SIS B5: Chapter 6: Empire Interface and Class Change Option

A/N: Yay, I finally posted a chapter on schedule. Enjoy. c:

***

Daz wasted no time. As soon as Mu and Crusher had left his throne room, he posed a question to the system mentally, 'Is there some sort of special screen where I can interact with my entire empire all at once, system?'

[The host must be an [Emperor] to access that information. Confirmed the host's ruling status to be that of an [Emperor]. Yes. There is such an interface. Would you like to see it now?]

That was certainly helpful. Daz hadn't interacted much with the kingdom interface when that was available to him. A big mistake, he now realised upon reflection.

If he had paid just a bit more attention to the system, trusted its features a little more, he could have better prepared New Earth and her sister kingdoms against the fallout of his actions in the Truthian's mythical city.

He wouldn't be making the same mistake again, especially since New Earth could easily trigger several wars within the span of mere weeks given his desire to unite the planet. Needless to mention that one of his possible and likely opponents was his very own father.

'Yes, show me the interface, please,' Daz requested.

The system happily confirmed his request and the next moment, a screen with options was presented to him.

[Empire Interface

Empire name: [N/A]
Empire type: [N/A]
Higher kingdoms: 1: New Earth
Vassal kingdoms: 4: Taiwan | United Korea | Federation of Hope | Washington
Population: 1,002,321
Mythical cities: 3: Atlantis | El Dorado | Lian'Wa'Runda
Grand structures: 1: GriD CrosS
Ordinary structures: 654,327
Destroyed structures: 79,432,543]

The empire not immediately being named New Earth like his kingdom had been upon becoming a high kingdom surprised him.

What was also a bit of a shock was the fact that GriD CrosS was considered a grand structure - whatever that happened to be - and not Fort Sky instead. That implied the land and city itself meant nothing when compared to GriD CrosS's own worth.

'That does make some sense since the only reason the city can even fly is because of him. He's what's left of an entire planet's core, right? Makes sense for him to be special,' Daz reasoned.

No sooner did his mind return to the more worrisome of his empire's statistics.

'We barely have enough citizens to be classified as an empire... That number of destroyed buildings too... America is a fucking wasteland. Well, here's hoping the next part of the interface can clean this up for me a bit,' Daz thought as his vision was filled by a new screen that had been summoned alongside the first.

[Empire Interface Shop

Total Empire points (ONE TIME EXPLANATION: city points, taxed merit points, and newly created empire points, all count towards this number): 97,432,875

Shop Categories
Defences
Development
Restoration
Exploration]

"Interesting," Daz mumbled.

He was a bit disappointed at how subjectively low the amount of empire points was but he figured it made sense. After all, His grandmother, Pai Han, Larry, and the old president of America, weren't exactly forced to horde their city points and taxes as he liked to do.

So even if he could directly access them now and use them as empire points, the likelihood of over 80% of those points coming from New Earth was very high.

He and Rose had worked hard with the kingdom's generals and top minds to create a bit of a hoarder mindset in the populace with the savings policy at the bank.

This was to save everyone from the failure fines at the end of a system semester, but it did have the consequential side effect of making taxes larger as there was simply more money to be taxed.

Regardless, Daz was fully intent on exploring all four aspects of the empire shop today. First though, he had a rather pressing matter to deal with.

"Crosius," he called, getting the old man's attention.

"Yes, My Liege?" asked the elderly man as he tore his attention away from his desk.

"I need to name our empire. I'm inclined to just call it New Earth like our high kingdom, but I think asking for opinions would be a wiser move. Public opinion isn't exactly very good when it comes to me since I accidentally murdered over 5,000,000 people," Daz said plainly, masking his sadness over that affair.

Crosius nodded. "I can have the other castle advisors perform a survey and then a competition of sorts to decide to most requested name for the empire. I must say this, by the way, but congratulations on your ascension to emperorhood, My Liege, as unfortunate as the surrounding circumstances were."

"Thanks, and yeah, do that. I'd appreciate it," Daz replied, dismissing the old man to return to his work.

With that out of the way, he called upon the system once more but still not for matters pertaining to the shop. 'What types of empire can my empire become, system?'

His kingdom of New Earth had been a quest-oriented kingdom for almost as long as it had existed. This had, over the past year, given him some very lucrative rewards.

If Daz could get a similar benefit from assigned an empire typing, then assign one he would without hesitation.

[Confirmed. Displaying possible empire types for the host's nameless empire.]

[Unlocked Empire Types

Magical Research:
Unlock reason: The host's empire contains at least two cities dedicated to magical research and development. [Cities: Atlantis | Fort Sky]
Benefits: All magical research sanctioned by the empire will be completed 50% faster. The emperor shall receive a class change option. The emperor shall be informed whenever unsanctioned magical research is being attempted within the empire's borders.

Domination:
Unlock reason: The host's empire has been involved in two wars and won both of them, resulting in the complete annexation of the opponent's former land. [Wars: Terrorists of California War | The Truthian Purging]
Benefits: The emperor will immediately become aware of any ruler who is considering war against them. The emperor shall receive a class change option. Whenever the empire's borders grow through war, the citizens will think of it as a positive thing (if strongly pacifistic, the citizens shall instead forgive the empire for the shedding of blood needed for the growth of its borders).

Mythical Holy Site:
Unlock reason: The empire has two or more mythical cities within its borders and the empire treats said cities with respect and reverence. [Cities and acts of respect and reverence: Atlantis/efforts to reconstruct and repair the city. | El Dorado/efforts to populate the city and to restore the damaged temples | Lian'Wa'Runda/Efforts to gain control of said city peacefully]
Benefits: Some special features of any mythical city possessed by the empire will be doubled. Restoration effects of damaged mythical cities possessed by the empire will be 5 times easier and cost half the needed resources. The emperor shall receive a class change option. Any citizen who visits a mythical city possessed by the empire will receive a permanent buff for the pilgrimage. Only one buff may be held at any one time and visiting a new mythical city will remove the prior city's buff.]

"That is a lot to take in," Daz whispered as he stroked his stubbled chin thoughtfully.

He read over the details again and spent at least a good 20-minutes just thinking things through, giving each option its own fair shake.

The ability to detect the intent of war-hungry rulers was very tempting. Daz felt it unnecessary though ultimately. His own paranoia would keep him from trusting anyone in a position to threaten him.

He also had his Survivor's Instinct to rely on. That being the most appealing benefit of the Domination typing ruled out the option for Daz.

Magical research was interesting for the long term but it didn't really seem that great when he considered that he had some of Earth's brightest minds already under his rulership.

'Thinking on that, I still need to decide what to do with the last living Truthian. Well, the last one that I know of. Zachary Wilson was quite helpful since his sick experiments helped push me into rushing the Truthian's central cathedral before they were ready for me. Anyway, that's a matter for future Daz, not present Daz,' he chuckled internally.

Honestly, in regards to the empire typing, he had already made his choice. As tempting as Domination was, Mythical Holy Site doubling the special powers of mythical cities was too good to pass up. He had to confirm something first though.

'System, if I choose the last option there, what powers of each of my mythical cities, exactly, will be doubled?' If it wasn't El Dorado's ability to gather moonlight or turn it into Stars of Eternity, then he couldn't really care less about that option.

[Confirmed. Atlantis's protective shielding will double in size and strength. Lian'Wa'Runda's ability to conjure and control snowstorms will become twice as stable and double in destructive force. El Dorado's mists of Lake Parime will become twice as hard to see through and one of the three disabled Muisca temples will be restored, doubling that facet of the city's functionality.]

Daz's lips curled up in pleasure as he felt a hidden burden lift itself free from his shoulders. 'Fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a better free upgrade even if I tried. Well, besides fixing all of the Muisca temples. I choose Mythical Holy Site for my empire's typing, system.'

[Confirmed. The host's empire [N/A] is now an empire dedicated as a Mythical Holy Site. The previously stated upgrades have been implemented. People with an interest in the mythical, city or not, will find themselves drawn to your empire now.]

He was pretty sure he'd be getting a phone call from either Rose or Sir Albert very soon. After all, one of his sister's pet projects was the restoration of Atlantis since the city would apparently boost her own powers when it was back to its former glory.

As for Albert Guildrose, the man curated El Dorado in place of the mummies, Ak and Tek. Surely he'd notice a temple returning to a state equal to its prime, even if he was rather promiscuous with the locals.

Instead, what Daz received first was not a phone call, but instead a class change option.

[You may change your class to the following class if you so wish.]

[Weapon Change: Mythical Items

Merged Class: Mythical Emperor

Description

Combines the two classes [Emperor] and [Mythical Protector], granting the host bonuses for wielding both mythical items and objects of political power.

All skills from the [Crystal Digger] class shall be changed to fit into the new class or will otherwise be removed and the host shall be given a new set of skills that are fitting for the [Mythical Emperor] class.]

[Change class from [Crystal Digger] to [Mythical Emperor]?

Y/N]

That didn't sound very promising. Perhaps in a world of peace, where war and conquest weren't almost certainly going to face Daz down upon Earth's joining with the greater system, this option might appeal to him.

Right now though, his crystal digger class was what he both wanted and needed. Besides, there was no way he'd ever change his class. Upgrade? sure. Change? Never. Not now that his class was tied to Rimmy's continued existence.

He still wasn't quite sure how that worked since he'd given Rimmy a couple of Stars of Eternity, tying the golem to him that way as well. Still, he didn't want to push and boundaries or test anything risky when it came to his best friend.

That being the case, Daz rejected the class change option.

[Title gained! The host has rejected the option to obtain a class less than 0.0001% of emperors have in favour of keeping his ties with his Jewelled Mountain Golem summon, earning him the title [Crystal Fanatic].]

[Title: Crystal Fanatic

Crystals of all kinds, sentient or not, will now hum in your presence for they know you bear them no ill will and that you are their ally.]

A soft sound entered Daz's ears from both his sides and from above him. His summoned jewels as well as the shovel Lyle could no longer touch seemed to be... singing softly to him.

He couldn't make out the words and it was surprisingly easy to ignore if he tried to. 'Hell, it's actually kind of soothing. It reminds me of my earring when I remember to use that thing. A nice accidental gain, I suppose.'

Daz put the matter to the back of his mind since the new humming of crystals didn't affect him in a negative manner.

'I need to go visit El Dorado. One, for the new buff the empire grants for visiting mythical cities, and two, to see if the second temple can be used immediately. First thing's first though, back to the empire shop,' Daz thought as he pulled up the interface again.

He focused on the 'Restoration' and 'Defence' options. The former because he could certainly use the good PR and the peace of mind gained by helping his people recover, if not their lost loved ones, then at least their lost homes.

The latter was needed for the predicted coming wars, both from within Earth and from without.

[Full Housing Restoration

Restores every destroyed or damaged building that is classified as a home to perfect condition. This also changes all affected buildings into those recognised by the system for upgrading purposes.

Cost:  100,000,000 (25,000,000)]

Thankfully, Daz's Godly Universal Management skill applied both to this store and to the new empire points, allowing him to purchase the Full Housing Restoration option.

It was a very costly thing and there were cheaper options. Each of the other options restored 10% less than the last, but the cost also plummeted in tangent.

Still, there was no choice but to purchase this considering almost all of the damage done was as a result of him breaking a Star of Eternity.

Sure, plenty of homes had been destroyed on the day of the system's coming and many more enduring the waves and the first semester, but to the people, Daz's recent actions were all that filled their minds.

First though, he'd be a fool not to milk this purchase for everything that it was worth.

"System," he said aloud, "project my voice and face to all of my citizens, both new and old. Give them a warning notification first then do as I asked in two minutes, please."

[Confirmed. Acting out Emperor Daz Crowthorne's instructions.]

The reaper smiled to himself. "It sure is nice being able to do this kind of thing for free whenever I wish to."

Crosius nodded from his desk. "Indeed, My Liege. I have had former lords and kings though that have abused the feature to micromanage their lands. Right down to the last peasant. It always led to their ruin."

"A wise ruled knows when to delegate. Rose hammered that knowledge right into me," Daz sighed, "despite my trust issues."

"She's an incredibly intelligent girl for her age. Would you like any advice before you address your citizens, My Liege?" the old man offered.

Daz shook his head. "I'll be fine. I've done this often enough to be used to it by now. Thank you for asking though."

Crosius beamed. "I live to serve."