(So I was right! They're eating Powerstones to level up!)
I didn't waste another second before pulling up their status screens.
[Citizen Status]
Name: Gopuro
Race: Super Forest Goblin
Rank: ★★
Level: 11 (↑ +1)
Vital Status
HP: 300 / 300 (Max ↑ +50)
MP: 30 / 30 (Max ↑ +5)
Stamina: 67 / 300 (Max ↑ +50)
Core Attributes
Attack: 23 (↑ +8)
Defense: 12 (↑ +2)
Magic Attack: 0
Magic Defense: 0
Magic Capacity: 0
Speed: 5
*The arrows indicated changes compared to last time I checked their statuses.
I checked Gopuran's status as well, confirming that she got the similar increase in her stats.
(So per level they gain roughly +50 Max HP, +5 Max MP, +50 Max Stamina… and a whopping 10 points distributed across core attributes? That's fantastic growth!)
That immediately made me compare it to what I remembered of Gopuro's earlier stats.
When I had first saved him, he was only level 8 and had around 10 total attribute points. That meant each level from 0 to 10 had likely granted only 1 point, or at most 2.
But now, the jump from level 10 to 11 alone had given him nearly as many attribute points as his entire progression from level 0 to 10 combined!
The difference was absurd. No wonder the cost of leveling up had become so steep.
In this case, it had taken 7 Powerstones to push Gopuro from level 10 to 11.
That was equivalent to 35 Castle Points.
By comparison, raising him directly from level 9 to 10 through [Lord's Blessing] had cost only 12 Points.
That aside, I should always use Powerstones if I wanted to level up my citizens, as it was far more cost-efficient this way.
After all, as I had checked earlier, going from level 10 to 11 through the same skill would cost a whopping 100 Points. That was nearly three times more expensive than simply using Powerstones. And if I wanted to push him to level 12 after that, it would cost another 150 Points.
(Hmmm… there really is a cost to everything. This Super Forest Goblin variant is powerful, but it demands far more resources to raise…)
Satisfied with the results of my little analysis, I let them rest.
I turned off the torchlight, leaving only the crackling firepit to provide warmth. They simply curled up on the wooden beds I had bought for them and went to sleep.
****
The next morning, I let the two goblins sleep in a little longer. Today would be a relaxing day for them, as I planned to spend most of the morning testing my [Quest Creation] skill.
I began with small experiments that didn't require their participation, mostly probing the hidden rules.
Before long, the mechanics started falling into place quite smoothly.
First revelation: I had previously assumed rewards were limited to items I already held in my inventory. That turned out to be only partially true.
The restriction wasn't strictly "things I currently possess," but rather "things I can afford."
When I tried drafting a simple quest that rewarded 1 kg of chicken meat, even though I had zero chicken in my inventory at the time, the system still allowed me to generate the quest scroll. Upon closer inspection, a small note appeared in the reward section:
[If, at the moment of completion, no chicken meat is present in the inventory, the cost will be automatically deducted from your Castle Points balance.]
Even more surprising, I could offer rewards that didn't physically exist at all—such as "Level +1" or "+1 to [Regeneration] skill level."
This worked because I possessed the [Lord's Blessing] skill, which let me directly raise citizens' levels and skill levels. When I included such rewards in a quest, the system said that it would calculate the equivalent cost and deduce it from my balance at the time of quest completion, equal to the same points I would have spent using [Lord's Blessing] manually.
However, I couldn't offer direct increases to Core Attributes, such as Attack, Defense, Speed, etc, since [Lord's Blessing]'s scope was limited to only overall level and skill levels.
But it also meant that if I ever acquired a skill in the future that could grant Core Attribute boosts, I would presumably be able to design quests around those rewards as well.
Pretty nice.
On the flip side, if I tried to offer something outrageously beyond my means, like… say, "Level +10", the system simply refused to generate the scroll. This was because with my current Castle Points balance, there was no way I could cover the cost.
And finally, I tested whether I could use items my citizens would gather during the quest as part of the reward itself.
I drafted a quest: "Gather 10 twigs; reward: 5 twigs."
At that moment, I had no twigs in inventory, and the System Shop offered none for sale. The only realistic source of twigs was… the goblins themselves, collecting them during the quest.
To my surprise, the system accepted it without complaint.
(Cool!)
(This will opens up so much flexibility!)
Just then, Gopuro and Gopuran woke up at almost the exact same moment, as though they shared an internal alarm clock. For a brief second they looked drowsy, blinking sleepily… but within two heartbeats, both sprang out of bed, alert and refreshed!
Gopuro dropped into a quick set of push-ups while Gopuran stretched her arms and legs.
(Perfect timing, you two!)
With my test subjects awake and ready, it was time for the next round of experiments!