Book 3: Chapter 28 — Quest Reward

Book 3: Chapter 28 — Quest Reward

Noah and the rest of the group had returned to Kaelan’s estate, and Noah sat in his room, legs crossed, as he practiced his meditation. The suns had set over the horizon, night time taking over the skies, and as Noah focused on his breath, he felt the window in his chambers shift ever so slightly.

“Took you a while,” Noah replied, glancing behind himself.

His shadow stood there, leaning against the wall. “Had some stuff come up. You’ll want to see this,” the shadow replied, as a tome appeared in his hand.

Noah inspected the title.

[Tome of Soul-Harvest (???)]

A forbidden tome of soul harvest.

Noah raised an eyebrow at the tome.

“The old witch running the place immediately knew what I was. Told me she had what I wanted but made me run some errands for it. After that, she gave a dumb prize but I managed to win enough by betting on drake races,” the shadow said.

“You bet my money? How much?” Noah asked.

The shadow shrugged. “We have enough left. But this didn’t come cheap.”

“This cost twelve B-grade crystals. I won four, there’s four left after the costs,” the shadow replied.

Noah’s eyes widened. “What the fuck?” He said. That was nearly everything he’d made so far, including the reward for saving all of Heartilia.

“Why did you—”

“It’s worth it. I wasn’t going to, but I damn well could tell that this was worth it. Have you seen a Tome with question marks on its rarity? And that’s with our upgraded Identify,”

Noah paused. That... was true. The only times he’d encountered that was when he had inspected the Shard, or the scale of the Wyrm. Still... having spent that much definitely stung a little.

“The quest reward better be worth it,” he murmured to himself.

He opened the quest window, looking at his notifications.

Quest completed!

Sub quest completion: 4/4

Rewards:

1x [Skill Book of Advanced Soul Binding (Legendary)]

Noah stared at the rewards in confusion.

His shadow whistled at that. “If there was ever suspicion regarding your Paths, that will make it clear that you’re evil and need to be killed.”

Noah frowned. “Why is this the reward?”

The shadow shrugged. “Why do you think I’d know? We’re the same person. I know about as much as you do.”

“You know what happened at the shop you went to. Your soul-harvest tome may be why this was the reward,” Noah said.

“I seriously doubt that. We both did an equal number of quests,” the shadow replied.

Noah felt frustration fill his chest, but before he could speak further, a slip of paper fell from the tome in his hands, fluttering before it touched the ground.

Glancing at the shadow in surprise, Noah picked up the paper slip, reading what was written on it.

Spell of Re-animation: A spell to bring those who have died and departed to the beyond, back to this world.

Below that the steps for the spell were written, explaining the rituals and components needed in brief.

“Oh boy. That’s some not fun magic huh?” The shadow said.

Noah glanced at the shadow, before reading the list of items needed.

“A spectral heart. A spectral soul replica. Advanced Soul Binding. A soul harvest ability, general resistance to all forms of magic. Soul resistance and Soul modification,” Noah said, finishing the list.

“Seems tailored to fit you,” the shadow said. “Maybe the quest system’s looking out for you or something?”

“Or maybe it’s been giving me rewards and leading me in directions that result in this path,” Noah said. He did not like that thought.

The shadow flowed into dark motes, melting as he grabbed the tome in his hand, sitting cross legged across from Noah on the floor, before flipping through the notes.

“Ah shit,” the shadow cursed a moment later, closing his eyes. “Damn thing inflicts madness if you read it.”

Noah grabbed the tome back. “Stop playing with that.”

The shadow clutched its eye, rubbing it a few moments longer. “Alright... lesson learned. The question now is— are you gonna use that?”

“Not without knowing more about it,” Noah said, before tapping his bracelet. He felt the spell fizzle into place as it connected to Zax.

Zax sighed, shaking his head. “Stop acting like children you two. And stop fighting like siblings.”

“Who’d have an awful sibling like this guy,” Noah said, making a disgusted face.

“Well, I’m like, not even a month old so...” the shadow said.

The two of them looked at each other a moment later.

“Alright, I guess we do act a little like bickering siblings,” Noah admitted.

“Kinda weird. I’d always thought what it’d be like to have one, but never imagined it would be... like this.”

“Like you cannot stand them, but would still give your life for them?” Zax asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uhh, yeah,” shadow replied. “It is a bit one-sided though.”

Noah looked at him in surprise.

“What? Shut up. You know I will. That’s why I exist. To protect you,” the shadow said, blushing ever so slightly.

“Well, I appreciate that. It’s hard to say I would die for you, because my death would kill us both. But I wouldn’t want you to die,” Noah replied.

“I doubt I can, as long as you’re alive. I’ll simply return to you instead,” the shadow replied, shrugging.

A few moments of silence remained after that.

“Let’s get back on topic,” Zax said, handing Noah the ability tome. “We believe you should use the ability tome right now, and then wait for some time before making a decision.”

Noah frowned, looking down at the tome. A moment later, he looked up at Zax.

“Do you think... my quest system has been leading me towards things that would lead to this?” Noah asked.

“That is... difficult to say. Fate is difficult to read, as we’ve already mentioned, but especially yours. Even gods would struggle to see your fate clearly. It is possible that it may have, or more likely, your quest system is adapting to events that happen around you and charting a path that it thinks you will head towards. But ultimately the choice has to be yours.”

Noah looked down at the tome, before nodding. Sending a pulse of mana, he saw the prompt appear.

Would you like to absorb [Tome of Soul-Harvest (Ancient)]

Yes/No?

Yes.

A pulse of energy, stronger than any he’d felt before from a tome pulsed into Noah’s soul, etching something into it.

Ability [Soul Harvest] unlocked!

No ability slots available.

Ability fusion available.

Fuse [Runic Harvest] with [Soul Harvest]?

Yes/No?

Yes.

Ability [Soul-Rune Harvest (Ancient/Unique)] unlocked!

[Soul-Rune Harvest (Ancient/Unique)]

Current Slots: 0/3

Harvest the soul of your enemies, capturing them into runes that adorn your Arcane Body, allowing you to summon phantoms and specters that will obey all your commands.

Noah let out a breath, feeling the power settle into him.

Zax nodded, before handing the skill book and the ritual procedure back to him. “This should go without saying, but do not take those out in public, or let anyone find out you have them.”

Noah nodded.

“Well, then, we’ll be heading back. Let us know if you need something else,” Zax said, teleporting away.

Noah sat in his room, his mind going through stuff. His shadow specter melted into the shadows as well, flowing into him, leaving him alone in the darkness.

I’m not suited to this much thinking.

Deciding not to worry about it for the time being, Noah went back to his meditation. Whatever might happen, he’d just need to deal with it as the time came.

Before long, his thoughts were soon replaced by the thoughts of wrestling a wyvern and killing it before forming a soul mount out of one that he could ride on.