Simon and Euphemia did survive into the morning. The empress was right, the bed was large enough for them to each have their own space without ever touching the other, though she also cast a Restraining Order to ensure this frontier would remain absolute.
This meant, however, that he had the privilege of sharing the empress’ morning routine. Unlike him, Euphemia did not sleep naked—and she scolded him for not wearing silk like she did—but always took a bath before her handmaidens dressed her up. She then opened up the day with prayers at the chapel, listened to grievances and complaints from her subjects, and oversaw legal cases the empire’s judges sent her as leader of the empire’s supreme court. Simon was starting to grow a newfound respect for her hardworking and dutiful nature. She was no noble dilettante wallowing in self-indulgence at the expense of her duties.
This alliance of theirs might actually prove surprisingly productive.
Still, the more he observed her, the more Simon doubted that she actually enjoyed her current station. She walked on from one meeting to the next with the stalwart duty of a soldier on the march, but she didn’t actually seem to enjoy her power nor the luxuries of rule. It was odd that someone would pursue something that didn’t make them happy so fervently…
Then again, to sit on the Crimson Throne is not her heart’s desire, Simon thought as he recalled Carbuncle’s vision. He was pretty certain that the village he saw in Euphemia’s reflection represented the lost Agares. She craves those lost happy days, the same way I longed for simpler times at the Academy.
Simon wondered if there was a better way to placate her in the future than sharing power with her…
Either way, Simon set those thoughts aside and summoned Lauriane to his quarters to discuss the Warrior Crestone question. Her answer when Simon asked if he should consume the Armsmaster Perk was a resounding, “Yes, without hesitation.”
“Are you sure?” Simon asked. “Don’t you think you could create a Class capable of learning all Techniques rather than only weapon ones, which I could then devour?”
“Father already asked me to create a Hybrid Class capable of holding both the Monk’s Body Mastery, which grants the ability to learn all body-related Techniques, with the Warrior’s Armsmaster into a single Perk,” Lauriane admitted. “All our attempts failed. We did manage to create Warrior/Monk hybrids, but none that combined the two Perks into one in a satisfactory way. Either it manifested as two separate Perks, or one with a narrower focus than the two donors, like elemental limitations.”
This disappointed Simon a great deal. “What was the issue?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Lauriane admitted. “My two main theories are that Perks have inbuilt limitations and that Hybrid Classes rely on very narrow combined archetypes. The idea of a fighter capable of mastering all weapons and martial arts is simply too vague and unbelievable to manifest in the Worldsoul, whereas spellcasting swordsmen immediately conjures a mental picture in people’s heads.”
“And ultimately, Classes are ideas incarnate,” Simon concluded, to his sorrow. He guessed that made sense. The elves and Mardok would have both already created an almighty Class capable of doing everything if it were possible.
“My Spellblade Class is a good example of those limitations,” Lauriane concluded. “The best I could do was develop a Perk allowing me to learn all sword Techniques. A wider Perk diminished magical tier progressions or limited to one particular element. My point is, creating a Perk capable of learning all Techniques is beyond us. Even a Monk and Warrior merger would likely miss out on Bard and Rogue-related abilities.”
That would explain why their father consumed a Monk Perk on his final reign. He must have reached the same conclusion and devoured Body Mastery to fill out one of his last available empty Perk slots. Simon gained one every ten levels or so, so he might have unlocked one extremely late…
“Why create the Spellblade Class in particular?” Simon inquired. He knew Lauriane had customized it herself.
“For the same reason why you are considering adding Armsmaster to your arsenal: to cover all of my bases. The Alchemist is not exactly a combat-oriented Class.” Lauriane put a hand on her waist. “Moreover, weapon Techniques and spells can supplement each other beyond buffs. There are many ways to magically bolster your melee prowess.”
“Like the Elemental Saber series of spells?” Simon guessed, causing Lauriane to nod. “Why go for the Warrior’s Armsmaster Perk rather than, say, the Monk’s affinity for body-related Techniques?”
“Because body Techniques will always be limited by base stats and morphology, whereas weapons can be easily customized and upgraded to deal with a specific threat or foe,” Lauriane explained. “I know our father liked to craft blades and devices optimized to synergize with certain tactics. You could easily follow his example. Staves and magical instruments often have Techniques that supplement various schools of spellcasting too.”
True, combining my spellcasting, crafting prowess, and Techniques would yield a combination greater than the sum of its parts, Simon thought. My Inventory would ensure I always have the right tool for the job too, alongside Warmonger.
“Besides…” Lauriane chuckled to herself. “Armored gauntlets and fists count as weapons, so if you are so set on learning Monk Techniques, you might be able to cheat a bit.”
This amused Simon, who did exploit that particularity to engage one of the Monk’s students in a fist fight once. “You think the System would allow such a loophole?”
“You would be surprised. Sometimes the System’s limits are extremely narrow and arbitrary, but sometimes, they blur at the edge. Experiments proved that some ‘unarmed’ Techniques can be replicated with spiked fist weapons, for example.” Lauriane smiled. “Besides, I’ve learned a few sword Techniques I could teach you…”
“Alright, alright, no need to bribe me, I’m convinced.” Simon would consume the Crestone during his latest training session with Norbelle to ensure they could reconstitute it immediately. “Which leaves the question of who will inherit the Warrior Crestone afterwards. I need a replacement capable of confronting the Zodiac Fiends in a year’s time.”
Lauriane’s smile turned into a scowl, since she would clearly prefer that he free Louis, but she gave sound advice nonetheless.
“General Uruk Leraje is the only possible inheritor,” she said. “He’s a level 71 Warmaster. Since it’s a Warrior Vassal, he can transfer most of his levels into the Noble Class, and his brands guarantee his obedience. Part of me always wondered if Father groomed him as a spare should Louis perish in the field.”
“It’s possible,” Simon agreed. “Do you think he could rival our brother with an aggressive training regimen?”
“No inheritor will ever catch up to Louis in a year’s time,” Lauriane warned him. “It took our brother much longer to move from level seventy to eighty in spite of leading the Telluria campaign.”
“We shall see about that. My Class lets me grant an exp boost to five people, and I have performances and Devil Brands capable of increasing that yield.”
“An exp boost for certain people?” Lauriane frowned. “I had no idea the Overlord had such a Perk. Father never used it, I’m sure of it.”
Simon immediately sensed cold hands on his throat. “It may be that some of its Perks has changed over time as public perception of our father changed,” he argued. “The boost does let me spy on them too.”
“I see…” Lauriane sounded a bit suspicious, but took him at his word anyway. “If you are limited to five, you should extend it to our family rather than outsiders. Generals and soldiers can be eventually replaced should they fall, but not our blood. House Magnos must triumph if our empire is to survive.”
“You would have me empower Euphemia?”
“She is not blood,” Lauriane replied harshly, her eyebrows furrowing. “Norbelle and Thalas are, however.”
“I don’t think they will agree to anything unless Euphemia does first,” Simon pointed out, “except maybe Norbelle, but then she’ll make it weird.”
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“Does your exp boost have any negative effects?”
“Besides being limited to five individuals, I can check their status screens and location at all times,” Simon informed her. “I don’t see Euphemia or Thalas allowing that, let alone bearing unremovable Devil Brands.”
“Probably not, no…” Lauriane stroked her chin. “How much do you see?”
“Based on an early test I did with Shabram, pretty much everything,” Simon replied. “Levels, type, stats, elemental affinities, Perks, equipment, and the individual’s current location. The ability ignores divination protection too.”
“Truly? That could work to our advantage…” Lauriane stroked her chin. “I’ll think about this a bit more… are you happy with your sham marriage?”
“It is cordial enough,” Simon replied. “I doubt we’ll ever grow affectionate for each other, but we work well enough together. Our interests align so far.”
“You should set that hag aside and marry Anna,” Lauriane argued. “She will be a finer wife, and Maublanc will support you.”
“I can’t risk alienating the Church Party for now, Lauriane. Not when our empire is besieged by multiple threats.” Though this might change when Simon inevitably gained the strength to force compliance rather than negotiate for it. “How is your Zodiac crystal research going?”
“We have secured the Darkwood and installed contraptions similar to those keeping the Goetia Research Facility’s dryad contained on that so-called Muse,” Lauriane replied. “We’ve begun extracting the miasma produced by the crystal and harnessing it. As far as I can tell, this Minotaur produces its energy from nothing.”
“It has no finite reserves for us to exhaust and weaken.” Simon’s attempts to do that with Nodens in the Sanctuary had failed too when Abraxas shone in his constellation. “The best we can do is ensure the seals don’t break until the comet arrives.”
“Or,” Lauriane suggested, “we find them a host aligned with our values.”
Simon thoughtfully steepled his fingers. “Elaborate.”
“I’ve discussed the matter with Lady Beatrice and Lord Mastemo. Demonic possession is a mental merger rather than straight-up usurpation, so a patriotic host mentally conditioned to obey House Magnos could potentially bind the fiend to our will.” The cold, clinical way his sister phrased it felt vaguely sinister to Simon. “Applying your Devil Brands to the host prior to the merger would let us control them too.”
“I’ve considered that option,” Simon admitted. His experience with Eole and Casval’s mergers showed that part of them remained in the fusion, albeit twisted by the demon, and Mastemo managed the supreme feat of outright suppressing his inner demon. “However, I’ve decided against it for two reasons. The first is that I’m not sure what will happen once the crystal receives the comet’s power. Do you think the demon might fully take over the host then?”
“I do not know.” Lauriane met his gaze. “If you have to ask, I assume you didn’t see this outcome happen in your visions?”
“Not yet.” He had never dared attempt such a thing in the past, but then again, he now had House Magnos’ near-undivided support… “Moreover, the Zodiac Fiends believe the Overlord to be Mardok reborn and possess a pathological hatred for him. They may try to kill me on sight.”
“Unless your Brand of Pride compels them to obedience, especially since it cannot be removed,” Lauriane pointed out. “I say we should at least attempt it with one subject. We should have the means to contain a merger inside the Lighthouse or the Goetia Research Facility. Studying the results would at least let us better understand the Zodiac Fiends and how to destroy them.”
“I will consider it,” Simon replied. “But the problem still stands: the only potential hosts are either our bloodline or Darkblooded people like Cassandra Honorius whom I would rather not expose to such risks.”
“Then let me consult the empire’s genealogy records,” Lauriane suggested. “Demon-blooded individuals aren’t exactly unheard of in the population. We can track down potential test subjects.”
Simon guessed it was worth a try. It would at least show what happened when a demon-bonded host received Abraxas’ blessing, or starve the Zodiac Fiends of potential vessels.
“I suppose it doesn’t hurt to track down potential hosts, for safety’s sake,” Simon agreed. “I will have Shabram help you build a registry of them.”
“Thank you, Simon.” Lauriane smiled. “You will not regret it.”
Simon promptly proceeded to consume Armsmaster during his latest training session with Norbelle.
He received a vision once again, though this one was blurrier than all the others. He found himself inhabiting the body of a Warrior deflecting beams of light fired at him by a great and terrible being of blinding radiance. He could hardly see the attacker, besides the shadow of six wings whose brightness burned his eyes. He recalled searing pain in his chest, followed by the whispers of a woman’s voice in his head, clear like the sun, obliterating his thoughts until all he could see was her light…
The vision ended there, with Simon basking in the glory of a new Perk.
Passive Perk: Armsmaster (Passive): Allows the user to quickly replicate and master any Weapon Technique.
I hope I won’t regret this, Simon thought. He didn’t have any Devour Crestone Perks left. Still, the stronger I become, the more options open up. Perhaps I will gain the strength to consume the Oracle or the Librarian Crestones one day…
“I hope you enjoyed your feast, Step-Daddy,” Norbelle said as she cast Noble Refinement on a Fencer Vassal Crestone, only for the reborn Warrior one to immediately escape her grip and roll across on the floor. “Hey!”
It’s almost as bad as the Paladin, but at least it lets me touch it, Simon thought as he grabbed the Crestone and stored it in his Inventory. “Is your own Crestone so possessive?”
“It loves me, of course, but I set up our boundaries early in our relationship.” Norbelle shrugged. “Anyway, as you must certainly have realized by now, your Magic stat determines the power of your spells and the rate at which your mana reserves replenish themselves. Charisma determines how well you resist mental assaults, and Intelligence influences how much mana you must actually spend when casting spells.”
“But there’s still room for improvement, even as my Intelligence increases?” Simon guessed. “I possess Perks that reduce the miasma I spend on spells too.”
“There’s always room for improvement, Simon, even for geniuses like you and me,” Norbelle replied smugly. “You see, the System only helps as much as it must to fit within its parameters. It determines the base floor and no more.”
“So it’s like martial proficiency Perks,” Simon concluded. “They give you a floor, but you must push beyond that to surpass your peers.”
“Precisely. The good news is that you have enormous miasma reserves to spellcast with; the bad news is that they are so large you never actually had to learn how to pace yourself to spend only as strictly as necessary.” Norbelle produced a small, translucent glass sphere the size of her palm. “Here’s your salvation.”
“A magic orb?”
“A miasma container. It passively absorbs the miasma you produce on touch to fill itself, which then harmlessly evaporates.” Norbelle charged the sphere with her magic, causing it to slowly blacken as if filled with oil. The contents began to shrink the moment its user stopped feeding it. “But fill it just a bit too much, and it’ll shatter. You are to constantly channel miasma inside until it fills out, then keep it on the threshold without breaking it. Go on, try it.”
Simon shattered his first orb within three seconds of holding it. Thankfully, Norbelle had cast a minor self-repairing spell on the container, which allowed Simon to shatter it again three times in a minute’s time.
“Keep going,” Norbelle said, “You’re a Magnos. You’ll get it right eventually.”
Simon immediately tensed up in alarm. “You’re not mocking me?”
“I don’t believe in negative reinforcement,” Norbelle lied through her teeth. “Think of it like a Visionary egg you have to fill with your miasma seed to give your little sister a sibling. Focus on that mental image.”
That didn’t help at all.
Still, Norbelle was right; he made some progress over the next few days, enough that he could keep an orb stable for ten to fifteen seconds at a time rather than an instant. Pacing his output was a mind-numbing and repetitive task, but his Dark Visionary sight greatly helped him analyze the flow of miasma pouring out of him. His control might eventually grow enough to let him keep Darkflight on at all times, or cast Edicts more often.
Otherwise, he set some time aside to train with Lauriane on learning his very first sword Technique, and one that would let him compensate for his low Agility weakness: Quickdraw.
“Quickdraw was invented in Fablan by warriors wishing to kill mages before they could cast their spells,” Lauriane explained as she proceeded to demonstrate the technique to him. “It is said the swordsmaster who perfected it did so by cutting falling lightning. This works by unsheathing the sword in a charge so fast you become invisible to the naked eye.”
Witnessing it was something else. One second Lauriane stood twenty feet away from a training dummy, and then she sliced it apart in the next with a horizontal sweep faster than the eye could follow. Her blade struck so fast it shattered the sound barrier and caused the wind to ripple from the point of impact. A living target would have been deafened on the spot.
“As you can see, the attack is so close to instantaneous I might as well be teleporting,” Lauriane said upon sheathing her sword. “Besides its high crit rate, the sound blast that accompanies the blade inflicts Wind elemental damage. Spellcasters are usually so disoriented that they more often than not fail to complete their spell, which creates a window of opportunity to finish them off.”
Simon wondered if Vayan’s Auspice would boost that blast too… he could already see potential synergies. “And it works regardless of Agility?”
“Agility determines how much space you can cover, but the movement itself is near instantaneous,” Lauriane replied. “The Technique’s main weakness is that it requires the sword to be sheathed, so it only works as an opening strike, but it should let you instantly close the gap with a faraway opponent.”
Simon wished he had learned that trick before his fight with Bert in Muse, or Nodens. He felt Armsmaster guiding him into a stance; he crouched his knees, one hand holding his sheath and the other his greatsword’s pommel. He only had to look at Lauriane once and hear her explanation for his Perk to provide an instinctual understanding of the technique’s underlying principle.
Still, the timing was so damn tight Simon wondered how anyone could ever master it without a Class. His first few attempts allowed him to cross nearly fifteen feet of distance in an instant, but he failed to unsheath Balefire fast enough to produce the shockwave. It would take him some time to fully master it, even for someone with his raw stats and Perks.
The next few days were a blur of training, council meetings, and administrative gatherings until airships came from the west to carry foreign delegations from Cocagne, Lore, Valne, and Muse, all eager and anxious to witness the event of the century.
The Fourth Overlord’s wedding was around the corner.
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