Chapter 236 - Due Date

Draco thought deeply over the matter and then let it go. There was no point investigating something he couldn't see. Not only that, but this concerned Divine Energy.

He was not suicidal enough to play around with something so dangerous after his horrible experiences from underestimating Aetheric Energy.

He lifted Rila into his embrace and whispered gently to her. "Daddy has missed you my sweet Rila. Let's go out and spend some time together, okay?"

The little tot happily snuggled up to him. She seemed sleepy now that her attention had been taken off the wall. Draco could only wonder if she had legitimately sat there day and night for more than two weeks just staring at the barrier.

She murmured her assent lightly before the sound of soft breathing came from her tiny body. Draco chuckled and carefully brought her along to the room upstairs where Riveting Night, Hikari and Roma were chatting lightly.

They all went quiet when they saw the sleeping Rila in Draco's arms, but he waved them to continue. He had used his subjective magic to set up a sound barrier around her, minimizing the noises in the surrounding till they sounded ambient to her.

While they resumed their chat, Draco sat down into an armchair nearby and summoned Vitae. The Aetheric Entity quickly appeared and made a greeting gesture.

Draco then asked Vitae to give him a full rundown of Vita City State's circ.u.mstances and progression over the time he had been away.

Vitae began his report by systematically going over the advances of their domestic, health, education, development, economy and other essential sectors.

For the next 5 hours Vitae gave his report on the state of affairs. Draco barely moved in the entire time, making sure that the little angel, who seemed to have found the most comfortable place in the world in his arms, wouldn't wake up.

Draco collated all he heard from Vitae and understood the whole scenario of the City State. In essence, Vita Capital City was currently in a serious booming phase.

It was the case where every single day was drastically different from the previous in terms of progress. The city was moving at the speed of light accomplishing in weeks what other City States would take years.

This, first and foremost, had to do with the benefits Vita City State provided, which were:

｢Vita Capital City bonuses:

- Bonus Exp modifier acc.u.mulates at 1% per hour spent in the settlement and is capped at 70%

- Crafting success rates increased by 10% regardless of Tradeskill.

- Life expectancy of citizens is boosted by a factor of 2

- Citizens are immune to common diseases and are resistant to rare ailments

- Technique creation success rates boosted by 10% within Training Halls of the city

- Crafted items or created techniques are 20% better when completed.

- Natural population growth is boosted by 500%｣

Right now, 20% of the total land in Vita City State had been developed upon to form either residences, businesses and industrial buildings.

About 79% of it were empty lots that had no designation yet, which was a pressing issue. After all, no matter how big or magnificent a city was, it would always look incomplete if there was so much empty land.

This would be simple to fix as long as Draco sold or rented the land en masse, yet he did neither. Currently, he had only rented some spots near the edges to the various Hidden Powers for the purpose of them creating a larger genealogy.

Apart from that, he only offered long leases to Tradeskill crafters and merchants, with horrifyingly low tax rates. After all, Umbra had so much money that they didn't need the tax from others to survive.

They would still take some as a token amount, because a government without a stable tax system would soon crumble. It had a social, and legal purpose on a society, aside from a financial one.

So, the majority of visits for Vita City State was obviously from non-residents. The daily traffic into the city, for even a day, was more than the patronage of the Rank 7 Shop.

Many people of different races, beliefs and social status came from far and wide to enter this magnificent place with the best bonuses any city in the world could offer.

Naturally, when they experienced the bonuses for themselves and saw all the empty lots just waiting for an owner, many went mad with l.u.s.t and tried every means to get a lot.

However, the sharp rebuttal of the government made them feel crushing despair, as the conditions to become resident were unheard of. Possible residents were supposed to give up so much just to live here, and the 'funny' thing was that they wouldn't even become citizens!

Normally when City States did such things, they would offer the most enticing benefits for many parties. It wasn't impossible for one to become a noble from the get-go if they liaised with the budding city-state well enough!

These actions were completely opposite to the ones from players who had started settlements and cities in the previous timeline. Putting aside the horrors of The Great R.a.p.e, many cities and settlements had offered everything short of becoming a ruler to possible residents.

Yet, Vita City State flung its metaphorical sleeves and told them to git gud or get lost.

After all, this was natural. When demand for something was so high your customers practically stormed your warehouse, a supplier could act more arrogant than anyone else, but when demand was low, that same supplier of that item would change into the most silver-tongued sycophant, fawning on you to buy it.

Now, even the businesses that were admitted into the City State were streamlined. Sublime Notion had planned ahead for this, envisioning that many people would try to set up shop in the city.

Putting aside its absurd traffic, just the fact that the quality of goods made in the city would always be higher by default made it a hotcake for crafters.

Even the powerful Diad family that had gathered most of the world's merchants and crafters into one monolithic clan could not promise such benefits, so many unaffiliated crafters craved a business permit.

They would trade, make great profits under the low tax of Vita City State and leave when their duration was up. Vita City State must be the only city in the world that didn't seem to care and even encouraged this type of behavior.

To the blacksmiths, alchemists and whatnot, Vita City State was too generous for allowing them to make such absurd profit with low taxes without any extravagant conditions.

To Vita City State, these common rabble Tradeskill masters existed only to help stabilize the budding economy of the state. Who you were didn't matter as long as you could craft.

When your time was up, you would be 'swapped out' with someone new with a fresh business permit and they too would be ���used' to stabilize the economy while being allowed to profit.

As for the service sector, it was still expanding slowly. Sublime Notion had implemented the heaviest checks and investigations on those who would be allowed to build such organizations in the city.

After all, restaurants, taverns, hotels, inns, guilds and civil service entities were integral to their economy's survival, as well as the maintenance of Draco's "Residential Impermanence" policy.

Before one could open a guild in Vita City State, they needed to possess a certain quality in respect to the objective of their budding establishment.

If you wanted to create a Mercenary Guild, you had to be a powerful and well-known mercenary first. If you wanted to establish a Scribe guild, you had to be a high-ranking and well-respected scribe.

The restaurants could only be allowed to operate if their chef had entered the Master Rank, and they had at least an Expert Rank Manager.

Hotels required - at minimum - Rare amenities, like beds, baths, and whatnot as well as a staff that were at minimum Elite Rank in their trade. The Manager also had to be at Expert Rank.

Taverns and Inns had much laxer regulations because they were much, much smaller than hotels. They only needed to have Uncommon amenities and an inn-/tavernkeeper that was of Elite Rank.

Nevertheless, to keep a certain quality, they could only serve beer made by the Rank 7 Castle, or local breweries in the city. As for the Civil Service, only those who were part of Umbra could work there.

The managers were the Tradeskill members of Umbra who had Tradeskills in the service category, while the workers were the advanced and expert Serf players of Umbra.

The service sector was still crazily expanding and Sublime Notion had given it priority despite the heavy checks and requirements. No city would complain from having too many restaurants, bars or hotels if they were good quality.

Next was the industrial sector. As for industries, they were the core lifeblood of any state whether in the real world or this game world.

This was where primary goods were transformed into either finished or semi-finished products ready for consumption. In the real world, the business, service and industrial sector were distinct, but in this Western medieval Fantasy world, the lines were blurred.

After all, what was categorized as business were the likes of Blacksmithing, Alchemy and Enchanting. These were all Tradeskills that could transform primary goods into finished products in a short amount of time.

As such, they operated shops which also acted as their workspaces. More importantly, they were run by small groups, so there was no need for a warehouse or production group. Those Tradeskills like Scribing and Divination were treated as services, so they did not account for this.

This left the time-consuming Tradeskills like Brewing, Woodworking, Masonry, Storage and Production to this area. They were all located in big buildings that housed hundreds of men and women plying their trade.

Unlike Blacksmiths, they weren't sole proprietors of these establishments. No, they were state owned industries that employed workers from far and wide.

Of course, the managers of these industries were the various members of Umbras in those Tradeskills, who were assisted by some advanced and expert serf players here as well.

The majority of workers were hand-picked NPCs who were reasonably skilled but possessed good character. They were honest folk who would work as long as they were paid well, and would be loyal as long as they were treated well.

Then again, this might be referring to more than 60% of the people in the real world too.

Business, Service and Industrial. On these three fronts, Vita City State had made absurd progress. The main issue the budding kingdom was facing was so much free land due to Draco's strict policy of Residential Impermanence, but that would be resolved in time.

It was funny though. Most kingdoms suffered from having too little land and they would have to war with others to expand territory, yet Vita City State had so much land but couldn't find 'good enough' people to place there.

There were the military and political sectors to discuss as well, but Draco waved Vitae away and told him to resume this tomorrow. For now, he preferred to spend time with Roma as her due date was tomorrow.

Draco went to her bed and sat beside her. "What do you want to name our child?"

Roma didn't even ponder before giving a hair-raising answer. "I would like you to decide, Draco."

No matter who, when two people were bringing new life into the world, both would have ideas as to what to name their child. It was an important event for both parents, and they would normally debate for weeks until the child was born.

Some couples might give priority to the choice of their counterparts due to status imbalance or just plain trust. However, they would still pitch in some ideas.

Roma was basically telling Draco that no matter what he named their child, she would be okay with it.

This wasn't a bad thing, right? Why talk so much about it like it was a big deal?

The hair-raising aspect of it was the fact that Draco's naming sense was very basic! He sometimes made some interesting names, like those for his own techniques, but the other choices he made were absolute trash, like Umbra or Basic Phoenix Fire Potion!

Basically, trusting Draco to name anything was like running a gacha! There was a 50% chance he might get something good and there was a 50% chance he might come up with something resulting in their child getting bullied all their life!

However, it was too late. Roma would no longer listen to reason as her trust meter for Draco had broken through 100% and was still soaring to this day…

"I want to see our child first before I think of an appropriate name. However, as the first Gypsy of your tribe, our child must have a name that suits a future leader of the tribe. Vadoma still has one of the greatest names I've ever heard, so we can find something like that for the child."

Draco smiled gently as he said this and Roma's eyes moistened.

"Draco…"

It was clear that he knew of her greatest wish and was willing to help her achieve it. All Roma wanted was to bring life back to her tribe, and choosing to name their first child something related to her tribe was Draco effectively stamping his approval for it.

This really moved Roma, and her purple eyes shone with a strange gleam. Draco was no stranger to this gleam, as he always saw it in the eyes of Riveting Night.

Hikari also had some of this, but it wasn't as bright as Riveting Night or Roma's were. Hikari was probably sitting at 99%, just a little push would make her sanity and logical reasoning break like Roma and Riveting Night.

Draco accompanied Roma for the day, along with little Rila who, once awake, was quite talkative. She was normally a quiet child, but she seemed to have matured a lot more over the past few weeks.

Draco wasn't sure what to think about this. Rila's head reached up to his knees, but she spoke like someone tall enough to reach his waist.

Probably, her mind developed faster than her body. Well, Draco didn't care as long as she stayed as adorable as she was, he told himself as he rubbed his cheeks on hers.

Rila had an expression of 'sigh, the things I tolerate due to love'. After spoiling Rila and Roma all day, Draco spent the night mediating on his subjective magic while they slept.

Hikari found a room to sleep in while Riveting Night accompanied Draco. The two would often channel their bloodlines in tandem, marveling at the feeling of cohesion between them as they did.

They were like two magnets that were positive and negative respectively. Not only were they attracted, but when merged, they felt complete.

To speak in Boundless terms, Draco and Riveting Night' bloodlines were now like set-equipment, and when both were brought together, special abilities were unlocked while the base ones where strengthened.

Sometimes, Riveting Night would activate her general aspect, which would cause Draco's to spark as well. Since they were in the Aether Hall, they didn't fear anyone sensing their abilities whatsoever.

Surprisingly, Rila seemed enchanted by their true forms, despite how short they had activated it.

Soon, morning came and with it, tension. While everyone knew everything would be perfect, there was always that feeling of anxiety, especially of a first-time father-to-be.

Roma woke up, her eyelashes fluttering lightly. She seemed to feel very weak unlike yesterday, and this made Draco worry a lot.

However, Roma just smiled and said that she was fine. It wasn't anything serious, but the baby had been draining a hefty amount of her energy as she slept.

Draco pondered this. This child was infused with 10% of his black mass and a hefty amount of his Ultima Sunt bloodline. He normally skimped on the Ultima Sunt bit for his other concubines, but Roma had gotten the full deal.

As such, she was carrying a child that could possibly have as much concentration in her blood as King, or just shy of it. While Draco and Roma weren't pureblooded, their concentration was at half-blood.

With the various other genes mixed in, especially the black mass, it was possible that the child would have more concentration, it wasn't a far-fetched idea.

And from what little Draco knew about Ultima Sunt, they subsisted on energy/mass first and foremost. Even Dragons did, and their constant absorption of Worldly Energy in torrents was what created Aether Crystals in the first place.

To carry and to birth such a child, Roma would need more fuel. Draco nodded and placed a hand on her forehead. He channeled his bloodline energy into Roma's belly on instinct, and it was greedily devoured by the little monster within.

Draco's face became black when the child almost swallowed all of his bloodline energy. Even with his plentiful 99% purity's bloodline energy, the child swallowed almost 70%!

70%!

With just 10% bloodline source and some Ultima Sunt essence, this child could drain him so much!

Still, he felt excitement and anticipation well-up in him. If the baby could drain him this much just to be born, then its bloodline purity for both his lineage and the Ultima Sunt race would be very high.

Draco patted Roma's belly and made way for the professionals. He would just get in the way of the Grandmaster Midwife and her assistants. Despite knowing Draco was a powerhouse, the old woman frowned and almost booted him out.

Draco laughed sheepishly and left. It seemed that the rumor was true that midwives entered a different zone when a mother was about to give birth. They were like ferocious bears that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Not wanting to cause trouble, Draco had obeyed quietly. Halfway into the day, there was some movement from Roma's room and Draco refrained from using his Eyes of Caelo to peek in.

What shocked Draco, Hikari and Riveting Night was that soon after the bustle in the room began, they felt Worldly… no, Aetheric Energy being pulled in crazy torrents into Roma's chamber.

Even Vitae who appeared soon after seemed to be fl.u.s.tered as he had no idea why the lifeblood of the whole City State was moving away so ferociously.

It was clear that this child would be an unparalleled monster right from the w.o.m.b!

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