Lena alternated between sniffing and outright bawling for the next minutes, even after Rob had helped her sit on the chair, pulled the table close and pced the wonderfully-smelling chicken soup in front of her.
Rob sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, slightly smushed candy. He unwrapped it and pced it in front of Lena. “Your favorite.”
Lena, still sniffling, rubbed at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Her lip trembled, but she took the candy anyway, popping it into her mouth. She chewed slowly, and her hiccupping sobs gradually quieted.
Blorbo couldn’t quite shake the discomfort that had been gnawing at him since the emotional scene between Lena and Anders. But he was Blorbo, after all—the table of legend. It wasn’t his pce to dwell on emotions.
I mean… what’s done is done. We can concentrate on getting that mage power amped up, yeah yeah? You and me, Lena. You can become the strongest mage in all the nds, and I can gain some stats.
Suddenly…
TWO new quests appeared before him.
[NEW QUEST: Amend the Wrongs]
Objective: Help mend the rift in the family by reconciling Lena and Anders. Automatically fails upon the acceptance of [The Adventure of the Lonely Mage]
Reward: 10 CP, Lena’s morale +90
Failure: The family fractures completely
Accept: Yes/No
and
[NEW QUEST: The Adventure of the Lonely Mage*]
Objective: Ditch the farmer life. Burn your bridges and abandon your family to become the strongest mage adventurer in the nd. Automatically fails upon the acceptance of [The Adventure of the Lonely Mage]
Reward: +10 STR, +10 MP, +5 CP, the Epic Staff of the Broken Shell
Failure: An adventurer doesn’t fail. Are you scared or something?
Accept: Yes/No
Ah, yes. The cssic choice. The morally sound path that pays absolutely garbage, or the path of power, self-determination, and an Epic staff. I can finally leave the world of vegetables and become someone worthy of greatness!
Or maybe I can just not accept either of the quests and let destiny takes the wheel.
Wait. Destiny is the System. Nah, maybe not.
I must strive for greatness!
Blorbo was about to pick the second quest. But just as he was about to accept the quest, something stopped him.
“It’s going to be fine, dear,” Rob’s soothing, cooing voice rang out behind him. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
He saw Rob, his hands on Lena’s shoulders, trying to console her. Her face was scrunched in quiet tears, but Rob kept patting on her back nonetheless. Even the cat Tabby seemed sympathizing, as he walked over and lightly rubbed Lena’s leg.
Are you for real, Blorbo? What are you doing?
He had watched the family for weeks now, observed how they cared for each other. Sure, maybe his decisions wouldn’t matter in the grand schemes of things, but…
I sure as heck couldn’t have done much to help them, but... I can’t be so heartless to add insult to injury. Not after everything.
He quietly willed himself to click on the first option.
[QUEST ACCEPTED: Amend the Wrongs]
Now he’d gone and done it. He’d accepted the quest. He felt a great sense of relief, as if an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulder. As if he had dodged a red fg.
But what the hell was he supposed to do now? He wasn’t exactly a retionship expert. He barely knew what a hug was, let alone how to fix a father-daughter dispute.
But he couldn’t just sit here, could he? No, action was needed.
Think, Blorbo, think…
As he was thinking, he accidentally leaned too hard to the side. The cat was walking past at the exact moment, and it jumped at the sudden movement. Its jump created ripples the air that pushed the pi?ata around. As the pi?ata swung, it ripped the ribbons off the rope, and the ribbons started fpping again.
Lena, still sniffling, looked up at the ribbon with a confused expression. Her lips quivered slightly. She sniffed, and then chuckled quietly. “Look what I’ve gone and done,” she said. “That pi?ata looks horrific. I’ll be a terrible mage.”
Rob didn’t reply.
Lena sighed. “What does it matter if I can cast spells? I’m perfectly happy with this life, with my own little farm, my own little cat…” She ran a hand up Rob’s messy, slightly greasy hair. “And my own perfect man. Maybe dad knows what’s good for me after all.”
“He shouldn’t have said that to you, nonetheless,” Rob replied with a calm smile.
“He’s not known for his good-temper, Robert. But he’s not a bad man.”
“Well then now he’s gotten time to calm down, he should be able to hold a conversation like a mature adult.” Rob’s smile faded as he wiped the st tear from Lena’s cheek. “I’m not going to let this sit,” he muttered under his breath, his eyes sharpening with resolve.
Lena, now breathing more evenly, looked up at him. “Rob, don’t go after him.”
But Rob simply stood up, eyes locked on the door. His voice now burned with fury rarely heard from him. “I’m going after him.” Rob strode toward the door. “Lena... stay here. I’ll be back.”
Lena opened her mouth to protest, but Rob was already gone.
Wait. What just happened? Did I do anything?
Oh yeah. I haven’t chosen my pair of socks.
Blorbo’s mind flicked back to the notification about his reward for completing the quest.
[Congratutions! Please pick your favorite pair of socks.]
The options were the darker-colored ones, the wooden-colored ones, and the brightly-colored ones. None of them gave any extra stats of boon.
Fine. I’ll pick the wooden-colored socks. They would blend in better.
The human-sized socks materialized completely out of thin air, nding perfectly onto his wooden surface. They were just the right size... for a human, not a table.
I have four legs. FOUR! Why did you only give me two?
Heavy footsteps echoed through the door, but only from one pair of feet. So Rob’s returned. Empty-handed.
But nope. The door opened, and it was Rob AND Anders. The old man’s expression was still tight with frustration, but there was a calmer air about him. Both his shoulders and his ever-present frown were less rigid.
[Detection Failed. PER too low to detect footsteps.]
He pointed at the table, his tone as firm as ever. “Everyone, sit. I’m going to tell you what you need to know.”
Lena looked at Rob, a wary glint in her eyes, but she nodded and slowly made her way to the table. Rob stood by her side, hugging the sides of her shoulders.
Once everyone was seated, Anders took a slow breath as he narrowed his eyes. He raised his hand and began to chant. “Tsi-i-ho-ya-te, nva-hi-wi-lo, ta-li-na-u-do…” the chant echoed through the room again and again even though the actual volume of the sound was really small. The words rolled out in a nguage that felt earthy, if there was any word that could describe it.
As Anders’ chant reached its final sylble, he extended his hand toward a… staff that appeared out of thin air. Rob and Lena gasped.
Damn! Why wasn’t I reincarnated as a mage?! Come on. That was cool as heck!
The staff itself was long and twisted, carved from some wood that was even darker than Elviswood. At its tip, there was a comically gigantic crystal that looked like it had been weathered by time, though it was clearly powerful. None of them seemed particurly fshy, but they surely didn’t look ordinary.
Anders pointed the staff toward the pi?ata, which had been swinging slightly with the echoes of their conversation. The ribbons, still floating in mid-air, the glitter still suspended from the burst of magic earlier, all frozen in time.
The air held its breath for a moment. Then, in an instant—nothing happened.
No explosion of light, no dramatic fre of crazy magic. Just silence.
The pi?ata, the ribbons, the glitter, and even the sound of the fpping ribbons had disappeared.
Anders lowered his staff, his voice cold and calm. “That was a reversal spell. Nothing more.”
Lena stuttered, her mouth was still half open. “A-are you a mage?”
Anders gave a short, bitter ugh. “I was an archmage.”
*I hear you on the Adventures of the Lonely Mage quest typo. It was indeed a typo, but one commenter pointed out how it is actually a genius trick from the system to take everything away from Blorbo should he choose greed, so I kept it there. Thank you for pointing it out!
NameBlorboRaceAnimated Furniture (Table)CssNoneLevel2EXP34/50HP6/15MP2CP0STR8END16AGI19PER13SkillsAppraisal (Level 1)
Adjustable Angle (2 Degrees)
Opportunity Sense (Level 1)
Surface Agitation (Level 1)
Synchronized Sitting (Level 1)
Massive Leap Under Duress (Conditional)
AuraUseless Gloved Fool (Permanent)
InventoryA Pair of Wooden-Colored Socks
