Godfather's System

208. Exaltation - 01

"… So, does that mean the boss is now a god?" Terma asked.

"Boy? Can't you wait until dinner is over?" I asked even as I sipped some of my drink.

"Why? Ascension to godhood not an appropriate dinner conversation?" he quipped. I chuckled, though Zolast threw me a glance, showing that he had caught the slight hysteric edge in my tone.

I couldn't help it. Today had been one of the most stressful days of my life … and considering everything I had lived through — both before and after summoning — that was saying something. Ironically, it wasn't the danger that bothered me, as I had faced far more dangerous situations. And, by any reasonable measure, the day had been an incredible success.

It was the lack of control, I realized. There was something unsettling about watching two engines of destruction fight for hours. It drove into my skull powerlessness in a way facing an actual divine being hadn't. Not many of my tricks would work against such a beast, and it wasn't smart enough to be bluffed or tricked.

No, had the snake won, or had the bear not been mobility-challenged, it would have been a disaster. It wouldn't have been a total loss thanks to the Wall, but close…

"I don't know. I'm not from around here," I commented. Everyone laughed, far more than my admittedly lame joke deserved.

I wasn't the only one that had been overwhelmed by the events of the day, which was why I had asked Zolast to arrange the dinner even with multiple emergencies going on from the unexpected undead invasion to the incredibly intensive construction processes.

"It's rude when an old man spent his precious time preparing it despite his busy schedule that includes building a new dungeon and modifying two," Zolast responded.

Terma ducked his head, blushing in a way that highlighted his age. He was barely fifteen, yet he had spent the whole day fighting for his life … the fact that it was against walking skeletons and zombies somehow didn't feel as important in comparison.

Silence stretched for a moment while he shuffled in discomfort, while the rest of the party focused on their food. Even Silas didn't say anything, too exhausted to focus on her fiance's safety. Not that I blamed her. No sane person could maintain a sharp, intense focus endlessly, nor should they. That kind of single-minded obsession never ends well.

There hadn't been much discussion while everyone had their dessert. To my surprise, it was Takis that spoke first. "So, boss, since our dinner is finished, we can ask. Are you a god now?"

I shrugged. "It requires some experimentation, but it looks that way," I said. "Though, it feels like a small step on a long road, with godhood at a distant horizon."

"So, you're not a hero anymore?" Mahruss asked. "What does it mean for the Hero Party?"

I shook my head. "Actually, no. The class is still in place. It feels like they are two independent concepts. Weirdly, the class panel somehow feels more solid than the divine panel." They weren't officially named class and divine panels, but the names felt obvious.

"Maybe because the divine panel is new?" Terma suggested.

"Maybe," I said, though the fact that gods could block my access to the divine panel, while the best thing they could do to the class panel was to curse someone suggested otherwise. Other than that, the only thing we knew they could do was to upgrade the class … which suggested an interesting relationship between class and divine panels.

However, confirming these guesses would require some experimentation... Scratch that, a lot of experimentation….

"When are we going to switch from Hero Party to Divine Follower?" Terma asked.

"Are we going to switch?" Takis countered, pointing a very valid point.

"Good correction. And, no, we're not going to switch for the moment."

"Why? Isn't the divine panel a better option?" Terma asked. "Otherwise, why would leveling it up require less experience? And, there's also class upgrades to consider."

"Not necessarily," I said. "What you're saying is nice, but it doesn't necessarily work that way. That's why we're going to wait. We need to do some experimenting."

"True," Zolast added. "I suspect that it won't be better. There has to be something special about the Hero class and heroic party during the battle. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone through all that trouble of summoning the old bag of bones there, eating my food without even bothering to clean a dish."

"Hey. I was summoned in this world, so I count as a guest. Who asks as a guest to clean the dishes," I said. Of course, no one summoned me and I hijacked a ride; which technically meant I was not a guest but a squatter … oh well.

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The next to speak was Takis, and unsurprisingly, he focused on a different topic. "What are we going to do about the new cultist castle? Are we going to deal with them, or leave it to the princess?"

"First, a question," I said as I looked at Zolast. "Do you think the existence of the King Beasts is the reason why the kingdoms never expanded to the mountains?"

"Makes sense," Zolast said. "There had been too many instances of colonies that had been established without permit disappearing, but kingdoms never intervened. The prevailing theory had been that the royal forces secretly destroyed them to maintain their power. But…"

"It makes more sense if they are destroyed by a sudden attack because they woke up the sleeping King Beast, which then went back to sleep," I said.

"What about the new colonies, then?" Silas asked. "A few decades ago, our current area had been a forbidden zone. Was there a King Beast here as well? And, if they can hunt those beasts, why leave the mountains intact?"

"Geography," Takis commented. "Based on the boss' general description, I can devise a dozen ways to deal with a land-bound King Beast as long as I have multiple flying castles and lots of mana crystals for concentrated bombardment, but most of those tactics only work for the plains." He shivered. "Trying to replicate the same in a mountainous area, particularly against a snake … much harder."

"How about under the sea?" I asked.

"Impossible, at least based on what I know about the capabilities of the war machines available," he said.

I just nodded rather than asking a follow up question. It confirmed my guess. Underwater, a King Beast was like an unholy combination of a submarine, jet fighter, and aircraft carrier. Concealed, fast, and able to soak incredible amounts of damage … It was truly a nightmarish combination.

Worse, its implications for the sea trade was devastating. Unless the royal families had a method to avoid their attention that they didn't share, it would mean the only source of movement and trade between islands would be conducted through flying castles, which would damage the already terrible economy further.

Meaning, we needed to be even more self-sufficient.

"Alright, kids. We have lazed around enough. Now, we all have work to do," I said as I considered our strategic situation. I was going to do something I truly hated. I was going to expand aggressively, and risk the attention of the real powers of the world … well, even more than we already did.

"What's the plan, boss?"

"We are going to expand aggressively. Takis, the first step of your mission is to deal with the cultist castle. Bring the army and destroy them. Zolast and I will be ready to assist, but only if there's an emergency."

"Then what?"

"Then, we're going to build a chain of castles along the mountain passes, and block the access to the mountains. On the surface, we're trying to monopolize the Lord Beasts there," I said, then looked at Zolast. "Do you think the princess would agree to that?"

"As long as we agree to sell Lord Beast meat and ability stones to her at a discounted price. Still, it needs to be a timed deal. There's no hiding the death of the King Beast from her, and she would eventually want to expand once she properly took over her current area," he said. "But she doesn't have the power to block the Royal family, should they decide to send other forces."

"That's not a problem. Silas, Terma, and Karak will be responsible for hunting the beasts," I said, as their combined abilities made a shockingly effective team. Silas had the Strength to deal with the Lord Beasts with ease, Terma was fast enough to bait and contain them as needed, and Karak could find them easily with his Perception. "They will hunt enough of them to keep the Princess satisfied and serve our needs. Promise her that we will sell her some of the territory in a few years, as long as she promises to stay neutral in any battle between us and her family."

"Really? Isn't that too aggressive?" Zolast asked.

I chucked as I looked at Takis. "How many flying castles can you deal with using our current forces if we set up a similar tunnel system in the mountains?" I asked Takis.

"Twenty-four," he said after a moment, probably after running a brief war simulation in his mind. He was putting his Awakened Intelligence to incredible use.

Zolast gasped. I smirked. It looked like my old friend still underestimated the power of a properly trained and equipped army, not that I blamed him.

"And what if you're willing to suffer devastating losses in return?" I asked.

"Depending on their tactics, forty-three should be a reasonable target," he answered after another mental simulation. It meant that we were safe, as they would never commit such overwhelming forces to battle.

I turned to Limenta. "Coordinate with Launara and move our hidden forges to the mountains," I said. "And, prioritize finding new mines. I'm sure there's a lot of new land to claim."

"It will require a lot of resources," he said.

"That's Mahruss' mission," I said as I looked at him. "You have three tasks," I said. "The first one is the most important one. The recruitment?"

"For the heroic party, or divine alignment?" he asked.

"Both. First, I want you to pick a hundred of your best men, at least with advanced classes. The rest could be before their third promotion. Pile them with ability stones if needed. It's time we start pushing the Heroic Party to the limit," I said.josei

"And, the other?" he asked.

"I want you to identify anyone pre-level ten, without a divine alignment, but for now, try to recruit only a hundred of them. Classes don't matter, but the older they are, the better," I said.

"They won't have good classes, and many would have problems," he said.

"Better than mobilizing children," I said. "We might expand the search if needed."

Mahruss nodded. "What's the other two missions, boss?" he asked.

"I want you to increase our chip production even more aggressively, and do your best so that it becomes the de facto currency of the new city, then use it to buy all the resources they need in premium," I said. Technically, it risked creating a runaway inflation, but a financial crisis was a risk I was willing to take. "And lastly, I want a mega casino in the middle of the town, belonging to the guild. We will allow people play in everything, including Ability Stones."

"How about Expert and Master skills?" Mahruss asked. "That's one thing we lack. Are we going to use it to replenish our reserves?"

That was a good question. Rigging games to get more master skills was certainly a good strategy. But, I had a different plan in mind.

"It'll depend on our next dungeon experiment," I replied.