Chương 7: 6. The First Extraction

⬣ Kingdom name confirmed: Tar Corinath ⬣ ⬣ Core activation completed. Hail Tavian Veros, [Ruler] of Tar Corinath! ⬣ Tavian's body shook with an unnatural surge of pure joy as the Core extended his Influence, claiming each of the six tiles adjacent to the Core hextile. ⬣ The Kingdom Must Grow ⬣ A system information screen opened. Notifications cluttered his view. ⬣ [Ruler I] - You are ruler of a Tier I kingdom. Increase your kingdom size to unlock more powerful tiers.

⬣ Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Ruler] I 0 0 0 ⬣ Available Spells: [Extract] ⬣ ⬣ Magic Stat Required: 1 ⬣ ⬣ You have 1 stat point to assign. Assign now? ⬣ ⬣ New Perks unlocked: ⬣ ⬣ Hexsight: (passive, togglable) You can see the global hex grid. ⬣ ⬣ Map Maker: (passive) Any hextiles you see are automatically mapped. Would you like to open the map? ⬣ ⬣ New Kingdom Active: Tar Corinath ⬣ ⬣ Kingdom Status: ⬣ Kingdom Tier Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence Tar Corinath I 7 7 1.

0 ⬣ Congratulations on reaching Tier I. You can now create and designate Tier I Classes. Tier I Classes receive 1 stat point, and cost 1 Core Essence to assign. Would you like to create a Tier I Class? ⬣ The flood of information overwhelmed Tavian for a moment. He dismissed all the messages as men shouted in the distance. The Anarvians had seen the burst of light and Essence from his Core activation, and were forming up outside the Life Gate. Erond was throwing out orders, organizing a defense.

A soft, feminine voice spoke beside him, making him jump.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Tavian turned to find a woman standing beside him. She had a faint ethereal glow and hovered slightly off the ground. She peered at him curiously through large brown eyes, rimmed by thin-framed silver spectacles. A curly mane of silvery hair spilled over her shoulders, and a set of colorful wings fluttered softly behind her. A pair of fuzzy antennae poked through her hair at the top of her head.

"Are you… an angel?" Tavian asked, staring at her.

"I'm a Lepidoptera, not an angel," she said with a smile.

"I'm the Administrator of your Core, Tavian. You can call me Lea. But we can deal with the introductions later; right now you have more urgent problems to address."

"Yes, I do," Tavian said, shaking himself. His bare feet crunched on gravel as he turned toward the Life Gate. Erond had rallied soldiers there, and shouts rang out from the courtyard beyond, where the Anarvians were gathering.

"Another kingdom has claimed a tile adjacent to your kingdom," the Administrator said.

"Look at the map." Tavian activated the map view, which showed a grid of hexagons centered on his Kingdom Core. When activated, the Core had claimed the hextile it was erected on, as well as each of the six adjacent hextiles. These seven tiles covered most of the ground inside the courtyard, leading right up to and including the gates in each wall, but not extending further than that. The Life Gate wall was mostly inside the next hextile, and this one was marked in red, with the notation 'Claimed by House Anarvia.

Influence: 1. 47' His own tiles were marked as well: 'Tar Corinath. Influence: 1'"Your tiles are at risk," Lea said.

"Drop below 1 Influence, and your claimed territory will begin turning neutral."

"I know, I know that," Tavian said, and Lea coughed. He looked at her more closely, noting her strange garb. She wore a loose grey dress, with a neckline that scooped to her navel. A golden belt secured it just over her hips, and she wore black boots laced up to her thighs.

"What is this place?" she asked, looking around.

"Why is there so much miasma? That's going to be a real problem if you can't get your Influence up." Tavian looked around him.

"I need Essence then, to feed the Core and increase my Influence."

"To get Essence, you must [Extract] matter. You have an available stat point. I recommend placing it in Magic. Remember, once you assign a stat point, you can't undo it." Tavian flipped back through the menus and found his personal stats. Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Ruler] I 1 0 0 ⬣ You have an unassigned magic point. Would you like to assign it to a spell? ⬣"Yes," Tavian muttered. ⬣ Choose a spell. Available spells: [Extract] ⬣ ⬣ [Extract] Take physical matter and convert it to Essence.

⬣ Tavian chose the spell.

"Excellent," Lea said.

"Now choose something to extract. The more refined the matter, the more Essence you will receive from it. But take care not to extract too far from the Core, as the Essence will evaporate quickly."

"What should I do?" Tavian asked, looking around. There was gravel, shrubs, some chunks of elemental stone; none of it was refined though.

"Who are you talking to?" Calli asked him, staring at his face curiously.

"Her," Tavian said, pointing at Lea.

"Can't you see her?"

"No," Calli said.

"The Core Administrator," Tavian said.

"She's like an angel butterfly or something." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Calli's eyes widened.

"A Lepidoptera?" she gasped.

"This really is one of the lost Conqueror's Cores! Honored spirit of the Core, we are honored."

"I like her," Lea said, grinning.

"I'm more moth than butterfly, though. And no, your Influence level is far too low for me to be able to interact with anything in your kingdom. Only you can see or hear me now." Tavian smiled at Calli's enthusiasm.

"Calli, we need Essence! What should I use as a test extraction?"

"Oh, um, you want something refined to get more value…" Calli looked around the courtyard with him, then settled on a flowerbed nearby. A dead mage in purple robes lay face down in the dirt there.

"Start with him!" Calli said. Tavian nodded, seeing the logic in that. A clothed human body was far more refined than anything else here. He walked over to the dead Anarvian and crouched beside it, then lifted his hand.

"Wait," he said as Calli watched on eagerly.

"Can you help me get his boots first?" Boots firmly on his feet, Tavian proceeded. He activated [Extract] and the mage's body dissolved in a swirl of color and light, draining into Tavian's hand, where it consolidated into eight glowing orbs. It was like sifting chaff from wheat, and the less refined materials dissolved away until nothing remained of the mage.

"Quickly," Lea prompted as tendrils of Essence evaporated into the air.

"Into the Core." Tavian ran to the Core and pressed the Essence into it. The Core absorbed the Essence hungrily. ⬣ Kingdom Statistics: ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 15 7 2. 14 Tavian felt himself grow lighter; his movements made easier by the increase of Influence. He turned to Calli, but she was scowling. Calli groaned.

"Ugh, I feel heavier." A few shouts sounded from near the Life Gate, where people were moving chunks broken pillars as they tried to form a barricade. These grew heavier and harder to move for them.

"Good," Lea said.

"Your Influence grows. Influence is always a function of Core Essence divided by Tiles Claimed. You should add your subjects to your kingdom, so that they can also benefit from your Influence."

"Yes, I should, how do I do that?" Tavian asked.

"Would you like me to invite all the people currently within your kingdom to swear fealty to you?" Tavian looked around. Everyone in the courtyard was loyal to House Veros.

"Yes," Tavian said.

"Do it!"

"What is she saying to you?" Calli asked.

"What are you talking about? Ugh I wish I could see her!"

"Accept the invitation," Tavian told her. Calli's eyes unfocused as she navigated the system interface. ⬣ New subject: Goren Finn ⬣ ⬣ New subject: Calli Veros ⬣ ⬣ New subject: Kamrin Torin ⬣ ⬣ New subject: Yamall Atta ⬣ ⬣ New subject: Erond Veros ⬣ Notifications flooded in faster than Tavian could dismiss them.

"Lea? Can you suppress these?"

"Of course," she said, and the messages stopped. A cheer rose up from Tavian's new subjects as they felt the advantages of Influence. A few of them started chanting Tavian's name. ⬣ Kingdom Population: 53 ⬣"They're coming!" Erond shouted.

"Men, to me!" A group of young women toted stones up the steps to the top of the wall. Everyone else gathered at the Life Gate, preparing to defend a breastwork made of smashed wood and shattered stone. Tavian picked up his sword and took two steps toward the barricade, ready to fight the enemy once more.

"Brace!" Erond shouted. Anarvians charged through the long passage of the Life Gate, giving a shout. Calli caught Tavian's arm.

"We need more Essence, Tay," she said.

"More Influence will strengthen the wall!" Tavian gritted his teeth. He needed to be fighting alongside his people.

"You do it," he said.

"You do it, Calli. You can extract for me!" He quickly navigated back into the kingdom interface and created a new Class. ⬣ New Class Created: [Extractor] ⬣ Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Extractor] I 1 0 0 ⬣ Assigned Spells: [Extract] ⬣"Remember," Lea said, floating over to him.

"Assigning a Class costs Core Essence. Tier I Classes cost one Essence to assign. This will reduce your Influence."

"I see," he said. A strange look crossed Lea's face, and she coughed again.

"Give me a moment," she said.

"Something's not right." Lea vanished. He assigned the Class to Calli, paying the one Essence price. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 14 7 2. 0"You got it?" he asked. She nodded, a smile slowly appearing on her face.

"Sift some stuff!" he called to her.

"Get us Essence!" Tavian ran to the gate, sword flashing in the light of the morning sun. He arrived just as the Anarvian advance did. The enemy was comprised mostly of light, fast, mobile men, unarmored, wielding swords and axes. They clashed with Tavian's forces at the boundary of the kingdom, the border between tiles claimed by Tar Corinath and House Anarvia. As long as they stayed on their side, Influence enhanced Tavian's fighters.

Anarvian men with pruning hooks tried to tear down the makeshift wall, but Tar Corinath Influence strengthened the structure, making it much more difficult for the attackers to dismantle. Of course, some portions of the wall had tumbled onto the Anarvian controlled tile, and these fell under Anarvian Influence; easier for the enemy to manipulate, harder for House Veros. Tavian hacked at spear tips and exposed arms with his sword, joining his men at the front.

Erond shouted more commands, organizing the handmaids on the wall as they dropped stones through murder holes onto the heads of Anarvians below. He felt a surge of Influence. Calli had just sifted another dead Anarvian. The Anarvians' attempts to dig down the wall weakened noticeably, as though all the wood had turned to iron and the stone to lead. A cheer ran through the ranks. The Anarvians faltered. Calli sifted again, and he felt another surge. Everything became easier.

A few eager pages jumped the wall, and immediately lost the advantage of their Kingdom's Influence, instead becoming intruders in the House Anarvia claimed hextile. Anarvian Influence worked against them immediately. They quickly realized their mistake and scrambled back over the wall, aided by a few grizzled soldiers. Tavian cursed their youth, but hadn't he done the same thing as a young man in battle field training? He checked the interface. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 41 7 5.

85 The Anarvians began falling back. They simply didn't have the numbers to attack into so much Influence. A cheer from the barricade turned into a roar as the measured retreat turned into a full on run, out through the Life Gate and into the fortress courtyard beyond.

"The outer gate is open," Tavian said to Erond, pointing after the Anarvians.

"If we can close and hold it…"

"It's on Anarvian claimed land," Erond protested.

"We'll never hold it that way."

"By Ishtoran," Tavian cursed, and his uncle gave him a stern look.

"We'll reinforce this blockade for now," Erond said.

"If you keep sifting, it will make it impossible for them to get through."

"And then I can claim that tile," Tavian agreed. He pulled up the map view in his interface. Two unclaimed tiles flanked the Anarvian tile that was causing them so much trouble. If he could claim those, he could use Influence Overwhelm to claim the Anarvian tile. They nearly had enough Influence to pull that off, but…

"Lea, what's going on? Why can't I claim any tiles?" Lea appeared beside him, floating.

"You simply…" she trailed off.

"Oh, I see. Er… I need to fix something, give me a minute. This place is thick with miasma, and it's gumming up the works." She vanished in a swirl of color.

"How long will that take?" But Lea didn't respond. Tavian cursed, a quiet dread rising inside him. If this Conqueror's Core was also susceptible to the miasmic surges, he might have made a terrible tactical mistake. No use worrying about that now, though. They needed to secure this courtyard, or they were all going to get killed. Erond cocked an eyebrow at him, and Tavian realized he couldn't see Lea.

"I can't claim tiles yet," Tavian explained.

"I could make new Classes for everyone. Though there's a cost, it could be worth—" Tavian caught a glimpse of Calli running toward the Core, her hands cupped together. She tripped, and sprawled face first on the gravel, Essence exploding out of her hands and evaporating into the air.

"Hey," Tavian grabbed a page, and realized it was Goren, the boy with the kitchen knife. He pointed to Calli.

"Help her! She's sifting too far from the Core; help her move things!"

"I'll brace the breastwork," Erond said.

"You're more useful managing—" Shouts from atop the wall interrupted their conversation. A hail of arrows arced through the air. A woman gasped overhead, then fell headlong to the ground, an arrow buried in her back. Other arrows rained down, quivering as they slammed into the ground. A page ducked into the threshold of one of the gates, narrowly avoiding being turned into a pin cushion.

Another arrow landed with a thunk, right between Calli's legs as she picked herself up off the ground and ran for cover At the same time, a wave of elemental [Projectiles] crashed against the breastwork. Some of them flew high and impacted the rear wall of the courtyard.

"Balls of—" Erond cut off his own curse before it became profane.

"What we need right now is archers, or we'll be pinned down!"