Chapter 48: Unlocking a New Entry, a Turbulent Situation

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Jacaerys stood in place, his mind engaged in deep contemplation for quite some time. After careful analysis, he finally identified two major reasons why it was so difficult to harvest trait points from the captives.

The first reason stemmed from his notorious reputation as a demon within the Kingdom of the Three Daughters.

According to testimonies from some of the prisoners, rumors were spreading like wildfire across the three free city-states—tales painting him as a soul-devouring fiend.

Word had it that anyone who fell to him or was consumed by his dragon, would have their soul forever severed from the divine, never to know the embrace of any god.

His infamy had reached such an overwhelming level that it had gone beyond simple intimidation and entered the realm of paralyzing fear.

In the eyes of these captives, to resist was to sign one's death warrant, a hundred percent certainty of annihilation.

Worse still, death would not bring liberation or the peace of the afterlife. Their souls, it was said, would be consumed by the "demon" Jacaerys and damned for eternity.

By contrast, if they chose not to resist, there remained at least a one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival. Even the slimmest hope was better than total despair.

The second reason lay in the nature of the captives themselves, for the majority were slaves by birth or circumstance.

Most of these enslaved soldiers hailed from Slaver's Bay, where the practice of slavery was not only common but deeply entrenched, forming the economic foundation of its three great slave cities.

For thousands of years, these cities had treated slave trading as a cornerstone industry, and through relentless conditioning and training, their slaves had been thoroughly domesticated.

These were people stripped of resistance, whose spirit had long been broken. In many cases, even witnessing their closest kin slaughtered before their eyes could not arouse the slightest flicker of defiance.

Take Astapor, for instance. The final step in forging an Unsullied required the prospective soldier to purchase a newborn child and, before the eyes of the infant's mother, kill it with his own hands. The slave owner of the infant would then be compensated with a handful of silver for the loss.

And yet, even as the mothers witnessed such horror—even as their own flesh and blood was torn from them in the cruelest way—they wept in silence. There was grief, yes, but not a trace of defiance. Their spirits had long since been crushed into dust.

Jacaerys sighed inwardly. These slave soldiers could, at best, serve as free labor or disposable cannon fodder.

His next target for harvesting trait points would be the free citizens and wealthy nobles of the three free city-states and the Disputed Lands, men and women who still retained their agency, their pride, and, most importantly, their fear.

With his immediate plan roughly outlined, Jacaerys turned his attention to the system panel and brought up the trait list.

Earlier, through Vermax's execution of prisoners by dragonfire, he had managed to harvest a total of 4,380 points.

But the true windfall had come half a day before, when he had unleashed a storm of black-grey fire and dragonflame upon the sea, an act that had yielded an astonishing 38,720 points.

With these two major gains, and the steady accumulation from ship-burning patrols in the preceding days, he now had a total of 45,092 trait points.

He was only around five thousand points shy of the fifty-thousand mark.

However, Jacaerys was not one to hoard resources like a squirrel stockpiling acorns. Without hesitation, he invested ten thousand points to upgrade his final remaining blue-quality trait, "Iron Walled Strategist."

As expected, the moment all five of his active traits reached blue quality, a new option appeared behind the entry slots—a familiar signal indicating that a new slot could now be unlocked.

This time, however, the cost had doubled. Unlocking the new trait slot required ten thousand points instead of five thousand, and the cost of refreshing traits had increased tenfold, from one hundred points per refresh to one thousand.

Still, with thirty-five thousand points remaining, he was in no mood to hesitate. He was eager to see whether this new, more expensive slot would bring any substantial improvements.

With a mental confirmation, ten thousand points were deducted.

[-10,000 Trait Points]

A new trait appeared:

[Desire for Destruction (Green): Attack +20%, Loyalty -20%]

From the very start, the trait was of green quality—a notable upgrade compared to the white entries he'd first encountered—and the effect itself was entirely novel, unlike any he'd previously seen.

However, the traits it brought with it were... complicated.

The increase in attack was, of course, desirable. But the penalty—a twenty percent drop in loyalty—was a red flag that could not be overlooked.

The system interface didn't display loyalty as a visible stat, which suggested it was a hidden parameter.

Still, ever since Jacaerys had forged a mental link with Vermax, the dragon had demonstrated absolute obedience, responding to every command without the slightest resistance.

But what if this loyalty was eroded?

Would Vermax one day disobey him—or worse, go berserk?

Jacaerys wasn't about to take that risk. Without hesitation, he began refreshing the new slot in hopes of finding something better.

Refresh 1: [Passive Nihilism (Green): Attack -20%]

Refresh 2: [Erratic Behavior (Green): Loyalty -20%]

Refresh 3: [Brutality (Green): Attack +20%, Agility -20%]

Refresh 4: [Masochist (Green): Defense +20%, Attack -20%]

Refresh 5: [Strength of the Earth (Green): Earth Attribute Attack +20%]

It seemed that luck was not on his side today. Of the five traits refreshed at the cost of five thousand points, only one turned out to be a pure buff.

The main issue with the newly refreshed trait was its complete irrelevance to Vermax.

Still, no matter how many points it might cost, Jacaerys would never allow Vermax to bear a negative trait.

After four more refreshes, costing another four thousand points, he finally came across a new trait he could be satisfied with.

[Embrace the Sun (Green): Fire Resistance +20%]

This was exactly what he'd been looking for. Given that dragonfire breath was almost certainly categorized as fire-based damage, this trait could drastically reduce the harm taken from such attacks.

One a dragon-slayer, the other a trait like Embrace the Sun—together, they were the twin keys to prevailing in a civil war between dragons.

Spending another ten thousand points, he upgraded the trait.

[-10,000 Trait Points]

[Embrace the Sun (Blue): Fire Resistance +50%]

At this point, every blue-quality entry he possessed now provided a fifty percent enhancement in its respective field.

However these boosts were not absolute; they were calculated based on Vermax's existing physical attributes. Which meant that the stronger his body, the more terrifying the effect of these traits would be.

Thus, Jacaerys made up his mind. His next priority would be to continue upgrading the trait "Gluttonous," accelerating Vermax's growth into full maturity as swiftly as possible.

Having made that decision, he left the remaining sixteen thousand ninety-two trait points untouched.

Opening a new trait slot without sufficient points to refresh it would be far too risky—if a negative trait were applied and had to remain in place, it would weaken Vermax's instead of strengthening him.

In the following half month, news of the United Fleet's near-total annihilation off the shores of Lanark Island began to spread like wildfire across the region.

When Jacaerys received word that the Volantene fleet had successfully locked down the remnants of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters' naval forces, he wasted no time.

With no fear of retaliation, he began rapidly expanding his sphere of control from Lanark Island outward.

One of the first targets was the city of Myr, located on the western coast of Essos. He immediately blockaded all its sea routes, severing the city from outside support and trade.

Within Myr, the remaining magisters were thrown into panic. Each day, they sent dozens of messenger pigeons to Tyrosh and Lys, desperately pleading for reinforcements.

And that wasn't all. They even dispatched several of their mercenary companies overland through the Disputed Lands, hoping to gain aid by any means necessary.

But it was all in vain.

Archon Pachek, upon receiving word of Magister Aloma's crushing defeat at sea, had wasted no time fleeing Bandy Isle back to the safety of Tyrosh.

Before his hasty retreat, he even helped himself to all remaining supplies on the island, including the heavy ballistae and provisions stored there.

A deal without cost and all profit—Pachek had certainly made the most of the chaos and lined his pockets handsomely.

At present, he could be considered the only "Winner" among the leaders of the Three Daughters' Kingdom. Thus, he chose to remain silent, observing from the sidelines for now.

But Magister Alomar was not one to let matters rest.

Upon returning to Lys, he immediately launched a campaign to denounce Archon Pachek. In one breath, he accused him of multiple betrayals of the alliance.

He even went as far as to shift the blame for the recent catastrophic naval loss onto Pachek, alleging—with no solid evidence—that the archon had colluded with the enemy.

A joint letter signed by nearly twenty magisters from Lys and Myr soon arrived at Pachek's doorstep, formally questioning and reprimanding him for his alleged treachery.

Pachek, upon receiving the letter, flew into a barely contained rage.

He sent back a curt and scathing reply, declaring that if any further suspicions were cast upon him, Tyrosh would not hesitate to recall all its warships from the alliance's Combined Fleet.

And with that, the surface-level dispute came to a halt—for the moment.

But beneath the calm, the Kingdom of the Three Daughters were seething with unrest. The political situation had become dangerously unstable.

Behind closed doors, the wealthy merchants and magisters of the three Free Cities were each scheming their own path forward.

Then, one night under the shroud of darkness, a cloaked figure quietly boarded the flagship of the Volantene fleet.

Baelor, the commander of the fleet appointed by the Triarchs of Volantis, received this mysterious individual in secret.

Three days later, the Kingdom of the Three Daughters issued a formal declaration: the alliance that had lasted nearly thirty years was now officially dissolved. The Combined Fleet was split into three independent forces.

One remained stationed at Lys, while the other two began sailing toward Tyrosh and Myr, respectively.

The Volantene fleet moved immediately in response.

Half of their ships turned and surrounded Lys, initiating a sudden and aggressive assault. The other half set out in pursuit of the two retreating fleets.

Baelor, who personally commanded the pursuing fleet, sent a letter to Jacaerys, inviting him to cooperate in a joint strike.

If they succeeded in crushing these two splintered fleets, then the alliance between Jacaerys and Volantis would truly command dominance over both the Narrow Sea and the Summer Sea.

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