A week after the party I woke up in my beautiful new bed. This was in a new manor in our newly acquitted territory, hence the reason why the rest of my family is absent.
I woke up gaining some knowledge on the powers I won. Apparently, I can input information into the 'difference' of a narrative for as long it doesn't change the descriptions of the narrative. I can also use a concept known as 'deferral' which can be understood as a narrative-based time dilation.
'Difference' is a slightly complex concept. Essentially explaining it is best with an example, imagine a tree. What did you picture? Was the tree brown? Was it black? Did it have leaves? Was it evergreen? That's difference. Whatever isn't specified I get to control.
Although I suspect that these alterations take a lot of energy and it's important to understand that I can't alter anything that is specified. Moreover, I need to understand the narrative before I can exploit its 'difference' and here comes the most difficult part: I need to explain the alterations I made to the targets of the exploitations. Which is where most of the constraints of this ability come from.
The reason this is such a pain is because if my alterations effect a group of people, I need to make sure they all become aware of it as it happens. Plus, I need to plan accordingly for when I tell them all about my manipulations like a third-rate villain.
'Deferral' on the other hand is a lot more useful and wide-ranging than 'Difference' with 'deferral' I can essentially make any one action performed never be concluded for as long as I have enough energy for it and catch the action in the middle of being performed.
Say someone swings a sword at me, if I use deferral I can make it so the swinging action is never completed causing the sword to never hit me for as long as I have enough energy to suspend it, even if I can't immediately dodge it. Plus deferral is not time manipulation.
This distinction is important because that means that people with time anchoring and immunity abilities can still be affected by it.
Also through my ascension I've learnt that physical stamina and magic-like power are of the same source.
Meaning that an exhausted ascender cannot use their abilities and that an ascender who exhausted their abilities would also be physically exhausted.
It's probably due to this combined duality of magic power and physical power that I feel that I can crush a car and probably run a lot faster than one.
It has also come to my attention that I no longer need to eat or drink, although I still can. It is really reminiscent of godhood.
Although this raises a few questions,
where does the energy come from?
and more importantly,
Where does this information come from?
I looked around my bedroom, it was a spacious palace matching the Valentine family's albino genetics, a marble manor with red accents.
I, being the highest ranked ascender as well as the only ascender in the valentine household, was the new patriarch. Hence the reasoning for the banquet last week, my crowning ceremony.
Originally, the valentine household was a wealthy merchant family, I could even say they held fame in the circle of non-ascended merchants. It was because of this that they could secure a grand manor and hold a banquet with other barons almost instantly after I informed them of my ascension.
Of course, I learned this from random statements and inferred information, I sadly didn't recieve any memories.
The good news out of this? I was the patriarch.
The bad news out of this? I was the patriarch.
This meant that I had the dreaded word,
responsibilities.
But I would rather me have those responsibilities then someone else or some estranged council of elders.
It's much better this way. Not because I think they'll be incompetent, which don't get me wrong, I think they will be. But because I'm not a trusting person. I just simply can't sleep at night having somebody else making any single order I'm unaware of.
I looked at my collection of glasses and picked out one matching my albino complexion. I put on my white gloves, suit and my red tie, ready to attend to my duties.
Outside my bedroom I was greeted by Amber, the young blue haired head butler with a stack of paperwork in his hands.
I grimaced inside.
"Are these for me, Amber?" I said to him with my smile.
He first shuddered at my question before regaining his composure.
"Yes, Patriarch Valentine. As a Barony, our household now has claim over territory and in that territory holds the City of Hearthflame and the surrounding tundra. There happens to be pressing concerns about that city."
I smiled as he continued, "Yes, as you are already aware we live in a frozen desert, so heat is an ever-present concern. Master Valentine, in our great Avantgarde Empire there are 5 Baron families, 4 Count families, 3 Marquis families, 2 Ducal families, and of course the great imperial family. Yet, out of all of these holds, none claimed Hearthflame City."
Yes, the underlying problems I have to go clear up, go on with it.
"Heat, master. Heat. Hearthflame City exists beyond the northern limit of forestry, so we must import our wood from the Woodrow County in order to save our people. As a Barony that just appeared the people will now look to us to facilitate the trade. The problem is that before this, this was a trade between Woodrow county and the unaffiliated City of Hearthflame, but now-"
"It's a trade between Woodrow County and the Valentine Barony. I understand the corresponding implications that we will need to consider moving forward. Head butler, I will need you to procure me a intelligence document on Count Woodrow and I will take these."
I grabbed Amber's papers as he spoke with caution, "Patriarch, please exercise extreme caution with dealing with Countess Mabeline Woodrow, you have always looked to the stars and all of the servants respect you dearly for that master but there is a major difference between a Baron and a Count. I'm not refencing land, political power, or wisdom here. I'm refencing power. Pure power, master. Countess Woodrow is not an Ascended, she's an Ascetic.
Ascended cannot harm Ascetics, it's impossible to even consider. Patriarch, for all our sakes, do everything in your power not to provoke her. Also, never call her Count, only Countess and never, never, forget to give her the courtesy of a Count."
Seems like quite the character.
I took my papers to my office; it was massive and full of bookcases. My desk was situated in front of a giant window overlooking the city. I sat down in my chair and began to work on the papers Amber dropped off.
Petition for the formation of demon border control. Demons. That seems important. I'll read up on them and issue a threat analysis before giving my verdict.
Requested permission to continue guild operations in the new Valentine Barony. I'd like to say yes since it seems vital for the economy, but I'll actually do a few surveys and analyses on guild impact in Hearthflame city before I issue any proclamations.
I got a lot of other reports and petitions and by the looks of it Hearthflame isn't the most stable and friendly city, evidenced by the 47 different bribes I received.
Yet it's not unredeemable, there have been worse cities. Sure, it's rampant in corruption but at least according to these reports, organized crime isn't thriving to the point where it's public knowledge.
Although I fear that's because nothing here is.
Let's touch back on that. Nothing's thriving.
Let us start with Mabeline Woodrow and her amazing not at all exploiting County. It's evident from even without the report on her that Hearthflame City was designed to be dependent on her.
Let's deconstruct this narrative further, Mabeline Woodrow is a Countess, but why is she a Countess? It's not because of political power. It's because she's an Ascetic. One of only 4 known Ascetics in the entire empire. Even so, why would a city be created to support her if the empire knew that city would only suffer?
It may look like I'm assuming the empire cares about its people, but rest assured I'm not making that assumption.
Let's look at this from an pragmatic perspective.
In order to build a city to support Countess Woodrow, resources are needed to build the infrastructure and even if that infrastructure is subpar, it doesn't negate the fact that resources are still needed.
Resources that can be better applied in areas of the empire where those resources would have a higher lifespan.
People as well.
People are best applicated in areas where their talents can be put into best use for the empire.
I don't consider this place a qualifying area for that condition. It strains areas of the empire where populations are really needed.
Moreover, incentive.
What's keeping the people here?
I can understand free land but in a city that promise seems redundant.
So, what is it, money?
So, as we can see in order to support one Countess the empire strains both their resources, population, and finances.
What makes it so worth it?
When utilizing all these circumstances, the answer becomes obvious.
In comparison to the other Counts, Mabeline Woodrow is disadvantaged. She is under a disadvantage so significant that the empire deemed it necessary to construct a failing city for her County to exploit.
But we can even go deeper here.
Why does the empire wish to balance the advantages of the four counts?
It really is just a balancing game between factions.
Woodrow's faction needs to be appeased, that might be because it contains a Duke or Marquis.
So, unless Mabeline got her footing down and no longer needs Hearthflame city to not be disadvantaged, I can pretty much lead this narrative.
If I take a hardline stance and disallow or limit the wood trade that Mabeline Woodrow can do in my territory, I can align my support with the opposing faction.
The prerequisites for this are that I can come up with an alternative power source and that I identify the faction's members, views and current pull on the empire.
As for why I don't just take the seemingly easy solution and try siding with Woodrow's faction, my position makes it difficult. The Valentine Barony controls Hearthflame City and the surrounding wasteland.
Essentially, I control on what is perceived as Countess Woodrow's steppingstone.
You see the problem with that?
The other factions see me as already part of the Woodrow faction and Woodrow's faction sees me as nothing but Mabeline's pet city holder.
A Baron of little consequence.
Yet If I go against the Countess not only will I draw the line between the Valentine Barony and the Woodrow County but I will also present an opportunity for the factions opposing Woodrow's faction.