[ - Author's Note - ]
And here we go... We left off on a bit of a cliffhanger last time and while it will be... somewhat resolved it should have an impact down the line. For the most part what is this chapter about?
Well it's a combination of slice of life, tying up loose ends, laying some groundwork for the following acts and James doing his best to power up for the things to come in the limited time he has...
Also a lot of people gets gifts... Lots of gifts...
So, let's jump into it.
[ - Act III - Epilogue - Part II: A Time of Giving - ]
There once lived an old farmer. One day his lone horse ran away, off to the hills and out of his reach. The members of his village came and consoled him, worrying about how he could do his work now and how unlucky he was.
"We'll see." Said the old farmer.
Two weeks later the horse came back and in tow with him were four mares. Now the farmer could do more work with more steeds. The members of his village came and congratulated him on his good fortune, telling him how lucky he was.
"We'll see." Said the old farmer.
A week later his only son was breaking one of the mares in when it reared up and threw him from her back, breaking his leg and making him unable to work for months. The members of his village came and told him what a tragedy it was and how hard his work would be, about how unlucky he was.
"We'll see." Said the old farmer.
A week later a commander of the army came into town to conscript for the army in a coming war. With him he took every able bodied young man along but not the farmer's son who's leg was still broken. The members of his village came to him and told him he was fortunate to not risk his son in war, about how lucky he was.
"We'll see." Said the old farmer.
~Luck of the Old Farmer, a Common Easterner's Tale, Original Author Unknown
[-]
"What in the hell is going on!?" Anncastel let off as she and Benterra looked over the well, the latter using his magic on a set up tablet at the well as he manipulated it to look into what was going on. Olivia had just contacted them; something had just happened to the RPG3X system and she wasn't sure what it was.
"Well, I can confirm based on my back ups this isn't a glitch due to an oversight or something done within the world or system." Ben told her with a frown. "Which means it's been tampered with again. And given what happened last time it was tampered with it..."
"Fredlocall..." She hissed out, huffing as she crossed her arms. "Can you fix this?"
"Almost done... but it might take a bit before I figure out what has been done, if anything... or if I can even undo it..." He replied as Ann turned on her heel to walk away.
"Do what you can... I'm going to see a certain administrator..."
"Got it." Ben let off as he finished a few, last things before pressing a button.
[-]
For the time being I opened my menu and looked around it idly as I tried to calm my nerves. I wasn't sure what was wrong but when a divine RPG system you relied on opted to glitch out on you, well, you'd be freaking out as well... Yikes doesn't cover it... I was just trying to settle down as things went wrong beyond my control... Trying to-
[Hi! Hello there!]
I jumped a bit... would have jumped a bit as someone spoke to me in a likewise manner to Olivia, but this voice was very male. [Ummm, hello?]
[Ah, good. You can hear me. I'm the main administrator of the system you're using, nice to meet you James!]
[Oh, good to meet you... ummmm...]
[Ben, call me Ben! I know, I know, not the grandiose name you were expecting, I'm sure! Anyway, we think someone went mucking around with the system. We'll deal with him. In the meantime the system is fixed so you can relax on that front. That said it seems you missed out on a bit of that sweet, sweet XP so I gotta do something about that.]
[I can't give you any XP, sadly, but I'll give you fifteen of each kind of Trait Points. I'm sure you can work with that!]
[Gain 15 UTP]
[Gain 15 RTP]
[Gain 15 STP]
Huh, really? [Well, I'd say... that's more then fair!] If anything, given how much XP I needed to go from level to level this was more useful... although given what happened and when it still left a sour taste in my mouth.
[That said I need to give you a fair warning, we don't know what if anything has been altered in the system. I should be able to fix it but you should be aware that something is different. I'll get back to you once I understand what it is.]
[Got it... I'll stay on my toes.]
[Right. If you notice anything let Olivia know. So long! And take care, we're depending on you!]
I could feel him, for lack of a better term 'leave' as I relaxed. After about ten minutes I exited the menu...
I needed my rest...
[-]
In the seemingly infinite cosmos within the Realm of the Gods many structures were floating, acting as homes and places of work for those gods. Many were shaped like temples, some palaces, others castles and others grand cathedrals... but some gods preferred other structures. Giant tree houses, cozy cabins, ranches, bee hives and even Benterra's arcade.
Fittingly the one Anncastel visited was an seven story tall office building; made from panels of tall, rectangular glass, a flat roof made the same way with no real decorations that she could see. Glass doors were pushed open easily as she stomped inside. "Fred!" The Overseer of the Kuroinu Cluster barked out. The inside of the office building was a single room; a 'U' shaped desk in the center. It really did resemble an office; a water cooler was on one side of the room, couches were few in number and gray in color. The floor was wooden, but not a true wooden floor; rather one of those pressed together flooring made to resemble wood. Hovering to the side of the desk was a large TV screen; one with a ten foot screen size.
"Hmmm..." Fred let off at his desk, hunched over it with his fingers laced together. This time he wore rounded glasses that shined brightly as he looked up as she walked over to his desk, nearly marching. As she reached it he would make a show of taking off those glasses and setting them aside as he started to smirk. "What ever is the iss-"
Anncastel's fist crashing into the front of his desk and smashing it in made him jump and look at her in shock. "I know what you did in my system. Again. So cut the bullshit Fred." She hissed out while glaring at the God of Meddling as he composed himself for a moment.
"Very well." He let off as Ann pulled back her fist, setting his own hand to it. A simple flex of divine magic later his desk quickly reformed back to it's previous condition. "I do recall telling you to abandon your little 'game', did I not?"
"And I told you to not overstep your bounds." Anncastel shot back, hands on her hips. "You might be an administrator, Fred, but you do not oversee that cluster, I do. I am well within my rights to employ a gamer system to the ends of sparing the cluster."
"And I am well within my rights to tell you it's pointless." He replied as he smirked back. "The mortals aren't worth the time; and even if they were others would be better uplifted... So pointless..."
"Well that's your opinion." She shot back as she set a hand on the desk, leaning over it. "But mine differs and in my cluster I decide what's worth my time; not you."
"Oooooh, please. You don't find some enjoyment; watching these fools rape or be raped?" Fredlocall said with a chuckle, spreading his hands outwards as he shrugged, smirking wider. "Isn't it at least amusing to see the little mortals break and be broken by sex of all things?" He let off as she gave him a look of shock. "Who cares if an Aberrant Core has caused it; it's the way of things."
"... We are custodians of clusters for a reason, Fred." She would speak sternly to him. "And suffering is suffering, mortal or not. And you? You enjoy watching people be raped and broken through sex!? A God of Chasity!?"
"Chasity; not asexuality." He replied simply as he leaned back in his seat with a shrug. He crossed his legs as she glared to him harder.
"... I am filing a report of this to Gregciconna." She told him firmly. "And I'm going to let him know exactly what you said. Now... stay the fuck out of my cluster..." She said... before slamming her fist into the desk and smashing it in half before teleporting away in a flash of light.
Fredlocall gave a deep sigh, using his magic to repair his desk once more before teleporting his glasses back to his hand. "What a silly woman." He said as he set the glasses back onto his face as he moved a monitor, turning it on to look into the Aberrant Core of the Kuroinu Cluster. "Can't she see how amusing this is..?"
[-]
I managed to hide my worry once the morning came and took some time to wash up. As I was drying off Ben contacted me once more to fill me in; he worked out that whatever was jammed in was only inserted a little while ago and was caught early so it didn't have the chance to do much. What it did was effect other people within the system; what I didn't know.
Alicia, Prim and Kaguya were higher levels then I recall but that was likely due to experience and training. More then likely it was targeted (Presuming this was done to screw me over) to those I'd fight... That could be... an issue... Until I saw someone opposed to me somehow that I knew and used Observe on them I wouldn't know... If I fought them sooner as opposed to later I could be on the back foot... sure I was used to that but it wasn't fun.
Either way it was time for the age old honored tradition of Nova Aurora; opening gifts at breakfast. As mentioned gifts weren't placed under a tree but on the table at someone's place; given I (And most people here, really) were guests our places were labeled. I wasn't the last to arrive but I was in the tail end; I could see Kaguya speaking with Maia and Lulu while Alicia and Prim were with Claudia and Celestine; with Claudia holding Prim's hand and speaking softly, looking at the ring I gave her.
Klaus, General Mallory, Iryna, Akane and Bingo would filter in after me, one by one giving me time to set my gifts out, each in a cloth wrap. I was surprised Klaus wasn't already here with his wife, but as it turns he dropped off a gift to a favored maid; turns out she was learning magic and Klaus was giving her pointers. Good to know. Once everyone was here Celestine clapped her hands twice and called out to the room. "Glad to see everyone here! Come, come! Sit down, sit down." She let off as we all moved to the table. Akane, the last to arrive, setting gifts down first before taking her seat. "Happy Nova Aurora everyone! Come, come! The holidays are here and we are to enjoy them together. While gifts are, of course, not the point of the holidays we can all agree we all look forwards to it... at least to those who haven't already received theirs." She said, Prim lifting her hand up and wriggling her fingers to showcase her ring; Alicia and Kaguya doing the same a moment a later, although in a less excited manner. "By all means... let us indulge in these little selfish pleasures, if only for a morning." She said.
Woman is based.
For the record as to what I got everyone (That didn't get an enchanted engagement ring); Klaus gained an advanced copy of the Eostia Historia, Fifth Edition. Thanks to my meeting with the author, Dominic Pencraft, I was able to get it plus have it signed by the man himself with a short greeting to Klaus. I knew he'd like it. Claudia received a spell stone sculpture of her dog, Adwin. The stone was low grade but I was able to slap on a small voxlux enchantment. A note attached said it would let her look in on and speak to her dog via voxlux.
Lulu I got a foot long, steel rod with a good, high grade three spell stone set to it. It bore an arcane weapon spell with multiple forms; hammer, wrench, crowbar (Straight and curved bars), knife, chisel, file, pliers, back scratcher (Yes, I did add that), saw and other tools. Yes, I gave her a magical multi-tool. I gave her a list of what it could make and how to use it, of course. I also added both a wood cutting axe head and battle axe head... just in case.
With Maia I wasn't fully sure what to get her so I settled on getting a bracelet with anchor points for spell stones. I took a decent one, split it to five parts and set them into it, colored them red and gave them a boost to passive strength (+4) plus a built in Arcane Shield spell that she could use as a defense if it came to it. When in doubt give a warrior woman something useful in a fight. And yes, came with instructions too.
Celestine... Celestine was another hard one to shop for; anything expensive was pointless as if she didn't already have it someone would give it as an offering. I knew her enough that a simple gift would be more then enough but it still had to be a meaningful one... So, what did I get her, knowing all of this?
I made a snow globe. Kinda.
I used several, low grade spell stones to make figurines of each of the Shields (Including her) on the Seal of the Alliance (With each girl standing on the shield of the emblem matching their kingdom), capped with a clear, spell stone dome on a three inch tall, wooden base. It was enchanted with a modified ice spell to make it snow within for five minutes when a spell stone set to the base was touched with the snow eventually melting and evaporated back to mana. Honestly, it was faster to make then I thought.
It was tedious to shape and color everything just right however...
I got to watch as each opened their gifts; Lulu's initial confusion over a metal stick before reading the instructions and grinning with childish glee, Claudia smiling softly and petting the sculpture's head., Klaus smiling softly then opening the book's cover and looking shocked and what was written, for him, inside. Maia just smiled, spun the bracelet on her finger then slipped it on her left wrist.
Celestine's was the most prominent; a big look of shock once her wrap came off. She gave a happy chuckle and a wide, happy smile before moving a hand to stroke the outer glass (Well, outer spell stone) as she leaned back in her seat. I imagine memories were running through her as she cradled it in both hands and touched the stone in the base causing the inside of it to snow. She looked surprised and gave a giggled before setting it on the table and watching it.
Now to see if I got as good as I gave.
A small tag on each cloth would let me know who gave me what so I opted to start with Prim's; it was long and rounded, whatever it was. So I unwrapped to find... a flute... A mythril flute which was expensive. It should be noted that mythril wind instruments, doubly so flutes, had a sort of ethereal tone to it that others didn't have. More over it bore the phrase 'Of Night's Glory, Of Night's Honor & Of Night's Beauty We Guard' inscribed into it and the inscription filled with gold. The phrase was a motto, not often used, of House Noxdecus; nox translating as 'night' and decus as 'glory'... but it could also be used as honor or beauty as well. I, of course, played a few, brief notes to test it before setting it aside with a smile; I would be playing it later.
From Alicia I had some form of clothing. Once unwrapped I found myself with a cape bearing a pair of golden mythril brooches to keep it in place; both of which would magically anchor due to the blue spell stones set to them onto whatever they were set on. The cape was fashioned as the House Noxdecus Emblem with a pointed bottom and a short length of cloth attached to the top to which the brooches were attached. The emblem's designs were made of dyed steel silk giving it a notable shimmer. It came with a note from Alicia, stating this was planned well in advance of her request to be my third bride; it was thanks for helping with the... business with her uncles and helping her through it. More over the steel silk in this cape was made with a thicker application of grade four spell stone and only from one spell stone meaning if I wanted I could enchant it...
Possibilities...
Kaguya was next up and it was a box of some sort. Opening it up I found a bamboo box; sixteen inches by ten and some three inches deep. Opening it up I found thin wood separating the inside into twelve squares and each boasting bags of tea; a label inside the lid giving each a name, a short description and where they came from. I had mentioned to her that I drank tea and coffee interchangeably almost; coffee when I needed the energy and tea when I wanted to relax. This was a thoughtful one, indeed.
With my bride's gifts out of the way I moved onto the other Shields; starting with Lulu. It felt like a bunch of glass balls and rather being in a wrap it was in a sack; inside was a series of good sized (Golf Ball to tennis ball sized) spell stones of good grades. She knows me; I can use these...
Claudia and Klaus ended up teaming up to get me something; stacks of something that made that was fourteen inches by twenty inches. I opened it... and went full blush as I looked over the stacks; seven in all. The Heroic Nudes of the Seven Shield Princesses. Yes... yes, that was a thing... This is Eostia, after all.
I could see as both Claudia and Kluas giggled and chuckled at me; even knowing she was one of my new nude collection of portraits that was now fifteen deep. The other eight came from would-be-suitors across Eostia.
(In case your wondering, Prim's featured her standing in a flower garden, one arm at her side and one pulling her hair back with her hand by her ear. Alicia's was standing, leg's parted and looking forwards and to the side with her arms to her sides before Fortress Feoh, Skysplitter in one hand and a blue cape around her shoulders that hid nothing. Claudia's had her face the viewer, one hand on her blade which was point down beside her, her other hand on her hip and standing before an Imperium era statue.)
(Maia's painting had her sitting on a chair, leaning back into it with one foot on the chair's seat and the hand on that side holding it as the other arm flexed in a room with hunting trophies. Lulu stood with her axe on her shoulders, arms slung up over the shaft as she leaned in with a smirk in a forge. Kaguya's was of her standing, hands pressed together under and before her breasts with only her headdress on before an Eastern styled temple.)
(As for Celestine's it was from above as she laid on her back on a bed of flower pedals; whites and pinks mostly. She laid down with her hands over her belly and a smile to the viewer. Unlike the others she had flower petals set over her sex, obscuring it from view... Given what she normally wore I wondered why obscure just that?)
(... Either way I'd find a place on my wall for all of them. I'd like to say it was for artistic reasons but no... I will fap to each and feel a little dirty about it. I'm only human after all.)
I followed with Maia's next which I was, admittedly, the most curious about; Maia strikes me as someone with more street smarts then book smarts but she's more clever then she lets people know... She's no genius but she's far, far removed from an idiot. And she got me... a Dawn Templars portrait calendar. Yes, calendars were here and had pin ups over them. They could even be flipped in the same way with the paintings being on thin wood with steel rings binding them together on the top. And yes, you could hang them on a wall or stand them up somewhere.
Also; more heroic nudes. Because Eostia. Both Auryon Reid and Axelia Blodsjungfru were in it too!
And yes, Maia snickered at my reaction.
So that left Celestine's gift; a very long thing some five feet long. It wasn't thick at all so I shrugged and opened it up, noting Celestine smiling wryly as I did so. What was it?
A copy of the Shining Gemini save in golden mythril which... was likely pricey... and that was before getting into the stones! The Gemini had two sets of stones on each segment of the staff; one on the inside at the joint which had the attachment spells (To one another and the back), wind spells to propel and the spells used to recall it to my hands. Then there was the stones on the end that bore all the weapon form spells, acted as a magical focus and so forth. There were stones set to the new one; grade twos on the inside and grade ones on the outside!
I. Could. Do. So. Much. With this! I must have had a mile wide grin off given the pleased smile Celestine had... Oh, I would enjoy enchanting this... Upgrading from grade three stones to comparatively large grade ones for the business ends was going to be a big game changer in damage output and use as a magical focus. Really, I'd have more of a question of what I'd do with the original Shining Gemini.
On that note I opted to name the new weapon the Radiant Gemini to help avoid confusion. I was testing the weight of it in my hands, not spinning it or anything, just rocking it a bit. I was gonna enchant the shit out of this.
[-]
Breakfast was filling for more reasons then just the food. We broke off after that; we'd be leaving come the next morning so before that I went to my room, grabbed what I needed and moved to the other Cloud Riders and added the Echo View stones to them. I'd make sure that all drivers knew how to use it and, hopefully, use them to fly safer. Of course with that done I had something else to deal with.
"Weeeeee!"
"We're up so high!"
"You can see the whole city from up here!"
The boys wanted to go flying... so we went flying.
They were all on board, packed around the back and sides of the wagon, standing by the edges and looking about, a couple jumping excitedly as I did a lazy lap around the city, well, well above it. Celestine sat to one side of me and Auryon Reid to the other as I started to turn and increase the speed a bit. As the speed rose I drove us up and, doing the action that likely caused the Grand Duke of Ur to nickname the flying wagon a 'Cloud Rider' to start with as I let the wheels dig into a cloud in the sky. "You're enjoying this." Celestine accused of me as I chuckled softly.
"Inside every man a boy still lives." I replied with a shrug. Once we drove through the cloud I gave us a turn then a shallow dive closer to the ground. I still stayed well in the air but I flew over a large farm outside of the city (The old farmer looked up at us in shock as Celestine waved to him with a smile) before flying us over the treetops for a long moment and lifting us back up. "Besides, truth be told I didn't have as much of a chance to really play with them given... well..."
"Indeed..." She replied, eyes shut for a moment. "It does make me wonder... what is Olga up to with no war to occupy her...
[-]
Prilezhnyy City, Noble Palace
Southwest Blazecrown, Kingdom of Garan
Olga had yet to return to her capital in the Dark Citadel for a few reasons; one was the weather was worse to the north and travel would be difficult at best. Another was that she didn't want to be too far from the now ruined Napreryvnyy City; many of the city's survivors fled to Prilezhnyy after the Abomination fell and it's chase ended but those who were trapped in the city and escaped death also fled there. At the moment the focus with Napreryvnyy City was clearing the rubble, seeing what structures was still sound and then rebuilding the rest over time. She made sure that Stasia, no longer of any house or family name, was the first to start clearing rubble. She, of course, had a bodyguard detail to ensure she wasn't killed by an upset populace.
A rightfully upset populace.
Thankfully the reports coming in from the fight with the Rouge Legion was leaning to the positive; with winter set in some of their number were entering hibernation and needed to flee the cities to find shelter where they wouldn't be found and many were felled in their retreat. Moreover, General Dreadblade was putting together multiple task forces with the explicit purpose of finding them during their hibernation and ending them in their forced sleep. By the time spring came their numbers should have been culled to a manageable level.
More importantly the audit of her Lowborne Houses was ongoing with... more then a few turning north and migrating to the Reaches to head to Nidavellir; maybe even a couple who knew the few, hidden safe routes to used to traverse them. Indeed, at least two thirds of the remaining lowborne seemed to flee with their tails between their legs. Her Highborne houses, meanwhile, stayed more loyal and remained... save for Olesia Reclusia who likewise fled, likely leading the exodus. The chances were high that this would cause her trouble down the line but that was a future problem and not a current one.
The remaining Lowborne, by contrast, were if not above board then at least close enough to be dragged up to such; kicking and screaming if needs be. Even so she needed to uplift new Houses to the Lowborne ranks and she opted to start looking for capable members of the Ghosts of Arblade; she needed Lowborne not just seeking to serve the people, she needed ones willing to challenge her when she needed to be challenged. The disasters of a leader without the basic checks of simply being questioned or, giants forbid, corrected was plain as day as it ended with one of her nations best cities being reshaped to 'flat'.
She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock at her door. "Come in." She said as she watched the door open. Coming into the office was one of the laborbrone; she... never learned his name. It was shocking to think that she'd seen him nearly everyday for over a decade but didn't know his name nor spoke more then four words at a time to him...
She was seeing a reflection of herself and wasn't liking it.
The man was... young looking, under two centuries at least. Gray hair that was more of a dirty silver cut short, a lean body that seemed to be empty of real strength and blue eyes that were oddly dull. She never really looked at him much either; another poor reflection. He brought her food as usual. Set the tray on her desk, as usual. Stepped back as usual. "Stay for a moment." She replied as he stiffened. She never spoke before to him save as to dismiss his presence; asking him to stay was new. She moved a finger to the plate, not touching but holding it near the food, then the soup and then her the glass of her grape juice before frowning.
"Of course you poisoned the grape juice." She let off as she sighed softly. The lad stiffened hard for a moment as she looked to it sadly. "My mother was always busy, working on the Pure Council and seeing to to the business of ruling... But once a day she made sure to sit with me and talk about something over a glass of grape juices each... It's painful, wasting it."
"I-I-I-I-I-"
"The Eostians were kind enough to teach me a spell to find poisons, once they found I was being fed them. I wasn't sure of the source of it as I had everything checked... All but one, when I recalled my previous retinue was returning to serve me." Olga explained. Her voice never changed, disappointed but not angered or threatening. "I never thought such a spell would be so useful."
The man's chest panted in fear and it reminded her of a frightened rabbit ready to bolt... and he did, rushing to the door... that Chloe was now leaning into, making him stop after three steps with a whimper. Naturally she had Chloe in hiding, just in case she was in need of her. Thankfully Chloe kept a neutral look while she looked to the man; she knew how defensive Chloe was over her but retribution would not be helpful here and now. "eeeeeeeee..."
Olga stood and moved around her desk to walk to him as he whirled to face her, fear on his face... he was clearly untrained in any form of combat; indeed she could crush him with ease without a hint of magic. "I have no interest in harming you." Olga said as she stopped before him and bowed deeply to him; his fear not lessening but his confusion growing. "I have been faced with many uncomfortable truths recently. Truths I have ignored or been left ignorant of. I do not know if I have harmed you directly or indirectly... nor does it matter. One does not poison their queen on a whim. Tell me this; how have I failed you?"
There was a strange satisfaction as his face twisted to anger as she rose to her full height; at least it wasn't fear. "Failed me... Failed me! You didn't fail me! You failed my father who died in a pointless charge! And then there's my brother who got... taken as some toddlerborne's concubine and thrown away when she was bored! And let's not forget my sister getting a tooth knocked out by assborne because she showed some magical skill! That's not even mentioning how my mother whored herself out to get medicine for my cousin who was beaten to death because some assborne thought he said something under his breath! I'm the only one you haven't failed; you just failed everyone I love!" He let off as Olga shut her eyes for a moment and take a calming breath lest she find herself crying as he felt to calming pants... only to realize who he was screaming at as the fear set back in...
Only to find the Dark Queen of Garan wrapping her arms about him and into a hug. "You are not wrong... I do need to mend much... and much, I know, is beyond mending... But regardless I must try." Taking a half step back she looked to him with a saddened look. "But no; I have failed you. I have had you under my employ this long and I've not so much as learned your name. Nor have I spoken to you beyond a word or two at a time. I have given you no more thought then I have a fork and in that I have done to you wrong. I will accept forgiveness when earned and when you are willing to part with it but first I must say what you should have heard so long ago. I am sorry." He gave her a shocked look for a long moment... one that turned to anger as his whole frame shook, his hand starting to lift... as Olga's shot up and to the side, palm up.
A glance to his side showed Chloe about to make a move to him; halted only by the queen's gesture. "If you wish to strike me I will not stop you. Nor punish you for wishing the pound of flesh owed." He glared still but it faltered and twisted for a moment, tears welling before spilling before he stepped in and swung... weakly hammering the bottom of it to her chest before all but falling into her as she hugged his sides before smacking his fist into her once more.
"Dammit! This... this would have been easier if... if..."
"We are all broken; each of us here..." Olga said as she set her forehead to the top of his, hugging him as he clutched to her. "Each of us in different ways... We must all mend... All of us..." Despite herself one eye released a tear regardless of her attempts to control her emotions; the stoic queen unable to hold back that rolling salted fluid. She didn't know the last time she had cried; perhaps it was when her mother, at the age of two thousand, six hundred and ninety finally passed on in her sleep...
In time they would speak to him, be shown his stockpile of poison, be told of how he gained it and be told what he knew of the coming storm...
In the end Yuri Softground would enjoy something most exposed poisoners never would; forgiveness by the one he had poisoned. More over he would both keep his job and be tasked with a new one; reporting to Queen Olga about things she couldn't see from the ground level.
He was no longer a blob shuffling about doing things... he was her retainer and a new aide.
[-]
One more dinner, one more night with three brides (And getting the XP this time, setting some worries aside) and learning the spell Kaguya wanted to teach me (Burrowed Light, an Earth/Holy one that would clad targets in movement limiting mana; nice) it was time to go home. I gave Kaguya a kiss before seeing her to her Cloud Rider, I gave Alicia one of her own when I dropped her off in Feoh and one for Prim when she was dropped off as well. I was happy but a bit tired once I got home and after some hugs and smiles I opted to take a long nap before opening more gifts left for me.
I had, of course, left gifts for everyone before I left. For Riri I gave a set of throwing knives I set small spell stones to; they weren't strong enough to do much but they would return to her on command. For Miria I got her a sword; a hand-and-a-half arming sword with a spell stone set into it's pommel with the usual enchantments (By me, of course) was a Tailwind spell to bolster her agility. The real treat, however, was that it could be set point first into the ground and have a pavise style shield formed with an Arcane Shield; if the ground was too tough for that an Arcane Weapon spell would make a tripod to prop it up. More over it bore a built in Ring of Alarm spell; if a physical object or spell was rushing over an Earth Wall or Ice Wall spell would make a harder shield before her. A pavise shield, so you know, was a shield that could be stood up that an archer could fire behind or a crossbowmen could reload.
For Miika I got her a real, if mostly unenchanted, rapier with a blunted blade and a small spell stone near the tip to make a shield to prevent anyone from being stabbed; mainly herself. It would be a good practice blade for her and it could be sharpened someday and be fitted with a larger spell stone. For Mokria I got him a spear with a good, steel tip and a spell stone under it with a built in Arcane Weapon spell to form a halberd, trident, pike and other forms. For Gregory I got a spell stone with a good, mythril fitting he could add to his armor; boasting an Arcane Weapon spell to make shields (Layered with Arcane Shield, of course) in various shapes, a long back up blade and a built in Physical Burst spell.
Sora I bought a stack of romance novels. Yes, I knew she read them. I just hoped they were ones she hadn't read before. For Aeris I bought a spell book; much like the levitating one I gave to Tiffany and I enchanted it to do the same with spell stones on the spine. Speaking of; I bought Tiffany a set of Arcane Robes. The outfit was a white blouse ad attached black skirt with gold trim and designs as well as a blue ribbon at the left hip. A blue ribbon was set to the neck with a blue spell stone brooch in it's center on a gold base. A set of black, gold trimmed shoes with white straps that went from the ankles to the back of the shoe helped hold things in place. Naturally I enchanted the stone; Tailwind, a magical boost (+3 to Mag and Mnc) and a built in Arcane Shield spell that could be quickly used.
For Makoto I gave her a handle with spell stones on both ends that would deploy an Arcane Weapon in the form of a bow, dagger, an eastern short sword to pair with the Kouzenken and a third stone to form Arcane Weapon as arrows. For my father I found a good spell stone of a large enough size and turned it into a wand; enchanted as a pure magical focus save an Arcane Weapon spell that turned it into the handle of a short sword; just in case. For my mother I got a large stack of cookbooks plus, after some (Well, not much...) sweet talking I got the recipe for Blackcut Cake and other ice cream recipes that people were using and tossed them in.
So yeah, aside from Sora and my mother I gave everyone something that could act as an upgrade of some sort to their arms; in both cases I couldn't (Yet) find anything to bolster them more then I had before. In addition to that I gave a few coins to certain other people who worked in the manor with a short letter thanking them for their efforts and apologizing I didn't have the time to find or buy something that was a real gift.
Of course that's what I gave... so what did I get?
My parents got me a great coat outfit in Noxdecus colors with matching pants and undershirt with shoes. What separated this from most was it was a suit of Armor Weave and of moderate quality as well; good for formal occasions for extra protection. From Miria, Mokria and Miika I found myself with a beaded dream catcher (Yes, that was a Catalan thing) which was rather nice all in all and had a small spell stone hanging under it. It was cute and I would hang it over my bed. Riri got me a large bottle of a very well regarded whiskey called 'Quiet Night In' which I planned to savor.
From Aeris I got a book of enchantments from a notable desert nation that was past the Savannah; I was curious to see what it had. From Makoto I got a big bag of coffee beans that was from that same desert nation; as it turned out a small merchant caravan wandered through on their way to Camafran. Neat. From Tiffany I found myself with a spell stone powered music box which featured mostly calming tunes. I could go to sleep to that.
Sora and the rest of the maid staff pitched in to get me not one, not two but three holsters for a firearm. As it turns out Sora called over to Brandy Mignite to get the weapon's dimensions so they could know what to make; all three were made of quality leather, dyed blue, bore the Noxdecus unicorn on it with gold designs on the edges. One was a thigh holster, one designed to hang off the hip and one was a chest holster that could be worn under a jacket. They were very thoughtful and could all be useful. And then...
...and then there was everything else...
As the CHAMPION OF EOSTIA!-!-! (Yes, the three exclamation marks were needed) there were too many people seeking my favor and I found myself with way too many gifts from people I kinda knew, barely knew and didn't know... and even never heard of. It was a collection of interesting, useful, pointless and the down right weird. Books (Magical, enchanting, novels and more), knick knacks (Glass statuettes, mythril statuettes and such things), a Divina Crucis in golden mythril, a set of mythril cutlery, a decorative sword, an ice cream maker (No... really...), several heroic nudes of various females (Most with marriage offers attached), a voxlux which seemed dumb until it was I read the attached note that it bore a few recordings (Which was hours of porn... How the fuck this much porn was made without being sold I didn't know... until I realized it was from Forestside, then that answered all my questions), a framed scroll of a poem...
So... much... shit...
Also, I was given enough female underwear to open a Victoria's Secret. Each item claimed to be worn by some noble woman or other high ranking female. I just told the maids they could have any of them they wanted; as long as they promised to wash them first.
My mother also picked through them. I don't know how I feel about that.
A lot went unopened so far and Riri opted to open them for me so I left her to it; if anything it would make up for years of no Nova Aurora gifts in a way. For me I had other things to do; namely experimentation.
As a dragonborne my eyes bore a powerful and unique mana of it's own that I tapped into each time I used a Dragon's Breath. I was curious if I could tap into it and use it for normal spells. I had never heard of such a thing before so had no idea where to start. Normally I'd wonder why I'd never heard of it; if someone had done it surely it was known of? Of course as dragonborne were rare it was possible anyone who could died before meeting another dragonborne to pass it onto. And thus I decided to spend three hours working on it...
...annnnnd tapped out after the first when I went fully blind for two minutes before I recovered. Whatever I did was not going to work. Or at the very least wasn't worth the risk. That was depressing...
But then a new idea hit me... Going to the menu I noted something; Dragon's Breath wasn't listed as a spell, it was listed as a Combat Art...
To explain; everyone and everything in this world has mana. The ability to mold this mana into spells wasn't common but that didn't mean you couldn't use it; you could (With practice and training) learn to use it to bolster your physical abilities or even use simple, mana based attacks. It was, as best as I could explain, the difference between a collection of several, high end power tools and expensive engraving tools versus a toolbox of basic tools like hammers, screwdrivers and wrenches. It's not fancy and much more limited but if it's all you've got it will get the job done.
That being said, I was having no luck... I was... doing something, but it wasn't working... It's...
I knew it could be done... I could feel it could be done... But I was facing some sort of block or wall that was keeping it from working...
I would spend time over the next couple of days trying to work it out but felt like I was going in a circle, trying one thing, then another, then another, then another before coming back to the first thing with each one going nowhere...
So I was in the training room and starting circle about as I paced taking some time to both calm my frustrations and consider what I might be doing wrong... and thinking so much I hadn't noticed someone coming in... "James, honey... What are you doing?"
I would turn to see my mother walk in, setting her shiny new spear to the side and walking over to me. "Trying. Failing." I said with a shrug as she huffed.
"At what?" It occurred to me then that I could have sought her advice on the matter earlier; she wasn't a spellcaster of any color and relied solely on physical skills... including Combat Arts. I took a few moments to explain what I had attempted to do, what I shifted to and what my current issue was. To her credit she didn't shriek when I mentioned nearly going blind and only frowned but softened with silent approval as I opted to not try once more. Once she had the full scope of the situation explained she nodded and thought for a moment, clearly. "You are missing something."
"Clearly." I deadpanned. "But for the life of me I don't understand what."
"Tone dear." She chided motherly, wagging a finger at me. "No, you are missing something and it's right before your nose." That shut me up good as I blinked at her. And then she dropped the other shoe... "You're trying too hard and overthinking it." I blinked in confusion and gave her a soft, sideways nod to encourage a further explanation. "You're trying to force, push or pull the mana about... That's fine for spells and for many Combat Arts that works if you're not forcing it too hard as well when you're learning but you don't really need to force them once you've gotten good at them, right?"
"Yeah..." I let off, cupping my chin as I pondered over it.
"But for the trickiest of Combat Arts you can't force it... you need to guide the mana, allow it to flow as opposed to shoving it about..."
"Hmmm..." I never thought about it that much; I always started gentle with new Combat Arts out of caution... Maybe that's why I could do it without too much difficulty... I was trying to force the dragon's mana in my eyes because... well, if it was easy then it would have been written down, right? But I could see how trying too hard could cause problems.
Once I thought it over I hummed and moved to a nearby punching bag before taking a stance. I used a Focus Punch on it; hammering it hard without trying to use the mana in my eyes, testing it out. Following that I started to tug on the mana in my eyes and tried again.
No change.
I tried to relax and took deep breaths and after five more I knew I wasn't getting anywhere and reconsidered my mother's words... I started to retry but rather then push or pull I, for lack of a better term, opened a path from my eyes to the Combat Art. I did so gently as I used Focus Punch and...
...upon impact a small bit of silver flame spat out from my hand...
I blinked a bit and looked over my hand for a moment before considering; it wasn't much, a mere flash of a small flame. I opened more of a path and repeated the attack; a larger poof... For the third I opened up more of a path and gave what I felt would be a respectable amount; not pulling the punch or over committing for an attack. Then I pulled back for one, powerful Focus Punch in the form of a haymaker-
-and a silver explosion of flame blasted out in a wave from my fist;moving only two and a half feet but blowing the punching bag in half as well as increasing the sheer impact force of the punch! I was shocked as I looked to my hand and turned it over, as was my mother. "I...I knew you'd work it out sooner or later, but so fast!?"
"I had someone giving me good advice..." I said, somewhat absently as I looked over my hand and pulled back and threw another Focus Punch into the air; sure enough a wave of flames blasted out almost three feet in a basketball sized burst this time as I smiled and attempted to try something else... and this time instead of silver fire my punch generated a blast of lightning that reached out three feet and left some sparks in the air for two seconds after.
"Amazing..." She let off as I opted to try a boosted Adrenaline Rush this time... and I could feel the silver flames run over my body as I did, not causing me harm as I grinned. "... We need to train."
"I agree." I replied quickly.
Yes, it was rough training with her but I learned a lot of what I could do with this.
On any offensive art the default was the usual silver flame, like my standard Dragon's Breath, coating either my fist or weapon as I used it. And yes, I could change the element at will; the only limit being that if I had an Elemental Weapon spell on my weapon the boost had to match that element or it would fail. That was usable, still.
On a boosting Art like Adrenaline Rush, Reflex Boost or Steel Skin I would be coated in the element of my choice and said move would have it's potency increased by double. Now that is a boost!
That said it wasn't one hundred percent good news; the mana in my eyes was limited and overuse would blur my vision like overdoing a Dragon's Breath. Annoying, but there's always a drawback. Still, this could give me the boost in power I needed in a pinch. For now I planned to keep this under my hat; the surprise factor could play into it. More over once training was done I found myself with a new Combat Art.
(-)
Dragon's Boost [Lvl I] (107/1000)
Magic Type: Arcane/Fire
Cool Down: Very Short
Mana Cost: Low to High
The user taps into the power of the dragonborne to bolster their Combat Arts further in power and strength. All Combat Arts double in damage or effect. Additionally if the user is bolstering themselves with an empowerment Combat Art their body will be covered by the element in use and can damage others that come in contact with it.
-Upgrade - Trained Boost: You've now trained in the use of Dragon's Boost skill to better it's potential. You can alter the Magic Type at will.
(-)
You love to see it!
[-]
Skycrown City
Capital of the High Kingdom of Ken
The Chamber of Light, Lux Clama Cathedral
The Lux Clama was one of the tallest buildings of Skycrown City, a historic monument to religious faith and power. Only the palace of the city, owned and lived in by House Roisage, was taller and given the deep coffers they bore that was not a surprise. Regardless as he walked to a wall he opened a small door and walked though it onto a balcony, setting his staff into a small holder before moving to the railing; twenty feet from the windows. The view of the city was grand from there; overlooking the higher end of the merchant's district and the noble's district. He took a long, deep breath of air as he looked to the view for sometime.
All would be of the Church someday... his efforts would help ensure it.
Eventually he would be joined by another; he didn't turn his head as he knew who it was already. "Harrison; the reports?"
"Seems our good lord returned 'ome from Ken. He hasn't left the manor much since then, but I wager he'll be up ta somethin' sooner or later."
"As is his wont to do." He replied as his bodyguard joined him at the railing. "We've eyes on him now though, yes?"
"Aye, aye. We got ourselves some agents there now; under the guise of new merchant's." Harrison said as he adjusted his glasses for a moment. "A lotta folk are moving in now; havin' a new Champion's got a lot of people seein' Mungale as the rising new force. We got ourselves a placed enchantment to watch things from afar; even if we can only see so much yet."
"More will come in time." The Lucilius let off with a huff. "And the others?"
"Aye, more moving into Ferra and Ur, as well as Foeh and Thorn... They say the announcement will soon come." He said as Lucilius frowned for a long moment.
"Indeed..." He huffed. "Three brides is notable. Three from the Shield Princesses will raise his legend higher and higher..." He said before turning to look at Harrison fully. "Which is why we must watch him closer. We must slay him and, sadly, I must admit we need to do so sooner as opposed to later. When he first came to our attention he was an unknown only worth some concern. When we found out about his birthright he was too guarded to strike down. When he rose as a hero in the war he became a legend while our hands were tied and our one attempt failed. If we do not stop him soon... if do not kill him then it's not just like the vision of the Church's fall will come to pass... We cannot risk our involvement being known." He said, his face becoming gravely serious. "Even so... we. Must. Slay him."
"Aye... Aye, that is true..." Harrison let off. "At 'east we can say we now know the problem. We just gotta axe it." He said as a wide grin came to his lips; a wicked one.
[-]
After a couple of days I had my new 'Dragon's Boost' skill down pat in time for a new delivery; one I was eager to see. My revolver had arrived.
I moved to the manor's archery field to test it out and see what I had. It came in two boxes; one with all the ammo and an enchanting book and one with the revolver itself. For starters it was made of silvered mythril! Yeah... The whole thing looked like a horse's head with the ears as the back sights and the handle was the neck, more or less. A small, weak pair of spell stones were placed at the eyes and colored a cyan color like the Noxdecus emblem. On that note the bulk of the handle was a blue spell stone that I could feel the power of. Grade two goodness!
The barrel was golden mythril with a spiral pattern on it, making it look horn like; although running along the horse's face which was cool, but still odd. The revolver was a top loader; the rotating chamber opening upwards as opposed to the side which would help with letting me use it in either hand... On that note I used the fifteen Regular Trait Points Ben gave me to buy the 'I Am Not Left Handed' trait to help gain the ambidexterity I needed for what I wanted.
Anyway, there was a good sized trigger guard, clearly meant for a more gauntleted hand, and three points on the underside that were gaps with a solid piece of metal in the center that could act as mounting points for the Arcane Weapon spell I had planned. Over all it was a work of art and I was happy with it as it stood. The only thing I did was remove the decorative eye stones for more powerful ones; there was enough of a gap inside those mounts I could add the larger stones.
These stones still weren't that strong but I set a Shine Burst spell into each that could be fired off as singles or small clusters as a Flash Bang... now with more bang. Yeah, I worked on some of my spells as well and got Shine Burst to level three, found it could be upgraded higher and, as such, had two upgrades to pick from; Blinding Noise and Blinding Force with Noise making a loud explosive noise and Force making it do some damage. I went with Blinding Noise, of course.
(On that note other spells I ground up to level five for new upgrades included Dark Flare with Consuming Shadows, Darkened Flames for Shadowblaze Weapon while Holy Flare, Holy Flare Spread and Holyblaze Weapon all got Purging Flames while Spread got Burning Fervor as well and Physical Burst got I Can Take It. More important for later was I worked hard to get Cannon Stream up to level five since I picked it up. I was surprised it could get to five but it boasted two good upgrades; Swift Current and Lasting Current which upgraded the wind speed and force of the spell and it's mana efficiency.)
I enchanted the main stone to have the usual protections for weapons before adding the auto load spell that would load bullets and unload spent shells on it's own; I just had to hold it close to my new ammo pouches (Living at my hips, behind me a little) and give a flex of my mana. I also added the recall spell so I could have my weapon draw to a hand with a thought. Nice. I practiced that for a little bit before moving to the next one; auto enchanting my bullets.
The way it would work is the stone would enchant them once they entered the chamber with a custom made spell I created for this purpose called Paratus; Latin for 'ready'. It would take about a minute to enchant the spell in place and would reapply it every hour to ensure the potency stuck. The spell would then turn it's mana into another spell at will when fired. It might sound like a big deal but it was a simple enough one based on well known principles; it's just no one really had a use for such a spell so they never made it.
(Turns out I was wrong; quivers have been enchanted with such spells before with a bow with a piece of the stone to transform and trigger the spell. As usual, enchanters like to keep such spells close to their chest.)
For practice I began with a Conjure Water spell; not ideal for combat, perhaps (Although a new, ballistic way to fight fires) but it would be safe to use.
Blowing the archery range apart with a Fireball was not a good idea; Miria would kill me.
The spell worked as I hoped; the bullet fired, hit a target and made a splash of water... as my revolver leaked copious amounts of water as well.
Readjusting Paratus to effect just the bullet and not the bullet and casing (Really glad I didn't use a fire spell for this...) I went back to testing. There was, of course, bullet holes but also a lot of water when I was done. I opted to take the rest of my testing outside and had Tiffany, Makoto and Riri join me. We set up a smaller rock atop a larger one to act as a target as I added other spells in and fired the first Fireball bullet (Making sure to keep up an Arcane Shield before us; just in case) into the rock.
The rock went away in a boom and the explosion did a lot of damage to the one it was sitting on. Some more adjustments and I had it fairly reliable and got a good selection of spells into it; Fireball, of course, but also a vertical Vortex Tunnel, Storm Wave, Arctic Orb, Flare Spread and Holy Flare Spread (Both spread spells made they're smaller fire bolts blast out in the direction of travel on impact), Hammer of Smite, Thunder Lance, Earth Shaker and Black Shard. I had wanted to add Dark Flare and Holy Flare but I couldn't; Paratus had a moderate mana cost and anything over that wasn't compatible. Oh well.
I opted to use my new hip holster and with some practice managed to aim to a level of satisfaction with my off hand.
The next thing I did was I added Arcane Weapon to it. For this I opted to keep things mostly simple and added three weapon forms into it; a foot long, thick blade with a prong that pointed down at forty five degrees and then curved forwards a bit, a thinner, three foot long blade and an axe head with a forwards spike. Once back home I opted to train with all three and the axe one was... chunky in the best and worse ways; it hit with impact but wasn't ideal for reach. The pronged one worked how I expected though; it could trap blades and was a good, close range blade. The longer blade was an acceptable pistol gripped rapier with all the pros and cons of that. More over I could still fire with any of them active if I wanted to.
I was in love already... I will admit, there was some... ill feelings, using the same sort of weapon that killed me in my past life but it eased over time. After all; this weapon was, in the end, a tool. What really mattered was how I use it.
And I'd use it well.
[-]
Skycrown City
Capital of the High Kingdom of Ken
The Gilded Plate, Private Room
For Vult the last few days were a ride; talking with the Crowns, checking in on his own agents, reading and sending missives to his benefactors, drinking with Maia and the boys... honestly he had to force himself to be well rested for this meeting given who he was meeting. Doubly so where.
The Gilded Plate was a restaurant catering to the upper crusts of society and was a usual place to host parties, woo a prized date, charm a client and more. The menu was vast, the plates were rimmed with gold, classy music was always playing... When you couple drop a full platinum when trying to keep the price modest you knew the place you were dining at was the best of the best.
Less well known was the private rooms.
Boasting entrances in less seen places the restaurant also played host to those seeking to meet others on neutral grounds without being seen or known about. Lovers of rival houses, cartel leaders meeting their 'above board' partners, nobles hiring assassins or other 'undesirables' for various tasks and so forth...
This was likely one of the few times an 'undesirable' was the one to contact and arrange a meeting with a 'better' however. He was seated at the table, flanked by Keane and Hicks as they all dressed well; more formal tunics and a great coat for himself. In addition four of his more presentable men and White Wolf hung behind him, standing as bodyguards; he wasn't expecting a fight but he came unarmed and sometimes it paid to be mindful.
Soon a door opened and allowed his guest in; Amram Stellaclamor, one of the Church's more notable Cardinals. "Your Eminence, I am glad you accepted my invite." Vult said as he watched the hawkish looking man walk in, wearing his normal holy robes. Behind him followed two, white and red robed men and behind them followed five, plate armored men. They weren't Sancta Gloria which wasn't unexpected; Vult's letter hinted that it would be best that he brought only those he could fully trust and rely on. Even so the men in plated gray mythril showed he took the invite seriously.
Gray mythril was a simple inclusion of coal into mythril; it was as effective as mythril in every means but bore the same look and sheen as steel which was used merely as a means of making someone underestimate the armor before them. There were tells, of course; their steps weren't as loud as a full suit of steel plate, there was a slight difference in tint if you knew what to look for and the slight metal-on-metal creeks were a little different as well. Amram sat across from him with his own aides while his guards stood behind him, ignoring the wine as a man moved to pour it; one of Vult's who would act as a waiter for them. "I admit. Your letter piqued my curiosity enough to warrant accepting the invitation. Although I am sure you know mentioning a possible alliance with the Cloaked Crowns of all people is something that I am tempted to simply report to the Archbishop about." That was true; he had mentioned that he had contact with the Crowns in his letter in what was a calculated risk but a required one for what he had planned.
"Indeed, I am not unaware." Vult said with a grin, spreading his arms out wide for a moment. "But I am also aware of the Church's ultimate goal of a theocracy."
"I am unaware of what you speak of." The Cardinal let off with a huff as Vult smiled a bit wider.
"Now, now, no need to be defensive..." He said before gesturing with his hand, lifting it up and waving forwards as White Wolf stepped in and walked to the table then around it slowly until she was at the side. She would withdraw a letter from her outfit and hold it out. One of Amarm's guards moved and took the letter, walking to present it to the Cardinal as White Wolf moved back. Taking the letter Amarm opened it slowly and started to read it... only for his eyes to open in shock.
Vult grinned a little wider; the letter was in fact a copy of a report to Celestine herself detailing what they learned about the control circlets that they knew (But couldn't prove) the Church was responsible for... and they had discovered the likely origins of these circlets was somewhere in Coxworth and was investigating the Church's movements within to learn more, as well as exactly where. A cold sweat came over the Cardinal as he read more and more before looking up at Vult finally. "How... did you get a hold of this..?" He let off as a chuckle came to the mercenary.
"I have someone in place near Celestine herself... As well as a couple more, although no where nearly as close." He replied as he leaned in. Amarm didn't need to know that said person was in the room. "I had someone close to Olga as well, although I suspect that might not last... Still, I have a few agents in Garan as well. And not just there; members in each of the Seven Kingdoms, a few other key territories and more. As such I come with a proposal."
For his part Amarm had to force himself to compose his visage and look as regal as his position (And future position) demanded. "Sir Vult... before now you had my curiosity... but now you my full attention..."
"I'll get to the point." Vult said, leaning in and setting his arm on the table. "The Crowns, the Church and myself all have the same goal; to overthrow Eostia and install a new empire in it's place. What separates us all is the sort of empire we wish to raise; the Crowns want the second coming of the Brazen Empire, the Church wants the rebirth and expansion of the old Larentian Ascendancy and I want to make my mark and build something new on the remains of the Alliance. Here's the thing; none of us can do it alone. The Crowns have agents everywhere but no means to bring the force needed. The Church has the military and infrastructure, as well as open contacts with several lords but lack the same degree of intelligence further then skin deep as even the lords won't tell you everything. I can bring more military force, command and I have my own agents and benefactors... but I lack the same pull as the Crowns and Church with the lords."
That was somewhat untrue; he had pull with lords inside the Crowns and, thanks to the Fang of Bahamut, was now all but their next Emperor... something Amarm didn't need to know yet. He would keep speaking as his grin widened. "We all want the same thing; we just disagree on what should follow. As such we have two options; to carry on as is, struggle as individual actors, stumble and interfere with one another and risk achieving nothing at all or we can pool all our resources, manpower and knowledge and fight together; coming to a compromise and splitting the Alliance between us. While it's true that we would, collectively, rule less then we desired to we would in the end be rulers."
He could see Amarm mused over it, taking his glass of wine, swirling it for a moment (Maybe using magic to check for poison) and took a sip of it as he took his time to think and mull over Vult's words. Naturally he didn't say everything about what would happen; the Crowns and Black Dogs were already allied and, once victory was gained, they planned to drive the dagger into the back of the Church. Indeed, a part of the plan was to get the Church Forces to lay siege to the last stronghold and, as it gave way, rush them from behind to end them. It was, of course, more of an idea then a true plan; they wouldn't know the situation until it came... but once the Church was gone and ended the next nation, the Cuntry, the Sex Empire would rise!
And he would build a throne of it's people's shattered hopes and dreams. "The Archbishop is a problem in such a proposal, however..." Amarm let off with a thoughtful frown. "No... The old man's too much of a coward to see such a thing as a necessary sacrifice..."
"Indeed... It would require a new Archbishop... one with the vision to see what can be and how it could be made." Vult said with a smile, gesturing to him with open hands. "It would require the correct vision and the wisdom to see it though." A small smirk came to the Cardinal and Vult knew he chose his target wisely. Amarm was ambitious, educated, prideful and in a position of high respect and authority... but he wasn't as smart or wise as he thought himself to be, he wasn't as strong or as powerful as he thought, as capable or forward thinking or bold or clever then he thought...
Amarm Stellaclamor was the perfect useful idiot. "Well then... Let us talk and share ideas... for a new era..." The Cardinal said, lifting his glass as if in a toast. Of course the Cardinal was planning to back-stab Vult in the end...
Men like Stellaclamor were, after all, predictable.
That's why they were so useful.
[-]
"Wow... You really earned your coin..."
"Well it's good coin." Louis Vander replied to me as I looked over the stockpile of spell fiber. With things happening this was on the back burner but it was still important. After all I had to help Lulu with her work; yesterday we had our New Years Party. Yes, it was a nice, quiet affair and not worth talking about overmuch save Sora's ham; coated with a brown sugar and honey glaze. Yes, it was delicious.
Back to topic; we had crates holding fifty or sixty pounds of spell fiber a piece and we had over seventy crates loaded up. That's a lot of spell fiber; more then what I needed for my future project and enough to start Lulu on her trains. "Let's get what I need set aside. Any complains on the auto enchanter?"
"No M'lord. You do good work of your own." He said with a chuckle. "I've also been using it for normal spell glass too; it's making me a small mint; doubly so with the merchants passing through now." He said as I nodded.
Ever since I blew through the Abomination more and more interest and investment has come into Mungale from all angles; we had our paper mills in full production now and two printing presses were setting up shop in Argon. Workers wouldn't be hard to find; former Dark Elf slaves now freed by the Treaty of Mungale were mostly moving to Garan but some moved into Mungale. The Creamy Dream had even hired one and my Games Shop (Which I had to pay for an addition to) hired three to keep up with demand as my games were flying out the door. And I hadn't even finished my next one. Or other ones like Sorry, Backgammon or Cribbage. Hell, once I could really expand maybe I could make an Uno game?
For now that was on the back burner as well. "I imagine we'll have good need of it sooner or later." I said with a nod and smile as I considered things. "I'll leave you to your work; and thanks for it."
"Thanks for the work, M'lord!" He said before I nodded and left.
There were, of course, other things to note; Alexia and the other members of the Catalan Quintet was well settled in now and Alexia herself was starting to learn basic magic and spellcasting. It would be sometime before she could cast her first spell but she was getting better at her exercises day by day. That led me to a new thought...
A lot of my fan letters weren't just 'marry my female relative/me please' but also 'take my relative/me on as your apprentice' which was a new kind of annoying... but a hint at something; my achievements demanded more of me, starting with gaining an apprentice... and it could become political.
Ideally I would pick an apprentice based of capabilities, intelligence and such (Not that I was ready for such a thing, but this might be a 'you have no choice' thing...) as opposed to politics... but if you try and avoid politics someone will (un)kindly insert it for you. Who I chose could be a cause for grumbling or questions or accusations of such and such. If I picked a person of noble birth then that could be seen as favor to that house or houses of that associated territory. If I picked up one from a common house then there was a risk of noses lifting to the air unless they were the upper of the upper classes... and even then some nobles would huff. Someone from outside of Eostia would cause eyebrows to be raised unless it was a major deal unless, perhaps, they were from Rycall or the United Elven Kingdoms and the chances to the latter was laughable. It would be one of those annoying choices that in the end would beg one question be asked; who could I afford to annoy or piss off? Because someone would stick their nose up at my choice, no matter what; might as well annoy the right people.
Still that's another thing I can set to the back burner... I had things I wanted to do now; like make new spells. I had wanted to make my own spells based on hybrid magic and with my wealth of tomes on the subjects of magical spell creation and hybrid magic I was confident I could make two, maybe three, spells but over the time I could spend so far I had managed to make four; not including Paratus
(-)
Steam Burst [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Magic Type: Fire/Water
Cool Down: Low
Mana Cost: High
The caster throws a ball of condensed, scalding steam that explodes on contact unleashing a powerful burst of heated, gaseous water that can burn skin and flesh.
Blessed Waters [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Magic Type: Light/Water
Cool Down: Low
Mana Cost: High
A powerful healing spell that can stabilize those on the brink of death. This spell is also highly effective at healing damage done by burns and frostbite and heal scars.
Frost Bolt [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Magic Type: Ice/Lightning
Cool Down: Low
Mana Cost: High
The user fires a cyan colored bolt of lightning that, upon, impact leaves frost and ice and can cause frostbite to a target.
Permafrost Wall [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Magic Type: Ice/Earth
Cool Down: Moderate
Mana Cost: High
A wall of frozen dirt, rock as well as ice and earth mana forms a barrier before the caster. Highly resistant to both physical and magical attacks.
(-)
Steam Burst and Frost Bolt while useful and likely to blindside some foes were just more attack spells. Still, they were useful stepping stones, I thought. The two big prizes were Blessed Waters and Permafrost Wall; the former is a powerful healing spell (One I planned to share with Kaguya and Celestine when the chance allowed) and the healing of burns, frostbite and scars was an unexpected but pleasant surprise with a high mana cost being the most notable downside for it. Permafrost Wall was the other prize; Earthen and Frozen Walls were both useful in past fights and now I had them in one spell, if for a higher cost. More over the wall had a tan colored, muddy texture that could stick to those it collapsed on if broken, save the caster. Could be useful.
I would spend much of January split between my studies, training all my spells and skills, practicing Dragon's Boost, sparring for more XP and trait points and more. With the Trait Points I earned I opted to buy two new traits; starting with Deep Pools; that would boost my Mana Capacity by eight percent; given how many high cost spells I now had it seemed to be a wise investment. On that note I spent the seven RSP and three USP on Mana Capacity as well; all of this bringing me up to a hundred and twenty three. I also had the option to upgrade Deep Pools to Vast Pools later, but for now I put it off.
(On that note, for my nineteen remaining USP; I dropped nine to Agility, six to Magic Power and the last four to Constitution. This left Constitution, Endurance and Luck as the only stats I had under a hundred now.)
The other was Arcane Weapon Mastery; with the new Radiant Gemini and my revolver Horned Colt (Yes, no one else got the joke) that would be a big boost. And yes, I upgraded the old Shining Gemini as well; no idea what I'd do with it yet. It would also help when it came time to enchant Alicia's weapon when it arrived. And then what I was waiting for arrived...
On February the third a message was delivered to the local Adventurer's Guild via voxlux, written down and delivered that morning from Port Saint Carter; the Buttercup was still for sale. And so I opted to prepare...
Funds spent on gifts, upgrades and more were returned via my investments and re-investments into industries and, as such, it was time to go back to South Point...
Time to go large scale...
[ - Author's Note - ]
Whew. There we go.
So James is giving some help and upgrades to a few people, gifts all around, James has been busy with spell making and training and more... all to get ready for Act Four and beyond...
On Fred's interference; as I said I wanted to have James a little lower in level but it didn't pan out. Instead I opted to have Fred adjust his foes to a higher level to make up the balance. Because it can't be too easy. The Horned Colt has arrived (God made man, Samuel Colt made man Even, the Horned Colt makes men explode) and been showcased, James has an upgraded Shining Gemini now, a few more spells for his use and just so much more...
I'll have to make sure to add more character stuff and slice of life in the next one; I have a plan for the first chapter of Act Four... and I imagine the bulk of you already have guessed as to what he's planning to build.
So... We're into Act Four proper next time... So, that'll be a thing.
As always let me know what you thought of the chapter; leave a comment, criticism, what you liked, didn't like and so on. So...
See you in Act Four.
~Eostian Scribe