Draco walked to the front of the Aether Castle and inspected it with a strange look. It had retained the majority of the Aether Hall's original style and design, yet it had received new towers, a moat, a drawbridge, and a far larger courtyard.
After they crossed the bridge, Draco noticed that there were some stable-like buildings and an outhouse for servants. Aside from that, the entrance of the castle had become a huge set of double doors that looked like it needed a mechanism to open.
Of course, such a thing was unnecessary with Vitae in existence. The Aether Apparition opened the doors and came out to greet his Master. He seemed much livelier and more condensed, and one could almost make out human-like features on him.
"Greetings, Master and Mistress. Allow me to walk you through the changes in the Aether Castle." Vitae offered as he got close.
"Lead the way." Draco acquiesced with a smile.
Vitae nodded and took them through the now expanded foyer that had become a huge hall of its own. The insides still appeared to work on their own, with cleaning utensils moving as they wished while the energy of the castle had turned far more potent than before.
"Firstly, the Aether Castle is now able to produce higher quantities of Aetheric Energy at the same quality. I believe the exact percentage should be privy to you, Master." Vitae explained.
Draco nodded. From the panel, he could see that the Aetheric Energy concentration had gone from 25% to 100%. This was a big leap, and it meant that the original benefits Vita City-State had provided its inhabitants would grow exponentially now that it had become Vita Kingdom.
Draco decided to check those later. Right now, he wanted to hear more from Vitae. The Aether Apparition brought them inside the hall which housed the control module for the entire building.
At the pedestal where Draco had spawned the fellow, there was now a second one glowing with a beautiful green light.
"Secondly, the Aether Hall can support a second avatar, so either the Master can make a clone of me, or someone else can imprint their DNA into it." Vitae stated as he expectedly gazed at Eva.
Vitae had been around the members of the Morningstar Clan long enough to know how they would respond to certain things, so he was able to predict what choice they would make. Even though Draco and Eva both felt that Vitae was goading them into a desired outcome, it was still the best choice.
Eva had her palm pierced like Draco, her bloodline being extracted along with her blood. Of course, there was no loss of source, as that would be detrimental.
The next moment, the entire Aether Castle rumbled as a point of light grew beside Vitae, eventually forming into an energy lifeform that was similar to the Aether Apparition.
It had a female body outline reminiscent of Eva herself and its eyes glowed with a sharp yellow light. It gazed at Eva and Draco then bowed, speaking in a voice that was very similar to Eva's: "Greetings, Masters."
Draco rubbed his chin with intrigue. Hehe, being called Master by a creation that had Eva's general shape and almost the same voice was… quite an interesting feeling!
Hearing his thoughts, Eva's lips twitched. She then waved her hand to her 'creation' and gestured towards Vitae.
"You may continue. As for the new apparition, let's call her Mortem."
Draco raised his hands in acceptance while Vitae was wise enough to quickly pick up the matter from here. "The third new change the castle has experienced is in terms of size. As you may have noticed, the number of floors, rooms and general space has expanded by almost 3 times."
"Now, there are designated rooms for Divination, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and all other Tradeskills that can exist. Not only that, but there are towers that can automatically muster defense and attacking means without input."
"Thanks to the generous infusion of Energy, our summoned Aether Dragon can now reach Rank 7 in strength. It may be far weaker than a normal Rank 7, but it could be summoned endlessly as long as we have enough energy to sustain it."
While explaining, Vitae and Mortem floated downward, leading the group lower and lower into the castle's bowels. Eventually, they passed a somewhat familiar route that made Eva and Draco frown.
"And the biggest and most notable change of our Aether Castle, is in your special realm. I think it'd be better if you took a look yourselves." Vitae suggested as he led them through the portal that led to the Anomaly Realm.
The only thing was that Draco and Eva noticed that it had grown in size, quite greatly at that too. It was about as large as the entrance to the Treasury that had been underneath the Godmar Divine Empire.
This made Draco and Eva's expression change, as they could already guess the kind of surprise Vitae had in store for them.
In truth, they were on the mark. The moment the Evil Duo walked in, they found an expansive world before them, one that seemed to go on for miles. Draco and Eva's bodies shook, understanding that the Anomaly Realm had now become a small world of its own.
Although it was an artificial one, meaning it lacked many features compared to a natural one, it was still a great thing. Draco then remembered something as he quickly asked Vitae.
"What about the Aether Conversion Orb?"
Vitae chuckled. "Gone, reduced to atoms."
Draco and Eva had horrified expressions on their faces and unlike the playful Vitae, Mortem was more serious about things. She took up the mantle and began explaining.
"The Aether Conversion Orb was a flawed and redundant product to begin with, so during the upgrade, it was absorbed into the Aether Castle and became one with it. Henceforth, the expansion of the world shall be automatically handled by the castle, and manual labor is no longer needed."
Draco and Eva sighed with relief. Then Draco frowned as this was a problem. From a logical point of view, he understood why the orb was flawed and was glad that the process could be automated.
However, his plan had been to use it to train up a batch of Control masters. Of course, the requirement was to have the Dragon race skill of Aether Production, but he was sure he could have eventually found a way to either grant his people the skills necessary.
Now, that dream would seemingly have to remain a dream.
Still, Draco decided to make sure of it first. "Is there any way for the orb to be manifested externally for manual input?"
Mortem shook her head. "No, it has been fully integrated."
Draco sighed with lament. Well, you win some, you lose some. In truth, it was more a benefit than a detriment as finding a way around needing Aether Production would have been a herculean task.
Draco and Eva manifested their bloodline wings and flew a few laps around the entire small world, which took them more than a few minutes with its current size.
By the time they got back, they both had pensive expressions as they pondered what to do with this place. Should they make it a staging area for Umbra, limit it to the core citizens of Vita Kingdom, or perhaps exclusive to the Morningstar Clan?
The last option would be the least optimal, since they already had the Inner Universe. As for letting the NPCs that were affiliated with Vita Kingdom stay here, it was not impossible. Allowing the core members to reside her would also be doable.
For the time being, Draco and Eva remained undecided, so they opted to simply leave things as they were. After all, they had already given both groups access to live in the castle, which should be more than good enough.
As such, Draco turned to Vitae and Mortem then gave a solemn order. "Prevent anyone apart from myself and those of the Morningstar Clan from entering the realm until further notice. Also, summon Hoover for me."
The Aether Apparitions acknowledged the order and soon the goatman butler came running over. He bowed respectfully to Draco and Eva while greeting them.
"My Lord and Lady, what do you need from me?"
Draco explained the circ.u.mstances of the Inner Universe, the Anomaly Realm, and the Aether Castle.
"From now on, you are in charge of operating the connection between these three things. Monitor the Castle's matters as well as the Anomaly Realm, for that is where you will be staying. If you see any of my women or children come out from there, you are to sort them out before letting them come out to the castle."
Hoover looked serious and nodded heavily. "Leave it to me, Lord Draco, I shall not fail you."
Draco smiled as he patted Hoover's shoulders. "You never have and I'm confident you never will."
The Evil Duo then exited the Aether Castle and left the reins to Hoover and Sublime who would sort out the rest. Before leaving Vita Kingdom, Draco checked the new benefits provided as well as its management panel.
Of course, there were system announcements too.
｢Vita Kingdom bonuses:
- Bonus Exp modifier acc.u.mulates at 1% per minute spent in the kingdom and is capped at 200%
- Crafting success rates increased by 30% regardless of Tradeskill.
- The life expectancy of citizens is boosted by a factor of 5.
- Residents who stay more than 2 years acquire the 'Aether-Infused' trait, allowing them to become immune to all diseases as well as much stronger.
- Technique creation success rates boosted by 50% within Training Halls of the Kingdom.
- All statistical resources (HP, MP, etc) recover 200% faster when resting in the kingdom.
- All resources produced within the kingdom are at minimum, 50% higher in quality compared to the average.
- Crafted items or created techniques are 50% better when completed.
- Natural population growth is boosted by 500% and can be controlled by each citizen as they so choose.
- The presence of Aether Mines is increased by 1,000% within the Kingdom's borders.
- For every year one stays in the kingdom, all stats are freely increased by 10% for those at Rank 4 and below.
- For every decade spent in the kingdom, stats increase by 10% for those at Rank 5 and above.｣
｢Kingdom Name: Vita Kingdom
Tier: 8
Loyalty/Upset: 100/0
Gold: 7,129,863,459,700
Worldly energy: 100%
Aetheric energy: 100%
Tax rate: 15%
Population: 809,006,017
Personnel: 12,532,900
Prestige: 100,000
Honor: 0
Accolades: 2
War
Governement
Permissions
Bans
Production｣
｢Vita Capital City Regional Announcement
Due to the unique upgrade process, as well as the provision of the extremely rare Aetheric and Divine Energy, the Vita Kingdom now possesses some features and characteristics that are unique in the world!
All members of Umbra gain the upgraded title 'Explorers'!｣
｢Explorers – Special Rank (Umbra only)
All locations within and outside of the main plane encountered by the users are added to the shared map of Umbra and can be conquered by your members without the need for reputation with the owner with or without the need for a Settlement Building Token.｣
｢Vita Kingdom Regional Announcement
Guild Umbra has created the first player-owned Kingdom, Vita. As a Kingdom, it now possesses absolute sovereignty as well as upgraded rights with Umbra as the ruler. Reputation increased by 50,000.｣
｢Cario Continent International Announcement
Guild Umbra has created the first player-owned Kingdom, Vita. As a Kingdom, it now possesses absolute sovereignty as well as upgraded rights with Umbra as the ruler. Reputation increased by 50,000.｣
｢Boundless System-wide Announcement
Guild Umbra has created the first player-owned Kingdom, Vita. As a Kingdom, it now possesses absolute sovereignty as well as upgraded rights with Umbra as the ruler. Reputation increased by 50,000.｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Your Kingdom has become a unique entity in this current era, a Kingdom of Aether with slight Divinity. As such, its benefits have been greatly increased, but so has its upkeep and responsibilities.｣
Draco marveled at the depth of the changes. Apart from the typical things that came with forming a kingdom, Vita's power and prestige had been greatly enhanced.
For one, the upgraded benefits guaranteed that people would kill to get a spot in the city. This was quite literal, as the various benefits to NPCs had greatly overshadowed anything that could be provided to players.
The one thing that would attract players to kill for lots in Vita was definitely the experience boost. What a joke, all they had to do was stay in the kingdom for less than 4 hours and they would get a 200% exp boost for 24 hours! Ignoring things like hunger and fatigue, powerful players could double their leveling speed permanently as long as they bought a house here.
In fact, one could theoretically enter and loiter around for four hours to acc.u.mulate the benefit, though realistically that was obviously impossible. Without a clear purpose, one wouldn't be allowed to enter inside.
It was best to rent rooms here to use the benefit, but those cruel-hearted merchants would certainly adjust the price accordingly. Hehe, to enjoy the benefits of Vita, one had to fork out the necessary dough, items, or labor to acquire it!
Draco smiled at this. As for the upgraded title, he put it at the back of his mind. He was certainly sharp enough to see how useful it could be... at least for any other kingdom.
The title allowed them to build new settlements, not expand the current Vita. That could only be achieved by warring and conquering, or trading, though the latter would not be used because Draco wanted Vita's army to stretch their legs a bit.
This army wasn't solely made up of Umbra, but rather the various citizens who would enlist. If you thought Guild Wars was fun, Kingdom Wars were even better!
They had been a beloved activity of players in the previous timeline, for one could acc.u.mulate reputation, money, experience, and rewards quickly by performing accordingly on the battlefield.
Unlike what one thought, players didn't dominate such battlefields. This was because the AI didn't want to turn wars between NPCs Kingdoms into a playground for players.
After all, how was a mortal army supposed to last against one made up by a crazy group of people that could revive from death infinitely?
As one could imagine, players who registered for a Kingdom War would be limited to one life.
Or to put it properly, after dying once on the battlefield, one could no longer participate in such wars until it ended, then your accolades would be calculated and dished out.
In fact - and this was shameful to admit - the average player from the previous timeline were known for being even more cowardly than NPCs during such battles!
One might think a person who knew they only had one life would fear death on the battlefield, but those who could revive from death - but not participate - had been even more fearful of dying and had gone to extreme lengths to protect themselves and ensure to survive just a bit longer.
In a way, it made sense, but it was still super shameful.
Draco himself had fought for Sturgehaven many times, which was how he - and Eva as well as Shangtian - had raised the Kingdom to Empire status eventually.
Now that he had his own Kingdom, he could now participate in such matters. However, Draco knew that there was an important fact he was leaving out that had nothing to do with the benefits of the upgrade or the system announcements.
It was the fact that just like Guild Wars, Kingdom Wars were not a default mechanic. It was something that would have been introduced around the 3rd year of Boundless' release (in-game time of course) that shocked the playerbase.
It was the advent of Update 2 and the era of great change for the way Boundless was perceived, as well as the formal creation of rights for NPCs in the game. Abuse towards them would be registered as a crime and would be punished on the outside should a person be caught.
This largely had to do with some of the results of the trial against the GloryGore Studio, the wishes of the World Council, and more importantly, due to certain mechanics that were introduced in Update 2.
Now that Draco had gone ahead to be the first player to create a Kingdom, it would be hard for him to operate certain functions of the kingdom if the whole feature wasn't even installed yet.
He and Eva had known this, which was why they had left Vita as a Capital City until now. They were aware of the consequences that would incur by bringing things forward by a year.
However, the days where Eva and Draco feared the butterfly effect was gone. With an understanding of themselves, their destiny, their power, and most importantly, their goals, they no longer fretted about it.
As if to mock their arrogance and rebelliousness against authority, a system announcement was made to the entire playerbase.
｢Boundless System-wide Announcement
Enough data has been collected to increase the playability and effectiveness of the game world. As such, all players will be logged out for 48 hours in real-time in order to allow the AI to perform maintenance for Update 2.
Thank you all for playing so far!｣
The next moment, everyone was ejected from the game regardless of the situation they had been in, leaving many angry and dissatisfied. Even as they cursed, they could only remove their game helmets and put them aside as they had to deal with the reality that they needed to get a life.
As for Draco and Eva, they emerged from their pods slowly. Draco first checked on Eva and helped her come out of her pod before leading her towards the bed.
As settling her in, Draco contacted Amber and inquired as to the state of Local Lord. It would be a real problem if he broke out with the system having gone into maintenance, but Draco doubted such a silly mistake would be made.