Chapter 91: Mern's Plans

Economies were integral, even to Gods. Most kingdoms were in a constant state of war with one nation or another, and so secure borders were Important to the contoured survival of a nation. The most important product in almost any God nation was a steady supply of Mana. The mana that came from the people, the mana that came from nature itself, and the mana produced by the god himself.

Mana was an aspect of all living things, it was what gave them life, like a source of power for the soul, mind, and body. The concept wasn't fully understood then but it was philosophized and studied that Excess mana was produced in the soul, as the soul possesses the most abundant and potent form of mana in all living creatures. Soul Mana was usually a fountain that even malicious gods refused to dip into, as that would reduce the number of their subjects. The mana usually taken from creatures was the mana that collected in the mind and body: in humans, there was almost no ill effect by scrapping them to the last drop, at worst fatigue and mild memory loss. In monsters, however, the effect would be far deadlier and in fey, it was always fatal.

The collected mana would often be pooled in a special zone that existed in the god realm of that particular god. From then on, the god could use that mana as they wished. Often, that mana was used to control massive events, such as natural disasters. Its most important use was in food production, with the flexibility and use of magic, crop yields were never engineered to reach the heights that crops in Scitus's world had. In his world, there were only 5 types of plants grown and each plant would then be processed through a factory and the end product would be a pill that had all the nutrients a human needed to sustain their life: meat and fish were still options, and so were most fruits and vegetables, but only the wealthy like Scitus could afford those luxuries often.

Furthermore, there were weapons and protective barriers powered by the mana of the population. Such weapons were the mage Cannons which were often powered by the mana from a god but since they were not operated on the battlefield by a god, it wasn't seen as a violation of the rules, set forth by the gods. That was the case on the Ferren continent, there were occasionally far stricter rules on other continents.

Food production, on average, accounted for 25% of a god's mana consumption, another 15% was consumed in mineral and ore production, 10% went to stimulating wild animal populations for hunting purposes, another 10% stored for emergency purposes, 10% was consumed in protective barriers for key locations like cities, 5% was stored for natural disasters, a further 5% was stored for reviving important dead subjects like Slayn, 5% was consumed in raising and training armies, 4% was consumed in weapon and armor production, 4% was consumed in mineral and ore refinement and improvement, 3% was used for food storage and management, 1% was used for mage training,1% consumed in trading and transportation and the last 1% was on average consumed in scanning the kingdom for external threats or internal threats. Some gods would set aside a small portion of magical power for luxury products such as producing certain magical fabrics, and linins.

Mern distributed his power differently than other gods. In order to conserve as much mana as possible, he had repurposed the Flower and Garden territories almost entirely for food production. These farmlands didn't require his assistance to maintain its production; however, on the surface, the opposite appeared to be true. The farmlands of the Flower and Garden Territory were only a façade so that Siion would believe that he was using every ounce of his magical power to sustain his nation. The reality was that Mern had been slowly collecting mana and storing it in his God Realm. Even Scitus wasn't privy to this as the only one who knew this was Mern himself. Even so, Mern wouldn't readily show his hand, Scitus was but a young god with hardly any followers or power, Mern couldn't afford to waste his mana, or expose his greatest secret. "I'll have to use the Gedil for this." Mern silently thought to himself, as he slowly planned to move his secret weapon.

"Korin, I'll charge you with guarding the Flower territory. We can't afford to lose it. Jogak and Inir will accompany you. Semera, I'll have you go to Kavor and prepare to gather up our siege weapons and our most trusted military personal. Aro, I want you to scout the main flower path and the secondary path. Slyan and Mephisto the two of you will take the second rank armies and wait at the border for further instruction. Do not worry about exposing yourself, no, I want you guys to expose yourself as much as possible, parade yourselves as if you're readying an assault." Mern's elite army bowed and prepared to leave but Mern called out to his daughter, asking her to wait a moment.

"Korin." His voice was oddly gentle then but Korin didn't allow herself to be tricked by his honey-coated words, not any longer. "I didn't deny it at the time, I didn't want to acknowledge it. I think we may have a traitor amongst our ranks. I want you to watch his movements."

Korin didn't express any reaction, as if it were a matter of course. "Who is it?" she said through her eyes expressed recognition, as if she already knew who it was. Mern clenched his throne tightly with his fists, his eyes furrowed and, on his face, Korin saw an anxiousness she hadn't seen since the days shortly before her mother's passing.

………..

Just as Mern had commanded, of the 12 major armies under Mern's command, not including some 20 slave armies, 6 were moved to the Flower Territory. 3 armies remained stationed in the lake territory but some distance away from the garden territory path, they were sporadically scattered in groups of 500 men, each army consisting of 2,500 soldiers.

The slave soldiers were not wasted, they were tasked with guarding existing assets, they were watched over by trusted leaders in Mern's army and specifically located closer to Mern's sphere of influence so that he could more easily detect aggression against him.

The last 3 armies were with Mephisto and Slyan. As Mern had instructed, the 3 armies rallied themselves in open places and gallantly showed their strengths in friendly competitions amongst soldiers. The neighboring Farmlands were feeling anxious as traders that often traveled the lake path returned with ill omens of a massive force preparing to invade. When they heard Slyan being mentioned, terrible unrest welled up in their chests but the fear was quickly simmered by the second name brought up. "What's going to happen ma?" a boy bit younger then seventeen, he was no fool, he had overheard the town head talking about a message sent to them by Everon. They were told that a new god had taken root in Everon and had freed its people, they were provided with a magical tool could send a message to Everon and warn them of an invading army. At first, there was some excitement, but as the days went by and no army was sent to their towns, they couldn't help but feel growing anxious. The only thing they had was a young woman who claimed to be from Everon, she looked like a princess and carried her self with a grace belonging to that class, they didn't know if they could remain safe under such a woman but they were left with little choice.

The mother Calmed her son, “don’t fret dear boy, Mephisto is also leading that army. He won’t harm us.” Just terrible Slyans reputation was, Mephisto’s was the opposite. Slyan the unfilial son, and Mephisto the loyal last guard of the old armies. Mern’s time had crumbled long ago but traditions were not so easily destroyed, his legacy was not so easily destroyed. Even among the peasant folk, there were stories of Mern’s great past, and when they prayed, they tried to remember those times that their ancestors had spoken of. A wise and gentle king, a king who would rather die than let its people suffer, those many peasant folks often prayed for his return. Mephisto was a representation of that time, those fortunate enough to speak with him would often hear stories of the past, of a better past. Mephisto always seemed hopeful but some would say he was often gloomy remembering those days.

For one reason, or another, they trusted that Mephisto wouldn’t attempt to hurt the, and he would make sure Slyan wouldn’t either. How the graceful woman would fare against the approaching army was yet to be seen but she was so enrapturing that they hoped she wouldn’t be harmed. “perhaps with her beauty alone she can stop the armies from invading,” some fogy old men said during one of their card games.

The two kings had made their moves, the pawns, rooks, and knights were put into place, all that was left was to see who would make the first move. Would Scitus make the first attack and conquer the flower territory, eliminating nearly 80% of Mern’s food production, or would Mern attack first with armies of his own. The nations surrounding Mern watched with mild amusement, some on the Siion continent had even begun placing wild bets on the victor as rumors of Scitus began to spread wider.

"a monster, a gallant figure, a terrible malicious man more horrible than any god seen before." Little by little nations would begin to hear whispers of the Kingdom of Monsters.