The Power of Ten

Chapter 7-184: Faux Eleven

The High Council of Heavenbound Hall looked a bit aghast as I finished the Holopoint presentation for them, their questions about how it worked satisfied. This meeting had gone in a direction they had totally not expected, and the realization that the world in the future would be very different than now was laid out before them.

“So, democracy...?” Rosesister Lucia had to say.

I glanced at her. “People vote with their hearts and their feet. If there is no True King, Allegiances give their loyalty to their Monarchs. How their Monarchs choose to accept a rule of law is how their vassals choose to.

“Once the Allegiance system becomes known, no secular government can survive. Once a True King takes a Throne, no Allegiance can dominate their Kingdom.

“All of this will come crashing down once the Shroud is gone. You have the choice to get ahead of the process and get stuff worked out before that happens... or try to survive the huge and violent mess that is going to result if you dither.” I paused significantly. “I am not one to dither.”

“How does this interact with the, the Primos, the Forsaken that you mentioned in your video?” Master Polneibo spoke up. “It seems to me that all True Kings and Monarchs will be Powered!”

“There is no greater True King than a Source,” I stated calmly, rocking them all. “A Source who Makes Fate and commands the Destiny of their Kingdom is utterly dominating as a King.

“A Source is a King Among Men or a Queen Among Women. Those are NOT just fancy words.

“Voids cannot be True Kings, as they have higher obligations to the Land. Nulls can’t become True Kings at all... but the Kingdom of a Source is built on Nulls, as their Fate is what a Source directs, and the River of Fate generated by a Kingdom of Nulls is very, very difficult to resist. Nulls follow Sources!

“So, Powered are the most plentiful True Kings, because we have all the gifts in place to use magic to benefit the Kingdom.

“But from an overall, grand destiny standpoint, Sources trump us all.”

“What... are your intentions in this matter?” Sir Ogambe asked respectfully, his eyes thinking thoughts on a scale he was not accustomed to.

“Heavenbound Hall is a multi-faith Theocracy. It is an Allegiance; it is not and will never be a Kingdom. We are tied to our belief in a higher Cause, that of Good for all.

“We show the world that there is a better way for everyone, and we are willing to fight for it.

“However, the reality is that a great number of people simply do not have such concerns or vision. They will happily go along with the flow, but they will not drive it forward.

“Those people are what make up Kingdoms. They are tied to where they live, what they own, who their neighbors are, their customs and friends and families and ancestors. They will fight for all those things, material things they can touch and know, but an ephemeral dream of a better tomorrow is for just that, dreamers.

“Powered tend to gather in Allegiances, Primos and Forsaken gather in Kingdoms. This is not rivalry, nor is it a caste division; it is simply the way things are.”

They all had somber faces. “There are a great many secular authorities who will be violently opposed to this,” Inquisitor Torrast spoke up grimly. “Their control of the Powered is tenuous enough, held only by our great common enemy of the Shrouds. When Allegiances start forming...”

“The idea that all men are created equal will be shattered,” I confirmed, and they sighed. “Moreover, the idea that the weak are equals of the strong and can order them around with impunity will fall away. The strong cannot Make Oath to the weak. That rule is merciless, and it is Right There. Be strong, or serve another who is. Cleverness, guile, connections, wealth, beauty... none of those matter.

“You must be stronger to lead. There is no alternative.”

It meant politicians would be pawns, because they would be ignored otherwise. People would vote with their hearts and feet, not a ballot which could be swayed by a charismatic fool or clever marketing. People with such gifts could be vassals and advisors, but never the rulers and decision-makers.

They would have Monarchs, or they would have True Kings, not State Representative Smith for District 12...

------

-All that is going to change the world,- Master Fred /noted for me as we exited the room.

“Yes. They can either get ahead of it, or they can drown in the deluge later. I think after some debate and they realize what would happen if that got dumped on the whole world combined with aggressive action from Things Outside... it’s waaaaay better to get started now.”

-Are you intent on pressing the Firezone all the way through?,- he /asked calmly.

“Yes. I’d like to make a clear example of what we can do to the Shroudzones, and remove attention from this one aberrant area.”

-And you intend to do the same with the Shroudzone in Antarctica?- he /asked.

“Not precisely. Antarctica I intend to soak for Rep Counts,” I replied.

He tilted his head, considering that. –I confess I do not realize how many Rep Counts you have to do,- he finally /admitted.josei

“Most people don’t follow the math through all that much. The general rule is 500 spells per Valence to make a Metamagic Practical, or to make a specific spell Efficient, doubling every Valence.”

He thought about that as we walked outside. -Ah! Higher level Valences especially are in short supply. Even lower Valences are going to take some time to make simple Metas Practical, or Valence I’s Efficient.-

“Yes. And even if you can Cast endlessly, you can still only Cast a base six hundred times an hour. Which in itself is awesome, but when you need to Cast four thousand times to make a Wall of Fire Efficient, or get Paired Practical for a mere I Valence, it gets real old, real fast.”

-So, older Casters, who have had lots of time to get in rep counts, are dangerous.- He nodded despite himself. -Makes sense!-

“Yes. While it might seem I’m lucky to have Arcane Thesis saving me time on my Shards... it doesn’t actually save me rep counts on anything BUT Shards. I still need all the reps for the Metas, for any and all other spells, and for Reserves, although Reserves are in total Valences, not Valence Levels, and so easier to hit.

“I need literally hundreds of thousands of rep counts, and preferably in the fastest way possible.”

-And you can’t double up on anything? Doing both the spell and the Meta at one time, or multiple Metas, for example?- he /asked, curious about all this.

“No. You have to focus on the effect you want to improve, and figure out how to do it. It’s different for every individual and Matrix. I can only use the same methodology as Aelryinth did, but I’ve got a very different Matrix. How I build it is based on my own cognizance.”

-Rep counts sound annoying,- he /noted professionally.

“Oh, they so bloody are.” And hopefully, my acceleration of them is coming soon...

-----------

Everyone gathered back up, with Helix now sporting his very own storm-blue Geniecraft bowler after meeting the Windgraf, and looking very proud of it. I teleported us all back to the Firezone across the miles, something literally no one else on the planet could do, as actually a fairly big crowd was gathering to send us off.

More people were starting to swear to my Banner. More than a few Divine Casters were among them, as they realized the mission I was on was of the highest order and wanted to be part of it.

There was only me getting stronger, and them getting stronger, too!

---------

We didn’t come in at the luau site, as that would have been just asking for a trap. I’d put the Seal about a mile away from it, inside a screening filter of rock to mask it from anyone looking for magic.

I snapped away the shrinking magic as soon we as popped in, returning everyone to full size as they adjusted to the spatial jolt and terrain shifting around them, while I surveyed the area to make sure nothing was lying in wait for us.

“Firebear to the east!” Helix reported.

Briggs had been filled in on what I needed to do. “We’ll take it, but we’re driving for the volcano there today. We want to reach its outskirts and either find the way in, or get up the slopes.

“We move, loot fast, keep moving. The cultivators know we are here, and they are going to prepare for us. Happily, we know it, too, and they still have no idea what we are capable of.

“Shoot and loot! Lord Sleipner, if you would?”

The Mass Disks popped up underneath everyone, the extras stacking up behind the unicorn motorcycle. Everyone slid into formation, and the unicorn led everyone across the landscape to the elephantine target of the massive fire bear, which probably had a name like Burning Iron Bear or Volcano Heart Bear or Six Devil Flames Bear... none of which mattered to us, in the end.

Bear, big physical combatant. Uses fire magic in some form, maybe another Element, find out when we get closer. Kill it, drain it, skin it, butcher it, take what is useful, vivic the rest, get moving.

The lads had taken Levels in Expert just so they could grab ranks in Profession: Butcher, and had even bought up Mastery Levels in it, just so they could skin and render down stuff with what to a normal person’s eyes was almost magical speed. They’d also all acquired adamantine Bowie Knives for back-up Weapons, courtesy of Sama’s connections, after realizing that their Melee ability needed to be upgraded significantly after seeing Sama, Briggs, The Mick, and Master Fred at work in close combat, and really, really wanting to be that awesome if needed.

-------

“... and dream of the wind at dawn.”

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Everyone was looking at me as my Aura Elevated. Magic churned in the air, visible as roiling rainbow reactions with the unclean Qi field hereabouts, ripping and tearing at it in response to my slightest thought, reverberating through the manafield that we’d been driving through the Firezone by killing and vivisizing everything. Vivic Weapons continuously burned, eating at the Fire Qi, flowing unwhite mist descending from them thickly and continuously.

I looked at my Assay calmly, already seeing my Matrix transform, a couple additional Spell Slots come into place that auto-filled on the surge of the moment.

=========

The Traveler, Halvyr/2 (Elf/2, Human/2), The High Wizard

Primary Classes: SageSorcerer/6 (P), Wizard/4 (11)

Secondary Classes: NPC: Expert/3, Vizard/3, Noble/3

Non-Caster: Melee/3, Scout/3, Archer/3, Monk/3

Caster Classes: Magus/3, Witch/3, Inquisitor/3 (6), Binder/3 (5), Artificer/3 (5), Alchemist/3, Minstrel/3 (6), Bard/3, Blighter/3 (5), Ur-Priest/3 (5)

Advanced Classes: Arcane Theurge/3, Mystic Theurge/3, Elemental Theurge/3, Lore Theurge/3, Creation Theurge/3, Name Theurge/3, Battlemad/3, Arcane Archer/3, Archsorcerer/3, Archwizard/5

Stats:

Strength: 13 +1

Dexterity: 25 +7 (+5 Inherent)

Constitution: 25 +7 (+5 Inherent)

Intellect: 35 +12 (+5 Inherent)

Wisdom: 23 +6 (+5 Inherent)

Charisma: 23 +6 (+5 Inherent)

Health: 50 (2d8 Halv/2 (16), + 14 Con, + Arcane Toughness/1 (+15), +Toughness (+5))

Soak: 135 (d6+Int (18), +3d6 (18) Sorc +10 FC, +20 Melee, +35 Con, +25 Arc Tough/2, +19 Tough/2)

Ki: 27 (9 Invested/Class)

Arcana: 31(19, +12 Spell Pool)

Talent: Naturally Centered

Racial Benefits: As Halvyr/Elf/Human 2: +2 Dexterity

Traits:Experienced Warrior, Mark of Doom, Favored by Faith, Magical Lineage, Undead Killer, Warcaster Tradition

Karma: Current Nine (78%)

Base Abilities...

Feats/Class Abilities...

=============

What do you know, I got a Title out of it, too...