19 Book 2 Chapter 15 (1/2)

Jason hovered thousands of feet above the ground. Directly underneath him was a small city, home to over three thousand villagers. The city was filled with cobblestone houses and all sorts of facilities. A magnificent twenty foot high stone wall surrounded the city, protecting the villagers from monster attacks. Most striking was the four towers on each corner of the city wall. On top of each tower was a ballistae.

Villagers of all types could be seen running around. Soldiers patrolled the city, blacksmiths hammered away, and scientists were researching new technologies. Outside the city, hundreds of villagers toiled away in the fields. Wheat could be seen stretching for a mile in every direction. Cobblestone roads led in each cardinal direction, boosting movement speed by 40%.

Carriages pulled by horses traveled along the roads. Each carriage stored several goods. Food, stone, wood, gold, etc. Half of the carriages headed in the direction of the city, while the other half traveled in each cardinal direction.

Jason looked east and found a large village a few miles away. A similar village could be found in the west, north, and south. After three months of real time, Jason now had five settlements. Four were developing villages, while one was a city, his capital. The capital was home to three thousand villagers, while the four villages each had one thousand.

His kingdom was coming along nicely. Though for a kingdom to actually come into existence, a castle must be built and a king or queen elected. A notification suddenly appeared in front of Jason.

As per your command, a castle was built upon reaching the required resources. You may now select a king or queen. Would you like to directly elect one, or would you like your citizens to vote for a leader?

Jason grew excited. Finally, after all this time, his kingdom was coming into existence. It was only from this point onward that his kingdom would directly benefit him. Unfortunately, even after all this time, Jason still hadn't found a good candidate to be a leader, otherwise he would have directly chosen one. With no other choice, he selected the democratic process of electing a leader.

Your villagers have voted to elect 'Francis Moore' as King.

Your kingdom has been founded.

+10% Efficiency

+10% Stats To All Units

+10% Gathering Speed

+10% Production Speed

+10% Research Speed

Francis Moore? Jason pulled up the information of the new king, wondering what stats and skills he had. As he read through Francis' stats, he was immediately stunned speechless. Francis had been a lumberjack since the beginning, and was normal in every aspect. That was, except for one thing. Francis had a skill that Jason had never seen before.

Luck - Level 3 82% - Apprentice

You have been blessed with tremendous luck. Good things will come your way.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The description of the skill was sorely lacking, so Jason couldn't make heads or tails of it. Though, Francis did get elected king. Perhaps he would bring great fortune to the kingdom. Only time would tell.

Now that Jason officially had a kingdom, a unique building was unlocked. A building that was of absolute importance to an ascender's power. The only thing required to build it was a vast amount of stone, which Jason had plenty of, thanks to the ten mines he had running. As Jason selected the building, his hands shook from excitement. The only suitable place to put such an important building was directly in front of the castle.

A statue in your image has been erected. Based on the population, prosperity, and strength of your kingdom, you may gain permanent stats.

Based on the current population, prosperity, and strength of Jason's kingdom, he could gain an extra 26 points or 1% in any stat. He chose to put all 26 points into vitality. From this point on, the stronger his kingdom grew, the stronger he would become. In addition, the citizens of his kingdom could offer tributes to the statue. For example, if they offered a crude quality sword to Jason, it would be transferred to his inventory at the cost of some resources.

With a king in place, Jason could have Francis watch over the kingdom while he was out ascending the tower. There was a very complicated screen that allowed Jason to control Francis' actions somewhat. After a few minutes of work, he set it so that Francis would focus on development and expansion, with military as the next priority.

With everything set in place, Jason contacted Roy and Olivia. Less than ten minutes later, all three of them sat in a private room at an inn on the thirtieth floor.

”What's with all the secrecy?” Olivia asked with a solemn expression.

Jason pulled out two boxes and handed them to Olivia and Roy. ”Remember how I told you the mechanics of the bloodline floors and asked what bloodlines you wanted?”

”Is this?!” Roy quickly tore the lid off of the box, finding five dark red vials inside.