CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: PREPARATIONS
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One of the elders, a short exultant named Utan Provence, rushed in. “Palace Master Kaguri!”
Seeing the two great elders in the room, he coloured fiercely and corrected himself. “Great Elder Howatt. Great Elder Dorn. I am sorry to interrupt, but the Jade Dragon Representative wishes to meet with the Palace Master. He says it’s an urgent matter and that he has Lord Noswith on a transmission as we speak.”
“Well, I’ll be!” Elder Howatt exclaimed softly. “How long did that take, Dorn?”
Dunstan shot the man a look, wondering what he was on about when his counterpart filled him in.
“Not long enough. Fernus may have downplayed the Jade Dragon’s Row’s internal disputes.”
That was enough to clue him in. The two old men believed that the Head of the Dragon’s Row calling him so soon after he sent Fernus packing was an admission of fear and weakness.
“You can’t know that for sure”, he told both men. “For all you know, he might be calling for any number of reasons and with proposals completely counter to my ultimatum. He could very well yell ‘Eat shit and Die!’ at me before pivoting to the phantoms.”
Elder Dorn pursed his lips, at first saying nothing before thinking differently and voicing his opinion. “He might want to make amends.”
“We don’t need amends!” Dunstan told him. “We don’t need to spend days around a negotiation table where he haggles to see what he owes us for his family’s slight or his group’s mutiny. That’ll send a message telling everyone that they can disrespect us so long as they pay compensation” The young palace master’s mind was abuzz at this point, thinking up all sorts of scenarios.
“We need to lock them down, leave them with no other choice but to surrender and accept our demands…”
“You’re risking war, Dunstan”, Elder Dorn cut in.
In response, Elder Howatt nudged him so hard that Dunstan just about felt the impact from so far away. “Forgive Dorn, Palace Master. This armistice has gone on for so long that my friend has forgotten we’re still technically at war. What do you need us to do?”
Dunstan stared at them for a good ten seconds or so, wondering if this was really all he had to work with. Saving the sect became more difficult every time he turned around. “We need men watching their bases of operation to keep an eye on them in case they choose to take what they can and bolt over the boundary lines. If Elder Dorn is right and the dragons are fractured, then we need ears in the sixteen families, alternate lines of communication that bypass the Noswiths.
“We have spies in the Row, don’t we?” he asked suddenly.
The two men nodded.
In his head, Dunstan breathed a sigh of relief. At least they had that going for them.
“We need them active. I want everything they can tell us about the Jade Dragons and the individual families by our next council meeting.”
Elder Howatt nodded, a strange expression of surprise and excitement on his face. “I can organise some disciples and have them hang around their businesses and hidey holes to let them know we’re watching, but spies are Tevu’s territory. I’ll have him come speak with you.”
“What if the dragons attack the men watching?” Dorn asked.
Dunstan turned to the man making sure to meet his eyes. “Should they launch a preemptive strike, we can only take that as it ought: Confirmation that they intend to secede and/or join the sides of the phantoms. In that case, we will bring the judgement of the heavens upon them, as fast as we can, as hard as we can.”
“There are sixteen families, dozens of sub-forces. Not all of them will be guilty!” The man argued in disbelief.
“Then I hope for their sake they are able to prove that”, Dunstan said coldly. “If theirs were the prevailing voices, things would never have come to this.”
“I’m not sure what your problem is”, the young palace master told him. This much was painfully true. He genuinely couldn’t wrap his mind around the man’s attitude. Why couldn’t he see what was at stake?
“You do realise that we only have two major vassals left. If we sit back and let one, the most important one, mind you, go over to the other side, what do you think will happen to our territories, to our supply chain, and to the other vassals who rely on them?”
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Advancing towards his great-uncle, he continued, “If we’re unable to keep the dragons in line, how are we supposed to command the others? Plus, even if you’re right and the phantoms will not attack our mountain, what do you think they will do to the forces loyal to us when we expose such a weakness?”
“Palace Master!” Howatt called out, stepping between them. “Elder Dorn understands what is at stake.”
There was something in his expression that made Dunstan pause. A plea of some sort, asking for understanding on behalf of his friend. The young palace master nearly pushed past it, intent on getting to the heart of the other great elder’s behaviour, only for the man’s eyes to flick towards the doorway.
Halting in his tracks, Dunstan glanced towards their audience, finally remembering that the man was still present. The short elder was looking elsewhere, doing his best impression of a potted plant. The atmosphere plunged into awkwardness. Belatedly, Dunstan realised he should have found a more private setting to berate his great-uncle. This was going to be all over the sect by nightfall. Now unsure how to proceed, he stood in the uncomfortable silence, debating whether to order Elder Provence to seal his lips and leave or apologise to the great elder first for the embarrassment.
“Palace Master! Palace Master Kaguri!” came a voice from the hallway.
‘On broken heavens!’ Dunstan exclaimed mentally. ‘What is it now?’
Elder Provence vacated the doorway, making way so a new elder, a junior named Akandae, could enter.
Noting the strange atmosphere Elder Akandae looked about uncertainly, her prior urgency already forgotten.
“Yes, Elder Akandae. What is the matter?”
Remembering why she came, the new elder quickly announced, “One of the mercenary groups returned with a prismatic sword!”
“How?” Was Dunstan’s immediate reaction.
‘A legendary piece on the first day?’ he thought to himself.
“Wait, why are you coming to me with this?” he asked Akandae. “Can’t Westfall handle it?”
“He’s handled it, master” she answered. “He just thought you should know that the revelation of prismatic weapons has caused a major stir.”
“How major?”
“The mercenaries are clamouring to enter the mystic realm. Additionally, many more are arriving to join in. Before this, only a dozen or so extra groups showed up after the first group went into the mystic realm. Most came in small numbers, likely late to the event or seeking to inquire about the mystic realm. However, now that they know that there is the possibility of getting exultant equivalent equipment in there…”
“The numbers have exploded!” Elder Dorn finished for her.
The woman nodded. “We’ve received word from Cloudy Sky City to expect at least three hundred more people coming up the mountain. The news is still sweeping through the city as we speak. It is clear that this is just a preliminary number.”
“What’s being done to acc–“
While his elders discussed the news, Dunstan quickly opened up his interface. His eyes widened in shock. His fame had shot up by four thousand points since he last checked, and the number was rapidly increasing. Those in the stands had to be calling in friends or sending messages to everyone they could reach. Eyes fixed on the climbing numbers, Dunstan recalled that Cloudy Sky City had a population of ninety-four thousand. If this elder was right and the news was sweeping through the city, he was looking at more than one hundred thousand AP from fame by week’s end.
“— possibly handle those numbers!”
“Dorn is right. Not only are we not prepared to host that many mercenaries, only ten people can enter the mystic realm at a time. We’ll have a riot on our hands when they get here and realise they have no chance of entry”, Elder Howatt was saying when Dunstan pulled himself away from his interface.
“Send for a cadre of exultants to stop them at the gates! We must not let them in!”
“That will not be necessary!” Dunstan said, speaking up. “I have already made preparations for this eventuality.”
He had not expected to have to employ this until a day or two had passed, but apparently, the appearance of legendary gear had kicked things into a higher gear. Scrolling through the shop menu, he selected the item he had earmarked long ago.
[Dungeon Instancing]
Multi-instancing was practically mandatory for all multiplayer game content. Currently, he only had a tier one dungeon active, meaning this shop option would grant him a new dungeon instance for every 1000 AP spent. It was a harsh cost considering he spent less than 2000 AP when building his dungeon; however, as with everything else in the [Shop], the price was non-negotiable. Before this, the option was unaffordable but now…
“Call Westfall’s communicator!” he ordered Akandae. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he continued. “Tell him to clear the stage; I’m modifying the portal!”
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Westfall stood on the side of the arena stage, staring intently at the portal.
“Let the Palace Master know he can begin!” he said, speaking into the small artefact in his hand.
A second later, the portal trembled, and for a moment, it felt like the world did too. Westfall watched as the pane of swirling light grew half again as large. A second pane of light appeared above it, this one a thin glowing bar of yellow divided into five bars. Even further above the portal, the display changed, splitting itself into four equally sized windows before folding in on itself so it formed an open cubed shape.
Still on the line, he listened as new instructions were given. The mystic realm would now accommodate five different teams at the same time, each in a separate version of the mystic realm. He was to call if that proved insufficient so more could be added. In the meantime, Elder Akandae would be sent back with a new talisman that would allow him to control the displays so he could choose which team’s adventures would be shown to their audience.
Westfall stared dumbly at the stage as his communicator continued to squawk with explanations and instructions.
Relaying this new information to the people gathered was one thing. Getting them to accept without issue would be very difficult. Right then, he was struck with a gut feeling that his job was only going to get more complicated.