Healer Book 6 -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The original idea that Thaden had to get everyone through Developmental Phase 4 was a rather simple one.  After learning about Subjugation Points and the various defenses he could purchase for a Defensive Fortification, his initial thought had been to subjugate the NEST closest to the Region, defend it against all manner of monsters that attempted to take it back, accumulate tens of thousands of SP to build an impregnable fortress, and then have the lower-Level Defenders participate in the defense so that they could Level-up like crazy against the high-Level monsters. 

As he completely subjugated his ninth NEST, that idea was looking even more like it was going to work as he saw the bonuses that he received from another pair of Achievements.

Congratulations for destroying and subjugating 9 NESTs in the Wildlands!

Achievement received: The Final Frontier II

Bonus reward: +20 to all stats 

Omenic Drifter Class trait activated!

Bonus reward: +30 to all stats

Contender World First Achievement: Earn 20% more SP for each subjugated NEST and increase SP accumulation by 4 SP/hr

Omenic Drifter Class trait activated!

Bonus reward: Earn 30% more SP for each subjugated NEST and Defensive Kill and increase SP accumulation by 6 SP/hr

Congratulations for solo destroying and subjugating 9 NESTs in the Wildlands!

Achievement received: Impressive But Futile II

Bonus reward: Permanent 30% reduction in SP costs for all Defensive Formation purchases 

Omenic Drifter Class trait activated!

Bonus reward: Permanent 45% reduction in SP costs for all Defensive Formation purchases 

Contender World First Achievement: Earn 60% more SP for each subjugated NEST and increase SP accumulation by 20 SP/hr

Omenic Drifter Class trait activated!

Bonus reward: Earn 90% more SP for each subjugated NEST and Defensive Kill and increase SP accumulation by 30 SP/hr

From what he could tell, he was now receiving 210% more SP whenever he earned it from subjugating a NEST or defending it against monsters; in addition, while he was defending the Defensive Fortification, he was also earning 49 SP per hour.  When he added this to the SP cost reduction that was now at 75%, in a few days of work, he could imagine decking out a Fortification to the point where Contenders from Region #1 could succeed in defending it even without his help.  It would be even easier if he was there to help out, but he figured that if he was present, the Level difference would mean that none of the other Contenders would receive any PICK.

“That’s exactly right; if you’re there, none of them would receive any PICK, regardless if they’re in your Party or not.  Unfortunately, there’s another aspect of Defensive Fortifications, Subjugations Points, and earning PICK in Developmental Phase 4 that I never got a chance to share with you,” Sadia told him, which ended up raining on his parade.

“What do you mean?”

His squirrel companion took on a lecturing tone.  “The objective behind Developmental Phase 4 is, as stated in the announcement, to accustom the Contenders to working in real-world scenarios so that they’ll have a better understanding of what they will be facing once they’re done with Tarth.  This includes hunting down NESTs and subjugating them, closing off the spawn gates that form inside of them, and then defending these areas while the rest of the NESTs are wiped off the world. 

“What isn’t expressly mentioned in the announcement is the secondary purpose of this Phase.  While in the various Regions, the Contenders had to learn how to work in small Parties in relatively limited areas, before their attention was turned toward the entire Region in Phase 2.  Phase 3 saw the introduction of Raid Parties, meaning that Contenders had to adapt and learn how to work within even larger Parties, up to 400 or 500 people at once.  The Guilds helped with this immensely, making the Raid Parties that were developed more successful than most other Contenders.

“But now, with the introduction of Phase 4, not only does the entire Region have to get together and coordinate in a singular defense, but once the other Regions enter the Phase, there will have to be a central leadership that can coordinate the entire assault on the NESTs throughout all of the Wildlands.  This focus on leadership is imperative to success, because otherwise the only thing that the Contenders will achieve in the Wildlands is disorganized chaos.”

Her lecturing tone disappeared as she continued.  “How does this relate to what we were talking about, you ask?  Well, it has to do with how PICK is distributed based on that idea of leadership.  In this case, whoever originally subjugates a NEST, those Subjugation Points are distributed between those who accomplished the subjugation; it is these individuals who are then nominally ‘in charge’ of the Defensive Fortification that is built to replace the NEST.  And whoever is in charge of the Fortification is always considered to be present, even if they aren’t physically in the location.  The SP generated from any activities, therefore, are distributed to those in charge, and they—and those they delegate to—are able to spend those points in any way they desire.

“More importantly, at least in your particular case, is that because you are ‘present’ at all times, no one inside the Defensive Fortification will receive any PICK because of the Level difference.”

Thaden was flabbergasted at such stupidity.  “Who the hell thought that was a good idea!  That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

“The Assimilation System, of course.  And it was designed to encourage small leadership groups to lead the charge ahead into the Wildlands, subjugating NESTs while coordinating the defenses of those that have already been subjugated, as all of the SPs would be in the hands of these relatively few people.  The idea, which has worked spectacularly in the past, is that these few people would come together with a few chosen individuals from each of the Regions, forming a leadership team that could work together as a cohesive whole, each of them bringing resources with them.  By working in tandem with others who have consolidated the Subjugation Points of their conquests, they could then develop a comprehensive strategy leading to success and the completion of Developmental Phase 4.”

He thought about it for a moment, trying to see the situation from the perspective she was presenting.  Ultimately, he understood the point behind it all, as it would be much easier to have someone in charge of hundreds of Defensive Formations rather than hundreds of different people in charge of just one or two, but that didn’t really help him right now.  It ruined his entire plan, not only of essentially power-Leveling the Contenders by having them in an almost impenetrable Defensive Fortification, but once they were ready for it, he would slowly expand across the Wildlands, subjugating NESTs and then having the Contenders from Region #1 come in behind to defend them.  While he could theoretically still do that, there would be extreme danger involved in simply moving through the Wildlands without him as an escort.

Still, it was an option that they could pursue if it came down to it; the Contenders would unfortunately have to stay an extremely low Level, but if they were careful and methodical, then there shouldn’t be any problem—

“Oh, and one last thing,” Sadia said, interrupting his thoughts.  “There is simultaneous subjugation limit of 500 NESTs by any individual Contender.  This is to prevent a single person or small group from gaining control of every Defensive Fortification and to foster cooperation between the leadership of every Region.  Most times, it is rare for any one person to have subjugated more than 100 NESTs, even toward the end of the Phase; you, however, could probably hit that limit in the matter of a few days.  Fortunately, that 500 NEST limit only applies to those that are being actively held in Defensive Fortifications, so you don’t have to worry about it while you’re busy subjugating one NEST right after another.”

Thaden was silent for a moment before he asked, in an admittedly annoyed tone, “Anything else you want to share which will make my life even more difficult?”

“Of course,” she replied, shooting him a deliberate smile.  “First, the good news: you can transfer the authority of your Fortifications and even give away Subjugation Points!  Now, the bad news: you can’t give control of any Defensive Fortification and your stockpile of SPs to anyone unless they already have control over a Fortification and have SP of their own that are unconnected to yours.  What that means is that even if you take some Contenders with you as you subjugate a NEST, while they share joint authority over that Fortification and will start to accumulate SPs, as well as have access to your SPs if you allow it, you cannot transfer full ‘authority’ over the Fortification to any of them.  Only someone else—or a Party of Contenders—that has subjugated a NEST separate from your own actions can have SP and authority over a Fortification transferred to them.”

One loophole after another seemed to close up on him, until there were very few other options left.  He grunted as he considered more avenues of attack.  “So, I know you said there is a limit to how many Defensive Fortifications I can have authority over, but what if on the 501st NEST I subjugate, I take along a Party of Contenders so that they can possess the Fortification?”

Sadia cocked her head to the side as she thought about it for a moment; unfortunately, once she was done thinking, she reluctantly nodded and then shook her head.  “I think this would get past the maximum limitation, but as you participated in the actual subjugation, this would prevent the other Contenders from having ‘full’ authority.  Still, this method could eventually work to subjugate every NEST, though you’ll be stagnating the development of the rest of the Contenders by doing this, as they’ll gain nothing from defending the Fortifications.  It is entirely possible that the System will see this happening and hamper your efforts in some way; the entire point of this developmental world is to develop the Contenders so that they can survive outside of Tarth, and if you deliberately keep them low-Level by gaming the system, it wouldn’t surprise me if the System initiated some new restrictions.”

Thaden nodded, having seen evidence of the System reacting to certain things he’d done or events that happened.  For instance, Achievements such as Overachiever were reactions to the Phases starting earlier than planned, and it had sent in the Wardens when the Adversary was poised to harm the development of the Contenders by infiltrating various dungeons.  Even if it wasn’t guaranteed to happen, he thought that there was a good chance that Sadia was on the right track when she mentioned the System getting involved if he did something that would deliberately prevent the Contenders from developing any further.

“So, you’re saying that the only way to succeed during this Phase is not only to subjugate all of the NESTs, but to find a way that the other Contenders aren’t prevented from developing?”

“Essentially, yes.  While it isn’t a given that the System will react to what you’re doing, it would be better to plan for that ahead of time than be surprised later.”

She was right; he had the time to plan right now, before everything became chaotic and dangerous in a few months, and he’d rather figure out a different solution than have his last-ditch effort be kneecapped halfway through the process.  Unfortunately, he was running out of methods in which to take advantage of his unique situation. 

As he ran toward the next NEST, Thaden wracked his mind for a way to combine the two requirements: Subjugate all NESTs and Level-up the Contenders.  He had a fairly decent plan to create impenetrable Fortifications with all the SPs that he could accumulate, but that didn’t include developing the Contenders.  Developing the Contenders first inside the Region ran the risk that, once they managed to max out their Levels from the Intermediate Dungeons that could be found there, that they would still be quite behind the average Level of monsters in the Wildlands.  As the announcement and Sadia had mentioned, the monsters weren’t static in their Levels and evolutions; they would become stronger and higher-Level as time went on, so it wasn’t a race that the Contenders could win – even with their bonus to PICK they were receiving right now due to the Overachiever II Achievement.

Desperately searching for something, he remembered his recent Title acquisition and the benefits that accompanied it.  “What about Quests?  Are there any Quests from the Adventurer Coalition that are normally associated with NESTs or being stationed in a Defensive Fortification?  If so, are they available now?”

If he couldn’t get the Contenders PICK from the monsters, perhaps he could have them do Quests for the PICK.

“Yes, but you’d have to check to see if they are available yet.  If they aren’t, your new Title might allow you to create them, though there are some criteria that cannot be altered for certain Quests, even with your special benefit,” she replied.  “If you managed to make some that the Contenders could take, you’d still run into the problem of your authority eliminating most, if not all, of the rewards associated with a Quest completion.”

Great.  Yet another door to success closed before I even had a chance to step through it.  He was nearly at the next-closest NEST when he idly asked, “Hey, what happens when one of those part of this ‘leadership’ dies?  Do all of the Defensive Fortifications they have authority over suddenly revert back to NESTs or something?”

“Not at all.  If they’re still being actively defended, then nothing would happen to the Fortification itself.  However, as I mentioned before, it is extremely rare for anyone to die during this Phase because of the Resurrection Wells that can be purchased.  Those that die would simply be resurrected and nothing would change.

“However, while their soul is in the Well, their connection to the System is in a nebulous state; as a result, their authority is suspended until resurrection.  It can be a dangerous time when everyone with authority over a Fortification dies and is waiting to be resurrected, unless they’ve taken the precaution of delegating semi-authority to others to manage their SPs and purchase defenses; otherwise, the defenders are on their own without the ability to make any purchases.

“Now, if there is no way for those in authority to be resurrected, then authority will then pass to those who are currently defending a Defensive Fortification.  Along with the authority comes all SPs that were accumulated but not spent by those in authority, divided by all of the Fortifications that were being held by them.  They’d also receive the gradual accumulation that comes with ‘owning’ the Fortification.  Again, though, this happens very rarely, but when it does, it usually creates a bit of chaos since authority is then diffused throughout many people instead of just the previous leadership.”

Hmm… “So, ‘death,’ or at least a facsimile of it, might be an option,” he mused to himself.

“What are you talking—no, don’t even think about it!” Sadia admonished him.

He looked at her, wondering what she was referring to.  “Huh?  Oh, no, I’m not planning on doing anything that crazy.”

“Then what are you—oh.  I’m not sure that’s any better.”

“But do you think it’s an option?”

She sighed, but she didn’t shake her head to deny it.  “Possibly.  Dangerous in its own right, of course.”

“True, but I’ll take whatever I can get,” he acknowledged.  Regardless of whether his idea would work or not, he still had a long way to go before it became necessary to attempt something like that.  First, he wanted to continue mapping out the NESTs as much as possible, while obtaining the resources the Region would need to defend its border, and perhaps pick up some more Achievements while he was at it.  After he was done with that, it would be time for some experimentation and to see if his original plans of making a NEST impregnable – and determine how long such a thing would even take, if it was even possible.

(Let me know if you can think of any other loopholes or exploits that I might have missed, as I want to make sure to cover as many as possible. While they would certainly make Thaden's job easier, it wouldn't make as good of a story; with a loophole like the ones I already covered, I could probably finish the book in a few more chapters, and I want to avoid that.)