Amelioration, p.11
Amelioration, page 11
(Warning, you are near another’s dominion. Should your zone of influence reach a mile into their dominion, all players present will be made aware of your presence and be able to transfer to the area of overlap at will.)
Xeal simply continued forward as the second warning came in.
(Warning, your presence has been detected and players are now able to transfer to the overlap between your zone of influence and the other’s dominion.)
For Xeal, all this said was that he had nine miles to go before he would reach his goal, as he knew that if the other player was logged on they would be receiving warnings that their dominion was being invaded. With only a single shard, all Xeal needed to do was reach the point where his entire zone of influence was within the other player’s dominion to force a one-on-one battle. If the player was offline, the system would give them ten minutes to prepare once they logged back in, before forcibly transferring upon logging in. However, if they were online and not engaged in combat, or inside a repeatable dungeon, they would be forcibly transferred ten minutes after they were in what the system deemed a safe state. The real kicker here was that it didn’t care if they got into another fight after that moment, though it would restore all of their stats to full. Something that it would not do for Xeal. No, the attacker needed to face the other in the exact state that they were when they reached the point of forcing the fight.
With the setup giving the attacker a clear disadvantage and essentially making the last nine miles of any dominion that touched another’s dominion a forbidden zone of a sort. Still, there were other ways to initiate a fight that included delivering a letter of challenge, that if accepted would allow for neither side to gain an advantage in the fight. However, Xeal expected to need to force a fight each time, unless another overpowered individual was foolish enough to invade him, or send a challenge. That wasn’t to say that the system would allow the participants to simply wait things out as once they had discovered another’s dominion that they could invade, a countdown of a sort would start. This countdown would take the form of increased demon attacks the longer they waited, until one dominion, or the other was destroyed. At which point the surviving dominion’s owner would be considered the victor and receive the extra shards of divinity, but at the massive cost that came from dealing with the demons. Xeal also could tell that the system had retained its link to the demons and as such could control them completely still. It was as Xeal was thinking about this that he received his next warning.
(Warning, you are one mile from entering another’s dominion. It is suggested that you turn back now if you don’t wish to initiate a conflict at this time.)
Once more Xeal just ignored it as he pushed forward with six miles to go, until Xeal received the final warning.
(Warning, you have now entered another’s dominion. All players allied to them will be able to lock on to your location and fast travel to your location once.)
As this warning ended, Xeal caught sight of a single player doing just this, before he gave the signal and he, Arnhylde and Lucida all increased their pace. Now instead of around 30 miles an hour, they were going closer to 60 miles an hour and the player was quickly left in the dust as Xeal pressed forward. As he did so, one player after another arrived in front of him, only for them to manage to launch a single attack that was blocked by Arnhylde before being passed by. In just over five minutes since Xeal had received the last warning, he received two notifications.
(Notice: player Xeal Bluefire has successfully invaded player Joliette Dewbraid’s dominion. Player Joliette Dewbraid has been notified and the match will start in ten minutes. All players other than the two combatants will return to the dominion that they are associated with in the meantime.)
(Notice: prepare to be transported to an arena to face off against Joliette Dewbraid. Transporting in 30 seconds.)
Xeal just smiled as he slowed his mount to a stop, before dismounting and handing the reins to Lucida just as he and every other player vanished. At the same time, Xeal found himself in a blank room as he watched the clock count down.
Meanwhile, back in the keep in Mauvers, Austru had just finished reading the letters that she had been handed by Xeal. All six of them had contained replies to her prior letters and she had been enjoying getting to talk with Xeal’s ladies, as he referred to the group as a whole. It had been made clear since Xeal had returned that her affections for him had not gone unnoticed by him, or the ones who he could bring into this world with him. Austru had been worried about what this would mean for her hopes of being able to be of use to him during his quest in this world. Now, however, she was simply worried as she knew that he may never return, depending on how the day went. Nothing highlighted this more than the last lines in every letter that she had just received being the same. As they all told her to congratulate him when he returns. Not if, but when, as if none of them were even slightly worried about what he would face. While Austru couldn’t see him losing in a fair fight, she had no way of knowing that what he was headed into was going to be one.
As Austru wrestled with whether her worries meant she was, or wasn’t suitable to pursue Xeal, he found himself in an arena as a minute timer started to count down. Across from him was a young woman who was wearing blue robes that spoke of her being a spellcaster of some sort, likely with a water affinity. Still, Xeal was doing his best to place her from his last life, but was coming up empty as she spoke.
“Damn it, why is it you? Of all the possible participants, why are you one of them?”
“I’m sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage, though I think it is safe to say that you know who I am.”
“If there is a player who doesn’t at this point, they must be living under a rock! I suppose I should just be happy that I didn’t waste as much of my time like all of the other players who will still be competing after this.”
“Is that you giving up before you even fight me?”
“No, it is me accepting that I have all of a snowflake’s chance in hell of winning, though I do have one card to play, but it’s dirty.”
“Let me guess, you want me to pay for you to stay quiet about this quest and my involvement,” supplied Xeal as the timer reached 20 seconds.
“Exactly, though I can’t help you with the quest as someone will blab about it now that we are being kicked out, but only I know who you are,” replied Joliette.
“What do you want?”
“Continued access for me and my group.”
“You’re an independent player, aren’t you.”
“I was. The group I have with me are as well. We were planning on just developing in this world until we lost.”
(10…)
“Deal, but you have to join FAE.”
“Fine, as long as you offer us all a reasonable deal.”
(3…)
“Only if your skills merit it.”
(Fight)
As the counter hit zero, Xeal had to dodge a few dozen water balls that splashed off in the distance as Joliette charged at him.
“I better make you sweat a little then,” stated Joliette, as two whips of water formed from her hands as Xeal started to charge his blades with electricity. “Don’t even bother using your electrical abilities to shock me. If you think that I haven’t studied all of your moves like every other wannabe pro, you’re an idiot.”
Xeal just smiled as he avoided the water whips and continued to charge himself up by using elemental blades as he responded.
“Knowing about it and countering it are two separate things, though it’s sad. If you were 20 levels higher you might actually have a chance to make me work for this.”
“As I said, a snowflake’s chance in hell. Not even a snowball’s chance. Still, at least you see my skills are real!”
As she said this, she crashed her whips into each other, causing them to turn into a spray of mist as alarm bells went off in Xeal’s head as he fired off a dragon’s breath directly into the mist. As he did this, he also jumped into the air just as the mist ignited and created an explosion that consumed the area that he had been in a second prior. Seeing this, Xeal just smiled as he realized that he was dealing with an alchemist who had learned how to weaponize the abilities that most only used in their crafting. At the same time, she had been caught in her own trap as she hadn’t expected him to detonate the mist before it reached his swords and reacted to the lightning that was flickering on his swords. To add injury to this, Xeal unleashed the electricity that he had stored up directly at her as well, as she found herself stunned just long enough for Xeal to land and lock her into a double upward and downward slash combo.
“I must say that I am impressed, but unfortunately your actions weren’t a foreign concept to me.” commented Xeal as he continued to attack. “Though I doubt many have come as far as you have with your skills.”
Joliette simply continued to struggle to recover and break the combo as her health continued to drain, but with Xeal adding elemental blades into the mix and controlling the electricity, she found herself overwhelmed. So it was that Xeal brought her down to under five percent health and ended his combo as the bleeding status made it so that she only had around a minute before she would die, regardless of anything else. As consumables were disabled during this match, Xeal knew short of her having a skill or title to take care of the situation, she couldn’t win even if she managed to lock him in a combo of her own.
“Have all those in your team stand by and meet me at my guild headquarters in the main ED world to come to terms. If all you are after is remaining in this world and funding, I think we can come to an agreement. That is so long as they have halfway decent abilities. After all, they already have a head start on the others that I could send in here.”
“Fine. At least I can say that I fought you and you acknowledged my skills. See you soon.”
As Joliette’s health reached zero, she faded from the arena and Xeal received several system notifications, most of which were updates to the ones he had gotten when the quest first started.
(Notice: you have been implanted with two shards of divinity. Collect the other 62 to increase your control of this world.
Current control: 1/32
Current time allowed in this world: 18,900 seconds every 7 days in this world.
Time here passes the same as in the main Eternal Dominion world.
Time can be stockpiled and will increase continuously.
Current accumulation: 1 second every 32 seconds.)
(Notice: you can bring up to 200 players with you to this world.
Dominion: You can claim a portion of the quest world as your own and in doing so, keep it safe from demons. Current max 1.5% of world’s land.)
(Notice: You have defeated another champion and claimed their dominion as your own.
Adding 18,900 seconds to your current balance of time allowed in the quest world.
All players associated with defeated champion will be removed from the quest world.
You will be unable to conquer another dominion until you encounter one that is controlled by a champion with two shards of divinity.
To signify this, your dominion will gain a white border that must be crossed to enter it, while all enemies will have a red border unless they have the appropriate number of shards of divinity.)
(Notice: you have two irregularly attached dominions. Would you like to attach them in the optimal configuration? Warning: if not done in the next five minutes, you will not be able to in the future.)
(Notice: you may transfer to the defeated champion’s starting location with up to five others once in the next 24 hours. Warning: NPCs in captured dominion may perceive you as hostile. Exercise caution when approaching them.)
(Notice: transferring you to your designated entry point for quest world.)
Xeal smiled at the now over six hours he had to use as he arrived in the room where Austru always waited for him. As he did so, Austru looked like she had had a weight lifted from her as she saw Xeal and before he knew it, she was hugging him.
“You came back!” exclaimed Austru in relief. “I am sorry for ever doubting that you would succeed.”
“Wait, you thought that I might not win?”
“Yes, well, I am still not used to your kind and I know that I can’t judge those who are participating in your quest to those accompanying you. Oh, congratulations on your victory and I hope you can forgive me for worrying.”
“Austru, you may always worry about my success, especially when I am going to face something that could see me forced to leave you forever. It is a large part of why I will not look at you seriously until I have survived a few of these encounters.”
“You don’t see me worrying as an insult?” asked Austru, sounding unsure.
“No, it simply means you care. Even I felt that there was a one or two percent chance of me losing today,” answered Xeal calmly with a bit of reassurance in his voice. “After all, had they been able to counter my entrance into their dominion effectively, I may have found myself forced to fight with no room for error.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, though I need to leave for a bit, but you should expect me to return soon.”
“Of course. I will continue to wait for you here as I write my responses to your other ladies.”
Xeal just smiled as she released him and he left the quest world and found himself back in his palace in Hardt Burgh. When he returned, he found Enye, Dyllis, Mari and Lingxin all awaiting him and looking like they too had been doing a bit of worrying. Though not nearly to the extent that Austru had been doing as Enye spoke calmly.
“I assume that you were successful and we should plan on you once more having less time to spend here with us.”
“I was, and I fear that such is our fate until I can feel secure in the fact that no other will be able to determine our fates,” replied Xeal.
“So long as you remember that your place is by our sides when you finally become what you are meant to be,” stated Lingxin with a smile. “I mean, you are fighting to essentially allow us to enjoy hundreds of years with you without worries, right?”
“We have children. There will always be worries,” quipped Xeal.
“Yes, well, they need to be allowed to stand on their own one day,” replied Lingxin.
“Agreed,” commented Mari. “Though I am sure that we will all be much older when that day comes.”
“I’m not sure Xeal will ever be able to do that with our daughters,” added Dyllis happily. “I mean, I can see him becoming a god and watching over them their whole lives.”
“I’m not that bad,” retorted Xeal. “Am I?”
“Not yet,” answered Enye. “But with how much more you dote on them than Xander, or Xin, it is clear that you could be one day.”
“What can I say, I find it easier to pamper my daughters.”
At Xeal’s words they all smiled before standing and embracing and kissing him, before leaving to return to their tasks. As Xeal left the room, he found Eira awaiting him and like she so often did, she followed after him after getting her own kiss and hug as he made his way to his guild headquarters. Upon arriving, Xeal was met by Kate who let him know that Joliette Dewbraid was already waiting for him and he made his way to the designated room with Kate joining Eira in tow. Upon entering the room, Xeal found that Joliette was leaning back in her chair such that only the back legs were in contact with the ground as she played with what looked like a ball of water as she spoke.
“Finally. So what did you get for forcing me to fail and be the first one eliminated?”
“Sorry, but that isn’t your concern at this time,” retorted Kate. “You are just lucky that I was expecting Xeal to cut a deal with the player he beat, or you would have never gotten past the front doors.”
“Kate, relax,” interjected Xeal. “What do we know about Joliette here?”
“Joliette Dewbraid, wanted in three countries for causing massive damage in various cities, has been dark for the past year in ED and those who were keeping tabs on her think she quit.”
“What can I say, a few of my early experiments went wrong. You’re just lucky that consumables were forbidden in our fight.”
“Regardless, it seems that you are in a rough spot, at least as far as finding a guild that would be willing to take you,” commented Xeal. “So, who are the players that were helping you in the quest world?”
“About that,” started Joliette before Kate answered.
“They’re mostly like her in being players that no guild will touch due to the issues with them being wanted in one country or another. Honestly, if you weren’t going to hide them away from the rest of ED by sticking them in the quest world, I would tell you that they aren’t worth the headache that they will bring us. However, as long as they agree to behave in the quest world, it could be a tenable situation, though compensation may be an issue.”
“Right, what are they looking for?” asked Xeal.
“400,000 credits for each of them and 800,000 credits for me!” answered Joliette almost as if it were a demand.
“No,” replied Kate. “40.8 million credits is far too high. Even if I assumed a generous return on investment, you all are at most worth five million a year. After all, only Xeal can exchange any items between worlds and it is short sighted to strip that world of resources.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” retorted Joliette as she finally stopped leaning back in her chair. “That isn’t even 50,000 credits a year. On average they would need to live in the middle of nowhere and eat nothing but instant ramen to make that work!”
“We can arrange for them to be housed in one of our workshops,” countered Kate. “If we have them move to Indonesia and fill in the gaps at Lily’s branch, they wouldn’t have to worry about food either as it would be provided as part of their pay. Though at that point I think 20,000 credits would be all that we would be paying them, as food and housing would need to be included as part of their compensation package.”
