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Note : Another chapter in the streak, once again thanks to my girlfriend (who went 'awww' upon hearing you guys had thanked her for the previous one ^^) ! I hope you'll enjoy it, we're nearing some...very interesting parts of the book now ^^ !

Chapter 347

Simulation Six


"My, what a lovely abode." Said Alexandra as she took a delicate sip of the hot chocolate, and did her best to ignore the archmage's trembling. "Is it not?"


"Quite." Added Ghost, and the archmage almost flinched as they both smiled at her.


"Alright then, enough playing around." Alexandra set down her teacup, which was utterly bizarre for her to drink out of but Ghost had insisted on it, and she set down her chin on her joined fingers, her expression going full serious. "Archmage Emylris Traiva, countess of Kolotan. You know who I am. You know what I've done." It wasn't a question, but the archmage nodded nonetheless. "For the past few months you've been my...guest. And you have been nothing short of an exemplary one at that. I have come with some rewards for that. As well as some further requests."


The archmage nodded, clearly not trusting herself to speak, and Alexandra continued.


"I wish for you to teach me about cores, and the magic that animates them." The archmage's face went white, and the dungeon core smiled. However terrified the archmage was of them, she clearly had also been far from volunteering information of her own accord, as would be expected. "There is, of course, a reward appended."


"What...What reward?" Managed the archmage, after the silence made it clear Alexandra wouldn't take a gesture for an answer.


The dungeon core's smile got wider.


"See, I would be perfectly justified in executing you and burning everything you've ever known and loved to the ground. Given the atrocities your duchy has committed, some may even call it justice." She took a sip of her cup, giving it the time to sink in. Though, given the archmage's face, it had been something she'd been having nightmares about for a while now. "But it wouldn't be, of course. So, in light of your assistance, and in consideration of current and future services, I am prepared to make sure the county of Kolotan will pass on to one of your heirs." Alexandra held out a finger. "I will not, however, protect said heirs from the tribunals that will follow the war. If no suitable heir is left afterwards...I am willing to talk to their majesties and have your domains held by the crown until a viable candidate becomes apparent." They both knew that this wouldn't happen, she'd taken a look at the archmage's family, and she had a fair few scholars that had nothing to do with Sunrise's atrocities, including one that had straight up exiled himself to Sapphire and was quite possibly involved in the spate of attacks on Sunrise's northern border.


The archmage shifted, clearly relieved beyond words. One of the things about nobles was that their family name, domain and legacy were extremely important to them. That gave her...leverage. Which she most definitely intended to use to end this war, and give people their justice at the same time.


Emylris opened her mouth, but Alexandra forestalled her by speaking first.


"No, your uncle's duchy is not up for discussion or negotiation. Your house will not rule Lorenz when the dust settles. Neither will the Olyrins rule Sunrise." Alexandra's eyes narrowed. "Is that understood?"


"O-Of course."


"Good. Now, the cores."


The archmage cleared her throat, clearly buying time to center herself and gather her thoughts, before switching to 'teacher' mode, speaking in a surprisingly smooth and neutral voice.


"Cores, as some know, are runes. The adventurers guild and the WMC have, for a long time now, checked the 'matrix rune length' of members' cores as an additional estimation of their power." Emylris stopped as Alexandra twitched.


Matrix rune length...The tablet Cassie had used to induct her into the adventurers' guild, when she'd first arrived on Alcheryos had a statistic like that.


"Please, continue." Said the dungeon core as memories flooded in.


"Essence is not, as many assume, the absolute indicator of power. One's core can also...develop, through training or external factors. Like one kneading dough to develop gluten. In that analogy, essence would be flour. You can add as much as you wish, but if the dough is not kneaded you will not develop gluten." The archmage hesitated, clearly about to ask if they were following but simultaneously terrified of doing so, and Ghost nodded minutely, encouraging her to go forth. "I do not, frankly, know if this applies to dungeon cores or their monsters, but I know that practicing spells does not yield an increase in proficiency that is strictly proportional to what one could expect via the increases in, say, muscle memory or other factors."


"The more you use the core pathways for magic, the better they become, like a brain developing certain neural clusters for skills or senses." Said Alexandra, and Emylris slammed her palm against the table, before pointing at the dungeon core, a gesture more fit for a tavern drunk than a noble, which prickled Alexandra's ears. Had the good archmage been an adventurer once upon a time?


"Precisely! Huh..."


She went white as she realized what she'd just done, and Alexandra chuckled.


"Please, do go on."


The display of friendliness seemed to only unsettle the noble further, which was exactly what Ghost had wished for them to do. They weren't the monsters the legends she'd heard made them out to be, but they didn't have to act like it to keep it up. Acting just...off enough would make her fill in the blanks with what she believed easily enough.


"Of course, my apologies. It has been discovered for quite some time that a runic matrix can be unraveled. Certain necromantic spells hijack part of it to create undead, while others seek to recycle it, draining a greater amount of essence at the cost of...partially consuming the soul and spirit of the target."


"Soul and spirit?"


"One's soul is the self, the inner core of the, well, core. The spirit is the outer layers. The spirit can be regrown, the soul is more...complicated. One reason why neonites are not a widespread form of immortality is that a good chance of damaging's ones soul lies within the procedure to become one. To many, that is not an acceptable sacrifice."


Alexandra and Ghost exchanged a look.


The soul...your consciousness? Inner systems, the link to the physical? Probably where their link to whatever gave them their extra mana income was.


"So..." Started the dungeon core. "Spirit can be grown through essence? And like a liver, if a bit is left, it will regenerate?"


"Precisely. When one dies, their soul is intact, but their spirit loses strands of its matrix, that is the essence people absorb when another dies nearby."


"Interesting." So essence wasn't another form of energy. It was like...it was like eating meat, ingesting premade proteins so you wouldn't have to metabolize your own. Or like the vampires drinking blood. "What happens if it is not absorbed?"


"It dissolves into ambient mana."


Alexandra leaned forward.


"On its own?"


The archmage opened and closed her mouth.


"I...do not know. Maybe? It is not something I am familiar with, I'm afraid."


Alexandra nodded.


"Of course. One cannot know everything. Tell me, have there been attempts to modify cores?"


"The very existence of necromancy demands the success of such attempts. Yes."


"Have there been any methods or mechanisms used for this?" They had made their own coding systems, to break the God of Fire's shackles and edit out the failsafes, but if they had additional material, backed by millennia of experiments and trial and error...


"There has. I can teach you some of the simpler spells, though asking a necromancer will, I'm afraid, be necessary to go further."


"I will do so. But please, let us start at the basics."


"What, right now?"


"No time like the present, is there?" Alexandra gestured at the archmage's office, in a corner of the room, with its attendant arcane workshop. "After you, my dear guest. After you..."



*****



"And so, we have come to a crashing halt once more." Said the Duchess, bitterly, as she looked at the map.


"So we have." Mahikam, Marquis of Caliban, absent mindedly moved one of the miniatures on the map, representing a mechanical manticore, and removed one of his convoys', to join the small pile by the side. It wasn't true, not by a long shot, they were still moving and shadowing the dungeon, but they were no longer catching up, though they were close enough that 'catching up' would have soon meant his skirmishers engaging the dungeon's own screen of light units and armored tanks. "But we need to respond to these...raids."


"Your convoys don't seem very keen to accept that response."


The Marquis grimaced. In hindsight, he could now see the horrible mistake that had been making the supply convoys a punishment detail. Now one of my his army's most fragile and essential links was made up of people that were, at best, unreliable, and at worse liable to just join the other side. Just like that first convoy had. Or at least, that was the only explanation possible.


"They are not." His orders to have the convoy stop and draft slave troops from garrisons or take fresh ones had gone over poorly. Very poorly. The persistent rumors that the dungeon boss had resurrected the people from the convoys she had destroyed, and then paroled them, made it abundantly clear that Crystal was ready to show mercy...and that drafting more slaves would most likely make it evaporate.


Now he was dealing from a borderline mutiny from his entire logistic train. Convoys either flat out refused to carry out his orders or dug into a garrison and refused to move, waiting for someone else to poke the metaphorical lion. And unless he was seriously wrong, an entire convoy had straight up gone rogue without outside intervention, just disappearing without a trace.


Even more concerning, that particular convoy had been in Sunrise still, far outside the reach of the guerillas. Far outside the reach of...well, any of their enemies.


At least...enemies without.


"If we keep going like this, the army will disintegrate." Said the duchess, bluntly.


"Not to that level." The Duchess opened her mouth, and the Marquis shook his head. "The nobles will turn against us, yes, but they're not their troops."


"...What do you mean?"


"I have been taking...measures. Replacing officers and making organizational overhauls. All with the goal of preventing a disaster in terms of noble deaths like our previous engagements." Said the Marquis with a grin, and the Duchess' eyes went wide.


"You...you took over their troops?"


The Marquis shrugged.


"They were desperate to get out of the line of fire, and they 'pressured' me into a solution. They just didn't know the solution had been suggested to them by me, ultimately." A suggestion he had made through the UDC, but that wasn't something he should bring up just yet. His increasing contacts with the dungeons had proven fascinating and truly educating, but he had the feeling that the lesser known those dealings were, to anybody, the better.


"That is...incredible, my nephew."


"My control isn't absolute." Warned the Marquis. "But, if they wish to withdraw, their troops, at least most of them, will not obey. Furthermore, the slaves will not either, and remain loyal to us."


"That is still extremely good. And may have a lot of implications after this is over. Perhaps their majesties had the right idea with the Royal Army..." The Duchess closed her eyes. "Regardless, even if it would not be as catastrophic as I once feared, we are still losing exponentially more cohesion, at least on the political side, and morale the longer we wait. We should move in and attack immediately."


The Marquis nodded, to the Duchess' evident astonishment.


"I agree. Crystal clearly intends to do to us what she did to Coledar and his army." Especially given their nobles' eroding faith and support in their cause. He hadn't said as much to his aunt, but he didn't fear nobles withdrawing their support. He was a lot more worried about a mutiny of some kind. But he couldn't say as much to her, or she would go on a pre-emptive rampage. And that would seal their doom. "I won't allow it to happen. Messenger!"


A man, the same nobly born messenger from their disastrous 'ambush' upon the dungeon with the aide of the rogues, entered the command tent.


"Sir?" He said, half bowing.


"Order all units to force march. It is time we brought this to an end."


While he still had a fucking army to do it with.

Comments

Unwillingmainer

Very clever to leverage the nobles through their families, lands, and legacies. At this point, no one has any doubt that if she wins, Alexandra is willing to burn a noble house to the ground and pave over the ruins. That's a fate worse then death for many of them. So, adding a way out to the cornered nobles is a great way to chip at Sunrise's support. Great stuff, and I'm glad you're adding to the streak. Just don't burn yourself out.

Ruben

There truly is not much else they can do. Sure, they don't know about what is coming from Alexandra, but they would be silly to not think she is preparing something. And time is, in general, in favor of Alexandra. That said, I am not sure a forced march is the right way to go about it (is there even a right way?). I guess he hopes to use Sunrise's superior numbers to solve any issues around tired fatigued troops, but I'm not sure it'd work out as well and he hopes. And meanwhile, there is still the background plot of the brand sabotage. Timing wise, the next engagement would be a great moment for it to go off... but I suspect it is not quite ready yet.

Olof Karlsson

Thanks for the chapter!

Tiffany Miller

oh no this is a horrible horrible idea, and will not go well. Making your logistics a punishment detail is the most astoundingly stupid thing you can do in a war.

Tiffany Miller

I mean NO noble family in sunrise should keep their land every noble should be executed. Even those that didn't participate benifited from slavery so not a single noble of sunrise should be left alive period no mercy no deals.

Minetel Embezzlement

You're talking about a broader kingdom that's restricted education and, to some degree, ability to noble classes. Wiping them out is not only likely politically nonviable, but may represent a massive brain and brawn drain. Also, as an inherited status, you'd visit the sins of the parents on children? Your attitude has been carried out in the past. But I can't get behind the concept that toddler murder represents some form of justice. So maybe you don't kill the 2 year olds. How about the 3 year olds? At what age is someone culpable for being born into a class built on the backs of others to the degree that a death sentence is warranted? Nobles aren't a racial group, but this sort of thinking is that which justifies genocide. We have direct examples in the chapter. The captured archmage has family who are researchers, live in a non-slaveholding region, and some of whom have left the duchy entirely because of their problems with Sunrise's practices. But you'd seemingly murder them all out of hand, including the one that's hinted at being involved in anti-slaver operations. In the previous chapter we saw that lesser nobles of Sunrise were actually killed for contesting this plan, and some heir was propped up as a puppet. Does a thirteen year old "baron" who orders his troops to join an insane campaign to expand slavery that his barony doesn't even practice while looking at his parents's cooling corpses and surrounded by duchy troops deserve to die?

Tiffany Miller

we also have historical evidence of what happens when you don't kill them all. Had the union been far harsher the entire idea of south risiing again wouldn't have happened nor would the KKK EVERY slave owner every slave owning family should have been executed every southern soldier should have been executed because then we wouldn't have 3/4rs of the problems we do now. YES NO noble loyal to sunrise can be trusted NOR CAN THEIR KIDS the kids should be fostered out to other families but every adultl executed the land should absolutely be given to freed slaves rather than the noble families. the one relative in saphire kingdom is the only one that should be spared because NONE OF THEM ARE FIGHTING AGAINST SUNRISE any noble could have declared loyalty to crown insteaed and fought that they didnt yes KILL THEM ALL period. Only an idiot leaves enemies alive. Remeber had the treaty of Versailles actually been enforced WWII would not have happened so yes you absolutley crush the enemy nobles and leaders leave NONE of them alive to rebel later. ANYONE who even gets advantage from slavery should be executed. Anyone who didn't protoest or fight against it exectued. NO mercy for slavers period. I dont even like her making a deal with the mage that bastard doesn't deserve a deal. What we did to Germany after WWII should be how every defeated nation is treated officers executed leaders executed. We should have done more but eh..

Minetel Embezzlement

We have historic records of purges too, and they tend to be fucking cyclical. The Reds embraced that sort of attitude in the Russian revolution, then repeatedly felt the need to purge their own membership. As to the end of WWI... The Treaty of Versailles is a perfect example of why excessively punative actions at the end of a war are a bad move. If the US never entered WWI, it likely would have ended by mid 1917. Boarders redrawn and an overextended Germany reeling and (hopefully) stabilizing. We wouldn't have seen an economic depression forced on Germany and the conditions for the NAZI party to rise. The Weimar Republic was setup to fail by the very people that wanted it to lead to a stable, peaceful Europe. You have a twisted idea of where the KKK came from if you think it sprang from the children that weren't purged following the civil war. Early versions were actual war veterans basically trying to continue the fight. Later pop-ups were basically hate groups picking up the mantel. The path to peace you're proposing only really works if you just take it to the logical extreme: salt the entire duchy with Cobalt-60, killing everyone along the way. Essentially, what the "God of Fire" has done. Kill everyone marginally involved, let it be known it was about slavery, and suddenly nobody is interested in keeping slaves. And if they are, their neighbors will bury them before you ever hear about it.

playwars

Alright, enough. This thread is going off topic and into IRL politics. Consider it locked, as in 'Patreon won't let me lock a thread so I'll ban the next person to post'. I won't bother stating my opinion as you have both read the story.