Chapter 1428 - Temporary Ban (Patreon)

Dying definitely sucked, and it was highly recommended by nine out of ten medical professionals to avoid it, with the tenth professional currently under investigation for obvious reasons. Jake had already died a few times throughout his life, and all of those times had also sucked majorly.

To experience death in a virtual world honestly wasn’t bad compared to somewhere like Nevermore. Dying in Nevermore actually felt like dying, while death in the World of the Exalted Prima felt somewhat fake. Instinctively, everyone could tell that dying wouldn’t lead to true death, which was probably also why Jake couldn’t fully stimulate his Bloodline within the virtual world.

In one particular area where dying within the World of the Exalted Prima sucked was the consequences. Getting excluded from the system event sucked, and while Jake had already mentally prepared himself to be locked out for a month, which he would likely just spend sitting around within the Seat of the Exalted Prima waiting to reenter, but yeah... that wasn’t going to happen.

After opening his eyes in the real world after what felt like forever, Jake was met with a system message he’d known would come, but that didn’t stop him from side-eyeing it and cursing under his breath.

You have died within the World of the Exalted Prima. Due to the circumstances of your death, you cannot reenter the World of the Exalted Prima for the next year (365) days.

A whole fucking year. Jake, and probably everyone else, had banked on being excluded from the simulation for a month should they die; however, that clearly wasn’t the case. Had everyone who died within the Central Domain been excluded for a year? Just those who died within the Palace of Abundance? Maybe just the Inner City and further in? There really was no way to know, though perhaps Jake and everyone else should have seen it coming.

The exclusion period, being a month, had never been the rule. It was just the minimum, as per the system message they’d all gotten shortly after entering the World of the Exalted Prima for the first time:

“Dying within the World of the Exalted Prima will result in losing access for a minimum of thirty (30) days, but this lockout period may be extended dependent on the circumstances of the death.”

Clearly, this event within the World of the Exalted Prima had counted as “circumstances” in this context. Jake thought it was a little bullshit and that the system should have warned them that the exclusion period would increase at some point, but then again, would that information have changed anything? Would Jake have chosen not to enter the Abundant Palace if he knew dying in there would lead to an extended lockout period?

Fuck no.

Jake had never even considered that he could die in the first place. He always had confidence in himself, and something as small as an extended lockout period would never stop him from participating in something that seemed interesting and challenging. The risk of true death couldn’t stop him, so why would something like that?

Still, it sucked.

The Exalted Prima had at least been nice enough to inform Jake that the event within the Central Domain would be extended for a year, meaning by the time Jake could reenter the World of the Exalted Prima, the fourth phase would also begin.

He’d also informed Jake of something else that made his next decision a bit easier. Jake had gotten a bit of a sneak peek into the fourth phase, and one of the things he’d learned was that travel to and from the Seat of the Exalted Prima and generally entering and leaving the World of the Exalted Prima would become a lot less limited.

Right now, leaving the Seat of the Exalted Prima meant one couldn’t return again for a year. That did mean Jake could leave and still return roughly in time for the fourth phase to begin, even without a rule change to travel, but learning that it would be far less restricted was still good to know.

Jake remembered that Aisha had asked about this exact thing during their little Q&A with the Abundant Emperor, during which the cyclops didn’t fully answer. Perhaps he couldn’t; it was hard to tell. Even now, Jake wasn’t entirely sure what the Abundant Emperor was. Quasi-Bound God? Was that even a thing? Perhaps just a creation of the Exalted Prima? It had to be something like that.

Letting out a sigh, Jake shook his head and stood up within the small chamber inside the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Stretching a little, Jake quickly got the stiffness out of his body, though there wasn’t that much of it. He also noted how his body felt surprisingly good compared to how he’d felt just before the Exalted Prima had disconnected him from the simulation.

The reason for which he also quickly realized.

Primeval Origin Energy.

Jake had more or less spent all of it within the simulation, but now that he was back in the real world, his tank was filled right back up again. He didn’t look forward to that part of reentering the simulation as he didn’t like feeling so oddly depleted, but there wasn’t really anything to be done about that besides waiting.

Anyway, he would deal with that when the time came. For now, he had a year where he couldn’t enter the World of the Exalted Prima, and given that, he saw no reason to stick around and waste his time inside the Seat of the Exalted Prima.

It did suck that he couldn’t have talked to Miranda or conveyed some message, but again, he would do all that once he returned to the virtual world. For now, it was best to leave the World Wonder as quickly as possible so that the year cooldown before he could travel back to the Seat of the Exalted Prima could begin immediately. That way he could return before the fourth phase began.

For now, he would leave everything to those who remained in there, and quite frankly, they should be doing pretty damn well. Even if Jake had gone out prematurely, he’d earned a fuckload of Prima Credits for Miranda to spend, not to mention William, who had not only returned alive to their Territory but had also earned a lot of Credits. His resident witch had to practically be swimming in cash at this point, and he trusted she had everything handled.

Heading through the space station, Jake gave the place a final look before activating his ring to travel back to his lodge and Earth. From there, his next destination would be the Order of the Malefic Viper, where he had a few people he definitely wanted to check in with. Villy would definitely be curious about how the event was going, and while he would make fun of Jake for blowing himself up, it was a conversation that sadly had to happen.

Jake also looked forward to seeing Artemis again. He’d missed her, and while he hadn’t been gone for that long considering everything, a lot had happened during that time, so it felt long.

Finally, he knew how he would spend all his time during this little break. He’d done a lot of fighting recently, and the next year wouldn’t include much of it, as most of it would consist of research.

While blowing himself up had sucked, in the grand scheme of things, Jake was kind of happy it had happened. He didn’t know whether it was due to the Exalted Prima feeling embarrassed or that the system required for the Bound God to offer proper compensation, but Jake had walked away with something far superior to Prima Credits. Something absolutely priceless:

A crumbled-up mummified finger.

One that would give Jake hope for upgrading his Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter, as while it still didn’t make complete sense to Jake, according to the Exalted Prima, this had belonged to him.

[Cursed Black Finger of the Primal Hunter (Unique)] – A finger containing the Records of a human known as the Primal Hunter. Powerful dark mana mixed with a potent curse lingers within and should be handled with absolute care, lest it consume you. Carries faint traces of Primeval Origin Energy. Unknown Alchemical uses.

--

Miranda was keeping an eye on the map depicting the current Territory of the Milky Way Galaxy and its allies and Vassals, though there weren’t that many of them. Getting a real-time map like this hadn’t been cheap, but she had a lot of Prima Credits available these days, and while hoarding them for the next phase would be smart, it struck her as even smarter to still spend some and push their current advantage.

“The eastern front is meeting a lot of resistance; we should consider sending William there,” the elf beside her, Kindroth, commented.

“No, let him relax and consolidate his insights from the Palace of Abundance,” she shook her head. She was already plenty surprised with his performance, and she didn’t want to rush him into anything if that risked damaging his potential future usefulness.

“Very well,” the elf sighed. “But we do need more people there. I’m fairly confident we’re facing an alliance based on their output of mass-produced soldiers.”

“For now, let Lillian handle it. She said she wanted the practice,” Miranda said with a smile. “We’ll decide further when we know if Jake returns. Based on what William said, the Palace of Abundance event should be ending relatively soon.”

“Do you see a world where he doesn’t?” Kindroth asked a bit jokingly.

“Yes, I do,” Miranda answered honestly. Not because she didn’t believe in Jake, but due to the other people who would be there. Blind belief in Jake would be foolish considering his competition, especially the Eastbound Monk, whom she had been warned about so many times. Not to mention all the others there, including the Sword Saint. She, nor barely anyone else in the multiverse, had ever truly witnessed the full extent of his powers, but Jake held a lot of respect for the man and even seemed to view him as a rival of sorts.

“Really?” Kindroth asked with surprise. “If he truly doesn’t make it back, we will certainly have to invest more. Perhaps get one of the Uniques.”

“The plan is to get one if he doesn’t return,” Miranda nodded.

A lot of new possibilities had become available during this phase, and perhaps even more were just starting to be used, as many factions had a large influx of Prima Credits. The fact that many Territories were also becoming fairly large, resulting in significant daily passive income, definitely played a role as well.

Two of these especially noteworthy newer additions to the war were mass-produced soldiers, also known as Factory Soldiers, and special NPCs known as Uniques.

Factory Soldiers were, just as their name suggested, produced by factories. Rather than buying low-level soldiers individually, one could get a factory producing the soldiers, still requiring upkeep, but one far cheaper than the individual soldiers. One also didn’t have to pay for the NPCs anymore, though the factory did have a production limit, and once that limit was reached, it would only start making new soldiers once existing ones died.

These buildings led to far more soldiers than usual, creating what could be considered actual armies. It was still the early days, but some Territories and alliances were starting to output quite significant numbers.

While these soldiers were individually incredibly weak, they were still extremely useful. First of all, while they were weak, they still took some effort to kill. Even the strongest of people would eventually run out of energy and get tired, allowing the soldiers to at least buy time.

Under the leadership of a powerful commander, they could also become dangerous. As NPCs without actual individuality, they were perfect participants in formations, even the ones that practically turned them into energy batteries for a stronger being. This was when they were most useful; the issue was finding talented commanders.

The Milky Way Galaxy had Holstred and... that was about it. None of the other Administrators could be considered truly talented commanders. Miranda didn’t consider herself one; neither were Lillian nor Kindroth, and while those like Tramon, Jake, and William were all individually powerful, that didn’t make them good commanders. In fact, their high personal power actually made them worse.

Stronger people required stronger soldiers in the formations for their energy to be usable. It came down to a difference in quality of energy, and there was a limit to how much stronger the soldiers could make someone through a formation, and many of the more powerful Administrators were already above this cap.

This didn’t even mention that people such as Jake would probably be horrible commanders. They were individual fighters, not leaders who could direct and properly use the soldiers.

Meanwhile, Holstred had quite literally been a Knight Commander. He had skills that made him better at leading soldiers and fostered greater synergy and compatibility with formations that empowered him.

Having only one person capable of leading armies would naturally be quite an issue, and not one that only the Milky Way Galaxy was dealing with. That’s where the Uniques came in.

Uniques were NPCs that, as the name suggested, were unique. They were far more costly than any other NPCs, required high upkeep, but were also far more powerful and, perhaps more importantly, capable of independent thought. They could talk and act as if they had full sapience while still having absolute loyalty towards the Territory that summoned them. Their existence was honestly a little creepy as they seemed too “real,” and made Miranda think of the Administrator Test before entering the World of the Exalted Prima. Perhaps that had been why the test of NPCs “not being real” had existed, to remind people that no matter how real these NPCs seemed, they couldn’t be considered true beings.

Acquiring these Uniques was also a little different from usual soldiers. Rather than outright buy one with a specific name and whatnot, it was kind of a draw. Miranda could select a category based on cost and role, then get a Unique from that category. To her surprise, there was quite a difference between Uniques even at the same price point, introducing a bit of a gambling element. She hadn’t fully explored the system yet, though, but as she was sitting there thinking, she suddenly got a system message. Perhaps she’d soon have to... because it didn’t seem like Jake was going to be returning any time soon.

The Palace of Abundance has closed its gates after the event within concluded. An event that should mark the end of the third phase, as all treasures should have been claimed.

However, by the decree and grace of the Abundant Emperor, approved by the Exalted Prima, the Administrators have been granted more time as the War of Abundance continues. He hopes that with one additional year (365 days), more Territories will have a chance to accumulate the required 1,000,000 Prima Credits worth of resources from within the Central Domain. Any Territories that fail to do so will be eliminated at the end of the third phase.

Remember that during this year, the regular conquest of Territories will continue. Through their efforts within the Abundant Palace, some Administrators have earned their Territory protection for the next century.

After the year of extension, the fourth phase shall begin. Brace yourselves, prepare, survive, accumulate Prima Credits, and gather power to face what comes next. The Exalted Prima will continue to watch your performances with great interest.

After a few seconds, Kindroth muttered. “Does that mean the Chosen of the Malefic Viper...?”

“Yeah,” Miranda nodded, turning around to leave the building. “It changes little and only means we should get to work. We have the Territory protection for... hm, 150 years? Right, William mentioned that part about diminishing returns.”

“Right,” Kindroth nodded slowly as he looked in thought. “I wonder who won... it has to be the Eastbound Monk, right?”

“Who knows?” Miranda sighed and shook her head. “Let’s just hope that whoever won isn’t our immediate neighbor and that if they are, that they’re weakened from the event. Also, before Jake returns, we should – wait, what the fuck?”

Miranda opened some of her system menus and stared as she suddenly saw how many Prima Credits their Territory now had... and immediately, she decided it was time to go gambling.