Ch 376: Return to Azure Dragon City.

"Being tall is nice! I want to be tall like this when I get older!" exclaimed Mao with a laugh.

Noah, using his Ren Nagano disguise, exchanged a smile with Nagisa, walking by his side. his hands were keeping a hold on Mao's legs as she was sitting on his shoulders.

The sun was barely rising, and they were on their way toward the regional flower market to buy flowers in bulk for the shop.

"Yes, maybe you'll become taller than me, Mao-Chan." grinned Noah.

"Yes! And when I get taller than you, I'll defend you from the bullies!" declared Mao with great seriousness, making Noah chuckle.

"I hope so. Do you think that there are bullies after me, Mao-chan?"

"…I don't know!" replied Mao.

"I can think of a few, but if they show up, I'm strong enough to easily defeat them."

"Like who?" asked Mao.

"…Nagisa, did you teach Mao what a girlfriend is?"

"Yes." smiled Nagisa. "I also taught her about sex and how babies are made, in general terms, but I'm not letting her witness it. Mao-chan is quite mature for her age."

"Yes, I'm very mature!" laughed Mao.

"I see… To answer your question, Mao-chan, there is this young man who is angry with me because his former girlfriend chose me instead, and he couldn't control his anger. But that's okay. He tried to beat me up, but he was the one who got beaten up instead, and he's too scared to try again."

"Then It's good." nodded Mao. "But Mama is also your girlfriend, right?"

"Of course she is." nodded Noah as he freed his left hand and extended it toward Nagisa, and she took it with a warm smile, fingers interlacing. "Nagisa is part of my life now, until death do us part. And so are you, cute Mao-chan."

"Yes!" nodded Mao with satisfaction.

"But why did you say you would defend me from bad people, Mao? Did someone bother you at school?" asked Noah.

"Not me! The other day, Hiro-kun pulled Hinata-chan's hair and I defended her! I kicked Hiro-kun, he cried, and we got scolded by Ayase-Sensei!"

"You did well, Mao-chan." nodded Noah.

"Yes! Mama told me I did well, too!" grinned Mao.

They turned a corner and came into view of the flower market, a large warehouse with many trucks coming and going.

"This is where Mama buys the flowers!" exclaimed Mao as she pointed with a finger.

"Yes, I see it." nodded Noah.

"Let's see what we can buy today…" grinned Nagisa. "Ren, I appreciate a lot that you came with me."

"Unfortunately, I am juggling with many balls these days." nodded Noah. "And it might get worse before it gets better. But I at least want to spend some time with you and Mao while I still can."

In order to gain a few hours each day, Noah had developed the habit of sleeping inside the enhanced Sanctuary made by Lilith, reducing his downtime to barely ten minutes per day. During those short intervals, Noah entrusted his smartphone to one of the girls sleeping outside, so they would be able to enter the Sanctuary and warn him if anything happened.

"And I am grateful for those moments." nodded Nagisa with a heart-melting smile. "I couldn't be happier right now. I thought that I would never get to experience even the simple fact of walking together with my daughter and a man I love, one who could accept me as I am."

"And you will have many more moments like this, if I can have my way." grinned Noah. "I usually do. Have you thought about it?"

Noah didn't need to elaborate. The previous day, he had told Nagisa about the effects of Soul Contracts and his ability to share some private time with everyone, every night.

"Yes." nodded Nagisa with a slight blush. "I want it."

"What is it you want, Mama?" asked Mao.

"Your Papa is going to do a magic trick for me, Mao-chan, so I can dream of him every night."

It was the first time Nagisa called him this, and Noah blinked for an instant, thinking it was a tad early, but decided to take in his stride.

"Really? Papa is a magician?" exclaimed Mao with obvious interest.

"I guess so. Do you want me to perform a trick for you, Mao-chan?" asked Noah.

"Yes!"

"Alright. But I'm going to need my two hands, so do not move suddenly. Well, I will still catch you if you fall…"

Noah plunged a hand in the left pocket of his jacket and used Item Creation to create a citrus-flavored sweet, then raised his hand to show it to Mao.

"See that sweet, Mao?" asked Noah as both Mao and Nagisa looked with interest at the sweet his open palm.

"Yes!"

Noah closed his fingers around the sweet, then performed a few fast moves with both hands, designed to confuse Mao. He stopped, holding both fists in front of her.

"Which of my hands is holding the sweet, Mao-chan?" teased Noah.

"Hum, the right hand!" guessed Mao.

"Nope." replied Noah as he opened the right hand.

"Then the left one!"

Noah opened his left hand, and the sweet wasn't here either.

"Ah!? Where is the sweet?!" asked Mao with mixed disbelief and disappointment, and bending forward to look over Noah's head at the ground, thinking the sweet might have fallen.

"Hum, I don't know. How about you check your jacket's right pocket, Mao-chan?"

"Ah? But it can't be there…" started Mao as she checked her pocket, only to stop as her fingers found the sweet.

"It is there!" exclaimed Mao as she took it out.

"Isn't Papa a great magician, Mao-chan?" giggled Nagisa.

"He is! But, how?"

"A magician doesn't reveal their tricks, Mao-chan. It would ruin the fun." chuckled Noah as he held her legs once again. "That is for you to find out how I did it."

Mao decided to keep the sweet for later and pocketed it, pondering about Noah's magic trick and trying to find out how he managed it.

Noah and Nagisa resumed their walk and reached the warehouse.

Nagisa, being a regular, and a beautiful young woman with a pleasant personality, was greeted by the workers, and she greeted back each of them.

Mao too was pretty popular, and Nagisa introduced Noah as her boyfriend to a few of them.

Noah faced much scrutiny, between some jealous glances and warnings that he would be beaten up if he made Nagisa cry, but was welcomed overall.

As Nagisa was selecting some flowers to buy in bulk, Noah received a message from Lilith.

[Noah, we need to have a talk after your date with Nagisa.] said Lilith in his head. [Do not worry, I have no reason to scold you, and it is not urgent.]

[…Understood, I'll make some time.]

…

The rest of the 'date' happened without incident, and Noah accompanied Mao and Nagisa back to their apartment above the store, greeting Miyuki and two more of Nagisa's pets in passing.

"Are you ready to share my abilities, Nagisa?" asked Noah with a smile.

"Yes. What do I have to do?"

Noah created a slave contract and handed it to Nagisa.

"Wow, the terms are… harsh." said Nagisa with a raised eyebrow.

"This is mostly a roleplay thing." shrugged Noah. "The terms are identical to the contract my first slave, Asuna, signed. But I can change the wording if you wish."

"…No, this is fine. I trust you completely anyway." smiled Nagisa.

"You need to sign it with a drop of your blood." smiled Noah. "Once done, you will lose consciousness for less than an hour, then wake up fully able to use my abilities."

Nagisa nodded and sat on the sofa.

"About Mao-chan, will you make her sign a contract?" asked Nagisa.

"To grant her immortality, of course I will. But I want your opinion on the timing." nodded Noah. "On one hand, I want to be able to spend time with her when I will be away for years in the world cluster. On the other hand, giving someone so young firepower exceeding that of a Legion is a recipe for disaster."

"…I do not think you should right now." nodded Nagisa. "Please wait until she grows past her angsty teen period."

"…Alright." nodded Noah. "This is for the best, I suppose. Maybe she'll resent me a little for being away for so long, but I'll make it up to her when I return."

"And I will tell you about her every night, Noah." smiled Nagisa. "I will relay any message you have for her, so she will know that her Papa cares for her, even if he isn't physically present."

"Yes, we'll do it this way." nodded Noah. He leaned toward Nagisa and gave her a quick kiss. "And when I return, we will see to it that she gets a sibling or two."

"Hum." smiled Nagisa. "Let us do it."

Noah created a light knife and nicked Nagisa's right index. Without hesitation, she pressed it on the contract.

Seconds later, she lost consciousness.

[I may one day give you an opportunity to further upgrade your Soul Magic and make you able to do things like pulling little Mao into Nagisa's Soul Space…] mused Lilith. […Yes, that's a good idea for a future quest reward.]

[You spoil me as always, Lilith-sama. Thank you very much.] grinned Noah.

[Not so fast, my Champion. I did mention that I would make you earn it first.] chuckled Lilith, but her tone turned more serious. [There is an issue with your Zanpakuto.]

[With Seifuku?] blinked Noah, manifesting Seifuku in his hands. The sheathed Zanpakuto vibrated for a second, unhappy that she had been set aside for a long time.

[To be more accurate, Noah, your personality being fairly close to my own, as well as the sheer number of women you have conquered, has started to create some kind of resonance lately. A resonance that may end up being… detrimental to me, which is the reason I visit you less often, and for shorter periods. And your Zanpakuto may be contributing to this problem.]

[Oh… I… Is there anything that I can do about it?] frowned Noah, starting to envision some worst-case scenarios.

[No, I'm not going to kill you.] snorted Lilith as she read his fleeting thoughts.

[At worst, I will sever the bond between us. You wouldn't be my Champion anymore, but Athena already told me that she would take you in, if it came to that. She is fond of both Erin and you. Anyway, to prevent things from escalating, I need to take your Zanpakuto away. Of course, I will compensate you properly.]

[Is… anything going to happen to Seifuku?] asked Noah worriedly.

As Seifuku had explained to him before, she was an existence separate from Lilith most of the time, and was mostly born from his own Soul. Mostly being the key word here, as Lilith had inserted a minuscule part of herself into Seifuku and could take over the Avatar whenever she wished.

It sometime led to strange situations when Noah wasn't sure if he was talking to Seifuku or to Lilith.

[Seifuku will stop being a Zanpakuto or my Avatar, but she will still exist as an independent person with a flesh-and-blood body. Seifuku still will have my personality, some of my knowledge, and will still benefit from your Gemini Drive, but she will need to train herself to grow stronger instead of mirroring your own power.]

[And I will give you direct control over your Throne of Domination. you will be able to summon the Throne without using a Zanpakuto as a medium.]

[I understand, Lilith-sama. As long as Seifuku is okay, I have no objection, and you do not need my approval in the first place.]

[I do not, but I still wanted to inform you. You will find Seifuku later today in Cassell College.]

[Yes… Should I… stop conquering new girls?] asked Noah, and Lilith snorted again.

[I am not sure you would be able to stop yourself even if you decided to. Your greed is a thing to behold. Even I had gathered less than two hundred slaves before I reached divinity… This isn't a matter of your slaves giving you faith energy or anything along those lines. If the number of followers mattered, things would be a lot less peaceful between us Deities. This is more an issue with you embracing your Goddess's concepts so completely that in some aspects, you might one day end up transcending a Champion's limits.]

[…I would risk becoming… competition?] blinked Noah.

Truth to tell, he wasn't interested in becoming a God. He already had gained great power and immortality for himself and his girls, which were the main perks of Godhood as far as he was concerned, and he didn't see his current subordinate relationship with Lilith as a negative, as she treated him very well.

[I am glad that you think so, my Champion.] said Lilith with warmth and approval. [Rivalry is one of the possible outcomes, but there are others, some better, some worse. If I have my way, we will never find out.]

[I will take steps to prevent things from reaching this point, and eventually, you will be satisfied and settle down. Then, your mentality should gradually drift away from the concepts of Conquest and Lust and toward more family-oriented values to some extent, and the resonance should stop.]

[I understand, Lilith-sama.] nodded Noah. [Once I semi-retire after the world cluster, I do not think I will be actively looking for more girls anyway, and you and your peers will likely stop throwing opportunities at me.]

[Exactly. Now keep your focus on Mystic Moon. Try to spend an average of twelve hours a day inside or more, or you will end up falling behind. I could influence Qi Xing to delay the execution phase of her plan, but we both would prefer if that wasn't necessary.]

The Zanpakuto in Noah's hands disappeared suddenly, and Noah dimly felt Lilith leave his mind.

With a short sigh, Noah sat beside Nagisa to wait for her. He wanted to return to school and get his hands on Yumeko Jabami and possibly Mary Saotome, but he first had four things to do urgently inside Mystic Moon.

He needed to get his third class, return to the Forgotten Continent, deal with the matter of the two Guild creation tokens, and finally have his duel with Eve, that was planned to happen in about… 30 hours from now.

…

Noah connected to Mystic Moon and opened his eyes. His avatar was laying on a small but comfortable bed, in his cabin inside Rhodes Island.

Since he had some privacy, he stripped to his underwear, then took from his game inventory the Originium fragment.

[High-purity Originium fragment]: Type: Material. Grade: Celestial. A dangerous material. Upon prolonged exposure or ingestion, causes a disease named Oripathy, a condition granting power in return for a premature death. Effect: Upon consumption, will cause a race and profession change.

Noah took a deep breath, and put the fragment into his mouth, trying to bite into it. Its taste was disgusting, and the texture when it started to crumble was worse.

Still, Noah swallowed it, and a window appeared in front of him.

“*DING*… You have consumed a High-Purity Originium fragment. Your race will change randomly. Please select a basic class among the following choices: Vanguard, Defender, Guard, Medic, Specialist, Sniper, Caster, Supporter.”

Noah selected the Defender class.

“*DING*… You have gained the following class: Defender. As you are already above level 50, your class will evolve. Please select an archetype among the following: Protector, Guardian, Juggernaut, Arts protector, Duelist, Fortress, Sentry Protector, Primal Protector.”

Noah chose the Duelist archetype.

“*DING*… You have gained the Duelist Class. +1 to the maximum level of all class skills. Attribute gains are now +20 HP, +5 MP, +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +5 Attribute points per level.”

"Class bonus stats: +15 Strength, +15 Constitution, +200 HP, +5% Hit Rate, +50 SP."

Noah felt his body start to itch, in particular around the top of his head and the base of his spine. To distract himself, he started to examine the skills of the Duelist class.

"Class passive ability: +60% Physical Attack Power. Effect of the Taunt skill limited to a single target. -90% Mana Regeneration. +0.5% Mana leech on hits blocked by a shield. Equipped shields can be used as weapons, with a Physical Attack Power value equal to their Defense value."

"Class Skills: [Unbroken Will], [Whirling Edge], [Riposte], [Taunt]"

"Ultimate Skill: [Execution]"

The class's defining trait wasn't a surprise to Noah, who had played Arknights a bit, and he nodded to himself. In the game, Duelist-type characters only regenerated their energy by taking hits and couldn't block more than one opponent, which was troublesome for an archetype evolved from the game's tanking class. But as compensation for those limitations, Duelists possessed Attack values comparable to those of DPS classes.

The itching was growing, and Noah felt something push against his skin. The skin at the base of his spine broke before it became painful, releasing the beginning of a tail already covered with long black fur. Noah guessed that it was a fox, wolf, or a dog tail.

With a shrug, Noah examined the other skills.

"[Unbroken Will]: Current Level: LV1(+4), Highest Level: LV6. SP to Upgrade to LV2: 1 200. Duelists are typically deployed to deal with troublesome enemies before they can disrupt allied battle lines. As such, they are used to fighting alone, focusing on their target without having to worry about their comrades. +20% Attack speed and +10% Crit chance when there are no allies within five meters."

"[Whirling Edge]: Current Level: LV1(+4), Highest Level: LV8. SP to Upgrade to LV2: 1 000. Duelists created a powerful technique to clear their path toward their target, sometimes killing weak enemies in a single whirling slash. 160% damage to all enemies within 3 meters."

"[Riposte]: Current Level: LV1(+4), Highest Level: LV6. SP to Upgrade to LV2: 900. Duelists have mastered the art of exploiting any gap their enemy would expose after a failed attack. After blocking or parrying an attack, execute a fast thrust inflicting 200% Damage with +15% Attack Speed, +5% Critical rate, and +10% Hit Rate."

"[Taunt]: Current Level: LV1(+4), Highest Level: LV5. SP to Upgrade to LV2: 800. Cooldown: 15 seconds. Range: 25 meters. Taunt a single enemy for 25 seconds, forcing them to attack you and ignore anyone else."

"[Execution]: Current Level: LV1(+4), Highest Level: LV5. SP to Upgrade to LV2: 2 000. Cooldown: 2 hours. When the time is ripe, Duelists can put their everything into a single, decisive blow. Deliver a strike to a target having less than 20% remaining HP. If the strike isn't blocked, parried or evaded, the target will instantly die. After using this skill, the Duelist will be weakened for 60 seconds, and all received hits will be critical strikes."

The active skills weren't great, but the passive one and the ultimate would be very useful down the line.

Overall, the Duelist class didn't quite have the Oomf factor that the Bladedancer possessed, but then again, the latter was an extremely rare secret profession, while any Player reaching the Northern Continent and finding a chunk of Originium could become a Duelist.

The High-grade property making the chunk Noah had consumed special would come into play at Lvl 75 and Lvl 90, when he would be able to add the passive skills of more archetypes to his Duelist class. Unless he missed something, the Guard's Lord Specialization should give him more range, and the Guard's Swordmaster one should make him strike twice per attack.

Noah chuckled to himself as he wondered how much of those passives Lilith would let him bring to his real body and checked himself in the mirror.

His scalp and lower back were still itching, but he already could see what the final result would be. His race was turning from human to Lupo, with a midnight black, bushy tail and wolf ears.

He was quite pleased with it overall. But Noah hoped his tail wouldn't start wagging out of his control, or it might become embarrassing.

He dressed himself, and summoned Little Grey and Xi Ling.

"Big Brother Noah?! You're a Beastkin now?" exclaimed Xi Ling.

"Yes. I consumed that Originium chunk, and I am significantly stronger now." smiled Noah as he picked up Little Grey to pet him.

"Can I, can I touch?" asked Xi Ling with eager eyes.

"Feel free." chuckled Noah.

Even thought he had four ears now, he didn't detect any change in his hearing. The changes seemed to be only about cosmetics.

And he was slightly disappointed when he didn't feel Xi Ling's fingers on his new ears or his tail.

He opened his status.

Character: Noah

Level: 55

Class: Ghost Bladedancer | Warsmith | Duelist

Faction: Rhodes Island

Fame: 53 610          Money: 207 540 Gold          SP: 21 850

Basic Attributes:

Strength: 666          Constitution: 297          Agility: 754          Spirit: 185

Available: 0

Innate Attributes:

Luck: 13          Comprehension: 13

HP: 19 188           MP: 125 009 563

Physical Attack Power: 13 587

Magic Attack Power: 370

Defense: 780

Hit Rate: ???          Dodge rate: 754

Critical Hit Rate: 44%          Pierce Rate: ???

Attack Speed: 160%          Movement Speed: 175%

Elemental resistances:

Water: 38%          Fire: 25%          Wind: 10%          Lightning: 0%

Earth: 5%          Light: 0%          Darkness: 13%

Skills:

Scan Lvl 1

Heaven Wind Technique Lvl 7

Wind Step Technique Lvl 10

Fire of Rage Lvl 5

Full Power Strike Lvl 5

Little Crescent Slash Lvl 5

Sword Proficiency Lvl 7

Agility Strengthening Lvl 7

Mirage Blade Lvl 4

Peerless Jade Dance Lvl 5

Paragon Lvl 5

Battle-Hardened Steel Lvl 5

Adaptative Smithing Lvl 5

Forge Strike Lvl 5

Tempered Edge Lvl 5

Rune Inscription Lvl 5

Unbroken Will Lvl 5

Whirling Edge Lvl 5

Riposte Lvl 5

Taunt Lvl 5

Execution Lvl 5

Between the addition of the third class's Attributes and the class's 60% boost to Physical Attack Power, the strength of his attacks had more or less doubled.

"Let's meet the others." said Noah, and Xi Ling nodded.

They left his quarters, and Noah walked down the metal hallways toward the crew's general areas. On the walls were signs pointing to important locations, and he quickly found his way to the landship's cafeteria and kitchen.

Funnily enough, the entrance, a sliding door made of glass had a large sticker on it, displaying the head of an Infected girl inside a barred red circle, indicating that girl wasn't allowed to enter.

And said girl was standing near the door as she stared through the window, her back facing Noah. She had long chestnut brown hair, no visible tail, and two short wolf ears twitching rhythmically.

Hearing him, XI Ling and Little Grey come, she turned to them and blinked in surprise.

"Oh? I never saw you before."

"We joined Rhodes Island last night." smiled Noah. "I'm Noah, and those are Xi Ling, and Little Grey."

Little Grey was already walking towards her to give her a sniff and receive a petting, his little tail wagging.

"He's so cute!" said the girl as she crouched with a grin. "I'm Ceobe. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, big sister Ceobe." smiled Xi Ling.

"Likewise. And is that your head on that sticker?" grinned Noah as he pointed at the door.

"Well, yes." replied Ceobe with an embarrassed chuckle. "My motto in life is 'Eat well, drink well, sleep well, and beat up the bad guys!'. And some grumpy cooks said I ate too much."

"So they banned you from the cafeteria? Where do you eat then?"

"Oh, I'm not really banned." shrugged Ceobe with slightly colored cheeks. "That sticker is more like a joke, but they won't let in more than three times a day."

"I see." nodded Noah. "What is your favorite food? I haven't had the opportunity to eat in Rhodes Island yet."

"Their honey biscuits are really delicious!" exclaimed Ceobe. "You should try them."

"Maybe I will." smiled Noah. Through the window, he saw Texas and Exusiai having breakfast in a corner of the Cafeteria. Exusiai noticed him and, after blinking in surprise for a second, waved at him.

"Did you have breakfast already, Ceobe?" asked Noah, and Ceobe sighed.

"Yes. If I didn't, I would be on the other side of this door already."

"I understand." smiled Noah, wondering what kind of glutton she was to wait beside the door after she was done. "If you will excuse us, we have two friends over there waiting for us."

"Yes, it was nice meeting you three." smiled Ceobe as she released Little Grey at last.

Noah nodded and entered the cafeteria, followed by Xi Ling and Little Grey. Little Grey remained close to Noah's feet when he and Xi Ling each took a platter and utensils, and helped themselves to the breakfast buffet. Noah took a handful of honey biscuits and put them in his inventory.

As soon as they were done, Exusiai waved at them, gestured to two chairs at their table.

As a Player, Noah didn't actually need to eat, but nothing prevented him to.

"Good morning, Texas, Exusiai." smiled Noah as he joined them.

"Morning, Noah, Xi Ling. And how are you doing, Little Grey?" grinned Exusiai as she got busy petting him.

"Morning, Noah. What's your schedule today?" asked Texas.

"I'm returning to the Forgotten Continent for a while. Amiya and a few others will accompany us. I need to meet some friends, auction some important items, have a duel with a certain person, and accompany a friend to a city deep in the south. Unfortunately, that's going to be boring for you, lots of travel on horse and not many monsters to kill."

"I see…" sighed Exusiai. "But that's our job, so we'll accompany you either way."

Noah nodded, not really satisfied with this. He liked having those two girls as travel companions, but if they remained with him constantly, they might witness things related to the Lunar Scourge. Then an idea came to him.

"About that, I have a suggestion. How about you two stay with Amiya and whoever will come with us? She want to collect samples left, right and center, so they will have to clear out a lot of monsters."

"But, is that okay?" hesitated Exusiai. "We would violate our agreement if we didn't follow you."

"It should be okay if the customer is the one suggesting it." nodded Noah. "Besides, I technically hired you both as guides, not bodyguards, but you won't be able to do much guiding outside of the Northern Continent, and I don't expect to fight any strong monster until after I return here. You wouldn't benefit from following me, and maybe you can negotiate with Amiya to receive something for your time."

"…You have a point." nodded Texas. "I'll give Emperor a call to confirm."

…

After breakfast, they went to find Amiya. She was discussing with a tall, bulky man with white tiger features, and a young woman with long brown hairs, white bangs, and animal ears.

The man had the bulk of a brawler and various scars on his body, marking him as a veteran. He wore white pants, a black top, and a white coat draped over his shoulders with black metal spikes on his shoulders and the tip of his toes.

The woman wore black ankle-length boots, dark translucent stockings, black shorts, a white top with a black frilly tie, and a lab coat. She had a blue armband on her right arm with a six-branched cross, a clear sign that she was a Medic. She also had an apparatus fixed on the small of her back to which were tied two mechanical manipulators.

"Good morning, everyone." nodded Noah as he came close. Xi Ling, Exusiai and Texas echoed his greetings.

"Good morning." smiled Amiya. "This is Mountain, and Folinic. They will join us for this trip in the Forgotten Continent."

"Nice to meet you." rumbled Mountain, looking him up and down with undisguised interest.

"Are you really the Noah who defeated Nethrys." asked Folinic with a small smile.

"That's me." nodded Noah. "I won't claim that it was an easy fight, and I came close to dying a few times. Luckily, Nethrys's fighting style was based on fast, repeated attacks rather than area of effect ones, and my own skill-set was well suited to counter her."

"I see that you consumed some Originium. How do you feel?" asked Amiya.

"Honestly, I do not feel any difference." shrugged Noah. "Xi Ling experimented with touching my new tail and ears, but if I hadn't seen her do it, I wouldn't have noticed. Nothing changed with my hearing either. This must be because I have a special body as a Player. And somehow, my pants and armor now have a hole for the tail without me having to procure new ones."

"I see." nodded Amiya. "Would you perhaps agree to a few medical exams, to se if the infection show progress in your body? If whatever makes your body special also neutralizes the negative effects of the infection, and if we could replicate it…"

"How long would those exams take?" hesitated Noah.

"If we use only a few scanners and take some blood samples to have a baseline, about half an hour?" suggested Folinic.

"Alright." sighed Noah. "…I think it's a long shot, but I'm willing to endure some pain just in case a miracle would occur. So, bring the needles."

"Thank you, Noah." said Amiya with gratitude.

…

After taking several dozen teleportation scrolls to easily return to Rhodes Island, Noah used one of his last scroll linked to Azure Dragon City to teleport, taking with him Xi Ling, Little Grey, Exusiai, Texas, Amiya, Mountain and Folinic.

"Welcome to Azure Dragon City, everyone." muttered Noah as they took in the view.

"Oh. That is very… different." nodded Folinic as she looked around.

They were in the middle of the plaza, and already, hundreds of Players were goggling at them.

Between their modern clothes, animal features, and the information delivered by the Scan skills, it was hardly surprising. Noah didn't bother wearing his mask to block the incoming Scans, as the Players would be able to quickly put two and two together anyway.

"Everyone, please follow me before we end up surrounded by a crowd." said Noah, and they nodded. As they walked toward Yun Meng Xin's trading house, Noah sent her a quick message so she would be ready to allow his companions to enter the private area.

She was already waiting for them near the door of the private area when they entered the large building, and her eyes widened at their sight.

"Hey, Meng Xin." smiled Noah. "Let's go in private, and I'll do the introductions."

"Noah." smiled Yun Meng Xin as she opened the door, and Noah and his companions hurried inside. "You are, different."

"Right?" chuckled Noah. "The change was random. I think I was lucky overall. Everyone, This is Yun Meng Ming, one of my friends. Meng Xin, this is…"

Noah introduced his companions one by one.

"Rhodes Island? A pharmaceutical company?" blinked Meng Xin when the greetings were over.

"Yes. The Northern Continent is a lot more similar to our own world than the Forgotten Continent is. And they have Nomadic Cities. As in, cities divided into several sections the size of city districts, and those sections are mounted on gigantic tank tracks. They are a sight to behold!"

"Ohh!" exclaimed Meng Xin, suitably impressed. Amiya and the others smiled at her expression. "I'll have to visit one of these days."

"You would be welcome, I am sure." nodded Amiya.

Noah nodded, walked to a nearby table, and dumped 150k worth of gold coins and gold ingots on it.

"Meng Xin, I got lucky and received a special perk for my blacksmithing. If I use twenty times the normal cost of crafting recipes, I can upgrade by one grade the quality of my crafts. Which mean that I can, at my current blacksmithing proficiency, craft Lvl 50 fairy-grade equipment."

Yun Meng Xin's eyes widened as she understood the implications. At the current time, known Fairy-Grade equipment were still rare enough that each drop was talked about on various forums and medias dedicated to Mystic Moon.

And after immersing herself for weeks in trading, she had a firm idea of how much Fairy-Grade gear could sell for. They were still rare enough to be a source of prestige for anyone possessing them. They would likely go for over a hundred times the cost of Gold-grade gear of a comparable level.

"Did I hear correctly?" exclaimed Exusiai. "You can actually craft Fairy-Grade stuff?"

"Yes, assuming I can get my hands on a lot of metals and other stuff. Thankfully, Meng Xin can buy base materials in bulk, and without attracting too much attention from the other Players. They would harass me if they knew I could do that."

Exusiai nodded in understanding.

"So that is why you didn't seem to care about negotiating your salary when we hired you." smiled Amiya. "You are going to become unfathomably wealthy."

"Indeed." nodded Noah. "Meng Xing, do you know where Qi Qi and the others are? I need to accompany Qi Qi to Vermillion Bird City soon, to deal with her issue."

"Yes. They should be a few hours away in the western direction. And I will give you all the metals and other materials I have in store. I will also procure a lot more I the near future."

"That's great, thank you." nodded Noah.

"I am happy for the opportunity to meet with people from the Northern Continent, Noah, but did you bring them all the way here for a reason?" asked Meng Xin.

"Yes. Amiya and the others wish to explore this part of the world and collect samples. They are searching for a cure for Oripathy, a somewhat contagious disease originating from, well, Originium, that grants the Infected greater power as well as animal features. Don't worry, it only has potential for spreading when one of them dies, and us Players can't be infected by accident."

"You mean that you have Oripathy right now?" asked Meng Xin, slightly alarmed.

"We're not actually sure." shrugged Amiya. "Noah consumed some Originium and his race and class changed as a result, so he should have contracted Oripathy. But you Players have bodies that are very different under the surface, and Noah not having any nerves in his new ears and tail makes me wonder. He allowed us to take some blood samples, so we will know more soon."

Within minutes, they were all seating and having tea, with Meng Xin asking a lot of questions about the northern continent, and answering many about the Forgotten Continent.

Noah took the opportunity to send a message to Eve.

"Hey, Eve. I just returned to Azure Dragon City. If you aren't too far away, how about we do that duel today? Also, I found more information about you know who, but I won't speak about it in-game."

He sent the message, and didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"I'm using a teleport scroll. Meet me in the plaza's north-east corner."

Noah nodded to himself and stood.

"Meng Xin, I need to give you those, before I forget." said Noah as he gave her the two Guild Creation tokens.

"Oh, these are… T-Two of them!!" exclaimed Meng Xin in abject shock.

"Yes. Nethrys dropped another. And it gave me a nice idea. Are you up for getting some payback, for all the stress you suffered recently?" asked Noah with a mischievous smile.

Meng Xin nodded, and Noah told her what he had in mind. When he was done, Meng Xin nodded with a fierce expression, one thumb absentmindedly rubbing the edge of a second token.

Exusiai was chuckling in anticipation, while the others were frowning, wondering if Noah had a grudge on his own. But when Meng Xin told them about the context, they all nodded with approval.