24 days of cultivation and 9,600 points later, Samantha finally got the message she’d been waiting for.
Congratulations, you’ve advanced to High Bronze!
Your Rebirth Core has granted you +1 to Endurance and +0.5 to Resilience, and has raised your approximate maximum values by those amounts.
For being bonded to a spirit beast at the time of your advancement, +1 Bond Ability Point.
Thrilled by her first rank advancement in years, she pulled up her profile to bask in the sight of her attribute changes.
Attributes:
Aptitude (Approximate Max Value):
Strength: 22
Average (25 => 27)
Agility: 41
Extraordinary (46 => 50)
Endurance: 32 => 33
High (36 => 37 => 40)
Resilience: 22 (22.5) => 23
Average (26 (26.5) => 27 => 29)
It wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it was nice to have the looming sensation that she was close to reaching her physical limits get a little bit more distant. She had room to grow again.
She also now had 5 unspent bond ability points, meaning she could purchase [Mongrel’s Regurgitation] whenever she wanted. She’d been fantasizing about the possibilities that the ability offered for what felt like ages, and had spent countless hours discussing with Silas and evaluating her own fighting style for what would suit her best. She already knew that [Flurry], [Piercing Strike], and [High Speed Strike] were going into the new ability, but had to determine what the other two–if any–would be. After a lot of internal back and forth–and assuming that Silas’s advancement didn’t provide her with a better suited skill–she decided that [Swift] and [Antler Genesis] would fill those spots.
She’d struggled with the idea of giving up the iconic, Agility-boosting art for years. It had been such a staple of her fighting style for so long it was hard to envision fighting without it. Ironically, in a way, that belief was also what made it such an essential addition. It was good for one of her most used and useful abilities to become a part of her most potent combat art to date. While it was true that [Swift]’s perfect traction had applications outside of battle, [Cloud Run] was now able to replace it. Admittedly it was more expensive, but it also had a wider range of uses which she considered a suitable trade off.
Out of her remaining bond abilities, [Antler Genesis] seemed the most synergistic for the combat art she was aiming to craft. It allowed her to grow and shape antlers, which she could imagine many practical uses for in a fight.
She’d strongly considered adding [Translucence] or [Ghost Walk] into the mix initially, but she felt that they didn’t synergize as well with the other abilities for an attack. Additionally, she believed having a stealth skill was too useful outside of combat to give up. She didn’t know how much qi the new ability would cost, and didn’t want to lose out on the versatility she currently had when approaching problems. While she could technically invest in both and just give up one, she was actually more inclined to use [Mongrel’s Feast] to consume [Ghost Walk] to get extra BP’s if needed. Depending on how things went, those extra points could make a significant difference in the quality of the final combined skill.
[Mongrel’s Regurgitation] benefited most from all ranks of a sacrificed ability being purchased, but she was still unsure if she could gather enough BP’s to make this happen. This was one of the reasons she hadn’t been investing in more bond abilities up to this point. Similar to how she approached her rift shop expenses, she wanted a full picture of her ‘budget’ and options before making further decisions.
Realistically, she still needed one more bond point to purchase [Antler Genesis]. To purchase the next ranks of [Swift] and [High Speed Strike] she’d need 4 more points, and up to another 6 if they both had a third rank. It might be possible if she and Silas both advanced further and she used [Mongrel’s Feast], but she’d have to wait and see. She hoped that she could follow this ‘ideal’ plan of maximizing the ranks of all five abilities, but buying [Mongrel’s Regurgitation] before she left the rift was the most important thing. She wanted as many advantages as possible when facing the drake, even if there was some fantastical item she could get from the shop before leaving.
Better safe than… well, dead.
A light bump against her thigh drew her attention to a bored-looking Silas.
“You’re doing it again.” he commented flatly.
Samantha closed her profile and gave him a slightly guilty smile. She could tell he was teasing her more than expressing actual annoyance, so she didn’t apologize, “This is why we make such a good team!”
He huffed once before turning away and hopping towards the chamber exit, “What would you do without me around?”
She caught up with him quickly and scooped him up into an overly-snuggly hug, “Sit around thinking forever, probably.”
With a well-practiced wiggle he escaped her arms, then flew upwards just high enough to bonk her on the top of her head with a back foot. “Probably.”
They continued to playfully bicker as she gathered up her belongings and made her way back to the main shop pillar. It wasn’t until she activated the General scenario and they stepped through the rift that appeared that they finally stopped.
Final Rift Quest: General
Defeat the opposing army.
*Note: Rift Qi Reserve = 0%. First time delved. The difficulty and rewards for this quest will be enhanced accordingly.
Accept? Y/N
With her mental acceptance, a more detailed quest notification took its place in her mind's eye.
Final Rift Quest: General [IN-PROGRESS]
Premise: The Divine Beast Xiomavat has made its move. It’s currently assembling its bonded followers to lead an assault on the World Spire in your territory, and intelligence reports suggest you have 3-6 months to prepare before they arrive. Unlike past encounters with this beast and its cult, this is no small skirmish… this is all-out war. As the Ruler of these lands, you are tasked with guiding your forces to victory. The small, standing army you maintain will likely not be enough to protect your kingdom. Fortunately, help can always be hired so long as you have the funds.
Main Objective: Defeat the opposing army before the World Spire is destroyed.
Samantha closed the message and took in her surroundings. She stood in a neat, stone room beside a round table made of rich, dark wood. The edge of the table was carved with glowing scripts, and spirit pearls were inset at regular intervals in order to power it. Five chairs were evenly spaced around the table, with one being noticeably more impressive than the other four.
Atop the table’s surface was what appeared to be a slightly ephemeral model of a large swath of forested land. Mountains wrapped around the outside of the land in a rough circle. Barring a few natural entry points into this circle–which seemed to be occupied by small towns–the land was fully enclosed. At the center of the circle was a tall tower, and surrounding the tower was a city.
Silas jumped down from her shoulders and landed right on top of the city before she could get a better look at it. She frowned at him, which only caused him to snicker.
A knock sounded at the door. “My Lord, the last of us has just arrived to answer your summons. May we enter?”
Discarding her thoughts of shuffling Silas off the table, she mentally settled into her assigned role as she had time and time again. She sat at the most grand looking chair, which, she belatedly realized, had a disk-like attachment near the right shoulder that was almost perfectly Silas-sized. Silas jumped up from the table top and perched on it almost immediately without her having to ask him to move. Mischievous as he still was, she appreciated that he also knew when it was time to be serious.
“Enter.” she commanded.
The door smoothly swung open and four Low Bronze cultivators–two men and two women–stepped into the room. They bowed at the waist to her before closing the door behind them and looking at her expectantly. Catching on, she gestured to the four open chairs, “Be seated.”
The two women sat to her right while the two men sat to her left, and all of them began setting down various papers and diagrams in front of them. The man nearest her brushed his hand across the table surface with an odd motion and the depiction of the landscape shrunk down. Now, rather than taking up the entire table’s surface, it was about the size of a dinner plate and sat in the center of the table. Seeing her attention on the projection, the man asked, “Forgiveness my Lord, were you using the Envisor?”
She shook her head, “No, you just reminded me I needed to refresh my memory on all of the controls.”
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The woman furthest from her promptly pulled out a small booklet from a pocket in her robes and held it out to Samantha, “Here’s the manual if you’d like, Ruler.”
Samantha raised her eyebrows a bit as she took the book, caught off guard by how accommodating these people were being. It was certainly a change of pace from how scenarios usually went.
The woman seemed worried by her change in facial expression, so Samantha reassured her, “Efficient, as always. Thank you.”
The signs of tension in the woman relaxed.
Getting my bearings is always one of the hardest parts of these quests. I never know what I’m walking into.
Samantha cleared her throat, “So… what do you all have for me?”
The four looked between themselves for a moment before the woman directly to her right spoke up, “Perhaps you could start with the Intelligence you’ve gathered, Donovan?”
Samantha followed the woman’s gaze to the man farthest from her. Samantha met his eyes and gave him an encouraging nod.
Taking her cue, Donovan stood and brushed his hand across the tabletop, replacing the previous projection with a mostly flat regional ‘map’ that once again took up the entire surface. With a flick of his wrist, small markers resembling board game pieces appeared over certain parts of the map. He pointed to the largest marker as he began speaking.
“As you know, Xiomavat has plagued this region for centuries. However, it’s only in the last hundred years or so that the cult worshiping the many-tailed leopard has gained traction. The powers gained from bonding with Xiomavat seem to be centered around manipulating darkness, making followers nigh-untouchable after nightfall. I wish I could say that they were weakened during the daytime, but they can use the shadows around them to their advantage as well. From what I’ve heard, the darkness they wield has fluid properties.”
“So, similar to fighting someone who favors arts heavy with water-qi?” Samantha clarified.
“Correct. They will be flexible fighters who are tricky to pin down, but won’t have the strongest defenses once you manage to get ahold of them.” Donovan looked down at the largest marker again and licked his lips nervously. “I… don’t have any definitive information yet on the composition of Xiomavat’s forces. Questioning a few cultists gave us a good idea of the planned time frame for the assault, but they didn’t know much about the other cultists gathering. Scouts are also having trouble estimating the numbers due to the irregular arrival of new forces, but I should have something more concrete for you soon. As for Xiomavat themselves…” He shuffled through a stack of papers for a few seconds before pausing to read something, “People may like to say that Divine Beasts are stronger than 100 Silvers, but I’d recommend against planning with that. We should be receiving some records from the coalition this afternoon detailing past Divine Beast conflicts. I’ll send them to your chambers to review as soon as I have them.”
He glanced up at her as he finished speaking, searching her face for the answer to an unspoken question.
She didn’t love having so little to work with to start, but she supposed it would be unrealistic to know everything right away. Hopefully the 3-6 month lead time would be enough to plan everything properly.
“Very well. I’ll look forward to those records and the upcoming reports from your scouts.”
He looked relieved at her words, “That’s all I have for now. I think that Roland should speak about the Treasury next.”
----------------------------------------
Samantha listened to each of her advisors in turn, absorbing as much information as she could.
Roland was in charge of the kingdom’s assets, and after hearing of the war he’d done an audit of the main city and the three smaller towns. The wealth of their kingdom added up to 3,307,818 ‘barres’–exactly matching the amount of points she’d saved up until now. Natalie–who was in charge of Logistics–used Roland’s report as a jumping off point to present a cost chart to Samantha that detailed what forces she could potentially hire. After Samantha asked several questions about the process and expectations of hired soldiers, she added a few of her own notes to the page for later reference.
Hirable Unit
Cost/ Year
Sleep/ day
Meals/ day
Movement/ day
Combat Rating
Mortal
1
8.0 hours
3
10 miles
1
Low Copper
10
6.0 hours
2.5
20 miles
5
Mid Copper
20
5.9 hours
2.4
25 miles
7
High Copper
40
5.8 hours
2.3
30 miles
10
Peak Copper
80
5.7 hours
2.2
35 miles
15
Low Bronze
160
5.5 hours
2.1
50 miles
30
Mid Bronze
320
5.3 hours
2.0
55 miles
35
High Bronze
640
5.1 hours
1.9
60 miles
45
Peak Bronze
1280
4.9 hours
1.8
65 miles
60
Low Silver
2560
4.6 hours
1.7
80 miles
100
Mid Silver
5120
4.3 hours
1.6
85 miles
125
High Silver (Floor Limit)
10240
4.0 hours
1.5
90 miles
150
Additional Notes:
- Morale and combat rating will decrease if a unit’s needs are unmet/limits are exceeded for extended periods
Mortal Units
- Comes with standard equipment for their profession
- Will competently fulfill any role
- Grouped mortals have a max combat rating of 20 against a single target
Cultivator Units
- May lose morale if forced to do menial labor
- May lose morale if forced to take orders from someone below their rank
When Samantha had asked about what ‘combat rating’ was, Brienne–her fourth and final advisor–chimed in to discuss battle strategies. Combat ratings (CR) were essentially a quick, easy way to estimate how strong a group of troops would be. A group with a higher CR could be expected to defeat a lower CR group a majority of the time, with losses dependent on how much of a CR gap there was. Two groups with equal CR would most likely mutually destroy each other, or one group would come away with a slim victory and severe casualties.
Samantha’s current standing army was just over 1,000 fighters, a mix of mortals and cultivators with a total CR of 8,125. Though Donovan discouraged her from planning anything based on the hearsay that Xiomavat could be stronger than 100 silvers, it was hard not to make comparisons. By this chart’s calculation, that meant the singular Divine Beast had a CR of 10,000 - 15,000… a force that would trounce hers even without any cultists in tow.
In theory she had more than enough money to hire the manpower required to defeat a sizable army, but trying to take into account supply costs, investments in additional training or equipment, recurring hiring fees if the war lasted longer than a year, unforeseen expenses if any of the settlements she was responsible for suffered losses or damages… it made her head spin. Her advisors assured her that they would help her make the best choices and share the burden of planning and estimating costs with her, but it was hard not to get stressed by the sheer enormity of what she was being asked to manage. The challenge was daunting even with four people helping her.
After the meeting she’d found her way to ‘her chambers’ to await the incoming records and think over everything she’d heard. The luxurious room had an oversized, lush bed with a soft mattress and fluffy pillows. There were bookshelves filled with leather bound tomes, and a desk with fancy papers and pens neatly laid out on it. The window was open, and the sounds of the city wafted up from the streets below to tickle her ears. Centered in the view of the window, standing tall and proud against the backdrop of jagged mountains and clear blue skies, was the world spire.
Whenever she’d imagined it, she pictured some alien structure that was larger than life itself. Something incomprehensible that disappeared into the heavens and thrummed with unspeakable power. In reality–or at least in this scenario–the world spire was quite a bit different. It was definitely unlike anything she’d ever seen. The architecture was oddly primitive in that it inexplicably reminded her of bone and sinew. Every surface danced with multi-colored scripts and the air seemed to warp around it as if it was giving off incredible heat. It was wider and taller than any building she’d seen before, but not nearly so much as to brush the clouds as she’d dreamed.
Though it didn’t make sense, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed looking at it. The best she could explain it, seeing the spire this way made her feel incredibly small. Insignificant. And, the scenario itself wasn’t helping matters.
Apparently, this world spire would occasionally provide her with a new cultivator she could conscript into her army. Using Brienne as an intermediary, she could even request that the representatives working in that tower ‘encourage ascendants’ to fill particular roles if they were suitable. Sometimes, the people she got out from the tower would be reincarnations of her fallen units–which essentially meant that they’d need minimal training before being sent back out to the front lines.
She knew that this entire rift was designed to mimic what she might experience after she ascended, but none of the scenarios had been quite so… uncanny as this one. She couldn’t help but question if this was really what it was like out there. Was the fate of everything she had come to know and love in this life left in the hands of one terrified, unprepared General? She sure hoped they were more competent at this sort of work than she was, at the very least. When she ascended, would this be what awaited her? Given a combat rating, basic training, and shuffled off to fight and die once more?
“Quit it. Your overthinking is hurting my brain too, now.” Silas grumbled, interrupting her spiraling thoughts.
She let out a long, tired sigh before she flopped back on the bed, Silas jumping off of her shoulders as she fell and landing gracefully beside her. “...What would I do without you, Silas?”
Silas curled up in the crook between her neck and shoulder, “Sit around thinking forever, probably.”