First things first: I needed to give them names.
With hundreds, maybe even thousands, of creatures potentially flocking to my castle to become citizens, I knew I needed a system for the name. It was for my own sanity. I wanted to look at a name and know at a glance what race I was dealing with. Otherwise, things would get chaotic fast.
Technically, the most efficient method would be labeling them Goblin 1, Goblin 2, and so on. But that felt too boring and lazy.
In the end, I settled on the prefix "Gopu." From now on, every goblin citizen I acquired would be named "Gopu-[Something]."
The first two ended up as Gopuro (the male) and Gopuran (the female). Simple, nice, and kinda cool! I liked them.
That aside… in some anime I watched in my previous life, monsters were usually nameless. If a being of higher power bestowed names onto them, they would gain some kind of power boost. I wondered if that was the case for these goblins.
However, it was not.
There was no difference in their stats between pre- and post-naming. No level up, no stat boost. Nothing. Their status screens only flickered for a heartbeat as the System updated their info.
Well, at least they had names now.
With the naming ceremony out of the way, I finally moved on to test [Quest Creation].
Turns out, it was more complicated and interesting than I thought! And this time, the System was actually able to provide some nice instructions for me to follow.
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First, when I activated the [Quest Creation] skill, a simple form floated before my mind's eye.
Simple, yet pretty detailed, I would say.
Quest Name
Prerequisite (Optional)
Quest Info
Quest Type
Objective
Reward
Penalty (Optional)
Quest Name was pretty self-explanatory. It was just the title of the quest. Like… Wood Chopping Quest, or Stone Gathering Quest.
The Prerequisite was where I could set barriers. I could put in Level 10, or Possess [Lumberjack] Skill, or even Rank ★★. Basically, anything that could be seen on the status screen. These were the minimum requirements my citizens needed to meet before they could even accept the quest.
Regarding Quest Info, it was a brief description written in detailed words, so they knew exactly what they were signing up for.
For Quest Type, I was presented with several options:
One-Time: Can only be completed once. Disappears upon completion.
Repeatable: Can be accepted again immediately after completion.
Periodic: Resets automatically after a specific amount of time passes.
Chain: Completing one quest unlocked the next.
That meant if I set a quest to Repeatable, I would only need to fill the form once and have it run automatically forever! That was so neat!
And then, Objectives. This was basically the checklist that needed to be met to turn the quest in. To my surprise, the System even recommended that I put in SMART objectives.
Specific (What exactly needs to be done?)
Measurable (How much? How many?)
Achievable (Is it possible for them?)
Relevant (Does it help the Castle? Does it align with the citizen's interest?)
Time-bound (What's the deadline?)
(Wait… why is the System teaching me management theory now?)
Haha. Well, I wasn't going to complain. It actually made sense. If I set the objective too vague, like "Chop some wood," the System might not recognize it as complete. But if I set it as "Chop 30 Units of Wood within 2 Hours," the System could track it automatically, and the citizen would have a better idea of exactly what I wanted.
And since a System is a System… it also made sense that it must be good at management, right? And good at money robbing too!
And finally, the Reward section…
(Huh? What the hell is a Powerstone?)
I could put also things like meat, resources, or equipment as rewards. Basically, anything inside my inventory. But the system recommended me to use something called "Powerstone" as reward!
(But what the hell is a Powerstone? Do I even have a Powerstone?)
Just when I was wondering about that, another notification came.
[Ding!]
[Your Powerstone Balance is: 0]
[Would you like to convert Points into Powerstones?]
And with that, a conversion window opened.
[Conversion Menu]
You can convert your Points into Powerstones.
Powerstones can be exchanged for Points or vice versa at a fixed rate.
System Fee: 10% (Automatically taken off balance after every 100 Points converted).
Exchange Rate: 5 Points → 1 Powerstone (F).
The powerstone icon showed a small, glowing white crystal. And when I focused on it, the description popped up.
[Powerstone]
Description: The materialization of Points in the real world. Contains the essence of power and magic, with endless potential. Wanted by all beings and creatures in Azef.