City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 595: Halcyon’s Core II

Proofread by Thomas F 

"I hope you are having a good time, Lord Lindren," I asked old Vanis as he enjoyed baccarat.

It took quite an effort to convince the Lord of Inam to send him here. They don't let the masters leave their cities easily, especially to the place where the undead could attack at any time.

He came only because of the goodwill I had accumulated with the Lord of Inam by selling him a large amount of essence potions.

He has come with heavy security and will leave right after he walks out of the legacy.

It is quite a regret. I like the old man and would have liked it if he had stayed in the city for the day.

"I am, and I would have been happier if I had won more than once," he replied grumblingly. "That will depend on your luck, Lord Lindren," I replied.

Baccarat is a game of chance rather than a skill. How one does depends a lot on luck.

However, many professional Gamblers have come here. Thankfully, the staff is excellent. They worked in Onyx Halcyon for decades and are experts in dealing with the Gambler Classes.

"Halcyon has died," I informed him a moment later. A surprise flashed in his eyes.

Usually, the masters of legacy sense such things, but he is in my domain right now. Making sensing such things difficult.

"How?" he asked.

He isn't asking the reason for the death, but one of the two options he chose.

"With dignity. More than that, actually. The man had gone down with his legacy. Burning it in a glorious blaze," I replied, and a moment later, I shared the image of the blazing casino with him.

A smile appeared on his face. It was the biggest one I had ever seen.

"That is the only way a master should die," he said.

He is right about that. If my legacy won't go beyond Grade III and I reach old age, I will die with my legacy; there is no way I will be forced to milk it.

I can't even begin to imagine how the King of Ilden must feel right now. He openly declared his plans for the core essence a month ago before the court.

This—this was a slap in his face.

I exchanged a few more words with the old man before moving on to the other guests.

The casino was alive, all five floors filled with people lost in the thrill of gambling, indulging their desires—particularly the ones who had our girls by their side.

The girls were doing what they did best—cheering them on when they won, offering comfort when they lost, and keeping the game alive.

It is a very expensive service, but they are worth every penny.

I didn't plan to do that, but Carla and others wanted me to, saying it would give the girls more chances to earn money while providing our legacy to harvest more emotions.

My reason is that we don't have enough girls. We hire every month, but those girls are in training, and it will take a while before they can work.

While that happens, it will put more pressure on the girls that we do have working.

They don't mind it. Aside from the good money, their hours will still be less than they used to work in their old brothels.

'How is the spell?' asked Carla. 'Good,' I replied.

I could feel everything that was happening. My core and the harvest planet absorb a large amount of core essence from Halcyon's core.

I am keeping a sharp eye on my core.

I need to be careful to let only the core essence that aligns with my vision and nothing else – not a drop of anything else.

I am taking a massive risk here, as even a single drop of non-aligned core essence could mess things up.

This essence will help me tremendously.

I could already see my core getting bigger every minute as it absorbed more core essence. The storage on the harvest planet is also filling up, as well.

Soon, a middle-aged man appeared before me with a young woman beside him who was not his wife.

"Lord Silver, the casino is impressive. I thought it would pale in comparison to Onyx Halcyon, but it does not," he stated.

He is Chavar Rolbins. A wealthy merchant from Namdar. Well, from the empire before he shifted to Namdar.

I want people like him in my city, and I hope the casino will help with that.

"I am glad you like it, Mr. Rolbins," I replied with a smile.

Looking at the emotional response, the casino seemed to be a hit—better than I thought it would be, and it will become even better.

It is becoming better every second as more of the core essence gets absorbed by my legacy's core.

How deep the casino aspect will run depends entirely on how much core essence my legacy's core can absorb. I'm hoping for at least 10%.

If it works, that would weave the essence of the casino into the Velvet Garden. But I can't be certain.

There's no external resistance, but the core itself presents a natural barrier. If the spell had had more time—at least a full day—the results would've been far more potent.

Still, it is doing much better than I had imagined.

However, I shouldn't be surprised, considering the effort, materials, and time Caena had invested.

It's a brand-new spell. Caena had never used it on a complete core before, but after this, she will have enough information to improve and refine it.

We will need it improved. I've already signed three first-bite contracts with the others and am now searching for other compatible legacies.

I strolled the floors, met people, and watched them gamble while drinking and eating mist-laced food that the wonderful staff brought them.

Onyx Halcyon had brought every game here, but they are also blended with original things.

All the gambling chips had been crafted in the tower. So are roulette balls, tokens, and many other goods. I could have also got them from Halcyon, but this is Velvet Halcyon, not Onyx Halcyon.

It embodies both yet is reborn in this place.

Time passed, and some people left, but others filled the space immediately.

It is a legacy casino, so there is no dearth of people wanting to gamble inside. Because it is opening day, we have kept the crowd light.

Tomorrow, the casino will be packed, just like any other—only now, with the added aspect, it's something more. The Velvet Garden now houses a true legacy casino!

It had happened! We'd harvested 10% of the core essence, and the process was still unfolding.

Soon, midnight came, and the casino buzzed with even more life.

"Hun!"

As I mingled with the guests, I noticed both Halcyons emerging. Without a second thought, I made my way toward them.

"Miss Halcyon, you do not have to come out," I said gently, to which she smiled.

"It's fine, Lord Silver. My father has chosen a dignified death, and it is an important night. He wouldn't want us to spend that crying," she said, looking at her son.

Their eyes are filled with the pain and the grief, but there is also some joy in them.

"As you wish," I replied.

It is up to her how she deals with her father's death. The only thing I could do here is support whatever decision she makes.

I mingled with the guests until I sensed the change in the stream's core essence going toward my core.

Sensing that, I excused myself from the party and took the elevator to the top floor.

…

Caena

An hour had passed, and the stream of core essence increased.

I am tinkering with the spells, making changes as I observe things. Extracting as much essence as possible is necessary before the legacies pull the core to them.

I looked at the core of the velvet garden. It absorbs the core essence as it comes.

It feels almost ravenous.

It wasn't the case before with the pieces of legacies we consumed.

It's because of the spell.

The spell has absorbed the understanding of the casino, and this understanding is helping the core absorb the essence of Halcyon quickly.

Without it, it would have been much slower. Slower than harvesting the pieces of the dead legacies.

Another hour passed, and then another.

I could feel the pull of the other legacies getting stronger while the flow of essence reduced until only one stream remained.

The stream to the Velvet Garden's core had ceased. The Garden had absorbed everything from Onyx Halcyon's core that aligned with its vision.

I could easily force the core to absorb more essence, but that wouldn't be wise.

It will corrupt the vision, which is the last thing we want to do.

Another hour passed, and the core of Halcyon was now shaking. The pull had become strong enough that I wouldn't be able to hold it for much longer.

Thirty-seven seconds passed when the pull had become too powerful.

Seeing that, I had let go.

The core flew away, immediately dividing itself into hundreds of pieces. It then moved toward the legacies, pulled by them.

I looked at the core. It had grown in size considerably, and the planet now held massive reserves of the core essence.

I have harvested more than I had thought—more than double. The total of 31.4% is massive, considering I was only hoping for 15%.

Hun!

I was about to inform Remus about it when I heard a gasp of surprise from him. I turned and saw a look of shock and delight on his face.

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