Nova and Jack sat on sofas across from each other, their eyes closed as if they were both focusing on something.
It hadn’t taken them long to pick a suitable place to stay, each taking a house that stood close by. As for the other two, Erevan and Slade, they lived in two separate houses directly in front of them.
At first, the four of them had planned to take a quarter of the town each, but since they weren’t familiar with the portal’s rules, Nova, Jack, and Erevan opted to live nearby in case of an accident.
It took a lot more convincing on the latter’s part to get Slade to reside in the same area.
‘System, tell me the rules and objectives of this portal,’ Nova commanded inwardly.
[A maximum of one thousand natives per civilization can enter the portal over its lifetime. Their mission is completed only once they have killed a total of one thousand warriors from any other civilization. If all one thousand natives of a civilization perish, then that civilization loses its right to evolve, and all the portals will disappear from their planet.]
Nova listened attentively to the system’s mechanical voice ringing in his head.
‘This aligns with what Erevan said and what the mission shows, but it still doesn’t answer the biggest question.’
Then he commanded once again, ‘You said we need to kill a thousand warriors, but where are they? We’re alone in this town.’
If they needed to kill others but there was nobody around, that meant there had to be a way to do it. The only question was: what was that way?
It took no longer than a moment for the system to provide an answer.
[You’re currently residing in one of the many towns in this zone. Each town hosts natives from the same civilization, is furnished with basic comforts, and is protected by an array.]
Nova frowned at the answer. ‘This isn’t what I asked. I want—’
[Fights between warriors will mostly take place in large arenas located in the middle of the zone. The system will randomly pick two civilizations to fight. Furthermore, one of the two civilizations will be chosen as the leader civilization, while the other will be the subordinate civilization. The opposing civilization’s name will be made known to both civilizations as soon as they are drawn.]
Nova wondered inwardly, ‘Leader, subordinate?’
The system didn’t stop and, before long, another string of words resounded in his mind.
[The leader civilization and the subordinate civilization both have different rights.]
[The leader civilization can dictate the number of warriors sent to fight in a single round, which the subordinate civilization can’t exceed. There are no penalties for the subordinate civilization if it decides to send a lower number than the dictated one.]
[The subordinate civilization can, however, dictate the amount of Gold coins to bet on the fight, which the leader civilization has to meet. If the leader civilization loses and can’t meet the Gold coin amount, the cost will be made up using the leader civilization’s town assets. If the town’s assets aren’t enough, then the leader civilization will incur a debt that can be slowly paid to the subordinate civilization. If the debt can’t be paid, the leader civilization will become a vassal to the subordinate civilization through a soul mark. Vice versa applies in the event the subordinate civilization loses.]
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
[After the two civilizations have made their choices, a prompt to accept teleportation to an arena, along with the choice made by the other civilization, will be sent to the warriors in each civilization. The fastest to agree will be the first to be teleported, until the maximum number of people is reached. The remaining warriors are allowed to spectate and cheer for their comrades.]
[Lastly, warriors from every civilization can also freely teleport to various arenas through the system.]
Nova read the system’s notifications over and over. He knew this portal concerned the future of an entire civilization, that was already very clear in his mind from the start, but he couldn’t believe how tyrannical and thorough the rules were.
‘If I were weak, with no chance to enter this portal, then my freedom would’ve been in the hands of a handful of people who might’ve exploited this place for their own benefit.’ His hands clenched into fists.
There was no need to wonder whether or not some individuals would sell out their own civilizations for personal gain. It was only a matter of how many there were in each civilization.
After all, only a few would stick and fight for their own people once the reality of much stronger civilizations settled in their minds.
“How long are you going to take to read a few rules? I’ve been waiting for a while.”
Jack’s voice rang out in the room, prompting Nova to open his eyes and stare at his friend.
He soon noticed that Jack was fixated on his hands and, taking a look himself, he found out he was unconsciously clenching them.
Taking a deep breath and slowly relaxing his hands, Nova nodded. “I’ve read them.”
“Then…” Jack leaned forward slightly, his expression serious. “The leader and subordinate civilization… what do you think?”
“Apart from the not so original naming and the humor behind it?” Nova joked, before his face turned solemn.
“While the leader civilization is called ‘leader,’ it truly has nothing to lead. Deciding the maximum warrior count in such a serious setting has absolutely no benefit, I even doubt there are fights with more than five warriors per side. But…”
His eyes narrowed.
“The subordinate civilization will have the power to ruin both its enemy and itself. I don’t know why the system would give so much power to a single civilization. As long as the stronger civilization of the two is drawn as subordinate, they can acquire as many Gold coins as they want.”
“If that wasn’t all, they can also directly annex other civilizations.”
Jack raised a finger and said calmly, “There’s something else.”
“Hmm?” Nova lifted a brow. “More?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Jack said, smiling bitterly before clearing his throat, “it concerns the two civilizations, but it’s also not the main point.”
He took a small pause then, he continued. “The system clearly stated that fights between warriors will mostly take place in large arenas placed in the middle of the zone. That means the arenas aren’t the only places where we can fight, and…”
He raised another finger. “There’s also the question about the assets being taken away. Especially the town’s assets.”
Nova followed Jack’s line of thought, and an idea that made his eyes widen popped into his mind and refused to leave.
“Yes, it’s as you think.” Jack nodded when he saw his friend’s face fill with realization.
“The array covering the town can probably be considered an asset. Losing it means there’s a high chance of enemy civilizations attacking. Then, if we add the last point”, he raised another finger, bringing the total count to three, “that a civilization can annex another, we can assume that using your vassals to weaken other civilizations before sweeping in yourself is a very common tactic here.”
As long as one was strong and selected as the subordinate civilization, annexing other civilizations was only a matter of course. The next step would be using them to quickly gain ground and kill more warriors from those civilizations that had lost their protective array.
With this method, it was only a matter of time before that civilization completed the mission and emerged with many vassals ready to serve it. One could say this was the true value of the portal.
After all…
How brutal were civilization wars outside? The numbers reached billions, sometimes trillions.
But here, in the Lesser Orange portal? Numbers didn’t go past a thousand.
This fact turned this portal, the most difficult portal present in any civilization that had yet to evolve, from a nightmare into the greatest of gifts. Allowing any strong civilization to quickly boost its growth with no limits, or very lax, so long as it didn’t fail the mission or complete it too hastily.
“A blessed land,” Nova muttered to himself, his words echoing in the otherwise silent room. “This portal is a blessed land that kick-starts a civilization’s path to rulership.”
Bonus Chapter Count: 0
Extra chapter for each milestone Ratings 97/200
?????????? 40%
Reviews 10/20
Followers 674/2000
?????????? 40%
Whoever wants to help and read advanced chapters can check out my .
