Chapter 222 - The Big Spin

[Free Spin] x2

How is that even a spot? A second wheel appears on the other side of Cain, making the Oath Breakers' laughter in his head even louder.

[Double Fisting the reward wheel. Good job.]

[Shut up you. I tell you, he will get the good stuff this time. Bunny Girl. Bunny Girl.]

Cain tunes the demons out and gives both wheels a spin. One clockwise, one counter, but both with a smooth motion that sets them on a blurring pace around their vast circumference. 

[Reward Gained: Class-Exclusive Skill Book Noble Command] Requires Duke or Higher. Specified Target will obey a single order for up to 5 minutes. Resistance to Mind Control will shorten the duration or cancel effects. Commands counter to the target's nature gain increased resistance. 

[Reward Claimed: Gift of the Avatar] All Summons of one Category may have their numbers multiplied by three. Replaces all Lesser Army-type skills with a species-compatible skill.

[Error generating Gift: Avatar] Incompatible with Species Human. Randomly selecting Compatible Species. 

[Species: Ancient] selected

[Lesser Demon Army Removed] 

[Gift: Avatar] Gained

[Ability Gained: Ancient Resistance] all summons of one Category may be tripled in numbers. Assume Form that coincides with chosen species. 

Assumes a form compatible with the species he has chosen to increase in numbers? Does that mean he would turn himself into a Dragon if he wanted to increase the numbers of them, or a Beastkin if he wished to more Turtles? That could be a different experience, plus a great disguise. 

Cain opens his eyes again to see everyone staring at him expectantly. "Sorry about that. Where were we before I got interrupted by the Class Quest Completion?"

"We were at leveling up Nefertiti a little to increase her intelligence. But first, what on earth just happened to you?" Cixelcid demands, trying unsuccessfully to retrieve Neffie, as the Razor Grass starts attacking him when he moves her, stopping when he lets her chew on the grass again. 

Letting her magical chew grass seems better than trying to hold a conversation with a crying newborn around anyhow. 

"It gave me a new Ability. Ancient Resistance, which lets me increase the number of summons from a single species and replaces Lesser Demon Army. But Humans can't use it, so it changed my species to Ancient."

Cain inspects himself, not seeing or feeling anything out of place. Whatever the Ancients are, it didn't change his appearance an an immediately obvious way. 

"Your whole appearance shifted, then settled back to you. Like it couldn't decide what size or species you should be." Misha explains. 

That makes sense; it did random roll him a new species. Now he needs to find out if there's anything strange about the one it picked. Maybe for once, the Interface will have answers? At least a species description? 

[Name] Cain

[Level] 152

[Class] Puppet Master

[Species] Ancient

[Current Appearance] Human Default

There that's what he needs. Select the species Category and see what comes up. 

[Ancients are a long-extinct strain of Primordial beings that gave rise to various humanoids. Their forms are malleable, though one feature will always serve as an identifying mark, following them between states. The Ancients died off during the War Between the Gods, when they were seen as spies and turncoats for their ability to impersonate other species.]

That's more detail than he thought he'd get, but what does he normally look like? If they predate most humanoid species, this current human Cain isn't his natural form anymore. Even the system says it's just his default human transformation. 

Why not try to shift into something different? Just a tiny change since he's still got Neffie in his arms while she plays with the Razor Grass. 

With a thought, his skin turns the same ash gray as hers, and the little Demon Queen giggles, stopping her play with the grass to poke and then lick him as if his taste might have changed along with his appearance. Satisfied with whatever she discovers, she returns to ignoring him in favor of the grass. 

"That is awesome. Can you change your look with a thought? Can you do hair color too? What about the size?" Elmira darts over to express her excitement but stays carefully out of reach of tiny grabbing fingers. Her wings are sensitive, after all. 

With a thought, Cain shifts his hair to white and then extends his fingers out to double their average length. Changing the color of his features is easy, but extending just his fingers isn't. It's like he's trying to do something halfway and needs to put a lot of effort into overcoming the resistance and maintain a stable shape. 

"Yes, but some things are easier than others."

Neffie has stopped playing with the grass, which suddenly disappeared, and is now snoring quietly, making little noises as she grabs for something in her dreams. 

"Alright, momma, I don't think she will set you on fire now. So you can have your youngest back. I'm not sure what we can do about her level, though."

"Why not a quest? It won't take much to get her a few levels. I'll go grab something from the Town Hall that I can do quickly." Elmira declares, darting out the window. That sounds like the most straightforward way, for sure. Just a tiny level bump from an easy quest, and she will be good to go. 

They all leave the room to let Lickity and the kids sleep while the midwife watches over them, and not even ten minutes later, the completion message comes through. 

[Quest Complete: Delivery of Herbs to the Alchemist shop] 

Cain checks his party roster to see how it worked out. Baby Nefertiti is now level 7. That should be almost perfect. High enough that her Gained Stat points should help her grow past infancy. 

"Better drop Neffie from the party before someone accidentally levels her up even more." Cid mock whispers once they're free of the bedroom. 

"I hope you're ready for three kids growing at different rates. We looked it up, and a Succubus grows ten years in their first two, then two each year until they stop aging. A Vampire grows like a human until 25 when they stop, but nobody knows how fast a Demon Queen will grow up." Mythryll teases the new dad. 

"That might be better than the alternative. Can you imagine teenage triplet years, when they all hate each other and their parents? At least we're not going to get that all at once."

While the group faces parenthood jokes, Cain disbands the raiding party, sending everyone back to solo status while considering the changes brought to him over the last couple of hours. First, a token for a Guaranteed unique class option at level 200, then an advanced Summoning skill that changed his species? Compared to that, the command ability seems anticlimactic.

But as much as it got overshadowed, it's still a fantastic skill. The amount of time it lasts might not be guaranteed, but a Command type ability could be alot of fun in the future. 

Maybe it's the Ancient species talking, but Cain feels like a whole new person. Every bit of insecurity and doubt is melting away, and he feels like he could do anything he wants right now and succeed. 

What he most wants after the battle is more power. He's got an advancement token now, so Cain is anxious to reach level 200 and see what fate has in store for him.

Getting the rest of his skills and the increased summons numbers will be an added bonus at this point, knowing there's a unique Class to follow them. After the Quest Reward, he knows one of the skills will be a Commander, whatever that is, some form of upgraded Lieutenant, but the last skill is still unknown. 

There's a simple way to find out what a Commander does. Appoint one and see what they get. 

"Cid, in honor of your new Daddy status and to recognize all the extra work you'll have to put in both at home and for the Guild to keep things running, I have a Promotion for you. I at this moment do name you Commander Cixelcid." Cain says in a tone full of pomp and ceremony, like he was an actual noble formally bestowing a title. 

The ability sinks into him with a slowly fading golden glow, and the big vampire smiles. "Now, I don't feel so bad about not being named a Lieutenant. Do I get the same thing as them?"

"I'm not sure. When I try to see the description, it refers me to the skill tree, but I don't have the skill Unlocked yet. Check your status and let us know."

"Alright, I've Gained [Summon Lesser Golem], [Summon Greater Golem], [Knightly Pride] which increases their damage and durability, [Summon sub Lieutenant], which summons just one Lieutenant, and [Summon Cloning]. Wait, Summon Cloning? Isn't that what Kone got as your appointed Companion that made her so powerful? And now I'll get all those Summons?"

"Su comes from her class skill [Wild Affinity], and her summons are thanks to the shared skills from also being a Companion, but it's similar. You'll get doubled summons numbers, so two dozen Lesser Golems and Sixteen Greater, plus four Epic from Benevolent Leader. It would help if you also got Cloned Lieutenants, though, for mine, it made them look different. That might be because I Appointed an existing person as the Lieutenant first, though."

The girls are all staring at him in expectation now, waiting for Cixelcid to Summon his Lieutenant. Like the Companions, they're permanent, so meeting a new one is a big deal. Cixelcid tries to ignore the begging looks for as long as he can before he caves.

Practice for raising daughters without becoming a pushover. 

"Fine, I'll call the Lieutenant now.. But if Lickity yells at me for doing it while she's asleep, it's all your fault."