The Harvester

Chapter 213: Privileges

“…who the fuck is Krynox? He said the Will of the World but what the heck is that?” Allan uttered. “How can you even be the cousin of it?”

“Don’t think too hard,” Rakna said as he dispelled the magic formation. “He’s just a hat.”

The blond blinked dazedly. “…good point.”

“It’s getting late,” the therian remarked as he glanced outside. He paid for the food with the digital interface of the restaurant and star-flashed out of his seat, startling the others.

“Really?” Allan deadpanned as they followed each other out of their seats.

“Yes, I don’t like waiting if I don’t need to,” Rakna replied without missing a beat.

“That was a fast skill by the way,” Kaelith commented as they headed to the exit. “Didn’t you have Flash Step? This one seemed a bit more… scattered.”

“Yeah, a few of my skills got synthesized together.”

The vixen sighed. “You really have good luck.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he retorted with a small smile.

“So? Where are you guys staying?” Kaelith asked whilst addressing everyone.

“Us two share an apartment,” Allan pointed at himself and Marie. “And they,” he switched to the girls and Rakna. “Share another.”

The vixen blinked. “Wait… Wolfy stays with three women?”

“Four!” Higure exclaimed happily whilst raising her paw and Rakna silently used one of his tails to knock her off his head.

Kaelith gazed at him sharply. “Five. Lead the way,” she said calmly and Allan started laughing like there was no tomorrow.

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“Don’t you have a mansion to get to instead?” Rakna inquired as their group entered the apartment and Tyran and Pronos jumped on the couches gleefully with Higure following to reign them in like a mother taking care of her litter.

“Even if I do, what stops me from staying here?” Kaelith retorted.

“…fair enough.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like my mom would stop me or anything. You can test it. Send her a message and see if she disagrees.”

“If I send her anything, she won’t give a crap and get straight to here with bottles of alcohol as if it was a party,” Rakna uttered blankly and the others looked at him weirdly since they were out of the loop about Kara.

“Right… She asked me to tell you to stop ghosting her too.”

Rakna’s eyebrow twitched. “Tell her to stop harassing me first. That’s why I disabled alerts in the first place. That woman is too desperate for friends.”

She snickered. “Sure, I’ll try.”

“As interesting as this conversation sounds,” Nyx said. “What are the sleeping arrangements?”

“Well, Kaelith can sleep on my bed,” Flavia suggested and the vixen scowled at her.

“Then where will you sleep?”

“Well… I don’t mind sharing with Rakna… it wouldn’t be the first time,” she replied bashfully and the nine-tailed woman froze.

“If it comes to that, there is no reason why it couldn’t be me instead,” Kaelith retorted with a smile and the two girls glared at each other in silence.

Meanwhile, Rakna watched them with half-lidded eyes with Evelyn and Nyx next to him. “I wonder if they realize that I’m not the only one they can share a bed with,” he muttered rather calmly. The goddess of the night let out a small smile in amusement.

“It seems that for them, you might as well be the only one,” she said teasingly. “Flavia even forgot that I don’t need sleep and could just give out my bed without a problem.”

“I actually don’t need sleep either…” Evelyn said with a wry smile. “It’s just my former human-self emerging that gives me the ability to sleep like one.”

“Well, if we’re revealing things, I don’t need sleep either,” Rakna deadpanned. “Whether it is with meditation or normally. Augmented body and all that,” he stated and when he finished, he noticed that both Flavia and Kaelith had redirected their glares at him. “Why are you looking at me as if I did something wrong? I’m just saying.”

They both sighed.

“Anyway, Flavia, thank you, honestly. You helped me a lot last week but I managed to get around my nightmares thanks to Sloth Magic and Onera. We all can just use a bed each.”

“What if I want to sleep with you regardless?” Kaelith shot back with a grin and he smiled faintly.

“Maybe I’ll just go out and fight another vampire or two when you fall asleep? Who knows?”

“Fine, don’t joke about that,” the vixen groused. “Do any of you have a bed in your storage? I don’t really bring that kind of stuff with me.”

Rakna tilted his head and candidly extended his hand to an open side of the living room. A magic circle whirled into existence on the floor, with his own magic sigil at the center; a pair of stars with four wings and nine tails circling it.

Then, whilst releasing mist, a star crystal bed frame emerged from the circle. The hoarfrost energy inside of it gradually changed color and filled the crystal’s hollow interior like ink until everything up until the sheets and pillows were impeccably real.

The therian approached it and checked the softness of the material whilst also confirming that it wasn’t cold like the previous iterations of Star Hearth. He smiled and looked at the two girls.

“Don’t brag.”

“That’s cheating.”

Kaelith and Flavia exclaimed respectively. The most annoying thing to them was that he had made the bed look like a luxurious furniture fit for royalty. It looked comfortable enough for them to try asking for the bed itself rather than the company.

“At least put it in the room…” Flavia’s voice died down as Rakna simply waved his hand at the bed which promptly turned into a miniaturized crystal. It flew to the opened door of the apartment’s bedroom and reformed itself in an empty spot.

“Freaking show-off,” Kaelith grumbled.

Rakna nearly chuckled and he sat on the couch next to Higure. “Before tucking in, I have to check the things I was awarded by the Emperor Designation. You can stick around if you want.”

“Sure, I’m curious to see which of those privileges I don’t have,” the vixen said and took a seat. The others followed suit whilst Flavia went to the kitchen to fetch a few cups.

“Does anyone want hot milk?” She asked and got a positive answer from everybody. She swiftly worked on it and Rakna opened the description of his title’s most relevant parts, which he shared with all of them.

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Legendary Wolf Emperor

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– The System has recognized you as a key figure of power. You are presented the following rights and privileges:

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1 – You now have access to a personal terminal;

2 – Maps of Dungeons, Ordeals, and Plateaus are freely given to you after finishing them once;

3 – You gain authority over low, mid, and high-class Locals;

4 – You now possess the right to request intervention from Adjudicators with approval;

5 – Teleportation across Plateaus without a requirement for a Badge of Honor;

6 – 50% reduction on all one-sided transactions, irrelevant of their nature.

7 – You can now define where you’ll appear for transportations to cleared Plateaus;

8 – You can now skip 10 Plateaus at once;

9 – You are now only required to pass one Trial per Plateau;

10 – You can create a Guild whose top 10 members will share the last two privileges;

11 – You are to be invited to the Myth Council. Reach the 100th Plateau.

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Title Perks:

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– Acquire the Skill; Call of Hounds (Already Owned).

– Acquire the Skill; Legendary Imperial Guard

– Acquire the Title; True Imperial Designation

– Acquire the Special Skill; Celestial Gate

– Acquire the Special Skill; Eonian Gate

– Acquire the One-Time Ability; Awakening of Divinity

– Acquire the One-Time Ability; Empirical Tribulation

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“That’s a lot…” Evelyn said in awe.

“I’m so jealous right now, wolfy. You have absolutely no idea,” Kaelith added.

“Alexa, could you please briefly explain the privileges in order. Other than the obvious, of course.”

[Certainly,] she responded and Rakna personally relayed it with telepathy. [Firstly, I have already informed you of the Personal Terminal. You can manifest it any time. Secondly, I believe there is not much to say. Thirdly, it refers to legal authority. Most nobles by System standards are below you hierarchically now. You can be considered Royalty without even mentioning your Nine-Tailed affiliation.]

[Fourthly, Adjudicators are simply guards. They intervene in important conflicts or crises. Calling the support of Adjudicators means you have the authority to request their presence and have them fight a certain enemy if the circumstances are creditable of such an intervention. You can perform this by using your Terminal.]

[Fifthly, it is explicit. Sixthly, a reduction on all one-sided transactions signifies that whatever you may buy in the future, whether it is at the Pavilion or on the street, 50% will be billed directly by the System itself. Additionally, as you already possess a discount in the Pavilion, it will add up to 70% whenever using their services.]

Rakna could’ve sworn he heard something break near Kaelith’s rough direction but he didn’t look at it and simply took a sip of the hot chocolate given to him by Flavia as he continued to listen.

[Seventhly, you can now define where to teleport when traveling Plateaus. It will not be limited to your previous location anymore. Eighthly, you can skip every ten Plateaus. For example, you will not be able to skip from 55 to 60, it is only from 50 to 60, 60 to 70; and so on.]

[Ninthly, it is explicit. The Trial will however be relatively harder or longer. Tenthly, by applying through a Terminal to the Pavilion and the System, a Guild or Sub-Guild can be established. You already are aware of this. Now, however, the ten members that join your Guild after you will share the last two privileges; 10 Plateau-Skipping and One-Trial completions.]

[And finally, a seat at the Myth Council has been reserved for you. You will be able to attend your first meeting upon reaching the 100th Plateau and referring to one of the three Myth Towers built in the main city,] Alexa concluded her explanation with a very human-like sigh.

“…my life is a lie,” Kaelith said with a lifeless tone. “I’m going to screenshot this and send it to mom to tell her you could literally win a court case against her for harassment due to how politically powerful you are.”

“And also to make her regret, even more, to have failed to recruit me,” Rakna added approvingly, feeling totally justified to torment the lazy and clingy woman.

“I don’t know what kind of person she is but I feel bad for her…” Nyx commented dryly.

“Don’t be. She’s just an alcoholic,” Rakna said.

“You seem to like her though,” Flavia said with squinted eyes. “You don’t badmouth someone like that if you are not fond of them even a little bit.”

Rakna thought about it and shrugged. “True. Can’t deny that.”

“Oh no, you better not make a move on my mom, wolfy!” Kaelith suddenly said.

He looked at her as if she had grown a second head. “Why would I even do that? And she’s married as the matriarch, isn’t sh-“

“She’s divorced and she was dad’s fourth wife,” Kaelith cut him off and he closed his mouth with a grunt. “And, seriously, if she starts to flirt with you, don’t go along.”

He stared at her with a scowl. “You are just making this futilely gauche.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m merely warning you. I don’t even know if even you could handle the full brunt of, well, herself.”

“Right. Thank you for hinting at your mother’s potential obsessed behavior and let’s return to my perks,” the werewolf brushed it off and opened every perk description except Call of Hounds.

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Legendary Imperial Guard

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As an Emperor of the highest order, it is clear that you must possess the worthiest of Elites to protect and fight in your name. With this skill, you can designate others as personal soldiers that will be bound to you for life.

A tenth of the experience they gain will be transferred to you (limited to 25 levels below yours). In return, they will be granted a percentage of your attributes as well as increased growth in some areas depending on their talent. They will also become de-facto nobility under your command. They can be teleported to you at a moment’s notice.

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Current Number of Guards: 0/5

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Note: The higher the level of this skill, the higher the percentage of attributes given out. Each new addition to the Imperial Guard will cost 500 MP and a mendable portion of your soul.

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True Imperial Designation

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This is a title bestowed upon Kings or Emperors who have truly awakened. With this title, their respective summon types will not require mana to stay manifested except to heal damage.

Furthermore, the summons will possess basic intelligence and will be capable of following equally basic instructions. Depending on their level, their intelligence will be higher or lower.

Finally, True Designation allows you to absorb a summon into yourself for increased attributes that will last a second. The duration and effect can be improved by absorbing more summons at once.

The boost in attributes will be 0.1 for every ten levels of the summon merged. For instance, if a level 50 summon is used, there will be +0.5 to a random attribute except for Luck. The stacking limit is defined by the user’s capability to handle the toll.

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Personal Note: Don’t explode. Sincerely, your favorite little sister.

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Celestial Gate

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The System has deemed you worthy of this Special Skill. You can spend 100 MP to open a gate to get in and out of the Celestial Plateau, the System’s territory dedicated to the Hosted Deities.

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Eonian Gate

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The System has deemed you worthy of this Special Skill. You can spend 100 MP to open a gate to get in and out of the Eonian Plateau, the System’s territory dedicated to the Hosted Immortals.

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Awakening of Divinity

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Upon triggering this ability, you will be faced with a judgment that will either awaken your dormant divinity, grant you divinity, or both. There are several possible benefits; a concept to rule over, a soul ascension, divine blood, divine body, a divine skill…

However, Awakening of Divinity will not necessarily succeed or give the user all results. They are listed by ascending probability with the first having a near 0.01% chance of happening as an average mortal.

It is recommended to use this ability after reaching level 200 where mortals will reach the cap of their possibly acquirable natural divinity.

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Note: This is a one-time ability. It will disappear after first use.

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Empirical Tribulation

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Upon triggering the tribulation, the three pillar aspects of your power will be appraised. Namely, your body, soul, and mind. Depending on how well you do in each of them, the respective tribulated aspect will be elevated to higher stages under the form of physical evolutions, level increases, soul power capacity, or psyche strengthening.

It is recommended to use this ability when the user feels like they have reached a bottleneck in all three aspects.

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Note: This is a one-time ability. It will disappear after first use.

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