SWNOVELXO Chapter 235: You're Late
After setting up the Flume without any Issues and storing away the Floomium Cube, Aoni went ahead and retrieved his peppy birb and lazy Floof before setting them loose in the Manor to set up their micro-rooms and headed downstairs to cook up a hearty lunch for the glutton and Nyria.
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Expertly moving around the large open kitchen from one large stove to another, Aoni's arms and legs seemed to be doing one thing while his mind wandered elsewhere.
'With the Teleportation Array and Flume set up, all that's left on my checklist is getting bodies to fill up my village, and then I can unlock my Lord's display.' Spinning on his heels and flipping a steak in its skillet, he placed it back on the burner and didn't break his stride.
'Honestly, things progressed rather well, and quickly, for that matter; the only hiccup I came across was the bug tunnels, but apart from that, in about a month, I've finished a task I thought would take over a year.'
'Yet…apart from amassing more Progress Points than I can conceivably use, I have stagnated in my physical growth, which serves to prove that progress as dictated by my Attribute isn't limited to my physical prowess.'
'However, that doesn't mean that I've stagnated in other aspects of my TD.' Wearing a faint smile, Aoni's eyes moved away from his cooking and toward his Traveler's display.
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Aoni Thurston
Age: 16
Potential: Three Star/E+ Rank
Rank: E+
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Attribute Grade: ★✫
Attribute: Progression
Progress Points: 117,322
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Statistics
Attack: E+ (248) *+20*
Defense: E+ (271) *+5*
Speed: E+ (253) *+35*
Energia: D- (569) *+12*
Elementalized Energia: 20 % Ice *
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Passives
Pain Resistance: E+
Heat Resistance: E+
Cold Resistance: E+ *
Impact Resistance: E+ *
Poison Resistance: E+ *
Swordsmanship: E+
Dual Swordsmanship: E-
Construction: E+ *
Carpentry: E+ *
Farming: E+ *
Ice Manipulation: F+
Energia Manipulation: E+
Pocket Dimension (Inventory): F+ *
Not only had Aoni's stats seen a marginal increase within their Ranks, but he'd also picked up a few new Passives along the way, all of which were a direct result of his transforming the Cavern into a livable environment.
Of course, all of the passives had been instantly powered up at the first opportunity, making them extremely useful at the moment; however, that didn't undercut his achievement; after all, it could take a normal person YEARS to unlock passives such as Farming or Carpentry, let alone getting them to E+.
Yet even with all that upgrading, his Grade never budged past the outer fill step, something that resulted in many sleepless nights for the Lad.
'I guess that proves it then; I need to get some living summons and add points to them. That's the only other thing left because even boosting up all the plants I summoned by way of the Nodes did nothing to improve my Attribute Grade.
"GAOOOO GAOOO GAOOO OoOOOOoo." Storming into the kitchen in full furry missile mode, Glacia skidded to a stop beside Aoni and stood on her hind legs with her front paws on the counter.
{'FOOOODS Foodie time foodie time om nom Glacia hungy time!'} She sang while Aoni ignored her and continued his meal prep.
"Chee…click."
{'I tried to hold her back, brother, but the moment she caught a whiff of lunch, all she could think of was eating.'} Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a clearly exhausted Nyria apologized, causing Aoni to lean over and flick Glacia's nose.
"To the table with you gluttonous fiend, you shall receive the last pick for not listening to your sister." Fighting back laughter at the horrified expression Glacia pulled as her world seemed to shatter, Aoni looked over his shoulder and winked at Nyria.
{'It's fine; I knew you wouldn't be able to hold her back for long. Did you two at least get your rooms set up?'} Using his forearm to slide the floof off the counter, he asked while plating several steaks, veggies, burgers, and an expansive list of side dishes before ferrying them to the big kitchen table.
{'Yeppers we did!'}
No sooner did the plates hit the table, and everyone took their seats, with Glacia looking comically out of place on her big booster seat; only then did Aoni completely disregard his previous statement, allowing Glacia to grab whatever she wanted.
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After sharing a warm meal together and cleaning up the dishes, the trio headed upstairs, with the two summons eager to show off their micro-rooms to Aoni.
Sure enough, the result was pretty much what you'd expect.
Nyria's room was covered in neatly organized trinkets, with little hooks on one wall for hanging her pack and some other small items crafted by Aoni.
Overall, he gave it a solid 10/10, not for effort alone, but because the birb had clearly put a lot of thought into the organization of her space in such a way that it would be aesthetically pleasing to her Lord's eyes.
Now…Glacia, on the other hand…well, calling her room a disaster would be the understatement of the century. Random sticks and rocks were everywhere, like a bomb had gone off in the small space, but if one were to inspect further, they would notice that they were covering up a certain few items that were specifically never meant to leave the bathroom.
"Is that…sigh…Glacccia~ care to explain to me why the squeaky duck and polar bear toys are hiding in that corner over there?"
"Meep."
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Giving up scolding his floof because he'd be leaving in the morning, Aoni let her do as she pleased because they were VERY clearly her favorite toys, and with him being gone for a little over a week, the Lad figured they would help her sleep better at night.
Either way, after the room display was finished, the trio headed back up to clear out the final monster tide of the night, had Fun Bathtime, and went to bed.
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Bright and early, a frantic Aoni rushed around the Manor, making sure everything was in place.
Unfortunately, all that served to do was push his departure time further and further away because not long after finishing his final checks, it was time for the morning Beast tide, after which he entered the basement, said goodbye to his beloved summons, then jumped into the Flume, returning to Terra.
Unlike the previous return trip, although he was sad, he knew for a fact that his Summons would be fine so long as they returned to the Cavern; after all, unless something extremely powerful smashed its way through the mountain, they were effectively turtle-shelling.
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Around 15 minutes later, Aoni's feet landed back on solid ground; however, for some odd reason, even with his Cold Resistance being at E+, he couldn't help but feel like the temperature in the Thurston Family Basement was several times colder than back in his Territory, and the reason for such an effect, was revealed with only two words.
"You're Late."