LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter Sixteen Of Chickens and Contracts
Misaki let out a breath when she saw the chicken do the same dumb thing again. Waltzing right back into her dungeon and dying in her first room. It was official, it was a brainless idiot with no intelligence whatsoever. Leaving her with the question of what to do about it. She really felt sorry for the poor chicken, and didn’t like watching it die over and over to the same monster.
Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind her. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that chicken. The system will stop it from throwing its life away again; at least, to your dungeon.”
“It would?” She replied, glancing back at Dewari who had shown up again.
“Yep, but if you want, you could capture that chicken and make it a pet. Horned Chickens are terrible monsters, but they do have a few interesting evolutions.”
Misaki snorted, “I don’t want a dumb chicken for a pet.”
“I figured you wouldn’t, but I felt you would at least like to know that you have the option to make annoying adventurers or monsters into pets. Something that can be quite useful later down the road, if you pick up certain traits, such as the breeder traits. Of course, some dungeons have the option to make trespassers into slaves, but you don’t.”
Misaki shuddered, “Slaves? Why would I want a slave?”
“Most Demons, especially lust demons don’t like slavery. I’ll let you figure out why on your own. So no, you likely won’t want one, and I don’t want any either. Pets are more fun. Anyway, about the chicken, next time it tries, a system produced barrier should keep it out, and eventually it will go its own way.”
She glanced back at her entrance. That might take a bit. “So I doubt you just showed up to tell me about that. What brought you here?”
“Well since your second floor is coming along nicely, I figured it was time you considered scouting the territory within your influence, perhaps even expanding it?”
As Lily was looking over the terms, Ivy said, “Lily, if she is offering a summon contract I suggest you...”
“MOM! I don’t need advice on a summoning contract!”
Ignoring her mother, she returned to skimming the contract. The language was flowery as was typical of a contract, but she quickly picked up a few highlights. As she noted earlier Asarya would be her permanent summon. The rest seemed to govern what their relationship would be like, how both parties would behave. Nothing surprising about that, it was a summoning contract, and what she saw lined up with that. Looking over that part nothing objectionable stood out to her. Asarya asked for certain rights of treatment, and what services she offered were outlined here. All of the services were pretty much what she would have expected. Lily did notice the bit about sexual services, but that wasn’t something she planned to do so she skipped that whole section. Moving on she also found a section about ending the contract. She skimmed that too, noting bits about being able to terminate with mutual agreement, or failure of one party to uphold their end of the deal. Nothing struck her as out of place there either. She gave it one more quick pass, and then agreed to it.
Asarya smiled, and then was practically jumping in her skin as she closed the gap between them. Proceeding to give Lily an awkward hug. “Thank you! You won’t regret this, I guarantee it. Now, why don’t we talk about how you are dressed?”
Ivy interjected, “She is dressed perfectly fine.”
Asarya sighed, then gave Ivy a look. “I had a feeling you would say that, especially with how overdressed you are. One would think at your level, and with those traits of yours, you would know better.”
Lily frowned, “Um, mommy what is she talking about?”
“Um, nothing!?”
Why did that sound like a question? Before Lily could ask though, Asarya scoffed, “Nothing?” Then she broke out in laughter.
Lily looked around and noticed the other three had made themselves scarce. Finding things to do. Having a feeling it might be best to do the same, she took a step back but then Asarya got her laughter under control. “Sorry. Your mother here really is overdressed, having an evolved version of Nature’s Embrace and quite a few skills built around the trait. She has crippled half her abilities by wearing so much extra clothing.”
Her face wrinkled a little, “Nature’s Embrace?”
Ivy shot forth to try and stop Asarya from speaking, her face red, but the little Imp flew out of her reach. “You never told her?”
Before Ivy could reply Asarya turned to Lily. “Now then, Nature’s Embrace and its evolutions are ability boosting traits that enhance the holder while they are nude. Some accessories are okay, but they need to be naked for the benefit of this trait. The trait is especially desired for certain classes, such as Nature Mage. It synergizes really well with a number of skills, including Natural Armor.”
Lily frowned, and looked at her mother, who was now more red than a ripe tomato, and looking away. “You have a trait that requires you to be naked?”
It really didn’t fit her image of Ivy. She had never seen her without clothes on. She was barely given time to think about it before Asarya dropped another shell. “She very much does, but I guess, given her habits, it's no surprise you are overdressed as well. In your case, you don’t have Nature’s Embrace, but its counterpart Minimalist Warrior which doesn’t require nudity.”
Lily focused on Asarya, that was one of her weird traits that she had questions about. “What does that one do?”
Asarya lit up, “Excellent question. It boosts your abilities when you wear less. To be more specific you get the best boost when you are down to your undies. I have the trait as well, and it pairs really well with my enchanted panties here. Which is the biggest advantage of the trait, unlike Nature’s Embrace, you can still use equipment, and enchanted underwear like this is far cheaper than a set of enchanted armor. That saves you a lot of coin on equipment, and with the saved coin you can get more potent enchantments.”
Lily blinked, great, a trait that lets me fight in my underwear. Although for some reason that didn’t sound as bad as she knew it should. She did have a few questions for how she got the trait in the first place. It wasn’t the only trait she had questions about, but Asarya was proving to be a wealth of info. Even better, none of it was useless, it was stuff she felt she needed to know. It was her own status afterall, and since she was stuck living with a system, Lily not only wanted, but needed to know how that affected her. “That sounds.. Interesting. I’d like to know more about it, and I’d also like to know more about my other traits.”
Asarya gave Ivy a look, “Did you teach her anything?”
Ivy pouted, “I never got around to that discussion. How was I supposed to know...”
Asarya sighed, “I see. Don’t you know how important it is for the young to know about traits and skills? Especially the ones they already have. My mom had that talk with me when I hit level five, she even helped me plan out my path. What have you done?”
Ivy stuttered, but Lily wasn’t really listening. Instead she said, “Path?”
“How you plan to grow and develop. There is a lot to consider as you level. What skills to invest in, what traits do you have, what traits you want to acquire, and your class. Traits, classes and skills all have requirements that must be fulfilled to unlock or evolve. Having a general idea of what you want is considered good, and for certain paths it's best to plan things out early. Especially if you want to get ahead. Of course, that can be true of any profession. But since you do have a champion title, it would be best to plan as if you were an adventurer.”
Lily nodded, that made sense. “Anything you think I need to be aware of?”
“My mother told me that one should invest in skills that build synergy with each other or cover your weaknesses. Now with you, your traits are geared heavily towards mage, and with weak fists it hurts your ability as a physical fighter. Having physical immunity is good, it prevents you from taking damage from mundane physical attacks, but those with a bit of magic behind them will still land and inflict damage. The strong shields trait is great, as it increases the strength of your magic shields. A very important and useful defense for a mage. Especially since few mages can afford good armor, your Minimalist Warrior trait will help you a lot there, since it will allow you to utilize enchanted armor more easily than other mages.”
“Why can’t mages afford good armor?”
Asarya smiled, but before she could answer Ivy interjected, “Mage armor is more expensive than the stuff used by warriors. It needs to be made from special materials, so that it does not inhibit mana flow.”
“Exactly, all living things generate mana, but mages also make use of the mana around them. Absorbing it, and transforming it into mana they can use. Some can even channel the environmental mana and use it to fuel spells. Unfortunately clothing and armor can inhibit good mana flow, armor especially. It’s why few mages use armor, and some mages don’t even use clothing. Many have learned to channel the mana around them to enhance their abilities, and with enough time can unlock traits like Nature’s Embrace, which is particularly popular among Nature Mages who suffer when they have barriers between them and nature. Hence the high number of nudists among their number. Although apparently some of them are willing to suffer.”
Ivy pouted, “HEY!”
“I see, so my trait is good?”
“Very, it will help you save a lot of coin you may have otherwise spent on equipment, and bolsters your abilities. Highly desirable, especially among demons such as myself. Now then, why don’t you start thinking about how you want to grow, and we can continue this later?”
“Why not now?”
“Cause I have a feeling you and your mother have a few things to discuss, and I need to put this little one to bed. Also my prey is about to wake up. I want to take him home to have some fun. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, but if you need me feel free to call!”
With that she picked up the knocked out goblin, and in a swirl of light and darkness vanished. Returning to the Infernal plains on her own. Lily turned to her mother, not sure what they had to talk about. Not yet anyway.