Deterrents & Precautions

The Penlas family was the first to make a full one hundred and eighty degrees turn and increase their speed so that they could retake their territory before its occupied by other factions. Soon after, a few other caravans did the same thing, creating an intense air of desperation to return.

Not all of the smaller factions that left early checked the note though, so they were flabbergasted by all of their unexpected change of hearts. But they were undeterred as the risk of staying now far outweighs the benefits.

Some factions were foolish enough to actually discard their slips so they would never know of the opportunity they just missed out on. If they understood the worth of that one slip alone, they would kick themselves for being such stubborn imbeciles.

None of the factions made it very far so the mob outside of Kassio soon came back into view rather quickly.

The larger factions were just getting ready to leave when they noticed the smaller factions return. Their first thought was that a powerful creature or bandit group appeared in their way so the small factions were retreating to safety. A small number of the factions didn't return with the rest so this strengthened their assumption that they were ambushed.

To gather information on this supposed ambush, the larger factions intercepted the returning smaller ones for questioning. For some odd reason, the smaller factions were reluctant and hesitant to answer which confused them greatly.

After putting on some heavier "leverage" to make them talk, they were told to check the decorated slips. Now they were even more confused, 'Is their no ambush? So why rush back when you could get noticed by the church?!'

Curiosity got the better of them and they checked the slips.

Shock and disbelief were the only reactions they could've possibly mustered after what they saw. The contents seemed impossible... But there was damning evidence right on the note that screamed otherwise!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Kyren floated above Kassio in his Draconic Animate suit, acting like a badass sentry as he used [Advanced Gyrokinesis] to easily stay afloat. His arms were crossed as he occasionally and subtly turned his head as he constantly scanned the mob and city.

His aura was completely concealed with only the suits personal [Draconic Prestige] staying active. Behind his menacing and tough bodyguard facade, he was internally laughing as he watched everything unfold. They were all bending to his whim and it made him feel oddly delighted.

He immediately suppressed those dangerous emotions and cleared his mind. He couldn't deny that he was a power-hungry and ambitious individual, but he couldn't let it control him.

Hungering for power was natural in almost any living soul, but too much of it could get to his head and make him delusional.

What was odd though, was that the feelings felt forced and abnormally strong, almost amplified by some hidden force within him. It was alarming and it made him concerned slightly by what the cause could be, but he pushed it to the back of his mind for the future to handle.

Once his mind came back to reality after his brief mental absence, he noticed that all the factions that were enlightened of the contents of the slip were all now finally back and reclaiming their territory.

Their return generated a great stir in the mob. Those who wanted to leave hesitated while the ones who wanted to stay became confused by the cowardly faction's sudden change to their mindset.

No one other than the small factions that returned and the big ones that interrogated them knew of what the slip entailed. Because of the slightly rowdy, tense, and messy state and atmosphere of the mob, all of them were yet to check the slip while some even forgot during the chaos.

However, they would all soon find out once word spread.

Kyren extended his senses to observe the fleeing small factions that didn't check the slip.

He appraised each one and concluded that he had little interest in them. Although these small nobles and organizations were much more powerful than Draconic Genesis faction-wise, his standards were unfairly high so he personally wished to let the cowards go. This was obviously excluding factors such as financial wealth and the strength of individual combatants, which he surpassed by a considerable margin.

It felt like a waste of time and energy to do business or get involved with such small fry, but so long as they had any amount of worth no matter how small, he would suck them dry of everything they possessed until they could no longer function. Plus, a customer is a customer and if they could pay up while not causing any trouble, he would gladly harvest them until they inevitably became ashes for him to fertilize his own soils.

[Dimensional Storage] [Dimensional Storage] [Dimensional Storage].....

Despite the already hefty distance, he effortlessly tore open holes in space within whichever unique mode of transportation the highest-ranked individual was using. The same tiny little decorated slips dropped perfectly into the laps or clutches of these people. There was only one difference between these slips and the ones he passed out previously, and that was the big and bold letters on the front of the slip saying "I SUGGEST YOU READ THIS."

He was amused by their equally shocked, terrified, and unique reactions to the slip's sudden appearance. After confirming they all received them, he retracted his senses, no longer caring about what they decided. If they still wished to leave despite reading it, it was their loss for missing out.

If they truly decided to leave just because they feared the church's reaction to this event... they had another thing coming that was far more threatening.

His schemes didn't just involve this region and event. He had some long term plans for this event that could heavily affect the entire country.

The purpose of that slip was to explain some important details about this event. The main reason behind the slip was to act as a deterrent for leaving, and a snare to not let any of them go no matter how much they wanted to.

On the slip, he mainly explained how Draconic Genesis would be selling five-star materials with long-lasting consistency of sales to any who wish to buy. The ones who attended this event until the very end and were invited by Maya would receive a small discount and larger privileges.

He made it clear that this would be one of the first major services that he would provide and introduce to the Alvestine Empire exclusively, but only temporarily, with other countries or foreign powers pending.

Of course, he wasn't a complete idiot for supplying the country and possible enemies inside of it with such incredibly potent power. There were precautions in place that decreased the majority of future risks.

The greatest precaution, which was apart of the natural law of this world and not his plans, was that mortals weren't physically capable of utilizing five-star materials and above. If there weren't any transcendental figures to use them for increasing personal strength, the potential risk decreased exponentially.

They might be useless for mortals, but not for other things. Diluted five-star ingredients could be used for alchemy. Behemoth cores and other five-star mana sources could be used to power cities or a city's mana dome shield. The same shield Kyren got stuck breaking during his first Dragon's Anger. Many other uses didn't involve the death of a mortal so the possibilities were limitless!

Transcendent enemies would be annoying to deal with on their own, but with five-star items or equipment to add to their arsenal, they would become a complete pain in the ass for him if they ever turned against him.

Draconic Animate was the perfect example. With this set in his hands, he gained a frightening increase to the grade of his power and his abilities. Such an increase in combat potential would simply be seen as cheating in anyone's eyes.

Luckily, the church fixed the bulk of that problem for him. Whenever a talented individual appeared on the continent, they were given two choices that greatly depended on whether they were human or not.

Non-humans were captured or assassinated without mercy. Humans were given a separate option along with the non-human's choice that let them join the church as a Priest or Bishop.

There was still the possibility of hidden talents that somehow escaped the all-seeing eyes of the church, but they were surely minuscule in numbers, so he wasn't too concerned. All he needed to do was somehow prevent the church from getting their slimy hands on the materials.

Another natural precaution was that there weren't many capable craftsmen that could use the materials.

The first precaution he took was to sort the materials and only sell the weakest ones first. He also wouldn't sell all of them and keep a lot of them for his faction.

He hasn't decided yet, but he might stop selling them all together once he went through a sizable chunk of his stock, which could take many years because of how much he had. He probably slew too many behemoths in the Turbulent World for him to simply use even an eighth of it all in a couple of years, maybe decades if he proportioned the materials right...

The second precaution would be to bar or limit the selling of materials to any of those he didn't greatly trust. Five-star consumable materials such as blood would be the only things sold regularly. Elder Dragon blood and Kraken ink/slime would be the main products that would have an unlimited supply of.

This would increase the number of future sales and returning customers while decreasing the risk of the church, which is the only known superpower with transcendent forces, from obtaining some of his materials.

It would be too unbelievable to say that he had a vast stock of transcendent level materials without evidence, after all, it was just too ludicrous even if he was far more powerful than the church. So to counteract these doubts, he placed a single drop of his five-star Elder Dragon blood on each slip.

That slip was worth a large fortune if one was to have a skilled alchemist to extract the oxidized dragon blood. Even just tossing the slip into a cauldron would have wondrous and miraculous effects.

The reason why those small factions would miss out fatally was because of the effects of selling his merchandise to the public. Once five-star materials hit the market, a shockwave would run through the Empire that would mortally wound it from within. The balance of power would shatter and the country would get a whole lot more dangerous with the shifts in influence.

The economy would also take a hit if all the noble's money was flowing into him. An internal civil war similar to the nuclear arms race could potentially happen all because of him.

This was but one of his many schemes to overthrow the country and eventually the entire continent...

Back to the slip, he also introduced his organization and scheduled the event they've all been waiting for. The main event of [Tribute to Genesis] was to come in five days!

During that time, he would increase his participation score while relaxing for the first time in a while, not needing to lift a finger.

He didn't introduce those draconic warriors just to show off. They were the ones that would maintain the peace in his place.

His threats and aura could only go so far and petty feuds would inevitably continue to pop up. They would actually be more intense and numerous compared to before. Factions would try to force their enemies to leave so they could now horde the benefits of this event and prevent other factions from joining in.

His warriors were trained nicely under Krista and they would be the main force that would be diffusing the arguments. Since they weren't players who would leech some of his participation scores, they were under his command, and he provided support to them, the credit for diffusing the situations and completing missions would go to only him.

This event was a baby step towards his ultimate goal and it would truly send terrifying ripples not just through the country, but the entire continent. By now, he's learned about himself that his ambitions were just too great for him to be satisfied with a small slice of the pie.

His ultimate goal was to completely quell or nullify his raging ambition that he made no effort to control. What better way to accomplish that besides world domination?

It might seem impossible and a bit more than he could chew, but in this fantasy world, it was extremely possible, unlike reality where there were known limits. He had morals so he refused to be an evil ruler, but he would do almost anything to achieve his goal with the minimum amount of sacrifices on his side. His enemies would inevitably fall while his allies rose.

.....

While his head was rushing and a unique ego that wasn't the pompous type bloomed, many hours passed. It didn't take long for the small factions who discarded his slip to all return. In the end, not a single faction retreated. Even if some of them wanted to, it was no longer possible now that they knew the contents of that slip.

Ignoring the potential magnitude of this event could very well be the defining choice between life and death for entire factions.

'Seems as though my blood acted as a great deterrent effect for all factions just as Maya suggested. She really can get inside their heads and predict what they're thinking... Natural born politicians and businesswomen truly are scary.'

His observing of the crowd was forced to come to a halt as his gaze was directed below him in irritation. A vein bulged on his forehead and immense annoyance dominated the atmosphere around him.

'Why are players so goddamn brazen! I know they have little to no fear of death, but this is just too much!!'

He unwillingly descended downwards to deal with the trouble makers that courted death.