Level 1 Fallen

Chapter 204: The Steward

As we walked through the streets of No Strings Attached, we caught sight of more and more players walking alongside the puppets of the city. It was hard to say whether or not the players themselves were residents of the city, or were simply visiting for various purposes, but there were a surprising number of them.

Moreover, this dungeon was over level two hundred, meaning that the surrounding environment shouldn’t have been much lower than that. For these players to come here showed that they truly did have some skill.

As I was thinking that, a voice called out to us. “Lord Advent, please wait for a moment.”

Turning around, I saw a puppet in a black suit walking towards us, looking like a well-dressed businessman, or maybe a high-class butler. “Ah, good, so it truly was you, Lord Advent,” the puppet said in a tone of relief, though its features did not change.

“Can I… help you with something?” I asked, confused as to why I was suddenly being called out in the middle of the street. I wasn’t going to ask how the man had identified me, since I imagined that I was quite iconic among players at this point. The Questing King probably had some list of people to be on the lookout for, and I just happened to be on it.

“Of course, of course,” the puppet nodded mechanically. “If you and your companions would follow me, we can discuss this in private. I’m sure that you would not prefer to discuss a potential business transaction in the open like this.”

I hesitated, looking at the other two. However, seeing them nod their heads, I turned to follow the well-dressed puppet. To my surprise, he led us towards a nearby tavern, the owner already seeming aware of our visit and handing him a key to a back room.

“Pardon the abrupt meeting,” the butler said as he sat down in the back room, which looked like a normal meeting room with a pair of couches and a table between them. He gestured for us to sit, and we did. “As you are aware, I serve the Questing King. You may call me Steward Roku.”

“Throughout his various cities, my lord has entrusted his stewards with a list of lords to watch for. If, for any reason, they were to enter one of his cities, we are to make contact with them as quickly as possible while alerting the lord.” He spoke in a calm tone, his hands neatly folded in his lap. “That said, I am unsure when he will be arriving. As per his moniker, the lord is often away from his cities on quests.”

“What exactly does he want to meet me for?” I asked, and Roku thought about it for a moment before responding.

“The primary reason, I imagine, would be his desire to establish a city within your territory. Doing so could present numerous benefits to both sides. On the side of my lord, he will obtain partial citizenship within your territory, granting him half of the normal kingdom trait for a citizen. On your side, my lord’s cities will attract more traffic from players and Fallen alike. Not to mention, one item I am authorized to offer as trade is the Puppet Knight Factory Blueprint.”

Seeing our confusion, Roku took the initiative to explain. “This is something that my lord learned to create after conquering the local dungeon and training its puppeteering skill to the maximum level. At this point, puppets can be given their own identities, and possess autonomous control.”

“Combining this with his City Planner skill, he created a number of puppet factories. The large majority of puppets within this city come from the Puppet Civilian Factory. They serve as shopowners, janitors, couriers, and quest givers. On the other hand, the guards you saw at the gate were created in the Puppet Knight Factory.”

“As long as enough resources are supplied, the factory can continue to produce knights at a rate of five per day. Their levels will vary based on the quality of the materials, and they will loyally serve whoever the factory is registered under.”

I had to admit that this was a good deal for us. Public safety was one of our largest issues in Fallcry. Currently, we were relying on Fallen who we had elevated with the Knight system. This was far from perfect, but it was the only option available to us at the moment.

However, I also had to consider the risk that the Questing King had some kind of alternative method to seize control of the puppets produced by the facility. If he did, and he rebelled against the various kingdoms where these puppets formed essential personnel, he would be able to easily conquer multiple nations at once.

Seeing my hesitation, it was Bella that spoke up. “What is it that would cause so many Players and Fallen to travel to Fallcry if we allowed a city to be built?”

Despite Bella’s sudden interjection, Roku did not seem to mind. “For one, my lord is quite popular among you Players. In addition, there is another facility which he builds in all of his cities, known as the Thousand-Mile Gate. This facility acts similarly to a teleportation nexus in that it allows people to traverse from one gate to another instantly.”

“However, there are some restrictions in its use. And these restrictions were imposed to ensure that the gate was not used to transport hostile troops into enemy territory,” Roku explained patiently. “The gate is available only to Players, meaning that Fallen cannot traverse the gate. The only exception to this is if the Fallen already belong to the nation that resides on the other side of the gate.”

“Because of this restriction, the only Fallen that can reliably use the gate are those that are members of the Limitless Guild, who are granted partial citizenship in any kingdom where they establish a branch city. In addition, as part of the agreement, my lord establishes a non-aggression contract between the Limitless Guild and the kingdom with which he is contracting. So long as the other party does not initiate hostilities, the organization is forbidden from doing so themselves.”

“With that said, there is one request that my lord specifically asked me to make if certain individuals such as yourself were to appear,” Roku spoke up, catching the three of us by surprise.

“And what’s that?” I asked, curious.

“My lord wishes to include your construction skill as part of the assets used in this negotiation. He is, naturally, willing to perform a quest to earn the skill. However, with his rate of establishing cities, his most pressing problem is how to rapidly construct the necessary facilities. Currently, we make do with the Puppet Builder Factory, which produces puppets with skills to control wood and stone. However, their working speed falls far short of what my lord has observed from your own skill.”

“If it is acceptable, he wishes to master your own skill, and use it to construct his cities moving forward. In exchange, there are a number of personalized blueprints that he has created and is willing to offer as trade, such as the Dragon-Turtle Defensive Array, the Seven Souls Prison, or the Skill Simulation Platform.”

The names of these blueprints seemed… quite unusual, though it was the last one that really caught my attention. “What is that simulation platform?”

Roku mechanically nodded his head. “This is one of my lord’s greatest blueprints, created by embodying the Simulated Training skill of grandmasters into the City Planner skill, together with various other supplementary skills. Simply put, this is a meditation platform. When one sits on one of the provided cushions and meditates, they are allowed to choose a single skill. So long as they are meditating, that skill will receive constant experience, as if they were actively using it.”

I pursed my lips at this news. Although it seemed quite powerful, there were obvious downsides when compared to the true Simulated Training skill. For one, the original skill did not limit you to training only a single skill at a time. Instead, you were put in simulated combat against an opponent, and gained experience for any skill used.

In addition, because this happened through simple meditation, it sounded like the simulated training happened without the user’s awareness. This could easily lead to someone training to the master level in a skill without actually practicing how to use that skill as intended.

With that said, it seemed like quite the powerful skill nonetheless. And, if it worked as Roku explained, it would explain how the Questing King managed to master the puppeteering skill so quickly. All he had to do was meditate on the skill, relying on his trait to vastly amplify the skill experience he received. If the simulation did not depend on one’s own mana, even a high-cost skill like my construction skill would be easily mastered.

I didn’t know how high the multiplier was for his experience gain, but given by the fact that he had already reached the grandmaster level in a skill that he should have only had access to after hitting level two hundred, and even use it as the foundation for his construction plans, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that he could fully train such a skill within a week, maybe less.

Given my own ability to completely ignore mana burden for skills, I was not exactly in a position to say that his trait was unbalanced. If anything, his trait had a built-in downside, though one that only really existed in the early levels. When starting out, his skills would have leveled faster than he could keep up with, so their mana burdens would have been extraordinary.

However, another thought struck me. “If I’m not mistaken, part of these negotiations would involve me providing a quest for your master to build the city, right?”

If that was the case, then his actions made a lot more sense. He was amassing skills related to construction, offering favorable deals, and creating cities all for the purpose of leveling up. Certainly, constructing an entire city would have no small experience reward, which would be further amplified by his trait.

“That is indeed correct,” Roku answered as if it was normal. “When issuing the quest, you may also stipulate any special facilities needed within the city, its location, and so on. The only requirement on our part is that one of the rewards be making the members of the Limitless Guild partial citizens of Fallcry.”

“I’ll… need to think about it,” I said, uncertain as to what I would choose. In theory, it all seemed too good to be true, and that was exactly why I was so cautious. Rather than diving straight into an agreement, I would rather have Diane investigate from her own end to see if there were any negative rumors about the Questing King.

“That is perfectly understandable, Lord Advent,” Roku nodded mechanically again, slowly rising to his feet. “In the meantime, feel free to enjoy the city’s facilities. I assume that you came here primarily for the dungeon. If so, I must inform you that there is a queue. After seeing the success of the Questing King, many players have come here to try and acquire the puppeteering skill offered by the dungeon. Typically, these players will leave after one or two attempts, realizing how difficult the dungeon itself is.”

“As for those that defeat the dungeon and obtain the skill, they quickly give up on its pursuit, acknowledging that they simply cannot train it as quickly as the lord can. Due to this reason, we have put in place five puppets throughout the city capable of teaching the puppeteering skill. In addition, there is an engineer that can teach puppet construction.”

I looked at Diane, who shook her head. “Sorry, but our main goal is actually the wire manipulation skill. Puppeteering is only secondary for us,” she explained.

“I see… that skill is rarely traded, so the lord never created a teacher for it, and the accrued skill books are regularly traded to the Scribe King to recycle as other skill books. In that case, it would seem that the easiest path forward for you would be to register for the dungeon. I will have the staff there reserve you the earliest available timeslot. And, in the meantime, I will ask the skill tower to watch for anyone selling the wire control skill.”