Chapter 66: Book 2 Chapter 20 – Fortress Assault Rewards

Fhesiah snorted, “What, didn’t bother checking your notifications? Just what is it you were doing as we dragged you out of that volcano, anyway? Just enjoying the view as your women carried you?”

Jake couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. He had glanced at the notifications, but hadn’t had time to process them. But wait a minute, Jake had at least two retorts to that line of thought–

Fhesiah laughed, “I’m just messing with you, husband. I read mine while I waited for you to finish your fight, after all. Here’s what I got.”

 

“It looks like we all got an item that we needed from completing Hestia’s Task, and then ‘Racial Upgrade: Pending Tier Up’ for defeating our champions; even you, Jake. I think this torch will go well with my Sun and Moon Dance, and that it has some emergency healing makes me feel a lot better.”

Jake looked over the prompt and sighed in relief that for some odd reason, his reward was unavailable until he returned to the refuge. He had thought he saw that when he had glanced at the prompt, so he was glad that he wasn’t mistaken and hadn’t missed out on some life-saving item, too distressed to review it.

Well, looking over it now, even if it was available during the volcano erupting or caves collapsing, he wouldn’t have had time to put it on, anyway.

 

It was a complete set of armor. On each piece, Jake could see many hexagonal segments that he thought the purpose was to hold his runes. This would keep Jake well-protected into the future as it grew with him. Jake would have to charge up the energy reservoir to see how significant a bonus it was, but any amount of maximum mana was welcome. While he thought they were eventually going to produce something quite similar, Jake wasn’t sure he could reproduce the energy core capability. Bloodberri had received a similar, yet completely different, reward.

 

The full-plate suit was completely massive, and it was like it was one connected piece, but still had hexagonal segments for Jake’s enchantments that he knew were crafted using supernatural means. Going by the prompts, this was a major lifestyle improvement. Just putting on Bloodberri’s armor for an outing was a group effort that took over 10 minutes, and this was moving at supernatural speed with four sets of practiced hands. By herself, despite having two hands and an extra limb, it would take her well over an hour to put on. Removal was a little quicker, but it was a significant time investment any time they needed to fight.

Bloodberri held it up in the air, finding it to be a dull almost jacket-like texture. He noticed that many of the blades and spikes were sort of covered when it was powered down as it was. She then infused some mana into a section of the armor, and it became hard and full of energy, the blades and spikes turning outwards. She was both awed and filled with happiness, looking over the new armor. It was their family colors and despite being bladed, did not look or draw the same feelings of fear and danger that the previous suit did. Yet they all could tell that this suit was more dangerous than the previous.

The group continued cleaning up and removing Bloodberri’s old armor, but she was crying tears of joy just thinking that this was the last time they would need to spend this much effort on her.

Ophelia said, “The goddess was really thinking of us when picking our rewards. It’s a small thing being able to equip your armor quickly, but it means a lot to Bloodberri.”

She then shared her reward, a winged kite shield.

 

Ophelia let go of the shield, and it floated in place. Now she could use both hands with her spear. The shield spun around as she shifted her body, and it moved around as she imagined that it would. It could only float within a few feet of her body, though. That was until she added [Hestia’s Hearth].

The shield lit aflame and the wings grew, and then it was like the shield was using her [Ride of the Valkyries] ability. It flew rapidly, and Jake imagined it could prove quite useful. Jake’s copy of the ability wore off, but the shield’s copy persisted.

“I guess it lasts longer when used this way. Very useful. Amazing how a defensive improvement will also help offense.”

Jake couldn’t help but agree. While one-handed spear and shield could be effective against nearly every weapon match-up, it was really best used in a line with other shield and spear users. Now that she had become so mobile, Jake doubted the effectiveness of the combination. Something like a lance for more reach might have been better with her movements. This was like adding a third hand whose purpose was only to operate the shield, allowing the other two to focus on the spear. Jake grimaced before Ophelia voiced her thoughts, her having a vicious look on her face.

“Well, looks like there’s no way you’re getting out of that spear practice now, Jake. We both have a lot to work on. I wonder if you might be able to do something similar to your shield?”

The idea surprised Jake, and he thought about it. He examined her shield with [Arcane Eye] as best he could, and while he got some ideas and thought he understood some of it, it was well beyond his capabilities. If he could enchant something to make it [Mythic] level, then they would already have a full set of them and would steamroll everything, probably.

Still, he would look into imbuing his shield with a soul of sorts, and see what he could do there. Actually, didn’t cultivators have weapon spirits and things like that?

Fhesiah snorted, “Oh yeah, Jake. Sure, just shove a Tier 3 soul into your Tier 1 materials to be your shield floater bitch. I’m sure they’ll enjoy that and not try to erase our existence. Yes, they exist, but they are well beyond our capabilities for now.”     

Jake’s eyebrows rose at that. Jake supposed that if they could get that kind of ally, shoving their spirit into a shield would be a tremendous waste. Then again, once they reached that point, things would be on a completely different scale. Still, Jake thought he could probably find a way to imbue a sort of soul into a shield and he would look into it. There were magical creatures, like floating armors, besides.

Jake looked into the Racial Upgrade, and learned that many, when reaching Tier 2, would already receive something similar as part of the Framework’s general improvements. This was just like he received when he was initiated into the Framework by Odin. In a way, part of why he needed a sponsor was because it was like his race was improved to Tier 1 at that time, enabling his magic. He thought this was the reason he was knocked out, but he didn’t know for sure. At any rate, it opened up the path for him to be able to reach Tier 1.

But this would be on top of the general improvements, so Jake and his party should have high expectations for what this might mean. Jake was currently a human, which, while versatile, was pretty substandard compared to the rest of his party. At the same time, they would also be receiving improvements.

Jake just gave a wry smile at that. Of course, his girls all deserved to receive rewards for defeating their champions. At the same time, though, he couldn’t help but wish that he could catch up to their capability in some way. Just thinking of when his girls heaved that boulder away from the exit, he could not help at all besides buffing them, and likely would have only gotten in the way if he got out of his basket and tried to help lift the rock. Jake was able to produce a lot of strength, but he didn’t really have an effective means of using it, like his girls that had wings, or his snake-girl that had her own sizable mass to leverage the boulder.

To Jake’s surprise, it was Bloodberri, or rather Berri, that tried to cheer him out of his funk, and not a moment too soon before Fhesiah was about to tease him further. 

She enveloped him in a hug, her armor now removed. “Jake, you make us strong. When we feel your power inside us, we feel like we can beat anything.”

Jake just knew with that phrasing–

“But Berri, I thought you haven’t had Jake inside you yet?”

“H-Huh? I’m talking about [Divine Reinforcement] and the Bond. It makes us so… powerful.”

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Jake could feel the mental smirk Blood was giving, knowing that it was best to keep quiet here, but Fhesiah narrowed her eyes in thought. Just how does she tease and embarrass this girl without simply being outright mean?

“So, Jake doesn’t need to feel weak. He is very strong, by making us strong.”

Jake laughed at the thought that he needed to be reminded of this. This was his path from the beginning. Why feel down about it now? Still, it helped to know his efforts were both noticed and appreciated.

Jake coughed and said, “Thank you for that, Berri. We should meet with Hestia to discuss what our next actions should be so we can make it to our destination as quickly as possible. I have a lot of enchanting to do, both for [Sons of Rome] and for our new equipment. We have a lot of training to do as well, but of course we’re going to celebrate.”

“We also have a lot of shopping to do, Jake. Did you look over the [Fortress Assault] reward itself?”

 

That was a lot of credits in one chunk for them at the moment, and many things that were out of their price range before, were within their range now. Some enchanted jewelry was definitely within Jake’s price range now. It was a bit of a let-down that two of their rewards were postponed until tier up for which they were not even halfway there yet.

The merit earned was regarding Jake, Ophelia, and Bloodberri’s potential class upgrade options. The more merit besides his skills, the better the possibilities. Jake already had a high rarity class, and it would likely take more than just this to get something higher than that, but maintaining the high requirements should allow him to at least upgrade his class to the next tier.

While Fhesiah wouldn’t receive a class template where she would be handed new skills and attributes at level ups normally, she should receive additional guidance on upgrading her framework skills to the next tier because of earning this merit.

Jake looked over their looted equipment from the enemy Champions. There was a spear that was quite good from the champion they faced, but Ophelia declined it, opting to sell it. It did not have a magical focus, and she really wanted to make one tailored to her needs. The leather they wore was only marginally useful.

The plate armor from the drakan was almost completely destroyed. Looking over the energies, Jake was really interested in what caused the damage, as it was more than just being melted away, but rather that the armor’s very integrity itself was attacked. Was this Fhesiah’s Kitsune fire? He looked over at her, and she was giving a mysterious smile. “I want to see this Kitsune fire at some point…”

She began nonchalantly inspecting her fingernails. “My, but husband, it’s nothing special compared to my dragon fire. I promise that I will show it to you, but I’m still working on it. Don’t worry: I will not let my surprise cause us danger. If using it will make us safer, I will use it in earnest.”

Both Bloodberri and Jake’s opponents wore robes and were useless for them. Jake’s opponent had a Summoner’s staff, but only had a bonus to the necrotic magic he used. There was no interest in any of this, and thus everything went on auction. The damaged plate was more for salvage and next to worthless.

Jake had really been hoping for some jewelry, but it looked like the enemy Champions really spent their allotment for traps and their primary equipment pieces. The staff and spear would likely be worth a lot, potentially as much as the Fortress Assault reward itself.    

They head to their shrine, and called upon Hestia.

Once again, a heavenly aura filled the statue, and Hestia’s voice spoke to them.

“I’m so glad everything worked out in the end, Jake and family. I don’t think things could have gone any better than that. You all should be quite proud of yourselves, as you have proven that I have made an excellent choice when choosing my Champion. I’m proud of all of you.”

Jake was shocked at the effect Hestia’s words had on him. His heart swelled with pride, and he could feel the same coming from the girls.

“And Bloodberri, I’m so glad that you have started to find your way. I know that Berri will find a lot of children to care for in your destination world: Highlands. Jake, you should set the course sooner rather than later. Every moment matters.”

Jake went ahead and set the course in his menu, their Refuge beginning to head through subspace towards their destination. Jake was about to ask about his odd-summoned creature behavio–

“Whatever it was you were about to ask or think about, I think it is best you don’t voice your question aloud. Let’s just say that [Tartarus] likes to bend the rules to its advantage, and we do the same when such efforts can go… undetected.

Odin’s minor hint he was able to squeeze in, didn’t prove useful in the end, but there was a chance that Berri here could have spoken up and let you know her secret, that Blood was with her and perhaps what Odin’s cryptic statement was referring to. Maybe you would have been able to piece together that she was not fully influenced by the Framework, and could have attacked the enemy champion prior to entry.”

Bloodberri looked guilty, and Blood said, “I’m sorry… I told her not to tell you. I thought it was a trick…”

Hestia continued, “With that said, this [Fortress Assault] was a major harvest. You defeated four champions, and that means we have received four divine sparks. This is besides the one received from the first champion, which I keep in reserve in case Jake were to die against an enemy champion. You can have peace of mind knowing that should the worse occur, Jake is protected. Jake should be aware of some of the other uses.”

Jake had read the book on champions Hestia provided, and he was aware of some of the uses. They could be used to make a champion, enhance a champion in several ways, enhance an item, and collecting divine sparks could eventually lead to the possibility of godhood. Jake hadn’t thought of this much, as many of the uses simply wouldn’t be available to Jake at his Tier. Jake already had God energy crammed into his weak T1 vessel, and Jake didn’t think it could take any more until the next Tier.

Hestia’s voice held some mirth to it. “Not so fast Jake, but we’ll come back to that thought. Not all the uses are permanent, and we can use some of the benefits without consuming them. There are also some other gods interested in making your lovers champions, and I think they would pay the price if able.”

Jake said, “Who, Fhesiah? The other two are a priestess and valkyrie of Hestia, surely you don’t mean…”

“Why not, Jake? I’m pretty sure Odin and I have hammered into you that we are all a part of the same team, haven’t we?”

It was Fhesiah who spoke, her thoughts more or less mirroring Jake’s, “You don’t expect us to believe that there’s no contention among you, do you? No rivalries?”

“We try to keep our rivalries to friendly competition that pushes us all to do better against Tartarus, our one true enemy, but you’re right. I don’t expect you to believe that there’s no bad blood among us gods. With that said, those interested are ones that are good friends of mine or are otherwise those that there is certainly no bad blood. They wouldn’t require you to convert by giving your valkyrie oath in the case of Ophelia, or Bloodberri to follow a ritual to become a priestess of them. In fact, I think you’ll agree that diversification of your powers would be quite a good thing.”

Jake couldn’t help but agree with that. [Tartarus] certainly liked to attack using their weaknesses, or at the very least, minimize their strengths. Jake was glad that Bloodberri had both light and dark powers and wasn’t so much tied to the holy fire of Hestia-type attacks. But the idea that they’d all be champions of Hestia meant all four, potentially five, would summon holy fires of Hestia. Jake still hadn’t had the good fortune of running into a dungeon just full of enemies weak to Hestia’s holy fire since his Trial, and he suspected this was by design. Each calling upon a different god with its own strengths and weaknesses was much more appealing to Jake.

Jake thought that this was a big deal, but he would have to learn more about the gods or goddesses and their offer before they could decide.

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