Chương 10: 9. Flipping the Board

Tavian activated his hexsight Perk. The world grid of hexagons glowed in his vision, lines of light crisscrossing the ground. The borders of his kingdom glowed more brightly than the other lines, and where his northernmost tile bordered the Anarvian tile, a conflicting ripple shimmered in the air. The basics of hextile warfare dictated one simple rule. Tiles with more Influence beat tiles with less Influence. Anarvian Influence had reached 1. 78. Tar Corinath's was 3. 71.

Tavian used the system interface, selected the Anarvian claimed tile, and activated Influence Overwhelm. As the Kingdom Core surged, Tavian ran toward the Life Gate. Braun saw him coming. His eyes flicked to the gate, then back to Tavian. He nodded grimly.

"Charge!" Braun screamed, as he leaped over the breastwork into enemy territory. A cheer went up, and the Verosians followed Braun. Tavian reached the makeshift wall a moment later and vaulted into the contested tile. The Influence inversion staggered him for a moment. He felt like he was running in thick mud. The Anarvians had started rushing in through the Life Gate. But the Influence of the attacked Anarvian tile was draining, quickly.

Influence dropped below one, and then, with a rush, the remaining Influence evaporated. As the two forces collided, the tile flipped to Tavian's control. Influence surged. The ground no longer resisted Tavian's progress, but seemed to flow with him, helping him run. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 26 8 3. 25 Then he was in among the fray.

"The gate, the gate!" Tavian shouted, breaking through the Anarvian lines. Braun and a few others crashed through, running for the Life Gate. Tavian got in between the huge gate and the wall and pushed with all his might. Even with the benefits of Influence, the gate didn't budge. Though they had numbers on their side, the Anarvian men-at-arms were suffering from fighting against Tar Corinath Influence. More Verosian fighters broke through and ran to the gates.

The massive, heavy doors of the Life Gate began to move. Understanding that they were at risk of being trapped, the Anarvians fled. Then the boltbreaker began firing at short range. Bolts ripped through Verosians and Anarvians alike. A Verosian man-at-arms sprinted for cover, but a bolt punched straight through his chest and he collapsed. Verosians took cover in the lee of the closing gates. Bolts slammed into the wood and iron, exploding and throwing out chunks and shards.

Simply closing the Life Gate wasn't going to be enough, not while the Anarvians still had that boltbreaker active. The boltbreaker had to be stopped. An idea blossomed in Tavian's mind. It was unconventional, certainly. Lethal, potentially. He grabbed a shield from a fallen Anarvian, a round buckler that covered his core. He sheathed his sword and ran.

"Keep closing the gate!" he shouted to Braun. A surge of strength swelled inside him—or rather, a surge of Influence buoyed him. Someone was adding Essence to his core. Then Tavian ran out into the open, joining the trickle of Anarvians attempting to flee back into the vicious jaws of their own boltbreaker. Chaos reigned; Bolts and [Projectiles] flew from the Anarvians, answered by the [Battlemages] atop the wall. The great gate, which hadn't been closed for a hundred years, creaked and groaned as it moved.

Men screamed and died. A bolt struck the rim of Tavian's shield and deflected into the wall, sending chunks of masonry flying as it detonated. Tavian vaulted an Anarvian man who had tripped. He landed, rolling forward over his shield and sliding across the ground. The boltbreaker loomed, anchored to the ground inside Tavian's newly claimed hextile. Pages were scrambling to remove the stakes, but they struggled against the Influence of Tavian's core.

A scared boy saw the look in Tavian's eyes, the green of his livery, and ran, screaming. Tavian placed both hands on the side of the boltbreaker. The men inside actuating the casters shouted to each other. A spear thrust through one of the slots at Tavian, but couldn't quite reach him. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Tavian [Extracted]. The heavy cart resisted the force of the spell, refusing to disassemble into its component elements.

A door slammed, and the cart rocked. Men exited the vehicle, running with blades in hand to stop Tavian. But they were too late. Tavian willed the spell into the fibers of the wood. The boltcaster shuddered beneath Tavian's hands, melting away into a cloud of swirling elemental color. The men still inside the cart fell through the dissolving floor, crashing to the ground. With a roar of wind, the substance that had once been the boltbreaker condensed into Tavian's hands.

Loose bolts, tools, and other equipment fell to the ground with the startled men. Tavian laughed aloud. Strength rippled through him. His kingdom was growing. Too far from his Core to use the Essence, Tavian threw the orbs into the air. They expanded, blowing out in gusts of wind or fire, water or life. He could not deliver this Essence to his core. But someone else was sifting matter, feeding fresh Essence to the kingdom. He quietly thanked Vanal and Calli. His Influence grew.

⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 43 8 5. 38 Five Anarvians pressed up against Tavian, spears out. In a fair fight, Tavian could have defeated any one of them. But this was not a fair fight: Tavian had 5. 38 Influence, making him faster, stronger, and more agile, even as it slowed his opponents. Tavian drew his sword. The Anarvians charged. Tavian sliced a spear haft in two, grabbed another and yanked the man toward him, running him through on his blade.

Influence gave him more friction with the ground, more mass to oppose the enemy, more vigor to dodge their attacks. The Anarvians moved like men drowning. Tavian fell into Water Stance, using the flowing movements of the forms to break through. He slammed an elbow into a sternum, slashed a neck with his blade, and smashed the rim of his shield into the bridge of a nose. A rush of power throbbed in Tavian's veins, intoxicating and vibrant. Blood sprayed through the air, splattering on Tavian's tunic.

"Tavian! Tavian!" Braun shouted from the closing gate. They had nearly sealed the entrance. Tavian disengaged from the enemy and ran back to the gate. The heavy doors had a momentum all their own, and Tavian slid through at the last second. With a crash, the Life Gate closed. Massive iron crossbeams were lowered into place, sealing the main entrance to the Core Courtyard for the first time in a century. The stink of blood and death filled the corridor, and a primal roar went up from the gathered men.

Together, they charged back into the courtyard. Seeing that the boltbreaker had stopped firing, brave Anarvians had begun running in through the destroyed Stone Gate again. They were met with a wave of blood-drunk, Influence enhanced Verosian warriors: men-at-arms, serving women, gardeners, cooks, handmaids, and pages, all super charged with the rush of victory.

Thus, the Anarvians who'd managed to breach the courtyard found themselves facing not a few dozen boys and women, but the equivalent of hundreds of desperate warriors. They were soon driven back from whence they came. A cheer went up around the courtyard as warriors dismantled the temporary breastwork, no longer needed to defend the Life Gate. They piled the rubble up against the blackened wound that had once been the destroyed Stone Gate, securing that entrance.

But they did not chant the usual war cries of 'Tar Corinath' or 'Veros.'

"Tavian!"

"Tavian!"

"Tavian!" Tavian practically floated on pride as he surveyed the now secured courtyard. Vanal was still rushing to sift the bodies of the dead, enhancing the power of the kingdom. To further secure their gains, Tavian pulled open the kingdom map. He proceeded to claim tiles, starting with the two on either side of the life gate. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 51 10 5. 1 Four corners of the courtyard remained unclaimed, and as Vanal sifted two more bodies, Tavian claimed them.

The entire core courtyard was now entirely under Tavian's control. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 66 14 4. 71 ⬣ The Kingdom of Tar Corinath has grown. New Kingdom Tier unlocked: Tier II ⬣ ⬣ The Kingdom Must Grow ⬣ ⬣ [Ruler II] - Your authority grows with your kingdom. Increase your kingdom size to unlock more powerful tiers. ⬣ ⬣ You have 2 stat points to assign. Assign now?

⬣ ⬣ New spell unlocked: [Claimstake] ⬣ ⬣ This spell drains Influence from an occupied enemy tile, allowing you to capture it more easily. ⬣ ⬣ New perk: Binding Oath (active) ⬣ ⬣ When two parties make a contract in your presence, you can make the oath binding. Oath breakers suffer penalties depending on your Influence. Would you like to bind an oath? ⬣ ⬣ Congratulations on reaching Tier II. You can now create and designate Tier II classes. Tier II classes receive two stat points, and cost six core Essence to assign.

Would you like to create a Tier II class? ⬣"Well done," Lea said. She appeared next to the core, leaning against it.

"I'm impressed. You've fought through quite a desperate situation, and managed to not only stabilize, but reach Tier II. Don't forget to assign your stat points. But remember, you can't change them once you do."

"Thank you Lea," Tavian said, pressing a hand to his head and dismissing all the notifications.

"I'm going to need a minute, though." He felt lighter than air, like he was floating. The sensation was making him dizzy.

"Sit down, sit down," Lea said.

"You're coming down from your expansion euphoria. Growing a kingdom is powerful and draining. The rush never goes away." Tavian crouched on the gravel, taking a few deep breaths. His head started to clear.

"How do I get to Tier III?" he asked.

"The euphoria is strong with you," Lea said with a laugh.

"Good. I love seeing my kingdom grow. Tiers are based on the number of hextiles you've claimed. Each Tier is a multiple of twelve; Tier I is 1 tile, Tier II is 12 tiles, and Tier III is 144 tiles, and so on." Tavian nodded. That meant he had a lot more claiming to do. Nearby Braun was jumping around, whooping as men gathered around him, joining in the celebration. Calli was crouched over Erond, squeezing water into his mouth. That was right—casualties. They needed to do something.

Tavian created his first Tier II class: [Fortify II], granting +2 constitution. ⬣ New Class Created: [Fortify II] ⬣ Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Fortify II] II 0 2 0 He jogged over to Erond's side and assigned the class to him. Because the class cost 6 Essence to assign, Tavian would save it for only the worst casualties. Erond stared up at Tavian and grunted.

"Did we win?"