Lickity and Misha are beyond excited to meet Princess Aramia when they get back to the Guild house. The two tailors are always short on magical silk, and the spider can not only make it herself, but enchant dozens of varieties of it from regular silk.
"What do be expected of me here? Will I be Chained and forced to work? Am I to be a broodmare for another Beastkin?" The little spider asks once the Greetings are done.
"No we will give you a room here, near the common rooms and where the girls like to work. They'll want you to make silk for them as needed, but as you're registered as a Guild Supporter, there's no reason to chain you. In fact, you'll also get paid." Cain explains. Guild Supporters deal no real damage to Guild members, just as party members attacks don't target each other. So with that in mind, she's really just another employee, but with a fancy background.
It was nearly morning when they finally arrived home, so Cain and Kone head to bed while the others socialize and get on with their day. Kone drags Nemu and Char with her, explaining the change in Nemu as they go, and trying to decide what version of Beastkin is the most cuddly or if four Giant Lynx type summons are the best call for nap time. The Dire Bears are about the furthest thing from cuddly, so at least Cain didn't need to worry about building a room big enough to add a pair of them to the sleeping arrangements.
Cain wakes up to the call for dinner, finding that he is not alone as expected. Though the bodies next to him are much larger than usual.
"Vala, as pleasant as this is. What are you up to? I know you're not a big fan of wasting time sleeping when you could be reading." Cain laughs softly.
"Nemu is upset she didn't get to sleep with you. The girls claimed her all day. But she's coming to get you for dinner."
"So you decided to strip down and climb into bed to tease her? That's just evil. Funny but evil." Cain says, enjoying the warmth of wings draped over his body.
Ruining her game, Cain decides to get up, but it's just in time for Nemu to enter and see him seated with Vala on either side and yowl in defeat.
"You too? Misha was bad enough, but now even Vala gets alone time with you before I do? Is there no justice in this world?" Nemu cries, hopping into Cain's lap.
"She's just teasing you, Nemu. Now get up, so I can shower and get down to dinner." Cain instructs her. This brings a light to her eyes and Nemu gets off the bed, clearly planning something.
Vala laughs at the jealous Felian and changes back to her armored appearance before leaving Cain to get ready for the evening. He's just climbed into the shower when the door opens again, both Nemus entering the cubicle.
"At least let me help you shower." She pouts and Cain laughs, handing her the louffa and the body wash.
"Fine, but no funny business, I'm hungry."
That was a lost cause, but they're both thoroughly clean and dried by the time dinner is ready, Nemu's fur extra Fluffy from the shampoo that Cain uses. He's not sure it's the best for Felian fur, but having her exercise her new ability to shift to a more human form in the shower seemed like it might not be the best idea.
The Spider Princess seems to have settled right in here, chatting away happily at the table when they arrive. She knows a silk recipe that lets any class use a costume type item, so they're making plans for a wardrobe expansion. Costumes look the same no matter what class wears them, so Char, and to a lesser extent Kone can ditch the rustic look and equip a cloth costume to wear around town.
Char has done an amazing job with everyone's fashion already, but adding costume pieces gives her even more options. The role of best dressed Guild is about to be theirs by default.
If they can find a Legendary quality Prismatic Opal they can also enchant an armor item with a costume appearance, but they've only ever seen one, in the Crown of the King of Graska.
So with that option out of the running, the girls are instead focused on finding costume recipes that do not come from the Demon Dungeon. Cain, Nathaniel and Cixelcid all insist they have absolutely zero problem with the ladies outfits from said dungeon, but convincing anyone to wear them outdoors is another matter entirely.
Sunnybrook is holding an alliance meeting the next morning, discussing who will be going forward to deal with the Ogres who will stay on defense and what sorts of rewards will be offered. Quest experience is set by the system using its own standards, but any sort of monetary rewards or items must come from the group issuing it. The Darklight Host Guild intends to leverage their newfound fame to keep some good defenders for Sunnybrook while they all close up shop to go hunting.
The dual quests in the Beastkin Dungeon have given Cain and Kone a large advantage in levels and power, and the others are eager to catch up, even a little. The system likes giving them Guild Quests with huge experience, a rarity according to other Guilds, but they're also almost always in mixed groups or above the level of the dungeon for safety. This simple difference in approach, along with Cain's experience buff ability has catapulted Darklight Host above most other small Guilds.
They've gotten a few applications from potential new members, vetted by Misha and Cixelcid, but all have seemed sketchy or otherwise suspect so they haven't taken in any more members in a while. They're reluctant to change that status too. The Guild is like one big dysfunctional family, flooding it with random members to fill spots would ruin the vibe. If anything, they're in danger of losing a member as Morgan and Nathaniel get closer, though as often as they run dungeons together it's possible that she might defect to join them instead of the other way around.
Their final decision on a quest reward is one piece of random legendary gear per party who defends Sunnybrook while the Guild is out fighting, on the condition that the city remains unharmed. They've got enough with bonuses they dint need. This might be very easy, if nothing attacks, it might be much harder if the Ogres come while most of the Guilds are gone. That's the risk they'll take for a piece of Legendary Gear and whatever experience the system awards them.
It didn't take long before the Guilds who weren't planning on leaving have snapped up the ten party spots they were offering, guaranteeing fifty transfers will join combat should the Ogres come. That's enough to take the stress off the defense force.
Sunnybrook council wants the Darklight Host to head up the far east side of the Ogre controlled areas, looking for the base of the Eastern King, in what used to be Troll controlled territory. The council would prefer if they can drive him out but even thinning his ranks so the Trolls can regroup after their Crushing defeat would go a long way to adding stability in the region.
Now that Cain has reached level 90, he has access to the skill [Lesser Demon Army] it doesn't work quite like he expected, it's used after casting, to triple the number of demons Summoned by a particular spell. At the ridiculous cost of 300mp per usage, it's not optimal if his summons are dying quickly, but to build up the force before a big battle it's perfect. He's also got a third option for his advanced supporters giving him three sets of two.
Thinking of the necessary abilities for maximum damage, his Summon Lesser Sorceror skill will Summon the Plague Mages for cripple and area damage, and Vala has the Pestilence covered, so he's planning to go with two sets of Kone, for the extra summons and the healing and one of Char, for the extra Totems and cleansing ability. The Turtle army plan is about to come to fruition.
Everyone is a bit confused on exactly what all is in this Horde of Summons, so Cain decides to link the outline of his non hidden skills with the Guild. Something he hasn't done since they got in trouble for oversharing.
[Name] Cain
[Level] 91
[Class] Puppet Master
[Race] Human
[Skills]
[Strength in Numbers]
[Summon Cloning]
[Summon Lesser Golem]
[Summon Greater Golem]
[Summon Advanced Supporter]
[Penetrating Arrow]
[Poison Arrow]
[Exploding Arrow]
[Lightning Arrow]
[Acid Rain]
[Cleave]
[Light Foot]
[Reinforce Construct]
[Summon Insects]
[Growth of Knowledge]
>[Summon Epic Demonic Companion: Vala]
>[Summon Epic Beastkin Companion: Nemu]
>Summon Lesser Dragon 4/50
[Might of Many]
[Summon Lesser Bodyguard]
[Summon Lesser Sorcerer]
[Pestilence] Shared Skill
[Lesser Demon Army]
The list has gotten almost unmanageable in length with all the abilities he's gained. But then, so does every class by this level, even more so if you count the single point transitional skills most skill trees use. If you only count class skills, Cain doesn't have many at all, more like a newbie in most advanced classes, but with the books and quests, he's gained a lot of other good stuff along the way.
