Dark Fate, Chapter 101 (Patreon)

Chapter 101 – Level Up

The attack on the terrorist camp turned dungeon had been quite profitable for me. The System-created guns, ammunition, and explosives were all massive windfalls. Oh, sure, I had no reason to use them, but I could have the manufacturing plant take some of them apart, which would add those templates to what Ceres could produce. That was huge, especially considering our influx of people from Earth. While melee weapons had seen a major resurgence, and ‘archaic’ weapons, like the bow, were now back in vogue due to the System’s setup, that didn’t mean that guns were useless.

The big problem with guns under the System was how they interacted with Skills and Class Abilities. Skills that improved accuracy of ranged weapons worked fine with them. Skills that improved firing rate or range did not, or behaved differently depending on the type of gun being used. And then there were class abilities. Unless you had a class like Gunslinger or Sniper, guns weren’t going to interact well with your class ‘spells’, like a Ranger’s [Volley] ability.

However, that didn’t mean that guns were useless. Obviously, those classes that were able to use guns were able to use them to devastating effect. But where they really shined was for classes that weren’t ranged combat specialists. In other words, they were the ideal backup weapon for classes like Priests, Mages, Merchants, and so on. All they needed was a skill point to be proficient with the weapon, and they’d have a much better stand-off defense than just trying to hit an enemy fighter with a thrown dagger.

Of course, that wasn’t the only boon I got. I also managed to pick up several levels, thanks to the XP of killing not just the terrorists, but also the dungeon monsters, and the dungeon itself. I was now Level 36 in Tier 1. Distributing the attribute points was easy enough. Most went to DEX and WIS, but a couple went to STR. Deciding what to do with the skill points was more difficult, however.

Available   Skills:

Note: Your available skills are based   on your Race, Class, Profession, and activities.

Racial   Skills:

Aerial   Defender – Gain 10% to Defense while in flight.

Summon   Demons – Summon demons to your side. Demons are not bound, and must be either   bargained with or otherwise subdued. (Costs 2 points to take)

Aura   of Lust – Project an aura of lustful energy, causing all creatures within   (CHA) feet that can see or hear you to be overwhelmed with lustful feelings.   Can only have one active aura up at a time. (Costs 2 points to take)

Aura   of Sloth – Project an aura of indolence, causing all creatures within (CHA)   feet that can see or hear you to become listless and uninspired. Can only   have one active aura up at a time. (Costs 2 points to take.)

Class   Skills:

Enhanced   Summoning – Summoned creatures gain 10% increased stats. (Costs 2 points to   take.)

Curse   Resistance I – Curse Effects of Tier 2 are 50% less effective. 90% chance to be   immune to curses of Tier 1. (Costs 2 points to take.)

Profession   Skills:

Mind   Shaping – Able to create training regimens that will increase mental   attributes over time.

Artisan   Slaves – Slaves designated as Artisans gain +1 INT or DEX per level (chosen   at designation).

Adept   Slaves – Slaves designated as Adepts gain +1 INT or +1 WIS per level (chosen   at designation).

Improved   Training – Reduce the cost for training or granting skills. (Costs 2 points   to take.)

Class   Training – Can change the class of Slaves. Slave must have attributes   appropriate for the new class. (Costs 2 points to take.)

Profession   Training – Can change the profession of Slaves. Slave must have attributes   appropriate for the new profession. (Costs 2 points to take.)

General   Skills:

Autopsy   – Imparts knowledge of autopsy procedures, as well as the knowledge of how to   search for and diagnose cause of death.

Harvesting   – Increases your ability to harvest useful reagents and materials from   corpses. May replace automatic dungeon loot.

Forgery   – Increases your ability to make convincing forgeries of documents and other   items.

Paperwork   – Increases speed of bureaucratic tasks, reduces errors.

City   Planning – Increases efficiency of managing a city, including its resources,   infrastructure, and inhabitants.

Rulership   – Increases efficiency of ruling a nation, including its resources,   infrastructure, and inhabitants.

Heroic   Leader – Increases morale of populace so long as leader lives up to their   image. May have other effects.

Tyrannical   Leader – Efficacy of seditious movements decreased. May have other effects.

Warlord   – Increases abilities of forces when leading them into battle.

Savagery   – Killing an enemy in an especially brutal way may demoralize other enemies   who witness the act.

I had twelve skill points to spend. I ignored [Aerial Defender] because I hadn’t been involved in aerial combat so far. Likewise, [Autopsy], [Forgery], and [Harvesting] weren’t things I was likely to use, now that I was ruling a kingdom. [Summon Demons] was all right, but I already had the [Summoning] skill from being a Warlock, so that was a bit redundant. So, those skills were ignored.

I could use [Mind Shaping], [Artisan Slaves], and [Adept Slaves], since those would provide nice benefits over time to my slaves, but I wasn’t sure whether they were actually worth the skill points. Those skills were primarily designed for a Slave Master who focused solely on molding slaves into something useful. [Body Shaping], which I already had, required you to spend time training the slave every day, which was impossible for how many slaves I already had. As for the other two skills, those effects would continue, even after a slave was sold, making them valuable for increasing a slave’s sale value. But since I wasn’t actually selling slaves, as a rule, the small passive boost wasn’t as useful as some of the other skills I had available.

The [Aura of Lust] and [Aura of Sloth] skills were interesting, but friendly fire was definitely a problem. Since it made no separation between friend and foe, the auras would either drive anyone in the area into a mating frenzy, or cause them to become lazy peons taking a nap on shift. Both could be useful, but only in niche situations. Most of the time, they would cause more problems than they solved. They went to the bottom of the ’possibilities’ list.

[Enhanced Summoning], [Curse Resistance I], and [Paperwork] were all serious contenders. Sure, I didn’t do much summoning, but having any summons I did perform bring out better, stronger summons was always a plus. Being able to resist curses, which included things like [Slave Brand] or [Puppet Brand], was definitely a thing to consider, especially since my new position would have me getting more enemies, and higher profile ones. And being able to blow through paperwork without making errors was very nice. But there were other skills that would have bigger impacts than those three.

[City Planning] and [Rulership] would allow me to better run both Ceres, and my kingdom as a whole, once we started expanding, and putting colonies in the rest of the outer system. [Heroic Leader] and [Tyrannical Leader] sounded like opposites that would be mutually exclusive, but they actually weren’t. A Hero inspired the people, and a Tyrant kept them under control. It would take careful work, but, if I combined them with the management skills, then I could cultivate the myth of a Hero King who was Tough but Fair.

[Warlord] and [Savagery] would help in any conflicts I participated in, directly. It would only work in ground or ship-board combat, not naval engagements, but that was still a huge boost if someone managed to invade Ceres. Or, more likely, if I needed to put boot to ass because someone decided to piss me off. Either way, it was hard to pass them up.

Which just left the three skills I absolutely wanted to take. [Improved Training] would make it easier for me to give my slaves all sorts of skills. Having more skills than fewer was always better. [Class Training] and [Profession Training] would let me take anyone who had problematic classes or professions that happened to become one of my slaves, and turn them into something more useful. For instance, if I caught a Puppet Master, I could turn them into a Flame Sorcerer, and then use [Training] to alter their skills, so they couldn’t make puppets out of people. Or, I could take someone who had a useless profession, like Conspiracy Theorist, and turn them into something more productive, like Investigator.

Those three took up six of my points. [City Planner], [Rulership], [Heroic Leader], and [Tyrannical Leader] took up another four, leaving me with just two left. Those last two were the hardest choice to make. There were just too many good choices! In the end, though, I decided on [Curse Resistance I]. I’d gotten as far as I had in this timeline by making sure I couldn’t be taken out, and then looking for a way to win. As Sun Tzu said, “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” With [Curse Resistance I], layered on top of my other magical resistances, it would have to be a very powerful curse to affect me, and my other defenses and health pool were already at a level that could rival some Tier 2 combatants.

I made sure I was seated before confirming my choices. A good thing, too, as the sudden rush of information being poured into my head by the System was overwhelming, and would have sent me to the floor if I’d been standing. Reviewing the information, I found that most of it was from [City Planner] and [Rulership]. The other skills were all simpler, if more immediately powerful, but those two? They were comprehensive. The knowledge I had, now, would have taken years of study at a university plus years more of real-world experience to learn, without the System doing the hard work for me.

Thankfully, I had almost recovered when Lilith sauntered into my office, apparently having just breezed by my secretary. Still, she wasn’t fooled by my act. “Oh, Daddy! You didn’t try and pick all your skills at once again, did you? That’s a great way to knock yourself out for hours!”

I smiled weakly. “Well, most of them were fine. Good skills, and strong ones, but really straightforward in how they worked. It was two of the weaker ones that hit me hard. But at least I know how to run a city and a country, now!”

She sighed, as she sat down on the corner of my desk. “Well, at least you had the sense to come to the office and sit down before doing that. Really, how did you get to be so powerful, and yet always make these kinds of mistakes?”

I shrugged, as my energy recovered. “What can I say? It was just taking risks and rolling with things as they happened that led to all my successes, and my failures, in the other timeline. Don’t know about your timeline, but I assume it was much the same. And, so far, I’ve done fine, this timeline.”

“Sure, but I really would like for this timeline to go along without needing to be reset yet again, you know? So, just think a bit before you go doing things like that, all right? Especially when taking on the big skills. When you get into Tier 2, they’ll start hitting a lot harder.”

“All right, all right. You made your point.” I grinned, and leaned back in my chair. “So, what’s up? I doubt you came in just to criticize my timing on skill selection.”

“Oh, nothing much. Its just that our ‘Embassy’ in Atlanta is getting a lot of very nervous phone calls from the US and other governments. Something about a nuclear-type explosion in Libya. So far, they’ve responded with promises to talk with you, and call back as soon as they find out what is happening.”

“Ah, fuck. I guess we did kind of blow up a bit of desert. Well, that’s fine. I was going to have to meet with diplomats eventually. Tell them that I’ll accept visitors at the Atlanta Embassy tomorrow afternoon, where I will hear their questions.”

Lilith nodded. “Good choice. Don’t want them to think they can just call you at will, but still want to be open to talks. All right, I’ll let the girls in Atlanta know.”

“Oh, and Lilith?”

“Yes, Daddy?”

“Remind me after this that we need to see about recruiting a few Ambassadors of our own. And we may need to allow a couple Embassies on Ceres. We’re part of the big time, now, and should act like it.”

“Of course, Daddy!”