As Cain learns more about life force Manipulation in his attempts to perfect Mythic buffs, more things about the vortex become clear to him. In specific, one of the sections of broken runes has become very familiar from his Spell Crafting lessons. It is a much more complex version of the portion of a spell that bonds it to a target.
That gives Cain a great idea. The next section he will be learning after what the book calls an introduction to enhancements is an introduction to curses. They are fundamentally the opposite, in terms of structure, so Cain is hoping that he will learn a structure that will cause the target to reject buffs.
If he applies something like that in the missing section he might be able to force the vortex to eject its occupants.
With that goal in mind, Cain works his way through the buffs section until one day news reaches him that the City is planning to end the Quest for Crazed. The numbers are under control for now, at least in this region, so they are going to begin the road work.
When they're not busy with the fruit trees, the Echoes have been culling Crazed, so Cain should have a rather hefty reward coming.
"I guess we have scaled up the secondary Quest Reward as much as possible, let's go to town and see what we can get," Cain announces, pulling the companions away from their morning tasks and games.
"We will remain here to welcome guests and look after the orchard." The Echoes declared in unison. That's no surprise, they are very close to reaching their goals. The last round of seeds that they produced grew legendary peach trees, and they have tweaked these ones even further.
They plan on keeping the existing ones instead of removing them this time since the volunteers have expressed a love for the fruits. Despite their careful cultivation work, the Echoes can't guarantee that a new strain won't be poisonous or terrible tasting, and these Legendary fruits are both delicious and provide a refreshing benefit stronger than most health and mana potions.
It's not exactly what they were going for, but in a way, it is even better. Instead of being a complete meal, the fruit is a life-saving snack. So, they will start the process over with other plants once these reach their full potential.
Mounted upon a Mythic Forest Dragon, the eighty-kilometer journey to the city takes under ten minutes. At those speeds, a wind barrier is needed to avoid taking damage from bugs and other such nuisances, but the thrill of flying at speeds comparable to a jet line is well worth the effort.
Laura is the only one not impressed. Now that she's reached Mythic Quality as well, keeping up with the Mythic Forest Dragons is no problem for her. With these speeds, Cain is even reconsidering calling for the ship to take them home when the time comes. Sure, it is thousands of kilometers, but the forest dragon could make it in under a day.
The city guards are unusually polite when they arrive, lining up to greet him with salutes while Cain dismounts in the grass outside the walls before giving the Dragon a belly scratch and dismissing it.
"Greetings Duke Cain. It has been some time, what brings you to the city today?" The guard leader asks while the others on duty clear a path through the line of travelers waiting to enter the city for his party to enter.
"Of, you know, we culled a few crazed in the last month, so I came to collect my rewards and see if they're still bidding on the road work," Cain informs the guard Sergeant politely.
"You want to guard a road crew?" The soldier asks, confused.
"Oh, nothing so boring. I was going to improve the road to the village near my house on the way back."
The looks on the faces of the people in line are priceless. Didn't they just spend a month clearing the area for a season-long project and now this man is suggesting he will take care of one branch alone, in only a few days?
"If you're serious, I believe they are still accepting bids for that section. There should be a limited Quest at the hall."
"Thanks, we will be heading there now. " Cain thanks the guards, leaving them in shock as he walks away.
The Echoes have made quite an impression on the hunters in the area, and by extension so has the man who summoned them. The locals don't know how he is planning to rebuild a road alone, but after a little thought they are thoroughly convinced that he could actually do it, even if it takes a fifty-man crew half a season without specialized magic.
Cain is drawing the attention of even more people as they get closer to the Quest Hall since everyone who has grouped with his volunteers recognizes his group and this is the home district for most of the City's hunters.
There are scattered whispers as Cain approaches the Quest Hall and he can see the panic in the workers' eyes. The Echoes killed an awful lot of Crazed, enough that they might have to issue a special tax levy to pay out the gold that is owed.
There is a way around that though. The Quest portion of the system gives the option to be rewarded with an additional bonus in lieu of the reward owed, but the one who issued the Quest must pay a system-generated penalty and the System is merciless.
It doesn't easily forgive those who default on debts, and that is why the employees of the Quest Hall officially post most quests. If the cost gets too great, some random employee takes the fall and the dignitary who ordered it is protected. Then the Quest Hall discretely goes after the one who reneged on their deal, with penalties and interest of course.
The superstition in the Hall is that the more upset the one who completed the Quest is, the more strict the penalty. Of course, it is rarely more difficult to fulfill than the actual penalty, and the Hall prides itself in best practices that lead to the clause very rarely being used.
This one was officially posted by the Quest Hall leader's apprentice, while the boss announced it to the gathered public, so she is the one who comes out to meet Cain's group.
Cain inspects the girl, finding that she is called Lilly, a level 201 Earth Caller of the Bog Witch species, a type of earth element Youkai that has an affinity for muddy swamps.
To Cain, she just looks like a pretty woman with long black hair, wearing a black Quest Hall uniform kimono. But looking closer, the face is actually a doll mask hiding her facial features. That isn't all that unusual for Youkai, for some the mask is part of their body.
"Greetings My Lord Cain. I'm certain you know the favor I have come to ask." The apprentice says nervously, wringing her fingers.
"I do, and I don't have a problem foregoing most or all of the monetary reward. It really isn't a big deal, but the progressive reward from the system could be very valuable to me, so I will ask to complete the Quest." Cain explains and she looks somewhat relieved.
"That's great news. If you're not mad, maybe the System forfeit won't be too bad." Her boss says, coming forward.
"Of course, we will help her with it in every way possible, as per the terms of employment."
She hands Cain a scroll, and a pair of notifications pop up in front of Cain.
[Rewards Pending Resolution of Forfeit Penalty.]
[Please Choose: Strict, Vengeful, Fair, or Gentle Punishment options.]
"What's up with these options?" Cain asks.
"It asked you if you wanted to be strict or fair, right? That changes the three choices she will get to choose from." The boss explains.
"There are also vengeful or gentle." Cain shrugs and Lilly the Bog Witch looks confused.
"I've never heard of those options before. But Gentle sounds even better than Fair. Maybe it's because he really doesn't care about the money?" Lilly suggests.
"You have a point. I'll select Gentle then, and your options should appear soon." Cain agrees.
Her face goes pale when she sees the options appear on the Quest scroll and the boss looks like she might pass out. Cain walks over to see what the system came up with and what he sees leaves him speechless.
[Option 1] Loving and Gentle: Personally Provide 1 [Blood Heir] for the debtee. Debtee may not harm or deliberately allow the debtor to be harmed before the debt is paid.
[Option 2] Caring and Gentle: Debtor shall work as Debtee's domestic staff for continuous days until the debt is paid at the standard rate of 1 Gold Coin daily. Missed days incur a 1 Gold coin penalty. Debtee may not harm or deliberately allow the debtor to be harmed before the debt is paid.
[Option 3] Random: Act of Kindness
"Why doesn't the last one have a description?" Cain wonders out loud and Vala comes over to inspect the sheet.
"I believe that one is the system randomly picking a punishment." She says, pointing at the lack of detail.
"Ah, yes, if it's random then we really do have all the details it can give us. How much is owed?" The Quest Hall boss stammers, her cheeks flushing bright red and her eyes still focused on the first option. She is a Succubus, and the first proposal would most likely have been her instinctive first choice if she had been the one choosing.
"The total is One Hundred and Seven thousand gold coins," Vala informs her dryly, looking at the page. That's nearly three hundred years as a maid if Lilly chooses option 2.
"I am not even seventy yet, I'm not ready for children." The Quest Hall worker sobs and Cain pulls her into a hug.
"You don't need to pick option one. Or number two, since it's a really long time. Why don't you check number three and see what Act of Kindness it asks you to perform?" Cain suggests.
"If nothing else, it looks like these options won't allow you to be tortured until the debt is paid like so many of the strict punishments require." Her boss consoles the youthful acting Bog Witch, who is apparently in her sixties.
"Well, that's a start. And the rate to work it off is much better than the Fair options usually are, but there's no option to have others pay for me. I knew it would be harsh, but these are, how should I put it? Very unexpected." Lilly manages to say before going silent again, looking at her options.
