My next week was rather… monotonous. It was busy, it was just monotonous. I sat at the edge of the cloud island with my skills active, training everything I could while using my wand and spamming Create Meal off the side of the ledge, letting the conjured food fall down to the waters below. No doubt there were some very happy fish down there, but I didn’t really have the chance to consider them.
At the same time, I was watching my clones sparring, training those skills, together with the Captain skill. My stealth skills and buffs were active, and I spent an hour every day practicing my Martial Construction.
In the end, most of my Martial skills received quite a few levels, and a few skills even evolved. One of my oldest skills, Crystal Wall, turned into Crystal Bastion-X, which created a red dome of crystal around a target. When that dome is broken, it explodes, sending crystal shards shooting out.
Next, Fortitude of Nature evolved into Nature’s Warden. The main effect of the skill didn’t change, but it included an area effect to share the enhancements with allies. Then, the Captain skill evolved into Commander, which just seemed to be a straight increase from the previous skill.
Finally, Diane and Bella brought me a skill that drops from the Storm Serpent dungeon, Shocking Grasp. This was a Martial skill that generated electricity from the body. I added it to my collection, and upgraded it to its intermediate form, Lightning Lash. Now, I could send out a whip of lightning at my target.
While I was doing all of this, Diane and Bella were repeatedly running through the local dungeon. After I was done with my training, we would search the immediate area for any nearby dungeons, and then return to our low-level stormcloud.
Thanks to Bella and Diane regularly training together, the redheaded elf had managed to get a bit better with her combat instincts, though she was still far short of being able to defeat Diane in a fight.
Oh, and every day, Bella would bring me a new wand to enchant Create Meal onto. According to Diane, this was to ‘measure my progress’, but we both knew that it was just so that the quality of our food would continue to increase. By the end of the one week of training, I had increased Create Meal up to level thirty-two. A few more weeks like that, and I might have even been able to hit the master rank. Of course my first master-level magic skill would be the creation of food…
On the eighth day, I awoke, using my wand to habitually create meals for the three of us. Roasted mushrooms, beef stew, and a stuffed pastry… I shrugged, taking the stew as the other two arrived. Looking at Diane’s forehead, her brand was still dim, so her player was likely reading the upcoming announcement.
The three of us sat down at the table and eat, and we once again confirmed that increasing the level of Create Meal did indeed improve the taste of the created food. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to master this skill…
As I was thinking about that, Diane’s brand suddenly lit up, her player logging on. She looked at the stuffed pastry in her hand, setting it down for a moment to look at me. “I’ve seen the notes… there’s something big coming.” She said in a serious tone.
“Bigger than the Chosen patch last time?” I asked, arching my brow, and she nodded her head.
“Remember how that GM said that they were trying to get your trait back? It was for this upcoming update.” I blinked when I heard that, but Diane continued. “They’re not called King packages for nothing. In this next update, yes the demons will be invading every continent… but the bigger news for us is the fact that new territory is being opened up. Territory that can be claimed as a kingdom by those with ten star traits.”
When I heard that, my brow furrowed, and I shook my head. Just as I was about to decline, Diane lifted a hand. “Let me finish before you refuse. There’s a part of this that you need to hear. Apparently, if someone takes up the mantle as king, anyone who joins their kingdom can receive a downgraded version of their trait as an invisible buff. And the quality of this buff improves based on their noble rank in the kingdom, up to a nine star equivalent at the limit.”
My eyes widened at that, looking at Bella and Diane. This was huge. Looking at the progression of traits, the nine star equivalent to my trait would likely be an eighty-percent reduction in the cost of all skills. Furthermore, they wouldn’t have my downside to worry about.
As if understanding my thoughts, Diane nodded her head. “I think this might be the way to turn things around for you. At present, you’re not wanting to get involved with many players because you’re worried that other people might be after your trait. However, things change if you can establish your own force.”
“If you take command of a kingdom, then anyone would have to think twice about challenging you. Even if they kill you, there is a miniscule chance that they would get your trait. This might be a good gamble now, when death spirals are an option, but if you have soldiers attempting to rescue you, it becomes another matter entirely. And, with the buff offered by being your citizen, both Players and Fallen will flock to join your kingdom.”
I gave a slow nod as I listened to her explanation. It made sense, for sure. Plus, the ability to help Diane and Bella dramatically increase their own powers would be really nice. “But, if I take up the position as a king, won’t I be unable to continue adventuring with the two of you?” I asked, and Diane shook her head.
“They made a note that that won’t be a problem. Kings aren’t expected to remain cooped up in their territory. They can appoint someone as Chancellor, and that individual will handle the day-to-day operation of the kingdom while the king is away.”
I blinked at that, nodding my head again. I thought through the proposal, considering if there was really any reason for me to refuse. Yes, it would bring a lot more attention to myself, but this was also the same time period when the Sponsorship system would be established, so that was bound to happen anyways.
“Okay… are there any requirements, aside from having a ten star trait?” I asked, letting out a long sigh. “We’ll need to know what to prepare in advance.”
“Well, a nine star trait holder has the chance to upgrade their trait in a duel against another nine star holder, with the loser’s trait demoted.” Diane explained. “But the only other requirement that they listed was that the territory be unclaimed. They said that new territory would be opening up, but they didn’t say where it would be.”
“That’s shockingly unhelpful.” I said with a groan. “Okay… let’s ignore the matter of location. Realistically speaking, the fact that it’s unclaimed territory means that the new kings will need to defend their land from monsters. There are three real ways to do this. First, you already have a large force, so you can defend the area with allies.”
“Second, you have a strong individual power, able to overwhelm the nearby monsters alone. I’d like to think I could fall into this category, but we don’t know what level the new territory is.”
“Finally, if the new king can establish proper fortifications, they’ll have a substantial advantage even if they don’t qualify for either of the other methods.” I said, and the two nodded their heads in understanding. “With Martial Construction, I can probably create the fortifications with enough time. However, ideally, I’d like to reach the master rank with that skill.”
“Do you think you can do that?” Diane asked, and I furrowed my brow, looking at my skill list.
“We’ve got three weeks. Right now, my skill is at level twenty-four. If I push the training, maybe. But that would require me to ask that the two of you give up your own training. I wouldn’t be running this kingdom on my own, and I wouldn’t be doing it for myself. I can spend an hour a day training Martial Construction, and I’ll see where I get.”
The two girls looked at one another, nodding their heads. “As long as you reserve a little bit of time for your own training every day.” Bella said in a surprisingly firm tone. “None of this will work if you don’t get stronger yourself.”
I let out a small chuckle, agreeing with them. “Alright. But first… what are we going to do about training for you two? We also still need to find a way to sell the whales from before.”
“I think we should stay at sea for now.” Diane answered, shaking her head. “With my Navigation skill, we can always find our way back here.”
“When did you get the Navigation skill?” I asked in confusion, as I hadn’t gotten that myself.
Diane simply chuckled. “You’re too focused on driving. I’ve always been keeping track of our position while riding alongside you, so I managed to unlock it. Even the novice rank has a minimap where I can save waypoints. Certain factors can cause it to become less accurate, but I’ve been leveling it up every time we’re driving around.”
“Speaking of which, I’m surprised that my Driving skill still hasn’t evolved.” I muttered, but Diane shook her head.
“Driving is a more laid-back profession skill. At least with Butchery, you are actively learning to dismantle different types of monsters, and doing so in the field. But Driving as a skill is just to get from one location to another. Although it applies to player-made vehicles, it wasn’t made for them. It was made for basic carriages and such. According to Karlson’s posts, professional skills like that can take years to master, even if you use them every day.”
I simply nodded at that. “Well, once we finish eating, we can go looking for another dungeon around here. We’re apparently going to be staying here for a little while, so it’s best to get comfortable.”
That motivated the two of them, and they quickly finished their meals. Once they were done, we got into the car and drove off. As we had been the last week, we stayed mostly above the clouds to make sure that we could see any demon ships in the area.
While we were fortunate enough not to run into a demonic vessel, what we did find was another cove of ships built around a small island. This wasn’t a group of shipwrecks, but rather fully-intact ships ready to be launched. From their layout, it was either a dungeon or a random pirate stronghold. Either way, it seemed like something good for us to check out.
Seeing that there weren’t any other ships on the horizon, I drove the car down, closer to the cove. I flew in over the ships, keeping the car in stealth, until I was close enough to appraise the targets. If they were all close in level, and without individual names, this was a dungeon. If they were all properly named, this was an actual pirate stronghold.
“…Okay, so I have good news.” I spoke up, the other two looking over. “This is definitely a dungeon. Also, Diane, I think you mentioned wanting a skill for controlling ropes or wires at one point?” I asked, and watched as her face practically lit up.
“Oh, please tell me they have it.” She said, nearly bouncing in her seat.
“Yeah… some of them have a version called Rope Bind, and others are Binding Lines, which I can only assume are two skills along the same tree, though I can’t tell immediately which is stronger.”
“Don’t care, I want it.” She said eagerly. “If I can get that, I can modify it for wires. I’ve already asked Hammerhead to make my a wire glove ages ago, but I never had a skill to use it with.”
I chuckled slightly, nodding my head. “Well, the main body of the dungeon is in the innermost flagship. Everything out here is just the overflow. Also… they are level one hundred and thirty. So, we’ll need to be careful not to let our guard down.”
