You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

You have leveled up

Back in reality, Estaria got a load of level up boxes, and apparently the xp from the S++ dungeon had been added to the Historical Dungeon gains and doubled from that. There was a lot of background information she had never read because it was really thick and long. Still, that was for later, right now she opened the inventory and looked over this crown thing. It’s description seemed to flicker a little, as if battling with the screen. Maybe it was just really powerful?

Nemesis Crown - the Crown of the greatest of all Kings, The Nemesis Crown is a sign that the wearer is the one to rule the whole world, and it’s power is such that this is far from a dream. A legend that shall never die will be born from the wearer of the Nemesis Crown. Increase stat cap to 200

Well, that was nice, wasn’t it? Double points for it being a dainty little circlet rather than some gaudy and terribly ostentatious crown. Misleading name, or an interesting critique on the fact that a true leader needs little in the way of ornament? Either way, it was hers now, she so put it on, and smiled softly to herself. She wouldn’t pop them right away since Human Paragon had already ate up most of her extra none primary stats pushing to 125, but she’d get there eventually, and it would be good. However, as soon as she put it on her head, the box warped and twisted, changing to be a new description

The final work of Aleric The Mad, this crown of Pure Warpstone is embossed with the Master Rune Of Ages. In his madness, he sort to make a rune more powerful than any that had come before, but obsession clouded his mind, and the Master Rune Of Ages would instead twist the wearer into a vessel for the evil intent, seizing on the slightest drop of nightmareish emotions to turn the wearer into a terrifying being who would rend the world asunder!

The description was certainly...intimidating, and Estaria was about to pull the thing from her head and sell it so that it would be gone from the world forever, but then she got another popup.

Hex reduced by high Wisdom.

Hex dramatically reduced by high Wisdom

Hex nullified by high Wisdom

Seeing that this cataclysm of an item had gone so far as to trick her by changing the system page, only to get nulified by her stats was hilarious. And now, she got both super-powered power stats, and a cool circlet to go along with Filnon’s Circlet Of Iron. What more could a girl ask for? Aside from Level stuff that she looked over. New Master Trait list came, and one, the Khaine one, stood out beyond all others. It shimmered like freshly spilled blood, and Estaria had picked it before realizing she had reached out for it.

The Right to Wield: It Calls

That was that. No boons, buffs, perks or gains. Just ‘It Calls’ and that was that. Why the hell did she pick that? It was a god-damn waste when she could get the other one and bring in something called “Bloodwolf Ulricsson”. But, it was cool, it looked flash, so she would let it go for now, and look to City Stuff. Spending the next few days walking about the city, completing Dynamic Quests to reduce the cost - not that she needed it - and build time - that was what she was going for - of the buildings that were being made. By the end of the week, it was all nice and shiny. The one she liked the most was the wall emplacement.

Experimental Wall Emplacement - The Grand Cannons and Swivel Cannons are upgraded with Dwarven Engineering and additional Cannons are added at key points to increase the volume of fire. The Bright Tower is also made to house Sigmar’s Fury, an immense 36 barrel Hellblaster Volley Gun crewed by Leadbelcher Ogres, for normal humans can not pull it’s large crank to reload. The Barrels are enchanted by Lore Of Metal wizards to be able to sustain the exceptional heat put out by it’s firing, so it is not liable to overheat like it’s smaller brothers.

When that was made, Estaria wanted to be invaded, just to see a 36-barrel Hellblaster turn the invading army to jelly. One pull of the trigger put out more rounds than an entire squad of Handgunners, and were twice the size of normal bullets as well. Added onto that was the Bladesman Academy that would produce Academy Bladesmen, a super version of Swordsmen. Her usual Swordsmen had upgrade paths that required them to be involved in actual fights to go through though, so they would just be normal swordsmen.

All in all, the army was doing pretty well, the City was booming, and in four days, the Great Temple Of Ulric would be rebuilt. Not, that Estaria could have built that, she was denied such by her religion, but having Filnon as a hero let her pull it up. She was debating the social ramifications of building her religious building and pulling in Witch Elves. That, was probably something for much later. After yesterday’s hectic questing all day, Estaria was spending today lazing in the very rare Middenland Sun. She wanted to be at least 80% of the enemy garrison to be confident in her sieging. Plus, she had no idea what kind of things she needed to do about leaving a garrison afterwards. Plus losses, upkeep, income, invasions, events... she got overwhelmed every time she thought about the scale of what she was doing.

But, her rest was interrupted when she was woken by a very loud man outside the gate.

“I Seek the Wolf Empress!”

The power of it woke Estaria from her half-sleep and had her glance over. Filnon was out again, raising her level to be equal to Estaria’s. The exp sharing had a distance limit, and so when she roamed far enough afield, Estaria got nothing from it. And she was happy to sit around the city or just sleep while Filnon regained the iconic pride of her race and became the same level as Estaria. So all that was left was her. The man was big, broad shouldered and was riding an Elven Steed. The glistening Ithilmar barding of the steed competed with the highly polished Gromril armour the man himself wore, and the twenty Reiksguard that flanked him pointed him out to be at least an Elector Count of great renown. So, Estaria lept from the walls and landed softly, walking to some twenty foot from him were she could see his name. And she got more than just that, as the plate told her much about him.

Valten Lachenbad - level 97 Exalted Son Of Sigmar, Hero Of Emperor Karl Franz

That’d explain the gettup and gear. Sigmar’s Player would certainly get a great deal of influence in The Empire. And from this distance, she could see two hammers hanging from his waist. One was immediately recognizable, as Ghal Muraz, The Skullsplitter. The Hammer of Sigmar, and every Emperor that came after him. The other one, was harder to recognize, but Estaria got it with a flick of the system, as Kadrin Redmane’s Hammer. What that meant was lost on her, but it must have been special to stand aside Ghal Muraz.

Of course, while she was staring at him, he was staring at her, and his reaction was notable. His eyes bulged and he shifted back on the saddle, before leaning forward and dismounting entirely, striding over to her.

“A hundred and forty? How did you manage That? I can think only the A dungeons, maybe the S, but their difficulty is such I can do but one on an off-day due to the strain. Already died once in an S, and the debuff is like a harsh fever” Valten spoke suddenly, and quickly. Far from that powerful voice he had displayed before, now interest and excitement warred with the need to keep a calm tone.

“Ahh, yea. No, it’s not something you’d enjoy. This is no dungeons and safety nets. I’ve been a Gladiator in the Druchii Arenas for some two years now. Then me and my wife went and did things to get more levels” Estaria wasn’t sure if she should tell others about how Malekith met his fated end at the end of Filnon’s blades. Valten’s face softened as he heard that, and then he sighed, stepped back, and to his Reiksguard.

“Break camp, we stay for the night” Valten ordered, before looking back to Estaria.”How is the city?” His voice was again slightly more excited than the stern command of before.

“Feel free to bring the men in and see it yourself” Estaria replied, opening the gate and bringing in the Reiksguard. There was surprise and awe from them, having heard Middenhiem was razed to the ground by Chaos, but here it stood, firm and defiant against the North, as it had always been. Of special note was the giant Hellblaster that stood atop The Bright Tower.

“That’s a big gun” Valten muttered, staring at the thing in awe and trepidation. Put that thing in the field and it could shred a frontline with impunity.

“Very expensive thing. Some 180,000 gold to get it made without the materials. Me and my wife are a few mill up, but the price of these city upgrades is going to put dents in that” Estaria spoke casually, but Valten looked on with amazement. Apparently, Estaria was beyond the average level of Player with what she had gotten up to. He had died in an S, but Estaria had - with great effort - completed the S++.

“You are here for a reason, and I doubt it is to talk to me about my accomplishments, since you knew not of them before you got here” Estaria decided to pull attention away from her abnormal growth and focus on what he was doing here.

“Ahh, yes. I saw Middenhiem reclaimed by The Wolf Empress, and told The Emperor about it. He commanded me to come here and find out what it was all about, and to bring you to him if at all possible” Valten explained. It was a good reason for his presence, so she nodded.

“Alright. I don’t want to be absent long, so we can go now” Estaria said, heading to the gate and setting the army to defense to increase the garrison in case of an attack.

“Nuln is three days away by horse. Though my steed can make it in one day and one night, that is still something we should wait for the morning for” Valten replied.

“Nuln? That….is something for later. I can do it in one day. You want me to carry you?” Estaria asked, smirking. Celerity and an absurd Agility stat did make her the fastest thing in the world, pretty much.

“Althandin benefits from some traits I have picked up. I dislike using them in full view, as they may draw attention. But, if you are running by my side, then attention we will bring” Valten exclaimed, heading to the gate.

“We won’t attract attention anyway. None-players are inclined to just sort of, shrug and carry on when we do our stuff” Estaria told him, taking off her heels and fitting some proper boots. As much as she loved her heels, they were not fit for cross-county running.

“You know, I have wondered about that. Though, just thought myself lucky most just accepted what I could do as Sigmar’s Exalted” Valten replied, mounting Althandin and, with Estaria by his side, taking off light a bolt of lightning into the horizon.