Chapter 95: Sixty Points of Strength—and a Larger Riftward

Golden light descended while Cassian was still looking at Duskmoor’s name.

The Rank-1 reward and the transferred personal reward entered his Warden record together.

[Rank-1 Warden Reward: Free Attribute +50]

[Transferred Duskmoor Reward: Free Attribute +10]

[Unassigned Free Attribute: 60 → 120]

One hundred twenty points.

Cassian opened the allocation panel and moved sixty into Physique.

[Physique +60]

[Unassigned Free Attribute: 120 → 60]

[Permanent Physique Gain vs ordinary Level-7 baseline: +134 → +194]

Heat spread through his shoulders and down his arms. The muscles along his back tightened, and for a moment he had to slow his breathing as the new strength settled into his body.

He closed his hand, then opened it again.

The bound Advanced Physique Tome from Haldor had given him twenty permanent Physique. This one allocation was worth three of those Tomes.

Cassian flexed his fingers, enjoying the strength in them.

Veyra watched him roll his shoulders.

"Pleased?"

"Very."

The answer came without hesitation.

Cassian looked at the remaining sixty points, then closed the allocation panel. He was still Level 7, but the strength he had built on top of that ordinary starting point was another matter entirely.

This gain was his to keep.

The second band of gold sank into the Region.

[Riftward Region Fortune: 8 → 13]

[Domain Aether Vein | Fortune Resonance: 8% → 13%]

The Vein’s existing Fortune-Touched effects strengthened with the rising resonance.

Sable March’s second-place reward settled as well.

[Sable March Region Fortune: -2 → 1]

Then the Wager notification opened.

[Rank-1 Wager: Riftward | Won]

[Stake: 5,000,000 Aether]

[Locked Odds: 5.17]

[Total Return Received: 25,850,000 Aether]

[Net Profit: 20,850,000 Aether]

Cassian stared at the last two lines for a moment and laughed.

"The Pool’s money is here."

He brought up the Dawnwing Rebirth Pool Blueprint beside the settlement. Its twenty-million-Aether requirement no longer looked nearly as distant.

The profit alone covered it.

Required Materials still had to be resolved, and the Blueprint remained unbuilt in priority storage. But he had the cash for a Legendary Troop Building.

Yesterday, Varek had been paying for Heroes and Troops to feed Sable’s score. Cassian had let the news spread, watched the money follow it, and waited until the final seconds to place his own stake.

Now first place was his, and the Wager had paid him more than twenty million in profit.

Veyra looked at his expression.

"You smiled when the attributes arrived."

"I did."

"You’re smiling more now."

Cassian glanced from his strengthened hand to the golden Building branch.

"It’s been a good morning."

——

Riftward’s Regional Channel was already celebrating.

[Anonymous Lord: FIRST! The final result this time!]

[Anonymous Lord: Thirteen Fortune. We actually have thirteen Fortune!]

[Tobias Reed: Four Member Regions. All that money. Still second.]

[Anonymous Lord: With Fortune this high, our next resource searches should be something to see.]

Then Rowan posted a message that interrupted the flood.

[Rowan Ashford: Wait. The coordinates on my transport routes are changing.]

[Tobias Reed: Yours too?]

[Rowan Ashford: More than one route. Check your maps.]

Cassian opened the Warden Gate map.

Several familiar coordinates were shifting. He looked up from the panel, expecting to see something different beyond the Shrine.

The ground was still. No sound came from the walls or the distant slopes. Even the air felt unchanged.

On the map, the numbers continued moving.

[Anonymous Lord: My Domain is exactly where it was. The route outside it is longer.]

[Tobias Reed: It’s the Region. Riftward’s space is expanding!]

Cassian enlarged the map.

Tobias was right.

The change spread across the Region’s internal distances. Places that had been familiar neighbors on the map now had more space between them. No grinding earth, no collapsing roads. Only the changing coordinates revealed what was happening.

[Region Fortune Threshold: 10+]

[Region Spatial Expansion]

[Anonymous Lord: We were guessing whether this could happen after ten Fortune. It’s real!]

[Anonymous Lord: More room inside Riftward means more places to look for resources.]

[Anonymous Lord: Keep growing like this and we might not need the Outer March for every advancement material.]

Cassian felt a fresh surge of pleasure.

Five Fortune had already been a good reward. This was something he could see changing the map beneath his hands.

A few minutes later, the coordinates stopped shifting. He compared the Gate’s new measurements with the previous span.

Riftward’s internal spatial span had increased by roughly one hundred kilometers.

A hundred kilometers added to the Region itself.

The additional space still needed to be explored. Its resources and Wild Buildings had not been verified yet. For now, the map was enough to make Cassian study it twice.

[Tobias Reed: I thought I needed a new map.]

[Rowan Ashford: You do.]

[Tobias Reed: I meant because the old one was wrong.]

[Rowan Ashford: It is now.]

Cassian smiled and saved the updated view.

——

The Shattered Marches Channel was almost as lively.

[Mira Calder: Northwatch congratulates Riftward. That’s a first place we had a very good view of.]

[Darian Frost: Third for Ironwake. Congratulations, Cassian. You earned first.]

[Tobias Reed: Does everyone remember who was certain Sable had enough points?]

No Black Banner reply appeared beneath his question.

Then Darian sent another message.

[Darian Frost: You wanted the sacrifice plan public because you were going to bet against it.]

[Cassian Vale: It helped.]

[Mira Calder: Five million in the last three seconds. I think it helped quite a lot.]

Cassian opened Tobias’s Private Channel while the public replies continued.

[Cassian Vale: You got the news out fast. That mattered.]

[Tobias Reed: You could have told me what you were doing.]

[Cassian Vale: Then it wouldn’t have stayed quiet for the last three seconds.]

[Tobias Reed: I can keep a secret.]

[Cassian Vale: You’d have put your money down first.]

There was a pause.

[Tobias Reed: Fair.]

Kara’s reports had given Cassian the scale of the purchases. Tobias had spread the information exactly where the bettors would see it. Knowing those two things had let him make the final wager with confidence.

In the public Channel, people were still trying to account for Riftward’s final surge.

[Anonymous Lord: If they didn’t attack another Region, did they find some huge Monster ground?]

[Anonymous Lord: A hidden realm?]

[Anonymous Lord: Whatever it was, four Regions couldn’t catch it.]

[Tobias Reed: Sable was very talkative before noon.]

[Anonymous Lord: They’re probably busy reading the second line again.]

Varek offered no explanation. Neither did the Black Banner Lords who had spent the morning praising the plan.

The final score was overhead for everyone to read.

Cassian let the Channel scroll for a little longer, then closed it.

——

The Warden Gate opened, and the force from Crystal Bastion came home.

Aurelia crossed first. Celia followed with her sword sheathed, then the Stormlance and the twelve Crystal Maidens. The Dwarves came through with their launchers secured to their backs.

Dust clung to armor and boots. Even with the Fountain supporting the rotations, the long run had left them tired.

Cassian met them at the Gate.

"First place," he said. "Every one of you helped take it."

The Rocketier captain straightened a little.

"Then the last volley counted?"

"It all counted."

Cassian looked across the returning line.

"Epic Moonrice for everyone who fought. Eat your fill. The rest of today is yours."

The Dwarves cheered first. Several Stormlance laughed, and the tired procession picked up its pace toward the meal.

Epic Moonrice was not something the whole combat line ate freely every day. Today, Cassian had no intention of measuring out the celebration as if he had lost money.

Celia stopped beside him.

"So we’re finished?"

"With the Bastion run today? Yes."

"Good."

She went to put her sword away.

Aurelia looked back at the golden Ranking before following the others.

"We’ll enjoy the meal."

"You should."

Some went to the Fountain first. Others headed straight for the food. Weapons came off shoulders, the noise of marching faded, and conversation filled the space around the tables.

Cassian watched them settle in before opening Tobias’s channel again.

[Cassian Vale: Come over when you’re free.]

[Tobias Reed: On my way.]

——

Tobias arrived with dark circles beneath his eyes.

He glanced toward the meal, then at Cassian.

"If this is another patrol request, let me sit down first."

"Been sleeping?"

"Four hours a day, if I’m lucky. I was about to make up for it."

"Sit."

Cassian waited until he had taken a chair, then placed a dark-red Sigil on the table.

"Interested?"

Tobias picked it up. His eyes widened as the description opened.

[Epic Troop Sigil | Blood Duke ×12]

"Twelve Epic Blood Dukes?"

"Mm."

Tobias read the description again, then looked up at Cassian.

"For me?"

"For you."

Tobias stared for several seconds, then carefully set the Sigil down again.

"I can’t afford this."

"I know."

"Then why show it to me?"

"Because I can wait to be paid."

Cassian pushed it closer.

"Take it on credit. Build your strength, and pay me back in installments when your Domain can support it."

Tobias looked at him instead of the Sigil.

"Why me?"

"Your Road Intelligence found the Sulfur Vein. When Black Banner started moving, you kept working the outer routes."

Cassian nodded toward the item.

"Those routes aren’t getting safer. You could use better troops."

Cassian already had his Legendary Crystal Maidens. These twelve Blood Dukes would be far more useful on Tobias’s patrols.

Tobias reached for the Sigil again. This time, he held it firmly.

"That would make a difference out there."

His gaze rose to Cassian.

"Thank you," he said. "Installments, then. I’ll repay it as the Domain grows."

"Fine."

Tobias let out a breath that turned into a laugh.

"I came here needing sleep. Now I don’t think I’ll manage it."

"Eat first. Take some food back with you."

"That, I can do."

The Sigil went into Tobias’s Inventory. He carried it away himself, along with food from the meal.

Cassian watched him step through the Gate.

When it closed, he opened Sable March’s current record.

[Sable March | Region Fortune: 1]

Second place had brought it back above zero.

Cassian took out one of his two remaining Writs and tossed it lightly into the air.

Gold spread across the parchment.

[Region Fortune Duel Writ: Activated]

[Select Challenge Target]

His finger came down on Sable March.

"That one."