The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1403 - By the Grace of the Abundant Emperor

Everyone else was staring as the Abundant Emperor entered the room, though probably for different reasons. Some were definitely surprised by his size, as rather than actually fitting the room’s massive scope, he was only about five meters tall. Besides that, the Abundant Emperor did look like a regular cyclops, though he was wearing way nicer clothes than any other.

Another reason for staring was that he’d entered the room alongside the eleventh Administrator, which, quite frankly, didn’t make any sense, since this event was clearly limited to ten people. However, the existence of another Administrator was less shocking than what that Administrator and the Abundant Emperor were doing.

The eleventh Administrator was currently sitting on the Emperor’s outstretched arm like a perched bird, with the two of them talking happily while walking into the room, neither bothering to even look at the ten Administrators waiting for them. Only when they got closer did something else happen, as the projection of the Majordomo appeared floating above the throne.

“All welcome His Majesty and lord of this palace, the Abundant Emperor!” the cyclops said, then looked around, confused for a moment, until he spotted the Abundant Emperor walking slowly below. The Majordomo did a double-take before clearing his throat. “Such magnanimity! To take a smaller form to better meet the guests. Truly kindness worthy of an emperor!”

Yeah, it didn’t even sound like the Majordomo believed his own words, but oh well, he clearly had a job. The Abundant Emperor looked up and gave the Majordomo a nod before suddenly disappearing, only to reappear on the bottom step of the massive stairway leading up to the throne.

He regarded the ten Administrators for a moment before turning his attention to the eleventh, with whom he had entered.

“You were right that guests would arrive,” the Abundant Emperor said with a smile.

“Yep!” the eleventh Administrator said while holding up his small paws, leaving Jake with only one question:

How the hell did Jasper get here?

Clearly, the Planeswarper had not arrived in the Abundant Palace through regular means, hadn’t gone through the antechambers, and from the looks of it, had met the Abundant Emperor quite a while ago. At least they seemed to be on good terms, something that also surprised the Majordomo, who looked down.

“I was not informed we had another guest already,” he said, trying to remain professional while clearly being confused.

“For he is not a guest,” the Abundant Emperor said with a smile. “He is an intruder who made his way into my chambers and attempted to steal my crown.”

At hearing this, the Majordomo’s eyes opened wide. “This creature dares-“

“Silence,” the emperor said, the other cyclops immediately shutting up. “Do you not see the amusement in that? To make his way through my garden, into my city, and finally to my very chambers, all with the intent of stealing the Crown of the Abundant Emperor, a treasure that cannot be taken in the first place. At least I find it entertaining.”

Jake wasn’t sure how to react besides being happy for Jasper that he’d tried to rob what appeared to be a godlike entity who had very weird reactions to thieves. Most people definitely wouldn’t react with amusement to someone breaking into their home and trying to steal their most valuable treasure.

“Said sorry...” Jasper said as he lowered his head and fidgeted with his small paws, looking incredibly pitiful while doing so. It was a super-effective mental attack that no level of power allowed one to resist.

“And all is forgiven,” the Abundant Emperor said with a chuckle as he put Jasper down beside him while also taking a seat on the edge of the lowest step. “And while it does break procedure a little, I’ve decided you’re allowed to join the other... what do you call them again? Administrators, right?”

Hearing him say that definitely got everyone’s attention. The system used the term Administrators to describe the “real” people in the simulation, so for the Abundant Emperor to also use it had a lot of implications. At the center of which was that it sounded like the emperor knew that this was a virtual world, something that usually wasn’t possible.

“You all appear surprised?” the Abundant Emperor said with a smile. “Don’t be. I’m aware of this world, of why you’re here, and the role I am to play in all this.”

Turning to Jasper, the emperor gave the little guy a push with his finger. “Go. Join the other Administrators. While I would love to, I’m unfortunately unable to bend the rules more than I already have, so at most, you can be treated and rewarded like any of them, despite not having passed the same trials they have.”

Jasper looked at the Abundant Emperor, gave the finger a quick hug, and immediately disappeared, reappearing not that far away from Jake a moment later. Jake threw the little guy a glance, with Jasper just looking happy as he sat down and made himself comfortable on the floor.

“Now then,” the Abundant Emperor said, looking up at the Majordomo. “You may proceed.”

The Majordomo, who had followed the order to be silent, nodded as he regarded the eleven Administrators. “First of all, I should congratulate you all for making it here and receiving the great honor of having an audience with the supreme Abundant Emperor. It shows you are all individuals with talent, power, and abilities that make you worthy candidates to be rulers of this world.”

With that, Jake was also fairly sure that the Majordomo knew what kind of world this was, given he more or less referred to the Territories outside and the conquest to expand and perhaps one day rule the entire World of the Exalted Prima.

“Throughout your journey here, you will no doubt have collected many treasures to help fund your Territory’s efforts, and I feel that many of those are still in your possession. Let me inform you now that, having made it here, you will be rewarded the value of these treasures tenfold, all by the grace of His Majesty.”

The first reward for making it to the throne room was already massive. Jake and everyone else had been saving treasures ever since the Outer Garden, had skipped the Altar of Abundance, and hoped to cash them in for more Credits later. Even then, Jake had not expected to get a tenfold return on the many items he had. Of course, he would be very disappointed if that was all they were rewarded, as while these Prima Credits were nice to get, it truthfully wasn’t that extreme. The larger a Territory got, the more Prima Credits it passively earned every day, and given how large some of them were becoming by now, they earned a fuckload passively.

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Not that Jake was complaining, and he was sure Miranda would be happy getting an extra windfall. No one complained about suddenly getting more money when trying to balance a budget.

“In addition, seeing as you’ve proven yourselves worthy candidates, it would be a shame for you to be eliminated from this event prematurely. Thus, the Abundant Emperor has decreed that your Territory Beacons shall be under his protection for the next century. This means they cannot be destroyed, though I will warn you that doesn’t mean your Territories cannot suffer damage, and this protection will not extend to any allies or Vassals.”

Everyone else in the room stared for a moment while they also seemed to share a sudden realization. While no one had truly known how long this event would last, it had gone by fast so far, leading someone like Jake to conclude it probably wasn’t going to last that long. However, this reward really put that conclusion into question.

A century was a fucking long time. A really long time. Sure, compared to a B-grade’s lifespan, it was a drop in the bucket, but still, didn’t this mean it was expected for the event to last at least a hundred more years? If it did, wouldn’t that mean they could potentially end up spending hundreds of years inside a simulation?

While Jake didn’t have anything against the World of the Exalted Prima, and he had made some decent progress while in there, that didn’t mean he wanted to practically move into it semi-permanently. There was still a lot to do in the real world, and Jake didn’t want to put everything on pause for who knows how long. Shit, he didn’t want to go that long without being able to see Artemis again.

Jake took a moment to calm himself as the Majordomo also gave them some time to digest the announcement, looking real smug about it, definitely reading their reactions as amazement rather than shock.

Technically, one could leave the simulation and even the Seat of the Exalted Prima right now, even if doing so would lead to being locked out for a time. Given that this Territory couldn’t be destroyed, it also meant that even if he left, he would always be able to come back for at least the next century. Of course, if he did leave for too long, there was a good chance the Territory would suffer for it, but ultimately, Jake believed his own growth and Path were more important than this system event. A conclusion he believed Villy would also agree with.

“Quite a reward, isn’t it? But it gets even better. As individuals recognized by the Abundant Emperor, you will be given a discount when hiring individuals from the Abundant Empire using Prima Credits. Ah, for context, in the next stage, it will be possible to summon members from the Abundant Empire for all Territories, serving as mercenaries, crafters, or other roles.”

Okay, Jake couldn’t even pretend to be excited about this one. Did it have implications and was probably super good down the line, making Miranda incredibly happy? Sure, but it didn’t strike him as anything amazing. It was just a little bonus in his mind.

Based on how some of the others reacted, it seemed like it was a good bonus, though. The Sword Saint nodded with a pleased look, and the Forest King also seemed to contemplate the advantages of cheaper mercenaries, while Jake was pretty sure the Demon Prince was also doing some intense mental calculations to determine whether it was a good reward or not.

Jake also checked out what the Eastbound Monk was up to and found the Dao Sect member had only now stopped praying, though it looked like he’d been paying attention at least somewhat all along. Wintermaul still seemed more preoccupied with finding out who had dared to kill Sylphie than listen to the Majordomo and Abundant Emperor.

“Second-to-last, you are each being given another advantage for what is to come. Seeing as the Territories are expanding and getting harder and harder to keep track of, you will soon be allowed to bring in more assistance from the outside. Within limits, of course. By the grace of the Abundant Emperor, you will all be given the chance to invite some, let’s just say, extra help that goes beyond the limitations set by the Exalted Prima. More details on this will be unveiled later, but know that you should be grateful.”

Another sneak peek into the future, with a rather impactful revelation. Jake had considered the possibility that one would be able to bring more people into the World of the Exalted Prima at some point, as quite frankly, it did feel that the lack of manpower would become a problem soon.

As Territories expanded, they became harder to defend and keep track of, and seeing as none of the NPCs one could summon had the ability to think for themselves but could only carry out orders, an Administrator was needed at all Teleportation Beacons and any place where even the slightest decision-making was required.

Being able to bring in more real people would be extremely helpful and also a great opportunity for those who got the chance to enter. Merely experiencing the World of the Exalted Prima was valuable due to the Records and the ability to experiment there. Having an expanded ability to bring in assistance had to be good, though of course, no one knew how big the bonus was, just as no one knew how big the discount was from the prior reward.

There was a lot of wait-and-see with these rewards, and so far, Jake hadn’t been overly impressed with what they’d gotten. The best was definitely the century-long immunity, though Jake could see himself being proven wrong if the other rewards ended up being extremely impactful.

“I know, I know, the generosity of the Abundant Emperor is truly overwhelming, to give that much for so little. With these rewards alone, you are primed to be in a good position as the battle for the World of the Exalted Prima continues. But be warned that even if you have advantages, these will in no way ensure that one of you comes out the ultimate victor. The competition has barely begun, and just because you’re ahead in the beginning doesn’t mean you’ll reach the finish line first.”

The Majordomo once more reiterated that this event would be long, even though Jake felt it had already been long enough with this entire Central Domain competition.

He did agree with the sentiment, though. This entire event was effectively a war, and war is often chaotic, with many factors at play. Geniuses often fall due to being overwhelmed, running out of resources, getting caught out after using boosting skills, or getting caught up in a fight between two individuals with greater power. Plus, for this event in particular, it was clear that the things one could purchase with Prima Credits would play an increasingly important role. He could already imagine the chaos it would bring if an invading force consisted of a small army of kilometer-tall cyclops warriors, and with more people arriving from outside, the battles would only grow larger.

“Allow me to take over for this final reward,” the Abundant Emperor said softly, raising a hand as he sat casually on the bottom step of the massive stairway and regarded them. “As you all no doubt know, every action of yours within the World of the Exalted Prima has been observed, evaluated, and judged by the supreme creator of this world, the Exalted Prima. My father.”

Jake raised an eyebrow at that information and had many questions, many of which were answered right away as the shrunk-down cyclops continued.

“Heh, he’s not actually my father in that sense. More my maker. I was one of his first creations alongside my siblings, who you will no doubt encounter as you experience more of this world,” the Abundant Emperor said with his casual smile as he gave each of the eleven Administrators a look. “You are all people from the outside world. From the real world. Brought here because you were qualified to enter, and today, you’ve proven those qualifications. While it may be premature, you are all worthy of being named Champions of the Exalted Prima. A title I thus grant you.”

And to Jake’s surprise... yeah, he actually got a title.

Title Gained: [Champion of the Exalted Prima] – Be recognized by the Abundant Emperor within the World of the Exalted Prima. Grants an increased connection to your Seat of the Exalted Prima, as well as the World of the Exalted Prima. Reduced experience penalty while within the World of the Exalted Prima. +500 to all stats. +5% to your highest stat (Perception). This title can be further upgraded through your efforts within the World of the Exalted Prima.

Finally, the good stuff had arrived, and once more the cyclopes in the room gave the Administrators time to process what they’d just gotten, since Jake had a lot of questions.