NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55, Part 1 - Optimizing Your Isekai
Excerpt from The Profound and Pretty Princess' Ultimate Guide to Cultivation, Captivation, Cuteness, and Carving Your Way to the Top, English Edition (the worst-selling guide in the history of Putijama)
On Cultivation Advancement Celebration Traditions
The Verdant Kingdom has many traditions related to delving, but some of the most widely known and celebrated are those around gaining in cultivation, whether that's Ignition, hitting the 'midway' point of the Tier, or increasing in Tier.
Ignition
Every city and village has its own traditions when it comes to an Ignition ceremony. Some are very formal about it, while many just take kids into a rift to get them Ignited. There is also a long process in more remote places or smaller cities for letting newly Ignited get their Innate Capability scan.
For the wealthy, there is usually a 'coming of age' party, though most throw them in groups of five to celebrate the five main essence colors of the Kingdom. At the party, the kids are Ignited, either through an injection of neutral essence or a ritual sacrifice of a rift beast. If it's the former, there is usually a ball that follows. If it's the latter, there is usually a feast of the beast the kids slew.
For the merely well-off, many will also throw group events as children are all awakened together, whether in a rift or through neutral essence. These tend to be in groups of 25, so there are five sets of five kids representing the five essences. It cuts down on the costs to share with that many families!
The typical party features competitions between each group based on what color they are representing. It's usually simple things like races and strength competitions, but singing and dancing have become more common ways to compete in the last few years.
You better hope a thirteen year old doesn't serve you on the dance floor.
For everyone else, there is usually a small celebration, though it depends on the size of the group that was Ignited together.
In Struva, for instance, there is 'Ignition Day' every three months where anyone who has reached thirteen can go to one of the five rifts specific to the event. They purposefully drain the essence in those rifts through delving just for Ignition Day to make it safe. After the kids are Ignited, there is a parade through town of all the newly Ignited.
In Velez, it is smaller groups that are Ignited over time and then a ceremony with the city Council is held every six months. Up north on the coast, it is generally more of a raucous affair, thirteen year olds getting wasted and telling made up stories of their future adventures.
Depending on their ambitions, if a child has declared their intent to be a delver, they are also usually given some amount of gear, whether ceremonial or actually useful, by their city or village.
In some cities, especially out west on the coast, there is almost a baptism, where the newly Ignited are thrown into the sea to swim to shore. Of course, there are people on hand to save anyone not able to swim, but no one talks about that.
Tier Midway Point
There are three different definitions of 'midway' point in a Tier. Most people celebrate only one, but some people just love a party and celebrate all three.
The first potential midway point is breaking into the X.5 sub-Tier. This represents 50% of the 'power' someone will accumulate in the Tier. Even though it is only 19% of the total essence needed to Tier up, some want to celebrate this early accomplishment.
It is the least commonly recognized midway point by delvers, but is very common for those who don't delve, somewhat because many won't reach either of the other two midway points. The typical celebration across the Kingdom is a potluck held by the person who reached their midway point.
The second potential midway point is when someone has accumulated 50% of the essence needed to reach the next Tier, which is 75% of the way through the X.7 sub-Tier. A decent number of delvers celebrate this midpoint as it means they are halfway through the journey of that Tier.
It's a time to reflect on what it's taken to get them to that point. Thus the celebrations usually either focus on quiet reflection on a meditative retreat or getting extremely shit-faced. Sometimes both, much to the chagrin of those running said retreats.
As stated, it is popular with delvers and sometimes those in the military, but almost no one else.
The third 'midway' point is a bit of a mix of the two. At the peak of the X.6 sub-Tier, a delver is over a third of the way to the next Tier in essence and over two thirds of the way to the next Tier in power accumulated.
Thus, most delvers actually use this midpoint instead of waiting until later. The typical celebration is at the team level as people balance to all break through into the X.7 sub-Tier at the same time. There are group packages for mini-parades and the like in some smaller cities though it is usually a smaller celebration in general. In the larger cities, there is an entire industry around these groups, much like bachelor or bachelorette parties.
Tiering Up
Depending on the Tier, Tiering up celebrations can get pretty wild.
For instance, on reaching Tier 5 or higher, every six months there's a full celebration in Zalano where people can meet the monarch and highest nobles. It's often good networking for the delver or member of the military and most walk out with at least a few job prospects.
But when they actually break into the high Tier, there is usually a bacchanalia featuring at least a significant amount of booze and often much wilder celebrations.
For people who are not delvers or in the military, most throw a lavish party when Tiering up. It's a day to show off and many use the actual Tier up as the main focus of the party. While there isn't typically a visual change – some people do give off a small burst of light! – those with good enough spiritual sense can actually feel people break through to the next Tier.
Delvers have much more ridiculous superstitions. Some like to Tier up while in a rift, saying that the increased ambient essence gives them that little bit of a power boost. Most will still party quite hard after they do the deed but the actual process is more of a ritual.
Some will only Tier up using essence from the Tier they are reaching – if available – to make it possible to take a step further into their new Tier beyond just reaching the very bottom rung.
But the most common way delvers – and many military people – Tier up is mid-battle. That can be a spar but is usually about letting their new power settle through how they gained their power to date, by fighting.
The typical celebration for a delver reaching Tier 2 costs about fifteen gold and it doubles for each subsequent Tier. Someone reaching Tier 6 can often drop well over 200 gold if they are following that rule of thumb.
There are three traditional spots for where delvers throw their Tiering up parties. One is where they grew up or near their first rift; that is usually the most reserved celebration as it's about seeing how far the delver has come.
The second is wherever they gained the most essence or greatest reward during the Tier. What rift or dungeon gave the delver or their team the most power has the most significance to their achievement of reaching the next Tier. This is usually for teams or delvers focused on continuing to advance to higher and higher Tiers.
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The third is simply where's the best party. And the answer is usually Panla Luska.
On the day after our impromptu rest day, I finally hit the peak of Tier 1.5.
Given the upcoming tournament where I wanted to compete in the Tier 1.3-1.5 bracket, I decided to start channeling any essence into my items and when I was doing a team delve, Steve took all the essence to mostly focus on his intelligence circlet.
Within a few carried delves, my morningstar was at peak capacity while my armor was improving quickly. I thought it could probably take a few more rifts worth of essence at least but knew it wasn't likely to be able to actually Tier up to Tier 2.
At the end of the following day, I was sitting at a table at the rest area, just playing with my spatial storage ring. It still felt like there was so much more to learn about it. Tiesa came and sat next to me.
"So, you going to tell me why you're at the peak of Tier 1.5 and have been all day?" she asked.
Gently petting Steve, I shrugged. "The tournament is coming up. I think I have a real shot if I stay at Tier 1.5. With your training and Risto's whenever I'm in Velez—" I stopped at her look.
Can't tell if that is confusion, disdain, or something else…
"Terry, my good friend, I don't want to be mean to you again until you see reason. Can we skip that?"
Annoyed, I said, "I'd prefer that but maybe don't treat me like an idiot?"
"You're right, that was too confrontational. But… I think you are being an idiot… do you know what you get if you win the Tier 1.5 bracket?" she asked.
I realized my mistake: I hadn't ever asked. It could be 10,000 gold, a cheap karate trophy, or anything in between.
Tiesa seemed to read my face, though hers softened and she chuckled. "I have to hear what assumption you made. Your world seems so strange sometimes."
I explained how in many stories, winning 'the tournament' came with fabulous prizes, hidden knowledge, and some crazy power-up.
She laughed. "It's a tournament in a smaller city held every half a year! Look, let's talk about your goals and all that. Your top three priorities are Steve and your safety, prevent getting used for your Innate Cap, and building out your financial power… Ah, and… nope, with your assumptions, it actually makes perfect sense!"
"See!" I said, finally glad to get a bit of respect. "It would add to all my goals. Big prize money hits all three, getting some crazy insight at least hits the first, and a crazy power-up hits the first two at the least."
"Yeah, it's usually 25 gold for winning a sub-Tier bracket and another 50 for winning the entire tournament…"
My face fell.
My glory…
Isekonsultant Tip to Thriving #76: Understand your internal motivations. Even if they are selfish or not the best ideas, if you can understand them, then you can more easily adjust your actions to either satisfy those motivations or not. But if you don't understand your motivations, you are far more likely to make suboptimal choices.
Tiesa smiled. "Look, this is something I think you need to do, get your ass handed to you by people enough times until you're able to beat just about anyone. Being able to fight people is so much more about experience than training unfortunately. You need to be fighting in tournaments. Just, winning them isn't that important."
I groaned but she was right.
She said, "Your progress rate is insane. Most people take at least a few years to go through Tier 1 and you're on track to maybe do it in five months or less. You'll be far better able to protect yourself and Steve if you get to Tier 3 or 4. Slowing that progress for a small-fry tournament doesn't make a ton of sense… That said, doing it for the Kingdom Tournament might…"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, that's held every two years. I can't remember exactly when the Tier 1 is but I think it's in half a year or so? That could be worth stalling at the peak of Tier 1 to try to win. But at the peak of Tier 1.5? For a 25-gold prize, which you earn almost daily? Absolutely not."
Letting the excitement for the Velez tournament drain out of me felt like a major blow, but one I needed all the same. "Okay, you're right. And I should have said something about my plans. I just… I want to prove myself, you know? It feels like so much is given to me because of my situation."
She put a hand on my shoulder. "You already have proved yourself. Many times over. But I totally get you. Let's get you to moderately good in these nightly fights and then get you to actually good when we're back in Velez. You still won't win the Tier 1.6-1.7 tournament – there's a guy who's been fighting there for a few years. But by the time the Kingdom Tournament or the tournament in one of the big cities rolls around, you'll be ready."
"Does this mean I have to go fight again in the arena?" I asked, having lost a bout to a peak Tier 1 man that used two shields an hour earlier.
"Yup. With that mana battery Inga sent us, that pit is a great way to let off steam and train at the same time."
The Mayor of Pitola had sent a person to work as a mana source every night for the portable fighting arena after the authorities took our free mana supply – the bandits – away. Inga had also sent a bookmaker for the fights that was apparently on the city payroll, which seemed a bit much. Still, they were offering better odds than any of the delvers.
Mana battery seemed like an odd job, taking on huge debt to reach Tier 3 or higher and only cultivating your magical core. But apparently after about fifteen years and the debt was paid off, it was insanely profitable and most batteries lived a pretty good life. High-Tier teams often took these walking sources of mana with them, especially if someone on the team practiced a mana-intensive craft like alchemy, enchanting, or smithing.
"Is it just me or are the people fighting in the pit getting better at the same rate I am?" I bemoaned. "Someone I could probably beat with those pointers you gave me over the last few days still kicked my ass."
"I'm giving everyone pointers." At my offended look, she laughed. "I'm not here for you to swindle people. Though from what I heard, maybe I should, you're down quite a bit…" I groaned at the constant loss of gold on betting on the underdog. "Anyway, a lot of these people might end up in the war and I'd rather they not die."
It made sense so I told her that. "I'm still confused to how war here works though. Why are Tier 1s fighting? Couldn't someone like you kill Tier 1s at will?"
"I was wondering when that question was coming. Wars here are mostly fought on specific battlefields, restricted by Tier. There's a point system calculated by AAI and it's all pretty regimented. 'The Ways of War' were designed long ago and any deviation seems to bring disaster."
I was a bit dumbfounded. "That doesn't seem to make sense to me. Why do it that way?"
"Again, doing it differently leads to some real shit. About two centuries ago, the monarch on our side and a few assholes on the other kept going against The Ways. Each time, some insane Champion, just head-and-shoulders better than everyone else, would Rise. When enough Ignited people die in a short period, it creates a nexus of energy that flows into someone, quickly pushing them to Tier 7.
"Within a week, the new Champion slaughtered the generals and a fair number of the Tier 4+ people on whichever side was violating The Ways. After the fourth time, both the monarch and the three Merchants of Might for war were paraded around their own militaries by their own Champion, a pole stuck through them."
"And the Champions thought dragging a dead body around like that was okay?" I asked.
"Who said they were dead?"
Yikes.
"What happened to the Champions? Did they take over if they were that much stronger?"
Tiesa shook her head. "Something in the process of gaining all that power, they ended up dead about a year after they Rose. The body isn't meant to Tier up that quickly."
Some things didn't quite add up but I decided to table that discussion for later.
"The generals all died, why did anyone keep trying to go against these 'Ways'?"
"Arrogance. Each time, someone saw the chance to take over land and win glory. At the end of any war, the points are added up and land or valuables change hands. At one point, the border with The MM was only a two bell run from Pitola versus being over a day away now."
That at least made sense. Greed led people to do horrible and very stupid things. "I'm surprised no one's tried to go against The Ways since," I said.
"Oh, there have been plenty. But after three generals in a week were killed by their own soldiers for even suggesting something that might be a violation of the rules, most people higher in the military realized it wasn't the best idea. When there are videos of generals being killed over a few hours and the monarch or the Merchants of Might doing nothing to intervene, people got the hint."
"Yeah, and they probably only promote those who have a good head on their shoulders, not just combat capability or good battle tactics." Tiesa nodded.
I gestured around to those in the camp with us. "So, these people might be on the Tier 1 battlefield? How do the battlefields work?" I thought there might be some special trick to it.
"Each side tries to kill each other. Really, the Tier 1 battlefields are brutal but most of the time it's to surrender. Some people still go for the kill but there are war points and people get way bigger bonuses for capturing over killing. Plus, one side slaughtering the other could be considered a violation of The Ways if you really try hard to look at it that way. Tier 3 and higher battlefields though, those are deadly." She got a far off look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said, knowing she'd served in the military with Gabor and probably done some things she didn't like to think about.
"I don't regret doing what I had to. To protect me, to protect Jasna," she said.
I voiced something that had been a concern for a while. "Will you get called back? Will Gabor?"
Tiesa shrugged. "Probably not. Unless things escalate, then he might be. Tier 5 battlefields are rare but there's never been one for Tier 6s. If one side were to lose a few too many Tier 6s, it would make it so the other side could slowly encroach on the Kingdom that lost too many of their toughest warriors. They could even do it within The Ways. We Tier 6s are basically the last line if some mad tyrant goes off."
It was all a bit of a confusing mess to me, especially Champions suddenly appearing. That seemed like it went against a few too many things as I understood them. But then again, magic. I had a lot of things to dig into later.