Chapter 142: Fortune Consolidation

Since the scores had refreshed every day, the system published the full Ranking at once. Riftward took first place without a last-minute surprise.

Coldridge had abandoned its attempt to catch them at yesterday’s noon refresh.

A deep rumble rolled across Riftward Region. The ten-point reward brought its Fortune to sixty-two, and the space within its boundaries expanded again.

This time, the attribute reward reached far beyond Cassian.

Golden rays fell across the Marches, each finding a Lord. Tens of thousands of residents received forty points in every attribute.

They had known the reward was coming. That did nothing to quiet the cheers when it arrived.

[Anonymous Lord: Forty in every attribute! This feels incredible!]

[Anonymous Lord: Forty Combat Rating stars! I’m Level 30 with F-grade Aptitude. Without equipment, I only had eighty stars. That’s half again as much!]

[Anonymous Lord: Our Region finally has Fortune too!]

[Anonymous Lord: Remember when the Black Banner Regions fought each other over two points? Now every Region in our Marches has at least two!]

[Anonymous Lord: Long live the Commander! Long live our Warbound Lords! Long live Riftward!]

[Anonymous Lord: Say the word, Commander. I’ll fight for these Marches anywhere!]

Cassian smiled as he read the messages.

Forty points in every attribute would make a real difference to the ordinary Lords’ chances of staying alive. And Riftward had fewer than fifty thousand Lords. The resources available per person were more than ten times what they would have in an ordinary Marches.

More strength, more resources. His people could grow far faster than their neighbors.

The seven Valcrests were just as pleased as everyone else.

"We really did come to the right place." Lyra lifted her glass toward him. "To you, big brother Cassian!"

For a Warbound Lord, an increase in personal attributes mattered far more than the same increase for a Hero or troop.

"Big brother already?" Seraphine gave her cousin a look. "A reward arrives, and suddenly you’re sweet enough to say anything. I remember how hard it was to get a polite word out of you when we were children."

Mira sat up, struck by a thought.

"Commander, with this much land and so few people, we’re in the perfect position for Fortune Consolidation."

"Good idea." Darian looked interested at once. "If we’re doing it, I’ll start buying Fortune Duel Writs."

The others turned toward them.

Fortune Consolidation was also known as a Peaceful Duel. Riftward now had at least two points of Fortune in every Region. Five hundred Regions could form one alliance, face another five hundred, and stake two points each.

The five hundred winning Regions would have four points apiece. Repeat the process, and many of them could rise above ten.

Simple enough in principle. Finding a Marches that could actually do it was much harder.

First, it had to finish in the top two of the Marches Ranking so that every Region received Fortune. Second, its population had to be small enough to fit into half its Regions after the consolidation.

Usually, a Marches with so few people had no chance of placing that high.

Riftward had just done it.

Everyone looked to Cassian. He considered the proposal for a moment.

"Lord Rankings, Region Rankings, Marches Rankings—they usually come in three rounds. Let’s wait until all three are over."

They exchanged glances.

He wanted to take first place twice more.

"You certainly sound confident," Darian said. "But we still only have fifty thousand people."

"When the Lord Kill Points rules came out, everyone said first place was impossible." Cassian looked around the table. "How did that turn out?"

"Haven’t you learned yet?" Nessa said. "Just trust Cassian!"

——

In the Province Channel, Corin was marveling at the result.

[Corin: Sixty-two Region Fortune in less than two months. At his age, below the Third Realm, who could match that? Lord Edran Frost, perhaps—and he had six generations of accumulated strength behind him.]

[Darian Frost: Cassian is good. Only a little behind Lord Edran.]

Cassian found that amusing. Darian’s pride in House Frost was showing again.

The Crown’s other Commanders offered their congratulations. The reactions from the other factions were less uniform.

[Arun Varma: Riftward was fortunate. They already had all those Warbound Lords, and then the system chose Lord Kill Points.]

[Selene Rook: Lord Cassian’s excellence speaks for itself. Clearly, he inherited the finest qualities of our ancestry.]

They were enjoying the sound of their own words. Cassian could not be bothered to answer either of them.

Then a Black Banner Lord named Toyotomi Shuichi spoke up.

[Toyotomi Shuichi: Coldridge might not have lost if the Crown hadn’t betrayed its ally and brutally murdered Lord Adrian. Is this how you treat your friends?]

Corin’s response was immediate.

[Corin: Our officials have already held a press conference explaining what happened. Adrian colluded with Black Banner and broke the contract first. Stop trying to turn people against us.]

[Toyotomi Shuichi: Your officials gave your version of events. Why was Cassian’s hidden fleet following the expedition in the first place? He was clearly planning something.]

[Toyotomi Shuichi: Poor Lord Adrian saw through the plot and escaped to his Domain. Even that wasn’t enough to save him.]

[Toyotomi Shuichi: And if you hadn’t planned to attack him all along, why did you have a spy waiting inside Coldridge?]

He had turned the whole affair upside down. Worse, he had arranged his lies around enough real details to make them sound convincing.

Crown Lords flooded the Channel with angry replies.

"This one has talent," Cassian said. He turned to Darian. "Do you have a contact in Tokuyama Region?"

Darian stared at him.

One successful raid, and he wanted another.

"No. And even if I did, we couldn’t do it the same way. Every Marches has prepared for that since Adrian died. The moment a Region loses communications and spatial access, a million Lords could come rushing in. We’d be the ones in trouble."

He paused.

"Unless..."

"We had a Legendary Spatial Lock Scroll," Cassian finished. "Enough to seal the entire Marches."

"Exactly."

With the whole Marches sealed, its Commander would lose the advantage of opening a Waygate wherever he pleased. Both sides would have to travel under the same restrictions.

Cassian considered buying a Legendary Scroll for the job.

Even then, reaching the target could take eight or ten days. A Marches stretched for thousands upon thousands of kilometers. Sealing it would not make it smaller.

After seeing his guests off, Cassian stretched.

"Half a month of hunting. At last, I can take a break."

He had barely finished speaking when gold announcements began appearing in the Province Channel, which he had not yet closed.

[Announcement: An Opportunity Instance has opened for Tidecrown Province — Glory Battlefield. Select to view the rules.]

[Lords from twenty-eight Provinces have qualified to participate. Participating races include Humans, Divines, Demons, Machines...]

[Battlefield Points may be exchanged for rewards. Lords who finish in the top one thousand will also receive a Battle Name.]

[First Place: Gold Battle Name.]

[Second–Tenth Place: Silver Battle Name.]

[Eleventh–Hundredth Place: Bronze Battle Name.]

[One Hundred and First–Thousandth Place: Black Iron Battle Name.]

[Warning: Death within Glory Battlefield is real death.]

"Glory Battlefield?"

Cassian read the notices again, his heart beating faster.

An Opportunity Instance spanning more than ten races and twenty-eight Provinces. Hundreds of millions of Lords could be involved.

He opened the rules. As he read farther, his brow furrowed.

"There’s a limit on how many Heroes and troops each Lord can bring... and it’s tied to the Lord’s Level?"