Greed God chapter 108

February 10th 2016 Gemworld 7:00 PM EDT

"So  you're saying dragons are a big deal here?" I was sitting in Malcolm's  throne inside the fortress, with all the bandits staring at me raptly as  they crowded around me. I was still transformed, since they seemed to  be responding to my antlers and scales, but honestly the abrupt change  in attitude that came with my shift was kind of jarring. As I thought  over it again though, I supposed it kind of made sense. In a magical  fantasy world dragons must be apex predators. Being a person with that  kind of power would definitely give someone a pretty decent reputation  boost.

Malcolm, who seemed almost giddy to be around me,  grinned and nodded eagerly. "Extremely, sir. Dragonkin are considered  pinnacle existences here. You have to understand that dragons on their  own are among the few creatures capable of standing up to powerful  pureblood nobles. A human with the capabilities of a dragon is  considered a perfect blend of strength and intellect." I was actually  wyrmkin to be fair, but I wasn't going to tell any of these people that.  Their obedience was useful to me. No need to go running my mouth off.

I  was interested in what he said about the nobility though. "How do  pureblood nobles stack up to you? You seem pretty strong, you're not a  pureblood though. Is it really that big of a difference?" Figuring I  might as well get this out of the way since it was bound to come up with  me asking all these questions I added."I'm not from Gemworld. But is  there really that big of a difference?" I was curious if the whole  bloodline thing was legit or just a way the nobles stayed in power.  Malcolm probably wasn't top tier or anything, but if he was able to  reach F rank he had to be at least slightly impressive.

To  my surprise though, the question only elicited a harsh laugh from him.  "Oh trust me, there is. In terms of ability I haven't exactly been  sticking to traditional paths. I've been cheating a bit to increase my  power. I sacrifice those who challenge me to harvest their bloodlines.  In exchange I've managed to elevate my bloodline to a more powerful  state, bringing me to a point where I can be considered as strong as a  member of the nobility" When I heard that, I had a sneaking suspicion I  knew where this was going.

Sure enough, as he kept talking  a pattern I recognized emerged. "Still, only a lesser noble is  comparable. I'm roughly as powerful as a Viscount at the moment, though  my strength will reach the level of an Earl soon enough. I've elevated  several of my people to roughly the level of a Baron through similar  measures." Which confirmed my guess. The levels of nobility here roughly  corresponded with ranks as far as the system was concerned.

That  actually made a lot of sense. Ranks were mostly based on a specific  scale, and it wasn't exactly insane that there were other systems that  worked similarly. The system's appraisal wasn't really worth much if it  wasn't accurate, and someone else had to have managed to suss out a  similar way of identifying things. I wanted to know more about this  though. I also made a note to talk to Levka, since he was apparently on  the level of a minor noble. That could just be a factor of his value as a  smith though. Maybe craftsmen were ranked differently? Still, I figured  it didn't hurt to ask. "Can you tell me more about the nobles?"

Malcolm's  face twisted in annoyance. "The differences between the power of each  noble rank is distinct. The Kings and Queens are obviously the  strongest. But there aren't any of them active anymore. The great nobles  have mostly faded from the world. The current dynasties are ruled by  Princesses and Lords. Below them are Dukes, then Marquis, then Earls,  then Viscounts, then finally Barons. Barons are barely considered  nobility, bastards and particularly powerful thin bloods are usually at  about this level."

Which meant that he'd managed to  elevate a dozen of his obviously thin blooded bandits to the rank of  minor nobility with that blood sacrifice gem, but they weren't on a  level of an actual threat. Still, it meant they wanted to move up in the  world, which I could work with. People were infinitely easier to  control if you knew their motivation. It also meant I was going to need  to rethink my approach with Malcolm. He was ambitious and driven, which  would have been an issue, but his obvious hatred of the nobility gave me  a level to use to keep him in line.

I also needed to get  stronger. Amethyst was a princess. Which granted could mean either the  daughter of a king or the daughter of a Duke (at least if nobility  worked like it did on earth), but even if she was the latter that would  put her at probably Marquis level and thus, if I was understanding the  system right, D rank. I was assuming she wasn't the capital P Princess  because that would make her fucking B rank and therefore completely  beyond my ability to fuck with. If needed I could find a lesser Amethyst  noble, but from what I'd learned from Malcolm the direct line of  succession was almost extinct.

All of this basically came  down to me realizing I needed to break through to E rank and make sure  my village was damn impressive before I got in contact. Whatever level  of nobility they were, if I showed up as, in their parlance, an Earl,  with a prosperous city, they'd have to take me at least a bit seriously.  That just added one more item to my to do list while I was here, along  with building up a serious stockpile of points for my contingency plan  to deal with Doctor Gotham. Even I was beginning to feel a bit  overwhelmed with this shit.

That wasn't helpful though, so  I tossed the brief flash of uncertainty aside and focused on my new  bandit crew. They seemed pretty interested in working for me, but that  wasn't really binding. I wanted something a bit more permanent and they  wanted more power. Luckily I had a new toy that could do both at once. I  reached into my pouch and pulled out the Carmine Chalice. The bandits  looked mildly surprised, but not shocked. I hoped they were happy about  the power up because I wasn't putting all of that shit back, though I  might return the bloodline emerald once they were all Branded.

I  held up the chalice. "Alright, I'm sure you all know how this thing  works. I'm guessing none of you were able to use it on the others or you  would have. Not sure why, but I can think of a few reasons. Regardless,  I can use it on you, if you're willing. You know the price though.  So...who's first?" I'd been expecting to have to force at least a couple  of them to drink from the Chalice, but considering the dragon  fanaticism I wasn't worried as much about that anymore. Once they get a  proof of concept they're be lining up.

An H ranker, one of  the random bandits, was the first to volunteer. I slashed open an arm  with a claw and drained a bit of blood into the Chalice, which began to  blaze with a soft crimson light. The wound closed without much fanfare,  my abundant life force making the regeneration for a small cut the next  best thing to instant. I was curious if this would work too. If it did, I  would have a pretty solid way to farm points, and I could really start  going nuts. I didn't have enough right now to really do what I needed to  do. A hundred twenty thousand was about enough to make a single E  ranked item if I built it from the ground up, with maybe a bit left  over.

So I passed the Chalice to the man, whose name was  Wesley Frink, and let him drink. He took the Chalice, but contrary to my  expectations he didn't seem nervous or worried at all, just eager. He  downed the blood in a single pull before slowly setting the red crystal  cup back down on the table and stepping back. His eyes began to blaze  with light, his blood literally glowing through his skin, lighting up  his veins like crystal traceries of blazing emerald. As that happened  the Chalice began to glow as well, until finally both went out. Curious  what the affect had been I appraised him.

[Appraisal  function activated. Treasure detected. Wesley Frink- G ranked Lifestorm  Gemsworn. A Gemworld peasant imbued with the traces of a Lifestorm  bloodline, Wesley now possesses enhanced healing capabilities and  unnatural stamina, as well as a relatively large well of mystical power.  The bonds of blood and greed link him to his master, Nicholas Lord, and  cannot be undone.]

I checked, and sure enough, I  had another thousand Greed Points. Which meant I had a way to pretty  much manufacture points. I grabbed the chalice, slashed my arm and let  it drain into the bowl of the goblet. Which did not, unfortunately,  begin to shine. I gave it a quick appraisal to confirm but I already  knew what was wrong deep down. Fucking thing had drained itself making  the conversion. It needed to siphon ambient magic to recharge. The blood  would probably help, but still, the damn cup basically had a cooldown.  Fantastic.

I turned to the others  with a smile. "Seems like it'll be a bit before I can do the next one.  In the meantime, why doesn't Wesley test himself against one of the  Barons? I'm curious to see what he can do." I wasn't sure what the  lifestorm bloodline would actually do aside from making him tougher. I  imagined he might be able to use lightning magic, though I assumed he'd  have to actually learn some to do much with it. Still, he was G rank  now, so I was sure he'd be able to do something.

Wesley  looked perfectly fine with that, his eyes, still slightly more green  than before were lit with excitement as he prepared for battle against  one of the emerald Barons. Cherry sidled up next to me as they got ready  to fight. "Just so you know, while that did push him over into G rank  territory it wasn't that big of a boost. You won't be able to get the  other Barons to F rank. The distance between them and the next level is  too wide." I cursed internally, but I wasn't too surprised. Still it  would let me Brand them and get some points. I could worry about the  rest later.

We  watched the battle with interest. Wesley was stronger than I'd  expected. Probably about as strong as I'd been at G rank. Granted raw  power hadn't really been what I was best suited for at that point, but  still, it was an impressive upgrade. To my surprise there was a bit of  natural lightning magic in his combat style, nothing crazy, just  electricity dancing on his fists, but it was something. Hopefully he  could learn to channel some of the magic power he had into the lightning  abilities to increase their power.

In  the end though he couldn't win. He needed training. The Baron had a  coherent and systemic approach to training his magic honed through years  of the emerald bloodline's supremacy in the region. My Gemsworn just  didn't have a way to counter that. Hopefully once there were more of  them they could figure out how to use the abilities they got from me a  bit better. Still, it was progress. I'd found a way to build my power  base here. Once I used the points to arrange for my own rank up I might  be able to do even more. Things were finally starting to come together.