Chapter 156: A Name Bestowed

Sector 328.

Inside a vast palace, a pale, beardless man hurried through a succession of spatial arrays. He entered the bedchamber at last and stopped before an enormous bed carved with dragons.

"Your Grace, Chancellor Lysander has prepared a draft of the treaty with the Black Banner and Free Will representatives. Please review it."

He released the document. Its gold-edged pages floated through the curtains.

A woman’s languid voice came from within.

"We give up a Province in the newcomer realm, and they promise to stop harassing the Jade Court’s homeland..."

There was no clear approval or displeasure in her tone. The attendant had served the Dowager for years. He knew what she wanted to hear.

"This trouble began with a newcomer named Cassian, Your Grace. An arrogant young Lord who knew nothing of his own limits. He killed Adrian, a direct descendant of one of Free Will’s twelve directors. That was what brought Free Will and the Black Banner together."

He bowed a little lower.

"Forgive my bluntness, but the Crown is in the wrong here. And this Province lies in the middle of the contested zone. The Black Banner already has an overwhelming advantage. We could not win it even if we tried. A declaration from Your Grace would simply concede what is already lost, while showing the generosity of a great court."

The Dowager neither agreed nor disagreed.

"What was the Province called?"

"Tidecrown."

"And its position?"

The attendant glanced at a plate of white rice cakes outside the curtains. Inspiration struck.

"Tidecrown is like a sesame seed on one of these cakes. Brush it away, and it is gone. But the cake remains a cake."

The comparison pleased her.

"Very well. Let it be done."

"As Your Grace commands."

The attendant was about to withdraw when she called him back.

"Wait. That troublemaker. What was his name again?"

"Cassian, Your Grace."

"Yes, Cassian. A gifted young man, isn’t he?"

Afraid she might reconsider, the attendant answered quickly.

"Only a commoner who stumbled into good fortune. He may well die in Glory Battlefield."

"Mm. And the woman at his shrine is called Veyra?"

The attendant felt a chill. How did she know even that?

"I hear she sits on a throne."

He understood at once.

"Such insolence deserves death! Allow me to send down the Eight Standards and execute Cassian as an example."

The Dowager had long coveted the title of Empress, though she had never dared claim it. A woman in some newcomer’s shrine was already sitting like a sovereign.

"No." She sighed. "Tell Cassian to give her another name. Let me think... Little Ivy will do."

The attendant bowed deeply.

"On Cassian’s behalf, I thank Your Grace for bestowing the name!"

——

[Mythic Wheel]

[Cost per summoning: 10,000,000 Glory Points.]

[High chance of obtaining a Legendary item. Small chance of obtaining a Mythic item.]

Cassian’s heart pounded.

Something like this almost never appeared in a newcomer realm. If he had not enjoyed reading accounts of rare treasures, he might never even have heard of it.

His current upgrade routes could take him nowhere near Mythic. Perhaps he would have to clear the Heavenbreaking War and reach the Sixth Realm before an upgrade to that grade was even possible.

Yet here was a chance, right in front of him.

"Small chance..."

He read those words again. Even if it were only one percent, he would take that gamble. A Mythic item could change everything.

"And I thought I had plenty of points. One summoning would nearly empty the account."

Cassian forced down the urge to summon the Wheel immediately. He still needed sealing items and other special supplies from the exchange.

He accelerated toward the first graveyard.

"Origin Fist!"

A huge fist crashed down. Hundreds of monsters, the weakest of them Rare, vanished along with the graveyard. Several thousand Glory Points flowed into his total.

Already flying toward the next cluster, he opened the Domain Channel.

"Everyone, kill as fast as you can. Don’t worry about spending Life Water. Your Lord is badly short of points!"

They had no idea what had suddenly driven him into such a hurry, but loud acknowledgments came back at once.

With no one holding back to save Life Water, his score climbed at a frightening pace.

An hour passed quickly.

[Time remaining: 00:03:12]

Cassian stopped attacking and drifted down to the ground. He checked his score.

13,922,000 Glory Points.

More than three million in an hour. The third floor had lived up to its promise.

"A final push should get me to fourteen million. Ten million for the Wheel would still leave four million for everything else."

He opened the Channels. Most Lords had already stopped hunting, and Riftward Marches was buzzing.

[It’s almost time! Settlement is about to begin!]

[I have no hope of getting a Battle Name. Why am I this excited?]

[Because we’re about to see how strong everyone really is. Our Marches, the Crown, even the Humans against the other races. Who wouldn’t want to know?]

[Cassian and the other leaders should make the top hundred. Cassian has Legendary Dragons!]

[Probably. But don’t be too certain. The other races have plenty of monsters of their own.]

Then another message shot past.

[Look at the Province Channel! The second Marches Ranking has started!]

Cassian had received the notice too.

He had been waiting for this. Fortune Consolidation needed the rewards from these competitions. He just had not expected the next one to begin at this particular moment.

The system certainly knew how to choose its timing.

Several golden notices stood at the top of the Province Channel.

[The second Marches Ranking has begun.]

[Ranking category: Agriculture Index. Select to view the rules.]

[First place: Marches Commander, +100 to all attributes. Marches citizens, +40 to all attributes. Commander’s home Region, +10 Fortune. All other Regions in the Marches, +2 Fortune.]

[Second place: Marches Commander, +50 to all attributes. Marches citizens, +20 to all attributes. Commander’s home Region, +5 Fortune. All other Regions in the Marches, +1 Fortune.]

[Third place: Marches Commander, +30 to all attributes. Marches citizens, +10 to all attributes. Commander’s home Region, +3 Fortune.]

[Fourth through tenth place: Marches Commander, +20 to all attributes. Marches citizens, +5 to all attributes. Commander’s home Region, +2 Fortune.]

[Settlement: noon, fifteen days from now.]

"Agriculture Index."

Cassian smiled.

Ten Epic Fields had helped carry their Region to an easy victory in the last Agriculture Duel, even with the Black Banner Lords of an entire Marches backing Sable.

He would soon be able to raise the Domain to Rank IX and expand its land again. Then he could build far more fields.

Whether his funds would cover everything he wanted was another question. Fortunately, Glory Battlefield had given him a great deal to sell. Once he got out, he could hold a small auction for buyers across the Crown.

Another detail pleased him even more. The Agriculture Index would not update every day. The results would be revealed together at settlement.

That left room for another betting pool—and another handsome profit.

[Darian Frost: Don’t let our numbers discourage you. Our Region only has a few tens of thousands of Lords, but remember what Cassian’s fields did in the last Agriculture Duel.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Now I see why the system announced this before we left. The second-floor exchange has field blueprints and all sorts of spiritual seeds. We can buy some while we’re here.]

Agreement flooded in.

[Elara Vayne: Exactly. So many of our Lords reached the second floor. Even if we miss the top three, the top ten should be well within reach.]

[Tobias Reed: I already spent points on several Epic sets after entering the second floor. They helped me hunt faster, but now I only have a few hundred thousand left. Those can go toward good fields and seeds.]

[Nessa Fenwick: Just buy whatever you need. All we have to do is trust Cassian, and we’ll take first place!]

She was right. Cassian still scowled at the message.

[Cassian: Can’t you keep quiet for a moment?]

[Darian Frost: Time’s up. We can talk about farming later.]

Golden light blazed across the horizon.

The chatter stopped. Lords straightened, some holding their breath without realizing it.

Far beyond the battlefield, House Frost in the Third Realm, the Valcrests, the Vaynes, and the military were watching Tidecrown. So were the Black Banner, Free Will, the Northbear Union, and powers great and small across the world.

This competition crossed ten races. A newcomer who reached the top hundred and earned a Bronze Battle Name would bring honor to all Humanity as well as their own homeland. Their family could celebrate for ten days and still have reason to boast.

[Glory Battlefield scores are now locked. Rankings will now be announced and rewards issued...]