The moment of peace is broken by a system notification.
[Quest Error: Total Deaths are above stated parameters.]
[Experience modified beyond limits by Skill or Ability]
[Class Quest Awaiting Calculation of Ongoing Quest]
[They say the quest is bugged. They'll try to fix it right away though.] Mythryll sends in Guild chat.
[Come on back then and we can have breakfast. No need to watch them work.]
After a few minutes Mythryll returns to the keep lost in thought and drops down into a chair beside Misha. "Do you think it's because that other Puppet Master attacked us in the desert and the System counted the entire battle as part of the quest like we killed thousands of bandits?"
"It's possible. But Cain seems to specialize in system errors, so you never really know." Vala jokes, cutting an apple and popping bits into her mouth as she thinks.
"If you have to use your hands to speak, put down the knife first," Elmira complains before stealing half the demon's fresh-cut apple.
"If you were visible, people would stop waving knives at you." The Demon has a point, and the Pixie considers it for a few seconds before discarding it as not happening.
[Quest Error: Invalid Quest Parameters]
[Level Up]
"Now it's really broken. Even the error messages give levels." The Pixie laughs, dunking her stolen apple slices in honey.
[Quest Error: Completion target Invalid. Target is already dead.]
[Level Up]
"Who did we beat so severely they died twice? Do you think [Pestilence] killed someone in the middle of a resurrection?
[Quest Canceled after completion. Compensation Calculating]
Misaki smirks at the others when that particular notification comes. "That sounds fun. Do you think we will all get something good?"
"As long as we didn't upset the Laughing God, we should do alright. I hope they appreciate the irony of a city leader gathering an army only to become part of a bandit quest reward."
[Reward Calculated: Claim Now?] Y/N
"Do the thing. Do the thing!" Elmira cheers, waving a bit of apple around on the end of a dagger.
Cain laughs at the enthusiastic Pixie and selects yes to collect the quest rewards.
[Reward Granted] Advancement Token. Unlocks unique additional class options. Usable from level 200.
"What is this? Unique class options sound even more broken than things already are." Misha says, looking at her copy of the quest reward.
"It's got a clown face on it; that's pretty cool." Clown face for the Laughing God? He must have enjoyed the show.
"Well, we've got something good to look forward to anyhow. It might be more valuable than any amount of Gold and gear." Cain declares, satisfied by the result. Two levels and a gift are plenty for him.
[Can anyone tell me why I just got two levels and a quest reward? I just woke up.] Kone sends in Guild chat, making Cain burst into laughter.
[We broke the Quest system a little. There were a bunch of clones of you here when it glitched out, and the System must have awarded you for their participation.]
[Break it more often. That's the most excellent way to wake up ever.]
The Guild Chat logs have caught everyone else's attention, who all want to know exactly what sort of quest could break the system itself. However, Cain is holding off on telling them for the moment, so he can understand it and explain it coherently, instead of the random bits of information the others are giving out to specific questions.
[Guys, I hate to spoil the question session, but Lickity just went into labor, and she wants a bunch of you there.] Cixelcid cuts them all off with that one simple sentence. The very first baby born of Guild members is on the way, and they're all eager to find out what a Succubus and Vampire mix turns out like.
Lickity is waiting at the Guild House in Montauk, having opted for a midwife with an advanced Cleric type class to assist the birth at home. Supposedly Succubus births are straightforward due to the unique nature of their bodies but it seemed much better to be safe than risk a need to panic and rush to find a talented obstetrician.
"I'm glad you're all supportive, but I'll need everyone except the father to at least clear the room." The midwife announces as the Wave of Guild members comes rushing to congratulate Lickity.
"Fine. We will be in the next room cheering you on." Misha laughs, helping the woman push everyone back out into the living room of the Montauk Guild House.
Almost immediately afterward, the swearing begins, followed by cursing Cixelcid's very existence. No more than ten minutes later, there are a baby's cries, then a second and a third. In total, Lickity went from starting labor to three children successfully born in under an hour, causing every other woman present, even those not planning to have children, to feel a pang of jealousy.
The Guild waits anxiously until the midwife gives them the all-clear to come in. They can hear baby noises and a freshly healed Lickity apologizing to Cixelcid for what she said during childbirth while he tries to calm her down and assure her that he didn't take them personally.
Once things have settled and the all-clear is given to enter a few at a time, they begin filing into the far side of the room while a very bedraggled Lickity smiles at everyone, holding her warmly swaddled children in her arms.
"Let me do the introductions. We won't know if any blending of powers has occurred until they've grown up at least a few years, but we can tell a few things about them now. The Firstborn is our son, Samuel. Born a full-blooded vampire."
He's adorable, a blonde haired, red eyed miniature Cixelcid, with the icy white skin typical of Vampires and black fingernails that Cain assumes, are normal for an infant Vampire since that's what they usually look like a vampire is ready to attack, claws out as a natural weapon.
"Next up, and second born is Azalea. The older of our daughters and a half Succubus."
Her black hair is grown in more than expected, making an entire hairline instead of being scraggly like most newborns, while her baby blue eyes hold nothing but innocence and wonder, unable to focus on anything further away than Lickity as is expected of a child her age.
Cain can see the tip of her tail poking at the sides of her swaddling and wonders just how adorable and expressive a baby Succubus tail will be, given Lickity's difficulties controlling hers.
"Our youngest is Nefertiti, born as neither Vampire nor Succubus. The doctors assured us that this is normal; demonic Children of exceptional abilities often evolve in the womb to most closely fit their personality and powers. So they'll be born as a different type of Demon than either of their parents though not often in an entirely different category. We don't know what form she evolved to yet, though; she looks, unlike anything we are familiar with."
That's an understatement. Little Nefertiti has icy white hair with black tips, contrasted against ash-gray skin to look almost Dark Elven. Only she has white furred cat-like ears on her head, flicking happily against curled white ram horns. Her eyes have neither pupil nor iris that Cain can discern, being nothing but glowing golden orbs, and he can see that her feet have hooves. Her fingers keep cutting their way free of the cloth wrapping with tiny sharp claws the same gold as her eyes, and she's staring at Cain with an intense look, almost a grimace of concentration.
After a few seconds of staring at Cain, the cloth encasing her body bursts into flame, causing panic in the room. Cixelcid almost instantly douses the fire with water from the bedside, but Lickity lurches back, her arms full of babies. At the same time, Cain catches the tiny form of Nefertiti, so she is now free of her burnt bindings and rolling down her mother's legs.
The baby Demon makes a happy noise, waving her four bare arms around, and Cain can see that she has no wings, but a leathery tail that ends in two spikes of horn, or perhaps they're a claw? They're Snapping against each other like grasping hands.
He cradles the newborn to his chest, checking for damages but finding not even a red mark from the flames. Misha casts a healing spell on her anyhow, and Nefertiti gives a gurgling noise, and what Cain takes as an appreciative wave of her tiny hand but doesn't stop staring at him.
"I think she likes you. But she must be mighty if she can instinctively use magic like that. Most of the Demon Lord's children don't manage any sort of instinctive magic until their first birthday." The midwife laughs, looking at the happy baby who has now wrapped her tail around Cain's arm and is chewing on his finger with the pincers.
She drapes a fresh blanket over Cain's arm, not wanting the girl to get cold but afraid she will set it on fire if she's wrapped up again, and the Guild begins to move forward one at a time to get a better look at these adorable babies.
Unlike most newborns, they're not oddly proportioned, red-faced or wrinkly; their advanced growth moved them past that before anyone came in, or possibly before their birth.
Cain moves over beside the bed, where Lickity can see him and the others can see the babies without obstruction, ignoring the feeling of a wet mouth chewing on his arm. Lickity will certainly feed her in a few minutes anyhow. At least, he ignored it until the feeling turned to a sharp poke, and he realized the tiny creature had fangs.
"You sure you want to breastfeed them? Neffie already has fangs." Laura laughs, pointing at the signs of blood on Cain's arm.
"I'm so sorry; I'll take her back." Lickity begins, but Cain waves her off.
"No harm done; if she wants to chew on me, she can. We can have Symbia make her some teething products when she wakes up, she already makes a bunch of similar items."
Cain almost thinks the baby Demon has fallen asleep after the first minute, her mouth falling away and letting him wipe her face clean, but her tail pincers are still playing with his hand.
Then, with a triumphant squeal, she removes the ring from Cain's finger, and a soft chiming sound fills the air, leaving everyone born on this world stunned, for they all know that particular sound.
