Chapter 202

Empire Engulfed (III)

The entire group gathered back together a few hours after having separated and went their own ways; they sat inside one of the rooms, turning it woefully cramped to the point that there was barely any room to move. Still, with the spread in the middle of everyone full of plates of food and bowls of fruits, the atmosphere was rather cozy despite everything.

“There’s a lot of shit to buy,” Sigmund said as he chewed on a chicken wing. “But they don’t accept trading, just some local currency called ‘Cyyle’.”

“Yea, we realized that too,” Emma said. “An average, B-tier item runs for about 30 cyyle or whatever. Have little else to compare it to, though. However, there are some shops, just like this inn, that accept items straight up as the currency. Though, I imagine, they probably overcharge slightly.”

“Slightly? Heh,” Daniel scoffed. “Try massively. Especially to anyone young-lookin’.”

“So... only Senna, Lek, and Taima from our group?” Kramer said with a grin.

“...” Daniel flipped him off and took a bite of the pear, ignoring the man afterward.

“Did anyone learn something actually useful?” Senna asked with a faint scoff. “Like, you know, the current powers, state of things, whom to trust and so on.”

“Did you?”

“...”

“I did,” Cain said casually. “As always, the heaviest of burdens fall on top of the broadest of shoulders... aah, woe is me...”

“God, I wanna punch him so bad...”

“Punch? I wanna scoop his eyes out with a spun...”

“I wanna rip out his tongue...”

“... you lot are way too violent,” Cain looked at the group oddly for a moment. “I’ll need to hire some therapists when we get out of this place to have a nice, long chat with you.

“Enough with the nonsense,” Emma cut in quickly before the things spiraled. “So, what did you learn?”

Chuckling lightly, Cain took a deep breath before relaying what he’d learned from the woman he made the ‘pact’ with. Currently, four powers were vying for the throne, at least on the surface -- three were comprised of factions tied to one of the Royal Children, and one led by the Kingdom’s Artisan Guild. There were quite a few reasons for the rapid decline of the order within the Kingdom; partly, it was actually because of Cain and others -- rather, the presence of the Conquerors on the second floor had made quite a few factions restless.

Furthermore, due to that presence, everyone was aware that they’d soon be entering into the ‘age’ of sorts of extremely limited resources as most would be gobbled up by the Conquerors. There was also the factor of the current King’s strength, with others -- namely Princes -- catching up to him. And, as it was inevitable within any monarchy, a seed of desire was planted within the hearts of those with money but without power.

Cain expected most of these factors and, if the others’ expressions were to be believed, so did they. However, one reason surprised him -- and one he kept to himself since others would be unable to really understand the gravity of it all -- the appearance of the ‘Lunar Stone’ within the Kingdom’s borders. Lunar Stone was one of the most precious materials below 20th floor used for virtually everything, be it crafting, enhancing, building, augmenting...

The process of excavating it, however, was extremely tiresome, long, and expensive. As such, the stone still remained firmly within the ground, eyed and vied by anyone of note within the Kingdom.

“We should contact that Prince or whatever then, right?” Sigmund suggested.

“Why?” Senna asked. “We can wait for a while and see which faction is the strongest and just ride its coattails.”

“Would that really be the best choice? I mean, our rewards might turn to shit, then.”

“Joining the Artisans sounds kinda fun,” Jamal suggested. “We can befriend a lot of crafters and such. Items from the would likely be really good.”

“... what do you think, C’?” following a ten-minutes long discussion, Emma turned toward Cain and asked, prompting everyone else to do the same as though the last ten minutes didn’t even matter.

“Just one questions,” he said with a faint smile. “Why should we join any faction?”

“... e-eh?”

“You... you aren’t suggesting we go against everyone else?! That’s nuts!!”

“What? No, of course not,” Cain shook his head. “But... we are an extremely talented, diverse group. Why not just apply that to the way we go through this? Like, sending Taima to Artisans -- he can learn new recipes, gain access to rare and exotic materials and practice with them, and so on. Jamal can go as the ‘bodyguard’ and see if he can get a few items crafted in the process. We look at what other factions need and we apply ourselves with our strengths. We climb through the ranks and keep each other in the loop so that we get the most benefits by the end. And when shit hits the fan...”

“... we dip?”

“We dip so hard we leave blurry afterimages of ourselves behind.”

“Will the Tower even let us?” Emma asked with a frown.

“Probably not,” Cain shrugged. “But we can still try. Worse comes to worse, we all just join one faction and do it like that. So, when you’re climbing the ranks, don’t go getting attached to the people there.”

“... why are you looking only at me?!” Senna asked, irritated.

“You’re imagining it.”

“I’m not blind!!”

“I didn’t say you were -- I said you were imagining it.” Cain grinned at the glaring Senna before turning toward others. “Anyway, we won’t rush into anything; we’ll just spend the first week frolicking around and investigating--” just then, out of the blue, a string of notifications appeared in front of everyone, causing Cain to immediately sigh. Aah, of course. It can never be that simple...

//Pressed Borders (B+)

Type: Seasonal

Requirements: Level 25

Context: A yearly invasion of Q’tels approaches. The Kingdom’s borders are slowly being strengthened, but due to the recent tensions, the Kingdom is in need of men and women to defend its borders.

Content: Apply to one of the Registration Offices in Edyneer City where you will be assigned a post. Depending on your affiliation, the quest’s objective will change as will its rewards.

Rewards: Increased reputation within the Kingdom; +3 Levels; ???//

Cain rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration as everyone looked at him quizzically and expectantly. Go or stay? They had to go, of course. It was as though the ‘system’ heard their conversation and just conjured up a Quest to go along with their plans. He knew, however, that wasn’t the case; ‘invasion’ type quests were actually relatively frequent, and it’s more likely that it wasn’t their group that triggered it, but just the time of year, or even something else entirely, and they just fulfilled some conditions before being given the choice.

“We goin’?” Kramer asked.

“Yeah,” Cain sighed. “Not immediately, though. We’ll have to find affiliates and then go from there. I’ll stay on the neutral side of things and see if it’s possible to climb ranks through your basic rep grind.”

“Aah, won’t this impede our quest progress, though?” Jamal asked. “I mean, this is a pretty big fucking place, and it’s not like we can use an airplane to get to the border. We might waste weeks just going back and forth.”

“It’s fine,” Cain reassured them. “If anything, it’s actually a pretty good opportunity to learn firsthand what the Kingdom is like and perhaps pick up on even more rumors. I’ll place marks on all of you so that I can track your locations at all times, and also one-way ‘communication’ where, if we need to meet up, you’ll hear a recording of my voice saying ‘come back’ or something. Ah, for you Senna, it will be ‘your daddy misses you please come back home right now’.”

“DUUUDEE!!!”

As the group reeled into laughter over Senna’s embarrassed expression, Cain looked out the window contently, his gaze veering beyond the town’s borders. It felt like too many things were occurring concurrently, as though an invisible hand was fanning the flames of the Kingdom’s unrest. Regardless, in the end, it had nothing to do with them directly; whatever ‘plans’ the system had for the Kingdom, Cain and the group were just temporary pawns that would reap a few rewards or die in the process before moving on to the next stage, forgetting this place entirely.

He looked at the still-laughing group and the raging Senna, a smile escaping his lips. Luckily, he’d already prepared for the scenario in which they got separated. Running simulations in his head until his brain hurt had already started paying off.

//Spatial Burrow (B-)

Mana Cost: 80% of Max Mana

Cast: 8s

Cooldown: 12h

Use: Teleport to the marked location/target/object within the same map. The type of mark needs to be ‘Acknowledged’.//