Novaris. Sax. 905. AGC.

  Nodel. Waning Gibbous??. Day 22.

  It had taken a while for Jolly to convince the city's real leadership not to worry about the mana and time-altering incident. The other two S Rankers in the city, a forest elf and tiger-like beast skin, hadn’t been happy about the issue and had demanded an explanation.

  Jolly couldn’t blame them, but she also couldn’t speak on it since the entire thing was related to Tesilim, and she now had a contract restricting information on the elf. Thankfully, she eventually got Amphis to vouch on her behalf since the goddess understood her predicament. With their deity's words, the other two S Rankers had backed off, but Jolly doubted they would let the matter go.

  As a matter of fact, when Jolly had gone to collect her end of their deal that night, she had told Tesilim about the goings on. She had told him to keep the conversation on the matter private and to limit speaking about anything related to Jolly, the contract, or pretty much anything that happened. The elf had agreed since there was no reason not to. After all, it was his safety on the line.

  That serious conversation ended when the elf entered the bathroom to do the deed, even though Jolly could see him regardless. Something the elf had probably forgotten about. After coming out, Jolly had teased him some more, telling him not to wait too long and to make sure to bring Lili. Then, once his face was nice and red, she disappeared, eager to start her chaos dryad project.

  Nodel. Last Quarter ??. Day 23.

  The following day, Tesilim met with everyone at Lili’s shop, and he passed on Jolly’s warning right after explaining that he and Lili were a thing now. The explanation had only come because they had gotten stunned faces from everyone when he had walked up, and they had shared a quick kiss. Naturally, it took longer than just saying, “Hey, we are dating now,” and they had to explain that it happened when he had died and gotten a push from the World Crystal itself. Of course, the involvement of the World Crystal in this personal matter derailed the entire conversation, but eventually, they got back to the warning.

  Everyone took the warning seriously and promised not to speak on the issue. Not that it was going to be hard; Tesilim had already answered questions the day before while inside the inn's privacy barrier. Plus, the topic itself was so out of the way that they would have to make an effort to bring it into a conversation.

  Finally, with most matters out of the way, they were looking to head towards the Adventurers Guild when Lili spoke up. The white-haired elf was wearing her leather armor, and Tesilim, who could now stare without issue, was doing just that. He had been so lost in the sauce that he hadn’t bothered to question the fact that she was wearing the armor.

  “Since we helped Alyx with the elemental mission, I was hoping we could do a mission for me next,” Lili said, and seeing she had the attention of everyone, continued, “A friend of mine is dealing with a personal issue, and she approached me hoping we could help her without bringing attention to it.”

  The last bit of Lili’s statement garnered everyone’s attention. Alyx’s elemental issue had been off-guild, but only because his cleric friend hadn’t had any gold to post a mission. However, from how Lili phrased the request, whatever was going on was something serious.

  There were plenty of missions people took outside of the guild for various reasons, usually because they were in the gray area or just frowned upon, almost bordering on, if not completely illegal. And depending on the request, an adventurer could possibly get in serious trouble. Even Tesilim, who was relatively new to the adventuring scene, had become aware of this information. However, they also knew Lili was aware of it, and no one thought she would bring the law down on them, at least not without reason.

  As such, everyone continued giving her their attention, and Tesilim was on board with the entire thing after hearing the first part of her explanation.

  “My friend’s brother is a werewolf, and…”

  Naturally, it wasn’t long into the explanation before Tesilim received the expected notifications of a new goal being added, along with information about the goal.

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  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Adventure Goal ??

  Name: A Missing Werewolf.

  Type: Investigation ?? & Collection ??.

  Rank: D.

  Danger: High ??.

  Suggested Number: 5+.

  Threat: Novarian Monster ??.

  Goal: Find and return the missing werewolf. 0/1.

  Reward: 1 Chaos Point, and you get to meet an actual werewolf.

  Description: Lili’s friend, Juniper, has requested her help in finding a werewolf. The werewolf, in this case, is Juniper's brother. According to the wood elf, her brother usually goes out on the full moon to set his bestial spirit free. However, though her brother Jalil is known to stay out an extra one or two days, he has never stayed out so long. So, Juniper hopes Lili can help find her brother without bringing too much attention to her brother's unique condition.

  ??

  “So, is being a werewolf illegal or something? How come they are keeping this a secret? As a matter of fact, how do you even become a werewolf?” Tesilim asked as soon as Lili finished explaining the situation. He was the only one to speak since, apparently, everyone else was aware of werewolf customs.

  “No, Tesilim being a werewolf isn’t illegal. At least it depends on the werewolf,” Alyx started.

  “As to how you become a werewolf, well, there are a few ways one can achieve that. For Juniper’s brother is more like a curse, which is why they are so secretive about it,” Lili added.

  “The other ways are usually some semblance of Innate Magic passed through bloodlines or by gaining the power through a deity. However, both of these ways are usually controlled, and the individual is fully aware of their actions. On the other hand, a curse tends to wrestle control out of its victim, which makes a werewolf made in that fashion much more dangerous to the public,” Alyx explained further.

  “Okay, I understand the curse aspect of things. It makes sense, though it helps that this is how werewolves were portrayed back on Earth. However, the whole idea that I can get the power from a god seems a bit out there,” Tesilim responded, trying to wrap his head around how gods could grant werewolf powers and if he should be lining up to join one of the said gods.

  “Because, at the end of the day, it comes down to the power being a transformation. That’s just what it is: a person gives up spoken spell casting and a few other magical commodities while transformed, but in return, they gain increased vitality, strength, and general close combat power. Also, it's not like all the gods can grant such a transformation. So far, only Amphis and Luxana have demonstrated the capability to grant a werewolf transformation, with the moon goddess version being much more skewed to a form of avatar. In contrast, Amphis’s is more bestial in nature. Either way, both powers are permanent as they require a permanent change in one’s soul due to the fact that the individual quite literally becomes the monster,” Alyx finished explaining, having gotten into the rhythm of his teaching profession.

  “Huh, so no werewolf transformation for me,” Tesilim said, his shoulders slumping, at least until he had an idea, “Wait! What about spells!? Is there a spell that can transform me into a werewolf? I transformed into a wolf using a potion. Are there spells that can do the same but with different animals?”

  “Yes, but usually, those transformations don’t grant you any actual benefits, with some even having negative effects. An example is vitality; your transformation into a werewolf would be just taking its shape and features, but there won’t be any increase in vitality or power. It would be you, just in a different shape. If anything, it could hinder you since you wouldn’t be used to fighting in such a body. Also, depending on the spell or potion, the magic can reduce your intelligence to that of the creature in question,” The gnome continued his explanation on the topic while everyone else listened or was content to let the gnome do the explaining.

  “Doesn’t that mean druids are weaker because of that? Since they use these transformations?” Tesilim asked, getting nods from Jasmine and Rose. That had been a question they didn’t know the answer to.

  “Uh, no. Animal or monster shapeshifters, which I admit are usually druids, work differently. Mainly because, again, they get their power from a bloodline, which, more often than not, negates any negative effects. Or because they got the power from a god, more than likely that god being either Amphis, Tempus, or Graden. Amphis usually being the more varied, while the other two give transformations directed to the environments they are associated with, which are water and earth, respectively.”

  “Dang, I guess gods are cheat codes of magic. You think I can ever become a god?” Tesilim asked half-jokingly and was quickly shut down by everyone involved with a synced “No,” An answer he replied to by looking like they had just hurt his feelings.

  “Alright, Tesilim, if you are done asking questions,” Lili said, looking over to him, and he nodded, letting her continue, “Is everyone on board with the mission?”

  Everyone in the party agreed and promptly asked Tesilim if his system would help them head in the right direction. Sadly for them, the quest didn’t give him an easy way to find the werewolf, which meant they were going to do the search the hard way. However, at the very least, Juniper had given them a map her brother had given her. The map noted the general area he had planned to prowl.

  The only downside of the map was that it indicated the prowling area was at the edge of the forest where Tesilim, Lili, and Alyx had previously patrolled. Of course, upon seeing the target area, it made sense why Lili was wearing her armor, as it was clear that shit was about to get interesting.