City of Desire [Kingdom Building] - Chapter 688: Audacious

Proofread by Thomas F

Caena Aris

The aura returned to me, and I am still shocked by it.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t use it to strengthen my spell. Witchcraft isn’t a skill or spell that could be enhanced with the aura.

Here, people can use aura, but it didn’t change the power of the spell. The aura may not increase the power of spells like warriors or mages, but even to us witches, it is a tremendously helpful tool.

Like right now, I move the aura to bear the colossal pressure of the spell.

Their awakening will help us; it will buy us some time, while Remus works on the impossible task. He is the master; only he could do this.

Till he does, we will buy him as much time as we can.

…

Greltheaven

“Four auras!” The thought echoed in my mind, and even after a moment, I was still stunned.

I never imagined I’d witness a Fountain Event—four people awakening their aura at the same time.

If we had been anywhere else, I would have jumped for joy. Instead, I turned, only to smile before returning to the anchor strings with a newfound purpose.

I had failed tens of times, every time I tried. I would fail, but I kept trying.

Looking at my mistakes and trying again, but failing.

It was when I noticed something that I hadn’t before. It is obvious, but I unconsciously ignored it.

The string was made by twisting two aura threads, and it is breaking repeatedly.

There are two reasons for that. First, I am already stretched since I am maintaining over a hundred threads, and I also face outside pressure.

Then one would ask, why aren’t the already-made strings breaking?

The answer is simple, I am increasing control and power over them as the pressure increases, but it is hard for me to do that with string, which is being made.

So, what I have to do is make it strong enough so that it won’t break under pressure during the forming process.

I don’t know whether it will work or not, but I don’t have the time, and seeing that time is a luxury, I quickly move to test my theory.

It is better than trying a process that is already failing.

So, I begin, and this time, instead of two, three threads formed and began to twine among themselves.

It became longer and longer, I could feel the pressure, but it was bearing and didn’t break, even when the anchor string got connected to the anchor.

Seeing that a smile appeared on my face, but it turned sombre just as instantly.

Yes, I succeeded, but this new string takes more aura and needs greater control. Most importantly, it causes greater strain, but I didn’t even think about it right now.

The only thought in my mind is making more strings.

Soon, fifty strings have formed, but like I had expected, they are now putting immense strain on me. I had to go beyond the limit to make so many of them, and the thing is, they are far from enough.

They are only a fifth of what I need. I need two hundred and forty strings, a massive number.

Given the type of spell it is, I need to form the strings with my aura since I am a master, and the spell won’t activate until I am anchored to all two hundred and fifty.

It is hard to make strings; it feels like I am using my very soul for it.

It is not pain that made it so hard, but the strain, which increases with each string, and now it has become heavy as the world itself.

I wish I had control like Bell, but I do not.

Her control is gained through over a decade of hard work. It is such that when she hides her presence with it. I couldn’t even detect her in Legacy until she got close to me.

Even Jon couldn’t do that, with his assassin skills.

In my legacy, I have absolute control. I am always aware of the people around me.

I created another string and then another, and soon the number reached seventy.

Now, it has become so hard that even breathing has become a challenge for me. I felt like I was breathing lead instead of air.

And the thing is, I’m not even noticing the physical pain because I’m feeling much worse in my spirit.

Still, I didn’t stop even for a moment. Focused on the strings, it is the only thing that remained in my mind. I forget everything, including why I am sitting in the room.

The only thing that remained in mind was crafting an anchor string and attaching it to a person.

The numbers reached one hundred and then one hundred and fifty, before reaching two hundred, when I nearly blacked out for a moment.

When I came to myself a fraction of a second later, I found myself falling on the ground.

“Master Silver!”

I felt like someone calling me, but I didn’t focus. All my concentration is on the strings; I am crafting with my aura, and it is the only thing I care about.

No matter how hard it gets or how bad it becomes. I am creating strings like a raging madman.

…

Lord Aardwyn, Tranquill Bathhouse

A minute passed and another, but the tides hadn’t broken through the invisible binds.

“What happened? Have you not made it chaotic?” asked the Prince. “I did your excellency, but I am being careful. I don’t want it to be too chaotic so that I couldn’t control it later,” I lied.

I made it more chaotic. I have no confidence in controlling it afterwards, but even then, those bastards were able to keep it contained.

For a few seconds, I considered making it more chaotic, but that would increase the risks even further.

“Then increase the chaos. If we are going to lose either way, then choose the way that will at least give us the hope of winning,” ordered the prince with ruthlessness burning in his eyes.

I shuddered, in my heart, seeing that.

There will be consequences if I lose it. They won’t do anything to me overtly, but there are many ways to make the man suffer, and there are no people more ruthless than the royals.

Hearing his words, I focused on my core and increased the chaos inside.

Immediately, the changes appeared.

The waves become even bigger while the pool itself begins to sway uncontrollably.

I knew from feeling the chaos in my core that it would be impossible to control, and this isn’t the choice that will remain contained, as it had earlier.

No, this will continue to grow in intensity, and it already is.

I have no regrets; it’s all Silver’s fault. If he had let me swallow his legacy, everything would have been different, but he didn’t, and now he will pay the price for that.

…

Caena Aris

“Damn that Mad man!” said Bell from the other side. To that, I nodded with my expression turning uglier.

The core has lost all control, and now chaos is spreading inside, making it increasingly unstable.

Puh Puh!

“A few more seconds,” I said to five as they began vomiting again as the pressure increased suddenly. Even their newly awakened auras aren’t enough to save them.

Under just pressure, they won’t be able to last long.

They do not need to last long. Remus is very close; once he finishes, they can just let go.

Shockingly, he was able to reach so far. To be honest, I didn’t think he would. Even the second circle would be a challenge, but here we are.

I just hope he is quick enough. Even a second could make a difference.

A single drop of essence held the power to destroy the legacy’s future.

…

Greltheaven

‘Two thirty-two,’ I counted as I finished and moved to make another one.

Something had happened a second ago, which suddenly increased the pressure on me, and unlike before, it is increasing rapidly.

I felt it, but barely focused on it; there is only one thing I am focused on, and that is strings.

It is a massive struggle to craft each string. I couldn’t think of anything else, and I didn’t. My focus is on the strings and the number I have to reach.

So, I crafted another and then another and then another. I kept creating them, even when I wanted to give up every moment.

I don’t know how long it passed, but when I created the last string and connected it to the person entering through the gate of the tower for the first time, I watched as the wonder filled his eyes.

As he experienced something he had never experienced before.

As the third circle was activated, I felt what every anchor was feeling about the legacy. The experience they are getting and the memories they are making.

The third circle is different from the first two. In the first two circles, the people had been decided before; in the third, they were not.

The spell would be imprinted on them as the string reaches them. Here, it is my prerogative to choose anyone I want, and I choose the best.

The one who is getting the best experience of their life.

It isn’t just the new patrons I choose, but also the old ones as well. The store owners as well as the staff working in them. The girls, as well as the kitchen and bar staff.

I chose the gardeners working on the plants to the cleaners cleaning the rooms after people finished.

Most importantly, I connected with people in the spa, from patrons to staff.

I could see the anchors lighting up my vision, I could feel what they were feeling, and it couldn’t help but bring a big smile to my face.

I looked at each anchor before finally turning to the core, which had become more chaotic, but was no longer a problem.

Due to two hundred and forty new anchors joining in, the surge had transformed into a torrent. Every second, a massive amount of essence is going to my core and the harvester planet.

It is so fast that it would be finished within an hour.

It’s impressive, but that’s not the most fantastic thing about it. The most amazing thing about it is the speed at which my core is digesting the essence.

It is doing that as essence came to it. It is all thanks to the anchors of the third circle.

Caena is smart. She understood that the essence would need to be digested quickly, even when it comes in a large amount, if not, it would overwhelm the core, and it wouldn’t absorb more essence.

This is why the third circle required double the number of anchors of the first and the two circles.

Though it wouldn’t have been able to do so if it had been swallowing the whole core, it was swallowing less than half of the essence that came from the core of Tranquill Bathhouse.

The higher amount is going to the harvester planet.

The core is also not digesting all the essence coming at it. There is a caveat in it. That’s the essence of Grade IV; it’s too powerful for it to digest immediately.

It is going to take time.

‘Silver, you bastard. You will pay for this!’ cursed Aardwyn. ‘What are you going to do?’ I mocked.

The next moment, the core turned completely chaotic, but it didn’t alter the situation. The speed at which I am harnessing the essence

It didn’t take long before I harvested 25% of the core, and a few minutes after that, it turned 30%, and then 40%.

The more I harvest, the faster the process becomes as the core weakens. Making it easier to harvest more essence.

Soon, we had harvested 50% of the core, and at 58%, it had lost its shape. It’s no longer a pool; it has become a sphere of essence.

Losing its shape significantly reduced its resistance. Even chaos couldn’t stop as the torrent transformed into a burst. The essence is now coming so fast that my core couldn’t digest it fast enough.

Minutes passed as more and more essence entered the harvester and my core, while the blob shrank further and further.

Hun!

There was barely a quarter of its remaining when something happened.

Something reached into the core—something not born of the legacy or the city.

A connection unlike any I’d known, forging itself in silence, without my will… and yet, unmistakably authentic.

“Is that?” I asked, with my voice filled with shock. “Artifact,” replied Bell.

It shocked everyone, and I turned to Caena.

“Can we snatch it?” I asked audaciously. It shocked her so much that she couldn’t answer it immediately. It’s not an easy question.

“We could try,” she replied finally, several seconds later.

I didn’t plan on doing that. I knew it was possible based on the research, but it needed special skills.

I could feel everything in Tranquill Bathhouse right now, but I couldn’t take anything from it, but that’s not the case for the artifact.

It’s a magical instrument, and for it, the distance of continents doesn’t matter.

Especially when it is connected to the legacy, which I had nearly swallowed.

I wouldn’t have done this thing, even if I could, if these bastards hadn’t resisted and tried to swallow my legacy. They did not just try that, but also harmed my people.

For it, they have to pay, and there is no better payment than the artifact.

Tap the Patreon link below to unlock 40+ advanced chapters, or join Free to enjoy character art, maps, and more exclusive content!

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!