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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 51
🕑 Added 2024-12-24 11:00:04 +0000 UTCThe initial tests were completed in no time.
[Reaping Moon], as Percy had theorized, was a passive Augmentation. It gathered lunar motes in the heart and spread them through the Cardist’s system. However, the process was slow, and gathering lunar motes in the heart strained the Cardist’s heart.
[Moonlight Storage] solved all problems with strains. The Augmentations enhanced the gathering speed of lunar motes and created a tiny storage where lunar motes could be stored without straining the Cardist’s heart.
The more lunar motes the Cardist stored, the more pronounced its power. Lunar motes enhanced the Cardist’s body, yet the enhancement degree wasn’t noteworthy compared with its other effect. Lunar motes could be mixed with mana, altering mana permanently. The Imperials were a little clumsy with the fusion as it wasn’t an easy process, but it worked well.
Lunar mana didn’t seem stronger than Percy’s pure mana, but it was certainly better than the average impure mana stored within most Gifted Ones. Their mana had been replaced with Lunar mana, which was a level or two better than their mana had been, which improved the power of their other Augmentation and granted greater output when channeled into their Artifacts.
The only issue was that Lunar mana was only stable in the Cardist’s body. It fell apart within seconds of leaving the Cardist’s body…except if [Lunar Manifestation] was unsealed. Infusing Lunar Mana into Combat Artifacts made the weapons glow. Their sharpness increased, which wasn’t as important as the glow’s resemblance to the light element.
“This should work,” King Phillip murmured, the corner of his lips tilting upward, “We have yet to test it in combat, but I think we did it.”
He smiled vibrantly at his son, who had been smiling as well. However, when he realized something, Percy’s smile crumbled. He pressed his lips together and stared intently at his father.
“The kingdom’s funds for this cycle have already been used up, haven’t they?” Percy didn’t have to listen to his father’s answer. The King’s dying smile was enough of an answer, “You can fight with the Minister of Finances to tap into the reserves. We are at war…but I’m still unsure if the Minister is ready to destroy the economy knowing I will consume all gold and Imperial Coins.”
The King winced at the thought. He would rather not have this discussion again. A few weeks ago, the Minister of Finances told the King that they shouldn’t give Percy any more gold if they wished to upkeep the kingdom’s economy, but Percy continued mercilessly.
“Or you give me your savings. If you fund me, I can enhance the Monster Cards as much as you want. I will Ego-enhance and evolve as many Cards as you wish as long as I have enough Prosperity,” Percy sighed deeply before adding a sarcastic undertone, “I don’t know what’s worse. A half-destroyed economy or losing the war with the Devil, but I would take the broken economy over the kingdom's destruction.”
Percy forced a smile on his lips, yet to King Phillip, it looked sinister. But it wasn’t like his son was wrong. Percy’s words reached the King.
“The Kingdom needs those cards…The greater their Augmentations, the lower the casualties…”
He groaned as if bearing the pain of the kingdom and considered the options.
“Ego-enhance as much as you can with the Prosperity you have on you. After the Imperial Head and others tested the Moonlight Wolf Cards and Augmentations in combat against the Demons, I will open the royal treasury and give you access to the emergency funds. Before that, I need to be certain the Moonlight Wolf Cards are as efficient against Demons as the Imperial Head said.”
“That makes sense,” Percy agreed, using [Consume] on Prosperity to upgrade as many Cards as possible and evolve them to Moonlight Wolves. He unsealed as many Augmentations as he could afford and invested the minuscule remainder of less than 100,000 Prosperity in the Capture Card.
Once evolved and upgraded, the cards were given to the Imperials, who returned to the barracks to finish preparing before departing for the frontlines the same day.
Once the business part of the late afternoon ended, dinner began. The dining table was filled with various delicacies, including trays of sweets. Percy licked his lips and started feasting on the savory dishes, filling his stomach to the brim before tapping into his secondary stomach – the space reserved for sweets – to devour several desserts.
It was delicious, much better than anything Percy had eaten in the last few weeks. Everything would have been perfect, and Percy would have gone to sleep feeling more relaxed than he’d felt a long time ago. Unfortunately, something – someone, to be precise – soured his dinner. It was his mother.
The queen berated him for his reckless actions in the royal mission during the whole dinner. She didn’t eat anything and spent their precious time together telling her son off now that he wasn’t busy dealing with enhancing Monster Cards anymore.
Mom…I’m happy you care about me and are worried, but don’t you think the best I could have done given the situation?
Percy could have loved to say that. He wasn’t ashamed of his actions since his reckless charge at the Thousand-eyed Hellhounds was the reason the royal envoy survived. The situation might have been a little tricky at times, but he was never on the verge of death. Furthermore, Percy was the strongest member of the envoy and the leader.
Percy was responsible for the envoy member’s survival. It was only obvious that he charged the strongest enemies first to attract their full attention before anyone else pulled the Greater Demons’ attention toward them. He might have gotten injured a few times, but it was never too much for Fiona’s Ego. Others would have died in his stead.
Nonetheless, no word escaped his lips. His mother scolded him throughout the entire dinner, and Percy would have loved to give some snarky remarks at times, but at the end of the day, he knew that the Queen was only worried about his well-being. She lost him once and didn’t want to experience pain like this ever again. She grieved for years and feared every cut on Percy’s skin could be worse…That it could kill him.
She was overprotective, but she loved him dearly. That was fine as long as she didn’t start blocking him from fighting the Devil and his demonic forces.
“I know I can’t stop worrying about you,” She conceded at the end of the dinner, her lips trembling, “But I hope you can promise me to stay safe. No matter what happens.”
That’s not something I can promise. Nobody can promise to be safe and sound in times like these.
But Percy nodded instead, “I will try to stay safe and to keep everyone safe.”
The Queen eyed him intently for a few seconds and sighed deeply. She lowered her head and nodded, defeated.
The tension in the air had already been high, given the envoy members had also been present during the dinner, but Percy didn’t let that bother him. Instead, he changed the topic to something he had been wondering for a while now.
“I haven’t seen the Old King yet.”
This time, Phillip Kain sighed deeply as if the question was already enough to defeat him.
“I know he is searching for something in the crowns’ crypt. He has been roaming the depths of the crypt, visiting our ancestors’ tombs since news of the Devil’s appearance in the Moonlight Forest reached us. Please don’t ask me what he is looking for. I have no idea.”
Is he hiding? No. Grandfather doesn’t strike me as a coward. Maybe…he was a bit cowardly when he tried killing me through assassins, but that is another subject.
The dinner ended shortly after, and the remaining members of the royal envoy left the palace. Percy played a little with Princess Sophia, but his sister complained about his lackluster attitude. He was too busy wondering what the Old King was doing and how to support the kingdom’s ordeal against the Devil and his forces.
Thus, instead of playing with Percy, Sophia left him to play with Sabrina, whose apprenticeship as an elite maid progressed rapidly. Sabrina noticed Percy and greeted him with a vibrant smile. She would have loved to talk to Percy, but Princess Sophia dragged the young Demi elsewhere.
Percy took the cue and returned to his chamber. He lay down and fell asleep the moment he hit the soft mattress.
His body had been worn out than expected, shutting off before the mess of fleeting thoughts in Percy’s mind had been cleansed.
