Fortune Favors (QQ) Chapter 16 (Patreon)

'Alright, this doesn't make ANY fucking sense. What even is this stuff?'

I loom over a deceased cow that is rapidly turning to ash from the sunlight, a frown on my face. Instead of normal teeth, it has jagged and sharp fangs.

"What am I looking at here, Yui?" I question.

"I... do not know, honestly." Comes her simple reply.

Sooo uh... I put a little bit of Muzan's tomato sauce into this cow and watched it grow fangs, veins bulge, discover an insatiable urge for blood, and promptly gain about ten levels in an instant.

Then I cut it. It healed.

That was pretty fucking wild, I ended up being forced to use illusion magic to calm it, but it was quite ornery even still. Managing to break free from my control twice before the sun could kill it.

Luckily I decided to do this a mere ten minutes before the sun rose, otherwise there'd be a murderous level fourteen cow on floor six.

Not unkillable for people, mind you, with the average level of the floor being about fifteen, but its regeneration would have likely caused some issues.

"So. Yui. Recipe me."

"There is nothing like this in all of Aincrad... there's no similarity to it at all. Nothing in this entire game comes even a fraction close to what that did."

"Damn. So it's a non-renewable resource." I mutter under my breath. "Is there anything we could use it for?"

"Uh- besides improving the strength of enemies?" She mutters. "I... I don't know?"

"I was personally thinking... Race change potion."

"That is-" She pauses abruptly, tilting her head. "There are already things that offer race changes."

"What about into Youkai?" I continue.

The girl is silent for a long moment, then a screen opens before me listing a long line of ingredients.

Race Change Potion: {Consumable}
Permanantly transforms the drinker into another type of creature, granting racial benefits.
Requirements for creation: Alchemist Skill Level 1000.
Muted Demonic Blood (Enhanced), Shift-tree Apple, Awakening Pear, Condensing Root, Blood of the Desired transformation, Elemental Imbued Volcanic Glacier Water. ​

I let out a low 'tsk' as I look to the vial of Muzan's blood in my hand. I have around twenty more like it.

Evil Blood: {Consumable}
Permanantly transforms the drinker into a 'Demon'. ​

The word 'Demon' is glowing so I click on it.

Demon. {Race}
Benefits:
Strength, Vitality and Agility are improved by 10 each.
You now regenerate health every second even whilst in combat. Instead of once every minute out of combat
Low chance to awaken a 'Unique Weapon Skill' which has Life Steal.
Detriments:
Direct exposure to Sunlight inflicts you with an incredibly painful Damage over time Debuff that lasts as long as you are within sunlight dealing 400 damage per second of exposure.
life regeneration is halted when in the presence of Sunlight.
Health Regeneration is no longer 1% of your max health and is instead a flat 5 Hp for every 10 levels you have.
A 'Demon' must kill one 'Player Character' every week, otherwise they begin to take penalties to stats.
A demon the refrains from killing a 'Player Character' for 2 months, dies. ​

Yeah. I'm never giving this out.

That's like ASKING for an unkillable player killer to show up.

"So. I'll need to have an alchemy skill of one thousand, huh?" I echo mutely as I look back to the 'Race Change Potion'. Watching as its crafting recipe branches out like a massive root system. "Fuck. I don't have levels... looks like I'll be forced to rely on the other Argo for this."
Besides. With a limited supply, it's better to leave the crafting to people with a bullshit cheat system which makes the correct potion one hundred percent of the time."

"Ah. This is a pain." I sigh as I spy a certain little tidbit in the crafting tree to turn the 'Evil Blood' into its 'Muted Demonic Blood' counterpart.

"The holy grail exists in this shitty game?" I question idly before shaking my head. "Yui, can you begin making a list for what I need to do on each floor? Lowest floor to highest."

All of the screens close.

Then suddenly a new one opens.

Collect 4 'Fruit of Growth' to create 'Growth Liquid' Quest Item. ​

Ah. I've pretty much done this already, I just need to bring interesting flowers to Yuuka.

"Yui, mark every flower that is not native to the outside world from here to floor one hundred for me."

I nod once, stroking my chin, a low hum leaving my lips as a screen expands beside me. "Well, I suppose I'll be forced to sponsor our resident name-stealing alchemist... and that means Ingredients. Preferably unique ingredients. High level ones that I can get here and now..."

--Linebreak--

Wind ruffles my hair as I am shot through the air at high speeds.

After a long moment the tube around me stops, allowing me to peer out the end.

'Ah! Winterhold.'

I enter the pipe again, angling it as I reach into my bag and place a hat atop my head.

The pipe blasts downwards and at around ten feet above the snowy earth below, I slip out of the pipe and land with a crouch.

I fix my clothes slightly and nod once as I rise to my full height, walking towards the gates of Winterhold a short distance away.

The high elven woman who is stood guard quickly double takes, likely seeing me appear from literally nowhere from within the corner of her vision.

Confusion paints her features for a brief moment as I strut forwards.

"Faralda." I greet. "It has been quite some time."

"Ah, the merchant." The woman smiles. "It is good to see you again. The college has had quite the boon since you last left."

"Oh?" I question. "Did the research on the items I sold bear fruit?"

"Somewhat. It allowed us to greatly improve the efficiency of our enchanted objects. Archmage Savos has not yet been able to crack the method to make these enchantments well and truly endless. That is quite surprising, honestly. But overall, you have brought a tremendous boon to the college. One that places us far above the other mage guilds within Tamriel."

"So, the largest advancement in enchantment research since the soul stone?" I humorously snort.

"Well, perhaps not that big. Not yet at least. It could very well become this after our headmaster figures it out in its completion. If you are here, do you have more items that will interest him?"

"A few." I admit. "Mainly a copper alloy that I've made with alchemy that is stronger than iron but accepts enchantment far easier."

"Hm. That does sound like something that would intrigue him."

"Then, I've found a couple potential alchemical ingredients, but I am currently in the process of growing them, so none are prepared at the moment... I would part with some of the surplus I used to transform copper into this 'meadow metal' of mine considering how much of it I have. Regardless I have a bunch of money and am looking to pick up your older enchantment table and some more knowledge."

"I see." The woman hums. "Very well, I have sent a notice to the archmage. It is likely that he will come to meet you the moment you enter the College's grounds or-"

"Ah! Argo!" A man cuts in as he appears with a small flash of smoke. "It is wonderful to see you again. Come along, I assume that you have more interesting wares?"

"I do, actually." I nod once.

"Splendid!"

With a flash we are elsewhere. The man's personal quarters. Notes seem to be sprawled over a nearby enchantment table, numerous swords are haphazardly strewn across the floor.

"Hn. I should learn teleportation magic. Seems quite convenient." I hum.

"Believe me, it is. But. Shall we talk of business first? I will admit, it might be slightly childish- and seen as rude- to shirk polite conversation, but I am frankly giddy to see what you might have brought today."

"Not as impressive as my last haul, I'm afraid to admit." I sigh with a small shrug. "But, unique magic items don't just drop into my lap so freely. That being said, I've got some fairly interesting things to look at. First, a new copper alloy, strong as iron but far more willing to take in magical enchantments."

I draw a green blade and lay it on the table, causing the man's eyebrow to raise slightly.

He picks it up, looking over it for a long moment, magic seems to channel along his fingertips as he drags them down the length of the sword.

His eyes widen slightly. "This sword feels like plant life to my magic, but with this hardness?"

He cups his chin. "It probably has unique alchemical effects if it were to be used in a potion as well. The question is... would they be similar to copper or something else entirely?"

"You use copper for alchemy?" I question.

"Oh, well, any material can be used in alchemy, my boy. Metals, bark, rocks, gemstones. The problem with this is that not all ingredients have an effect powerful enough to appear in a potion, or what the ingredient does just hasn't been figured out yet. Most metals do have notable benefits when used in alchemy... of course we have to use a small portion of it, typically ground into a powder with a grindstone. But some metals have consistencies very suitable for potions, such as mercury, however that alone is quite poisonous and needs other reagents to temper its inherent toxicity."

The man tilts his head. "Ah. We didn't have another copy of 'an expensive taste' the last time you were here. I've had Urag draft up a copy for the next time you arrived with something."

"I'm also looking for blacksmithing techniques and enchanting techniques." I add in.

"Yes, I thought you might be. I've had Urag make extra copies of those as well." The man admits as he looks over the blade. "You said this was an alloy of copper? What is the other pieces if I might ask- and do not worry, I will pay you- if it is easily replicable."

"Its understandable that you didn't figure out, as I used alchemy to transmute it from copper. The thing is, the reagents I used are only found in a plant monster that isn't native to Skyrim. I used a flowering bud of one of the plant creatures, followed by a fruit, then the digestive fluid of a larger variant."

"A plant creature?" The man mutters with increasing interest. "Like a Spriggan or Strangler?"

"Yes. They are called Nepenthes, casually referred to as Nepents by adventurers. The smaller ones stand at around four feet and the taller ones tower at around eight feet. They walk around on a bunch of little roots and have two long vines tipped with leaves that are deceptively strong. The most startling thing about them would be the human-like mouth that has lips and flat rectangular teeth."

"Are they carnivorous?" The archmage questions

"Yes. But they also Photosynthesize like most other plants."

"..."

"Pardon?" The man mutters.

"Photosynthesis? Ah. That's what we call it when a plant turns sunlight into food for itself using water and carbon dioxide. Typically releasing breathable air as a result."

"I'm sorry, this is just the first time I have heard something like this... Photosynthesis." The man mutters, scratching his brow in thought.

"..."

"Anyways, I've got some basic materials from the Nepents, I haven't really been experimenting with it much and using it to make meadow metal, thus there's probably numerous things it can be used for that I haven't thought of yet."

"I see." The man hums as I bring out a few clay jugs and the fruit and flowers in question, enough for about two transmutations worth.

"So, I've mainly got money, but I might get my hands on a really special alchemical ingredient soon enough. I'll return when I do, but for now do you mind if I go and make my purchases?"

"Oh. Not at all. I will be looking over this metal. Please go to Urag for anything that you want book-wise, then to Mirabelle Ervine for other matters. As for your compensation for these materials... how does five gold septims sound?"

Considering its technically a little more sub-par than Iron, that much is more than enough. An iron sword goes for anywhere from one gold septim to about half of one- or about five silver septims.

"I see! Five golden septims is more than reasonable. Thank you, Archmage Savos." I smile brightly.

"No, thank you, Argo. You always have such interesting baubles." The man states while walking over to the enchantment table with his new weapon.

--Linebreak--
Who says money can't buy happiness.

"Alright, Yui. System Update time." I begin as I strut into the world.

With a crackle the black haired girl appears next to me, she tilts her head as I appear.

"Pardon? System... update?"

"I've got a bunch of alchemical ingredients you can populate the world with, in addition, a new crafting profession."

"Crafting... Profession." The girl repeats slowly.

"One second. It'll probably take a moment to set it up."

I reach into the pipe clutched tightly in my hands as I walk forwards.

Strength enhancement magic flickers around my body as I make my way to the wall just opposite the one my alchemical lab is lined up with.

I disappear into the pipe and with a few loud grunts, my enhancement magic spiking as I rein in my little domain, a large table thumps to the floor.

A breath leaves my lips as I flow from the pipe, a bright grin crossing my features.

"What... is this?" The girl behind me questions.

"This, my dear Yui, is an enchantment table. It is a crafting station required to bind souls that have been trapped within gemstones into weapons and armor to power their effects."

"How does that work?" The girl questions with a small head-tilt.

I open my mouth to reply, but eventually sigh as my shoulders slump. "No clue. I'll figure it out after I learn the soul trap spell... I should really begin working on that as soon as physically possible. I've recently figured out a way to gain access to a nearly limitless supply of souls."

"..."

"I cannot condone the murder of others, even if saves the life of those trapped within sword art... if follow that course of action, I will stop helping you." the little girl threatens.

"What part of me would make you think I would just start genociding people for their souls?!" I snap, eyebrow twitching dangerously. "I'm GREEDY! Not a fucking monster despite what my race's nature claims!"

"That expanse of souls I was talking is a near endless supply of dinosaurs. I have connected to a prehistoric dimension where the only thing I need to worry about is the fact that reasonably the planet killing asteroid could strike at any waking moment." I huff while crossing my arms, looking away from the girl. "I would like a little more trust, thank you. I've been doing literally everything I can to save these people trapped in this game. I've even gone against my greedy nature. Yet here you are, automatically assuming the worst."

Yui stares for a moment. "I apologize. As an AI I am unfamiliar with the concept of a... soul... as I do not have one. however what I do know is that souls are typically not associated with non-sentient beings and I made an assumption based upon the facts I have access to. I can see how that could be seen as offensive, and I am deeply sorry about this. You are correct. The deaths in the server you have access to is a mere thirtieth of what I had calculated the death toll as at the start of this game. You have saved thousands of lives."

A long sigh leaves my lips. "Whatever. Ignoring the enchanting thing for a while, as you are fairly inept with magic and will likely need to see a demonstration before you are able to make alterations to the world, I've also got these smithing books here... tell me, will these give Lisbeth any benefit if she were to read it?"

The girl looks over to the stacks of books I sit on the enchanting table, eyes glowing briefly as a wave of light looking similar to a scanner sprouts from her eyes. It slowly travels the length of the stack before she cocks her head to the side. "Hm."

"While these books will not give any benefit to her should she read them, their concepts and methods has left me a surplus of knowledge to create my own skill book. Or, if applicable, skill books."

"What do you plan on making it do?" I ask.

"..."

"I am unsure." The black haired girl replies.

"I've got some effects off the top of my head if you want some suggestions." I add in.

She turns to me. "What are your suggestions?"

"Higher base damage or defense, higher base durability, have the item be able to be enchanted further, give her a chance to use less resources in crafting and enhancement, let her crafted weapons start out higher than plus zero." I list instantly only to pause and tap my chin as I think for a moment. "Lower the equipment requirements for items she makes, give her a small chance to make 'uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary variants of her items', give her a blacksmithing skill experience buff up until a certain level."

The girl's eyes glow as she stares into my very being. Seeing as how I don't talk for a good thirty seconds she speaks up. "Is that it?"

"That's all I can think of at the moment- Wait. What about a sort of 'prestige' skill, where once she gets a weapon to max enhancement, she can 'prestige' it, resetting it back to plus zero, but like, if it's maximum is plus ten, it can now go up to plus eleven."

"Wouldn't such a thing be incredibly overpowered?" The AI questions.

"Ah, but how often do you get a weapon to maximum enhancement. Also you must realize that higher base damage means higher overall damage regardless of enhancement? A level one hundred sword that hasn't even been enhanced once would likely be far superior to even a plus eighty copper longsword... which would have consumed a near endless supply of copper bars, time, and more importantly money. Honestly, the power totally sucks if you really think about it as the item in question never really improves."

"Smithing skill experience is granted both through item creation and item enhancement. With item enhancement, both the enhancement level of the item in question and the material it is made of is considered, but it grants far less experience that crafting does."

"Well, I mean, regardless getting a weapon up to plus one hundred- even if it's a copper dagger- is probably extremely difficult and gives a lot of experience." I whisper, a devious grin slowly appearing on my face. "Thus, Lisbeth could level her skills far faster."

"Yes. And in such a scenario... she will be granted a further skill, as Aincrad has made the decision to grant all skills a unique skill at max level for the first person to achieve such a deed. There are two million players playing this game. Having merely ten unique skills, is utterly ridiculous, and, as you have brought to our attention, there are no crafting or armor related unique skills." She replies.

"That is evil. Very nice. I approve of anything that might ruin Kayaba's day."

The corner of the girl's mouth turn upwards. "I will return shortly after developing a skill book."

With that, she disappears.

Maybe I should go about grabbing some rarer materials from skyrim for Lisbeth so she can have little boosts of experience every now and then.

"..."

I should do some reading so I can meet the requirements of skyrim's enchanting so I can teach Yui about enchantment 'magic'.

I mean, it's not tossing a fireball, and Kayaba already opened pandora's box with those gemstone enchantments- which I need to see If I can get my hands on, those sound really valuable.

Wait.

FUCK I forgot to sell that sword that implants knowledge of a skill to the college!

Damn it!

Ah well, I'll remember next time.

--Linebreak--

I quietly flip the page of the large book sat in my lap, a frown on my face.

As it turns out... trapping the soul is quite difficult.

This book is around twice as thick as most of my others, which is a testament to the spell's complexity.

Just from a cursory glance, I can see just how deep the mastery of this spell goes. A novice can attach tethers to a soul, so it is dragged into a soul gem as the creature dies, but a master? There's really no telling what the person in question could do.

This is less of a single spell and more of an untapped archetype of magic, like bound weapons and armor.

With this... it should be theoretically possible to use souls to power spells, right?

That's something far more advanced than I am capable of, but theoretically, a soul should boost a spell quite considerably.

Like, imagine casting a firebolt but stuffing a t-rex's soul into it.

Heck. One hundred t-rex souls!

It's likely not to be very cost-efficient. But it could grant a much needed boost in power.

"Argo. I have finished the book." Yui informs with a crackle as she appears next to me.

"Oh? That's wonderful!" I grin. "Anything to ruin Kayaba's day!"

I rise from my seat, sitting my soul trap spell tome aside. "May I ask which effect you have gone with?"

"The prestige effect. It is a blacksmithing book of advanced techniques you have had to- fictionally- spend a lot money to purchase from the higher floor's NPC Blacksmithing guild. As for other effects, a majority of your suggested methods have all been bundled into the steadily forming Blacksmithing unique skill... though, there might be a reward here or there that covers things that did not fit in as well, such as chance to use less materials. The main issue is that it was just so... strong."

"So strong in fact that I could not justify having such an effect be within a book." The AI sighs. "Try as I might, I am still a functionality of the cardinal system. Thus I cannot disturb the balance in a manner that does not make logical sense, such as creating a book that gives everyone who reads it an additional one hundred points to each stat."

"Why not have the more powerful effects be limited to items? Like... Hephestus' hammer or something of that sort of... quality." I begin.

"Bypass detected. Scanning." The girl intones.

She stands there, static for a long moment, her eyes glowing a dark red.

It seems that at the moment, it isn't Yui I am speaking to, but the cardinal system itself.

"Logically sound. The great creator has already added certain legendary items from the real world's Arthurian myth. A hammer of the god of forges would not just be a simple smith's hammer. Motion for change accepted. Smithing Quest generated."

The girl's red eyes slowly trail over to the enchantment table.

"Request for a new crafting profession... Pending..." She continues.

Then her gaze shifts to the boxes of alchemy ingredients I purchased from the College.

"Additional Alchemical Ingredients. Notion approved. Certain unique plants shall be steadily grown across the one hundred floors." She states.

And with that, the girl blinks and looks around, her eyes returning to their simple coal grey.

"Hm. It appears that Cardinal has accepted your request for a hammer." The small girl states.

"That's wonderful." I smirk. "Each and every little boon we get is a step in the right direction of winning this hellish game."

"Noooow. Let's go give Lisbeth this book." I continue, gazing down to the fancy little book in Yui's hands.