Within the Villages most everyone is affiliated with a party that they adventure with Right about the time that they connected to New Earth they were discussing whether it would be possible to create something like an AdventurerÆs Guild but I think they have enthusiastically chosen to adopt the Orders as the vehicle for that
Then Clarissa paused Of the four Villages the most powerful is Shiro a Village built on top of a mountain It was their party that cleared the Raid Dungeon and are the major force outside of the VillagesÆ combined strength But all four Villages are reasonably strong and have at least one party that would rival the strength of a Donnyton Squad between 5 and 9
Everyone at the table considered that Between 5 and 9 would mean that they werenÆt any other exceptional individuals but it would be a group where every individual was over Level 50 A team of that caliber could pretty reliably clear out monsters around Level 60 And once they start gathering more of those monsters their Levels will rise quickly to the higher Levels where the Skills earned were extraordinarily powerful
But that didnÆt mean difference makers would necessarily appear And without them a Village would be forced to accept a slide toward mediocrity
That was something that Franksburg was struggling with even now They had plenty of satisfactory military personnel but aside from Lucifer and a few others there was no one that could pull out a surprise victory amongst their troops
It was to avoid the same problem that East End was spurred toward focusing so much of their development toward fostering Elementals and the Classes that were related to them And so far it seemed to be working out very well
Before Randidly arrived the leaders of Donnyton were somewhat at a loss as to why certain individuals were simply better at utilizing the System Their Skill Levels came more quickly and at the same Level they could utilize a power that others wouldnÆt be able to touch with each Skill use Although the Donnyton Leadership didnÆt want to admit it it seemed that there was a talent component to the System
And it just so happened that Donny Mrs Hamilton Annie Dozer Decklan Sam Glendel Clarissa Paolo Kayle and Ptolemy all possessed it In terms of talent Donnyton had a definite edge over the rest of New Earth
That wasnÆt even considering people like Raina and Regina Northwind whose Skills wouldnÆt really ever be used on a battlefield
RandidlyÆs answer to why Donnyton had the advantage wasnÆt much easier to swallow than talent he said it was their strong images that gave them an advantage But once that perspective was pointed out it certainly appeared to be a reasonable explanation for what was happening The individuals that showed this edge often had a very specific Class and embraced the special flavor of that Class Part of it might just be compatibility between the early Paths they had chosen and their character but a clear image also seemed relevant
It was a natural confidence that came from accepting what you had become
For several seconds after Clarissa described the military strength of these Villages the table was silent Already Donnyton was moving to push individuals into Classes that were easier for the holder to imagine themselves using with its most recent batch of NCCs ready to take a class but everyone had doubts if this would materially affect their power
Four more Villages with at least one Squad with that level of strength wasnÆt a lot but it would also shift the power focus across Earth With more assistance coming from this new ally Zone 1 would be able to rely on DonnytonÆs controls less
Which would then free up Donnyton to use its military resources for other projects but it would mean they were losing political power
Mrs Hamilton clicked her tongue to bring everyoneÆs attention back to the current conversation And Zone One Is everything still peaceful
Now Clarissa grimaced Well itÆs going to be rough in the next three months The Senate has been doing alright after President Howard was found to be a vegetable but elections are coming up A lot of people are waiting to see if the Senator who built the Orchard is going to run
Mrs Hamilton nodded absently Sam scratched his chin in irritation Although he wasnÆt very much interested in these discussions it was good to keep abreast of current affairs And Sam could tell now was not a good time for DonnytonÆs political power to be waning
Donny leaned forward Anything out of Ghost
Nothing much Clarissa said with a shake of her head Since the Senate passed those privacy laws Ghost was forced to really curtail his observation drones But there have been a lot of talks between Erickson Steel and West Providence ItÆs clear that they are preparing to roll something out Maybe a new Drone model
I hope that means the old models will be cheaper Sam grumbled He was always fascinated by the drones but there just didnÆt seem a point to spending the exorbitant sum that Erickson Steel demanded for them Better to just purchase the raw steel
But that didnÆt mean Sam didnÆt want to get his hands on one any less
Finally Donny spoke in a low voice He folded his arms Were you able to get anything from inspecting the energy traces left by the Winged Serpent
A bit Clarissa said with a frown The formulae were complicated but that was until I realized that all the component parts drawn with energy were actually 3 D figures imposed upon this plane
Clarissa Donny sighed
Clarissa jabbed her finger at him Very few other people would have thought of it IÆm just explaining so you can appreciate what I do for all of you But yes Nothing specific but the origin is clearly East of Donnyton Likely somewhere in the unexplored North part of the sea
Sam grimaced If it was in the sea they would need to rely on the locals in order to get there As a landlocked entity Donnyton didnÆt have any navy And the only real port they had access to was in Scant which was a bit
The Royal Sea Mrs Hamilton said with a curl of her lip That is what their king has taken to calling it The Royal Sea
Ed who had blessedly been quiet until now snorted loudly That man certainly has some balls on him now doesnÆt he
He can back it up Mrs Hamilton said calmly As far as we can tell that Zone is almost five times the size of ours Even now the edges of it continue to expand although we have been stuck at our current size The Royal Sea itself is about as wide as the rest of New Earth combined Even if he doesnÆt have the natural resources now as his population grows he will inevitably become rich
Why Most of the sea hasnÆt been explored They canÆt claim to be using it Alana said bluntly
With an elegant gesture Mrs Hamilton shrugged Maybe but I donÆt want to be the first Zone to claim a portion of another ZoneÆs land Besides there is a lot that we can still do here to improve Donnyton
We arenÆt claiming their land right now Alana said with flashing eyes We are tracking down these fucking Nemesai and putting them down Even if the Ghosthound killed two that still leaves
He killed two Ed said completely aghast Sam sighed inwardly The poor fool didnÆt realize how out of his depth he was
Not that I think he wonÆt postpone but we still have the challenge against Randidly in two days Mrs Hamilton pointed out ignoring EdÆs digression We also received word that we have been cordially invited to the first meeting of Zone Leaders in the Peerless Capital of Zone Seven
Pretty bold of them to send out invites for the first world meeting after so recently joining New Earth Regina said quietly EveryoneÆs expressions turned grim
All except Mrs Hamilton She simply shrugged Honestly someone had to And I didnÆt want it to be us Because whoever did it these sort of resentful feelings would have emerged toward us We don’tÆ need that right now Better that they take on this thankless task
Ah thereÆs one more thing Clarissa said Everyone turned to her After taking a long gulp from her glass of water she spoke It wasnÆt confirmed but Ghost did say that he believes that another Zone connected Southwest of Zone 1