"Your Majesty," Bob nodded deeply.
"I'm glad to see you've progressed enough to escape your self imposed exile," Kellan smiled.
Ericka, his draconian seneschal, hadn't escorted Bob to the King's throne room or audience chamber, instead guiding him to a small dining room. Bob had been surprised to find that it was appropriately sized for someone who was tier eight, although he knew he shouldn't have been, as he was able to recognize Kellan's humanoid form as tier eight itself.
"It's not paranoia if there really is an invisible demon about to eat your face," Bob replied.
"Take a seat," Kellan instructed as he seated himself at the head of the table, gesturing toward the chair to his right. "I'd ask if you'd like something to eat, but I can smell Renee's tacos on you."
Bob clamped his mouth shut, wondering both how the King could smell the tacos, as he'd brushed teeth, while also wondering how the King of Greenwold was familiar enough with a food truck to recognize the smell.
"I must confess, one of the things I love most about people from Earth is how wonderfully driven they are," Kellan said, pouring himself a glass of water from a pitcher on the table. "They see something they want, and they reach for it," the King's smile was entirely too broad. "It's positively draconian of them."
Kellan drank half his glass of water before continuing. "Of course, I recognize that those who arrived of their own volition, ahead of the project to save your people, were the most exceptional amongst you, yet still, there are so many."
Bob nodded carefully.
He wasn't sure where the King of Greenwold was going with this, but while Thidwell might not be quite so terrifying anymore, the Dragon was still the Dragon, and he intended to stick with the first rule of the book he'd never managed to find. Do not annoy a Dragon.
"Which is why I was somewhat surprised that your friends hadn't either evolved, or reincarnated as tier eight in order to join you," Kellan said.
Bob swallowed. There was a question in that statement, one which the King's pause and the lengthening silence invited him to answer.
"Why have they halted their advancement?" Kellan asked after several long moments, his tone amused.
"They're gathering resources for when they reincarnate," Bob replied cautiously.
Kellan shook his head, still smiling. "Another one of the things I enjoy about your people is their skill in playing the game, but I'm afraid that for all that makes you exceptional, you'll likely never become a politician," the King said. "What, exactly, are they gathering?"
"Attribute Affinity Crystals, your Majesty," Bob said.
"Ha! I knew you'd picked up at least an Endurance affinity, but I confess I hadn't been sure if you had received it from an achievement or a crystal," Kellan chuckled, while Bob stared at the slight wisp of smoke that drifted from his nostrils.
"So," the King continued, "now that you've reincarnated, and doubtless been steered onto a path by the System, have you finally committed yourself to summoning?"
"I have," Bob replied cautiously.
"I won't ask you to share your path," Kellan said, clearly having read his trepidation. "Tell me this, will you evolve with your path when you reach tiers nine and ten?"
"I fully intend to," Bob said.
"Excellent," Kellan leaned back into his chair, his expression appearing thoughtful.
"In a little over ten years, we will be subject to another tide," the King began. "Thidwell has begun building an Ark in orbit, a place to house my people where they won't be forced to face the unending stream of powerful monsters, and I expect him to have fully completed it well before the tide sweeps over Thayland."
He drank the other half of his water, then refilled the glass. "That said, there is a reason that I required my nobles to stay on Thayland during the last tide to aid me in the defense of Harbordeep," Kellan continued, "and that reason remains. Harbordeep must not fall." The last was said in an almost dragon like hiss.
"To that end, I would like you to accept a task," Kellan said. "This should serve to keep you aware of how much time you have remaining."
Bob jerked in surprise as a System Window appeared in front of him.
Kellan Garvades has initiated a Request.
Kellan Garvades requires that you reach level one hundred within the next 3,942 days.
Kellan Garvades requires that you arrive to defend the city of Harbordeep 3,932 days from now against the manifestations that will occur during the planetary alignment that will occur in 3,942 days.
Level one hundred. Bob's stomach twisted, and suddenly wished that he had a roll of tums.
"It shouldn't be unduly difficult," Kellan replied, and Bob started, suddenly realizing he'd actually said 'level one hundred' aloud.
"It's not so much that reaching level one hundred would be that hard," Bob said carefully. "But I've done the math, and it's leveling the skills up."
While slaughter Gwarli in the Hidden Dungeon, he'd had a lot of time on his hands. One of the things his idle mind had time to consider was what would happen when he evolved to tier nine. More imporantly, how much experience it would take to keep his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell at twice his level.
The answer had been frightening. At the tier cap, level eighty-one, he would have to grind out just shy of two billion experience per level for nine levels to push the spell to level one hundred and sixty-two.
"You haven't yet completed the System quest to that allows you to challenge higher tiered monsters, have you?" Kellan asked.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"No, I haven't," Bob replied.
Kellan smiled, and in that moment Bob realized that the King's face was every bit as well suited for evil smiles as Thidwell's was, possibly even more so.
"Once you have completed the quest, you'll be permitted to delve a Dungeon at any depth you wish," Kellan explained. "Apparently the System believes that once you've proven you can delve an entire threshold above your own, you'll be able to shoulder the responsibility for your own choices. Something that was not advertised is that there is no longer a cap on the experience you can earn, or at least not one that I've found."
Bob blinked. The rule was, or had been, that you couldn't earn more than your tier plus one experience from killing a monster.
"As you may know, jumping a tier doubles the experience gained," Kellan continued, but then paused, his eyes searching Bob's face. "You don't know that," he shook his head. "Bob, your willingness to brave the depths of a Dungeon alone is very nearly worthy of a Dragon. The reason that this hasn't been trumpeted to the heavens is three-fold. First, not everyone is interested in clawing that far beyond their wingspan. Second, few are rushing. Finally, most delve in groups where the experience is divided not only between their skills, but first amongst their group. At tier six, in a group of six, would have needed to kill either tier seven monsters twenty-one levels over their own, or tier eight monsters ten levels over their own, in order to cap the experience earned for each group member. As very, very few are aware of Attribute crystals, most aren't going for another tier above, even if it would make more sense, mathematically."
Kellan chuckled. "That limit having been removed means that once you've completed the quest, if you, as a tier eight, delved two tiers and ten levels above your own, will receive forty experience for each monster killed. While it may be challenging, it's not impossible, at least for those of us who are exceptional."
The King drained his glass again.
Bob did the math.
Two tiers wasn't enough.
Well, two tiers at ten levels wasn't enough.
Four tiers at ten levels was getting there, although fighting monsters with fifty percent more attributes would be rough.
Bob paused, then looked at the King of Greenwold. "How the hell do you delve a tier over? The Dungeons on this planet shouldn't even be deep enough. Is that still a limitation?"
Kellan smiled. "It both is, and it isn't," Kellan replied. "Suffice to say that I've found a way."
Bob shook his head. "Even if I delved sixteen hours a day against monsters 4 tiers and twenty levels higher, it wouldn't be anywhere near close enough."
"Stop thinking so small," Kellan hissed. "You're a summoner with at least a double and possibly a triple affinity. I'll give away my horde if the maximum level of your summoning spell isn't more than double your own. If you keep your spell capped, that isn't any reason you shouldn't be able to handle double your tier and sixty levels above your own."
Bob frowned as he thought about the math. "That doesn't sound right," he muttered.
"You'll see," Kellan promised.
Bob shook his head. "Assuming that it's possible, why me? You have dozens of Noble houses, and with the outlying cities getting Nobles, you'll have hundreds to call on in ten years."
"Because I will need to you display your power before all of them during a tide if I am to have you sit my throne afterward," Kellan replied.
----------------------------------------
Bob opened his mouth, then closed it again.
'Trebor, what the fuck did he just say?' Bob mentally projected.
'He said he intends for you to sit on his throne after that wave, although I believe he intends it to be a custodial role, rather than one of succession,' Trebor replied.
"I have a few questions," Bob said.
"I'm sure," Kellan replied. He was clearly enjoying this, his smile broad as he leaned back in his chair.
"So, number one I guess, is if I'm sitting on your throne, which I don't think I should be, where are you?"
"The System update brought many changes, as you well know," Kellan began. "While I was permitted to modify my path during the update, it remains somewhat disjointed, the legacy of my troubled youth." His expression turned serious. "I'm old, Bob. Older than you might think, given the nature of my kind. I leap through time, experiencing one year out of ten, so when I say that I'm thousands of years old, understand that my measure of time is that which I've lived through, so that must be multiplied by ten."
Bob discreetly wiped his palms on his slacks.
"I protected Parceus when I awoke and discovered that tier four beings had become sapient, and reached for tier five. I expressed my displeasure when I awoke again and found that those same tier five beings had slaughtered their tier four antecedents. I guided the refugees from the Holy Crusade on Parceus, ensuring they arrived safely on Thayland, for Parceus no longer needed my protection, and I tired of governing. When the nascent Karcerian Empire, which was only a single city, discovered the terrorists in their midst, I argued against their deaths, accepting the burden of keeping them safe and contained on Greenwold," Kellan drained his glass again.
"While you have done incredible things in the past few years, and have no doubt received quite a few rewards from the System, understand that these are nothing compared to the achievements for which the System has recognized me," Kellan finished.
A system window appeared in front of Bob.
Savior.
Upon discovering that billions of potentially efficient circulators of energy would be rendered inert, you devoted yourself entirely to leading them to shelter within the System. You lead the effort at every point of the developing operation to rescue these valuable resources, recruiting other users to aid you, and eliminating those who would have doomed those valuable resources. Your efforts have acted as an argument for the expenditure of the System's resources to preserve the lives of sapient beings during the process of integrating their universes under the System. You have directly saved the lives of eight billion sapient beings. These actions have vastly increased the value of this Achievement.
Reward: The many languages spoken by the beings you saved did not deter you as you communicated through the universal languages of violence and terror. Upon request the System will translate your words to others, and their languages to you. Regardless of their ability to understand you, every being the System will feel both awe and terror when faced with your terrible resolve, granting you a bonus equal to your tier² to your social skills.
Reward: When the System integrates a new universe, it will now place all sapient beings into stasis until the initial energy disturbances have been balanced.
Reward: Any effects that would reduce damage, recover damage, or remove a user from a place where they would be damaged, have their value increased by a percentage equal to the users tier².
Reward: You may select an Enduring Attribute Affinity. Note that an Enduring Attribute Affinity does not increase the resources necessary to advance.
"While a nice achievement, it falls shorts when compared to others I've been recognized for," Kellan said.
"With the Karcerian Empire having abandoned this world in favor of your own, I have claimed primacy over this planet, and I intend to see it well established before I seek the next chapter of my life," Kellan continued. "To do so, I must reincarnate."
"Okay," Bob drew out the word, "I can certainly understand that, but I haven't quite wrapped my head around why exactly you would want me to watch over things while you're leveling back up."
"The nature of my existence means that I am much more feared than I am loved, which is actually ideal in almost all circumstances," Kellan explained. "Unfortunately, that meant that I found myself without an ally I could trust to not seek advantage over me once weakened. While I could have trusted Yorrick to only play his little games, the Church would have turned against me, and he's the only ranking member of the Empire I know well enough."
His smile broadened predatorily as he looked at Bob in much the same way a well fed lion does a gazelle. "You, however, have rejected every scrap of authority anyone has attempted to push onto you, while all the while throwing yourself in front of impossible tasks for the good of others. I have taken your measure, Robert Whitman, and I know you will do this because it is your nature. I need not rely on the shackles of the System to compel you to return my throne to me, nor to protect my people, as the chains of your conscious will bind you far more tightly. Despite your fear of me, and your dislike of my delegation of authority, you know that I am the best ruler Greenwold could hope for."