[Congratulations! Rising Emperor's Domain Milestone Reached!] [1002098/1000000 Links of Loyalty Created] [New Perk Unlocked: Rising Emperor's Dominance] All links of loyalty under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor will now be granted permanent Daily Use Tiered buffs, and a custom interface with the Rising Emperor as its admin. [i](Expand for more info) The caster may borrow 10% of all Base Stat Points and Mana Control efficiency from Party Members under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor. In addition, 10% of the caster's Base Stat Points and Mana Control may be temporarily distributed to any Party Members under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor. The caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously. Members affected by this perk are not required to be within range of the Rising Emperor's Domain. By the time I look back up from my interface at the active crowd down below, my links of loyalty have already hit 1,042,877. They're still rising extremely quickly, and after this region-wide notification and availability of a new permanent timed buff for people to activate, and the option to add a temporary skill at the [Mythic Grade] level, excitement only roars more. I whisper under my breath, more so talking to myself, but for Maria to hear as well while we bask in the glory of the capital city of the region our journey started in. "This was far more successful than I thought it'd be. Jumping from a few thousand links up to over a million in a short few days has definitely given us some more options... but I'm not convinced it's enough yet. It's time to wrap this up and do it again for all the other great regions and Dark Continent Sectors." I smile under my mask, and project my voice out to the crowd one last time. "Again, thank you all. The time is near where I shall fight for your freedom in this new world. I hope my words, and the gifts of power I grant, are enough to earn your loyalty. Everything comes with a price. There will be times that you feel me borrowing your power, and other times where I grant additional power to you all. You are always free to sever the link, and to those that have not created one yet, all you must do is think of the face you see in the sky, and allow your body and mind to trust in the Flame Emperor." There is a final rush of pure mana expelled into the atmosphere, and in turn, another surge of tens of thousands of links being formed. I nod and take Maria's hand, and we both float back into the open window of the Vice City's Association headquarters. Bri stands there to greet us, clapping, and her assistant holds up a containment case with more teleport crystals leading to the other cities scattered across this dual nation. "Fabulous speech, are you ready to do it all over again?" As we touch down and walk over, I take a deep breath and take the crystal to crush it in my hand. Over the next 5 hours, we put on many more performances all throughout this side of the world. The next great speech takes place in the Apex Region, bringing another 1,287,090 links of loyalty in less than an hour into my interface. Their average level distribution is slightly higher than the Vice Region, around [Lv. 83], as the bulk of contracted hunters here are C and B class elites, skewing the data. The Veridian Region, now run by Nat, the new Regional Director, adds 828,324 more links, coming in third, but the average here is lower, but not weak, coming in at [Lv. 56], slightly below the Vice Region. My visit to the Bedrock Region is one of the most exciting events, as Regional Director Maylack sent out transmissions all over the region to many of the mining towns who stopped their work from all of the surrounding mountains and come to listen to my speech, netting another 735,260 links at an average of [Lv. 48]. The Silca and Raya Regions congregate together with Dane's help, bringing in 404,889 links at an average [Lv. 39]. The Talton and Phantom regions are not populated enough for my time and effort for a grand speech in their regions. Once I come back to the Dark Continent, Lith and Chester work together with the large businesses and Rodrigo uses his old connects within the Association to notify and get all of Solara's surrounding towns in Sector 4 to hear my speech, bringing in another 504,072 links at an average [Lv. 61]. Lastly, I visit Valor City and hold another performance above the mountain for those within the walls, but also for all of the many surrounding trade towns that are full of merchants, forming 233,199 more links at an average [Lv. 28]. Even the elite fighters don't skew the stats up enough from the massive amount of low levels that make their living from trade and not hunting. However, every little bit counts. In every city I leave, more and more loyal followers from the past speeches and Crimson City are brought along, hand-picked by Bri to answer questions, and control the crowds. The more tours I do, the more word spreads. Every new city I fly to, there are already more and more people linked to my domain even before the speeches begin. Word is being spread of the stat buff and availability of mythic grade skills through trade channels, local news, and personal transmission tablets. Widespread excitement floods through the nation that once held uncertainty of why the walls were being torn down. This too, is paired with the undertones of fear, as this message is being shared with the common knowledge that another great war is near... Once I finish my final speech in Valor City, Bri deploys the last of her recruited workers, and I thank her, telling her to go rest back in the Crimson City. "Your efforts have been immense. I couldn't have done this so smoothly and efficiently today without you." She heads back to Sector 2 in a flash of light, and this leaves Maria and myself alone in Sector 1 as the crowds begin to disperse and go on with the rest of their day. I check my Rising Emperor's Domain interface to see my links surpass 5,000,000. However, even now, I feel more and more links forming all over the 8 Great Regions and Dark Continent as word of mouth spreads. I managed to give large-scale talks in the major cities, but this hardly reached more than 10% of everyone in this nation. It would be physically impossible to reach everyone and give the same grand display; however, I've made my mark in the epicenter of each region. I look around, then mentally map the dead zone of Sector 2 where I had my fight with Raven last week, then speak again. "I want you to take the full 1% of stats and mana control from every one of my links so we can go to a place far away from here and spar. This will be important data to see the difference in strength between divine energy and pure mana based stats. It will be a good chance for you to get used to your new power as well... Maybe you'll be strong enough to face a True Core even before you compress yours."