City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

“Good boy,” I said as the horse came out of the cage.

This time, I didn’t use any skill, aura, or the pressure of the legacy. I have not been using it for the past three days.

It is nearly broken and I am now working on its training. It is responding well, better than I had thought when I first brought it to the city.

As it came out, I began outfitting it with the saddle, bridle, and other accessories.

It stood patiently while I did that.

There are many things it still doesn’t do. It does not let others touch it or care for it, which I need to work on because I don’t have time to groom it properly.

I need to train it well enough so that it will let others ride it. It needs its daily exercise, and since I brought it to the city, I have been giving it that.

It currently only lets me touch it.

However, I might not be able to do so someday, when I have too much work or am somewhere where I can’t take it.

I finished it and brought out an apple from my bag. It liked it a lot; he chomped it down the moment I brought the apple close to its mouth.

Finally, I mounted it.

Today is an important day. I am going to attempt the most challenging test. It had done well with the others, but this one is on a different level.

I begin to ride it toward the test. Lt. Colonel Luskin is riding not far away from me.

His beast is well-trained, despite being zapped a couple of times. It is still moving calmly beside my horse. It is also because of the Colonel’s skills.

“This is quite difficult, I hope you wait for a few more weeks,” said Lt. Colonel Luskin.

“I would have, if I had time, Lt. Colonel,” I replied. The monster is fast, and I plan to use it in battle, but I need it to be fully broken and trained enough to follow my every command.

In the battle, there will be three Lv. 40, all with aura, and countless Lv. 30 and other powerhouses.

Not to mention, the horde. It will be unlike anything this region has seen in the past century.

According to intelligence, the horde they plan to attack us with is going to be bigger than any horde that even Navr had attacked the region with in the past century.

Whenever I think about it, I feel a sense of fear.

Soon we reached the place, a large ground covered in enchantments. I had to spend a considerable amount of money to build this.

“Ready, my lord?” asked Lt. Colonel Luskin, and I nodded. A moment later, he activated the field, and enchantments blazed into power.

Neigh!

The monster neighed, feeling the power. “Let’s go, boy,” I said, and activated the Command Projection while simultaneously commanding through the leash and tools.

In this world, people are often too dependent on their skills.

I want to control it without using the skills; people have the means to suppress them. I am one of those people; I can do it with the power of my legacy.

Hun!

The horse moved as I commanded, and we reached near the starting line, when I stopped it as I sensed something.

It’s very powerful; one of the most powerful, I had sensed. I am sure all the masters had sensed it.

‘It died,’ said Caena a moment later. I could sense the disappointment in her voice; I was also disappointed. I wanted some part of it, but the negotiations weren’t successful.

Hayward Emporium had died.

The information stated that it would take a few months to die, but after Jenna and Tara returned and informed me of things, I knew it would die within a month.

That is the last stage; from there, the legacy could die at any moment, and it finally did.

The Winking Lantern had gotten its core for the first bite.

“Is everything alright, my lord?” asked Lt. Colonel Luskin, worried. Seeing me stop so suddenly. “It is, Lt. Colonel,” I replied.

The next moment, the horse moved again and crossed the line.

As it did, twelve lances of energy shot toward us immediately. I am doing it at the highest difficulty. There is no other way, given the enemies I will be facing.

There are two ways to deal with it: dodge and defend.

Defending is a waste. While these lances are good enough to harm the other beasts, they are not a threat to either of us, and this is a problem.

The monster is a being of instinct, and it could feel the danger, sensing none in front of it, the beast just looked at it.

That’s not what we want to do.

It might not be a powerful attack, but it is fast, and we have dodged them, all of them, and do it perfectly, without letting a single one of them hit.

I projected that and could feel the resistance from the monster. It feels beneath it to dodge these attacks.

I projected the command again and was about to activate the aura if it didn’t listen. When the lightning crackled on its bronze feet, it moved.

It moved like lightning and dodged all twelve lances once after moving.

The monster isn’t just fast, it’s very agile as well. So fast, I learned after I had brought it to the city. It is a thing that made me want to use it in battle.

The lances came from all directions, but we had dodged them.

Hun!

When the earth beneath our feet begins to collapse, large energy thorns appear around us—leaving us no escape.

“Leap!” I ordered it, and it immediately did. Making an enormous leap, avoiding falling into the hole and thorns that appeared to stop us.

We landed, and immediately, the lances attacked us, and the blocks of energy formed around us.

“No,” I said as lightning blazed across its leg. I know what it wants to do, but that is not what we have to do. We must avoid it without causing any damage.

I looked around, forming a path that would let us dodge the lances and blocks, and projected.

It was waiting for my command and moved immediately as it did. Avoiding the lances and the blocks.

“Good boy,” I praised, but a moment later. Another short command to avoid the collapsing earth and tens of small daggers coming toward us.

We avoided one obstacle after another, letting nothing touch us.

We did it for forty-five minutes before it finally stopped, and every energy construct had vanished.

“Incredible, my lord. You have fully broken the monster,” said Lt. Colonel Luskin as he appeared beside me. “It wouldn’t have been possible without your guidance,” I replied, and the man smiled.

“Lt. Colonel, once more, and this time, you operate it manually and throw everything at us,” I ordered.

The earlier was the most difficult configuration, but now, I want someone to operate it.

If I succeed in it, then I will train with my people tomorrow with real spells coming at me, and even ask Jon and Stena to participate.

I need to face the most complex challenge before I take him to battle, where I, as well as this monster, are going to face the most significant challenge we have ever faced.

“As you will, my lord,” replied Colonel and walked toward the controls.

…

The Winking Lantern

On the top floor of the legacy, a middle-aged man sits on the floor with his eyes closed in concentration.

He is the master of The Winking Lantern, Grade IV Throne.

Currently, he is under immense strain. His whole body is covered in sweat, and even a little bit of blood is leaking out of his eyes and nose.

The man bore it because he understood that the slightest mistake could jeopardise the future of his legacy.

He is taking a massive risk by doing it. If the vision of Hayward Tavern taints his legacy, then he can forget about advancing from Grade IV.

He wouldn’t have taken the risk, but Hayward Emporium and his legacy share some aspects.

He wants to strengthen it.

It is working; he is extracting the core essence slowly. Only the essence that is compatible with his legacy.

He is not accepting a drop more of the other, despite wanting to consume the whole core. Doing that would be suicide, and even in this state where he is fighting a vision, he is not idiot enough to do that.

Time passed, and soon the man had reached his limit.

There is a lot more core essence that is compatible with his legacy, but the process has made him very tired. If he continued, he might make a mistake.

He doesn’t want that and has stopped absorbing any more core essence.

Though the work is far from over.

He had gotten the first bite of the core of Hayward Emporium. It cost him an arm and a leg, but the deal is worth it, and if he succeeds in the next stage, he will get more things from it.

He made a deal with the masters of two other thrones for the pieces, and he had to send them to them.

So, he pressed all the power of the legacy on the core of Haywood Emporium, which is still maintaining its shape, the arched doors.

If it had collapsed, it would have been easier, but he was only able to absorb around 7% of it, which is insufficient to alter the core’s shape.

The core resisted, but he pushed harder and harder, till finally a rip opened and it began to unravel.

The large piece of it separated, and the core lost its shape.

He looked at the piece, which is around 22% of the core, and pushed it toward the throne, which paid for it.

It made him very tired, but he still moved to tear open another piece. The resistance is less than before, but he is more exhausted. Still, he gave his all and tore another big piece.

It is around 23% of the core and is sent toward the second throne that paid for it.

Now, he just wants to give up; he barely has any energy left. If he lets go, this half core will split into hundreds of parts and be passed down to different legacies.

“Ask Silver if he still wants the piece,” said the man. For several seconds, there was silence.

“He does,” came the reply.

“Tell him, I can give it to him, but he will have to pay the same price as the other two,” he said.

Silver is a greedy bastard. He had already destroyed the future of his legacy, and this would bury him in a deeper hole, but it didn’t matter to him, as long as he agreed, he would get the piece.

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