48th Breakthrough: You have used perceptive beams to attack another's perceptive eye; this will help you engage in perceptive battles.
I got this after training with Ruluna for a bit, and now that I think about it, it may help me against those retaliatory gazers I saw in the other Layer. They’ve already attacked us, so no further harm can be done by doing so. If we can cripple their ‘eyes’, then it may delay the next attack or scare them away.
I also need to investigate my title; I should consult Safyr about it since she has one; Kayafe told me she had also just gained hers, so she may not be the best person to ask.
Title: Saintess of Mana and Magic
Through selfless acts and mastery of Mana and Magic, you are recognized as the Saintess of Mana and Magic.
Empowers your manipulative control and power of mana and magic by 3% per level of each skill based on mana or magic. You can create rituals to ensure a magical spell works.
Two effects; the first is a straight power boost to my [Manipulate Mana]. As for the second, I don’t know what it really means. Couldn’t I have done so already?
“Not really,” Kayafe answers when I ask her the question. “What it means is often referred to as a ‘ritual spell’, which can be very powerful but have a low success rate. What your title does is make it so it will always happen. Only the strength and sometimes the effect is in question.”
We are taking our morning bath, and although Kayafe doesn’t need to, since her body is made of vitality, she still joined me anyway.
“Ritual spells are cast in a similar way to the one you cast during the moon alignment.” Kayafe continues. “They can be used to instantly slay powerful monsters, grant immortality, revive the recent dead, and much more, if you make the ritual powerful enough, although those may require sacrifice or extremely rare circumstances.”
In other words, they can be used to grant wishes, although it’s still hard to do. It sounds like ritual spells are an attempt to remove the ‘cultural significance’ requirement from rituals which explains why they mostly don’t work, and my title does just that.
“So, it’s something I have to prepare; I can’t just cast them whenever I want.”
“Yes,” Kayafe confirms. “And it sounds like you have to be the one to cast it. Regardless, it’s incredibly powerful.”
I will have to explore what I can reasonably do with ritual spells, but if I find one that protects my mind, I may be able to defeat that mind eater.
“What does your title do?” I ask. I told Kayafe mine; it’s only fair she tells me.
“I gain a large power boost when defending Runalymo, and I can designate a ‘home’ that I can teleport us to. It doesn’t mention a limit, but I wonder if it only works in the same realm.”
I’m not the only one who had tests to do, but that can wait for another time.
“By the way,” Kayafe continues. “Do you plan on using the legendary point to cure your skill?” Kayafe asks.
The point I got for saving Kayafe and completing the Mana Arc at least partially counts as a crafting feat, so it’s a good candidate for putting it into my race, but is that best for me? Can I do something better by purifying [Mana Manipulation]? Since there is a healer who can heal my anima, I can hold off on [Astral Projection]. Power-wise, being able to enhance [Manipulate Mana] will grant me a ten times bonus and vastly increase the potential of my skill, and it will gain my race bonus in addition to my new title bonus.
I am looking at an increase in power of hundreds of times greater than it currently is, and the increased level cap will only further improve the bonus I gain from my title. My title is currently drawing strength from three skills: [Sense Magic], which, although is a perceptive skill, still counts as a skill based on mana and magic, [Manipulate Mana], and [Beacon’s Core]. For a current level total of one thousand five hundred and thirteen, a title bonus of four thousand five hundred thirty-nine. By Enhancing [Manipulate Mana], I can get that close to five thousand on top of the other bonuses.
The choice is a little obvious when I break down what I can gain. Putting it into my race, once I reach exalted tier, not only delays the purification of my cursed skills but may not even grant the same amount of power I stand to gain by curing my cursed skills. Looking at it that way, I stand a greater chance to get more legendary points by getting more powerful, and I can help defend the Nexus should we get invaded again.
There’s little point in delaying the purification of [Manipulate Mana], so tonight, I should evolve and move a cleansed [Manipulate Mana] into my race. There is still a great risk in doing so, but as far as I am aware, it’s the best chance I have; plus, if the miasma in the skill is not fully removed, I can always just not evolve.
“Don’t you have a race evolution option available?” I ask Kayafe.
“Yes,” Kayafe confirms.
“How does that work with your current body?”
Kayafe crosses her arms in thought and thinks about it for a moment.
“It still considers me Runalymo, but all my options now are vitality based, all referring in some way to a vitality body. But I won’t evolve for now. I want to master [Sense Mana] first and catch up to you in that skill; that will give me the best options for evolutions, plus I may gain more knowledge into how to make this body more life-like.”
Where I have little to gain by waiting, Kayafe is in the opposite situation. Of course, we’ll be training each other in our specialized skills, her training me in [Manipulate Magic] and I teaching her [Sense Magic].
“You have no idea how lucky you are to have a title already,” Kayafe says, playfully splashing some water on me. “You will be as strong as I was in your soon-to-be [Manipulate Magic] before I got my title; I’m a little jealous.”
“Aren't you getting a powerful bonus too? I’ll still be behind you,” I ask.
“Yes, I am getting a one percent bonus for each year I spent in the Mana Arc, but you can still cast ritual spells! Under the right circumstances, you can cast a spell far more powerful than I could even dream of!” Kayafe complains.
“Ah yes, I only have to wait for the once in a thousand years event to do that, just another average day!” I retort sarcastically.
“That’s fair; I suppose” Kayafe takes the loss for this argument.
“Let's go see Safyr,” I say, getting out of the bath. “She seemed like she wanted to meet us yesterday.”
I weave a mana silk dress around me, noticing how easy it is now, with my title bonus, and Kayafe does the same; we then fly to Temple Island to meet Safyr.
“Thank you, Safyr, for protecting my people,” Kayafe bows gratefully.
“I have fulfilled my promise, and for that, you owe me,” Safyr says.
“Of course. So what do you plan on doing now?”
“For now, I still have a reason to remain,” Safyr says, glancing at me. “But I will find a new purpose elsewhere; I believe my son needed help with something.”
“You’re going to leave?!” I had never considered the possibility that Safyr would leave; if she does, the nexus will lose its most powerful defense!
“Dragons rarely stay in one place for so long, Alysara, but worry not, your people are still hardy, able to rebuild even after so many disasters. With the dungeon reopened, your airships, trade with the Lunaley, and the completed Mana Arc, you have more means of survival than before, even if you must temporarily abandon your homes.”
“Do you think Kayafe could have defeated those eldritch invaders?” I ask Safyr.
It might have been a little offensive to question her abilities, but Kayafe is no dragon, and we need to know what we are capable of.
“Individually, she is more powerful, but if she were to try and fight all four, she would not have been able to slay them. Fortunately, you have your airship, and the mana arc, as it is now, will be able to defeat most invaders; it is possibly one of, if not the most powerful item I have seen.”
That endorsement does put my heart at ease a little, but what if another dragon decides it wants to evict us? What about another nation with powerful items or even a hundred legendaries? If I remember correctly, the Humans had over eighty legendary beings, and that is confirmed because that many died; they could have way more.
Then there’s the question of what if something does happen to the Nexus? Where will our people go? There’s one more thing I need to know.
“How valuable is this Nexus?” I ask. “How likely is it that another country or monster will want to remove us from this place or take it over?”
“Nexus are very valuable to people; lots of rare materials can be found in one, but due to the mana mostly being redirected, this one has less material value, and what was here has long since been exploited. However, where material value lacks your people more than makes up for it in technology and powerful items like the Mana Arc. In other words, your best defense is the reason for invasion.”
We need allies, powerful allies. There are monsters and things out there that can’t be slain by the Mana Arc, and they have more than enough reason to take it. Not to mention there’s my Library, which only adds fuel to the fire. Safyr has shown great interest in this knowledge, so it is certain that others will too.
Secrecy is our best defense. The fewer people know, the less we will be invaded, but that is only effective until it isn’t; once the cat’s out of the bag, you can’t put it back in.
There are also more problems as we start exploring the world; people will start asking where we come from, and they will start looking. As long as people know that this location is secret, they will be suspicious that we have something worth taking; the best secret is one that no one even realizes that there is one. So, should we just not explore? Keep it only to the Lunaley, and remain isolated?
No, eventually, someone will want to leave and explore, and airships give them the means to, or someone will stumble upon us. Plus, we need to train people capable of at least stalling invaders, and we can’t do that by staying here, the dungeon will help, but I’m not confident that it will be enough. The last thing to consider is that our culture doesn’t fit well in a militaristic environment.
A mental weight presses down on me as I realize what I must do. The Lunaley are stronger, have a longer history of war, can be a refuge if we have to leave, and there are relatively powerful people, items, and opportunities for growth.
In order for us to be safe, I must unite the Runalymo and Lunaley, and the best way to do that is by becoming an Empress. I will gain a powerful ally, secure a refuge, have a place to redirect curious people that try to look for us, and secure a military that can defend or stall enemies for us.
I must take Klaman up on his offer, but I will do it on my own terms.
It's not like the amount of mana in the Nexus will kill almost any invader.
It's not like they are literally ocean aways which by the ways are full of leviathan level beings.
It's not like the mana arc has been said to have infinite mana. It may not have the power to one-shot a porwerfull being but spamming it's nexus's spear should work.
It's not like Safyr wouldn't come to help considering how precious Alyssara's knowledge is to her.
It's not like Kayafe herself is a powerhouse.
Yeah you're right Alyssa. You "have" to become Empress, sigh...
Hopefully Kayafe or her parents stop her from being stupid.
To be fair, 4 legendary jerks did just waltz in and wreck the place.
On the one hand, she's worried specifically about collateral damage from legendary tier invaders, the kind that actually could get past those things, but wouldn't risk going up against Safyr. The best protection is one that convinces the enemy not to even turn up.
On the other hand, this kind of defence-in-depth approach is just hilarious that anything that can get past the ocean, find the place, survive the mana saturation, and still feel like fighting the two bad-ass foxes... gets to run into the online and fully operational battle st-- Mana Arc. Aly is all about layers of protection, and you can never have enough dakka.
While it's right that nations like Lunaley are of no treat to Nexus, however there are also powers like that Human Empire that got hundred Oathbound ( both Legendary Race and Legendary Class) and regular humans are born Exalted... Elves and Dwarfs are likely on the same level as humanity, so being wary is sure reasonable.
An army cannot invade the Nexus, the distance + the ocean infested monster and the mana saturation would kill anyone not strong enough to survive the voyage. Anyone strong enough will have to expand ressources to do so meaning that they will arrive exhausted or at least not at 100%.
Flight and stealth might work against the monsters but i doubt it's gonna work against the Mana Arc. And i doubt all the legendary being would be capable of reaching the Nexus that way. Even more so because the bigger the group the most likely it is for stealth to fail against the leviathan monsters.
Is it impossible for someone to invade the Nexus ? No. Is it likely to happen ? No. There is far too much to lose resource wise to even bother trying and there is no guarantee of success. And that's without taking into account that the Runalymo are craftsman and trader first and that you could probably trade for what you want.
The Entylamo is capable of dealing with at least one legendary being if not more and that's mostly a transport/trade ship. Now imagine what a ship dedicated to war and defence would achieve and now imagine what a fleet of them would achieve.
As for the Eldritch monster (or being i suppose for all we know they were people just like dragon) they plane-shifted onto the nexus. A defence oversight that Alyssara left alone because she was afraid of catching their attention even more. Now that she know that's it to late for that she probably is going to develop defence or at least device capable of detecting a plane-shift.
Frankly for the Nexus to actively be invaded would require "a lot" of coincidences. People literally pulling ressources out of their arses.
I don't think i've missed anything but if anyone can think of one please go ahead.
@Laius I don't sure Entolylamo is capable of dealing with even one legendary being - from it description Exalted beings like Liviathans are its limits. Anyway seems like enemy invading with big army for Nexus resources is of not much concern, however being attacked by either powerful Safyr-level enemy or by group of Legendary tiers working together (as Oathounds, there were hundred of them for Emperor's call, and Human Empire's enemies likely got something comparable, otherwise they wouldn't be Empire's enemies) that are either after Aly's knowledge or for Legendary item (Ark) sure may be reason to be worried. Neither distance nor Nexus environment would be much of predicament. Although big army of Adept-to Grand tier defenders - that Lunaley are - that Aly will get as Empress won't be of much issue for such group of Legendaries.
@Laius mmmm....
And i doubt all the legendary being would be capable of reaching the Nexus that way. Even more so because the bigger the group the most likely it is for stealth to fail against the leviathan monsters.
I disagree there... Klaman, if we take him as a lower bar, is quite capable of taking out leviathans and likely other low strength legendary monsters. An average dragon could probably make it through the ocean solo, though it would probably have to dodge some enemies much like Klaman would likely need. If we're going off the little we've seen of them, an average Oathbreaker would have a fighting chance of getting through and the upper bosses absolutely can get there. The ocean is an excellent barrier against non-Legendary beings but I'm no longer hopeful of it being anything more than a delay for a solo Legendary tier invader and is nothing more than distance for a group of 3 or more.
The Entylamo is capable of dealing with at least one legendary being if not more and that's mostly a transport/trade ship. Now imagine what a ship dedicated to war and defence would achieve and now imagine what a fleet of them would achieve.
Frankly, it's over engineered for transport... it's built to be able to blast through a weak legendary and run from stronger ones. Anything stronger would be more of a floating fortress and there's other limitations there based on collection and generation of mana... you can only put so many weapons per unit of volume for collection reasons.
The Eldritch didn't exactly plane-shift... it's more like phasing. Spatial layers appear to be overlaid on reality, like having an extra spatial axis such that you can step "around" things by moving in a 4th dimension, only it's granular rather than continuous like the 3 spatial are. The reason the difference is important is the shadow of adjacent layers on the one you're on.
@kaithar I'm pretty sure Klaman can't reach the Nexus.
How would he be able to do that. Due to him being an assassin we can assume that his stealth would allow him to ignore the leviathan but it probably require mana for him to sneak past a leviathan so it would cost him.
How is he gonna travel there ? They don't have an airship so is he gonna sail there ? On his own or with a crew ? On his own his stealth will still be impacted by his boat and how would he rest and with a crew it would probably be worse stealth wise. Can he fly ? If so then how much mana does it cost ? Remember he is not a mage class so he probably doesn't have enough. And an assassin with a fly skill would be somewhat weird.
You have to take all those things into account you can't just say he is legendary so he can do it. If it was that easy then class and race would be irrelevant.
For the Entylamo and other weaponry. Mana battery are a thing so while it might take some time to charge and recharge. Defense meant to kill legendary being should be possible.
@Laius I refer you back to the bidding war chapter, Klaman noted that he would need to go hunting leviathans to provide the offered materials:
He will have to work more and slay those powerful monsters just to make good on the offer, but he can’t complain; this will help bolster the empire's economy. As much as he hates having to slay leviathans for the benefit of other factions, this is the best choice
While I don't know the specific method he'd take, I think it's safe to say that he has solutions for your questions even if we don't know what they are.
Mana batteries... ok, so anything you can use as power has an "energy density" statistic, a measure of how efficient it is. The weapons she's using on the Entylamo need battery rooms to power them, so the number of them that you can fire at once is limited by the volume of space you can fill with mana batteries... the cannons also need somewhere to store the ammo which has the same issue. I can't imagine smashing batteries or cannon ammo would be pleasant to be near, so your need to protect those things increases exponentially as you increase the amount of them you have.
On the other hand, energy generation and collection is also subject to volume limitations. The amount of power you can source from generator items is limited by much those items take and how rare the materials are. The amount of power you can collect from sails is limited by atmospheric levels and the volume to place sails in. The amount you can collect from inscriptions is effectively the same limiting considerations as sails but the two conflict. But no matter how much your rate of getting energy it's still not going to be enough to power a respectable number of weapons though.
Finally, energy pulled into the system has to go somewhere, the faster you can recharge your firing energy the more energy you have to somehow get rid of while your batteries are all at 100% otherwise it self-destructs. You'd effectively have a giant beacon of mana to tell people where you were.
The point I'm making here is that mobile weaponry is substantially limited by how much volume you can devote to all the machinery needed to support them, you can't just keep increasing the fire rate even if you decided to weapons all over a warship until it looks like a demented hedgehog.
Fixed emplacements don't have the same problems (you could hollow a mountain to fill it with batteries if you were so inclined) but instead you have issues with range and accuracy that make them worse than useless. The place is massive and it's not like you can use unguided weapons against enemies you can barely see and power drops by distance, so you're investing all this material for a defence grid that is physically limited to single digit percentage efficiency. The mana arc is side stepping the issue by virtue of being a ridiculous item in terms of range and auto targeting. If you wanted to defend just one or two islands you could, but there's no way you can defend the entire Nexus like that.
Historic reference would be WW2's coastal defences in Europe... the UK islands could reasonably counter invasions, due to the limited coastline and rivers that would be practical, while the Nazi's attempts (eg, Atlantic wall) ultimately failed to prevent the D-Day landings simply because there was too much coastline to cover with fleet repulsion measures.
@Laius The Entylamo could only pierce the Eldritch because it was a Legendary being of the lowest level that was temporarily ultra-specialized in defending against water attacks and it didn't do that much damage to it. It could probably hardly do anything against Legendary beings.
Klaman can teleport.
There are probably many Magic items, bonds, skills, enchanted items and such that could help powerful people in crossing the Ocean.
Oathbounds are mid-level Legendary beings. They wouldn't have any problem killing a swarm of Leviathans, especially in groups.
Minor Spoiler
Alysara's soul would be plenty enough for the whole Dwarf race to go into total war to get it.
Also, in my opinion, the best defence would be to do the same as the Humans; Create an order of Legendary beings. And you can't do that with the Nexus having only about 30k inhabitants that are unused to war.
@kaithar
I've never once said that Klaman can't deal with a leviathan though did i ? What i said is that while traveling toward the Nexus with no place to rest or recuperate he would eventually die and fail at reaching the Nexus.
As for the weapon why are you thinking of a cannon, sure that would be bothersome to handle and would leave plenty of hole in the defense. Why not simply put at the center of the nexus a magic circle that produce homing attack ? She could even put her knowledge of Sense magic in it and Kayafe and Safyr could help with the spell used in the inscryption. Then protect the structure. This is already what the Mana Arc is doing but put to 11 when it come to firepower in exchange of firing rate.
@MrNerfGun
Sure Klaman can teleport but even Alyssara while using her biggest mana-battery said that it would be impossible to cover that much distance.
And about the many magical items that could be used. Magic items are rare it doesn't appear because you want it to. Alyssara can almost always produce one thanks to her cursed skill.
Hence why i said that in order to actively invade the Nexus people would need to put "coincidences" out of their arses.
As for the spoiler thing i don't think "people" can make an use of it. At the very least we've seen no indication of it.
@Laius For the spoiler, you will understand in the later chapters. (Already accessible on Fantranslations (Chapter 200))
And yes, Magic items are rare, but, the main continent is very large and much older than the Nexus Runalymo people, so there are probably many, many more Magic items there than in the Nexus.
Yes, Klaman is too weak for now, but when he realizes that he is, he will surely try to become stronger.
@Laius
I've never once said that Klaman can't deal with a leviathan though did i ? What i said is that while traveling toward the Nexus with no place to rest or recuperate he would eventually die and fail at reaching the Nexus.
You implied it:
How would he be able to do that. Due to him being an assassin we can assume that his stealth would allow him to ignore the leviathan but it probably require mana for him to sneak past a leviathan so it would cost him.
He's not so weak that he'd need to sneak past them. He's also probably not so weak he'd fail by being too tired. As to the rest...
"As for the weapon why are you thinking of a cannon, sure that would be bothersome to handle and would leave plenty of hole in the defense." - Because the ship is armed by them and they're less mana draining than the lasers.
"Why not simply put at the center of the nexus a magic circle that produce homing attack ?" - Range, ability to communicate instructions, attack travel time, accuracy, risk of premature detonation, just to name 5 problems. The communication problem can be solved by making it dependent on Aly, which defeats the point. The Arc, while it is good, is likely dependent on Aly and Kayafe to use it, assuming Kayafe has enough range to target it at something near the mountain ring.
"She could even put her knowledge of Sense magic in it and Kayafe and Safyr could help with the spell used in the inscryption." - Sensing magic is pointless, you'd have to invent a way to discriminate between magic sources... grats, you now need to figure out a fully automatic Friend-or-Foe targeting system that is reliable enough not to target random civilians or allies by accident. We have powerful computers and even we rely on transponders yelling out who shouldn't shoot us.
"This is already what the Mana Arc is doing but put to 11 when it come to firepower in exchange of firing rate." - Unless the Arc is sentient, it's either fully manual or very simple automation. It's not like there's magic that can let it figure out who Aly would want it to shoot without actually having her specify who to shoot.
Also, Klaman's teleport is from a space-oriented magic where as Aly's is an offshoot from long range control and viewing. I would be shocked if Klaman's teleport wasn't at least an order of magnitude or two less mana intensive. He's actually teleporting using space manipulation, Aly is essentially intimidating reality into compliance with her Beauty bond. He probably wouldn't be able to make the jump in one go but he should have no problems breaking it into a bunch of smaller hops if he knows it's a distance away.
Let's summarize: the only real reason to attack the nexus is looting, and the multiple obstacles mean that the main risk of attack comes not from an enemy army, but from a legendary being.
Runalmyos need a reliable defense system against legendary beings. In one chapter, Safyr or Kayafe said that "savage" legendary beings don't approach towns because they harbor enough mages to cast a large offensive collective spell to retaliate. They can do the same to protect themselves from elementals and similar creatures, maybe also from eldrich creatures, the problem is beings with more subtle powers like Klaman.
Developing countermeasures requires information. To get information, you have to seek it from people who are more experienced in dealing with the various possible threats. So further explore what increases the risk of being discovered.
But even if the runalmyos do not explore they risk being discovered by chance and finding themselves defenseless. So they have to take the risk.
@Laius I think you're vastly underestimating the power of Legendary beings in this world.
Just as an example, Safyr alone could wipe out the entire Nexus in a manner of minutes, maybe hours. Sure, with Kayafe and the Mana Arc in the picture, it's a little less likely but you have to realize that the research that Alysara possesses is attractive enough for one of the strongest dragons in the world and a legendary being that was able to stand up to that dragon. Being able to master the intricacies of Sense Magic and Manipulate Mana/Magic is being able to see into and manipulate the very fabric of reality. And she isn't even done with those skills yet.
That is not even taking into account cursed beings. It took 4 dragons to deal with just one greater cursed and the entire Nexus was still devastated and the Runalymo people all died except for one - who only survived because she is a Primeval Soul.
Then there is the existence of their dungeon. Dungeons are rare. Very rare. They are a treasure trove of magical material and this dungeon in particular is powered by the Mana Arc and the majority of the power of a Nexus. Any legendary being and any civilization containing at least several would be hankering to get access to that.
Then there is the Mana Arc itself. Safyr mentions how it is possibly the strongest magic item in existence that she knows of.
That's ignoring the fact that there is at least one entire race of extra-dimensional 'gods' with possibly more than one Mythic Tier that are *very* keen on getting their hands on Alysara's soul. We also know of the existence of other primeval beings that have survived the endless cataclysms and now there's also the Eldritch beings as a possible threat.
The Runalymo aren't warriors. Alysara is not all powerful - she isn't even legendary yet - and neither is Kafaye.
Not to mention neither the leviathans nor the distance would pose too much of a problem for a civilization with multiple legendaries. At the very least we know that the Lunaley ancestors survived their exile and made their way over the large distance to their current island.
So yes, if she wants to ensure both her safety and the safety of her people, Alysara needs power. She needs political power, diplomatic power and military power - even if just to engage with diplomacy and seek other allies in other civilizations.
The Runalymo are *weak*. Extremely weak. They start out as the lowest possible race tier out there. Even their strongest warriors at the moment are pathetic in the grand scheme of things.
@Salted_Fysh Yet becoming Empress will solve none of the problem you mentionned. They are far too weak to add anything. It will only add a pile of headaches because now Alyssara will have to take responsability for them.
Not only that but the Lunalley land does not have the natural defense of the Nexus so they are more vulnerable.
Also legendary being are at the end of the day an upgrade from the system. I do not believe that it make class choice irrelevant or make them invincible. I could believe a legendary mage making his way to the Nexus (as Kayafe once did), i could believe a group of legendary warrior who have experience sailing making their way there too. An Assassin on his own though ? No, the ocean would invalidate too many of his skill as would being in a group.
@Laius but it will.
1. The Lunaley have a warring culture. By incorporating them, they not only gain a huge population increase but also millennia of experience in fields the Runalymo just have no knowledge of. Using the Dungeon and improved training methods to train up Lunaley warriors increases the overall strength of both.
2. If a being decides to take over the Nexus, being able to flee to Lunaley lands is a lifeline for the Runalymo. It gives them somewhere to go.
3. The huge population increase gives access to more workforce, resources etc. which all translate into diplomatic and economic power necessary to make treaties with other nations. The Runalymo are skilled craftspeople but are limited in their capacities. They simply don't have the numbers to engage in large scale trading.
4. Why would being in a group hinder an enemy nation? Again, as long as you have a few legendaries around to kill anything threatening your transport and sufficiently skilled enough scouts to avoid most issues in the first place, it just boils down to a long journey. One you can significantly shorten using magic e.g. by having wind mages provide wind for the sails and by using mana/enchantments to reduce friction on the water. Again, I feel like you're underestimating the possibilities this world offers.
5. Legendary tiers have much higher bonuses to skills and attributes.
No, not every legendary being is equally powerful. But they all have inherent larger potential than anyone in lower tiers. This holds true for all the others too. Races that are born in higher tiers can spend more time focusing on perfecting their skills rather than trying to catch up. They can focus their class and race evolutions on specializing more and can hunt stronger enemies to level. Their general populace just has much higher strength potentials than races of lower tiers.
"Why would being in a group hinder an enemy nation?"
Alternative answer.... Confucius say, "If you wish to hide a tree, plant it in a forest."
@Salted_Fysh
Why would being in a group hinder an enemy nation ?
Simple, the bigger the group the more likely it is for them to catch the attention of multiples leviathan being. Good luck defending the boats from a powerfull enemy in its natural element.
Would the Lunalley be of help ?
No. They are way too weak to have any influence in the world stage. They are just as isolated as the Runalymo. A bigger fish in the pond is still a fish in a pond it mean nothing (a proverb if you didn't know). Yes it would be a huge increase in workforce but in order to make use of it you would need time which she doesn't have. And the diplomatic and economic boost would not matter to those who want to get their hands on Alyssara. And Alyssara would definitely not be allowed to retreat to the Lunalley land as she would be the target of anybody coming to the Nexus.
Legendary being have bigger attributes and skill bonus.
Yes and ? It still doesn't mean that they are capable of everything, class still matter. Safyr wasn't able to protect the Runalymo from the collateral damage from the cursed being because she specialize in offense, nor was she able to heal them afterward and she is the strongest legendary that we know of at this point of time.
@Laius About what you said about not having time, Alysara isn't just trying to save the Nexus from the battle with the gods, but she thinks long term. She is trying to prepare for armies of Legendary that could try to invade the Nexus, a single Legendary would be enough to create a path to it, as proven by Kayafe.
And why would the Lunaley be of any help against that, you ask ? The Runalymo have no chance of cultivating an adequate quantity of Legendary beings to help defend the Nexus, their entire population is close to 30,000, it's nothing. At least with the Lunaley, they would have a chance at cultivating some.
And if you say: "Alysara can just become strong enough to drive away all enemies", I'll answer with: "No civilization should rely on a single individual (or a single item) to survive".
(Also, the Runalymo's ships can already avoid Leviathans, at some point she will most likely make a radar so that they don't rely on her to avoid them.)
@MrNerfGun In what way is she thinking long term exactly ? All that she has done is because it interested her. She made so many breakthrough and invented so many thing because she wanted to, she meet the Lunalley because she was curious about what was outside. If she really was thinking long term then she should have stayed in her own little world. All of the threat that are now coming to the Nexus are due to Alyssara. Yes she needed strenght to protect her people from the mana storm and occasionnal strong monster but she achieved that long ago far before she revealed herself to the world.
A specific "legendary" can make a path to the Nexus, Klaman can't and it is the only legendary (that we know of) in Lunalley land. And the Lunalley at this point in time of the story are the only one aware of the value of Alyssara.
There is a way to "cultivate" legendary that get talked about in later chapter so i won't spoil it but it is very unethical i don't think Alyssara would approve of it.
Alyssara can't protect the Nexus on her own but we know she can make defense to kill them. All she has to do is make more of them or better one. Hell what about making a defense that would isolate the Nexus from the rest of the world ? Considering the ammount of mana in the Nexus and the existence of mana battery that doesn't seems farfetched. Yes a group of legendary might be able to punch a temporary hole in it at the cost of their own mana hence why having other defence to take care of them afterward would be usefull.
And i don't get your last point. We're talking about other nation ships making their way to the Nexus not Runalymo ship.
@Laius remember the thing where there are Gods looking to cut apart her soul to power-level and make more items?
Her deadline for 'regaining' her memories is 20 years old.
In other words, at the very latest, she's going to attract the attention of the Great Spirits once she's 20.
Also I'd like to point out once again that it only took a single Greater Cursed that hadn't even fully formed yet to fight against 4 dragons, including Safyr who is implied to be one of the strongest dragons around. Yes, that was because the cursed being was in the Nexus but that doesn't change the fact that any legendary or cursed being drawing on mana looking to invade the Nexus will get a massive power-boost. Not to mention the potential of Elementals or Leviathans coming in once Safyr is gone since her presence won't be there to scare them off.
Hiding isn't an option. The only thing that kept the Runalymo safe for so long was Safyr's protection. And Safyr is leaving. If the Runalymo want to survive, they need to adapt and advance.
Also she didn't go to the Lunaley just out of personal interest. She consulted the Elders and the whole point of building a big Airship in the first place was for the Runalymo to be able to start leaving the Nexus and exploring so it was going to happen either way. She merely gathered information and initiated first contact as the only one capable of doing so.
And one more thing to note, at this point there has been multiple world announcements regarding her and the Nexus. People are going to come looking whether she wants it or not. And her drive for self-improvement and discovery simply does not allow her to sit idle and wait out her life afraid to do anything that could attract attention. She has issues to solve. Her cursed Skills, the Great Spirits, the protection and advancement of the Runalymo etc.
Merging the Runalymo and Lunaley is a long-term plan necessary for both her and her people's protection and future. Pandora's box has already been opened, they can't go back anymore. They either adapt or they die.
@Laius There are multiple ways to cultivate Legendary beings.
The humans had around a 100 legendary beings, I'd expect at least a tenth of those to be able to make a path to the Nexus
Oathbounds are all above Kayafe's strength when she first came to the Nexus
. Even if the other races have less, they still probably have dozens (Patreon spoiler)
the Dwarves do, and if Soul Lords are not Legendary, the earth elementals are high end Legendary
.
And unless whatever Alysara creates to defend the Nexus becomes an armory of Legendary items, the defense has no chance to hold against multiple Legendary beings, because they too have Legendary items. The Dwarven city that survived an attack from a Dragon did so with the help of an unknowable amount of enslaved souls and Dwarven guards of all tiers allied together.
Just because all of Aly's thoughts are not all spelt out for us doesn't mean she doesn't think long term.
Thinking that the Nexus is fine as is is just being complacent.
Now, since this comment section is just devolving into a circle, I suggest we stop adding anything.