* * *
After a moment, Irena opened her eyes. “Alright, it’s done now. I’ll still encourage training for the future missions, though hopefully it won’t be such an issue of safety anymore.”
I nodded, smiling to her. “Good, that should make things easier for you, I hope. If you need anything else, just let me know.”
Irena nodded her head. “So, I take it that you are going to head back to the Admin Room now?” When I confirmed that I was, she let out a sigh, but moved to stand in front of me. “Alright, just remember, if you ever want to visit…”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I’ll come visit now and then. I want to see how things are going around here, and I think maybe I haven’t been doing enough of that lately.”
The goddess smiled, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the lips before quickly stepped back. “See you around, Dale.” I was caught off-guard momentarily by the kiss, having not expected one, but by the time I recovered I was already back in the Admin Room.
I let out a helpless sigh, thinking about what had just happened. Okay… time to talk with Aurivy. I thought, moving through the Admin Room to find her. I didn’t both changing back to my human body yet, but it’s not like nobody here would recognize me. I mean, there are only three men with access to the Admin Room. One is a lifeless doll, one is a playboy centaur, and the other is me, who can take any form I want.
After a bit of searching, I found Aurivy and Terra on the couch in the living room, the former sitting in the latter’s lap while they watched TV. “Big bro!” Aurivy called out, squirming out of Terra’s grip and running over to give me a hug.
“Hey there, Rivy. How’re you doing?” She puffed out her cheeks poutingly as I used the nickname, but nodded her head.
“I’m fine. We were just watching some shows from the old Earth. Do you want to join us?” She looked up at me to ask with hopeful eyes.
I could only smile, patting her head. “Maybe in a bit. I was hoping to actually talk with you for a little while before anything else. Would that be alright?” At first, she began to pout again, but quickly opened her eyes wide and smiled, nodding her head rapidly. Looking over to Terra, I chuckled. “Mind if I steal her for a bit?”
Terra gave a knowing look, and a warm smile. “Go ahead. This is also something you should be doing. Just make sure to return her when you’re done.”
I nodded, taking her by the hand and moving to Aurivy’s room. “What did big bro want to talk about?” She asked cutely, hopping up on her bed and laying back to relax. She was currently wearing a slim blue dress that outline her childish figure, and seemed to enjoy it more than she had the clothes I had seen Terra making her try on.
“Well, you mostly. I wanted to see how you were handling things around here, and being a goddess.”
She tilted her head over to look at me, watching as I sat down on a nearby chair. “Hmm… well, big sis is lots of fun, but she makes me try on a lot of weird clothes. As for the goddess stuff… I’ve been doing what I can, but there’s not much for me to do, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m supposed to be the Goddess of Love. From what Terra said, that means I can influence relationships. But people are able to do that on their own just fine, right? I mean, I make it easier for halflings to get along with monsters, because it is too sad to watch them fighting all the time. Other than that… I guess I bless a few couples now and then, because they have really sweet stories.” Aurivy’s smile became much happier at that point, and I could tell that she liked being able to view the world as a romance novel.
“Hmm, is there anything you have troubles with? Aside from Terra using you like a dress-up doll, I mean.” I added with a grin, seeing that Aurivy was just about to mention that. She puffed up her cheeks again as she thought about it.
“Well… maybe if you give Bihena her personality, things would be a bit easier? Terra manages the beastmen, I do the halflings, and Tryval does the centaurs. The dwarves are doing alright on their own and are mostly getting along. But, the humans keep fighting and killing each other for land and power. I’ve been trying to help things along, but it’s like they enjoy it too much!” Her arms and legs struck out at the air above her, flailing cutely. “If big sis Bihena could manage things, maybe they’d behave themselves better.”
I nodded my head. I had been thinking about who I should give a personality to next, and Bihena did make the most sense. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do about that. How are the halflings doing, anyways?”
“Hmm? They’re mostly fine. They are expanding a lot right now, though some of them set up a few empty cities for people to stay at while they are nearby. It’s better to stay in a bed than a hollowed out tree, don’t you think?” I had to agree with that, though the idea of an empty city for wanderers struck me as odd. Whatever works, I guess.
Chapter 38
I talked a little while more with Aurivy before I let her go back to watching shows with Terra. When I tried to call Terra to talk with her, she just smiled knowingly to me. “Don’t worry, Dale. I’ll let you know if I want anything from the system, trust me. Worry about what the others want first.”
I could only smile, nodding my head to her as I went to talk with the only god left. Though, I had only talked to Tryval recently, so I didn’t expect there to be much he’d want to discuss. Nonetheless, I sent him a message to come to the Admin Room to chat.
Moments later, I heard hooves falling onto the floor of the bedroom behind me. Turning around, I saw Tryval standing there, his face a calm mask while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. “My liege. You requested to see me?”
“That’s right. I had something I wanted to ask you.” He gave a slow nod for me to continue. “Is there anything you think would help with the system to manage the centaurs, or things that need to be changed?”
Tryval’s eye twitched, but a slight smile appeared on his face for a moment. “Yes, yes there is. This quest system you’ve created, seems to be causing more chaos in the day it has existed than anything else.”
My eyes went wide as I heard that. “What? What’s been going on?”
“People promising absurd things as insults, and then being forced to carry them out against their will, without even a chance to deny issuing the quest that caused it.” This seemed amusing to him, but to me this was big news! I mean, having a purely verbal contract is one thing, but having that contract formed from everything you say is entirely different!
“I-I see. I’ll have to take a look at that, then. Anything else?”
Tryval nodded again, making me worry that even more upsetting news was coming. However, his request seemed to be something else entirely. “I would like permission to interact with my people again, on some scale at least.”
“Tryval… you do know why I stopped you from doing that before, right?” He gave another slight nod. “We can’t have you radically advancing the centaurs’ level of power like that. It was fine when they really needed it, but now they have to be left to fend for themselves.”
“I’m not sure you entirely understand, my liege.” Tryval spoke calmly. “We are a social people by nature. A lone centaur is nothing without the herd. Even if I do not interact with many, it is still best that I am allowed to meet some of them.”
“You just miss having sex with them, don’t you?” I asked bluntly, watching as Tryval twitched slightly from that statement, then looked away guiltily. “I’ll make you a deal. You can have one concubine at a time, but you have to follow certain rules.” He quickly looked back at me, both interested and concerned with where this was going.
“First, you can’t have children with them, without permission. It will probably happen later on, but there have been enough demigod centaurs for a while. Next, either your concubine will be away from the other herds, or you will restrain your power to prevent anyone from identifying you as a god. See the previous reasons, they need their own chance to grow. Now, aside
from that, you can visit the afterlife as much as you’d like, with Irena’s permission, and meet with the women you used to know.”
Tryval seemed a bit despondent that he could no longer freely have kids, but this was ultimately for the good of the world. And, it would save me headaches later on. “Very well, my liege. I will follow your command.”
Without waiting for me to dismiss him, Tryval vanished from the room. Well… at least he was the last one. I gave a slight sigh, but furrowing my brows and sitting at the computer. I now had a new mission, before I could even give Bihena a personality, or the karma system. I had to fix the quest system! Why did it have to be broken that badly?
Opening up the notepad program on my computer, I thought back to the complaints that Tryval had mentioned regarding this system, and ways that I could counter them. I wanted to allow some freedom for creativity with the inhabitants, while also creating a fair system. In the end, I listed a few bullet points for the rules that I wanted to use for the new quest system.
Inhabitants may open a special menu to issue quests according to the following rules. These quests than materialize themselves in the form of two physical contracts suitable for the technology level of the world. One contract is given to the quest taker, while the quest giver holds the other, known as the primary contract.
When a quest is created, the reward(if an item), must be described for the contract. Afterwards, the relevant item is sealed within the contracts.
Additional contracts may be issued for the same quest, but the quest giver must specify whether it is a ‘repeatable’ quest, or if the reward goes to the first to complete it. If the former, the reward must be paid per quest contract issued. If the latter, upon the first completion of the quest, all other contracts issued for that quest will be marked as failing.
When an inhabitant issues a quest, they must specify the conditions for clearing the quest. They may optionally specify conditions with which the quest fails. In the event of a successful quest, the item is retrieved from the contract held by the quest taker. If the quest fails, the reward is instead returned to the quest giver.
If the reward is not an item, but a service, the quest giver must describe that service, and the timeframe in which it is to be performed. The primary contract of a quest with this kind of reward may not be stolen or given away. If the quest is successfully completed, it will merge with the quest giver, forming a pact that would compel the quest giver to perform the promised favor at the given time.
A quest taker may at any time forfeit the quest by destroying the contract, resulting in an automatic failure. To nullify the service owed by a completed quest, both parties must agree. The primary contract cannot be destroyed in this manner.
A quest cannot be created under compulsion, and will only be valid if the quest giver is of sound mind when issuing the quest.
A quest with the promise of services rendered cannot be issued by anyone under the age of maturity for their respective race.
For those unable to read or write the language of the quest giver, the quest contract transmits the details to the holder of the contract if they focus on it.
I looked through the list once, then twice, making sure that there wasn’t anything too obvious I was missing. I already knew that this system could be abused, but this was as strict as I could make it, while still allowing the inhabitants freedom to be creative with it. Satisfied with this, I submitted it as a system to the market.
Quest Contracts
Using this system, it is possible to create a binding contract. This contract holds the details of the quest, as issued by the quest giver, as well as the potential rewards. Upon completion of the quest, the quest taker receives the reward directly from the contract, whereas the quest giver is refunded the reward upon a failure. The reward may be anything the quest giver describes, so long as it is within their power to provide.
Game Setting required
125 points
I was a bit shocked by the drastically increased price of the system, but it was also reasonable. The mistakes from the original system likely dropped the price down, while this was a more complete version. I was annoyed at how the market never fully describes the rules of the systems listed, but there wasn’t really much I could do to change that.
Now, the next problem… Furrowing my brows, I got up to consult Terra again, who was sitting on the couch with Aurivy still. “Got a second?”
She looked over to me, nodding, and patted the seat next to her. Aurivy was sitting on her lap, eyes glued to the screen. They seemed to be watching some anime that I was unfamiliar with. “What’s up?”
“Well… I wanted to know if it was possible to delete or refund a current system?”
She smiled knowingly. “Wanting to upgrade the quest system?” When I nodded my head, she answered. “You can refund a system at any time, but only for half price. The only way to get all of your points back would be to do a full reset. Otherwise, people could just constantly buy and refund the same system to give free royalty points to the inventing Keeper.”
I gave a sigh of relief when she said that, smiling slightly. “Good. Was afraid I might be stuck with this.” She giggled lightly when I said that, and I closed my eyes to refund the old system, before buying the new one. “Guess I’ll have to write up another announcement to let people know how this works, now…”
Terra grinned wickedly at that. “Well, you could just be vague, and let them figure it out themselves.”
“No… Well, I’m not going to tell them everything , but I won’t just say something like ‘hey, there’s a new quest menu, have fun’. That would be a bad idea, even to me.” I shook my head, standing up from the couch. “I’ll be back to join you two after I finish this.” Terra nodded as I left, and I had the feeling Aurivy never even noticed I had entered the room.
* * *
Introducing the third major update, providing an overhaul of the previous quest system. Now, anyone can access a new quest menu to create quests. The specifics of the quests themselves are similar to what was previously allowed, though there is now more freedom for both parties. Everyone is again encouraged to do their best to obtain greater power, and contribute to the advance of their communities!
The voice, it came again. No more than a day had passed since the world stood still for its last announcement, and now people were already reminded of it. Those who had experienced firsthand the horrors of the previous quest system felt a new sense of terror overcome them.
Those who already had quests issued to them, either knowingly or not, found a strange bundle of pale leather in their possession covered in unknown scribbles. It was only when they tried to figure out what it was that their own voices appeared in their minds, reminding them of their previously issued quests. Many of these people tried in vain to destroy the leather bundles, either with strength, or fire, or even cutting it. Some even tried to hide it away, or give them to others to escape their inevitable punishment.
All of it was in vain, as the quest contracts would always find their way back to the one who issued it. The lucky ones were released from their burdens when the person who held the matching contract destroyed their own, but many found themselves still bound by their prior words. For such people, the previous day became a nightmare, the first dark holiday. To them, it would forever be the Day of Promises.
Many more people were concerned with this voice’s increasingly common appearance. Until recently, it had never before spoken to the world. Would this voice continue to plague them with its shows of power?
In the underworld, people began to gather around the courtyard of the Goddess’s palace. However, they were not here to see her. Rather, they would stare at the monument that had appeared between announcements. Without exception, each person was looking at the pillar between the deities. To them, that faceless pillar was the true master of the heavens, the one who passes down the laws of the world.
* * *
You have earned a person
al achievement!
For solidifying your position in the eyes of your people as an almighty being, you have earned the Godking achievement. +15 points and Aura of the Almighty
“What the hell?!”
Chapter 39
I stared at the window in front of me, announcing the achievement. What… why… Fuck. As soon as I really thought about it, I realized that my announcements had an effect on the population I had been hoping to avoid. They now saw the announcements as something all powerful, which honestly wasn’t far from the truth. Still, I had been wanting to avoid this achievement, because the aura it provided would make interacting with my inhabitants more difficult.
Guess that’s something else I’ll need to ask Terra how to block. I gave a mental sigh as I thought about that. Well, either way, there was still one more thing that I wanted to take care of before I went to relax with Terra and Aurivy. Opening up the Keeper forums, I navigated to the entry for the previous quest system, and began typing in a review.
EarthForceOne: System needs an update, especially for worlds of low technology levels. Defaults to issuing quests unless rejected, even during casual conversations.
World Keeper: Birth of a World Page 29