>>4004165
> "Yeah, these are family matters, though. Higher priority. Fei, the four of us gotta talk. Please ask the minion to reschedule."

>>4004199
"Yeah, these are family matters, though. Higher priority. Fei, the four of us gotta talk. Please ask the minion to reschedule."

You see a grimace form on her face. Like something that was secret had just been found out. Azzura starts tugging at your sleeve. Something is wrong.

"He's not a minion. He's an assassin. One I expect to do his job. Do you have all the information you need?" You hear an old, gravely voice respond. The man is wearing a mask though, so you can't see his face.

"Yes, I think that will be all, perhaps we can continue later. Time limit?"

"Within a year, hopefully."

"Thank you, my Queen." He leaves hurriedly. Azzura takes a wide birth as he walks by, scared of a new face? Hongtian ignores him. She has little idea of what's going on it seems.

"So. Mr 9 Jewels, I can see that your kids are all grown up, but you must have interrupted me for something far more important, otherwise I am simply not interested. You see Fei summon her Jewels, extraordinary power coursing through them. Whatever you interrupted must have been very sensitive.

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4004236
> "Azzurra, tell your Aunt what you told me. About the Angel."

>>4004273
Sorry for the delay. I needed to eat something. I have some sort of cold so that may have had an effect.

"Azzura, tell Auntie Fei what you told me. About the Angel."

As the conversation draws on. You can tell something with your Saint Element. Fei is lying, her face shows shock and worry, but she already knows about the information. Somebody is spying on you, and delivering the information directly to Fei.

"What do you suggest we do?" You ask her, willing to keep the peace for now, anything to help Azzura and Hongtian.

"Continue on your mission to find a way to Heaven, or, wait for more developments? I don't really know..."

She has something in motion already! You hear your Jewels cry out, warning you. There are multiple ways of doing this, and it seems Fei has found her answer.

"I only got dragged into Hell by accident, or, I think it was an accident. If we found a portal to Hell on Mars, maybe there's something on a different planet?"

"I'll tell Fei. Just keep a close eye out on anything important. The recent expedition into the Cursed Forest showed us some interesting things in the old castle area. Maybe you should go have a look. The strongest things out there are Heavenly King, so you should be fine."

"I wanna come!" Hongtian exclaims, gleam in her eyes. Azzura nods along with her. They have gained a sense of agency at least...

"Just go for now. I have things to do! You can't just skip the information train every time something weird happens, not anymore you can't. If you want me to know something, go to someone lower down, so I can read things in an orderly fashion, instead of having every meeting interrupted. Thank you and goodbye!" She blasts the three of you with Wind, forcing you back into the corridor. A door made of Wind now seals the way, and you don't think you can break the walls that easily.

Azzura is tapping her fingers together, trying to hide her excitement. Ever since she heard the word castle she changed a bit.

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4004336
> Go see Jessica

>>4004373
Sorry, miss wrote.
*I'll tell Jessica
Instead of I'll tell Fei.

>Go see Jessica
>I'll interpret this as calling her. As she is on Mars currently.

Player Choice
>Write-in for what to tell/ask to Jessica

>>4004391
> You want to tell her about the Angel's message, and want her opinion on the children's changes.

>>4004437

"Mistake? Hmm, sounds like you should have died like Jiang. Maybe the Angels want to fix it? I dunno, if only we could talk to one! Must be nice, having things to do. I'm going on break soon anyway.

"What about their changes?"

"I don't really care, it's not the worst type of accelerated growth out there, think of all the cool shit dad did with Time! I mean, it's really only a good thing right? They can think and act like they are aged 5. Just keep a closer eye on the non-winged one. When YianEyue was really troubled about something she stuck to be like glue, even in dangerous situations. The Angel only told her about the dying thing, and not Hongtian, so maybe there's something in that. Good?"

"Sure. Bye." You end the call.

Player Choice for the afternoon, Hongtian and Azzura will now stay with you wherever you go, as the recent events have them pretty nervous.
>Write-in

>>4004457
> Go seek Shao-Bao's advice

>>4004504

You head to the Consolidated Equipment Master's Palace, Azzura and Hongtian following you wherever you go, and reach the top.

"Yes? I know thing- Oh my lord what happened to you two!?" Shao-Bao runs over to Hongtian and Azzura, getting to their eye level.

"Look how you've grown! There isn't anything wrong is there?" She's turned into a figurative angel at least. There's no shouting, no swearing. She sounds and looks like an old grandmother.

"Uh, actually, miss. Sis says it was all an angels fault.." Hongtian points to Azzura.

"No. An old man did this, the angel told me to kill dad. Azzura ignores Shao-Bao, and corrects her sister.

"Huh? Oi, dad. You, uh, haven't been feeding them anything...suspicious have you?"

"No. That is the truth. The old man was the one who...with Princess Jiang." You struggle to get it out in front of the two, but neither of them know the significance of the name.

"I have some old records. I'll check for Heavenly Gods who might do this sort of thing. I wouldn't worry about Angels. Unlike Demons they can't appear on this world, they have to use puppets, and we mean puppets specially forged to be puppets, and they can't be controlled until later in life. I remember they take about a year to create. I met a free one a few centuries back, passed from Pneumonia, back when the castle was still functioning. Ah sorry kids, ignore that last bit."

"OK!" The two of them say. Hongtian will certainly remember it though...

"Are the puppets alive?"

"Yes, of course. How else would they get really good Jewel-" Shao-Bao stops, and takes a good look at you, then Azzura. Whatever she was thinking of though she dismisses. Changing topic.

"Anything in particular you would like? Ah! How about some sweeties?"

"What's sweeties?" Hongtian asks, not very confident in these foreign foods.

"So you weren't even feeding them?! I'll be right back." A few minutes later, hard-boiled sweets appear. Azzura and Hongtian go after them.

"Right, that should give us a few minute alone to talk. Anything in particular you would like to ask?"

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4004563
Ah yeah, sorry. The quest can start at 14:00 GMT today.

>>4004563
> "Master, the children will accompany me from now on, as I can't in God conscience leave them. That being the case, I wished to enquire about methods to help them defend themselves, and to help me defend them. While I will take a much more passive role in my job from today, with our very Identity comes danger. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm afraid."

>>4006172
"Master, the children will accompany me from now on, as I can't in God's conscience leave them. That being the case, I wished to enquire about methods to help them defend themselves, and to help me defend them. While I will take a much more passive role in my job from today, with our very Identity comes danger. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm afraid."

"Information. The more you know, the better you can plan. The less people know about you, and your children, the better. Also, they need to start cultivating soon. Azzura mentioned that their minds are a lot older than their bodies. Use this to their advantage. If you want to go the extra mile, then develop a Spatial technique that can house people. I never bothered, other people can die for all I care, but you have family to care for, non-withstanding a potential age of 2000 once you hit Heavenly God, meaning all the more opportunity to fall in love all over again, these children will have to be taught to fend for themselves. In the event of an attack, they will perish. So, inform, teach and develop a Spatial technique, or perhaps a Saint one, to help"

"Yes Master."

"One last thing. A present if you will. Watch out for potential assassins. The one clean way to end this problem is to get rid of the source, or any puppets. Which means their deaths, anyone who might know about what the Angel said is a potential threat, as they can send assassin after assassin. After two years, if nothing happens, you have nothing to worry about."

She ends the conversation rather abruptly, and turns her attention to the children. Who are having a blast with this new food.

"Now now! Sweets are nice, but really bad for you. Don't have too many, maybe one or two." You saw Hongtian have about 5 of the lime flavoured ones, and Azzura about 4 of a blue colour you don't know about. You never had too many sweets as a kid. They hurriedly put one back, and step away. You hope they haven't become addicted, at least you can heal cavities with your Life Element, but you would need some training and more dental learning to do it, so much to do, so little time.

"Right, at nine Jewels, you should be able to break free of the Divine Element control that's currently over you, but you are still suspect to it, so I can't give you the ninth piece. Tata!" She shoos the three of you out of the building. Hongtian takes one look at the stairs that now go down, and tries to jump, fluttering her wings. You catch her, you have no idea if they work correctly yet, and you reprimand her correctly. Azzura watches silently. You have trouble identifying what she's thinking sometimes.

Player Choice for the rest of the afternoon
>Write-in

>>4006180
> Go home. You do have some techniques in mind...

>>4006182
>Go home

You walk the two of them home. Talking along the way.

"Hongtian, what were the blue ones again?"

"Blueberry. It's really nice! You should have some!" She takes a sweet out of her pocket. You wonder if Shao-Bao knew or not...

"I shouldn't really have sweets. I never had any when I was your...age."

"What were your daddy and girl-daddy like?"

"Mummy, it's called mummy, and I don't know, can't remember. I didn't grow up here. I'll tell you when you're older, much older."

"Want a sweet anyway?"

"S-sure." You take it. It isn't nice. Sickly and sharp, you never had the taste for things like this. You grew up on limited and non sugary orphanage food, your body never learned to like this stuff. You did like eating cake with Jiang, but you guess it's all been soured after she died. You make a smile, forced, but Hongtian doesn't care.

"What about you Azzura? I saw you eating the lime ones."

"They taste funny, but in a good way. Can we have more?"

"Later, later. Sugar is really expensive, so don't take it for granted." You hear small sounds, which you think mean 'yes father', you aren't sure yet. They don't know too many words, but are picking up on more and more as time goes by.

"Dad, you can do really cool things with your Jools right?" Azzura flubs the pronunciation, but she has the general idea.

"Jewels, and yes, I can. I plan to make some progress when we get back home, why"?

"Can I watch?"

"It's really boring, trust me."

"That's fine."

"Alright then. Just don't get hurt. You should watch too Hongtian, maybe learn something about being the best?"

"Sure papa!" You get back home, and stand in the back garden, you leave the two inside the house. Where it is marginally more safe, now, what to do...

Player Choice
>Write-in for techniques, you can suggest a potential unlocking method, but in general, there are three ways to make a new one: Study, Trial and Combat. If I think your method is unsatisfactory, I will edit it.

>>4006188
> One understated advantage of the Saint Element is that it can sense Sin and Lies. However, it only seems to work on people you see. Try to coat a wide area around you with trickles of Saint Energy and sense people in the city, to create a Sensing Technique.

>>4006194

You focus on your Saint Element, using yourself, Hongtian and Azzura as a reference , and start examining their emotions. Their sins. You start to expand this, trying to sense souls that are further and further out. However, as you go. The sin becomes more and more diluted. Averaged. You can feel your Heavenly Energy being expended at enormous rates, you have to change tactics and figure out what sort of sin to sense, and how to process it properly.

>Try to imagine people as a web-like structure, with each person being a "node" in the web, and making a network of sin
>Continue with this generalisation of sin, with you being able to expand a wide area to gain an average of the people in that area

also

>Roll 1d100 DC 40 to unlock this technique in a basic form, which can be expanded upon and trained later with small increments of training

or

>Roll 1d100 DC 60 to unlock this technique as is, with a much larger training value, but with an eventual higher usage and power.

>To note, these DCs were generated from your Heavenly Energy Control level, if you had Divine Control, the unlocking would be automatic.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>4006200

>>4006206
>66
Which choices are you going for?
>Web or general
>Basic or Full?

>>4006213
> Web
> Full

>>4006220

You change strategy. Using people as points on a map, you see colours, and feel distinct sin coming from each person, building a pathway, you can feel the connections, the desires of the people you pass by. Then you run out of Heavenly Energy. However, when you have more, you could track each person individually, following the chain for about 3 minutes, but you can't use it reliably yet, you need to train it considerably.

>Technique unlocked "Web of Sin". Progress 0/2500
>Saint has gained one point of priority
>Added to the paste

Hongtian and Azzura became bored long ago, and just did nothing, sitting on the sofa for a few hours.

Player Choice for the evening
>Write-in

>>4006228
> You train the Web of Sin

>>4006231
>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for progress. Buff will not work here.

Rolled 68, 14, 62 = 144 (3d100)

>>4006232

>>4006236
>Progress to completion: 68/2500

You don't get very far, you manage to chain about 20 people before your very core shudders in disgust at the sin in front of you. You think you've had enough for now. Hongtian and Azzura grab some prepared food from the fridge, they can eat more firm food now, and seeing them enjoying some chicken reminds you that they have all this stuff, stuff which you never had. It makes a you a little happier.

Azzura and Hongtian go to bed soon after though. You know you can stay awake for much longer, perhaps that might be a good idea if you want any hope in completing this technique in any amount of time, no wonder Jewel Masters live so long, they need to! Shao-Bao didn't tell you about this!

Player Choice for the night
>Write-in

>>4006241
> Put the kids to sleep and get some rest yourself

>>4006242
>Sleep, this time with the children
>Nothing happens

>Start of the 195th day
Player Choice for the morning
>Write-in

>>4006244
> Take the kids with you to find a mountain. Time for the feat of Strength.

>>4006263
Oh boy

As you live in a desert, finding a mountain isn't hard, the Wastelands are full of them. However, Hongtian and Azzura need some proper clothing. It will either be really hot, giving them heatstroke, or really cold, freezing them to death.

>How will you protect your children from the weather
>Write-in

Also, I'll have to finish at 19:00 GMT today, some uni work, I have a test tomorrow. Apologies.

>>4006272
> Go see if the Research division handles Elemental Hazard suits.

>>4006293
Sorry about this, but the Uni term started in full swing. I was swamped with work I had to start earlier than expected. The quest can continue at 18:45 GMT today.

>>4006293

You take your kids to the Elemental Research department. A place they have never been too, you try to cover Hongtian's wings, but there is some protest. Apparently keeping them covered is really uncomfortable. However, you force her to keep them hidden as you pass through. Some of the staff turn away when they see you and the kids. They know what happened to Jiang, who was someone some of them took a life-long pledge to protect and help. Some of them look over with interest, children of Heavenly Jewel Masters are weird, so they look for that. Luckily they find nothing. The two of them are looking around, getting all sorts of distracted.

You make your way to a section called "Hazard, Health and Safety and Death prevention", aptly named, as you borrowed a few pieces of their equipment for lab work when you were studying under the department. They tend to be impatient and anal about things. So you check the two before knocking on the door.

"Hello? Oh, Angel of Death. have you come for something specific?"

"Do you have weather protection suits in child sizes? I need to go to a mountain in the Wastelands. These two are coming with me."

"So, heat, cold and high winds? Eh, I'll check." A few minutes later, the faces of expectation on Azzura's and Hongtian's faces disappears.

"Nope! Children are NOT ALLOWED into the Wastelands! We never bothered making anything for children!"

"Really? Is there an alternative?"

"Pay me, and I can make some for tomorrow. Fancy new Heavenly Energy printer we have, the engineering folks won't mind if we ask them. Do you have specific measurements?"

"No. How much?"

"300 Gold each, and I need their measurements, so, if the two of you could follow me and I can measure-"

"Wait, wait. Give me a minute. 300 Gold? Why?!"

"New tech, really expensive tech. Special order, good suit. I'll be gentle with them! Trust me, I will do things to the safest degree possible. "

Player Choice
>Do you pay 600 Gold for both? Y/N
>Do you let her measure them? Y/N

>>4007942
>Y
>Y

>>4007994
>You have 22131 Gold

You let the two go with the safety guy. Who has a small heart attack when he sees Hongtian, who proudly flaps her wings about.

"Stop doing that! You'll push something off the benches." She stops, looking a bit guilty. It takes only a few minutes for things like height, weight and more measurements meant for a tailors to be found. Then there are chemical tests, as the inner materials for potential acids need to be more specialised for the hair and skin of a person. All in all, it takes a long time, and Azzura especially is getting bored.

"Now, about those wings. I really don't know how to work around them."

"Some pockets on the back? A more curved design?"

"I'll think about it. Whatever it is, it will restrict their movement, so try to tell her not to move her wings about."

"Hear that? No fluttering."

"What's fluttering?"

"No wing stuff tomorrow OK?"

"Ok...."

You leave the department, and these suits should arrive tomorrow morning.

Player Choice for the afternoon
>Write-in

>>4008013
> Go see if you can learn something about how to get some Primary Education for the children

>>4009524
Yeah. Uh. I can't run today. I can do two hours and a bit tomorrow from 14:00 to 16:30 GMT. Most of my uni stuff this week is in the aftermoon or evening.

>>4009613
>Education
>I may have to leave earlier than expected. We'll see. The only actual uni bit is from 5-6, but I have something else after that!

You ask around about where your children can obtain an education. At least at the primary level. However, as the palace is staffed by adults, there is nothing like it in the Palace itself. The Princesses had personal tutors, paid for by the royal family, and if you were interested, it would cost 500 Gold a month per child. What the fuck. Considering this education normally lasts 5 years, or until the point someone either graduates the program or cultivates 1-3 Levels of Heavenly Energy depending on the student's age, it could cost 12000-60000 Gold for the both of them, truly, royal treatment, and that's ensuring that said tutors will accept the offer. You do not have that kind of money. You could possibly generate a few thousand from killing monsters, but that would also mean ignoring your military duties. Fei will be checking on your progress towards revenge after all.

There is a cheaper option. Allow the two to participate in the Academy under a scholarship offered by the Dershwa Clan. This would mean no cost on your end, but, they would have to attend school, and you would not be allowed there. It provides no protection apart from the protection of the school.

You find a third way they could learn, attending a private school further out. This is even more risky as there are fewer soldiers, but it would mean you could keep a small eye on them. Even if other parents get uppity with you, you could have a more active roll.

You could also ask Jessica for some lessons, but she hates children, and is busy with Hell. You have a good think, your children offering comments along the way.

"I don't want to go to school, it sounds horrible. Dad wouldn't be there for us!" Hongtian is certainly worried about the idea.

"What if our tutor is evil? The old woman dad had put here told us people like that are very strict, I don't know what that means, but I think it's bad."

Player Choice for the evening
>Write-in

Player Choice for education
>Have you come to any thoughts yet? If so, then write them here.

>>4010980
> Money's not really a problem. Just get paid for resurrecting loved ones or sell ice to the desert people. Use the Nature Element to raise forests. Make it rain with the Water Element. Create roads by punching stuff. Private tutor it is!
> For the evening, go look for simple books to teach the kids how to read.

>>4011001

You think that money shouldn't be much of a problem. There will be demand for everything, and you could supply it.

You end up taking the two to the Library. They should have everything there. Including things that should help with reading. You'll need to help them with sounds and the alphabet, but once they have that progress should go smoothly.

You take out one book, which you should return after two weeks, and come back home.

"Dad. I don't know how to read this." Azzura is quick to point out the obvious.

"I was the same. Let me write out a copy of the alphabet, and we can start on the basics. Hongtian you come listen too. This is a vital skill to learn."

>Roll 3d100+29 best of ONE for teaching

Rolled 8, 64, 5 = 77 (3d100)

>>4011007

>>4011030
Dammit. Sorry about this, my train was at 16:10, so I checked this at 4, saw nothing and put the phone away.
>64+29=93

They do pretty well, but it is fairly obvious that Hongtian might have the more academically attuned brain. She picks up about 70% of it, enough to start reading a few sentences, learning new words which she puts to her own uses. Azzura needs more time, she has a great memory, but struggles with putting it all together. More practice is needed.

It might take a week for the basics. Their minds are closer to 10 year olds than 5. Which could be good or bad. Eh.

Hongtian goes to sleep exhausted, Azzura less so. Is it a motivation problem?

Player Choice for the night
>Write-in

>>4011058
> Also sleep
I finally remembered to switch hats.

>>4011083
>Sleep
>Nothing happens
>Start of the 196th day

You awake to the light punches of your kids, who are very excited about the trip out. They are carrying packages in their hands, with difficulty. It's the hazard suits. Silver things that are very uncomfortable, even with all the quality of life improveme ts being a Jewel Master provides.

You get washed dressed, and make food. Telling your children to have a bit of patience. You see the suit for Hongtian has some extra features to allow her wings to fit. You hope it's all worth it in the end.

Player Choice for the morning
>Write-in

Currently on phone. Sorry about the lack of updates. Times have been busy. Should become slightly better next week.

>>4019064
> Help the kids get dressed, and call Shao-Bao.

>>4019121
It takes a little while to get them dressed. There are some complaints, especially from Hongtian.

"I told you, you can't use your wings today."

"It's so tight!" she says. Azzura is having less trouble with putting it on, but struggles to move about. You will need to help them in some cases. Even you hate these things, as necessary as they are.

You call Shao-Bao.

"Huh? Zou is that you? I'm busy! What do you want? Make it quick."

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4019125
> Ask if your idea of punching a mountain for your Feat of Strength is feasible.

>>4019171

"For my feat of Strength. I was thinking of punching a mountain. Is feasible?"

"No. Punch a monster instead. Has to be Heavenly King, and you can't use a buff, or you can, but you need to find something twice as strong. Mountains can work, but you end up destroying the surrounding area too, so the practice is heavily looked down upon by the countries whose mountains are now gone. Good luck and goodbye!"

Well damn.

Player Choice
>Write-in, what do now?

>>4019190
> Kinda miffed about no mountain punching. Ah, well. New plan! Clearly, we can't just go look for an Heavenly King right out the bat, so go look for some low-level monsters to train your CQC and show off in front of the kids.

>>4019295
>Zou wants to fight!
>You are at the edge of the wastelands
>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for an encounter, keeping in mind of the two people who are very squishy just behind you.

Rolled 40, 40, 8 = 88 (3d100)

>>4019339

>>4019423
>80 because double 40s

You spot something in the distance, prowling about. A Wind Wolf, a very powerful Wind Wolf. It must have migrated here quickly, as it doesn't know how to evade the hot sun. It sees you, and starts to run towards you. Teeth bared in hunger. Azzura becomes very scared, taking a few steps back. Hongtian is curious, but has complete faith in you.

Player Choice
>Write-in, what would you like to do next?

>>4019486
> Use Kinetic Barrier on all allies, then charge forth using Burst to punch the wolf in the face at full power.

Rolled 51 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>4019556

Alright
>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for combat DC my 1d100-5

Rolled 96, 24, 95 = 215 (3d100)

>>4019591

>>4019860
>96
Success!

You activate Kinetic Barrier, the ice, water and almost wind protecting the three of you. You wait for the perfect moment, and use Burst. Your wings propelling you forward, smashing the wolf to smithereens with an iron fist. You see a rather large Core drop to the floor. The body turning to dust in seconds. You use your Wind to bring it to you. The engravings of claws and blood striking out to you. You don't think you have seen that before.

Hongtian is visibly ecstatic!

"That was so cool! Can I do that?!" You hear her shout through the thick materials used for the suit. Azzura has fallen to the floor. You run over in a flash, and she tries her best to get away from you, in fear.

"Stop. Where's dad? Please, stop." Hongtian is confused, and tries to pick her sister up.

"Monster." You hear her say to you. This was unexpected.

"Human. This is what Power Jewels can do for you. It's what we have to do, it's what you will have to experience if you do not want to be left in the mud." The truth hurts, why hide it now? You become a lot more stern to her.

"The Angel, is he more powerful?"

"Yes."

"Oh." She collapses on the grey sand, becoming unconscious, you can feel other monsters, potentially much stronger ones coming closer to you. The fear drawing them closer. You use your Light Element to signal to the guards on the Wall, and you bring them both back inside, the Elemental Cannons dealing with the problems coming closer.

Player Choice for the rest of the morning
>Write-in

Quest can continue at 16:30 GMT, hopefully. Thanks for playing!

>>4019911
> It's story time! Narrate an abridged, kid-friendly and romanticized version of your life story to the kids, to make them understand the power and weight of Jewels.

>>4021675
You wait for Azzura to wake up, she's a bit shaken, but it looks like time has helped her progress.

"Now then. I need to explain to the both of you what Power Jewels are, what they mean to me, what they can do. I was born, like the two of you. I never met my parents."

"Did they run away from home?" Azzura asks, innocently.

"Yeah. Yeah kind of."

"Did our mum run away too?"

"No. No she did not! Just listen, you can ask questions afterwards. I grew up poor, little food, small house, but a lot of company. I was at the bottom of the world. At some point we could go see a good friend, almost like a brother to me. Song Chad-Pah. However, it all had to end one day. I had to leave, I was 14, I was an adult. I joined a people who...did a dangerous job, getting rid of monsters like that wolf. When I didn't have Jewels, one of those things nearly did a very bad thing to me. I was saved, but it taught me a lesson. Jewels, or, at least cultivation, were my way out, so that would never happen again. I found a strong technique in the woods, and became much stronger. I have done terrifying things. Have you learnt what the moon is yet?"

"No..." Hongtian says, rather disappointed.

"Well, when you do know this will be all the more important. I went to the Moon, defeated a great evil, something that affected me, your mother, Fei, Jessica, even the common man, or girl. I would have never done any of that without my Jewels." You flash the nine pairs out of your wrists, the glow permeating the room.

"If you want respect, you need Jewels. If you don't want that wolf to come too close, you need Jewels. They are what define us, what makes us human. Monsters cannot have these, and our intelligence made them better, more useful."

Azzura is listening more, her sight becoming intense.

"Monsters can't have them?"

"Nope, they have something else, but humanity is special. We use them to do anything we want."

"Can we make all the sweets I want?" Hongtian asks, curious, but for the wrong reasons.

"Probably, if you had the Life Element, or some more specialised technique? It depends. You can become a goddess and order people to make sweets I guess?"

"Cool! I want Jewels!" Well, at least Hongtian's sold.

"Can I beat that Angel if I get those Jewels?" Azzura asks, she looks very afraid.

"Maybe. I will try when the time comes, but for now. I need to use my Jewels, and get stronger. That's why we are near this forbidden place. All the strong monsters come here. Things which no normal person could even comprehend."

"I want to be strong. Strong enough to not hurt you."

"We can try. Now let's get back to work. Get your suits on."

Player Choice
>Write-in, what would you like to do?

>>4021784
> Look for Earth Element monsters, or something with high defense but low mobility. Punching bags.

>>4021804
>Roll 3d100+10 best of ONE for an encounter

Rolled 7, 12, 98 = 117 (3d100)

>>4021812

>>4021859
>108
Ah

It doesn't take long. You see something glimmering in the distance, which you have to fly over to see. You know what it is. A massive metal golem. This one must be made of a mixture of steel, gold and aluminium. Useful if kept alive, as the resources can be extracted, but not when dead. It also has extraordinarily high defence. This one seems especially powerful, Heavenly Emperor? Why is it all the way over here? These things normally stay away, you can even see minor electrical work and gears. This could be bad, very bad. The Railgun is this strong!

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4021870
> Buff HE, Laser Beam ×20000 HE.

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>4021875
>Light vs metal/Earth
>Damage is halved due to resistance
>Some light is reflected

You summon a good chuck of HE, enough to make even the strongest Hunters worry, and blast it out as the simplest form of Laser Beam. It travels at the speed of light, and you see the metal monstrosity start to heat up at the point of contact, but it doesn't seem to be doing much damage at all. You see it's eye, red, now pointed towards you. You can hear the clunking and chugging of some engine whirring to life.

"TARGET DETECTED. THREAT IDENTIFIED: NEGLIGIBLE. TAKING AIM."

You see your own Laser Beam shoot off it in many directions, you get hit by some of them, and it burns you, pain searing through your intestines, you don't see blood due to the cauterising effect. You see one beam touch Azzura's arm for a second, but the suit reflects the light into the sky. Hongtian is examining the area with interest. You see the giant's chest open up, and you see a primitive generator, connected to a very high quality capacitor. The Lightning energy builds up, a purple glow infusing the atmosphere. You hear the cannons of the wall behind you, your super hearing telling you that the threat has been identified. Your Laser Beam hit its lower body. Your Heavenly Energy cuts out, the desired amount having been pumped through. The area is hot, red hot, with the gold melting off, but it isn't broken.

"PULSE READY. FOR THE KING. FOR THE KING." The purple light condenses into its capacitor, it must be a new Element. You can feel your knees buckle, you have taken more damage than you though. The gap between Jewels is immense at this level, he thinks of you as nothing. Azzura is panicking, and Hongtian is visibly worried. This is not good. As strong as you have become, it means nothing to the realm of the Heavens!

Rolling 1d100 DC 60 for successful attack, this will paralyse you for a round, and kill both Azzura and Hongtian if successful.
>If DC met then ??? will progress

Player Choice
>Write-in, what would you like to do?

>>4021894
>STA is now at 200

Sorry forgot about that.

>>4021894
> Teleport to the walls if possible, if not Burst, if not charge the beast to divert its aim as far as possible from the children

>>4021906

You grab on to Azzura and Hongtian, and Swap away to the walls.

"Sir! We can see the monster!" one of the guards provides some information, as you see the golem shudder, as Lightning shoots across its body, the attack failed.

"Orders sir! Commander!"

"Dad? What's happening?"

Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4021913
> Order the soldier to take the children. Rise atop the walls. Aim. Rend.

>>4021915
"Take these two. Keep them safe. I'm going to try something."

"Got it sir." Hongtian grabs onto your leg, but the soldier basically pulls her off you.

"Missy this is a matter of life and death, just listen to your dad, alright?"

Azzura follows the advice, waving you goodbye. You Swap to the roof. You can see the Golem. You focus on it, your Spatial Element reacting to your own will, and not that of a Skill. You activate Rend, and see the right arm of the Golem topple to the ground as the space was sliced apart. The Golem continues undisturbed. You have less than 80% of your Heavenly Energy left, you have three shots with this technique to use.

>Right Arm has been severed, three rounds until it arrives at the wall
>You have 962240 HE for use on Stored Skills, Techniques work independently of values.
Player Choice
>Write-in

>>4021950
> Try to Rend its wings

>>4021958
It has no wings.
>It is a walking, more like trudging metal thing, bipedal, with one arm left. My apologies for not specifying beforehand.

>>4021962
> Then, Heavenly Slash (Charged) plus Heavenly Slash ×60000 HE!

File: Rainbow Feather.jpg (138 KB, 1000x1023)

138 KB JPG

>>4022033

>The machine takes neutral damage.

You prepare a charged Heavenly Slash, the Heavenly Energy, many times as much as before, pooling in your Jewels.

>2 Rounds until impact

You can hear the robot charging up again, the purple energy forming. It thinks it can hit you at this range. You let loose the rainbow feathered slash, the piercing sound reverberates as the edges scream and tear at the machinery. The attack is cut short as the electrical pulse is released early, the wave of energy, forming a dome around the monster, banishing the attack. However, it is not far from dying, you see sparks, and twitches. It is struggling to move, the core must be cracked.

You take what little Heavenly Energy you had left, and launch a massive attack, the sound, and the blowback damaging the wall itself, almost pushing you off, the clouds part, the sand blasts away as the pure force pushes it aside. You aimed at the core, the dead centre. You feel the impact from here as the golem falls to bits, the core falling to the ground as the metal and precious resources fade to dust.

>You have no HE

You see something in the distance, in the air. A small bird like thing, expect, with a human like face. It's creepy, but you don't have the energy to take it out. It flies away in a flash. You swap the Core over to you, engravings of wires, gears and some fascinating symbols rest on it, you even see some differing colours, not just brown. This thing was powerful. It took your all to kill it, not good.

You fall to the ground, your injuries, combined with the lack of Heavenly Energy taking its toll. You try to restore it, but you can't think very well, so the technique cancels out. You see the guard, with your children, but you are not sure you want them to see you like this, they're scared already, seeing you would just add fuel to the fire.

>Roll 2d100 for perception DC 60 and using Focused Regeneration DC 50 best of ONE.

>End of the morning, the story-telling took a bit of time.
Player Choice for the afternoon
>Write-in, what would you like to do now?

Rolled 22, 93 = 115 (2d100)

>>4022077
... Why did that use all our HE? The previously charged Slash shouldn't cost that much to release, right?

>>4022115
No, it's a charged attack, you put Heavenly Energy into an attack to be used later. You didn't specify how much, so I went with what charged means to me, as much HE you can manage, I'll ask about it in future. An attack with variable HE just allows you to use it at a delayed point in time, and is used per the charge applied. In the heat of battle using a charged attack provides no benefit.

There is no way to have a low cost and high power attack without exemptions.

>22
>93

You use Focused Regeneration, and immediately gain back all of your HE, unbuffed. You notice nothing else wrong.

>I would like the write-in before 21:00 please, as that's when I have to stop.
>If I don't see anything. The quest can continue at 19:45 GMT tomorrow. It is a busy day that ends at 18:00 in the evening.

>>4022142
Sorry, I was eating. Anyway...
> Check on the kids

>>4022239
>Check on the kids

You stand up, your burnt body struggling to keep up with the demands required of it. However, you take step by step. The guard is very wary of the height the three of you are at. Azzura is in a bit of shock when she sees you.

"Are you OK dad?"

"Yeah. Are you OK? The both of you?"

"Y-yeah."

"Yeah! That was so cool! There were all these colours! I don't even know all their names!" Hongtian shouts, her voice straining to shout over the wind.

At least one person is having fun around here, you think the only one. The kids are safe. You activate Revitalise and your body returns to complete form.

"What are we going to do now?" Azzura asks. The guard interrupts her, something important?

"Sir? We are reporting the incident to the higher ups for analysis. You should receive a proper report tomorrow." He leaves, your kids running over to you for balance. There are no guard rails up here, for some odd reason. Probably one of Jessica's harebrained ideas.

Player Choice for the afternoon
>Write-in
>STA has been fully recovered

>>4024488
> Go back home; too much excitement for one day.

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>4024529
>Go back home

It takes but a moment, you teleport back home with the kids.

"It's been too much for me today. I think some rest will do."

"Awwww, I wanted to see more cool stuff!"

"Tough. I want to sit here. How about some reading?"

"OK!" Hongtian dashes off, always diligent in whatever she does. Azzura follows, but is reading, and practising at a much slower rate, what happened today is still affecting her. You could probably "Purify" the thoughts from her mind, but you don't want to do that.

>You are at home
>What would you like to do? Write-in
and
>Roll 3d100+5 for teaching, but not as an active action, best of ONE.

Rolling 1d100 DC 95 for STUFF

Rolled 67, 17, 5 = 89 (3d100)

>>4024544
> Train Web of Sin

>>4024558
>94
AHHHHH, 1 OFF!

>72

Hongtian completes the alphabet, and starts on smaller words. Her vocabulary is getting larger each day. Azzura has almost finished the letters with Hongtian's help. You decide to leave them to their own devices unless they ask questions to you.

You want to train a technique, your Skills are limited, and will become more so over time, getting stronger means sacrifice, in this case, what little time you have left on this Earth. Web of Sin will become more and more useful, its only limitation being that in order for the web to grow there have to be new people close by. You can get a specific look at a few people at a time.

You summon your Jewels, and will them to your desires. The dark thoughts everyone has opening to you, person by person.

>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for training

Rolled 6, 4, 33 = 43 (3d100)

>>4024590

>>4024648

>33
>Updating paste

You don't get very far, in fact. You manage to chain 5 people, with each of their distinct sins broadcast to you. You run out of Heavenly Energy again and again, eventually reaching 8 people before the evening strikes.

Player Choice for the evening
>Write-in

Bad news. I'm limited for running time tomorrow, 14:00 to 18:00 GMT.

>>4024707
> Train HE Control

>>4024729
>Applying buff of 512

>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for HE Control training.
This may be the last time you have to do this. Unless you get a nat 1.

Rolled 22, 22, 16 = 60 (3d100)

>>4024731

>>4024755
>Double 22
>44*512=22528
>Fully Divine Heavenly Energy Control complete!

You wear your Consolidated Equipment, all eight pieces shining in full glory. You can feel a change in the way you control your Heavenly Energy. It used to feel almost foreign, something alien to you. Now it is you. You have complete control. There are next to no limits now!

>Abilities gained
>You can now make and delete your own skills, which are limited to your own Jewel rank, is 9 Stars at the moment. You cannot delete your current Stored Skills, only the ones you make hereafter.
>Domain has been strengthened, divine entities will recognise your presence as that of a god, similar to the likes of Fei.
>You can mold and shape your Physical Jewels to make new Consolidated Equipment. You still have your set as a standard, but you can change and diversify within limits. You only have Strength after all.

Player Choice for the night
>Write-in

I have to stop now. Thanks for playing! Congratulations on the Divine Heavenly Energy Control, I was sort of expecting this earlier. Times for quest tomorrow have been mentioned already.

>>4024796
> Sleep

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>4026433
>Sleep
>Azzura's POV

Dad was training all afternoon, "Web of Seen" or something. It's boring for you, but he does it a lot and it makes him stronger, you felt a biiig change in him this time. You went to sleep after reading a lot. You don't like reading, it makes your head hurt. Today was really scary too, dad looked so horrible at the high up place. Do I really have to learn how to fight things like that?

*Child, listen*

You go to bed after dad finishes. Nothing unusual happens, but you don't let your guard down. The night always scares you; you finally know how to read the word for it too.

*Awaken your power!*

Your brain must be weird, ever since you got big there's been voices. You haven't told dad or anything. All they tell you is rubbish, and you don't want to worry him anymore. You told sis and she looked at you weirdly, let's not mention it again. You don't want to feel weird, that's sis's thing.

Feel the force of Heaven!

The voice gets louder. High-pitched, like your own. This is new. You can't sleep like this. Your body gets too warm at every word, it's like it glows or something, you don't know what to call it.

>End of Azzura POV

Rolling 1d100 DC 90 for STUFF

>Roll 3d100 DC 50 to wake up for ??? in the case of the DC being met.

>>4026471
Or don't, sorry.

>Start of the 197th day

You awake to a letter, the sharp sound of the letterbox hitting your ears. It's the report on yesterday's incident, on time as usual. It's actually a little thicker than you expected and it came with 200 Gold for your exceptional service.

Nice.

>You have 22331 Gold
Player Choice for the morning
>Write-in

Rolled 42, 45, 90 = 177 (3d100)

>>4026471

>>4026472
> Hongtian wants to learn to fly. You can fly. See if she can fly yet. It's a really good way to escape, after all.

>>4026478

"Oi! You with the wings, get outside."

"Huh? Wha?"

"You want to know how to fly right? I can fly, let's see how you do."

"Aw sweet! I'mma soar through the skies!" She shouts. The things kids come up with astounds you sometimes. Heights were one of the biggest fears for the girls back at the orphanage, yet this one jumps right in. She follow you, her wings making her move a lot quicker than usual.

"Show me your wings dad!" She looks very expectant. This will be fun. You summon your Jewels, the Wind Element glowing from the, surrounding your body, using the force to lift you into the air.

"You try now. Use your wings to push your body up, and keep flapping them, try and hover a bit.

"OK!" You see Azzura looking on, watching with her own expectations.

"You can't just watch forever, how about something else?"

"Sure dad. Give me a minute!" She has to shout over the Wind that if lifting you up.

>I would ask you to roll for teaching, but I have a roll already
>119

Hongtian puts her all into it. All 3 Feet and 4 inches slowly lifting up. You direct her on stamina control, and particularly on balance. She manages to get about a metre off the ground, before collapsing back to the ground every time. She could definitely not run with her ability. Even with all 4 cylinders running she isn't going much of anywhere.

After the 5th try Azzura walks off, probably doing some more reading practice.

"I think we should stop for now. Maybe your wing muscles aren't strong enough for this." You tell her with some disappointment in your voice, you could probably buff her strength to a high enough value to make her fly, but it would not last forever.

You get a call from Jessica.

"Hello? I'm just calling to say my break has ended, if you wanted to talk about anything then I'll be on Mars, doing nothing. Say bye to YianEyue for me! Bye bye!" She ends the call abruptly, she's probably calling everyone one after another.

Player Choice for the afternoon
>Write-in, remember you can make your own Skills now up to 9 Stars, any ideas? Any techniques you want to try and unlock?

>>4026490
> Oh, definitely. But first, let's try using two elements at once.

>>4026494

You have to try something. You can feel a distinct change in the ownership of your Jewels, and you try something. You try and draw out two different Elements at once. It works, but at a halved rate than usual. There is a trade off. Your Wind and Water pooling in the Jewel you chose. You could use both Skills at once, but at half the effect. You try three, and each is down to a third of it's original power. You haven't tried to mix any Elements yet, you don't know what will happen after all.

>Adding to paste

Player Choice for the rest of the afternoon
>Write-in

>>4026504
> Mix Water and Wind: CHAOS POWER!

>>4026514

You take the Elements in your Jewels, and start to mix them together. Wind and Water. It produces an odd combination. You start to see the ground, the area around you start to discombobulate. Like something is interrupting the natural order. You don't know what it can do, but the effect stops after a half a metre out, and the sphere of effect moves with you.

You do this until the evening arrives, the sky looking awfully redder tonight. Your garden is a mess, the Element having wrought havoc on the order the plants worked to make.

>You can use the basic ability of the Chaos Element
>You don't know what this is yet, have fun discovering it
>You cannot use any Stored Skills of the Chaos Element, as you do not have Chaos Jewels.

Player Choice for the evening
>Write-in

>>4026522
> Sound is vibration through air particles. Wind controls air. Can we make sounds? Try to make the air around you carry voices without speaking.

>>4026527
>You have been able to do this since the early days. Fei taught you.

I have to go, not sure for how long. Toilet seat has come undone and I have to fix it. What a world!

>>4026532
> Well, then. Idea 2! Space solidification! Use your Spatial Element to identify an area in front of you and make space in it as dense as possible.

>>4026532
Alright I'm back.

>I need a different write-in, you already know how to do this.

>>4026550
>Less than a minute later

You use your Spatial Element to make a fist-sized area of space denser. You see the light itself bend and curve towards it. Like the fabric of space-time is stretching like it really shouldn't. You throw something at it, and the material is sucked in, hitting a solid mass. However, the increased gravity has made the ground deform again.

You try something different, instead re-identifying the space as solid matter using your divine permissions. This time, it works. You make a solid wall of space, something could break through it, but they would need an enormous amount of strength to pull it off.

Player Choice for the rest of the evening
>Write-in

>>4026551
> Use Wind Element to create a vacuum, and Water Element to have it reach Absolute Zero

>>4026575

>Absolute Zero
>Complete Vacuum

>Roll 1d100 DC 95 for a domain roll.

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>4026577

>>4026605
>Nope

You try and make a vacuum. You don't get very far. You make a very cold area, but nothing like what you wanted.

Player Choice for the night
>Write-in

>>4026607
>Sleep

>>4026663
>Sleep
>Start of the 198th day

You get up early today. There's a lot to experiment with, and only so little time. Instead of anything productive, you get a call, from Fei.

"You have new orders. Man the Wall, we have had reports, which we sent to you yesterday about a massive battalion of monsters approaching our border. We think they are from the Saint Enclave, so be ready. If you have any other information about them, it would be really appreciated right about now."

Player Choice
>Write-in

Player Choice for the morning
>Write-in

I have to stop now. Apologies. The quest can run from 14:00 to 16:30 GMT tomorrow. Thanks for playing! Things are really ramping up now.

>>4026676
> Ask about how many men she's giving you, and what he should expect, and how the defense is organized
> Pick some books, toys, the kids and go to The Wall

>>4028513
>>4026676
> Also tell her about the military-related details you observed in the Enclave.

>>4028513

"How many men do I have control over?"

"Like 50? All about 5-7 Jewels. Pretty strong stuff."

"Right, well. We should expect the majority of the leadership to be Saint Element based, the rest will be all the Elements apart from maybe Water. They are strong but ranged attacks will be the way to go, as that's what most of them used. If the leader is with them ensure he cannot be seen, he has the Divine Element after all."

"Finally something useful! Get to work!" Fei ends the call. You pick up the kids, who were simply lazing about, a few books from your personal collection, and teleport to the Wall. You are invited to come to the Hangar instead by one of the generals. You see your direct superior, the Vice-Marshal, for the first time in weeks.

"My orders were to man the Wall sir."

"Well, I need you on observation duty. No weapons will be necessary so you can use a single-pilot ship." He taps the small craft, newly built, right next to him.

"What about Azzura and Hongtian? They mustn't leave me."

"Tough, they won't feel well in that thing, there's not enough space in there. They can stay with me, I'll protect them with 9 Jewels of excellence." You turn to your kids. Hongtian is wary of the new man, but Azzura is completely calm, she seems fine with the prospect of staying here.

"I have 50 men to worry about. Down here."

"Tch, who told you that?"

"Fei, the Queen."

"Oh screw her! She has no idea how this war thing works! Listen to me. I need you to give information to your men in the wall, they can pass it to me, and other Elemental Heads. Sound good?"

Player Choice
>Sole mission on the ship, kids stay with Zhang
>Go on ship, but report regularly to the 50 men you are in charge of, kids stay with Zhang
>Ignore the ship entirely and follow Fei's orders to the letter, the kids stay with you

>>4028536
> Call up the Queen and ask if it's fine to follow the Vice-Marshal. Let them fight over you.

>>4028577

You take out your communicator. The Vice-Marshal looks like he's about to explode.

"Yes? Who is this?"

"Zou. The Vice-Marshal gave me some orders. Should I follow them?"

"Oh, sure, just make sure it's about defence. I don't want a single one of those monsters to make it into the city." She ends the call.

"So? What was the verdict?" He asks, face becoming redder by the second.

"She's given the OK for me to do as you want."

"What a godsend! Thank you Heavens for this gift!"

>It is fine to follow the Vice-Marshal's orders.

Player Choice
>With this new information, which choice?

>>4028589
>Sole mission on the ship, kids stay with Zhang
Operative "Angel" flies solo into enemy lines.

>>4028598

You tell the kids to keep safe, and that you'll be going alone in this teleship.

"Booo! Dad isn't cool! Stay here! On ground!"

"I can't! You'll be fine." You walk off, no more room for conversation here, no more time. You board the ship, and set off, patrolling the wall. You can only see the desert at the moment, but activating a few switches produces a Spatial zoom function, and you certainly see something in the distance, although you need to focus for more detail.

>Roll 3d100 best of ONE for perception.

Rolled 20, 59, 79 = 158 (3d100)

>>4028612

>>4028619

>79

You see about 80 monsters, all who look human enough to be Heavenly King or slightly lower. You see one of them, right in the centre and up at the front, is wearing a veil. You recognise this thing, it is the King. Oh dear. There are a variety of Elements, but 4 monsters in particular worry you.

First is the largest, a quadrupedal monster, which embodies the Fire Element, with strokes of the Saint. It could have been an ox in its younger days, but it is prey no longer. Then there is a human shaped amorphous being, with glowing white eyes and a grey body, you think it might be Spatial. Then there is a monster who has a human top-half, but the bottom half is a single wheel, attached to a gyroscopic mechanism, it appears to be the Darkness Element, as shadow drips off the wheel, staining the sand, or whatever it is black for a few seconds, also that the last monster, which you can't make out, appears to keep clear of both the Darkness monster and its path of travel.

The rest are all sorts of Elements, but there is only one Water Element monster, who appears to be in bad shape, but doesn't appear to be sad about it. You can tell you are spotted, but you are not shot out of the sky. You think that at their currently slow pace, it might take 2-3 days before they reach the Wall. You have that many days to prepare.

>These beasts will arrive on the morning of day 200

Player Choice
>Write-in, what do now?

>>4028630
> Send your findings to the Vice-Marshal, then ask if dropping giant icicle from orbit is a good idea or too much. You're open to critique.

>>4028638

"HELL NO! Do not kill them, you are outnumbered and outranked by 79. Not even forgetting the trouble we're in for, alerting all the other monsters in the area. We leave that place alone. Shao-Bao and I will be taking on that Spatial monster, a Heavenly God will do the trick. That masked guy could be a problem, if only Shian were here."

"So what do we I do now?"

"Train I guess? We'll have people in the news spread the information about. Jessica has an eye from space so she can look for the 4th big monster. Sun-Di is rallying the troops. If anything, set up a buffing clinic for when they come. We need as many people to be resistant to the Divine Element as possible, set up by the north entrance."

"We have a north entrance?"

"We will by tomorrow. Dismissed." He ends the call.

Player Choice
>What do now? You haven't been told to give up the ship for now.

I have to stop now. The quest can start again at 14:00 GMT on Sunday with a new thread probably. Thanks for playing!

>>4028644
> Go back, and try to see if you can buff more than one person at a time. Group Buffs are a Support's bread and butter!

>>4028653

NEW THREAD
>>4034519