Chương 11: 10. Administrator

Tavian knelt beside his injured uncle. The grizzled warrior wanted a tactical report, not his sympathy.

"We've secured the courtyard, for now," Tavian said.

"The Life Gate is closed, the boltbreaker is gone, and the Stone Gate is damaged but defended. But the war is far from over."

"Sorry about my leg," Erond said.

"Damn thing was broken by that bolt. I should've moved faster."

"Hush," Tavian said.

"Save your strength." Braun whooped again behind them.

"That was incredible!" Calli said, her eyes still wide, chest heaving.

"I can't believe how the tides just turned like that."

"That's the Influence multiplier," Tavian explained. He reached out with his hand, using his thumb to wipe streaks of sweat and blood from her face.

"When you and Vanal were sifting, you were increasing our Influence. You turned our rag-tag crew into an impenetrable wall." Calli nodded, considering that.

"Then I guess I'd better get back to sifting," she said.

"We'll need as much Essence as we can get."

"Go on," Erond said, gripping her hand.

"I'll be alright. I've got extra constitution now too. I think I'll take a nap." He closed his eyes. Calli ran to help Vanal with the sifting of the deceased.

"Thank you," Tavian said to Erond.

"We've won a great victory today, thanks to you." The man did not open his eyes, but he did smile. Then his face turned sad.

"It comes too late for my brother," Erond said, softly.

"But I'm certain your father is proud of what you've accomplished." The reality of his father's death pressed down on Tavian. The weight just kept increasing, like he was trapped in enemy territory, overwhelmed by Influence. He couldn't bear it. A spark turned the grief to anger.

"He told us to run," Tavian said.

"He didn't believe—" Erond's eyes snapped open.

"Speak no ill of the dead. He believed in you. He still does. Win this war for him. Avenge the death of your murdered father and king."

"I will," Tavian said, repressing the emotion.

"I will." Erond was right. They had a war to win.

"And tell Braun to quiet down," Erond said.

"He's getting on my nerves." Tavian approached Braun and his mass of triumphant warriors. They had formed a circle and were chanting, fists in the air. Braun stood in the middle, whipping them up.

"That felt amazing!" he screamed as Tavian approached. He wrapped his brother in a hug, and then threw him back.

"We beat them! I've never fought with so much Influence before."

"I know," Tavian said. He couldn't withhold his grin.

"I felt unstoppable. I felt like a god."

"It was wild," Braun said.

"I could have fought for days on end without taking a rest!"

"It's expansion euphoria," Tavian reminded himself.

"It'll fade. And right now, we have work to do. We aren't safe yet!" The enthusiasm faded a bit, but Braun understood, and began organizing his forces. They started working on the defenses, and helping the [Extractors] haul the dead to the core. [Battlemages] returned to their overwatch on the wall. A triage area had been set up beside the Life Gate on the north wall; the safest and most symbolically appropriate place. Tavian walked among the injured there, making sure that everyone at least had [Fortify I].

He gave [Fortify II] to a few of the more dire cases, promising them that they would do what they could for their injuries. About fifteen people lay here, injured enough that they required medical attention. Tavian checked his kingdom population. ⬣ Population: 39 ⬣ So, fourteen dead, and fifteen more injured. And others may yet die, before the day wore out. More than 50% casualty rate. That was bad. It was unsustainable. They needed to strengthen their defenses, and find more manpower.

Satisfied that everything was in order for the time being, Tavian sat down to assign his stat points. Lea watched the celebrations of the people, a bitter smile creeping over her face. It was hard to watch. She would have liked to participate, but that was not a choice for her. Not in such a weak kingdom. Instead, she retreated into the Kingdom Core. But this brought her no peace. The beautiful palace of the core's interior, where she had lived for generations undisturbed, was changing.

Instead of the familiar, comfortable halls of her home, strange new chambers grew. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. In many places, the elegant marble of the walls changed to gray stone. The old banners had been replaced with new green ones. Statues now depicted men riding on griffins. Even the scenes depicted in mosaics and frescos were changing. Lea paused in front of one of them, depicting Tavirost Veros pillaging a city.

It was a little too barbaric for her tastes. Lea had waited for so long, walking these halls alone, wings carrying her from floor to floor. She had wished for someone to activate the core again. She had longed to reawaken to the outside world. But this place; it was so backward. Had society really regressed so far since her last activation? Or had she somehow found her way to a backwater corner of Andal?

This did not seem to be the age of mighty heroes; the men and women of great power that would be needed to defend this world. She vaguely wished she could go back. It was like someone had moved in, taking over her home. Trying to erase memories that could never fade. She didn't like it. Something hummed, a resonance picked up by her antennae. The mana of the world hexgrid told her her sisters were stirring. She would find them. She would remind them, as she always did. She cursed her own inability to forget.

It would spare her the pain she always carried with her. And… was that fear? Fear of once more finding her sisters had forgotten her? Fear of losing yet another connection? She walked down a gilded hall to the heart of the Kingdom Core. The Core was changing in response to Tavian. He was young, and energetic, untainted by the cynicism of older men. The lights in the halls burned brighter, and the ceilings felt loftier now. Maybe he was what she needed.

The heart of the Core was a large room, like the hall of a great cathedral. The air was filled with the swirling Core Essence of Tavian's kingdom. Around the periphery were the interfaces Lea used to manage the Core. These too had changed, from the beautiful, elegant swirling scripts she'd once used. Now, magical equipment lined the walls; linkages, couplings, conduits, glyphs, and machines, which coerced the raw essence into performing the will of the [Ruler].

This age of men seemed to have less regard for beauty and art, and more will toward blunt mathematical reality. She walked over and examined the large gash in the wall, where Calli had installed the [Projectile] module. The module was still damaged, and Lea had patched it up as best she could from the inside. Bands of metal held the stones together here, timber rods bracing the structure and holding it stable. Lea was still mad about it, but she couldn't blame Calli for her own ignorance. She blamed Calli's master.

If he turned up, it would be worth the pain of manifesting to give him an earful. She looked at her patchwork with a grim satisfaction. Like Tavian, it wasn't beautiful, but it had worked so far. But Lea still felt fear. Tavian was too young. Too inexperienced. Facing too difficult of odds. Tavian would die. Then what happened to her? What would happen to her Core? An alarm drew her attention, and she crossed over to the miasmic mitigation control panel.

The levels of miasma—Death Essence—were elevated here, and it had caused problems with the Core's initial activation. If any miasma actually got into her Core, it would taint everything. This place should have been pure, and powerful. She could sense that they were close to one of the 12 pentagonal mana wells on Andal, anchored to and supporting the world grid by powerful magical structures left by Ishtoran's disciples. A pure, anchored well should have overpowered any accumulation of miasma.

Somehow, something must be tainting the well. That shouldn't be possible either, and yet... miasma levels were surging, pushing higher than she'd ever seen them before. Lea's heart pounded, her wings fluttering nervously. The miasma diverter hissed, steam and black smoke escaping the panel. Lea adjusted a few of the dials on the control panel, pushed essence through a conduit and flushed out the miasma diverters. It wasn't enough.

She drew on her own store of mana, capturing the miasmic haze before it could taint the pure Core Essence. Placing her hands on the device, she channeled her own strength into the machinery. Sweat beaded on her forehead, dripping down her nose. The miasma surge passed. Lea straightened. The diverter was capable of handling it now. But if these swells came more frequently, it would exhaust her. She needed to find another solution, perhaps build another diverter. She reached out with her mind, sensing the Core.

It was content. She had done her job well, in caring for it. And yet… The Core reminded her that there was one thing she had yet to do. Lea wasn't ready to take that step yet. She was supposed to link with Tavian's mind; a special ability of a Lepidoptera. It would allow her to connect with him outside of the boundaries of his kingdom, and to see through his eyes. They could communicate at any distance, once linked. But if she linked with Tavian, he would see her past. He would see the destruction of her world.

She was afraid to show that to him. Tavian scratched his head, running through his options for assigning stat points once more. He considered simply keeping his stats balanced, and not bending to the whims of what he needed in the moment. One in strength, one in constitution. He was exhausted; drained from the highs of expansion euphoria, and tempted to just put both points into constitution, to bolster himself for the long fight ahead. But… He simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn [Projectile].

So he allocated his stat points: one to magic, one to constitution. The enhanced constitution kicked in immediately, and he felt better at once. ⬣ Ruler stats: ⬣ Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Ruler] II 2 1 0 ⬣ You have a free magic point. Would you like to assign it to a spell? ⬣ ⬣ Available spells: ⬣ ⬣ [Extract] (Maxed) ⬣ ⬣ [Projectile] ⬣ Tavian selected [Projectile] ⬣ [Projectile I] now active for [Ruler II] ⬣ He grinned and looked for something to shoot at. A toppled statue made a convenient target.

With a gesture, elemental power formed in his hand, and he cast a flickering wedge of power. It smashed into the side of the statue, spraying splinters of stone into the air. Tavian nodded with satisfaction. He searched the courtyard for Calli, wondering what it would take to fix the spell module enough to enable [Projectile II]. A commotion erupted at the damaged Air Gate. Soldiers ran to defend the portal. Men shouted.

Green livery flashed on the other side of the damaged gate, as men-at-arms tried to get through.

"We're Veros! House Veros!" Tavian's heart thundered in his chest. Could this be another trap? He drew his sword and ran toward the gate.

"Don't open it!"