Chapter 29: Constellation Na! Harem Unlocked
William stared at the tower system’s explanation for the new shit just introduced: Tower Games. He read it over a few times, trying to get his head on straight and figure out his next move. Before he could even start planning, the panel snapped shut and rolled out a new set of announcements.
[Constellation Unlocked.]
[If your opponent in the Tower Games wants to surrender, you can make them a Constellation of your tower.]
[You can also make another lord a Constellation if they are willing, without challenge. This will not use a challenge token.]
[To make another lord a Constellation, the lord must make a blood pact.]
[After becoming a Constellation, all of their resources and tower core stone will transfer to the tower lord. Their main and acquired troops will also transfer, and their loyalty will shift to their new lord.]
[If the surrendering or willing lord already has Constellation(s), those Constellation(s) will become normal troops for the new tower lord.]
[Note: At tier 1, each lord can only have one Constellation.]
[Both Tower Games and Constellation can be found at the end of the Lord’s status panel.]
Reading these notifications, William’s expression stayed flat. Compared to the last round of notifications, this was nothing. If used correctly, one could stack up commanders for the trials and games. But he could already picture some dick-minded bastard using it as a harem recruitment method.
William let out a long sigh and closed all the panels. He still lay on the floor, propped up on his hands. He closed his eyes and let his mind spiral down into deep thoughts.
’Fuck, this changes everything. Whatever, it’s not like anyone can actually do anything about it. Out of the two, tower siege is the better option in Tower Games, but only if I’m the defender. Yeah, I’d get thirty percent less in resources, but at least I’d have the home advantage, and I can use my floors as well.’
’I’ll add some nasty dungeons and gaslight any lord with B or lower rank troops into challenging me in the neutral zone. Kekeke... I have some crazy ideas for that as well, and with my F-rank troop status, it’ll be a piece of cake.’ He chuckled, still eyes closed, then continued in his thoughts, ’I doubt any lord will risk Lord Battle this early; everyone knows their only real asset is their troops.’
’For constellation, I need to convince Aunt Julia, she’d be safer with me. Not that I want to sniff her scent, peel off her clothes, knead her doughy breasts, or grope her ass... Shit, not that fast. I want a romantic story, right? What the hell would I even tell my friend—no, stepson, Dante?’ He smirked at the thought.
’The Games start tomorrow. I need to get stronger, but first, the reward from the trial.’ With that thought, he cracked open his eyes and called up his status panel.
He stared at his TP. Before the trial, it was a fat ZERO. Now? 1500. He expected a decent haul, but this was next level, his first time having four digits. And this number would climb even higher once he sold some items and Blooms.
With a grin, he switched over to his inventory, eager to see the rewards.
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Inventory:
Random Skill Draw (Rare)
Random Skill Draw (Uncommon)
Random Blueprint Draw (Rare)
Random Item Draw (Rare)
Floor Expansion Card (Normal) x2
Area Expansion Card (50m) x2
Poison (Low) x12
Gnoblins (Fangs x12, claws x12)
Snobtrox (Fangs x3, Tail x3, Pelt x3)
Tier One Core x15
Wood 3500, Stone 2500
7-day 5-star food and water (Cuisine of Choice)
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[A/N]: Only rewards from the trial are shown here.
"Damn, getting an S grade in the trial actually pays off well. Three rare draws, one uncommon, and this time, two floor cards. That would bump my tower up to six floors, and with the TP I’ve got, I can add two more dungeons. There’s an area expansion card, too; the lord’s floor is getting crowded. I’ll use one there and think about where to use the other later."
A satisfied grin appeared across his face as he looked at the haul, then moved on to the rest. "Monster loot, mostly useless, except the poison. Might come in handy someday. The rest? Straight to the market. As for the cores and resources, there’s more than enough to upgrade one to a high rank. But which one do I pick? Eh, I’ll worry about it later."
He closed the status screen and muttered, "I’ll hit these draws after I suck that damn luck lolly. It would be embarrassing, but I might pull something great with increased luck. I would use gacha draws at the same time. But before anything else, I need a warm bath and a short nap; my whole body feels shit. And why the hell am I feeling itchy on my balls? Is it because of these bastards’ blood?"
William stood up, giving his balls a light massage and went back to the lord’s floor. Everyone was sprawled in their favorite spots. The MVPs of this trial were Cent, the Boom Fairy, and, of course, the marine troop.
He made his way to his hut, took a steaming shower, then collapsed onto his bed. "Rollie, wake me in three hours," he muttered, already half-asleep.
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In a certain tower, next to a white stone fountain with a sword-and-shield finial, water trickling down into the basin, a lord sat hunched over with a gloomy face. She was Julia. Her two knights gleamed in golden armor, and a mage in white and gold stood beside her like bodyguards.
For her, the trial had been a nightmare; half her troops were dead, and panic chewed at her guts. Then the announcements dropped. Her soul nearly noped out of her body. But when the constellation notification flashed by, her mind sparked an idea.
After going through two trials, she was sure this wasn’t for her. And now, with Tower Games added, she had no clue how long she’d last alone. She’d already texted William fifty-plus times and was waiting for his reply. She wanted to meet, to ask him to become her constellation.
She knew William’s fairy troops were F-rank, he’d told her himself. With her B-rank troops, it should be easy to convince him, right?
When she came here, she was afraid and clueless. She’d hoped Dante would be with her, but nope, no sign of him. She was worried about her son, but even more, she was terrified for herself. She didn’t want to die by getting ripped apart by monsters.
When all hope was gone, it was William who kept her from going under. She didn’t mind his weak troops; she needed his knowledge. Another reason she wanted him was that she didn’t want strangers around, and she absolutely wasn’t about to become some other lord’s constellation.
She’d already seen how ugly people could get. All the lords she’d met only wanted her body. No way was she becoming someone’s constellation-cum-dump.
She sighed and continued her wait for William’s reply.
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Meanwhile, William lay on his bed, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. Three hours had passed, and he was still waiting for that damn tingling sensation to fade because of Rollie’s shocking way to wake him up. After a while, he sat up and stretched, making his joints pop. "Ahhh, that hit the spot," he groaned.
He dragged himself outside. Half the troops were still in deep sleep. Cent was up, rubbing lumin dust on his wounds, while Mutt was sprawled next to him, sleeping like a dead dog.
William already knew what to do first. He wanted to upgrade his tower core, to increase his own strength, but for that, he’d need a troop at a high rank. But who? He could only think of Cent and Lumina right now. Cent was best for his combat, even with only one skill. And Lumina, he could probably be biased since she’d been his first summon, but her buffs had saved his and Cent’s ass more than once.
After a minute of thinking, William started walking toward Cent. Yeah, the decision was made, Cent was getting the upgrade. The guy took hits up front, and William needed him tougher. He knew the next wave of climbers would be mostly tier one high rank.
Cent gave a quick nod of respect, seeing William approaching him. William, with a smile, said, "You’ve improved a lot in the past few days, Cent. Keep it up, be an example for the others and new troops that would be joining in the future." He grinned. "Rollie, upgrade Cent’s rank."
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[A/N]: William doesn’t get specific numbers showing how much TP he gets per kill or trial; think of it like those novels where monster XP is at random. I know it’ll bug some readers, so just this once, I will explain how I calculate the TP rewards of trials: 12 intermediate monsters = 50TP each and 3 high-ranks = 150TP each, that makes 1050, and the rest is some bonus for time, floors, number of climbers, and grade achieved.
