Chương 52: Chapter 51 - The Council.

Nythera, you are a sharpshooter, aren't you? A shit-eating grin broke out on her face. Seeker of Heritage (lvl 1) (1/2 tokens) For every level, increase comprehension speed of artifacts, peoples, and civilization of your ancestors by 3%. Narrow the scope, raise the effect, widen the scope, lower the effect. Now Aurendorian stuff will be a cinch.

"YES!" Shelly's hands slammed the table.

"Thank you so much Nyth! You're the best!" Shelly lunged at Nythera, hugging her in a vice.

"What? Did you get what you wanted?" Nythera struggled to gasp out the words.

"YES I DID!" Shelly practically screamed. Shelly finally released Nythera from the death-hug.

"I got a System-Linked Cartography skill! There is a much higher chance of Ley-insights now!" Shelly's hands would not stop moving.

"I'm glad, now can you go find us some new mines? I could really use a win at the council right now" Nythera chuckled. Shelly nodded her head "I'll get you more wins than you know what to do with" and immediately turned back to her maps.

"Wait, I'll help you map the Mistvale parts, there were some suspicious system-guided mountains and I think it might be trying to trick me" Nythera leaned over the grand map and pointed. … Hours of bickering over the exact placement of mountains on an island full of obscuring fog. Cartography (lvl 11>13) Nythera smiled. You may have ley-insights Shelly, but one day I'll have a map that tells me precisely where to aim my Culverin.

"Shelly, why are there still so many gaps, there's six islands on here total and one of them is a maybe? I don't understand, I thought Rowen went out exploring and that people charted these waters" Nythera tilted her head in confusion.

"We've been over this Nythy, these seas are damn dangerous and no one has time to go galavanting around to islands that may or may not exist" Shelly pointed at the sea in one spot.

"The Kraken's Wrath, completely unrelated to God's Wrath, is an everpresent whirlpool of destruction in the sea between Myrraval and Karaveth" She then pointed up to the top coast of Myrraval where much was still obscure guesswork.

"This is Cyclone Way, because every time we come up here and try to chart anything, a cyclone comes and smashes our ships, and by the time we've run clear, there's three more visible on the horizon" Shelly huffed.

"I see… Well once we get to the Northern shipyards, maybe we'll find some maps" She mused out loud. Shelly shot her a doubtful look "Maybe." Nythera took one last look at the map of the Flux-seas. I am going to fill in every last gap in this stupid region and claim every fucking domain core for myself. Queen of the Flux-sea. Just you wait, Tianshiang, I'm coming for you. Nythera went to sit down by the hearth, a small metal contraption covered in vials of dangerous looking chemicals.

Now for the annoying part, If I'm going to run a domain, I need to understand how domains actually work. Cores: Myrraval (Crown) (Mythic), Mistvale (Epic) Authority Level: Knight Total Population: 3, 788 Domain Dungeons: T0: 2, T1: 1, T2: 1, T3: 1, T4: 1, T6: 1, T10: 1 Domain Edicts: Cascading Fire (lvl 1) Domain Merit: 5 Tax rate: 0% Wow Mistvale has a strata three, four, and six dungeons, I did not realize that. Do they even realize they have them? The only industry there is logging and fishing.

"Shit, I'm going to need to report this, technically w could run people all the way to Strata four or five with this many dungeons in sequence, if we knew where they were" She mumbled to herself. … Nythera awoke to a system ping and an eerie silence, the endless thundering of rain having finally ceased. Domain Merit Gained x 4! Huh? Domain Merit? She flipped over in bed, trying to go back to sleep. And failed.

"Talvik, what in the blazes is domain merit for again?" She pulled herself up.

"Domain merit is a tool, you receive some when you promote authority levels or when the year ends, based on the growth and well-being of your domains" Talvik shuffled his feathers.

"I assume you did not gain much, given you fought a war this year" Nythera shot him a glare.

"I got four". She could swear he was smirking, if birds could smirk.

"Go check the domain shop, though I doubt there is anything you can buy at this point" Talvik said. Yeah lets see about that, what does the system even sell? She pulled up the interface with a flick of the finger. [Domain Shop] Domain Merit: 9 Dungeon Seed Strata 1 (50 points) Strata 2 (100 points) Strata 3 (200) Strata 4 (400) Strata 5 (700) Strata 6 (1000) Edict Evolution (100 points) Monument Designation (1000 points) Random Edict (1000 points) Class Beacon (1000 points)"Hey, Talvik, what is all this stuff?

Do dungeon seeds make dungeons?" She swore he sighed "Worry not child, there is nothing in there you are ready to afford and you do not yet have the skill to make Dungeon Seed's a worthy investment. Yes they do make dungeons" Talvik pruned his feathers. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Talvik waddled across the bed and hopped up onto her shoulder "I recommend you save up enough for a class beacon, which can help people pick a specific class if they so want it, or evolve your edict, which I will remind you, you have yet to use""I'll deal with this later, Wrath is over and Shelly told me we are going to the tavern today" Nythera threw on her cloak and rushed out the door. She met Shelly halfway out the door herself.

"Let's go Nyth! It's the first morning of Everon and everyone who is anyone will be at Marco's!" She pulled her out the door.

"Ok ok, but I am not drinking as much this time". Shelly shot her an odd look "Sure you aren't". Marco's was stuffed, droves of townsfolks filtering in.

"Ey, enjoyed Wrath, milady?" one of the old farmerfolk bowed exaggeratedly. She sheepishly nodded and retreated into the bar. I am going to need to crush this Queen shit sooner than later. Nythera was jostled around in the throng until she found herself in a chair at the table in the center of the room. Some of the oldest people she had seen were her compatriots at the table. Not five seconds later a full pint of Marco's beer was slammed down on the table in front of her.

"It's on the house" the man behind her said with a smile and went back to complaining about saltwater field damage. Nythera responded to idle chatter from around the table but the discussion was mostly about field damage and desalting the land. This is kinda boring. She gulped down another quarter of her pint.

"Hey, do you guys know if there was ever a way back to Vathrial?" she asked one of the old hands next to her.

"A way back?" he chucked "there ain't no way back and there never will be". Another chipped in "besides, why in the blazes would we ever want to go back? Greymere can go flux itself" he broke out in a hearty laugh, clinking glasses with the men around him.

"No one has ever tried?" She clinked glasses and took another swig. The man right behind her piped up "A few dunderheads tried to go back, once or twice, but they never come back. The Flux-sea gets real nasty once you get out far past Myrraval". Why did no one ever tell me that attempts were made? If I can get back, I can deal with Tianshiang…

"Is it that bad? What happens further out?" A hand landed on her shoulder "Flux, hurricanes, the sea between Volkion and Volthera might as well be hell" Lance said.

"Hi Lance" Nythera took yet another swig, except that her glass was empty. It was swiftly taken from her to be refilled.

"My Queen, it's time for a council meeting, they want a report about Mistvale." Nythera tried to get up but Lance held her in the chair. The other seats were switched out rapidly with the mayors, Noah and Ollie to her sides, and Felix and Aldric across the table. A council meeting here? In the middle a fucking tavern? Are they insane?

"Alright, let's begin" Noah brought his head down to rest on his hands. A silence spread across the tavern. He looked expectantly towards her. As did all the other mayors. Are they kidding? I am blaming someone for this afterwards.

"So, we went to Mistvale" Nythera paused. The room was dead silent, all eyes on her. I am going to kill someone when this is over.

"I took the domain core and talked with the mayor of Fogtown" She piped up, gaining confidence as she told her story.

"... I agreed to include them in the Ferry circuit, perhaps as a single Ferry going from Grandport to Fogtown and back" She finished and waited expectantly.

"That's our Queen!" The tavern broke out into cheer.

"We can finally get more pine for the fleet, Kronan knows we need it after that mess last year". Someone slapped her on the back.

"Our Queen now rules Mistvale too! HERE HERE""HERE HERE""Well if I can get some of those pines to Amplewoods we can get the westward fishing back up" Felix remarked.

"Have you considered the costs? Where is the money coming from for this ferry?" Aldric sneered. What the hell is wrong with Rustreach, why are the mayors always shitbags? She smirked back at him, pulled up her status and flicked something up into the air, sharing it with the entire tavern. Greater Blessing of Veymur Gain all XP at an accelerated rate. Your domain gains +5% to all yields.

"I don't think cost will be an issue" She grinned. Aldric's mouth opened wide, his face paled." A blessing, a real blessing? A greater blessing? How?" The cheers thundered behind her, glasses were raised, drinks drunk. A roar burst out into the plaza.

"Our Queen is favored by the gods! Myrraval is a blessed land now!"

"With all these yield boosts imagine how much more booze we can make!"

"By the lord, what have you been getting into?" Ollie said, leaning back with an approved look on his face.

"A girl has her secrets" I am so cool now. Can I turn this into shop discounts? Free gear? Nythera stood up.

"Additionally I will be donating upgrade and augment tokens to the state treasury, they will be used to pay for the development of Waketown. Two bags slammed down on the table in front of Noah. The clinking of many tokens caused Noah to flinch. Her wild grin was met with visible apprehension from Noah.

"Thank you for your contribution, Milady, but shouldn't you keep these for yourself? It's important that your growth not be impeded" Noah said, cautiously pulling the bags toward himself. He peered into the first bag.

"By Kronan's thunder" He shook it around, turning to face her.

"How many tokens are in each bag?"

"Thirty, upgrade and fusion" She smiled innocently.

"Thirty? Thirty upgrade" Ollie said, the straw piece having fallen from his mouth.

"Queen Nythera, might I inquire as to where you got thirty upgrade tokens?" Felix asked.

"No, you may not" she smiled back.

"I see" he nodded and went into quiet contemplation. Aldric seemed to be unable to add complaint. The murmur behind her turned into a roar.

"Our queen, truly rich and looking out for the common folk" One voice said.

"I'm sending my son up to Waketown, if he can get one of those tokens and clear some farmland, he'd do us proud" Another said. When nothing else works, money, or in lack of it, tokens, can get people to move. I bet Waketown will be built within the year, which means I can get an operation up by the Quartz dungeon within two maybe…

"Hey, Meron, think you could round up the lads before sowing starts, I know a spot with some good granite, we could have a statue of the Queen up in 3 weeks" She whipped around to find the voice, but it was lost in the throng behind her. Statues? I will pay to have them demolished. She shivered.

"We should leave the tokens for the elites, wasting them on rabble is how we burn through our budget" Aldric sneered. Noah looked at him, then Felix, then Ollie. Ollie spat onto the table.

"Keep causing trouble round here and our Queen will go start another election in Rustreach". Noah nodded at her "This is more than suitable, I'll work with Felix and Ollie to get some woodmancers up to Waketown by the end of the week. We'll have the township built before Wrath""Aye" Felix and Ollie said in agreement.

"And now for the last part" She cleared her throat and shot Noah a glare. He sighed "Fine, I'll do it" he stood up and the room went silent. He bellowed, loudly enough to be heard by the entire tavern.

"Due to the new ferry program, which takes people for free from town to town and the Queen's directive to establish Waketown, we, the mayors of Grandport, Halsbury, and Amplewoods agree to accept an income tax rate set by the system of 3%" He glanced around the room as if daring anyone to interrupt him.

"The collection point will be set in Grandport until Waketown is prepared" Nythera passed Noah the System-banner, a small T-shaped metal rod with a yellow banner marked a collection point for income. The villagers looked on apprehensively, some grumbles were heard.

"They be stealin our money" was met with shushes. Multiple skills have leveled up! Huh? What could possibly have leveled from a meeting about taxes?