Chapter 838 – Remior’s golden century – Paths to prosperity (Patreon)

“Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that we have a winner!” the announcer exclaimed through the enchantments after his assistants confirmed that Owain was okay.

“Jalad is this year’s sixth regional champion, and will be awarded a silver prize for his victory!” he added as the audience erupted in cheers. “But that’s just the start. As is tradition, Jalad will have the opportunity to compete against the champions of the seven other regions in this very arena a few months from now, for a chance at a golden reward!”

“What do you think he will pick?” Elaine asked.

“He clearly doesn’t need any more affinity-granting treasures, and I doubt he’s close to running out of Aurora Dew,” Nesha replied. “He’s probably saving his rewards for the next tier.”

Sure enough, the presenter spoke again after apparently receiving a message through his earpiece. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been informed that this is Jalad’s tenth silver prize, which means that our champion may choose to exchange his rewards for a golden prize right away!”

Walking up to the exhausted metal mage, he added, “You are naturally allowed to hold on to your silver prizes or redeem them in private, but I’m sure that our audience would be excited to hear your choice!”

The crowd began chanting “Gold! Gold! Gold!” as the announcer moved the sound amplification device close to the champion’s mouth.

“Seems like I was right,” Nesha chuckled.

Percy nodded, thinking that the reward system he had established had proven itself quite robust.

Bronze rewards were those given to everyone immediately and for free. The category included lifetime access to regular elixirs – not the diluted ones. The hives and alchemists could easily support the expenditure for the entire population, and Percy believed that everyone deserved to live a longer and healthier life even if they lacked the drive or talent to contribute to the planet’s magical development. There were obviously better cleansing resources that could be obtained easily enough, but regular elixirs were superior to what Red-borns and commoners had been able to get their hands on in the past. Besides, purchasing twice a person’s daily dosage of elixirs and consuming them with cyan paste was a relatively accessible alternative to Aurora Dew that provided most of the benefits without placing as much of a strain on the hives.

Access to education was another bronze reward.

Alchemy training wasn’t limited to the Alchemists’ Guild anymore, nor was magiscript knowledge restricted by House Etna. The head of the Education and Alchemy Departments, Orin, had overseen the creation of numerous academies that specialized in various fields such as alchemy, runecrafting, mindset creation, spectral trait research, and life studies. People of any age could attend the academies for free, and their courses could typically be completed in a handful of years. Completing a course would grant one a qualification in that field, lifetime access to advanced reading material, and even a silver reward.

There was no penalty for failing or dropping out, though one would have to pay a moderate tuition fee to retake the course, to prevent abuse. That way, everyone had the opportunity to uncover hidden talents or interests, while also gaining access to additional ways of obtaining more coveted prizes.

The Moirais’ Decree and Micky’s boosting art were also treated as bronze rewards.

Percy could still only give people their second cores by possessing them one at a time, so passing the Decree to everyone hadn’t been a trivial task. Still, there had only been about two million people living on Remior by the end of the war, while giving the Decree to over twice as many Starry Knights had only taken Percy about half a decade.

The Moirais’ Decree was the most impactful thing Percy could give to his people, since it simultaneously extended their lifespan, greatly enhanced their strength, and opened new doors for them through unique affinity fusions or by giving them a mana type that might suit their bloodlines or interests better than the affinity they had been born with.

Remior’s population obviously wasn’t static, and had grown a lot after a century of peace and prosperity. However, Percy had felt that it was worth spending a year or two every couple of decades to give the Moirais’ Decree to each new batch of young people – at least until he figured out a less troublesome way to disseminate it.

The boosting art was almost as impactful while requiring zero effort from Percy, because it could be taught by anyone. Nowadays, one could easily find tutorial videos for every affinity in the network.

Silver was the first gated tier, and included things like common affinity-changing treasures, Aurora Dew, and the ruby powder.

Affinity-changing treasures could also open new doors for people, though the effect wasn’t nearly as drastic as the Moirais’ Decree, and the treasures cost Sapphire Pavilion tokens. In theory, Percy had possessed more than enough tokens to grant a pair of affinity-changing treasures to everyone on Remior twice over, but his balance would eventually run out if he wasn’t careful.

He couldn’t easily earn more tokens unless he sold things that would bring him and Remior trouble. He also needed to keep buying karmic compasses and other useful items from the auctions every year, so he had decided to place the reward behind a small barrier to ensure that only those who really wanted an affinity-granting treasure would receive one.

The same applied to Aurora Dew. The hives currently produced enough nectar to give Aurora Dew to around sixty percent of Remior’s population, and a silver reward would buy someone access to their daily dosage for an entire decade from their local dispenser.

Silver rewards weren’t difficult to earn, as they could be obtained in a number of different ways.

Winning a regional tournament was actually one of the hardest methods, though it had the advantage of being repeatable by those who were talented enough to participate every year. Other methods included completing an academy course, making a minor contribution to any magical field, or performing well in various non-combat competitions and trials inspired by the Vault’s challenges.

There were even simpler methods, like working for the government for a certain number of years, providing evidence of diligent core-cleansing for a prolonged period of time, submitting a major contribution in a non-magical field, or simply purchasing the silver rewards directly from the government and other people for a hefty sum.

There would never be a perfectly fair way to distribute the rewards, because there would always be people who were more privileged in whatever method Percy selected, which was why he had aimed to create various viable paths to obtaining everything.

In theory, the ruby powder was abundant enough that it could have just as easily been placed in the bronze tier and given to everyone, though its benefits were also limited enough that it made more sense to use it as a motivating factor for those who needed it.

Golden rewards could be earned by winning the world tournament or other equivalent competitions, making a major contribution to a magical field, or exchanging ten silver rewards. Earning a golden reward directly was rather difficult, but there were several ways to accumulate enough spare silver rewards if one worked hard for a reasonable amount of time.

The golden tier included prizes such as spectral traits, the Enhanced Cognition mindset from the plaque, or a leaf from one of the three second-generation saplings that Percy had planted on Remior.

Percy would have loved to move spectral traits to the bronze tier, as giving everyone a new supernatural talent would have greatly accelerated Remior’s development. The problem was that helping a host assimilate a spectral fiend required possessing them for a couple of minutes. It wasn’t that long, but it was an order of magnitude longer than the time needed to grant the Moirais’ Decree. Giving traits to everyone would have consumed all the time of Percy’s main body.

Obtaining Enhanced Cognition from the plaque didn’t require Percy’s presence, but the plaque had to recharge between uses, and Percy hadn’t managed to replicate or improve upon the artifact.

Meanwhile, the three second-generation saplings would eventually produce more than enough leaves for everyone on Remior, yet the leaves would have to remain in a more expensive tier until the plants grew to their full size.

Finally, there was the platinum tier.

There was no standardized way to earn a platinum reward directly, but they could be redeemed for ten golden rewards or gifted at Percy’s discretion.

Cradles fell into that tier since they required two weeks of effort from one of Percy’s clones, though the applicant would have to demonstrate sufficient mastery of the Dance before the application even reached Percy’s rWatch.

Rapid Cognition was also a platinum reward, as it was a mindset that Percy could personally grant to someone else with a few hours of work. The original version that he had given Nephthys had only boosted her thinking speed by thirty percent – the halfway point between Enhanced Cognition and Percy’s Supercharged Cognition at the time.

After assimilating the wasp’s experience and conceptual understanding, Percy’s own boost had risen to sixty percent, while the boost he could give other people had climbed to thirty-five percent.

The good news was that the Mindset Creation Department had finally produced a couple dozen specialists after a few decades of training. Percy hoped to pass the task over to those people soon, move Rapid Cognition to the silver tier and remove Enhanced Cognition from the reward pool entirely.

A platinum reward could also purchase a decade’s worth of Gloomy Dawn.

The royal wasps could produce a lot more jelly than they used to, so Percy could afford to brew some of the best cleansing resources for people other than his inner circle. That said, maintaining permanent access to Gloomy Dawn would require somebody to consistently earn a platinum reward every ten years, which would be impossible for all but the most talented and hard-working mages.

It would require somebody to win the world tournament every single year, or perform similarly well in the non-combat competitions. Alternatively, they would have to regularly submit major contributions to a magical field or spend enough money to empty the coffers of even the wealthiest families.

Percy had considered creating a fifth reward tier for rare affinity-granting treasures, but had decided to wait until he found a more reliable way of earning Sapphire Pavilion tokens.

Managing everything had initially been a logistical nightmare, but Elaine’s government and the introduction of rWatches had eventually streamlined the process. People could submit their applications for whatever reward they wanted to redeem, and the system would sort them into appropriate queues.

Large groups of people were invited to certain venues for Percy to possess efficiently, and his rWatch fed him a list of the requested affinity-changing treasures to purchase from the Sapphire Pavilion during each auction. Those who missed their turn for one reason or another would just be moved to the next available window to receive their prize.

Whenever Percy was too busy with his own projects to participate in the system, he would just freeze the affected rewards for a couple of years until he was ready to pick up the slack.

All things considered, pushing Remior’s development along had inevitably consumed a respectable amount of his time, but he’d done his best to find the right balance between his personal growth and that of his people.

“I wish to redeem my rewards for a spectral trait,” Jalad finally said after catching his breath and having considered his options for a couple of minutes.

The audience erupted in cheers again as the presenter moved the sound-amplification enchantments to his own mouth. “And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The choice has been made! The Tournament Association will submit the application on Jalad’s behalf, and our champion will likely receive his response within–”

“No need for all of that,” Percy spoke softly, but infused his willpower into his voice to ensure everyone heard him. Before anyone could even register who had spoken, he moved in front of the victorious contestant with a single graceful step. “I can grant you the trait directly if you’d rather skip the wait.”