It will begin soon. Crassius Nacht thought, as he leaned back on his throne inside of the contender hut. In front of him was a pulsating blue orb with a screen showing his troop progress. The sun rose on the settlement ahead. Little did the contender know that he would wake up to see his dungeon crumbling around him. He had done it before to the first dungeon that he had knocked out of the succession battle.

This would be the second dungeon to fall, and they would both be at his hands. Crasius was from the Deltroit empire, one of the medium sized factions that had 2 contenders participating in the battle. Crassius knew that he was not supposed to win. He had seen the solemn look in his father’s eyes as they said goodbye. Crassius knew that his father had wished the succession battle would not take place until after Crassius was too old, but his father knew as well as the family all did, who would have to go once it was announced.

The other people of age in the Nacht family did not have what it took to compete. The family would only send them, if they had decided it would be better to sacrifice them than to lose him. Crassius felt bad for the poor contenders whose families did just that. Illegitimate or otherwise unwanted children sent to die. Of course the families could pull out of their spot, but none ever had, nor would they in the future. Even if their contender made a fool of themselves the show the realm watched would never show it. They would be shown as some unfortunate that got outmaneuvered by a stronger opponent. It was all propaganda, that the winner was some amazingly competent person who was able to overcome all the rest.

Crassius had wanted to come. The thought had absolutely thrilled him. Living on a razor's edge. Testing himself against fate. The battle was not fair, at some point all of the major factions would start pouring their money in to help their contender succeed. Crassius knew how his chances would look when that happened. He had smiled when he picked his specialization option deciding on a different course of action.

Martial might specialization: all that you gain, you gain through conquest. Research on the tech tree is suspended indefinitely. At dungeon level 1, every contender you take off the map you can select 1 technology from ones they have researched and you do not currently have. All units will receive a 10% bonus to their power rating when summoned. You will receive 25% more MP from defeated foes. You will start out with crafting and military organization.

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It was an awesome specialization for Crassius to flip the table on the others. It certainly had its drawback, but Crassius just had to keep troops pouring out and scouting for the next dungeon. This specialization was an all or nothing approach. If he faltered then his troops would be too weak to take the next dungeon. His goal was to wipe out as many as possible before people got their defenses fully in place.

The first dungeon only had a bunch of skeletons to guard it. His orcs mowed right through them, suffering hardly any casualties. The contender had not had any stronger pieces, and was practically bawling when Crassius’s Captain had killed him. He had always wondered whether that conspiracy theory had anything to it, but nothing had moved it to stop the orc captain…. After this battle it might be Colonel. The unique reward had been a military medal maker that increased the power level of one of his units that had participated in battle.

It was not a 1 time deal either. Every week he would get another medal, although he could not use it on the same unit. Who's to say his next unique reward would not do something similar and make the captain strong enough for Crassius to feel comfortable making him a colonel. As a contender focused entirely on his military, Crassius would not be promoted to colonel unless a unit became 4.0 or higher with their power rating. He had to make sure there was ample room for more powerful units to receive a higher rank. Crassius knew it was not all about power rating, but Captain also had the experience. In the future he would slowly move the rating scale back up as he got access to more powerful units.

A knock at the door disrupted his musings. Soon an imp orc entered. “Sir, we have found another dungeon. This one is only guarded by goblins. Reports estimate their numbers from 80 to 100. Although they do have some gnomes working in their base as well, they number 10.”

Crassius almost laughed. Someone had taken the weakest option on the humanoid tree. Even if they doubled their troops they would just be able to match him troop for troop, and all of them were near or well past 1.0 power rating. The gnomes were an unknown, but what difference would 10 make. “Very well, we will prepare for them next. You can go.” The orc bowed before ducking out the door.

That dungeon would be his third neighbor that he would knock out of the battle. Likely there was one more. After that, his troops would have to range a lot further. Crassius watched his orcs leave the tree line. This contender had chosen constructs. They were likely tough, but not something his orcs and their maces could not handle.