Chapter 194: CP: 194 Umm... Quests?!
Alex looked at the seven stones, all glowing steadily in the morning light. He looked at the four small lions distributed around the alcove. He looked at his mates, his family, the walls of the sanctuary rising around them.
"I’m deciding," he said. " We don’t know the depth of its power or what it’s capable of, so I’m saying we keep watch. We wait while we see what it’ll do while also preparing ourselves for every kind of circumstances.
I have a family now, I do not want to risk it all. Over a shadow entity or any threshold. "
"How?" Leo asked.
"The stones are all awake now. System is mostly back." Alex pressed his palm flat against the spirit stone, feeling its warmth move up his arm. "The shadow has been trying to communicate with me since before the wolf territory attack. Through mercenaries, through dreams, through—everything except a direct conversation." He paused.
[Host,] System said carefully. [ Waiting on your enemy carries significant risk. It has three thousand years of practice at this. You have—]
"Less than that," Alex agreed. "I know. But going back again and doing whatever it wants is also equally risky.
---
That night, Alex couldn’t sleep.
Not for any dramatic reason—the cubs were settled, his body ache had receded to a manageable background note, the snakelings were in the nursery cavern engaged in what sounded like a very involved debate about which of the lion cubs had made the best entrance. He was warm and surrounded and full of crystal honey syrup.
He just couldn’t sleep.
He lay in the dark, feeling the slow breathing of his mates around him, and looked at the seven stones where they rested on the flat rock. All glowing. All warm. All present.
[You’re thinking,] System said.
"Always."
[Specifically you’re thinking about the future. About what could be done to protect your family.]
"Is it that obvious?"
[Your heart rate has been slightly elevated for the past hour. Nothing concerning. Just indicative of ongoing cognitive activity.]
Alex was quiet for a moment. Then:
"System,"
" Yes? "
" Is there any way to secure my family’s safety? "
" Yes. There is. But you won’t like the answer. "
" I don’t mind, tell me. " Alex asked. Voice latched with quiet curiosity.
" Well. Your quests. "
[ Quest For Seven Stones: Complete ]
[ Quest For Multiple Mates: 46% ]
[ Quest For Gaining Top-tier Mates: 41% ]
[ Main Mission: Bear Multiple Cubs And Save The Beast World: 11%
Sub-objectives (unlocked upon completion of Seven Stones):
• Establish permanent sanctuary territory (56%)
• Achieve Top-tier fertility status (currently: High fertility → Top-tier pending final evaluation)
• Form a minimum of five permanent, high-star mate bonds (currently: 4/5)
• Produce at least twenty viable offspring across multiple pregnancies (currently: 11/20)
• Unite at least four major beast tribes under a single protection pact (currently: 5/4 – Bear, Mer, Eagle,wolf and serpent) ]
[ Secret bonus objective: Convince an apex-tier being (Dragon Lord class or higher) to swear personal fealty (currently: 0%)]
The holographic display hung in the dim alcove like a small constellation, its pale blue light washing over the sleeping cubs and the glowing stones and Alex’s face, which had gone through several distinct stages of expression in the span of about fifteen seconds.
[Shall I explain in details?] System asked.
"Please don’t."
[The twenty offspring threshold is a structural requirement for the top-tier classification. It accounts for natural attrition rates in—]
"System."
[Yes?]
"I just gave birth yesterday."
[Technically thirty-one hours ago, but I take your point. Tabling the offspring metrics.]
Alex stared at the quest display for a long moment. The numbers sat there with complete indifference to his feelings about them—percentages and fractions and the particular bureaucratic calm of a system that had been built to measure things and was simply doing what it was built to do.
"Five mates," he said finally. "Minimum five."
[The fifth bond would need to be high-star for the classification to advance. Four-star or above.]
"And I currently have—"
[Naga: five stars. Leo: five stars. Zale: four stars. Lucas: four-and-a-half.]
Lucas, who Alex had thought was asleep, made a sound that wasn’t quite a word.
"Four and a half?" Alex asked.
[The bond formed under emergency circumstances,] System said, with the diplomatic precision of someone delivering news they knew would land badly. [ Stars symbolizes a beastman’s strength, it means Lucas is strong but he isn’t as strong as Naga or Leo. In the battle between any of them, Lucas would lose without any issues.]
"I’m right here, I can hear you, you know." Lucas said.
[I know. I’m describing your prowess,no?]
Lucas was quiet for a moment. Then: "Four and a half."
"You’ll be five soon," Alex said. "System said—"
"I know what System said." Lucas’s voice was flat in a way that was less upset than it was simply doing the math. "I’m still younger than Naga and Leo. It makes sense." A pause. "Who’s the fifth?"
The question settled into the dark alcove with the weight of something that had been sitting just outside the conversation for a while, waiting.
Alex looked at the quest display. At the Secret bonus objective entry, currently sitting at zero percent.
[The wording of the secret objective,] System said carefully, [is ’apex-tier being, Dragon Lord class or higher, swears personal fealty.’ I want to be transparent about the ambiguity there.]
"Is it—" Alex stopped. Started again. "Is Drakar—does this mean what I think it means?"
[It means,] System said, [that the structural conditions for full top-tier status include a bond of apex resonance. The secret objective is classified as ’bonus’ because it wasn’t expected to be achievable. Dragon Lords do not form bonds. They haven’t in recorded history.] A pause. [But then, recorded history didn’t account for you. Plus, Granite is also available in case you want variations. ]
From somewhere in the sanctuary, a sound reached them—low, deep, the particular resonance of something very large breathing in the outer courtyard. Drakar had been there since sunset, in his preferred position against the eastern wall, watching the valley with those molten ruby eyes.
Alex thought about the year. About a dragon lord who had looked at everything happening around him and decided, without being asked, to stay. Who had come to the lion territory and planted himself in the background and said not a word until the moment his voice was the only thing that would break the tension without bloodshed. Who had watched the birth from the corridor and had not left afterward.
Who called his investment in all of this a matter of finding something genuinely interesting.
Alex rubbed a hand over his face. The ache in his chest wasn’t just let-down anymore; it was the familiar tug of something enormous trying to fit inside a life that already felt full to bursting. "I’m not collecting people like spirit stones, System. I have four mates I love. Four children who are barely a day old. Six more who think staring contests are how you make friends. I’m not—"
[ I know. You asked me for the best way to protect your family and I gave you the best option there is. By completing the quests. ] System continued. [ If you want to enhance your power and not constantly rely on your mates and family to do things for you. I recommend you think about it, host.]