Chapter 1443 - Phase Four Begins (Patreon)

“Do take care, and if you encounter people from the Pantheon of Life, be sure to help them,” Artemis said with a smile as Jake nodded.

“I’ll be sure to, though I reckon they can fend for themselves,” Jake answered, knowing that a faction run by a Primordial was perfectly capable.

“Still, compared to many other factions, we are inexperienced when it comes to war,” Artemis shook her head.

“So am I,” Jake pointed out very accurately.

“Yeah, but you’re also you,” Artemis acutely countered.

“That’s fair,” Jake smiled, and after exchanging a few more words, he headed off back to his own universe and subsequently to the Seat of the Exalted Prima. He probably should have saved some time to check things on Earth or meet, well, anyone there, but time had kind of run away from him when he was with Artemis, so he was in a bit of a rush.

He wanted to be back at the Seat of the Exalted Prima as soon as he could to reenter the simulated world before the next stage of the event began. Granted, getting there only took using his ring once he felt that the cooldown period of going and leaving the Seat of the Exalted Prima was over, something he could do from anywhere, but Jake preferred to do it from his lodge back on Earth.

Fortunately, it was only a single teleport away, and after getting to his lodge, Jake didn’t have to wait much longer. He spent the last few minutes before he could return to the Seat looking at his banana musa and checking in on the eels in his small pond, wondering why they were even still there considering a few had already reached C-grade.

Jake considered trying to communicate with them but ultimately didn't. First of all, they didn’t seem up for conversation, and while they did live in his little valley, which Jake considered his own garden, he couldn’t exactly evict them. They had already lived there when he moved in, so telling them to leave would be rude. Finally, before he had the chance to formulate anything he wanted to ask them, he felt his ring tell him he could once more return to the Seat of the Exalted Prima, something he promptly did.

Following the little ritual that took him to the World Wonder, Jake appeared in the Seat of the Exalted Prima. He quickly made his way through the large space station, still finding it too big considering how few people it was accommodating, though perhaps its design was for future-proofing.

It didn’t really matter, and less than two minutes after arriving in the Seat of the Exalted Prima, Jake found himself sitting cross-legged within one of the simulation rooms, and a couple of seconds after that, he was back in the World of the Exalted Prima, ready to welcome what would come next.

--

“Should I send an invoice for consulting fees, or are we going to agree on a more... intimate way to resolve your debt?” one Unique Lifeform asked the other Unique Lifeform.

“You can send the invoice to the Pantheon of Life; I’m certain they would be more than willing to pay you back for assisting me, and in turn, I’ll assist them within the World of the Exalted Prima,” the Forest King answered.

“Nah, I’ll take the intimate compensation instead,” Minaga said shamelessly. “I’ll let you know when I want to cash in.”

The Golden Forest King didn’t even protest, knowing that, despite the questionable wording, Minaga wasn’t wrong. There was a debt between them, a favor owed, and it was not up to the King to decide what form compensation should take.

“It does suck I can’t go to this simulated world, though,” Minaga sighed sadly, shaking his head. “It’s totally unfair, isn’t it? Look at me, I’m barely B-grade! Newly evolved! I should be able to enter, right?”

“No, you shouldn’t,” the King answered without a shred of hesitation.

“Well, I feel like I should, and the system is just being stingy,” Minaga crossed his arms in protest.

“If you could participate in mortal events, you would utterly dominate every single one of them without effort,” the Forest King stated what was simply a fact.

Minaga, even several levels below others, would be completely untouchable even by the top geniuses of this generation. People like the hunter and swordsmen were powerful, yes, but in front of Minaga they were still just children. It wasn’t a question of stats or talent, but sheer comprehension. Every Minaga clone had the insights of a powerful god, and with nothing more than his intent and conceptual understanding, he would be able to beat every single one of them even if they came at him together.

“I’m not saying that isn’t true, just that I find it unfair. It should at least allow me to get a couple of events an era,” Minaga muttered in protest. “But, fine, I’ll let the rest of you have fun, even if this is the system breaking its own rules just to punish little old me for being what I am.”

In some ways, Minaga wasn’t entirely incorrect with that statement. He should be able to participate in events with level restrictions, and in some instances, he could. Minaga was capable of entering dungeons with level caps and even certain World Wonders with segments split into brackets; his clones could exist as long as they were within the level range. However, whenever events were involved, he wasn’t.

This was the system breaking its own rules, but only to deal with a creature that fundamentally broke rules simply through his existence.

“I’m certain that if you file a complaint with the system, I'm certain it will take your concerns up for consideration,” the King said rather sarcastically.

“Already tried that, buddy,” Minaga sighed as he appeared beside the King and put his arm over the Unique Lifeform’s shoulder. It hovered slightly over it after the King activated a small barrier, but Minaga didn’t seem to mind.

“We Unique Lifeforms truly have it rough. So limited, yet so powerful. So powerful, yet we can never share our Legacies to the next generation, for we can never create little mini versions of ourselves like others,” Minaga said, letting out a loud, exaggerated sigh before dramatically turning to the King.

“Now go. Return to the virtual world. While I cannot go, as my disciple-“

“Not your disciple-“

“Student.”

“No.”

“Client?”

“Acceptable.”

“Ahem,” Minaga cleared his throat. “As I was saying, while I cannot go myself, as my client and fellow Unique Lifeform, go in my stead. Spread the glory of our kind as the closest I can get to kin! Make yourself and all Unique Lifeforms proud, and do not forget the lessons passed on to you!”

The King considered saying something, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the energy. He just silently agreed, then soon left for his assigned Seat of the Exalted Prima once more.

A year of practice with Minaga had not magically made him substantially stronger, but the King did feel a shift in his approach and mindset. He realized that he needed to explore the depths of his power more thoroughly, accepting that sometimes an endeavor might feel useless, even as it could be key to improvement later on.

That one could discover many puzzle pieces that individually had no meaning, but together could form a greater whole. So perhaps he hadn’t gotten stronger yet, but he firmly believed that this would allow his growth to continue, and hopefully, even reach new heights.

He had lost against the Demon Prince, and while he recognized there was still a gap to close, he was determined to do so. It wasn’t right for a prince to be stronger than a King, after all.

--

In the final battle within the Abundant Palace, eight top-tier geniuses had fought, with only one surviving. Those who’d died had all left the World Wonder as they were excluded for a year anyway, and all of them had taken this chance to reflect on their loss and seek self-improvement to ensure their chances would be greater next time.

There was also much speculation about who had won in the end. All the major factions did all they could to ensure that no one figured out that a member of their faction had lost. Spreading that information would only lead to a loss of prestige, but perhaps more importantly, give others ideas to attempt invading the Territory of the prodigy who’d fallen.

The two favorites to win were the Eastbound Monk and the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. The Chosen of the Malefic Viper had already distinguished himself plenty through prior system events and killing Ell’Hakan, while the top-tier factions knew of the Eastbound Monk and had divined that he was a massive threat possessing power beyond what anyone had expected. The others were also candidates, of course, with none of them weak enough to write off, though Davion of Valhal and the newly Chosen of Aeon were considered weaker. Aeon’s new Chosen had only recently received that title, and besides that, had no other notable achievements besides being in the same party as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper during Nevermore.

That’s why many were surprised when the Swordsman had appeared only ten months after the deciding battle in the Abundant Palace, seemingly even more powerful than before as a large Territory belonging to the Risen fell to his blade. His prestige was instantly heightened by several levels, and somewhere, Aeon was no doubt smiling at the news concerning his recent investment.

For those two months, the Sword Saint was likely the strongest person within the World of the Exalted Prima, but now that a year had passed, the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, the Eastbound Monk, Cerulean Demon Prince, Golden Forest King, Aishalstromoz, Davion of Valhal, and Wintermaul would return, and while some now believed the Sword Saint would remain the strongest, the gap couldn’t be large.

Besides, this was a war. Wars could certainly be decided by powerful individuals in the multiverse, but the gap had to be massive, and it wasn’t the only factor. A person could also only be on a single battlefield at a time, and often wars were fought on many fronts at once, so even if a faction had a supremely talented individual, they could be beaten through numbers simply by making that person unable to respond to every attack.

The mere fact that one could have an individual who made pretty much any battlefield a surefire win was naturally still a massive asset, which is why the return of the top geniuses was still awaited with bated breath. Though, perhaps, the anticipation was as much related to the fourth phase beginning as it was to their return.

--

The first thing Jake felt upon entering the World of the Exalted Prima was an odd resonance with his soul. A connection formed, and slowly what looked like a single finger began to fade into existence. He instinctively knew – no, more like it was communicated to him somehow – that it would take time for it to fully appear. How long he didn’t know, but for now all he could do was wait, which wasn’t the worst as he had plenty of other matters to attend to.

Jake had appeared in the small town constructed around his Territory Beacon, only to realize that it had grown quite a lot beyond merely being a small town. Walls, towers, fortifications, and several buildings had filled what was effectively a small city by now, though the place still seemed incredibly empty. He did spot many interesting buildings, though, which made him guess they were special structures.

Many things had happened since Jake was last there, all the way back before he headed off to the Central Domain, and it seemed that Miranda had put the Prima Credits he and William had obtained to good use.

As he was still looking around, Miranda, whom he’d already spotted when he checked out the city, made her way over, not looking at all surprised at his return. To be fair, it was very predictable.

“Welcome back,” the verdant witch said with a smile as she approached, unable to hold herself back from doing the obvious as she continued. “Glad you finally decided to return, though next time you want a holiday, no need to blow yourself up.”

Hearing her say this, Jake couldn’t help but ask: “ How the hell do you even know I blew myself up?”

“We are in contact with other Territories belonging to the Order, and your Patron found it pertinent enough to have one of their information runners return to the Seat of the Exalted Prima to inform me what you were doing in the Order while also including that you blew yourself up. Don’t worry, only I know, and the person who told me signed a contract swearing him to eternal secrecy, though knowing the Viper, he’s probably not long for this world anyway,” Miranda shook her head, saying something rather scary in a way too casual tone.

“I don’t think the Viper would kill someone just because they knew an embarrassing secret about me,” Jake muttered.

Miranda just gave him a look before sighing and shaking her head. “Come with me, and I’ll get you up to date on current events. We don’t have long before this stage of the event ends, and better to have you updated before then.”

Jake nodded pretty much out of instinct, knowing that casual conversation and whatnot wasn’t going to fly now that Miranda was back in full business mode. The two of them quickly went to what Miranda referred to as central command, a large building close to the Territory Beacon.

No one else was inside, likely having been cleared out by Miranda, knowing of Jake’s imminent arrival. The large room was impressive, though the most impressive was a large table in the middle that had a three-dimensional projection of what he assumed to be his entire Territory.

Looking at the map, Jake nodded. “Expanded a lot. I also see a few more allies and Vassals.”

“Indeed,” Miranda nodded, zooming in on one of the border regions. “Allow me to get you up to speed immediately. To the north, we-“

Jake got a quick summary of what his Territory was currently dealing with, its size, economic situation, and number of allies. Everything was kept very surface-level, as, quite frankly, they didn’t have time for the details right now, and, almost as if to prove that point, halfway through Miranda's telling Jake about the battle with the Holy Church to the south, the awaited system message arrived.

A year has passed, and the benevolence of the Abundant Emperor and Exalted Prima has run its course. Thus, the third phase of the World of the Exalted Prima has come to an end, and all Territories that failed to accumulate the required 1,000,000 Prima Credits worth of resources from within the Central Domain shall be eliminated. All eliminated Territories will have their controlled area become unclaimed.

With the end of the third phase, the fourth begins. A war of resources, Territory, and dominion. A war in which one might need further assistance to fully participate. With the Territories expanding and Administrators being eliminated, the Exalted Prima recognizes the need to bring more entities into his world.

From this stage onwards, Chief Administrators and those with permission to spend Prima Credits can use their seals in the real world to recruit people and grant them access to the World of the Exalted Prima.

The Prima Credit cost of giving others access to the World of the Exalted Prima is dependent on the level of power of those one attempts to bring inside. The recruiter cannot be weaker than those recruited. Recruiting natives from the 93rd Universe will only cost one-tenth the Prima Credits of those from other universes. Those recruited who die within the World of the Exalted Prima will not be able to reenter unless re-recruited.

To facilitate recruitment, travel restrictions to the Seat of the Exalted Prima have been significantly eased. Those leaving the Seat of the Exalted Prima will now be able to return again within only a week.

In addition, to help the Territories acquire more Prima Credits for recruitment, four additional Domains have opened up alongside the Central Domain. These Domains will not reward achievements, but may contain treasures or other rewards that can be brought outside the simulation. Other special rewards that may give an advantage in the war effort may also be found. The Central Domain has been refreshed and updated for this phase.

The fourth phase has no set time limit and will persist for as long as the Exalted Prima wills it. There are no set elimination criteria during this phase besides losing one’s Territory Beacon.

Prepare yourselves, Administrators, as the true war for the World of the Exalted Prima shall begin in earnest. Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate your way to victory, knowing that the Exalted Prima watches on, hoping to find someone worthy.

Jake read the very long system message and stared at Miranda for a few seconds, both having similar thoughts.

Lots to unpack in that one.