Chapter 141: The Safe Option.

The next day started with of all things… a meeting. We were all gathered up, our strengths and weaknesses were discussed, though not in length. It was obvious that everyone was keeping some cards in reserve, but nobody pried.

The following meetings were filled with ministers and generals. That, and our resident agent, Joseph. If it weren’t for the severity of the situation, the meetings might have dragged on for the whole day, if not multiple days. It might have even taken months to come to a proper resolution, but with the imminent crisis approaching, and the backing of the ancestor, we managed in about half a day.

Right after lunch, we split out to do our tasks to prep for the upcoming assault. Amanda headed the efforts to rectify the food supply. Mass growing vegetables and whatever she could with her magic. Only requiring an obscene amount of fertilizer and whatever else.

Terra and Faust coordinated the city restructuring. Tearing down and rebuilding whole districts in preparation for all the refugees, and for the upcoming battle. Diana was working her best to coordinate with the ministers and work through the whole politics of what we were doing. After all, even with the ancestor’s consent, there was always someone trying to create trouble.

I didn’t envy her position. Not one bit. And whenever we met, she made sure to let me know how much she hated her new position.

Serenity took charge of setting up clinics and getting people healed. Joined by Joan and anyone else capable of healing. Ruth, and those with more brawn than brain formed up into peace keeping squads to tamp down on any brewing unrest.

Whilst those with more, sneaky abilities, or information gathering types were tasked with keeping an eye on the oncoming hordes and making sure we weren’t caught with our pants down.

As for me? My job was surprisingly simple. All the statues in the city were gathered before me, and I was given the task of animating them and making them available to help the city.

Simple, but really, there were issues.

It wasn’t something I’d ever noticed really. Most of my soldiers were either made by hand or were granted through coins. Either way, to some extent, there wasn’t much of a difference, or so it felt. The dolls were empty vessels, though they took more energy to animate, nothing else about them was notable. As for my handmade creations? They cost little in comparison to animate as well.

As for general cost, or rather, the weightage on my soul, there wasn’t much of a difference between all the different types. With the offered terracotta soldiers, the statues the city officials had asked me to animate? Well, that was a whole other issue. Animating them wasn’t easy. Rather, it often felt like they were actively rejecting me, if that was even possible.

Even when I managed to animate them, the connection between me and them, was not great. The link, was heavy. Even just giving them simple commands had a notable lag to it. Which helped me realize a whole other aspect of my familiars.

Each familiar added to an as of yet, unexplored limit. A limit to the number of familiars I could directly control. A limit, that apparently varied not only by the nature of my familiar, if they were created by my hand, or another, but also by the familiar’s rank. This, I learned during my last splurge.

High ranked familiars cost more, but in exchange, they could offload, or directly take command of the links, easing my own burden. Though, with a limit. A limit that was directly related to the strength of their soul. Much like my own limit.

What I never realized, is by animating soldiers I had no hand in making, and were handmade by another, was that not only would they resist my efforts to animate them, but their weight on my soul was heavy as well.

I could still command them, but doing so was exhausting, almost like they were considering whether or not my commands were worth following. Even tasking them under one of my bronze ranks, or even one of the silver ranks did little to ease the burden. Not when even they had trouble commanding them.

They felt like foreign entities, and how my soldiers treated them showed as much. It didn’t help either that the terracotta soldiers were old. Decades old at the very least, having a long history. The moment I fed them a piece of my soul to jumpstart the process, that soul ignited and fueled their existence. Just at inception, each terracotta soldier was far stronger in soul than even my strongest soldier.

But it was obvious, they weren’t mine. No, not one bit.

More worrisome, was just how… independent they were. I felt like, at any moment, they may just break free from my control. The only reason they didn’t, was because of that vague connection they had to me, and… because they knew what their task was. To protect the city, a task, they wanted to eagerly accomplish.

So even if commanding them was nigh impossible, I didn’t really need to when the tasks involved the city itself. Creating a bit of a paradox. Yes, they took up a lot of space in my mind, but simultaneously, their independent nature meant they weren’t actively taking up space, which was, odd…

The more I awakened, the more it felt like I was tying myself up to a herd of horses and praying that they didn’t just decide to pull in every which direction. Resulting in my soul being torn to pieces, like a man being drawn and quartered.

There was, however, a little bit of a silver lining. As I awakened them, even ranked a few as necessary to lead squads, which just put a greater pressure on me, I found something out. The more they existed, rather, the more our connection held, the stronger it became. Strengthening my hold over them, reducing their cost, and even better…

Strengthening my soul, only very minutely. It was an odd sensation. Like wearing weights all the time, or something equivalent. Yet, as the days past, I could feel my limit expanding, ever so slightly. But it was not without cost…

Under ordinary circumstances, I’d have no chance whatsoever to control these terracotta soldiers. I would have been forced to abandon them, or to eliminate them before it became a problem, but since we had a shared goal, slowly, but surely, it felt like I was building a rapport with them.

Which also clued me into another fun little fact. Those soldiers of mine that I had fought with, who’d pushed through their limits, lost limbs, and even claimed new limbs off their fallen brethren, them? Well, apparently, they weren’t so much as costing me energy to upkeep, not after all these battles, but were actively supporting my ability to command more familiars.

There was… some kind of underlying mechanic at work, but I also knew, without a doubt, there was a limit. Only, I wasn’t quite at it.

Now, in between animating terracotta soldiers, or just checking on my own familiars, it now came time to decide what to do with the gold coin.

I wasn’t in a rush, so… I went ahead and called for Usagi. The conversation was long. The topic of the conversation was, what could I do with a gold coin?

I had a vague idea, but I never fully understood the scope. Not until having multiple, very long-winded discussions with the mascot, who seemed eager to talk about just what I could do with the coin. While also confirming, that yes, anybody could use a gold coin, however, without a mascot, they’d have to go through an insane ritual to even get their wish granted, as it were.

As for what the coin could do? Rather, it would be easier to list what it couldn’t do.

A gold coin couldn’t affect the world, and by that, I mean in a fundamental way. Gold coins were apparently localized miracles, whatever that meant. Bringing back the dead was entirely possible. Creating people, possible, though, the number and quantity differed according to the specifics of the wish.

Perfect boyfriend? Done. Girlfriend? Easy. Family? A mother, father, yup. Siblings as well, possible. A background, yes. Complete with links to the city, again, that could be done. I could even wish for a kid, if I wanted to. Not that I did.

Honestly, I was somewhat conflicted about one little thing. Bringing back Cobalt. I asked, and well, Usagi said it was possible, rather, that it was totally do-able. Which just made everything harder.

Changing gender, altering my body, name, identity in some way, again, that was possible.

All those things though, paled in comparison to the other benefits.

An identification card that could be used for any and all circumstances. Want to pretend to be a police officer? A firefighter? Paramedic? Doctor? Well, it did all those things.

A special citizenship with the city, that includes a large monthly stipend, a free, city provided apartment, possible. Though, that didn’t sound too special, until Usagi explained that it was universal citizenship with every single city, with the benefits transferring between cities.

Though, that wasn’t the end of it.

An apartment that could be linked to any door and accessed from about anywhere on a whim. A safe space that can be accessed regardless of where someone was. Highly customizable as well, capable of being used as a starter workshop with the ability to alter time flow, temperature, and countless other variables when inside.

The very idea of being able to sequester myself away and have nigh unlimited time to work on tasks sounded… incredible. Though, there had to be drawbacks. Not that Usagi was too forthcoming about those. I imagine there was a cost associated with significant changes. Though, Usagi mentioned drastic changes to the apartment, making it larger, adding additional functions all would cost gold coins.

Still… other options involved what they called a hammer space. A very literal pocket dimension that was always within reach. It was about the size of a footlocker, from what Usagi said, and could be expanded with more coins. Time within the space wouldn’t move and would perfectly preserve whatever was inside. Making it perfect for those always on the move.

Not to mention the near countless items I could receive, there was also a long list of perks I could get, as Usagi called them. I even confirmed what Éclair had told me of her perks and well, almost immediately I pegged them as not being suitable for me.

Golden Body made the body exceedingly redundant and robust. It would also, always return to peak form, whatever that may be. There was an additional benefit that if one were to eat well and maintain themselves, they’d constantly get stronger at a rapid rate.

Combine that with Éclair’s other perk that allowed her to eat whatever she wanted and getting all the nutrients she needs with her lightning and well, it was a match made in heaven. I had no use for either, as my ice did much of what Golden Body did, minus the additional bonus to the body, but… the bigger issue was how slow my metabolism was in comparison. Which, really made the perk much less desirable.

As for other perks, they ranged wildly from useful, to why would anyone get that? Though, Usagi assured me, every perk had its use, especially if there was synergy.

A perk for becoming undead. Meaning, losing the head or heart was no longer an issue. At the cost of losing natural magic regeneration. Consuming things, specifically, living things could refill magical reserves, and would also heal the user.

Perks for getting stronger through eating, at a cost. Perks for improved regeneration, or a perk to have a body with redundant organs. Poison, or acid blood, the ability to form symbiotic pairs with plants or even house familiars inside the body.

The list went on and on.

It also made me consider something. Éclair had said, that technically, every perk could be learned and trained without spending a gold coin. And really, I was beginning to doubt if that was true.

Want all those squishy organs pushed into a small pocket dimension on another plane, safe from harm? Done. Want the soul jammed into a powerful phylactery, so that even bodily death isn’t an issue? Done.

Like, just seeing all the options really opened up my eyes to just how, valuable a gold coin was. I felt like I’d lived my whole life in a well and was only just getting a peek of the outside. But even that felt like I was only just moving from a smaller well, to slightly bigger well.

As for how many perks I could get? Technically, there wasn’t a limit, but each additional perk would cost exponentially more. A single gold coin for the first. Two for the second, four for the third. Twelve for the third…

I mean… that was pretty crazy, especially when there were such things as synergies between perks. Which Éclair had told me plenty about, and even Usagi expounded on that topic a bit. How each perk built into one another, almost like a tower of cards. A single bad perk could significantly reduce the effectiveness of other perks.

Like Grim. Admittedly, I didn’t have as much of an idea of her potential perks compared to Éclair. Her ability to mark whatever she hit and cause them to slowly burn was likely a perk. Which one, I wasn’t sure, because perks behaved differently according to the specific magic someone yielded.

It was also entirely possible it wasn’t a perk, but something else entirely. That being, a modifier to her magic.

Usagi went on to explain much of what Éclair had already tole me about modifiers for magic. That I could only get two modifiers for each affinity, and that I could have a single main affinity and a sub-affinity, with each additional sub affinity having rapidly worse conversion rates.

As for why they couldn’t all be at good rates? It was something about the soul, or something only able to handle so many hues. There were ways around it, like perks and such, but I wasn’t concerned about fixing that particular problem, not now.

Either way, modifiers added a whole level of oddity to what I thought I knew. Adding the Devour Modifier made it so my ice would consume magic to sustain itself passively. Creeping would make it so my ice grows. Eternal that would make my ice last in perpetuity, without me having to do anything fancy to keep it going. Quite literally allowing me to create permanent ice with magic.

Other modifiers came into being, with their attributes varying rapidly based on wording. Like Making my ice able to reflect magic. Boost its defensive capabilities. Make it so my ice actively interferes with other magic users. Even make it so that my ice is completely impervious to magic. Turning it into a kind of magical version of a black box.

The options were… nigh limitless. So many of them could be helpful in the moment, yet… how many of them would actually continue being important? Removing a perk would cost a gold coin. Same as removing or replacing a modifier. So, whatever I chose was going to stick with me. At least, for the foreseeable future.

Especially when they would need additional coin investment to grow stronger. Which meant that even if I bought a good perk now, its true effect may take time to actually show its true potential.

Questions of, what did I need now, what I wanted for the future, and such were all on my mind. In no way was this a great time to make a decision like this. At the same time, knowing me, and knowing just how valuable this coin was… I’d probably end up setting it down somewhere and never really coming up with a use for it.

Not until I absolutely needed it.

Honestly, the coin felt like… a trap. Almost too good to be true. I could easily imagine a monkey’s paw, whose finger was just waiting to curl. Any choice I made now, was unlikely to be helpful…

Though, I did consider further options.

Terra improved her magic. It wasn’t technically a modifier. It was something that could be done to boost the potency of one’s magic. At the same time, training and time would boost magic potency.

Faust added a modifier to his magic. Granting his magic, weight, or rather, density. I could easily see him having learned to do that on his own, given time, but… is it possible his magic might have a hidden extra something as well?

Of others, I couldn’t say… Morrigan, I’m sure she used a gold coin for a perk. Something that involved those crows of hers. Something that made them more than just mere scouts, or mobile batteries for her power. Not with the limitless options available.

Perhaps… I should start by sweeping away the useless items?

Regeneration or anything in that line was useless to me. The only exception being something called, Reactive Regeneration. On taking damage, my body would heal faster. It wasn’t technically magical in nature, all it did was speed up my natural regeneration the more I get hit or injured. Which would bypass the downsides of using my ice to an extent.

A boosted metabolism would help, and counter some of the downsides to using my ice, but again, not a great first perk. Especially not when it ran counter to my magic’s purpose too. It was better to focus on my strengths first.

Regardless, regeneration was out. Eating perks were generally thrown out. As were any perk that exchanged passive growth for active growth. A Gluttony perk removed all natural growth and instead, I only grew stronger by eating. Which, honestly, sounded kind of bad.

Especially since I was a rabbit and had a naturally high growth rate, according to, just about everyone I met. Why would I get rid of that for a seemingly sub-par skill? Even if it scaled and gave me something comparable to what I lost, with my magic, and slower metabolism, it would not be a good idea.

Other ones let me absorb souls and consume them for power and additional effects. Aptly named Soul Devourer. Problem, again, natural growth was out of the window. Another issue was… I wouldn’t need food anymore. I’d have to eat souls… Like, why?

There were other odd perks, like being able to convert flesh and blood to magic or even break down one’s own soul to boost the power and potency of magic for a period of time. Those types were out from the start. I didn’t need a boost to power, or a way to keep going. My magic, as it was, had fairly good mileage.

As for servants? Bringing back Cobalt? Out. Out from the start. I had no idea if I’d be able to bring anyone back, and adding anyone to my retinue wouldn’t be a good use of the coin. Not now. Knowing my luck, this whole situation will go FUBAR, and we’ll all escape by the skin of our teeth.

Which is why the apartment looked good, but… I couldn’t really escape with the interdimensional apartment.

Consequently, I could use the gold coin to dip. Just leave the event right here and now… I could even save it for an emergency and just use it to flee by myself, or with any survivors if worse comes to past. Like I think it might.

Only, by doing that I’m betting on it happening. Sure, if it doesn’t, I’d still have the coin, but if everything does go wrong, I’ll constantly be thinking I could have prevented it, only if I had spent the damn thing…

Eventually, after who knows how many days considering and questioning, I finally came to a conclusion. Admittedly, it wasn’t a great one, but it was a choice regardless…

I chose, to upgrade my weapon.