Chapter 26: Mobilizing

Tier 0 magic is the backbone of the Empire and to our knowledge the various races. The magic any person of common birth can use. From spells like |Spark| and |Raise Earth| to others like |Generate Water| and |Light|. These spells have done more for the human population than any other spell in existence. Spark to like our fires in the dark. Raise Earth for the earth mages to hastily build houses and accommodations for roaming tribes or cities. Generate Water most used in the south dukedom saving countless lives in the rough sands of the Arlarian Desert. Finally, Light, the mage lights that light up with all colors of the rainbow providing us confidence in the darkness of the unknown. Truly tier 0 spells are the backbone of the Empire and will most likely be the backbone of most commoners’ introduction to magic for a very long time.

Excerpt from Empire Weekly. Written by Joseph Crank.

The deal was struck with Princess Karla signing her country to mine. A small event took place afterward recorded in which the Warrior Princess kneeled before me pledging the allegiance of the Last Kingdom and effectively all of the continent. From the knowledge she provided, the two other races should not be a problem in the event the system truly took care of the Nox.

Now returned to the city and the mansion I share with my cousin I was not able to take the opportunity to leave and finish digesting all that had occurred last night. The moment we arrived home she stopped me in my tracks.

“We need to talk.”

This was not a negotiation from what her tone indicated. The problems I was facing would have to wait.

“We do,” I said turning to face her. My expression was serious.

Quickly we made our way to our favorite resting area and after a few devices were activated to prevent snooping Amaya began.

“First off, I will be announcing a full mobilization of our troops later today. I expect to set out within the next three days.”

“The business I need to take care of in terms of myself and cultivation should be more than complete by then. I believe a spar between us should also help me figure out some things when it comes to my aspect utilization.”

“That’s good, great even but right now we have too much on our plate and not enough middle management to direct it to.”

I knew Amaya was right and I was already prepared to give my consent to what she wanted to do. A problem and a solution that had been plaguing us because of my stubbornness.

She continued, “Now that you’ve openly played your hand there is a need to integrate the sons and daughters of the west into our army. The five hundred troops I brought are more than ready to take over command positions. Most have been trained and expected to do this in the first place.”

I nodded agreeing with her.

“When it comes down to it. You’re the Crimson General and I no longer have a valid reason to hold you from doing this. Now that I’ve opened Pandora’s Box.”

Amaya looked confused before asking, “Who’s Pandora, and what type of box does she possess? Is it another magical ability you’ve been hiding from family again?”

A small chuckle escaped my lips the reference from earth having slipped out.

“Nothing just something from my travels.”

Amaya waved off my answer and before she could speak Murnia arrived with refreshments. Today my maid brought us cream-covered cakes and a fizzy drink that reminded me of soda. I thanked her and for a few minutes, we sat in silence enjoying our snacks. Then Amaya continued once again.

“We need to discuss what happened in your meeting with Star God. Tell me everything that happened and afterward, we need to plan what we’re going to do with the ten great families.”

So, for the next hour and a half, I told Amaya exactly what occurred between me and Star God. Brushing over the details such as me constructing a piece of Divinity Collapse. The emotions and feelings from that time returned to me. My gain from the SEE GOD, SLAY GOD SECT. I told her how I was slowly building up essence to break into the next tier of power. How I comprehended my mistakes of the past year under the influence of the bracelet. Until I was surrounded by blue and gold stars and when I grasped a combination of both stars what I suspected was my consciousness was brought into Star God’s divine realm.

Amaya listened only interrupting to ask a few questions here and there. Asking me to shed further light on a topic. Her eyes widen in surprise when I told her how I had gone up the steps as tall as us feeling like a normal human and how I aged as I progressed higher on those godly steps. Then I began to describe how Star God passive aura radiated from their body attempting to shear my mind.

“It was like a compulsion to follow and obey. To worship Star God was being downloaded into my brain. I wanted to serve them wholeheartedly. To praise them for their glory and triumph over all other gods.”

“It was terrifying.”

“That wasn’t the worse part. The worse part was when I resisted. When I told my mind and body no and when I finally opened my mouth and told the god no.”

“They were surprised and mentioned how my soul must be pristine. That’s when they gave me the ultimatum. Complete the quest or I will face my mother. What does divinity do to mortals?”

I looked up and at Amaya whose, golden eyes and curly red hair were glowing lightly. In a moment they returned, and I knew she had finished with whatever spell she cast.

“That was |Divinity Cleanse|. You should know it and cast it upon yourself to make sure no remnants of their power remain.”

A spell I did not know but would have to get the construct details from Amaya later.

She paused here taking a sip of her drink before continuing.

“I think the right course of action as of now is to follow and do as the Star God wants. This is why the heads of the Empire stay away from following the various gods but what can we do… but what can we do.”

“What does the title Prime: Dragon mean?”

The question came out of the blue and was far removed from our current topic, but I could see how my cousin was staring off reading the description of the title.

“I don’t know. What are the abilities it gives you?”

“You recognize the air surrounding me? Constantly projecting my confidence to all in range. Well, the reason I asked is that it says they shall come for me and as time passes, I can feel the aura strengthening. Different from the aura’s we project. I fear that whoever is truly responsible for our bloodline will be heading in this direction. It isn’t strong but just slightly increased last night as well.”

A small chuckle escaped my lips and Amaya frowned but my chuckle soon turned into fool-blown laughter. There was so much on my plate that the stress was finally getting to me. Even with all the mental enhancements, my aspects offered me. My plate was already full from the prospect of conquering this world. Too much was stacked so I tossed out the system already the monoliths were being placed in the city and soon those who hadn’t been directed to them would. Now the Star God’s mission replaced the spot the system held on my plate and Amaya’s new title was the desert I didn’t want. Soon my laughter stopped, and I looked over to my cousin who was studying me slightly frowning.

“I’m sorry. I was not laughing at you but myself. In your words and your opinion tell me what it means to be a leader.”

Amaya regarded me for a moment as she pondered the question.

“A leader… a leader is someone who must bear the responsibility of not only themselves but all who fall underneath their leadership. A leader is someone who is the first to fight in battle and the last to leave. I could go on and on about the qualities of a leader but that is not necessary cousin.”

“You are a leader. You are the Young Lord, who delved deep into the Catacombs and made his way to Redcoomshi while still a child. Fighting your hormones and beast alike as you descended. You are the Young Lord my cousin who is more like a brother and someone whom I would give my life to protect.”

Her voice grew stronger as she spoke, and she was no longer sitting but stood and approached me in turn I stood my resolve returning and strengthening.

“You are the next Lord of the Wall, and you will always have me to help even if the whole world turns against you.”

She brought me into a hug and all the pent-up stress building ever since we landed on this world evaporated. It was do or die and failure was never an option. Not for me not for a man of the Kan. Too many times have I heard stories of my ancestors doing the heroic and near impossible. I would not fail the expectations my family laid upon my shoulders.

“Mobilize the troops. Add your nobles to the Crimson Army but we will give them two weeks to train and settle in. In the meantime, I will allow our two champions and their squads to escort the Princess back to her capital and begin to introduce us to the rest of the kingdom.” The one thing we did have was time. My family hadn’t set a limit on this expedition. My only expectation was to come back victorious.

Amaya nodded in response and prepared to leave but stopped in her tracks.

“Before I forget the farmers found something and I believe you should head out to see it. They’re not sure if it’s some sort of magical treasure or more.”

“I will but first let me meditate on my aspects and their utilization.”

As Amaya was almost upon the exit I spoke up once more.

“Amaya,” she turned around again wondering what I was going to say.

“Thank you.”

*

I found myself once again in the garden behind the mansion. Sitting cross-legged and staring at the evening sky.

“Aspects.”

Aspect: Starlit Harbinger

(35) %

Effect: Increase in all stats which include but are not limited to endurance, vitality, speed, magic, and strength. When under starlight gain a 20% greater increase. Gain the skill Perfect Recall, allowing you to recall special moments with perfect clarity. Increase combat damage output by 15%. When calling upon your bloodline all powers and effects are concentrated and strengthened within a range of 20ft.

Perks:

Ashes Fall [Beyond] (Tier 2): Summon ashes from [Beyond] which will drain vitality/mana and sap mental endurance (Minor). Only affects living objects.

Starlit Eyes (Tier 2): See in the dark without light interference. Can see through illusions (Minor).

[Beyond] Gaze (Tier 1): This is a permanently active ability. Allows users to see into the Beyond glimpsing events that will happen shortly.

Dragon’s Health (Passive) (Tier 2): Passively regenerates vitality and mana (Average). Increase mental endurance (Average).

Aspect: Adventurer

(35%)

Effect: Fortification of all stats which include but is not limited to endurance, vitality, speed, magic, and strength. This allows users to draw more upon their physical bodies without using as much resources as before.

Perks:

Adventurer’s Insight (Tier 2): When activated allows the user insight on all viewable items within sight. Providing detailed information based on the knowledge user already has and making structural weaknesses more obvious.

Adventurer’s Grit (Tier 2): When activated fortify and turn your physical body as tough as steel. Damage taken during this period will be negated by 15%.

Seed of Hope (Tier 1): Plant an idea within yourself or a single target. Then allow the Seed of Hope to blossom.

Survivability (Passive) (Tier 2): Increase regeneration of physical and mental state.

My two perks were [Beyond] Gaze and Seed of Hope both of which hadn’t been used at least not yet. [Beyond] Gaze was supposed to be a permanently active ability yet since I received it nothing has happened or occurred. Perhaps it would only show me a glimpse of the future under the right circumstances. Which I had no clue what circumstances were necessary.

Seed of Hope was another ability I’d yet to use but I was already forming plans after my discussion with Amaya. There were many reasons I chose these two new abilities. The prospect of seeing into the future was just too great of a power to pass which was a major decision in choosing my new perk. If Seed of Hope worked like I wanted and intended to use. Then it would allow me to create a special unit of soldiers unlike no other and I had the perfect test subjects in mind.

Now the question that had been plaguing me for some time. How do I properly use the powers of my aspects?

Ashes Fall [Beyond] in my opinion was a draining type ability that would drain my opponent’s vitality, mana, and mental endurance. The problem was that as I further increased in tier level the enemies, I faced did the same. The draining ability was too slow-acting on them. I did not doubt that on tier two or three enemies it would be challenging for them to face me but that was no longer the case with what I was expected to face in the future. I believe this problem came from the fact that I never much relied on my aspects and their perks. When fighting I would mainly use the power of my physical body and if necessary, magic.

Now I was too deep in to not utilize my aspects properly. Already I’ve seen the advantage it gave to my troops when facing off against Count Caccula giving me the notion that perhaps my perks were too low in tier because of my negligence in using them.

Insight seemed to come to my mind as I made this point in my meditation and I resolved to constantly begin to use my perks whether in training or fighting seriously. Until they were at an adequate strength for my level. Ashes began to descend around me and the vegetation that surrounded me as I meditated quickly began to wilt.

“I can see all weakness before me, and all shall provide to my insight.”

Adventurer’s Insight was a perk even now I could tell I hadn’t made proper use of. As I opened my eyes and looked around me, I could see with a shift here or there I could disrupt the already dying plant life around me even more. I could see how and where I could hit the tree in front of me to collapse it with minimum strength. It wasn’t like this weakness wasn’t there before it’s just that with Adventurer’s Insight now activated it became a glaring mistake within my sight. Making it hard to ignore it.

Slowly I let myself continue with the exploration of my aspects and perks. Knowledge and understanding on how to use them better dawning on me. Using my abilities to enhance my abilities. Soon a prompt appeared before me.

Congratulations! You have successfully mastered one of two steps in your perks: Ashes Fall [Beyond] and Adventurer’s Insight. The effects of these perks will now be enhanced, and a secondary ability has now been granted to these perks.

Quickly I pulled up my aspects to see what had changed.

“Aspects.”

Aspect: Starlit Harbinger

(35) %

Effect: Increase in all stats which include but are not limited to endurance, vitality, speed, magic, and strength. When under starlight gain a 20% greater increase. Gain the skill Perfect Recall, allowing you to recall special moments with perfect clarity. Increase combat damage output by 15%. When calling upon your bloodline all powers and effects are concentrated and strengthened within a range of 20ft.

Perks:

Ashes Fall [Beyond] (Tier 3): Summon ashes from [Beyond] which will drain vitality/mana and sap mental endurance (Major). Only affects living objects. Those who fail to extricate themselves from this ability in time will begin to build stacks upon themselves. Once an enemy reaches five stacks’ users may harvest these stacks returning health/mana and mental endurance to themselves.

Starlit Eyes (Tier 2): See in the dark without light interference. Can see through illusions (Minor).

[Beyond] Gaze (Tier 1): This is a permanently activated ability. Allows users to see into the Beyond glimpsing events that will happen shortly.

Dragon’s Health (Passive) (Tier 2): Passively regenerates vitality and mana (Average). Increase mental endurance (Average).

Aspect: Adventurer

(35%)

Effect: Fortification of all stats which include but is not limited to endurance, vitality, speed, magic, and strength. This allows users to draw more upon their physical bodies without using as much resources as before.

Perks:

Adventurer’s Insight (Tier 3): When activated allows the user insight on all viewable items within sight. Providing detailed information based on the knowledge user already has and making structural weaknesses more obvious. Any weakness hit has a chance to inflict the skill Tundra’s Grasp slowing the enemy by 25%.

Adventurer’s Grit (Tier 2): When activated fortify and turn your physical body as tough as steel. Damage taken during this period will be negated by 15%.

Seed of Hope (Tier 1): Plant an idea within yourself or a single target. Then allow the Seed of Hope to blossom.

Survivability (Passive) (Tier 2): Increase regeneration of physical and mental state.

I smiled knowing and hoping I was on the right track with my aspects theiren perks. I was also hoping I was now getting them to a strength in which they would greatly assist me in my fights.