sword ignites with blue light as an arc trailing the path of his blade is left in the air.

The head of the wolf flies from its neck as it thuds to the floor and shatters into motes of light.

The next to come out of the underbrush is struck by a knife from the blonde who stole my name, then cleaved in half by 'Mito's scythe.

They are doing quite well for themselves.

I watch as eight wolves come from the underbrush, most killed by the more experienced players, but some slip through to Asuna who barely manages to kill them.

Suddenly a much larger wolf explodes from the tree line, brushing past the rest of the group.

"ASUNA! LOOK OUT!" Mito shouts.

The brown haired girl who is locked in conflict with one of the weaker pack members, looks up with a quiet gasp.

Alpha Wolf - Level 6 ​

I hold out a hand

FWOOOOOOSH

A line of fire shoots from my outstretched hand, slamming into the head of the large wolf and stopping it in its tracks.

I watch its health bar rapidly tick downwards as it is thrown to the side by my attack, it rolls across the floor for a moment before shattering into blue light.

The wolf fighting Asuna, instead of pressing the attack on the distracted girl, lets out a quiet whimper, its ears flattening, then quickly runs away.

The five players are all looking at me with shellshocked expressions as I brush my hand on the front of my kimono. "Whoops... my hand slipped."

"Wh- WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" The blonde shrieks.

I hop off the cart with a low hum, making a point to ignore her inquiry. "Well, you managed to drive off the wolves. Good job. Luckily it seemed to be a pack that was unrelated to the wolf monarch... if it showed up, with the full extent on its pack? I doubt there would be anything that even I could do to save you."

"Well, let's go back to the Town of Beginnings." I state.

"Aren't... you going to try and retrieve the swords?" Philia questions with a slight frown.

"Oh, of course, however. Even someone as powerful as I needs a bit of preparation before they can attempt to take on the pack of a wolf monarch." I continue.

"ARE WE JUST GOING TO IGNORE THE FACT HE JUST SHOT FIRE FROM HIS HANDS?!" Argo shouts.

"You keep saying that." Mito frowns. "I've heard of Alpha Wolves and regular wolves... but what is a 'Wolf Monarch'? And how- and more importantly why- would it steal your weapon shipment? I understand attacking the horse, but to drag off the swords?"

"Ah. That's the thing." I continue, ignoring any mentioning of magic yet again. "A wolf monarch is basically a stronger alpha wolf. Bigger. Tougher. Meaner. And most importantly smarter. You could say it has childlike intellect, which is fairly terrifying for a simple animal. It more than likely saw my weapons and thought to itself 'this is what humans use to hurt us' and decided to steal them away before anyone else could grab them."

"Alone, they wouldn't be that much of an issue, you five could likely take it in a fight... Its pack, however, is another thing entirely. A wolf monarch, at minimum, has a pack that number in the hundreds, most averaging at around one hundred and fifty... Luckily they don't stray out of their caves often, typically only on full moons or at night, but, as you can see here, it is rarely possible for them to attack regardless of the phase of the moon."

"Going into their cave would be flat out suicide right now, that's why we need to take a step back and go about this more carefully... I have a general idea of how we can beat it and get into its cave, but... I'll need some time to set things into motion. I need to go buy some supplies." I frown as I cup my chin.

I look over the group. "Come find me in three days. That should give me enough time to get everything I need."

I reach behind my back and pull out a sole book. "In the meantime, maybe you all should read up on this. Its a compilation of knowledge that I collected from numerous people around this area. Detailing monsters, their general strengths, their habits, and what special abilities they might have. It might save your life, so perhaps you should take a look at it."

The quest completes, causing the book- and four of the nine remaining copies of it inside my tube- to disappear into motes of light.

The beta testers look surprised at the screens that appear before them, Mito levels up, Girl-Argo looks from the screen back to me, and Asuna still looks a little shell-shocked from almost being mauled by a large wolf.

"Oh, and if you're an alchemist, the book might teach you how to harvest special ingredients from your defeated foes." I smile kindly, causing the blonde to smirk viciously.

"Anyways, during the next three days, I'd also suggest grabbing some form of ranged weapon. Be it a bow or throwing knives. If all goes to plan, you won't be fighting wolves in melee, let me just say that."

"Good luck!" I smile brightly as a small illusionary pipe- that was made real- forms in the air behind me, my body turning into smoke and flowing inside.

As I am inside, I shoot forwards at high speeds towards the other side, but instead of coming out, the pipe seems to just grow longer and longer, the pipe behind me shrinking as it does so.

Another ability I figured out as of recently.

My speed while moving through a pipe? It's theoretically uncapped. With my new physical illusions? I'm capable of flying through the air at truly great speeds!

The only issue is that I don't really know where I am at any given moment.

I slow down, the pipe no longer growing forwards.

I lean outside, looking around.

Oh wow... I'm already about a fourth of the way back to the city... neat!

--Linebreak--

"Is... is this accurate?!" I question, glancing up from a book to the black haired girl sat nearby.

"Yes." She nods once. "being able to create never before substances allows us a lot of freedom. I used the alchemy books you allowed me to scan in order to make a recipe that theoretically functions as intended."

"…"

"So, I can actually make a new metal?!" I whisper.

The girl nods once. "Yes. In the game, at the very least."

"Fuck." I lowly curse. "Regardless, in the game, or out of the game... to be able to turn simple copper into something almost as durable as iron?!"

I shake my head, looking back to Yui. "Do you have the things for the final part in my wolf quest line?"

"Not yet, but by the time the full three days have elapsed, yes, I would have secured enough oil for the trap." She smiles.

"Good, good." I state slowly.

"I need to go trick people into giving me some more copper, I heard Lisbeth saying that she's more or less run out of surplus." I note with a small frown. "I've got five more unique skill books for the first floor."

"I gave an iron dagger and sword for one hundred each... that's fifty bars... there's also the matter of the other ingredients... but I'd personally say this is worth more than an iron sword or an iron dagger."

"It's just... Two hundred seems like such a hassle." I sigh. "How fast can someone mine copper, again?"

"Every node can produce anywhere between four and twenty ore, depending on the person's luck." She announces.

"So... that's fifty nodes... roughly how long would that take?"

"Every node is unique per player. With each node refreshing every six hours. There are four hundred nodes of copper on the first floor, though some are within dungeons and others in hard to reach areas." She hums. "It is impossible for someone to be able to reach all of them in six hours, thus it would be more efficient to simply pick a few close by to do and wait for them to refresh."

"Would it be possible to show all of the safer ore nodes around the town of beginnings as quest objectives?"

Yui tilts her head to the side, pondering it for a moment, eventually nodding once. "Yes. It would."

"How many are there, and roughly how long would it take to complete this quest?"

"There are ten ore veins around the town of beginnings."

"So. Five days if they harvest once per day..." I mutter under my breath. "Can you keep track and tell me when they complete the quest?"

"I can." The girl nods once.

"So... a quest for copper... then I need Nepent Flowers and Nepent Fruit... after that, I'll need the digestive fluid of a Large Nepent."

Nepents are large plant creatures that look genuinely disgusting.

The small ones are about four feet tall, while the larger ones tower at eight feet. They, honestly, sort of look like Pikmen in a strange way, with a little stalk that sometimes has a flower on it, other times fruit. They have large tooth-filled mouths that look horrifyingly human, with large red lips where their eyes should be, they move around on large rooty legs, and have two 'arms' that are as thin as vines, tipped with a leafy hand.

Genuinely disgusting creatures, but they are the key to Meadow Metal, apparently.

For every ten bars or so that is converted, I'll need two flowers, one fruit, and about two gallons of the digestive fluid. Then it’s a matter of letting the copper transmute for thirty minutes. Any longer than that, the metal begins to weaken and turn to mushy plant matter, any shorter and the transformation is half-baked.

Of course, it is a gradual change, if I take it out at thirty one minutes it'll be nearly indistinguishable from one removed at thirty... it's just that thirty minutes exactly is the 'perfect' time to take it out.

I'll be getting one hundred bars, so I'll need twenty flowers, ten fruits, and twenty gallons of fluid

However, I sort of want to experiment with alchemy, so I'll increase the requirements by about half.

Thirty flowers, fifteen fruits, thirty- no... Large Nepents are pretty strong... I'll keep it at twenty.

"How many gallons does a single 'item' of Large Nepent Digestive Fluid hold?" I question idly.

"About two."

"Ah. I see. So ten 'items worth'." I mutter under my breath. "Well, let's get to questing!"

--Linebreak--

Pov: elsewhere.

A blonde girl sits, knees brought up to her chest as she looks over the book in front of her.

Magic. Argo- the fox- can use magic.

What the actual shit?

He oneshot that Alpha.

That'd take Kirito a few sword skills to take down... even with his overgeared floor five longsword.

As she takes in the knowledge of the page, she turns to the next, tilting her head in wonder.

This is... surprisingly detailed... this is volume one. Listing seemingly everything from Swamp Kobolds, to Frenzied Boars.

If this is volume one...

That implies there is a volume two.

And maybe even a volume three!

First, he unlocks smithing, next he unlocks tailoring by sending them to go and collect cotton for him. Then he gives Lisbeth tin to make bronze! Now he gave her a book that gives her a hidden skill that lets her harvest monsters she kills?!

It looks like everything's coming up Argo!

And by that, she means her. Not shop fox.

Regardless, now her grinding will rarely give her ingredients. A boar tusk here, a wolf liver there. She will hold practically the entire monopoly for specialized alchemy ingredients!

Speaking of alchemy, she should do a little more work on grinding that up. She purchased an alembic from the general goods store- after it was unlocked via her having access to a mortar, and she has been more or less making potion after potion.

Her potions are by no means, 'good', her best merely being a potion that improves someone's passive health regeneration by ten percent for ten minutes- not that long when you consider it takes a minute out of combat to regenerate even a percent of your health, but it's pretty good for recovery she guesses.

What can she make now? With all these new ingredients open to her?

Her hands shake with excitement.

--Linebreak--

Pov: Returned.

"Huh..." I mutter as I look down at the book in my hands.

This is the spell tome for the 'Calm' spell.

A spell that I learned startlingly quickly. The novice level Healing spell took about a month of fairly substantial reading, Flames took a couple days of more in-depth study... but this?

I glance to my hand, a green light swirling around my open hand, coalescing into a large green sphere that rests above my palm.

I learned it in a mere two hours.

What the hell?!

Is it because I've learned my little domain thing?!

Will I just learn most spells faster now? Or at the very least, the novice ones?

Wait...

Is it possible that I'm learning illusion so fast because I am a Kuda Gitsune?!

Do '-Itsune' type youkai have a natural affinity for illusions? I mean, Kitsune are commonly known to use almost exclusively illusions... illusions and fox fire.

"…"

I did notice a slight increase with my realistic illusions after I kept fucking around with it.

An increase a normal person likely wouldn't see in a mere three and a half days.

It's likely that a normal person wouldn't see an increase at all... yet I was able to tell... even with how minor the change is.

I'll try learning something else.

I rise to my feet, letting out a low hum as I turn and make my way towards the dresser. "Yui. I'm going back home for a bit. What are the status on the quests?"

"Player Argo and her group should come to you shortly after twelve hours have passed to begin the next step of the Wolf Monarch questline... as for the others, Player Mutsuni has only retrieved one hundred of the copper ore required for your quest. He won't be finished for a while."
The other quests I handed out, the one to retrieve digestive fluid and collect fruit and flowers has already been completed yesterday, so all that remains are the wolf quest, and waiting for my dear minion to come and give me a bunch of ore.

"So... I should probably get a little sleep, then." I mutter under my breath as I step inside the dresser. "Alright. See ya~"

I crawl through it and come to a stop back in Touhou.

I rise to my feet and enter the pipeline, a small wince on my face.

I haven't been home much the past three days, Tsukasa still seems a little miffed so I've sort of been avoiding her, waiting for her to calm down.

She has seen fit to wall herself off a bit, seemingly to have time to think to herself.

We've been sleeping in separate beds; I don't even think we've shared a single word since our little disagreement.

It... it honestly makes my heart ache just a bit.

I weave through the tubes, eventually coming to our new 'home' within the walls.

Tsukasa sits on the couch alone, a slightly bored frown on her face.

She glances over slowly, then looks back at the wall without another word.

I let out a quiet sigh as I quietly walk around the outskirts of the room and slink into the library which stores my books.

I slip the calm spell tome back onto the shelf next to my eight other Illusion spell tomes, a frown on my face.

Tsukasa made this entire place... for us...

I let out another sigh as I step back into the main room of the miniature abode, I walk forwards and take a seat next to the fox eared girl. "Tsukasa... we should talk."

She glances over slowly. "Nh?"

"Instead of this awkward silence and us avoiding each other... let's talk. Like adults." I frown, turning my body slightly so I am facing her.

"What is there to talk about?" The girl huffs with an annoyed frown. "I want children. You don't want children. What's going to change about that?"

"Tsukasa..." I try, a slight pleading expression on my face.

"Argo... whenever you leave, I am terrified... I-I'm scared... scared that one day you won't come back." She whispers, she looks away, dejectedly, ears flattening slightly. "Then... there's all of this... I spent so much time and effort on it... and you don't like it."

"I love it, Tsukasa... I just wasn't prepared for you to ask for children." I reply with an even tone.

"But... what will I have to remember you by... if you get hurt... or die..." She whispers.

"Tsukasa. I'm going to be completely honest with you. Another reason why I don't want to have children is because of where we live. Here in Gensokyo. Literally at any moment... we could be killed. People here wield conceptual powers, Tsukasa. This is not a place I can feel safe with... because, frankly, against around ninety percent of this place... if they truly wanted to hurt you... I couldn't protect you from them. I couldn't protect our child from them." I cross my arms as I look over her.

"As I am currently, I couldn't give them a safe nor stable home... I know I have the magic tablecloth... and the magic table to satisfy our hunger and thirst, but... there are things that a child needs that we don't have. Plus, as I am now... I am required to leave often, so I won't be around them as much when they are an infant as I should."

"It's really not that much work?" She questions. "I can stay with them, it's what's expected, right?"

"…"

"Huh?" I am once again caught off guard.

"The husband goes out and earns money, while the wife remains at home to take care of the children?" She mutters, tilting her head. "That's how it has always been, right?"

"…"

"Ah. Right." I mutter under my breath. "Gensokyo was split from the outside world hundreds of years ago."

I would have thought that sort of age-old nonprogressive sentiment would be more or less erased in Gensokyo where everyone who is important is female.

"You make it sound like you lived outside of Gensokyo." The woman frowns.

"Oh. I did. And want to know another thing? You know how some humans turn into youkai? Yeah. I was human up until literally the day you met me."

She stares at me for a long moment, eventually a gasp of realization escapes her lips. "oh."

"That- well... some of our earlier interactions make a lot more sense now... huh." She mutters. "Your general inexperience... and your lack of knowledge of basically everything."

"So. Can you see why we differ on our opinions like this?" I question.

"Well, no. Twenty is an acceptable age for bearing children... in fact, even some humans had children at the age of sixteen. But I will admit, they did not make the best parents so you would have had at the very least a little point there if you had been slightly younger."

"In the outside world, it's different. And I would really appreciate it if you let me go about this at my own pace as, frankly, I'm still figuring things out just a little bit."

She droops slightly, leaning onto me, allowing me to wrap my arms around her.

"Alright... I just... miss you so much." She whispers.

"Who said you had to stay here?" I frown at the girl. "Come with me. I don't like being away from you either."

"Okay..." The girl whispers.

--Linebreak--

I cross my arms as I stand in the shop, a blank smile on my face, girlfriend-wife in pocket.

My eyes stray to the group of five as they step into my shop, an exclamation point appearing above my head.

"Ah! Welcome back my friends!" I give the group a bright smile as I walk over, Asuna yawns quietly, rubbing an eye as she blearily looks around the shop. "It's good to see you again!"

"Your timing is impeccable as always." I continue. "I've almost collected everything required for us to reclaim my goods. There is only one... slight... issue. I'm missing probably the most important piece. The thing that will draw the monarch out of his hole with certainty!"

"Alright." Argo girl sighs shoulders slumping. "Where is it and what do we need to steal?"

"I need your group to travel to the other wolf monarch territory and bring me something he has marked. Be it fallen log, bush, or rock."

"The... other... Wolf Monarch?" Kirito himself questions.

"Currently, there are two wolf monarchs near the Town of Beginnings. The first, the one who stole my shit." I elaborate.

The blonde girl lets out a quiet snort.

"The other." I continue. "One who is a bit closer to the outskirts of this area. He is less of an issue unless you actively go to look for him. Just as dangerous as this one, just more out of the way. If you gather his scent markings, our wolfish thief here will surely see it as a true threat and come running. Regardless of time of day, or phase of moon."

"Once you have collected say... four or so items that bear this other monarch's scent. I want you to meet me in the forest... I'll mark it on your map."

The five players forcibly have their map screen opened.

They all share a look, then turn around to go and complete my little job.

As they leave, I turn and walk upstairs.

"is... this all you do?" I can hear Tsukasa question from the little bamboo pipe on my shoulder.

"Yes." I blandly nod as I turn and step inside my alchemy lab. "This is about it. Tell people to go do stuff for me, give them stuff when they accomplish it."

"This... honestly doesn't seem that much different than what I used to do." She hums as she appears from the pipe, becoming nothing more than a flowing mist before she touches down on the floor, stretching her arms above her head. "So this is what you do? Save a bunch of children while appearing to be... artificial?"

"Pretty much, yes." I nod once.

"Why pretend to be a... 'NPC' as you put it?" She questions, walking around me slowly, a hand on her chin as her eyes flick upwards to the name above my head.

"Because I'm afraid that the person who did all this might notice and attempt to delete me if he realizes I am more than I seem."

"Hn..." She hums. "I see... so it is a careful game of helping... but not helping too much to draw attention."

"Basically." I nod once.

"And the benefits of this?" She questions.

"Well..." I begin slowly. "Already I've got the recipe to create an alloy of copper that doesn't exist in the real world. So, I'd say it's been sort of worth it. This is only floor one out of one hundred as well... plus it's likely that some people would pay us to give them a fox spirit."

"Being paid to take their life force." The girl huffs in amusement.

My eyes stray upwards to the floating text above her head.

Tsukasa Kudamaki: Level 84 ​

Yeah...

She's just a little bit stronger than me.

Yeah. A little.

If you consider that people struggle to defeat something even five levels higher than they are in an MMO.

I roll my eyes slightly and let out a quiet sigh. "How strong would you say you were back home?"

"Hn... top seventy five percent or so." She admits with a 'what can you do' shrug. "Far from the strongest, but certainly not the weakest. Most other youkai are superior to me in every way. Primarily Oni or Tengu."

"So." She moves on looking around slowly. "Do you just create potions and order these humans to do what you want at all times?"

"Pretty much." I nod once. "I want to get better at making potions so I practice a lot, plus... I don't think the people here deserve to die... Every waking moment, their real bodies slowly wither and decay. Growing weaker and weaker with no way out unless they get to the top. I want to help them. If I happen to make money doing so? That's good. Great in fact. But if I don't, it's no big deal."

"Now, let's wait for Yui to tell us when they have gotten the quest objective, then we should begin to move... regardless we have an hour at the very least, four if I wanted to be generous." I note as I take a seat on the air itself.

"Alright~" the fox woman shrugs as she floats over to me and stops just beside me, wrapping her arms around me as she rubs her face against my own.