I had never experienced such a rush of ether, the torrent around me was intense, orders of magnitude more than I had ever experienced before. My Eye was declaring numerous things in brilliant amber, but I didn’t have time to focus on that now. What remained of Myrcolaxriath flailed fitfully, his remaining few limbs twitching brokenly, a gush of Foehn and foetid goo seeping into the remains of the shallow lake.
My network was being stressed savagely by the tide of ether, but I could force most of it down towards my Territory, the endless flow not diminishing. But more importantly, I can recharge my aether. I need it, now. My fragile, injured silver cord and chakras were boiling as I rapidly refilled myself. I had no time to be standing around admiring our victory. Racing back to Hyacinth, who was lying on the ground limply, in a pool of her own blood, silver steam rising, I knelt, heedless of her gore soaking me.
“Hold on. I’ll heal you!” I declared frantically. Grulgor is likely wrecked too, but he’s tough. Hyacinth is strong on offense but is fragile and has poor stamina. And she was the MVP, without her the bio-weapon plan would have failed and we could never have even challenged Myrcolaxriath, let alone won. “Just hold on!” I placed my hands on the savage wounds from the beams of light element, letting aether flow into her. I could afford to be reckless as the tide I was funnelling down to my Territory had barely slowed.
As the wounds closed and colour slowly returned to her, she blinked at me with her silver-purple eyes, forcing a smile. On seeing that, I was angry. “Why? Why did you do that? You could have died!” I snapped, and her smile changed, becoming more natural.
“Because I looove you master! Yooou were the only ooone who helped Hyacinth, who gave me a name, a hooome, a purpooose. Besides, if master died there, mistress wooould die too, and Hyacinth would perish anyway!”
“I can’t argue with that.” I thought, anger dying. I don’t like people sacrificing themselves for me, especially not women, but she was thinking clearly. If I fell there, it would probably have led to a total wipe-out. Ixitt limped over, grinning happily, looking at the slowly disintegrating remains of the Myconid Duke, shielding his eyes from the brilliant silver and rainbow glow of the still-gushing flow of ether. “Well, we survived. I find myself surprised. Even with most of his advantages neutralised, I suppose a Duke is still a Duke.” Ixitt mused. “Go see to Grulgor. I shall attend to Hyacinth, have no fear.”
I nodded, turning to see that Shaeula had dragged Grulgor out of the water and was applying Ether Healing too, also converting some of the plentiful ether around us to fuel her. “Fine. Though it looks like Shaeula has it in hand. Having two healers is definitely wise. I think Ether Healing is going to need to be compulsory learning.” That’s another thing Hyacinth can help with. The spores seem a very good way of levelling it up past the first bottleneck. But… the pain. I dismissed the thoughts of that for now. I would worry about how to teach Eri and the girls without torturing them later.
I turned to go, but Hyacinth grabbed my arm. I looked down at her, and her expression was tense. “We wooon, did we nooot master? So, Hyacinth will have my reward, yes? Master prooomised, right?”
Actually I very clearly did not. But that doesn’t matter. “No, there won’t be a reward.” I said, though my tone was kind. Even so, she started tearing up, pouting and biting at her lip, surprised and dismayed.
“But Hyacinth wooorked hard, I did!” She protested, and I bent down, stroking her black hair, admiring the shimmering green and purple highlights that gave her a rather distinctive look.
“You did, and I’m very proud of you.” I agreed. “But I don’t give out my love as a reward. I’ve been pushed into things too much recently. Don’t get me wrong…” I confided. “… all the girls are good girls, and I’m a selfish guy it seems, I would definitely feel bad if they went on to date or marry other people and weren’t happy now. I guess when I start thinking of someone as mine, I get possessive. But I would still rather choose myself. Who wouldn’t?” Shaking my head at my hypocrisy, I continued. “So now, I’ll choose my own, those I like.”
“I see.” Hyacinth whispered, and I squeezed her hand.
“Do you? I wonder.” My own smile brightened, ignoring the constant surging of ether as it still cascaded down to my Territory, the torrent unabated. “What I’m saying is, there’ll be no reward. Because you don’t need one. I like you, Hyacinth.”
At that she blinked at me, confused, and I released her hand and hair. “We’ll talk about this later. Just rest up for now, all right? I’ll have work for you later. After all, there’s no brownie better than Hyacinth, right?”
Leaving her laughter, happy yet full of tears, behind me, I moved over to the lake shore, where Shaeula was working on Grulgor. His rocky armour had flaked away, and his grey, stony flesh was pale and covered in dying fungal growths and savage burns where Shaeula had cut away Foehn. Still, even despite this and the three missing limbs he had, the ends slowly starting to regenerate, new flesh bubbling at the stumps, he grinned, his yellow eyes full of the greatest humour I had ever seen within them, his usual anger suppressed. “Puny fungi talked big.” He gurgled happily, heedless of the poisonous spores and acidic blood that trickled from his mouth, down his chin. “I am Everything, no, fungi was nothing.” Grulgor mocked him. “You kept your Oath. Grul is pleased. Mighty foes to smite, crush and kill. None better than this.” He laughed again as I quickly aided Shaeula in purging the remaining spores from him, though without Myrcolaxriath they were starting to die off rapidly anyway.
“Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, you did damn well too. That last attack was magnificent.”
“Grul enjoyed it! Puny fungi needed to learn his lesson.” We exchanged some more boasts and compliments as we finished up with enough Ether Healing to take Grulgor out of danger. The ether around us was diminished significantly, but there was still more to funnel down to my Territory. Just how much did we gain as this Territory shattered? A million? No, obviously more than that. Two? Three? More?
“It was quite-quite the victory.” Shaeula observed, also eyeing the shining spoils. “And now-now you have kept your promise to my brother. I am strong, and we have achieved miracles. The Spring of Clear Reflections is ours, though I fear-fear it has seen better days.”
“Yeah.” I looked around, the tension from the battle finally leaving me, now I knew we had all survived. Even with all our preparations, it was too risky for my taste. More preparations, more power… still, this win gives us a great foothold. “Now we have to maximise our gains from this. We deserve it, after all.”
Shaeula agreed. “So what-what did you get? You must have gained levels, am I not-not correct?”
I nodded. “I guess we have time to take stock now. I was too worried for Hyacinth and Grulgor to check in the moment. Let me see… well, damn!”
Defeating Myrcolaxriath gave me three levels, pushing me to seventy-five, and then I gained another six levels destroying the Territory he controlled, taking me to eighty-one! And that was hardly all of it.
Your Class, Fae-Souled, has increased from level 23 to level 25. Fortune and Charm have increased by 2, Majesty has increased by 1. Your ability to share abilities with the Fae you are bonded with has increased, and Fae under your bond are slightly strengthened.
Your Class, Conqueror, has increased from level 7 to level 11. Your League has increased by 1. Your silver cord and chakra network have been strengthened. You have destroyed the Anchor of a hostile Territory. Unfortunately you have failed to claim this Territory, and this Territory has no ????????? ????????? to extract, therefore extraction failed.
Looking at the description of Conqueror, which still was the hardest class to get all the information on, even with my Eye, I could see the parallels. As your level of Conqueror increases, you will slowly strengthen your silver cord and chakra networks. Your League increases, as does your ability to use Adherence. As you conquer more and more of the unworthy and solidify yourself as a true ??????????? you will find it easier to reclaim more ether from destroyed Territories, as well as have greater chances to extract ????????? ????????? and make it your own. Go forth and Conquer, your path to Astral Emperor is one of battle, and only the strong can stand against what is to come. With a higher level of Conqueror, your own Territory will be ????????????.
Indeed, the pain I was feeling throughout my Astral body was lessening, perhaps due to my damaged cord being strengthened. My skill Ranks didn’t go up, but I did feel it was working more efficiently. Ether Healing was working its magic as well, fixing the nicks and tears in the shining rope.
The ether is equally as big a reward too. There’s so much of it, more than I ever dreamed of. I’ll need to head back quickly and spend it, no way I’m letting my Territory have such an enticing prize lying around to attract enemies. With that much we might even see threats from the lower Astral. Ether was still pouring down, though the silver tide was finally beginning to dim.
“So, the Spring is special, right?” I asked, remembering Myrcolaxriath boasting about the spirit water that was the whole point of his plan, strengthening him. Even the name of it was potent. I wonder if it’s a mutated element like Ren-san has? To be honest, I really want water element if I can get it, since it’s a very healing-focused element, but can attack too. The main thing was from a physical standpoint I understood water very well, and games had taught me a lot about the spiritual aspects, as well as the fact I had affinity for it too, and had experienced the Moonlight Mist Realm. Pouring power into my Eye, I examined the lake, watching the last fragments of its erstwhile owner fading away, leaving behind a few chunks of his body. Ugh, not sure what that can be used for…
The Spring Of Clear Reflections [Corrupted] – This Spring was a conflux of naturally-occurring water-elemental energy with the rare spiritual property, generating a water element that is especially strengthening and nourishing for spiritual beings such as Fae, as well as humans such as Cultivators and Saints. It was further strengthened by the light of the Moon that was imbued into the water by the mirror-like rocks that crowned the hill and the special crystalline materials of the walls. This site is one of the Seven Great Wonders of the Fae Realm. Unfortunately it is now tainted, the waters corrupted by long exposure to the vile Myconid poisons of Myrcolaxriath, and unless purified will remain pestilent for many long years, until the Spring and moonlight can wash away the corruption.
I could faintly see tiny wisps of orange energy deep within the dark waters, shining rainbow colours and deep indigo specks shining within it. Still the amount was feeble, choked by the poisoned water. “Still, I can’t say I didn’t expect that.” I said out loud, causing Shaeula to look at me quizzically. “I mean that the Spring would be useless. The forest around it was so toxic it was hard to imagine anything else. Hence why Ixitt was preparing.”
“Indeed.” Ixitt declared. “Though some of the items have been destroyed, I fear.” He looked at the overturned and melted wagon sadly.
“Fine. Well, the Territory is lying unclaimed for now, so we need to reap the maximum benefits while we can. I’d like to at least try and absorb elements from the Spring before we return it. Also…” The spores were pretty much all dead now, the barren forests (well, what remained of then anyway, after our own biological attacks) safe and empty. “… we should bring through weaselkin to comb the forest for as many Etherites as we can find. No point leaving them behind. But first, I really need to spend this ether.” The remnants were finally trickling away, and I could hardly imagine just how much we had gained.
********
“Princess, Akio. You have returned.” Ulfuric was waiting beside the border, standing just behind the Fae Stones, with several squads of weaselkin. His gaze took in the fact that only Hyacinth was with us, and I pre-empted him.
“Don’t worry. Grulgor is healing, he took a real battering, and Ixitt is preparing to purify the Spring.”
“So, does that mean…” he began slowly, his body-language betraying his shock.
“It does-does indeed.” Shaeula nodded, her smile beautiful. “The Spring has been retaken, the Duke of the Unseelie Court, Myrcolaxriath, has been slain. It was far-far more dangerous than we had anticipated, but with our planning and cunning, we triumphed! A great victory for the Seelie Court!”
“A Duke of the Unseelie?” Ulfuric was amazed. Well, he was one anyway, or so he said.
“I shall be honest. I had grave misgivings about your plans, though seeing the destruction you wrought, I had to believe you had a chance, and would be able to flee if the fates turned against you. But this. Princess, you can return home with your head held high, and your father will be once more able to trample his political rivals.”
“And return I shall, though much of my time shall be spent with Akio, for I am not-not a female that would forsake her beloved, especially after all this has been made possible by him-him.” She kissed me then, deeply and passionately, causing Ulfuric to look away, and some of the watching weaselkin to snicker nastily. Behind us, Hyacinth was silent, still thinking about what I had told her in the Spring. Once Shaeula separated from me, she gestured to the weaselkin Ulfuric commanded. “We shall be having our due from the Spring first, after all we did-did liberate it. So do not-not declare it retaken yet. Send the weaselkin to comb the area, it should be safe. Gather all the Etherites you can. We shall need them. Akio and I shall return, but first we must spend the bounty our victory has granted us.”
“As you will it, princess, Akio. Or perhaps I should call you princeconsort?” He grinned. “For who could gainsay your marriage to the princess now, mortal or not?”
“A prince huh? Sounds badass. But that’s for another time. For now, we’ll be off. I trust you can handle things here in our absence?”
Ulfuric nodded, bowing humbly. With that, Shaeula and I left, followed by Hyacinth, who was still thinking, her recovering injuries making her stiff, and with that we entered the ruby glow of the Ring Gate, only to find everyone in a panic on our return.
“Princess-princess!” A Kamaitachi ran over in a panic. “It is good to see you well!” Others were coming, including some of our leadership cadre, such as Tillyae and Danaera.
“What is it?” Shaeula asked. “Surely not-not an attack?”
“No, not an attack.” The White Snake kami had also arrived. “Thisssssssssss.” Before he spoke I could tell what he was worried about. The area around the shrine was glittering brilliantly, ether having overflowed the Silos and clustered about the shrine and Anchor in a glowing mass, like a silver sun with iridescent highlights.
“When we ssssssssaw ssssssssuch a flood, we knew you were victoriousssssss. But to sssssssee a bounty of great power…”
Yeah, it’s time. I took a deep breath and checked my Territory, knowing we would have accumulated a massive amount, seeing as we managed to destroy a Rank 4 Territory, seemingly mismanaged as it was. My hand suddenly squeezed Shaeula’s so hard that she yelped in protest, glaring at me. Prying open my grip, I apologised, face pale.
“Sorry, I’m just… in shock.” I managed. “We… we have more than seven million ether! I’ve never seen so much in one place!” Still, it isn’t even enough to initiate the jump to Territory Rank 4, but even so… it’s several months of gain, even with Asha’s Tree. For those that don’t have the Rank 5 Tree pouring in ether, a bounty like this would be unthinkable. “Shit, I’m shaking.” I managed a grin. “When you look at everything we’ll gain from retaking the Spring, it was worth the risk!”
“Well, you can say that since we did not-not die.” Shaeula said, but her smile was proud. “So, does this change your plans?”
“Only a bit. Well, the first thing to do is… well, I wanted to reward Grulgor and Hyacinth. If Grulgor chooses to accept of course.” I completed the Throne of Heroes at Rank 2, at around a hundred and thirty thousand. I then did something I wasn’t planning to do. It was a bit wasteful, but I had the leeway now, and the Myrcolaxriath battle had taught me power was imperative, so wasting some ether now to empower my key allies and give me more options in both the Boundary and Material was a risk I was happy to take. So at the cost of 750,000 ether, I immediately upgraded the second Throne to Rank 2 as well, giving me four available slots, and strengthening Ixitt, giving him ten more levels to play with.
Damn, easy come, easy go. but I’m still rich! “Fourteen Ether Spires, all to Rank 3, at a cost of four point two million, and the Silo to Rank 4 at four hundred thousand as planned. That’s five and a half million spent.” As the bright glow of ether diminished, vast amounts sucked into the rapid construction, and more now filling the newly expanded Silo, I grinned.
I pushed the two other Silos to Rank 3 as per the original plan, before increasing all three Elemental Silos to Rank 3 as well.
At Rank 3 they could store a total of three thousand units of elemental, energy, split over five storage cells, each containing six hundred units. I then added the Expanding Silo to the main Silo at Shirohebizumi shrine. It started at 800 ether for ten percent to the main Silo and two percent to other annexes, growing to twenty and four percent for another 3,200 and then thirty-five and seven percent respectively at Rank 3 for 32,000 more ether. Of course, when rush-building costs were factored in, the entire cost of the Expanding Silo was just under 140,000 in total.
My ether was declining, but with the extra wealth the Territory was going to pull in with all the Spires having been upgraded, I was prepared to set a solid foundation of storage now, to prevent worries later. So, at 640,000 ether and with a heavy heart, I upgraded the Elemental Silo attached to the main Silo to Rank 4, increasing the storage capacity to nine storage cells, each holding two thousand units, for a grand total of eighteen thousand. That brought the upgrade to the White Snake Earth Altar well within reach in the future, as well as giving us significant staying power in combat.
In total all those storage options burned through nearly one point four million. I only have just under four hundred thousand ether left. Still, there’s no point letting it lie fallow. I had one empty queue, so I decided to put a long-term building in there that was too expensive to rush-build easily, as I wouldn’t be upgrading my Territory to Rank 4 any time soon. The best option was a Rank 4 Ether Spire, at 375,000 ether. It would also take 250 days, but I could gradually shrink that as necessary as my ether grew, though it was significantly more cost-efficient to just let it build naturally.
“And with that, we are back in poverty. More than seven million ether consumed. Still, our overall income should have increased a decent amount, and unless we crush another Territory like the Shrine, we should have plenty of storage capacity. We can focus on longer-term builds for a while now, and short-term rush-builds for defence and troop numbers.” There are also a lot of small quality of life improvements such as Etherite Silos, the Warehouse, Armoury and more I would like to do, but they can wait.
The state of my build queues were as this, now.
Queue one was building the Build Queue Anchor Spire upgrade to Rank 2, and it had forty days to go. The second queue was now building the Rank 4 Ether Spire, at a whopping two hundred and fifty days. The last queue had a Sniper Emplacement to Rank 2 with ten days remaining.
“So, to summarise, we are building in three major areas. Shirohebizumi Shrine, your old Territory in the park, and the graveyard with the Dark Rhyming Tree.” I spoke to Shaeula, who listened intently. “We also have a Kobold Warren near my old apartment building, and a small defensive position by Hisuikomushi shrine. We can store somewhere in the region of one point three million ether in our Silos safely, and can accrue about twenty-five thousand elemental essence. It isn’t an exact science, but I would suspect we will bring in around sixty thousand ether per astral day just from our Territory, Trees and Spires now. All in all, we may have blown our massive gains from the Spring, but now our foundation is rock-solid.”
“I agree.” Shaeula declared. “I would not-not question your decisions. So, are we done here? We should not leave the Spring for too-too long.”
“I agree. I’m eager to see if we can purify it. But first… can someone fetch Suzuki Haru?” I said, and one of the Kamaitachi left quickly. I then turned to the White Snake Kami. “It’s time to fulfil my promise to your shrine and the Izumi’s. Are you ready?”