Chương 43: Halt of Lithland.

Shit, damn Felix and relevant details I was trying to hide. She sighed.

"I was planning on having a warehouse made in Waketown. Grandport is too dominant already, you would never agree to it holding all taxes from the island. A treasury in Waketown with delver guards could help jumpstart the growth in that area." She answered exasperatedly. Felix nodded his head "Aye." The priest sighed "Aye." Her eyes turned to the new Rustreach mayor. She hadn't had a good look at him before. A big brown beard and a burlyness that tends to come from mountain-folk defined the man.

Looks like Lance the Giant has a rival now.

"Aye." he assented without challenge.

"Now Lord, its about time you stop ignoring it and tell us what you got from your fight with Damien." Lance said, as if speaking for the whole room. What? Damien's body was buried under a mountain of stone.

"Damien's body was lost to the depths, I got nothing Lance." she replied.

"Your status, Lord, surely taking out several frigates and Damien, who was Strata three, netted you a few levels. When was the last time you bothered checking?" Lance inquired. Fine fine! I'll look over the thing.

"Ok fine, I'll go home and check it." She replied, turning to leave.

"How about you do it here, Lord. If there are any new skills that affect the island, we should all know." Ollie said. These mayors are all the same, greedy bastards that just want crop yield outputs. Besides with the Greater Leech Ring I can't have gained much. She sat back down to resolve her fate. Level Acquired! x 23 Class Ascension Possible! Class Level Threshold Reached: Evolution Token Acquired! Class Level Threshold Reached: Fusion Token Acquired! Multiple Skills Leveled Up! Item Alteration Has Occurred!

Title Achieved: Ancient-Massacrist Kill ten primordial spawn in one attack. +5 Constitution, +5 Endurance. Her eyes strained at the barrage of System updates. By Kronan… just how much did I gain?? Felix chuckled "take your time." Synchronized Thunder (8 > 12) Giant Slayer (9 > 10) (Capped) Grand Administrator (5 > 7) Artillery Command (8 > 10) Precision Sight (5 > 8) Flux Condenser (4 > 5) Welp, I think I'll be needing some more tokens soon. Wait. Wait a second here.

Class: Heavy-Ordnance Siegewright Commander Lvl 110 (Zeroth Strata) Level 110? Doesn't it cap at 100? What the fuck is going on here? I get ten extra levels of stats and a bonus threshold, that must be the fusion token. I am going to turn into a fucking monster if I get a few strata up. She could not contain the shark-grin that broke out on her face. Class Ascension Options: Heavy-Ordnance Siegewright Lord: Design, build, and command heavier ordnance. Command battalions in decimating enemy positions.

+6 fixed stats, +4 free stats. 2 subskills. This is practically identical to my current class, so I guess this would be a continuation… Heavy-Ordnance Bombardment Specialist: You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Bombard those who dare to oppose you until they are naught but ash. +6 fixed stats, +4 free stats. 2 subskills. This one seems way more aggressive that my current option, but less focus on making artillery pieces.

Heavy-Ordnance Armored-Ship Captain Design and command both ordnance and ships. Dominate the seas in a fortress of steel. +6 fixed stats, +4 free stats. 2 subskills. Now that is a tempting option, Synchronized Thunder is extremely powerful and building onto it could be wise… but do I want to be limited to just ships? Talvik flew into the room and landed squarely on her shoulder.

"With this, all of your stats will experience a qualitative boost, each point will be worth more and anyone of a lower strata should be crushed" Talvik said. Nythera selected the class she knew she needed, until something showed up that would allow her to make even bigger artillery pieces, she would continue on the same path. Class Ascended! Stat gain per level: +1 Wisdom, +1 Flow Quality, + 1 Flux Control, +2 Resonance +1 Authority, +4 free stats.

Ok so the flow quality went to resonance, lovely, I'll have even more flux to work with. She instantly felt the difference, even clenching her fist had more force, as the qualitative boost affected all of her stats. Every point, worth a bit more than it had been before. Her vision snapped to focus and her mind went woozy before she adjusted to the acceleration. The lightheaded, euphoric feeling passed almost as fast as it arrived.

Well this barely moves the line on my Strength, too low to make much of a difference, but that huge boost to resonance and flux stats, now I'll be a proper wizard…. Ok maybe not yet. New Cannon Arm Form a cannon with one arm, launching flux shells at high velocity in the direction of your palm. This skill counts as an artillery piece for the purposes of any skill. 20 flux per shell cost. Overuse will cause damage to the appendage.

For every level, increase explosive yield by 1%, reduce overheat by 5%, and increase breach depth by 3%. This? What in…. This is actually kinda good, I can just blow people up with my arm and nothing else… I bet its much faster than the culverin. This is also a skill I might make primary later… She flicked over to the next skill, humming a little tune. New Lord of Fire Forges within your domain work 1% faster per level. Dungeon currency is increased by 1% per level. Nythera's jaw dropped.

"Got something interesting?" Felix pressed. She shared the skill with the room.

"The delvers are going to lose their minds" Lance remarked, a look of disbelief painting his face.

"If she can get that to at least 10%, we are gonna have a dungeon-rush on our hands." Ollie said in a daze. Myrraval's dungeons will be the most lucrative in the entire flux-seas… A smug look came over her, images of money and riches pouring through her head. She pulled up the final notification. Item Alteration Has Occurred!

"Anyone know what "Item Alteration" is?" She asked.

"Supposedly, some items actually ascend with your class, but its more of a legend, not something we see anywhere." Noah answered. I see… She mentally opened the Item Alteration notification. Greater Leech Ring > Second Strata Greater Leech Ring: (Enhanced Great Curse) Drastically lower ALL experience gain. gain 2 free points per level. Class evolution is only available at level 115. Professions now gain +1 free stat per level. This item cannot be removed. What the flux…

just how slow is the leveling going to go with this? I need to get these skills up… but 2 free points per level? Thats… 200+ points per tier, I'll me as strong as a Deep Stratum rank while still in the Surface Stratum if I use this enough. Nythera mused over the implications of the newly upgraded ring.

"Alright, I think we can adjourn the first meeting. Let's have a follow up in a month to discuss policy implementation." Lance declared. Finally! Nythera dashed out the door, Talvik's claws tightening to keep his grip. I'm Free! She took one look at her status and dumped 10 points into strength, 12 into intelligence and … the remaining 93 into resonance. This should help round me out a bit better. Talvik's voice boomed in her mind "Your power is.. Unprecedented for a mere first ascension.

You have dealt with the threat aptly and secured all four towns under your stewardship. You are prepared and more important, worthy to inherit the legacy of your ancestry." Talvik's voice carried an especially somber note "Your mentor, Halt of Lithland, has arrived. I will be assisting your rise to the best of my capacity from here on." Talvik finished. Was that why he keeps flying off? Why does he never tell me anything, it is getting really annoying.

"Halt? Lithland? That's back in Vathrial, how is he supposed to get here?" Nythera asked, a look of disbelief on her face "also you never really helped me before, you just drop mysterious, useless hints then disappear. Are you going to assist me? I'll believe it when I see it." She said. Talvik stuck out his beak, turned his back to her and started pruning his feathers. His voice came back, with a lot less humility.

"Those beings in the deep you ran into, they will cause problems the moment those mines in Rustreach run into one of their tunnels. You are not ready to face them yet." He warned.

"Yeah yeah." she mumbled in reply and made her way down the now-familiar streets of Grandport. Pushing in through the armored door, "I'm home!" She announced her arrival.

"How was your morning, your majesty." Shelly bowed.

"Your majesty." Edwin bowed. Flux contorted as Aether Culverin was brought forth in the living room. The barrel pointed straight toward the kitchen.

"Woah woah! Settle down!" Shelly and Edwin raised their hands in surrender.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, try calling me "your majesty" again and I will fire this thing." Nythera declared. Stomping up the stairs in fake anger. Pushing her door open, she noticed something strange.

"Who the fuck are you?" A cloaked man stood in the center of her room, perusing a book. Immediately she yanked on Aether Culverin as hard as she could. She could feel Giant-Slayer screaming at her as well.

"Hello, I am Halt, Halt of Lithland." He turned to face her, a face of cracked stone greeted her.

"Halt… Talvik said you would be coming. Why are you in my room?" Nythera asked, hand ready on her Culverin.

"Your flux signatures were all over this room, I believed it to be the most likely place I could meet you." Halt answered, scanning the room in curiosity.

"Talvik should have announced my coming, yes?". This fucking bird.

"Yes he did." She replied, glaring at Talvik. Halt coughed.

"So let us begin your training, shall we go hike up some of those nearby mountains or would you rather we begin title acquisition?"