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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 3
🕑 Added 2024-10-16 10:00:13 +0000 UTCPercy was seen meeting with the Minister of Finances on multiple occasions, but today’s meeting was different from their teaching sessions. Today was a meeting of equal standing—a business gathering of two parties.
“The crown’s request has been completed,” Percy announced while retrieving a grand total of ten Monster Cards from his spatial ring, “Given the advance of one Imperial coin, the crown owes me a remainder of three Imperial coins.”
His voice was clear and neutral, but the Minister of Finances wasn’t listening. Her attention lingered on the Monster Card and the information displayed on it.
[Monster Card – Dragonhawk (Elite-⭐⭐) – [Pyromancy ⭐⭐]]
[Monster Card – Behemoth Elephant(Elite-⭐⭐⭐⭐) – [Behemoth Skin ⭐⭐⭐] – [Greater Charge ⭐]]
[Monster Card – Hobgoblin Champion(Elite-⭐⭐) – [Unarmed Combat Mastery ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]
[Monster Card – Goblin Scout (Common-⭐⭐⭐) – [Minor Perception Boost ⭐⭐⭐⭐] – [Tracker⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]
[Monster Card – Skeleton Warrior(Elite-⭐) – [Raise Undead⭐⭐⭐]
…
…
Only two out of ten Monster Cards didn’t have a single Augmentation, but even that pair was worth a fortune. Overall, all Cards displayed were incredibly hard to come by as ordinary Cards, yet Percy ‘procured’ them as special Cards with one or multiple Augmentations. That excluded the pair of Cards, which Percy pushed from [Common-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐] to [Elite-⭐].
The increase in potential wasn’t enough to evolve both Cards, but the species of one of them evolved after reaching Elite potential. The other Card required another push by upgrading its potential to [Elite-⭐⭐⭐]. That was a little bit more expensive than Percy had been hoping for, but the combined expenses for all upgrades were still within the expected failure rate.
“I hope the crown is satisfied with the transaction,” Percy declared in an official tone before gently adding, “And I hope I didn’t promise you too much.”
The Minister of Finances took a few seconds to regain her senses. Her lips parted, but no word escaped for a good minute. Then she started laughing.
“You sure don’t make any false promises. This is so much better than I expected!” The Minister revealed honestly while retrieving three silverish-golden shining coins from a small black, leathery pouch.
“To be honest, I was unsure if this would work out. Please, don’t get me wrong, Your Excellency. I trusted your word, but it sounded so surreal.”
Percy lifted his hand to stop the Minister of Finances, “I understand. There is no need to worry.”
He pushed the Monster Cards across the polished wooden table and accepted the three Imperial coins with a bright smile.
[Imperial Coin – Ordinary – 12,000,000 Prosperity]
[Imperial Coin – Ordinary – 12,000,000 Prosperity]
[Imperial Coin – Ordinary – 12,000,000 Prosperity
Imperial coins were hard to come by. Each was worth 1,000 gold coins and thus of immense worth. Yet, Percy procured four of them at once by paying an immense price to purchase and upgrade ten Monster Cards.
A Common Monster Card of decent value – no Augmentation but potential above four stars – started at three gold coins in the capital. However, Monster Cards were rare to find at such a low price. Usually, Cards sold for three gold coins couldn’t be used easily for combat or other highly profitable occupations and were thus essentially useless. That being said, most Common Monster Cards were sold for an average of ten gold coins.
Decent special Common Cards went up to 25 gold coins, sometimes even higher. But that was a rare occasion.
Elite Cards, without Augmentation, were difficult to come by and started at 20 gold coins and went up to more than 100 gold coins. For example, the Behemoth Elephant could be sold for more than 200 gold coins at [Elite-⭐⭐⭐⭐] without any qualms. It was worth a fortune at auctions.
Yet, Percy bought it as a [Elite-⭐] Monster Card for 40 gold coins. That was a lot without question, but the Behemoth Elephant with two powerful Augmentations could be sold for more than one Imperial Coin at the right auction. Even Gifted Ones at the Master Tier would buy the Behemoth Elephant Card resting on the table before them.
Then again, I had to invest more Prosperity than the advance Imperial provided to upgrade all of those Cards. The total should be around 18 to 20 million Prosperity.
Percy winced when he concluded how much Prosperity he’d used and lamented his behavior inwardly.
I should stop testing out so many things. If I keep going like this, I will end up making losses in the future.
At the end of the day, he made a good profit from this deal. Nonetheless, he had been too much into the game of upgrading the Monster Cards to find out how much every upgrade influenced the Monster Card’s prowess, Augmentations, and so forth. Percy had been researching the cost-efficiency of Ego-enhancing various objects for a while now, but he had yet to come to a proper solution when it came to ‘When should I stop enhancing certain Cards, Artifacts, and other objects?’ It was just too difficult to answer.
“You mentioned that your Ego is responsible for upgrading Monster Cards. Would it be easier for you if the crown provided the resources needed for the upgrades? I hope this doesn’t offend you, but I am sure you are aware that the crown has a wider network than you, Your Excellency. We can prepare everything you need in addition to generous pay for every upgraded Monster Card,” The Minister of Finances mentioned hesitatingly.
“No offense taken,” Percy responded first, “But what you are trying to tell me is that the crown wishes me to create specific Monster Cards – the type and Augmentations will be chosen by the crown –, while all I have to do is to upgrade the Cards…Is that it?”
The Minister of Finances was about to respond, but Percy had not yet done so.
“You want to equip the Kingsguard or the Imperials with the same Monster Card, which has been upgraded as much as I can handle at my current level. You wish to create tens of powerhouses with Evolved Monster Cards, each with several powerful Augmentations,” He frowned deeper and deeper as the words flowed out of him.
“Equipping the Imperials and Imperial prospects with powerful Monster Cards will increase their combat prowess. Following that, it would be easier to repel the Demons spread across the kingdom while simultaneously protecting the borders of our neighbors. So…yes, I would love to do exactly that,” The Minister of Finances nodded vigorously.
She retrieved a set of Monster Cards that looked exactly the same and added, “You should be focusing on selling Cards to earn a fortune. With someone like you, crown prince, we could transform the Imperial, the Kingsguard, and the…”
The Minister of Finances didn’t stop talking, but Percy stopped listening.
The corner of his lips tilted upward as understanding dawned upon him.
She has everything prepared. What a sly woman.
More than a dozen Cards of Wyvernblood Horses, powerful Monster Cards with the potential of a monster at the peak of the Elite Tier.
“It would be great if I could help the Kingsguard and the Imperial, but I will not prioritize their growth. I won’t let the gap between the strong and the weak widen even further. The young noble heirs I have encountered before are already spoiled and consider themselves superior to others. They may respect the Kingsguard and Imperials, but do you think they would watch in silence as I transform the Kingsguard and Imperial into an unparalleled military force?”
No, the nobles wouldn’t remain silent. They were the pillars of the Kainesh Kingdom and obtained privileges in exchange for military support. There was no way to be certain how the nobles would react once their privileges were in danger. That was understandable, but the Minister of Finances was certain this issue could be solved easily.
“Furthermore, by transforming the Wyvernblood Horse Cards into Evolved Monster Cards with powerful Augmentations, I would probably destroy the kingdom’s economy,” Percy added, “Maybe not instantaneously, but I don’t think you would stop with a single set of Wyvernblood Horse Cards.”
Before the Minister of Finances could ask anything, Percy used [Consume] on the three Imperial Coins. The abomination burst from his palms, revealing the rows of razor-sharp teeth before it crashed heavily into the Imperial Coins.
The temperature around them dropped by a few degrees, but it returned to normal when the abomination returned to where it belonged.
[Three Imperial Coins have been consumed. 33,000,000 Prosperity has been added.]
[Your Tier increased by one rank.]
As the flood of mana entered his system, Percy glanced at the Minister of Finances.
“I’ve just consumed three Imperial Coins worth of Prosperity. That’s 3,000 gold coins,” He stated the obvious as a small smile blossomed on his lips, “Do you want me to find out how much Prosperity it takes to upgrade the Wyvernblood Horse until it is strong enough to meet your requirements?”
Percy’s smile widened, “For the records, I never created an Evolved Monster Card. The Behemoth Elephant is probably the strongest Card I’ve enhanced with my Ego. That cost around 1,000 gold coins already.”
The Minister of Finances paled as she realized how expensive it would be to transform one Wyvernblood Horse into a Peak Evolved Monster Card with multiple powerful Augmentations. She shuddered.
The issue with the nobles could be solved easily, and the Minister of Finances was also not worried about the widening gap between the rich and powerful and the weak. As long as she stood on the right side of the rift, it didn’t matter.
However, the Minister of Finances didn’t wish to support the destruction of the kingdom's economy.
If the crown supported the creation of dozens of powerful Evolved Cards, they would have to prepare more than one hundred thousand gold coins, maybe even more.
“If the creation of ten Monster Cards, not even Evolved Cards, is worth four Imperial coins…the crown would have to open their treasury and empty their emergency funds…” The Minister of Finances nibbled on her lower lip before she added in a defeated tone, “Which is not acceptable.”
Percy agreed to that. It would be great if he’d received hundreds of Imperial Coins, which he would have consumed – pushing his Tier up by another rank or two – before investing the acquired Prosperity at once – triggering another uprank, potentially two more upranks.
He would be happy with that. However, he didn’t wish to destroy the kingdom by messing with its economy.
Then again…it wasn’t like Percy had been doing something else all this time.
He destroyed the economy, little by little since he acquired the Coin of Prosperity.
