Chapter Eight
Disclaimer
I don't own Mabinogi nor any NPC's connected. Either Devcat or Nexon does.
A/N
Did everyone enjoy reading last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it? I hope so. I wonder where the story goes from here. So far, he has been on his own except for when he was in the SM with Danster. Well to be honest with you I am a bit of a solo player so my writing about Mabinogi is from that standpoint. Please try to understand I may not do too much group action in my story because of it.
The maintenance cycle seemed to have taken forever. Nao showed up at the homestead a couple of times which surprised me since I thought she would be reset like the rest of them but she explained when I transferred into the game Morrighan and her became immune to the maintenance process as long they stayed within the safe area. Safe areas for them include my homestead and their inner sanctuary. Soon she explains I might be able to come to their inner sanctum during the maintenance cycles but for now, I need to stay on the homestead until it is over. Nao did confirm that when my portal reappears is when the maintenance is over. How boring?
I did find one thing out though. I sleep in this world as I do in the other world. I spent part of my time on my homestead sleeping. However, I do not really need sleep. It only comes when I am inactive for a period of time like being trapped on my homestead with absolutely nothing to do, he he.
I rejoiced when the portal finally appeared back on my homestead for I have been trapped there for the last 30 days. I calculated that to the world time where I came from and figured the maintenance must have lasted about 10 hours. Sigh, if I was back there I be chopping at the bits by now not having my Mabinogi fix. What am I saying? I was already chopping at the bits being trapped on my homestead for so long.
Just then, Danster PM'd me.
Dan: Hey Jack. I know it's only been a few hours but I wanted to check up on you as soon as possible.
Me: Umm Dan … Just how long has it been for you. You say a few hours but I like to know how many exactly.
Dan: The maintenance was supposed to last only 4 hours but they had to extend it to a total of 10 hours. Why?
Me: Remember when I said time worked differently for me when I am alone?
Dan: OH! Geez : ( How long was it for you?
Me: I have been stuck on my homestead for a total of 30 DAYS with absolutely nothing to do except for the daily visits from Nao to see how I was doing.
Dan: Crap! You must have been bored out of your mind. Wait, Nao visited you daily. I thought she would be cut off like the rest of Erinn.
Me: Apparently, my arrival has changed them as well making their sanctuary immune to the maintenance. Now if they were in Erinn when the maintenance hit then they would be reset with the rest of Mabinogi.
Just then, Nao appeared before me in my homestead. That's right, I been chopping at the bits bored to death on my homestead and I did not leave right away when I was able too, geez.
"Jack, the Goddess Morrighan humbly requests your presence in her inner sanctum. Will you please come with me?"
Me: Dan, I have to call you back. I have to go with Nao for a bit to visit with the Goddess.
Dan: Lucky dog! I can't begin to fathom the despair you must have felt this past month. I still trying to wrap my head around this time difference thing but you had better not keep the Goddess waiting. Bye!
Nao used her powers to teleport us to the same waiting room as before. Morrighan was already there waiting for us. I addressed her with a slight bow, "You wanting to see me."
"Yes Jack. Now that the maintenance is behind us for a bit I think it's time I told you the truth behind the glitched fomor you fought and why there might be more of them in the future."
There is a secret to them they have not shared with me yet? I wonder what it is. I looked at Morrighan expectantly.
"You see we can't just change things in this world without some kind of backlash. We changed things a little to give you a safe haven during the maintenance…"
"and the glitched fomor showed up," I finished. "So I am a direct cause of them. If I want more freedom in this world I can have it as long as I know I have another one of those fights to look forward to?"
"So if I want my homestead stones be replenished in one Erinn day instead of one Earth day then I have to fight another glitched fomor?"
"Yes. I even can tell you ahead of time which fomors you have to have to take care of. For that request, you'll have three glitched hellhounds to fight simultaneously. Do you wish it so?"
"Hmm can Nao tell me these things and teleport me into the appropriate places? Like if I visit her as if to rebirth but to make such request instead?"
"I wish that I can just arrange that to be so but that will cost a fight against a glitched boss spider from normal Alby Dungeon."
I almost laughed when she said that. How tough can that be compared to what I have already been through? "Morrighan, make it so."
The Goddess smiled at me in thanks for making her life a little easier since it is Nao's job to take care of us militants anyways. I just made things right. Morrighan turned to Nao, "It is done Nao. Please take Jack to the appropriate Alby dungeon."
It took a millisecond to teleport into the dungeon. "Ok Jack. This particular dungeon is where the glitched spider boss is located. No other player can access this dungeon so you have to solo it. Considering this dungeons level is should be no problem for you. The rewards for dungeons with glitched bosses are better than normal rewards so do not skip the chest. Please come see me as soon as this is over."
Nao then faded away like she normally does. I contacted Juni, "I had you on my back the entire time so I guess you heard everything."
"Indeed I did Jack and I must tell you I did not even know about the true nature of the glitched creatures. If I had known, I would have told you. I can tell this one is a relatively weak one unlike the one the other day."
"The other day? So to you only a day went by?"
"Well not exactly. When I am not needed or not in use, I go into a state of suspended animation waiting for the next time I am needed. So to me only a day went by but I see it actually been a month for you. Ouch, you must have been bored out of your mind," declared Juni accurately.
"You mentioned this one is relatively weak. Do you think I can use the normal way we usually beat this spider?" I asked.
"Hmm you mean smash it followed by counter attack, defense, and then assault slash. Yep I think that will work here," replied Juni.
"Geez you know me very well. I keep forgetting that in a way we are a part of each other since you are based on one of my old characters. Anyways thanks Juni for the info."
I decided to go with an inexpensive pair of short swords for the rooms preceding the boss room since the most we see in here is meek bats, brown town rats, old mimics, and white spiders.
When I got to the boss room, I switched to Juni (my mace) and shield. I thought about transing into a Paladin but decided against it. Once inside I noticed the spider did have a very faint glow but nothing compared to the other one. I was only slightly larger than the other one. Sure I could see it was indeed a glitched fomor but it not much of a glitch. I used the exact same attack pattern Juni said earlier and it went down very quickly. Juni hardly crackled when I delivered the deathblow in the assault slash.
When I opened the chest in the chest room, I was very surprised. It had a special jewelry accessory that had a def/pro rating if 2/2 which was unheard of. I also saw 10 complete heals, 10 mana 500, 10 stamina 500, and 10 health 500 potions.
Nao said the rewards would be better but this great. It was unbelievable. I had to pinch myself hard to make sure I was not imagining it. I quickly put the stuff into the inventory of invenpet2. The pet was a dog that had the largest inventory of all the pets hence the name of the pet. I bought them solely for the inventory capability.
I then exited the dungeon and used the Moongate to go to Dunbarton. Once there I went to see Nao. When she appeared, I had a question for her, "Nao. The rewards for the dungeon were fantastic. However, I don't remember any such reward for the Super Spider I defeat in the Spider SM."
Nao smiled, "Have you checked your bank account. The reward was a huge gold reward. It was so huge that it was direct deposited into the bank for you."
I flinched. I completely forgot the bank. I have to check it out since I don't remember what was in this character's bank slot when it was accidentally erased. I keep saying accidentally but something keeps nagging at me in the very back in my mind. It's the fact that the system does not automatically erase toons when it comes time. It asks you if you are sure about it before it deletes the character. I distinctly remember not choosing to delete this character so I keep thinking how in the heck it got deleted in the first place.
"Nao, something keeps bugging me about this characters accidental erasing. Could Morrighan look into the history of it and tell me exactly how it happened."
Nao looked serious for a second, "She already had. Your suspicions are correct. You did not delete the character yourself. When she tried to dig further, she hit a huge roadblock that even she could not overcome. She tells me to overcome it you would have to defeat a glitched white dragon solo in Iria as well as its support dragons."
That stopped me cold. Those things are very difficult for a huge team of players and I have to do it solo. There was no way. Whatever is the secret behind the erasing of this character has to be big.
"Jack, we barely got the character back for you. Whatever is behind it wants to stay hidden and I know is a little angry we got it back for you. You rest assured that whatever secret is behind it will not remain secret for too much longer."
"Nao, any chance I might be able to go back to my own world."
Nao now was saddened. "Jack, as I understand your world, raising the dead is impossible. It's the same for the normal citizens of Erinn. Once they die, there is no resurrecting them.
"Militants are not of this world. They have traveled here through the soul stream. The soul stream changes them enough where they can be resurrected repeatedly. They can also be reborn, as you very well know."
"We speculate, though, if a regular citizen of Erinn were to travel to your world thru the soul stream they would not get the same benefit a militant would get in Erinn. If they return back to Erinn thru the soul stream they still would not get the same benefits."
I digested what Nao had just told me. "You mentioned the people of Erinn can in fact travel the soul stream to my world. I bet their bodies goes with them."
Nao hesitated, "Yes Jack, they get there with their bodies intact. Militants gets new bodies once they get here."
"Can this new body we get here transverse back thru the soul stream to my world intact?" asked Jack looking for a way back to his own world by any means possible.
"Yes it can, sigh. You must earn the right to go back though it appears. Firstly, you must completely do every single G storyline in Mabinogi. Secondly, you must not only get all the skill available to militants but you also must get an R1 rating in every one of them. Thirdly, you must complete every single quest available to your individual race. Fourthly, you must complete all the journals in the game. Lastly, you must get all the titles available to your individual race. If you complete those tasks, only then have you earned the right to go back to your world in the body of your avatar, Jack."
I slumped onto the ground after she listed all those tasks I must do in order to go back to my own world. It was a very daunting list to say the least. It probably will be easier to accept my fate and make a life for myself in Erinn but where do I even begin.
Nao must have sensed my inner quarrel, "Is it so bad here, Jack? I was told a great deal of your personal life back in your own world. You were jobless with practically no skills to speak off. You had no family to speak of and no friends besides you useless online friends. Here you have many skills and the possibilities are endless. Not to mention you are already self-sufficient. Who knows? If you play your cards right maybe the girl you want here might one day return your feelings."
That last sentence seemed odd to me, "What do you mean the girl I want, Mari … er … I mean Nao?"
Nao giggled, "Come now, Jack. I know the real reason you kept sending yourself thru G1 all those times. It was not because you enjoyed the storyline. It was because of me. That is the one storyline I am prevalent in."
I felt myself blushing. "Nao, are you suggesting that …"
"I am saying I feel flattered by the attention and you do intrigue me but this self pity and constantly wishing to go back to the world is just tuning me off big time."
"I have some things to think about then. Oh, I do have a simple request. Can I chose how I cook or prepare my meals from now on, either the game way or the old fashion way I did back on Earth."
Nao giggled, "I was wondering when you get around to that. There is now a glitched Black Dire Wolf near Taillteann you have to get rid of now. Before you go, I have a question. As you may recall you got me a number of outfits thru your other alternates as well this character. I now have access to them. Do you have a preference on which outfit I wear around you?"
I smiled, "I kind of liked the Iria Pioneers Explorer outfit."
She giggled, "That one happens to be my favorite. As you know this black dress is default as the uniform the Goddess supplied to me. The clothes you give me are what I can wear around you. I will be wearing the Explorer outfit from now on when we talk."
I found myself back in Erinn. My talk with Nao apparently ended. I wish those talks would not end so abruptly. Anyways, I began my search for the glitched Black Dire Wolf. Should not be hard to find considering they told me it's near Taillteann and there is only one area there were Black Dires hang.