"System, tell me what the population of El Dorado is now and compare it to the last time I visited, please," Daz asked as the Ridomochi Final Model descended down into the city of gold.
Confirmed. 432 citizens > 879 citizens.
Daz was surprised. "Over double... A lot of the indigenous people of the Amazon have survived for this long? Surprising."
Of course, he knew such people were resourceful but they were also very primitive and tribal in nature. He did have to wonder how they managed to communicate with the system and how they trusted it enough to do as it said during the cycle tests.
Daz could ask the system more questions but his car had already landed at the city's massive front gate so he instead saved his thoughts for another time. It wasn't an overly important matter, after all.
This time, far fewer people made exclamations of shock upon seeing another strange man with light skin like their leader or his assistant open the gate and stroll through their holy city.
Apparently, rumours of his last visit must have spread about a bit. Daz didn't really care either way. These people were Sir Albert and George's responsibility, not his. Well, not directly his, anyway.
He moved through El Dorado and soon found himself at what was seemingly Sir Albert's residence. He couldn't find the man's tent so he had resorted to using Soul Vision to locate him. The door was open so he stepped through it while also knocking. "Hello?"
The sound of panic and scurrying issued out from what Daz could only assume was his bedroom. A young indigenous woman no older than 20 or so burst out of the side door and fled the home in embarrassment. She acknowledged Daz respectfully on her way out.
"Huh..." Walking further into the messy and disorganised research and artefact-filled home, Daz founds himself leaning against the now open bedroom door. "Romance? At your age?"
Slowly putting his clothes back on, Sir Albert smiled as his cheeks flushed. "Well, not only have I been divorced for over 20-years but the system helped me find my... youth and the ladies here are very willing to, hmm, how to say..."
"Fuck you?" Daz asked.
"Well, I would have put it more eloquently, but yes, Your Majesty, more or less. Uh... I assume you're here to use the Altar of Thef- Permanence?" Sir Albert questioned as he finished putting his boxer shorts and shirt back on.
Daz nodded. "I'll meet you there."
He quickly left the man's house while shaking his head. "He never came across as the type to do that the other times I've met him but I suppose everyone has their quirks... And their preferences."
Reika crossed her arms over her chest while she rested atop his halo. 'What a pervert. We hope not all old men are like that. We have to live with one, after all.'
'Is she suggesting Mofolo might make a move on her? I'd pay a lot of merit points to see that,' Daz thought in silence.
A few minutes later, he was standing atop the ancient Muisca temple. It had been noticeably cleaned up when compared to last month and some of the missing golden bricks and slabs had even been replaced.
Daz assumed such treatment had been given by the locals of the Amazon and it had likely been done to the other temples too.
Sadly, this hadn't restored any of their functions. 'If only I had some clues as to how to fix these temples... The Aztecan, Incan and Mayan ones don't matter but I could really use the other three Muisca ones. It would quadruple my ability to make things permanent.'
"My apologies, Your Majesty. I hope I didn't bother you by keeping you waiting," Sir Albert said as he approached the altar at the top of the temple's peak shrine.
Daz shook his head dismissively. "It's fine. I assume you're ready?"
"Oh, of course. Any time, just tell me what part of yourself you want to be made permanent," Sir Albert answered with a warn and grandfatherly smile.
Daz had long since made his decision. Ever since he gained his own Embers he had decided on a less risky strategy than the one he had previously envisioned.
Before, his plan was to make his few non-energy consuming skills that could be used offensively permanent but now he had options.
He had quickly realised that his greatest strength currently was, in fact, Rimmy. So long as he could find some sort of solution to the Truthian's ability to turn everything into ash then surely having Rimmy's main body doing most of the fighting would save many, many lives.
So long as his core didn't die he wouldn't expend a life, making him perfect for the role. If he had the time Daz would invest some Stars of Eternity into himself later but for now, this was the soundest strategy his Wisdom and Intelligence stats could come up with.
"Grand Summon: Jewelled Mountain Golem. As he has so many upgrades to him, sadly, you will have to make his base form permanent instead of all of him," Daz answered with an explanation.
"Ah. I see. Lovely. Well then, I'll get to work, shall l?" Sir Albert asked rhetorically as he closed his eyes and focused on the ritual.
Not long after, the collected moonlight from last month flooded into Daz's body and merged with his skill, Grand Summon: Jewelled Mountain Golem.
Sir Albert adjusted his glasses and smiled kindly. "All done."
"Thank you," Daz said with a nod as he rolled his shoulders. It was still a bit of an odd feeling to have moonlight poured into him. He quickly pulled up the information of his Grand Summon: Jewelled Mountain Golem skill.
Grand Summon: Jewelled Mountain Golem [S-Rank (Higher Tier)] ✧ Description
A skill that allows the host to summon a unique Jewelled Mountain Golem who is loyal to the host.
Remark loading...
[New!] Hidden Description The Star of Eternity only applies to this skill's initial form, [Summon: Jewel Golem]. Additional stars must be added to allow more of the skill to retain permanence. Abilities An Incredibly powerful Jewelled Mountain Golem can be summoned and unsummoned at will. The golem can be summoned for an infinite period of time. The golem's base Jewelled Core's capacity has been quadrupled. The golem can use energy 4-times as efficiently, reducing the energy costs of all skills. The golem's core body has 3 spare lives [Once expended, these lives cannot be regained]. The golem has a chance to gain special powers or base stat upgrades from consuming rare crystals or jewels. The golem will know which crystals and jewels will have this chance upon seeing them.
'Okay, that's the current skill, system, can you show me the earlier version of it, please? The one that the Star of Eternity applies to,' Daz requested.
He honestly didn't know if the system would allow him to see an older version of the skill since he'd never tried that before on account of never needing to but he didn't think why that would be impossible considering how expansive the system's functions were.
Confirmed. Displaying earlier iteration of the host [Daz]'s [Summon: Jewelled Golem] skill.
Summon: Jewelled Golem [B-Rank (Higher Tier)]✧ Description
A skill that allows the host to summon a Jewelled Golem.
Remark loaded... It's the one, the only, the magnificent... RRRRRIMMY MCSHINESTON!
Hidden Description The Star of Eternity does not apply to this skill's 3rd, 4th or 5th ability as they have been enhanced. Abilities A slightly powerful Jewelled Golem can be summoned and unsummoned. The golem can be summoned for an infinite period of time. The golem's Jewelled Core's capacity has been doubled. The golem can use energy 3-times as efficiently, reducing the energy costs of all skills. The Golem can use energy twice as efficiently.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
'That cheeky master of flavour text... He knew I'd look at both versions...' Daz shook his head then frowned. "This is going to take so many Stars of Eternity... Sir Albert, is there no progress on the fixing on the other shrines?"
The old man standing across from him smiled wryly. "I am trying to investigate this but the system doesn't seem keen on helping me and the locals don't have much knowledge on account of them being distant descendants of this city's original inhabitants, I'm afraid."
He expressed his regret than added, "I did get them to repair the pyramid structures themselves but, as you've no doubt seen, it had no effect on the altars. I suspect magic or rituals need to be performed in some regard to get everything up and running again... If only my granddaughter was here..."
"Why? Can she help?" Daz asked curiously.
Sir Albert nodded. "Oh, she's such a talent with these ancient things. The lifestyle never really appealed to her since she wasn't much of a born-traveller. That son of mine also wasn't keen on her exploring her talents since, well... me being away so often is what tore me apart from my family. It's a bit of a sensitive subject so forgive me if I don't go on and on about it. If she's survived this planet-wide calamity, I'm sure she could help me at least shed some light on how to possibly repair the altars if nothing else. Theories can be incredibly useful."
"I'd prefer if Ak and Tek could help instead, the useless mummies," Daz muttered.
The two ancient curators of El Dorado spent all of their time in the central pyramid maintaining the illusion around Lake Parime while also divided a good portion of their energy to call out to the residents of the rainforest.
Daz couldn't blame them really. They only cared for their city, not his needs and he could respect that. Perhaps when they had room to spare him time and resources they could help him in his efforts to restore the shrines.
"What's your granddaughter's name, where did she live, how old is she and what does she look like?" Daz asked seriously. A lead was a lead, after all. Perhaps not now but he would follow up on it eventually.
----------------------------------------
Daz received the relevant information from the enthusiastic Sir Albert and he then immediately returned to Fort Home's Fort Skip.
He was seated atop his iron throne, having sent Alpha away to manage Las Vegas once again. As for his other clones, Gamma was still busy helping Rocky and Adam finish up gaining control of Arizona while Beta had been ordered to quell some unrest brewing in Los Angeles.
Crosius coughed softly. "Your Majesty, the first royal matter shall be brought to your attention in 5-minutes."
Daz waved dismissively. "Thanks."
He tapped the edge of his throne's armrest as a matter weighed on his mind. 'System, show me the log of messages from when I completed that quest in Taiwan again, please.'
Confirmed. Locating the requested notification log... log located. Displaying log of [4] messages.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed the side/ruler quest [The New Earthian Annexation of Taiwan]. Quest Rewards 1 Merit star. +300 to all stats. 2 [D-rank City Creation Tokens]. Optional Rewards 1 [Celestial Seizure Ticket].
Naturally, this was the quest he had received upon revealing his intent to take over Taiwan and he had successfully done so miraculously with only a few dozen deaths among the local survivors.
Confirmed. The total merit balance of the host is now: 593,230,000 and [New!] 1 merit star.
Daz would have had more merit points were it not for the fact that he invested quite a few million into buying cities in Taiwan and even more on improving Yilan City enough to comfortably live in it longterm.
As for the merit star, it has joined his collection of the 29 other merit stars sitting in his current account at the Midechhe Travelling Bank. Speaking of merit stars and that bank, Daz intended to visit Big Bo later today after he was done with his kingly duties.
Host's Status Basic Information Name: Daz Species: Reaper Race: Archreaper Age: 20 Sex: Male Class: Crystal Digger Affinity: Lawful Neutral Energies Lifeforce: 100,000/100,000 Death Energy: 90,500/105,000 Worldforce: 17,500/17,500 Stats Strength: [LR] 1,500(2,250) Dexterity: [LR] 2,000(3,000) | Item Boost: +50. Constitution: [LR] 3,000(4,500) Intelligence: 2,233(3,349) [+750] Transparency: [LR] 780(1,170) Agility: [LR] 1,500 Charisma: [LR] 2,000 | Item Boost: +15. Defence: [LR] 2,000 | Item boost: +3,000. Immunity: [LR] 2,000 Soul Power: 59,000 [+17,000] Luck: [LR]1,250 | Item Boost: +375. Justice: 16,220 [+7,540] Corruption: 0 Wisdom: 3,383 [+750] | Item Boost: +250. Regeneration: [Limit Reached!] 2,000 [+77] | Item boost: +100. Mana Sensitivity: 2,224 [+750]
Daz had gained 300 stats all-round from the quest and the other 450 from absorbing the souls of the mindless monsters he and his people hunted down in Taiwan.
Yet another stat had reached its limit though, sadly. His mind was sharper now thanks to Intelligence and Wisdom receiving the full benefits of the increases, unlike Regeneration.
The solution to problems came easier to him and his ability to see the other side of things and reflect easily was also magnified by a great deal.
Mana Sensitivity had limited use in a city though he found it easier to tell the power level of people with mystical energy sources with but a glance.
His stats mostly having reached their limits bothered him and he was still debating over going against his instincts to buy more stat fruits to up the limits but it wasn't a pressing concern since his stats seemed fine as they were for now.
The two D-ranked City Creation Tokens were standard enough. Similar to the token he had used to acquire Fort Sky but he couldn't directly summon a city with these tokens.
He could only create new uninhabited ones. He was also limited in what type he could create, mostly urban modern ones with roughly the same level of tech as old-world Earth.
What had truly caused Daz some concern, however, was his final reward.
Celestial Seizure Ticket [B-Rank (Higher Tier)] Description
Allows the host passage to the mythical city of [Amaravati].
Good luck with this one, pal. Gonna have to break your moral codes to use it, though considering all of the heinous things you've done to that poor Madison girl, well...
Stats Durability: 100 Usage: 2 Skills Amaravati Gate Unlock
This implied a lot. It implied a lot that Daz did not want to consider.
A mythical city of Indian origin just so happened to have gates, of which, Daz just so happened to gain a ticket to enter while invading Taiwan, which just so happened to have an Indian king's base upon a hill in the middle of nowhere seemingly protecting something?
Daz shook his head. 'I'm tempted to just destroy this ticket since it has durability but it may be useful later. I don't want to ruin a perfectly good relationship that can help me gain a foothold in India. This is certainly a matter for after the Truthians aren't a threat anymore.'
Crosius began introducing today's first guest but Daz was hardly paying attention more than he needed to.
Above his throne, his unused Shimmering Ornate Scooper which he'd earned from discovering El Dorado hung like a trophy and that served as a good distraction for the troubled king. He decided to wiggle the useless weapon for as long as he could via his Astral Crystal Control, hoping that no one would notice.
Handling the issues of the people was far too easy with his level of logical reasoning and charismatic persuasion, after all.