Without waiting for a response, Baldur and Loki disappeared. The very next instant, everyone in attendance except Harmon, Daigath, and the visiting dignitaries from Or’Dralon, Stardrifter and the others, leveled up.
Quest completed! Defend the Bastion.
You have successfully defended the life of your Prince
and his property by repelling the invader!
Reward: Experience commensurate with threat.
Reputation increase with Baldur, Odin,
and the Ancient Ones.
And not just one level. The average citizen received enough experience to grant them twenty five levels. Several of them dropped where they stood, the effect of gaining so many levels at once overwhelming them. Allistor remembered how that felt from when Helen had done the same to him. The lower level crafters and children received as many as thirty levels, while the higher level raiders earned twenty or less in some cases.
The people began to cheer and congratulate each other, but almost immediately there was an ebb in the celebration as people looked up at Allistor. He quickly realized they were feeling guilty about being happy at Amanda’s memorial service.
“Go on! Celebrate! Amanda would be happy for you! Let’s all eat and enjoy our good fortune.”
He smiled and waved toward the long lines of food tables set up under the shade trees farther back in the park. But his people didn’t immediately disperse. A quiet chant began somewhere near the front of the crowd, the voice sounding suspiciously like Sam’s. It quickly grew louder as it spread, until all of them were shouting. “Allistor! Allistor! Allistor!”
As the people faded away to partake of what had now become a celebration feast, Allistor’s guests approached along with Daigath and Harmon. Allistor sent William and the girls down to Meg, who was waving for them to join her and Sam.
“That was… impressive.” Commander Enalion gave a stiff but deep bow from the waist. “I doubt I would have had the presence of mind, or the restraint, to do as you did.”
“That is a great compliment coming from you, Commander. Thank you.” Allistor inclined his head slightly, as L’olwyn had taught him.
“I am truly sorry about the loss of Lady Amanda.” Melise’s expression matched her words. “I enjoyed the time I spent with her. She was kind and lovely, and it is obvious from your words today that you loved her.”
Allistor found he couldn’t speak, instead giving her a sad smile and nod.
Cogwalker was much less circumspect. “Holy shit! Ye scammed the damn gods, Allistor!” his eyes were wide and his grin stretched from ear to ear. “I’ll be tellin’ this tale to me great grandchildren’s grandchildren!”
Allistor chuckled, finding great relief in the dwarf’s irreverent enthusiasm. “I hope they’re buying the drinks while you tell it, Master Cogwalker.”
The dwarf roared with laughter, gathering up his clansmen and heading down toward the celebration. Allistor exchanged pleasantries and accepted both condolences and congratulations from the rest of the visiting dignitaries, inviting them all to join in the feast below.
Eventually it was just Allistor, Daigath, and Harmon. All three took seats on the top step, and Allistor took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out in a long exhale. “Well, what do you think?”
Harmon chuckled. “Baldur was right. That was impressive, Allistor. Even knowing what you planned, I was surprised at how you pulled that off. And more than a little scared, at times.”
Daigath shook his head. “You played a very dangerous game, Allistor. Any other being of Baldur’s age and power would have simply erased you for your impertinence. You must learn some respect, or you will lead your people to ruin.” The ancient elf got to his feet and departed before Allistor could respond.
Harmon placed a giant hand on Allistor’s shoulder. “He’s fond of you. You worried him quite a bit today. And he’s right, the odds of you living through that encounter after responding the way you did…” The orcanin shook his head.
“I was counting on Baldur being everything our legends said he was. If he’s truly the epitome of justice and mercy, then he couldn’t, or I guess shouldn’t, have reacted otherwise. I knew it was a risk, but the potential reward seemed worth it. And really, everybody gets what they want.”
“Except Loki.” Harmon grinned at him. “Now, let’s go get some of Lady Meg’s cooking before all the food is gone. Those damned dwarves eat like they’re full-sized orcanin!”
“I’ll join in you a minute.” Allistor waved him toward the food. I’ve got some notifications to get through.
“Ha! I imagine you do.” Harmon set off down the stairs, roaring, “Lady Meg! Save me some of that delicious meat loaf!”
Smiling to himself, Allistor took a minute to watch his people. They were all mingled together, humans and non-humans. Most of them were still high from the ecstasy of earning so many levels at once. They were smiling and laughing, some even dancing. He thought this was a much better tribute to Amanda than the solemn wake that it might have been.
Closing his eyes, he willed his UI to display the notifications he’d waved aside earlier. His entire display filled with them.
The first was the same quest completion notification that everyone else had received. Except that his reward did not include any experience. He did get significant reputation increases with Baldur and Odin, and the seed that would help his people to repopulate was listed as loot.
Next came a long list of faction reputation gains and losses. Unsurprisingly, there were a large number that disapproved of at least one of his actions that afternoon. Though after a quick scroll through, he was pretty sure that the gains outnumbered the losses. He’d ask Selby and the others to go through them later and alert him if there were any serious issues either way.
The content of the next notification was expected, but the form of it was a surprise. The moment he opened it up, he braced himself.
Congratulations!
You have completed the hidden quest: Retribution!
For exhibiting both guile and sound judgement in reaching
a mutually beneficial agreement with Baldur and Odin,
you have been awarded ownership of all remaining property
rights of UPC 382. These property rights, combined with your
existing holdings, grant you the Noble Title of Planetary Emperor!
Reward: Noble Title – Emperor of UPC 382;
Experience awarded: 2,100,000,000
The moment he finished reading that particular notification, another flashed across the screen. One that all his people received as well. There was a resounding cheer of approval from the crowd below, and the party got even louder.
World First: Planetary Emperor!
Planetary Prince Allistor of Invictus has secured sufficient holdings
to earn the Noble Title of Planetary Emperor!
May he rule long and wisely!
Immediately Allistor felt the rush of gaining several levels. Though he’d not earned any experience directly from the defense quest, the experience from another world first achievement and becoming Emperor was significant. He quickly scrolled through the accompanying level notifications.
Level up! You are now Level 56 ! You have received two Attribute Points.
Level up! You are now Level 57…
Level up! You are now Level 58…
Level up! You are now Level 65 ! You have received two Attribute Points.
In total the achievement and title had granted him an additional ten levels. At least now he didn’t have to worry about any of his raiders out-leveling him for a while. He took a quick look at his status sheet.
Allistor decided to leave his stat point assignments for later, when he was alone and could focus. He also wanted to ask Daigath about more Battlemage spells. For now, his people were calling for him to join their celebration. He gave a brief smile and a wave, reflecting on how much Amanda would have enjoyed this party as he walked down the stairs.
Rajesh was sitting at the head of the long conference room table in his headquarters, bored and barely listening to his uncle Agni and Fayed his security chief plan an attack on the jelly creatures, when the worldwide notification of Allistor’s promotion to Emperor of Earth appeared in his UI.
The conversation in the room went silent as they all read the news, the first sound being that of Rajesh’s fist pounding the table. “Damn it! How does he keep doing this?” he growled. “Now I will never overtake him!”
Agni, ever the voice of reason for his volatile young nephew, tried to head off the impending tantrum. “This might be a good thing, Earl Rajesh.” He carefully used his nephew’s title in the company of others, soothing his ego a bit. “This Allistor, he is human. We might have had an alien Emperor instead. At least this way our diminished race retains some of the power on our own world.”
It was clear that Rajesh was only half listening. “It should be ME!” he pounded the table again, the effect being less than he probably intended. Since his very first level-up, Rajesh had focused on a min-max caster build, putting nearly all of his attribute points into Will Power and Intelligence. For a post-Stabilization human, he was physically a weakling. He held his position of power mainly by embracing the game-like System of the new world and keeping a calm façade, using his knowledge to clear and create the first Stronghold in the area. He then adopted a fake it till you make it attitude, convincing his family and a few score lower caste survivors that he knew how to protect them. He quickly showed them how to improve their attributes, pushing most of them into physical builds that focused on Strength, Agility, and Constitution. He immediately put them to work crafting weapons and clearing the area around his factory Stronghold, letting them take all the risks as he stood in the back and cast the occasional spell to ensure he received experience for the kills.
Word of his safe zone quickly spread, and within a month his population had grown to over one thousand peasants, plus a half dozen members of his family. At that time he turned the day to day management of his operation over to his family, with Uncle Agni in charge, and focused on getting his factory back up and running. With more than a thousand people, their supply of toilet paper was quickly diminishing. He had discovered the System’s market kiosk, and began selling the valuable commodity to buy weapons and armor. When he’d accrued enough territory and resources to become an Earl, his struggle for simple survival with a modicum of comfort turned to dreams of his own kingdom.
Each time he gained in power, though, his achievement was overshadowed by the fact that this Allistor person had repeatedly beaten him to the punch. Whoever he was, he must be ruthless to have expanded and grown so quickly. Rajesh often contemplated Allistor’s possible methods. He’d reached the conclusion that the man must have at least ten thousand peasants of his own, all of them working hard to provide him with resources. Likely he controlled their food supply and access to basic needs such as healing and safe housing, much like Rajesh himself did.
Agni shook his head, then caught the gaze of Fayed. With a brief and subtle nod, he indicated that the man should take his people and clear the room. Rajesh would not allow any honest conversation that might imply he had any weakness in front of others. The security chief, knowing Rajesh’s moods all too well, got to his feet and silently waved his people out, exiting last and closing the door behind him.
“Rajesh, you must be realistic. Allistor is now the planetary Emperor. He has crossed the finish line and won the race, so to speak, and done so far, far ahead of you. It is time for you to accept that reality, and reach out to him. It is better to be proactive and make contact than to wait for him to find you. If you make a good impression, you might be able to secure his support. Maybe even garner a position of power within his court, if he has such a thing.”
Rajesh got to his feet and began to pace back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back as he considered his uncle’s words. Or some of them, at least. His mind was still distracted with jealousy and thoughts of retribution. How dare Allistor overshadow his achievements?
“Rajesh?” His uncle had patiently let him stew for a solid five minutes before speaking again. “Shall I attempt to make contact?”
“What?” Rajesh stood still and looked to his uncle. “Contact? Yes, I suppose that is inevitable now. Yes, tell him that Earl Rajesh requires his presence for a celebratory feast.”
Agni nodded once, taking the yes. Though he had no intention of relaying that particular message. One does not require one’s superiors to do anything. One respectfully requests the honor of their company, or the privilege of attending them at their convenience. Still, progress was progress, and Rajesh would never know the content of the actual message Agni would send.
“In the meantime, I feel the need to kill something.” Rajesh looked around the table, blinking in momentary confusion as he noticed the absence of Fayed and his security team. “Get Fayed back in here! I will join them in attacking the jellies.”
Agni resisted the urge to correct his nephew with the proper racial name for the hundredth time. At this point, he suspected Rajesh used the term just to annoy him. “Of course, nephew.” He waved through the glass door at Fayed, who was unobtrusively waiting a short distance away. If he were honest with himself, he was glad to have this distraction available to take Rajesh’s mind off of his rival’s successes.
As the security team reassembled and resumed their discussion with a now enthusiastic Rajesh, Agni quietly excused himself and headed toward the room where they’d managed to set up a short-wave radio transceiver. Along the way he mentally composed a respectful and complimentary message to send to the new Emperor on behalf of his nephew.
Once that message had been finalized and transmitted, Agni warned the radio operator, on pain of banishment, to keep the message and any response to himself. If a response was received, he was to find Agni and report directly to him, and only him.
With that task completed, he next went to the kitchens, where his own mother ruled with a sharp tongue and a long wooden spoon. They would need to begin gathering proper ingredients for a celebratory feast, assuming Allistor would be willing to meet with them.
*****
Allistor’s first task on his first morning as Planetary Emperor was breakfast with his kids. He woke early, well before sunrise, and asked Nigel to have breakfast for everyone sent up once the kitchen staff was up and going. He spent some time in his study, making himself a hand-written list of the multitude of things he wanted to accomplish. The list was much longer now, as he was drastically altering his most immediate plans. He no longer needed his raid teams out claiming territory. Anything that hadn’t already been claimed was now his. And while he still wanted to have his people reach out to as many other survivors as possible, that mission was now a little less urgent. It had been his plan to gather other leaders together and form an alliance that would allow him to take the lead and be voted Emperor. Thus granting him the right to do things like install a planetary defense system in orbit around Earth.
He had already asked Harmon during the party to order and install the system. Rather than pay for it in klax or gold, he agreed to grant the merchant a commensurate amount of land. He even jokingly offered the orcanin an honorary vassal title to go with it, causing Harmon to roar with laughter, frightening several nearby citizens and causing them to reach for weapons.
Next on his list was locating a safe and logistically sensible location to plant the seed he’d received from Baldur. Getting that tree grown and producing it’s magical (or scientifically advanced?) fruit into the hands of those who wanted to bear children was a priority. He added a note to ask Nancy and Daigath whether it was wise to use their spells to rapidly grow the tree to maturity.
Allistor’s new list included following up with his analysts on all the reputation gains and losses, as well as any protocols like formal expressions of gratitude to those allies who had attended the memorial. He fi
gured that as an emperor he probably had to do considerably less ass-kissing, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.
Next on his list was dungeons. He needed to place his dungeon cores and get his people running through them. The massive boost in the average levels of his citizens after yesterday would make that easier. Many of those who had been hesitant to join raids would feel stronger and more confident now. And with the trainers available to help them all take full advantage of their chosen classes, Allistor felt much more comfortable with their chances of surviving dungeon runs. He made yet another side note to ask Harmon and Gralen about the dungeons, whether the newly placed cores would start out at a low level and grow. He also wanted to use the satellite surveys, and question any newly contacted survivors, to try and find any naturally occurring dungeons on Earth.
Next he included a visit to check on Fuzzy and Fiona. Helen had been out there herself, and reported that Fiona was still slumbering, and Fuzzy was watching over her. Allistor felt horrible for not having gone to his bear already, but the prior day’s events had taken priority. He quickly drew an arrow from Fuzzy’s name up through the page margin to the top of the list. He would take Helen back with him, and afterward the two of them could meet to discuss his new holdings. His minister of parks was about to get a whole lot busier.
With great reluctance, he added the space station to his list. He needed to check in with Cogwalker on the extent of the damage and time required for repairs before he could get the station fully operational. His initial reaction was to ignore the station, and the terrible memories that it held, possibly even trade it away. But that would be depriving his people of a valuable resource for his own personal reasons.
Allistor needed to meet with Daigath. Not only to discuss potential new spells, but to dig deeper into his new mentor’s words regarding his interactions with Loki and Baldur. Harmon had said the ancient elf was worried about him, but Allistor got the impression that Daigath was in fact angry with him. If so, he needed to know exactly why, and figure out how to mend that fence.
Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five Page 20