PenguinKills
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Chapter 128 - Curtains Close
🕑 Added 2024-09-05 20:08:18 +0000 UTCChris
Tutorial End: 00:00:25:12
I knew that Tracy was stalling but I allowed myself the chance to voice my thoughts. I wasn't required to do so but it felt good to get it off my chest. It was different than discussing it with Austin or Abigail, they were biased to what I had to say.
Tracy, though, jumped headfirst into the kind of thinking that was required when back on Earth. Maybe a bit too much for my tastes, but she would see what I was talking about without me having to explain it or justify myself.
And if I was reading her expression correctly, she thought I wasn't going far enough with what I was asking for. The initial surprise when I asked for subjugation was hard to miss.
That didn't bother me though. I was asking for what I felt was right. A fair enough compensation that it didn't feel like extorsion or stealing. We helped with the waves, helped her survive, and now we would be getting something out of it.
My challenge also gave her the opportunity to defend herself. As the challenged, she would be able to dictate the kind of battle that would ensue.
One-on-one, group, army, it didn't matter much to me, and was left up to what she wanted to do.
Refusal was also an option but at that point, I could say I tried the honorable way first.
When Austin first proposed the idea, I wanted nothing to do with it. It was a needless way to make enemies and was ultimately unnecessary. The marginal gain wasn't worth antagonizing her or others in the future.
I wanted to build a city without the fighting or wars that most would endure. A way to isolate myself and my family away from the fighting we had been forced to go through.
Making enemies was counterproductive to that goal and antagonizing her would turn her into an enemy for later. Killing her would accomplish the same without making enemies but I was unwilling to stoop so low.
It was only after a lot of thought and consideration that I came around to the idea. The thing that changed my mind, and the reason I proposed what I did, was because of the future.
While burying my head in the sand and taking an isolationist policy sounded good, it would eventually lead to problems. If I created my city up North and stood alone without fighting for the things that would make me stronger, others would.
Others would fight, claw, and strive for every scrap while I took the slower way, without fighting for things and rising in levels at a more sedate pace. The problems wouldn't show themselves immediately, but over time, they would show up.
In 10 years, 20, years, 100 years, what would the power difference be? I had to consider longer stretches of time now that my lifespan had been extended. I wasn't sure of the exact length I would live naturally but it was close to 200 years now that I was E-rank.
If I didn't gain strength at the same rate as others, I wouldn't be able to keep up. If I didn't seek out resources and opportunities and left them alone because of an unwillingness to fight, I would fall behind.
My family would fall behind.
And after 50 or so years of not keeping pace, what would I do when someone stronger than me, a rank ahead with better gear, came to conquer my city? Came to subjugate what I had built?
This new world necessitated conflict and I couldn't shy away from it. Wouldn't shy away from it. If I did, it would lead to paying fealty to someone else down the line or worse, death. While being under someone and paying fealty to others wasn't a bad thing, generally speaking, it depended on who it was you paid fealty to.
It was subject to change and could become someone who was unworthy of it.
It was better to not take that chance in the first place and stand on your own two feet. To remain independent of anyone else's influence. To do that, to remain independent, I needed to fight at times that required it. To challenge the people who needed it. To gain the resources and opportunity I required to stand on my own.
Which was what led me to what I had come up with.
I would try words first, buying what I wanted or trading for it, then, after words failed, I would resort to challenging them. If that didn't work and they refused to entertain that.
Well, I did my best.
I took every step towards a solution that didn't require such lengths and was refused at every turn.
After that, what happened wasn't my fault anymore.
War was bloody and most often needless, but it still had a place in history for a reason. It was my goal not to resort to that, but sometimes doing something I didn't like was an option I couldn't refuse.
It was better than what others would no doubt do.
Comparing myself to others wasn't a good way to judge the morality of my actions but it helped ease my conscience. Made me feel better about the path I had come up with.
I could only hope my father didn't disapprove. I didn't think he would but it was a constant thing I thought about.
After issuing my challenge, Tracy stared at me in contemplation. I had little doubt she was going over everything in her head that she could do but in the end, I expected her to agree without a fight.
At least that was what I hoped. I didn't desire to fight again. I didn't want to fight. Not for a while really.
The timer ticked away and she finally gave an answer.
"Fine," It was hard not to hear the disappointment in her voice but she had agreed nonetheless.
Without being prompted she continued, "I, Tracy Litterman, Leader of the Hoosier faction, do swear fealty to Christopher Zalenski, Leader of the Zalenski Family. May my pylons and lands be under his and may my vassals become his."
The oath was bare bones but I didn't need it to be anything more than that. The System took her words and made them true, my status sheet had a few more lines on it and the deal was done.
Being in the tutorial changed a few things and a few things that would have happened back on Earth didn't. Being subjugated here was only a pylon ownership thing with only a faction hierarchy order change.
We didn't have noble ranks or cities to think about. If this were later, and back on Earth between two cities or kingdoms, there would be a levy paid to me from Tracy. She would pay me some of the taxes she earned along with a few other things related to city governance.
There wasn't a tax that the camps were able to collect as we didn't deal in coins and there wasn't a material tax on dungeons as there were none. Both were missing from our agreement.
Usually, a city had a percentage tax that the Lord decided upon along with a few other things that were also up to their discretion. Any dungeon controlled would also have people pay to use or tax some of the materials earned inside of it.
We had none of those things so it was only pylon ownership that I gained from the oath.
Tracy's 6 pylons were now under my control and she even had a vassal of her own. I didn't know that the Southern camp had sworn fealty to her but now they were under me as well along with the 5 pylons they managed to capture.
With the time that was left, there wasn't a chance of me making it back up North. It wasn't like I had to, as everything was already planned for, but that meant I had nothing to do for the last 20 minutes of the tutorial.
I couldn't conquer a pylon in that time or do anything of significance, only sit and wait for the end.
Not wanting to loom around Tracy's camp, I walked a bit away into the jungle before sitting down on a rock. Hammer to my side and waited for the tutorial to end.
I couldn't help but think over everything that had happened. The changed man that had entered and turned into what I was now.
Wonder about the fate of humanity, whether my Mother and brother were still alive.
I didn't like to think about what she and Gabe were doing. It wasn't healthy to constantly think about. There was no way to know what they were going through or confirm whether they were alive.
They would be my first stop when I returned. Running home as fast as possible to make sure both of them still lived.
If they weren't... no. Don't think like that.
As the timer approached zero, Abigail's voice sounded in my head.
"They managed to get one more. 31 total. Rachel succeeded. Bloodlines secured."
At least there was some good news to end this nightmare. We accomplished what we had set out for and we were ready for the return to Earth.
With 31 pylons under our faction, along with 6 from Tracy and 5 from the Southern camp, we had 42 out of 50.
84% of the total pylons in the tutorial were ours.
Tutorial End: 00:00:02:01
I couldn't help but think about the prizes we would get for accomplishing such a feat.
~~
Tsurandom
Sweat pooled on his face as he paced outside the opulent doors. The heat bleeding through even the strongest of formations lining the entry to his patron's domain was higher than normal.
The worry he felt was almost debilitating and his knees felt like they were about to give out. While keeping track of the integration tutorial he couldn't help the mounting dread that built up.
There weren't supposed to be any survivors yet there had been many. Under 10% was still wildly outside the average deviation compared to all of the tutorials taking place but that wasn't how his patron did things.
Caring not for the fact that they most likely had the lowest survival rate in all the integration, the fact there were survivors was a problem.
Not a problem for the participants, but for Tsurandom himself. Survivors in the tutorial he supervised did not lead to a healthy and fulfilling life. It led to a short and hot end with his family soon to follow. Probably everyone he knew soon after if his patron was in a particularly bad mood.
Still, it was his duty to report the end and there was no getting out of it. No matter how hard he tried and wished to be anywhere else in the multiverse.
He steeled himself the best he could before pushing through the heavily decorated plated doors and into the inferno.
The fires raged hotter than normal which did not signal a good start to what would surely be his end. They nipped at him as he passed through, burning and searing his flesh.
Even his body tempered by fire couldn't handle the flames his patron controlled.
Sweat traced down his features for more reasons than one as he knelt down at the foot of the Sovereign Flame's throne.
No acknowledgment came until blackened and burnt scales marred his form. The raging fires were too much for his defenses to handle.
Finally, he was given permission to speak.
"My Lord, the tutorial draws to a close and I need your approval on matters concerning its end," Tsurandum spoke in the clearest tone he could even as his body wanted nothing more than to sprint away from the being he faced.
With there being survivors, Tsurandom couldn't close the tutorial under his own power. The sponsor of the tutorial, his patron, had a chance to bless any participants that he chose before the other Gods who watched had the chance.
There was little possibility of that happening but it was still outside of his control. The System itself wouldn't let him bring the tutorial to a conclusion, hence his presence here.
The fire flared briefly before leveling out at the heightened intensity it was at.
"I am aware of what is needed." Short and clipped was his patron's response.
Tsurandom didn't have the courage to defend himself. 113 survivors out of an initial 1,344. A survival rate of 8.4%, the lowest of the subject's entire world. Lower than even The White Hoard's, even those lunatics had more survivors than his.
Once the tutorial was planned, it took significant effort to change and how was he supposed to know they would all come together and only defend one camp?
That rarely happened and if it did, it was too late to do anything. There weren't enough people to defend against the waves to survive. Except this time, that didn't happen.
Plus, the aberration that his tutorial involved was outside of his power to control. Rather than crumbling under the pressure and loss, the being leaned on his warrior's spirit to survive.
The likelihood of one of his participants forming a Spirit of the Warrior was so minuscule, statistically, that it wasn't even considered. The odds were so low they were effectively zero.
Still, he clamped his mouth and awaited his punishment. Not daring to say anything else less he curse his family line worse than he already had.
Except, the flame and heat never came. The burning end he anticipated never came.
"Go, I will take care of it." His patron said and dismissed him with a heated wave. The scalding air blackening more of his scales as he knelt.
At first, he thought it was a trick and stayed kneeling where he was. A test to see if he would leave with haste and run from punishment. It wasn't until his patron's aura bore down on him that he was forced to flee.
His body refused to endure and made him leave instinctively. Not willing to stay in the same room as the being pressing down on him and fled without his brain being able to do anything about it.
Even as he rushed away, he couldn't help but dread the other shoe dropping.
~~
Flame Sovereign Callum
The flames rose to the ceiling, turning white hot after the peasant left. He could feel the trembling his assistant was trying and failing to hide. There was nothing that could hide inside his domain.
His fire saw everything.
The Dragon-kin was so weak his scales burned from his fire. Callum took a perverse pleasure in burning things that weren't meant to be burnt. A Fire Dragon's scales were almost indestructible against flames yet he had done it anyway.
That did little to ease his frustration.
While abnormalities were possible and had happened before, they ruined his experiments and fouled his mood. They were outliers that were unaccountable for which was a constant bane he had to deal with over the integrations.
Watching the broken one corrupt others and break their minds was thrilling to watch but it was hard to ignore the ending he had lived. His fun had ended and his fascination was no more.
This wasn't the first time it had happened and it wouldn't be the last but it still frustrated him every time an aberration popped up. The incomplete feeling of a job not finished was hard to get over.
Still, he had to do what was required of him or the System would penalize him and no one wanted that.
He prepared some of his pre-recorded endings and called it a day, unwilling to spend any more time on the failure. Instead, he thought ahead to what he could do better.
The ants would die in a few years anyway, what did it matter that they lived for a few more? None of them would make it to godhood.
Increasing the rewards for conquest should incite more violence. Changing the pylon structure could incentivize it even making them closer together. Boosting the rewards for killing others more than stray monsters could be a fun avenue to test.
His mind forgot the inconsequential ants that toiled with ideas of his future experiments. Looking ahead to the next chance he would have.
For he would do to others what was done to him.
Comments
Alexander C Hyde
A fair enough compensation that it didn't feel like (extortion)extorsion or stealing.
Kyle
I appreciate that Callum is just moving on to the next experiment. I know the whole “vengeful god” trope is a classic but it never made much sense to me. You would think after living for millennia one would stop feeling the need to hunt down every insect that ever bit them. It feels much more realistic that Callum is just continuing on with his actual goals.
IgnisPrimus
All good! :)
PenguinKills
There is, just ran a tad behind. Sorry for that.
IgnisPrimus
No chapters today?
PenguinKills
Yes
TheLazerCat
I think that is exactly what it is supposed to be though. He doesn't like doing it so he is trying to justify it to himself. I think it makes a lot of sense that someone would do that, even though everyone knows it is just a sham to get what he wants/needs. Makes him a bit more human.
sn0_0ker
Is Soverign a typo? Shouldn't it be Sovereign?
Somerito
Since Tracy's group is now a subordinate faction to Chris will they all return to earth in the same location or is everyone returning to where they originally were. I don't think it was ever made clear if the various tutorial groups were from the same general vicinity or not.
James Faulkner
Tftc!
Demonlord
Thanks for the nice chapter 😊 Finally we reached the end of the tutorial... I hope there are some damn good prices for Chris and his family
Thragnar
I like that the character is actually taking a semi realistic approach to gaining territory and bringing people under his banner, so to speak instead of how other litrpg books just have people joining up with the mc out of nowhere. I don't like the whole challenge thing though, it sounds like he's trying to justify it to himself instead of being honest. Both him and Tracy both already know how this will end, no need to do the challenge.
