PART 4
EPISODE 37: Operation RAIL 1
-Edryan Queendom, Year 7291. Season: Central.
I stood high, my view of the green hilly plains and farmland that surrounded Edrya gave me a sense of home, a sense of comfort. The large river, Godvein, big enough to support medium-sized ships sparkled. I gazed from the fourth wall in District 9 while ignoring the tall gothic woman next to me. The day was a near-clear blue with a sparse cloud in the sky here and there. A gentle wind blew the smell of cooked meat, summer freshness, and excitement into my nose. Operation RAIL was beginning today. OR wasn’t the only important thing to be happening. I planned on scooping and recruiting talents. This would only happen if there were any outstanding characters, otherwise, I’d wait until OR was finished.
I held my hand up and looked at the tattoo-like symbol planted upon it. It showed the symbol of Goddess Madris. Two fore knuckles touching in what appeared to be some weird boxer-like stance. Underneath her symbol was that of my latest and greatest. A chibi-like owl that was strikingly similar to the one on my shoulder. What would better represent me than Minerva?
“Chirp?”
“It's my Mark of the Citizen. It's like an adventurer rank card you read about in every fantasy. Except this one proves you’re a citizen of Edryan. By law, it is now required. It’s monitored by the Hero Golem Monday and Jarvis. Who, in turn, are going to be tied to several minor devices that will be placed in every city to help them. I just have to figure out how to get a mana using radio system going,” I muttered at the end. Minerva rubbed her face into my own, the small chick consoling me. At least I now held access to the recorded knowledge of the humanity of Earth. It was only a matter of converting it into magical lingo.
I injected a bit of mana into my hand and a gold-colored coin popped out. I grabbed the warm coin and held it up to the light before activating a skill.
“(Inspect).”
Mark of the Citizen
Type: Item – Runic Device
Rank: Tier I – Common
Bonded: Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani
Standing: Product of New America Research Center.
Description:
The Mark of the Citizen is an artifice runic device that bonds itself to the mana or energy of an individual. It holds no special properties besides being able to incorporate itself into the user’s skin and displaying that its user is an Edryan Citizen once injected with mana or other forms of energy.
What is the Mark of the Citizen? Besides the simple description from its tooltip. The MoC was the beginning of a connected Edryan. I was far from being able to truly connect the dots of complex spells and form the internet or any complex processing system for that matter. Yet the vast powers of magic were beyond my understanding but not of figures like Margret Musa, Celcus Kain, and other figures like Liana’s father, Garo Drumian. Sire Limitless and the other Magi in my mother’s employ were no joke. Although I couldn’t order them around, the ideas I introduced held merit and drew their attention.
New America Research Center was constantly being visited by them and other mages of importance to the queendom such as recent graduates of Imperius College. It wasn’t a visit for the graduates but more of their job assignment for the next thirty years. It wasn’t every day you received a near-limitless budget and the power to create any type of experiment you wanted. I didn’t think any would honestly leave once they hit the thirty-year mark. The benefits I provided were too good. Retirement plans, paid vacation days, and more were simple and expected concepts from Earth but vastly new things here. That was what NARC and other organizations like LSG offered under me. My mother visited the facility several times. Her visit was more of a curiosity rather than to make actual use.
Imperius Law
1. In Edryan under the Prime Sun, all men are free.
2. In Edryan under the Prime Sun, all children will be educated.
3. In Edryan under the Prime Sun, all citizens must have a Mark of the Citizen.
“Chirp? Chirrrp. Chirp.”
“She’s sooo cute,” Lily’s monotone voice loudly whispered. “Oh, how I wish I could pet her,” the woman said a bit louder.
“New America Research Center is my secret base,” I began responding to Minerva. “That is where I created the Hero Golems and the (Adaptive Learning Algorithm).”
As I spoke, I began to move. Activating (Limitless Steps) and slowly descending from the wall. Minerva held on tightly, her clawed feet finding purchase in my armor. She let out a shrill chirp of delight as we descended, leaving the tall goth behind.
“Chirp.”
“She’ll be all right. I’m sure she’ll catch up. She sure is a character, that’s for sure.”
As we descended toward the procession of students and staff, who slowly filed out of the city, cheers and shouts made their way into our ears. In turn, I waved at the students and staff who greeted me. Long trains of caravans filled to the brim with items, mobile classrooms, and more, made their way towards an expansive area just ten miles outside of the city. These massive caravans were pulled by oxen upwards of five meters in height. While internally they were spatially expanded and fed on the highest grade of Military Batteries. This ensured no mage was needed to constantly refill the magic of the wards and that the caravan would stay running. Something that the Spatial Convocation kept a monopoly on. The downside of this method was the great wear and tear it caused and the lack of customization. The convocation held a monopoly on trade caravans for a reason. They could make a caravan's internal space a lot larger with more control than what you could do with runic scripts. Not only that but they kept knowledge of advanced spatial runes a secret… as did many schools who followed a specialized path.
The comprehension of a greater rune lets you cast spells of that tier. Although my royal family held a vast library full of knowledge, a majority of it was for the easier primary elements. Space, Time, Death, Light, and Dark were elemental paths my royal family held incomplete knowledge in. Knowledge of the higher tier runes that were a core part of the spells cast under those affinities. That’s how these specialized mage schools, knight orders, and other forms of institutions retained their monopolies in certain aspects. Under [Grand Magi] Thraag – Dimension Shaper, the Spatial Convocation had grown to become an integral path of Edryan. They helped moved nearly 65% of the country's goods. Without them, large trade wouldn’t flow as fast.
The rest of the trade was moved by boat, other forms of caravans, and more. A few extravagant nobles used skyships but then again, the goods they were moving were most likely worth the expense.
“We’ll be making our way to Laguu first, and the capital city of the Oni’s territory. Once there, we’ll be taking a quick journey to the headquarters of the Convocation,” I spoke to Minerva. I gently touched down on one of the caravans stationed closer to the middle of the procession. Surrounding this caravan was over a thousand troops. All now baring my freshly redesigned insignia. Sitting on what was to be my mobile house and laboratory for the next few months was Alexandria. She stood and jumped down to the ground upon my approach. Lily was calmingly munching on an apple next to her.
Underneath my helmet, my eyes widen in surprise. For Lily to be able to get here before me meant her movement technique was no joke. It was fast enough to beat me who could travel through the air at a moderate pace. Softly I landed on the ground near the door where my general was waiting with four other people. Slowly walking as the caravan hadn’t stopped moving.
“Let’s get this over with before Bucca comes and nags my ears off,” I spoke to the two ladies as I removed my helmet.
“Eniola, Atlas, Tobi, Aurelia. These four will be your guards as we move through Edryan. Two of them will accompany you at all times. No matter whether you sleep, eat, or do any other activity,” Alexandria said with a pleasant smile.
I pursed my lips but didn’t argue. I was used to guards always accompanying me. It wasn’t until I began attending my academy that I hadn’t been as closely guarded. At least they were now my men. I sized up the four new guards all young, perhaps in their early twenties. Each held the similar strawberry blonde hair Alexandria held. They were most likely members of either the main or side branch of the Indrian family. I sized them up from left to right.
“Hmm good… (Inspect).”
Eniola Indrian – Level 23: Knight Trainee
Eniola was short, like Alexandria, but held a large double-edged battle-ax equipped to her back. She stood straight like a rod as I walked before her, and I could feel the nervousness radiating from her. She seemed like she held the most to prove.
Atlas Indrian – Level 24: Knight Trainee
Atlas was a bolder of a man. Built like the average lumberjack, he stood taller than me with a strawberry-blonde beard to match. He held a medium knight shield and mace equipped to his side.
Tobi Indrian – Level 25: Knight Trainee
Tobi was the highest level and the leader of the bunch, he stood a half step before them all. His strawberry blonde hair was a curly mullet that gave him a unique berry. Just like Atlas, he was tall but not as tall as him. He also held a medium knight shield but instead of a mace, it seems the sword was his preferred weapon.
Aurelia Indrian – Level 24: Knight Trainee
Aurelia held a wide vibe around her. A short ax and sword were her weapons of choice. Her hair was held to the side in a long loose braid. She reminded me of a video game character from a 5v5 MOBA. She was the only one to size me up as I made my way in front of her.
“I accept them, all.”
The eyes of Tobi widen, clearly a notification made itself known to him. He was, after all, on the first-class advancement and just became my personal guard. Regardless of whether he picked a new class, he’d be rewarded by the Prime System. He most likely just got offered a [Royal Knight] or such class.
“You should accept it,” Alexandria began. “Any class that holds Royal within it will be the chance you need to become men worthy of protecting His Highness.”
I turned my attention to the general of my army. She wore her freshly new uniform. A simple red-gold tunic that matched the color of my eyes. While upon her back covered by her long hair was the newest iteration of my insignia.
“What do you think,” I began walking into my mobile home/lab for the next few months. “Of Imperius Academy’s students?”
Alexandria calmly followed me while my four new guards stayed outside. Before the doors could fully close a shadow slipped in before materializing into Lily.
“Hmmmm, a shadow affinity, needles, and dolls, you wouldn’t happen to be able to cast curses, would you? A class that is very illegal in Edryan.”
“Oh, soooo, very illegal,” Lily rolled her eyes as she inched closer to the shoulder Minerva sat upon. “Yessss, and so is spying, assassinations, and more very illegal.”
Alexandria responded before I could speak up. “The students, from what I’ve observed, are around the average a small baron House would raise their scions too. Some who truly grasp the opportunity have achieved a level of strength they would never achieve without noble connections. They are a good basis for an army that can turn out to be great.”
“Just great,” I asked as I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“They have not seen warfare or true bloodshed. Until then, just great. None of them have killed a man and watched the light fade from his eyes. Nor have they held a comrade in arms and attempted to halt the flow of blood from missing limbs.”
I squinted at Alexandria surprised at what could be considered a callous response. I was still in the process of figuring out the two women who pledge their lives to me. From what I’ve seen so far Alexandria was the business type. That meant she got the job done to the exact description and no more but never less. Lily on the other hand was a crazy bitch. There was no other way around it. Who in their right mind would threaten me? Not only threaten but hold a blade to my neck. From Minerva’s birth alone I knew how fast my mother, or another one of the Queen’s Guards could react and that was much faster than what I or Lily could do at this point in our levels. I was never in danger… she was.
I had no doubt Lily would easily wash the floor with me in a true fight but how would she fare against someone nearly 125 levels higher? Someone with skills that could alter the very landscape we stood upon. Whose Intent could cover over ten miles in every direction? The principal of Imperius Academy was one such person, while her vice principals were no joke themselves.
“How can we change that,” I asked Alexandria as I began to remove myself from my armor. One of the first things I began practicing the moment I could. Minerva jumped down but was caught by the hovering Lily who slowly and gently placed her on the ground.
Alexandria's eyebrows slightly raised and then lowered. Perhaps she wasn’t expecting me to ask such a question, or she wasn’t expecting Lily to act the way she did. I wasn’t going to hesitate to have Alexandria shape my army into something that would be recognized the world over. I could lead men and inspire the masses, but leading armies was something my studies never fully covered.
“You should start by promoting me to your official general through the system,” Alexandria said.
“And make me your spymaster, so I can begin training recruits,” Lily stated while pulling out some jerky from a fold in her dress. Her eyes shined as Minerva ate from her hand. Fatty!
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
I blinked slowly, completely forgetting that besides my status and other features, I now had new access to the menu.
“Menu,” I began.
Status
Territory
Royal Allocation
Royal Quest
Royal Decree
▶ Promote Follower?
▶ Grant Title
▶ Allocate Land?
▶ …
I selected Royal Allocation and watched in surprise as a host of new features opened up to me. As a noble and not just any noble but the prince of a country, the Prime System provided me with a few more features than any common user. Royal Allocation would allow me to give a title or position to someone under my command. A reason why pledges were important to collect. These positions could not just be taken away with ease once given as they two would receive certain benefits and features from the Prime System. A general could assign lieutenants and other such classes because the royal family allocated that position to them.
As the feature came up several names were available with multiple different positions. I could make any Imperius Academy student into a [Royal Knight] or [Royal Mage] just by selecting their name. Something that could happen naturally as it did when Tobi and the rest were assigned as my new guards.
I simply selected the search function and looked for Alexandria’s name. Only a single class allocation was available to offer her. One that had me slightly confused but I selected anyway. Quickly doing the same for Lily as well.
Both women immediately got a notification offering them the new class. One of the only ways to change classes before the next advancement. Immediately the women also gained a slightly confused look but accepted anyway.
“(Inspect).”
Alexandria Indrian – Level 75: Imperius General
Lily Maar – Level 73: Imperius Shadow Curse-Master
Slowly I turned in to look at Lily Marr, who in turn looked at me and then winked before she went back to feeding Minerva.
Maar…
Was one of the three ducal houses destroyed by my mother a family that specialized in curses. They were family that previously served as the royal family’s spies and assassins. What did this mean? I can’t be in danger… she pledged her life to me. She couldn’t hurt me if she wanted to. Only the powers of the divine could break this pledge…
Alexandria looked between me and Lily, our small interaction not going unnoticed. Yet the woman didn’t bother to speak. Only excusing herself as she needed to test the abilities of her new Legendary class. Her skills would morph to better suit her title as an [Imperius General] and it was the same for Lily. The woman soon followed after Alexandria, leaving me with a stuffed Minerva. The owlet was slowly growing in size. Currently, she was in the process of shedding her downy feathers. I gently lifted the owlet and placed her on my shoulder.
“Lily is from House Maar.”
“Chirp?”
“Yes, that house. I have no doubt. You just can’t have any last name in this world Minerva. Names mean something and hold power over them. This means she was one of the three branching houses from the Edryanis.”
“Chirp. Chirp.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. She can’t kill me as she’s pledged herself to me. My mother wouldn’t let someone who wished me danger get this close to me.” At least I think so. This means she’s distantly related to me in some form.
Chirp.
You’re right no use in worrying about it. I’d have too much to worry about.
The caravan continued its journey while I prepared myself for my upcoming adventure. Operation RAIL was something that I longed to begin. Ever since we got the first train to work in fact. I was only now confident and secure enough to reveal this technology to Edryan as a whole. That wasn’t the only thing I needed to prepare for. Several different ores and materials lay throughout my lab just waiting for me to work on them. It was time to build my very first golem with my new skills. Before I got started with that, I had one small problem I needed to solve.
Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani – Level 10
HP: 297/297 (+300)
SP: 180/180 (+300)
MP: 297/297 (+300)
Base Attack: 50 (+50)
Base Defense: 32 (+40)
HP Regen: 34HP/Hour. +27
SP Regen: 21SP/Hour. +27
MP Regen: 34MP/Hour. +27
Bloodline: [+]
Race: Magi-Human
Main Class:
[Hero of Edryan]
Perks:
Codex of Earth
Power: 99 (+100)
2nd Class: [LOCKED]
Core Skills: [+]
Vitality: 99 (+100)
3rd Class: [LOCKED]
Racial Skills: [+]
Endurance: 60 (+100)
Faith: Goddess Madris
Status Effects: [+]
Mind: 99 (+100)
Affiliation:
Royal Family of Edryan
Equipped:
A Mother’s Gift
Imperius Academy Uniform
Self: 85 (+100)
2nd Affiliation:
Imperius Academy
Intent: 60 (+100)
Achievements: [+]
Skills: [+]
Magic Affinity: -
Active Quest: [+]
Attribute Points: 109
“Which one do you think I should pick Minerva.”
The owlet sleepily squinted at my status sheet before chirping and raising her shoulders in a shrug-like manner. Leaving me to decide on my own. It was well known that your first attribute to reach 100 points would give you a skill that would boost the effects of the said attribute in some manner. The Oni were well known for choosing Vitality as they somehow nearly exclusively received the skill (Vigor). Situations like this were why it was common for people to hold on to an empty skill slot. You’d never know when it’d come in handy.
My three options were between Power, Vitality, and Mind. Each would give me different benefits if boosted. Such as a new skill from Power could be the passive (Great Strength) which could increase the effectiveness of my Power by a degree. Basically, enhancing my Base Attack damage. Vitality could give me something similar to (Vigor) which would increase my health or regeneration in some format. Plenty of warriors who specialized in tanking took this route. While their Base Attack would be similar to mages in terms of how their class multiplied their Power. Their Base Defense would instead get that enhancement pure warriors get. A five-time increase instead of three.
Mind was the last Attribute I needed another passive for in truth. My bloodline already provided a 35% discount to spell casting for my true mana levels. Many mages of Edryan went this route regardless but I was not a specialized mage. Mana was important to me, but I wouldn’t truly know how important until I figured out all the workings of my skills. Something that would take months of practice and time. Time I didn’t have as half the year was over. Image if I as the Crown Prince is the only one to not reach level 25 at my very own school. A school that guarantees all its second years reach the level cap in a single year.
It was highly unfortunate that I’ve only leveled from worldly experience. That meant I hadn’t even done any basic requirements for me to level my class outside of experiencing life. Experience that would quickly dwindle unless major events were to keep happening. Inventions, innovations, and the like I had planned would help. The Vanguard would need its general. That was not enough, I needed levels outside of achieving them from worldly experience.
“Fuck it,” I shrugged and selected my option. Immediately giving the new skill a general skill slot. While allocating the rest of my attributes.
A new Unique Skill has been unlocked!
Skill Name:
(Skill Prowess)
Description:
One skill? Twice the Power!
Function:
Upon activation boost the power of your next skill/spell to a single tier higher. The cost of said skill will remain the same. This is not applicable to skills that are already at the limits of the Mortal Realm.
Cost:
100MP, 100SP
Accept
Decline
Accept! It's not the best but maybe I’ll have a use for it.
Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani – Level 10
HP: 330/330 (+300)
SP: 240/240 (+300)
MP: 330/330 (+300)
Base Attack: 65 (+50)
Base Defense: 38 (+40)
HP Regen: 31/Hour +27
SP Regen: 23/Hour +27
MP Regen: 31/Hour +27
Bloodline: [+]
Race: Magi-Human
Main Class:
[Hero of Edryan]
Perks:
Codex of Earth
Power: 130 (+100)
2nd Class: [LOCKED]
Core Skills: [+]
Vitality: 110 (+100)
3rd Class: [LOCKED]
Racial Skills: [+]
Endurance: 80 (+100)
Faith: Goddess Madris
Status Effects: [+]
Mind: 110 (+100)
Affiliation:
Royal Family of Edryan
Equipped:
A Mother’s Gift
Imperius Academy Uniform
Self: 101 (+100)
2nd Affiliation:
Imperius Academy
Intent: 80 (+100)
Achievements: [+]
Skills: [+]
Magic Affinity: -
Active Quest: [+]
Attribute Points: 0
I clenched my fist to the sound of cracking knuckles and shifting muscles. Magic permeated my body as my attributes went up. I could naturally sense things at a greater distance around me due to my Intent. An aura spread from my body. Not one from my various skills and abilities but one due to my Intent that provided a sort of pressure onto the physical reality of the world. I couldn’t do anything with it besides my enhanced sense of my surroundings, but this was only the beginning. My adventure in this world was only starting and I had much to learn.
I poked at my skin increasingly applying pressure until I heard the sound of glass breaking and began taking a point of damage. My achievements gave me a significant boost to all my attributes, which was common for nobles but not to my extent. It was a good method to test the limits of your newfound strength upon yourself to understand how much of that Power you could use in daily activities. I slowly applied pressure to different points of my body. Using my toes to feel the stone floor beneath me until I felt near its resistance level. I even bent a metal bar around my skull to understand exactly how hard I could interact with the materials around me.
----------------------------------------
I turned my attention to the various materials laying around. Every item here was purchased with IP through the school’s trading system. I had a golem to build. I slowly made my way around the workshop gathering all the materials until they formed a small pile next to my desk. Iron bars and other metals such as copper, silver, and even a small bit of titanium waited for me to experiment on. While several components necessary for a golem battery were laid to the side.
There were several methods of golem-making. One was a method that Lawryn and her assistants used. Simply using raw mana to manipulate fire and the materials themselves. Crafting the material piece by piece until the golem was assembled. These were usually the GMM or Golem Metal Materials. Although GEMs or Golem Earth Materials could be constructed like such as well. Then there was the summoning method. Something most [Golemancers] could do. This would allow them to summon/construct a golem from the surrounding materials. Both of these methods had different values. The first allowed the golem to be much more customized to its users liking and taste but took plenty of mana and time to build. The second was much more efficient when it came to time, but the mana cost was horrendous. Costing as much as two-thirds of your mana pool depending on the quality of the skill.
For all my creations, I decided the first method was best while using GMM-2 grade materials. Not only would I have the ability to create different load-outs for different situations. I could create highly specialized golems for the upcoming dungeon dives. Several artificial dungeons needed to be cleared to allow Operation RAIL to find a smooth pathway to the five major cities to which the rail system would be connected. I planned on taking on one of those dungeons.
Minerva snoozed lightly on my shoulder as I got to work. Setting up a detailed schematic of a golem on the board in front of me. I carefully studied the layout I came up with weeks prior.
Project A stood a bit taller than me and was very humanoid in nature. With two arms, legs, and a single torso. The golem would be able to wield multiple weapons and fire off a few basic spells so long as its battery held charge. This was going to be my first hands-on creation. My Hero Golems didn’t count as I only advised during the construction. They all held a rough bond with me and nothing like the true master-servant bond between a mage and their creations.
I picked up the iron bar before me. Taking a deep breath, I activated my class skill (Golem Forging).
Skill Name:
(Golem Forging)
Description:
You don’t create golems you forge them piece by piece. Forging creations from Stone and Dust, Wind and Water. Forge these creations using any element under the Prime Sun.
Function:
Using any material you can tangibly grasp, forge golems to complete any task. As you forge, infuse the golem with the necessary life to awaken.
Cost:
10MP, 10SP per minute.
My fingers immediately began to sink into the iron bar as I applied pressure. It felt like I was shifting through a sort of cold putty that began to warm from my touch. Immediately I began to play with the bar. Shaping it into different forms as I began to understand my skill. From a circle to a square and finally a star. This was not only because I was amazed by my skill, but it also allowed me to get a tangible grasp of how the skill functioned. It seemed its description was no joke.
From a quick calculation, I’d have roughly over an hour of time before my MP/SP would give out. My SP is the lower attribute holding me back. This was excluding any of the regeneration which would give me an extra minute or so. With no more hesitation, I began to work on the most important part of Project A.
The Heart.
Its battery was something I wanted to make sure met my standards. With the materials surrounding me, I couldn’t outright craft an MGB. Although I held the expertise, I lacked the actual skill to work with the complex materials needed to make them. Instead, I would be making a highly modified CGB. A battery that could hold enough charge to last a month doing mediocre tasks. The major differences between both batteries were how fast they conducted mana, the amount of charge they held, and a few other modifications.
The first task set, I began to work. The sounds of the outside were lost to me as the excitement from building something once again emerged. An excitement I hadn’t truly felt since being Lawrence Brown. It was pleasant but I still held other thoughts that occupied my mind.
Once the first part of Operation RAIL is finished, I would be visiting the Spatial Convocation. It was there I would meet with this Council of Elder Mages, led by the Grand Magi Thraag – Dimension Shaper. A remnant mage from my mother’s father's generation and the former best friend of Garo Drumian. According to his eldest daughter, Liana, at least.