Lord of Reclamation: I Can Unlock Abilities By Building Civilizations
Chapter 31: Life Force

Chapter 31: Life Force

Thane really hadn’t expected Avril to be packing a supernatural gem.

Thane instinctively reached out to take it, but stopped halfway through.

"Baron Avril, pulling this out—you don’t just want to crash at Shadowpine Ridge, do you?"

"I was hoping, if it’s possible, you could help me take back my territory?"

Avril looked at Thane with those big sad eyes, her face full of helplessness and vulnerability.

Thane shook his head. "For something like that, one gem isn’t gonna cut it."

You’ve gotta be kidding me.

Supernatural gems were definitely valuable, but not worth enough to make Thane risk his neck.

Besides, the people who managed to overthrow Avril definitely weren’t small-time players, plus there were savage beastmen and even foreign tribes in the mix.

How many people did Thane have?

Ten guards were his entire army, at most adding Eliric’s nine mercenaries.

Even though Eliric had joined up, whether his nine mercenaries would be willing to follow was a whole different story.

You had to understand—defending your turf and attacking someone else’s were totally different ballgames.

The enemy would hunker down behind walls with plenty of food and drink, taking potshots with arrows.

Meanwhile, he’d have to leave his home base, pack food and water, and go on some crazy long-distance raid?

Take those kinds of risks for just one gem?

"You’ll have to sweeten the deal."

"But I don’t have anything else..."

"Then it’s a no-go."

Thane threw up his hands.

Avril deflated like a popped balloon, slumping powerlessly on the bed.

Long silence.

Avril spoke up again. "Then if I stay in your territory and you keep me safe, would this gem be enough?"

"Now that would definitely work!"

Thane nodded enthusiastically, gently suggesting, "But to avoid any drama, you’d better wear a veil or something."

"Yes, yes, yes! That’s totally fine!"

Avril let out a huge sigh of relief—she finally had a solid place to call home.

He was a good-looking and decent baron who should stick to his word.

Even though the Life Gem was valuable, it didn’t mean squat to Avril since she didn’t mess around with breathing techniques. Trading it for a stable, comfortable life was a sweet deal.

Avril held the gem out to Thane again.

Thane took it with both hands like it was made of gold, and immediately felt a warm, smooth sensation.

[First supernatural gem collected - Life Gem. Unlocked trait: Life Force]

[Life Force (Blue): Life force increased by twenty percent (natural lifespan expected to increase by 10 years), all equipped supernatural gem effects enhanced by 20%]

[Next trait: Collect five different varieties of supernatural gems to unlock: Gem Collector]

Boom. There was a trait.

And it was a blue trait that could straight-up add ten years to his life.

Thane was over the moon.

Nobody didn’t want to live longer, especially Thane who was a lord with big plans.

Only by sticking around long enough could he build something truly epic.

Thane didn’t think twice about equipping it.

A gentle, refreshing energy suddenly bubbled up from every part of his body, washing over Thane like morning dew.

In an instant, Thane felt like he was soaking in a hot spring, surrounded by birds chirping and flowers blooming. Both his body and mind completely chilled out, feeling incredibly comfortable and refreshed.

This made Thane’s eyes flutter shut involuntarily.

The room suddenly got quiet.

Avril stared at Thane and suddenly felt pretty crappy about herself.

Smart, decisive, careful, and drop-dead gorgeous—holding onto his lord position through pure skill.

Looking at herself, she’d not only gotten stabbed in the back but nearly bought the farm, and had even gotten someone else’s family killed in the process.

Now she could only survive by hawking her precious Life Gem for a place to crash.

"How is it, Baron Thane?"

After what felt like forever, Avril carefully asked.

"I’m trying to feel out the effects you mentioned."

Thane opened his eyes and said with a shrug, "But I’m not getting any obvious boost."

This wasn’t Thane bullshitting—the gentle energy came from the trait.

The trait effect only lasted a few seconds. The Life Gem in his hand didn’t give him any special vibes.

Hearing this, Avril immediately freaked out and rushed to explain, "I swear I’m not lying to you, Baron Thane! This stuff works if you wear it long-term!

When you get banged up, keeping it close will even make cuts heal faster!"

"Hey, I’m not saying you’re lying—I’m just telling you what I’m experiencing."

Thane quickly backtracked and tried to calm Avril down.

Thane slipped the Life Gem into a leather pouch and tucked it safely against his chest.

After thinking for a moment, Thane looked at Avril sprawled on the bed and suddenly spoke up.

"Actually, helping you take back Razor Plains isn’t totally off the table."

Avril immediately perked up, sitting bolt upright.

"But definitely not right now. I can only promise I’ll make it happen down the road."

Thane got serious. "And I’ve got some conditions."

"Lay it on me." Avril’s eyes were full of hope.

Thane looked at Avril and said with a straight face, "Three conditions."

"First, Razor Plains stays yours, but I call the shots on taxes—let’s say sixty percent. You keep twenty percent, I take forty percent."

"Second, I handle all the resource mining. You get thirty percent of the profits, I get seventy percent."

"Third, I can recruit armies in your territory, and I run Razor Plains’ defense. Bottom line, you just need to chill in Fontdmer Town, and I’ll handle all the heavy lifting."

"It sounds even worse than being someone’s lackey..."

Avril mumbled under her breath.

"You’re way too soft to run a Northern Borderlands territory, and I only want your title. You don’t need to lift a finger for anything else—I’ll even handle the head tax you owe the empire."

Thane crossed his arms and grinned. "No sweat—feel free to make any demands you want."

Negotiating wasn’t a one-shot deal, so Thane made the terms brutal, waiting for Avril to try to haggle.

Obviously, Avril would try to bump up her cut, Thane would push back, and eventually they’d land on something both sides could live with.

"No problem—let’s roll with that."

"Yeah, whatever demands you have, just throw them out there... wait, what?"

Now it was Thane’s turn to be blindsided.

Avril sighed, looking pretty defeated. "You’re totally right—I suck at running territory, and I don’t even want to run territory. It’s such a pain in the ass every single day..."

This made Thane feel like kind of a jerk.

After a moment of awkward silence, Thane spoke up again. "If you want anything else, just say the word."

"I want honey every day, and cheese would be awesome too. I’m crazy about goose liver, duck tongue, and roasted venison. For fruit, I want red cherries and coconut."

Thane held up his hand to cut her off. "I wasn’t asking about your grocery list."

What Thane wanted to know was whether Avril wanted payback against some troublemaker or even her stepmother.

"I’m not picky about clothes—as long as they’re cute."

"..."

Thane gave up and cut to the chase. "Then we’ll shake on it for now. When we get back to Fontdmer Town, I’ll write up a real contract."

"Sounds good!" Avril agreed right away, flashing a sweet smile.

"Then there’s just one last thing."

Since they’d already gotten this far, Thane really didn’t want any loose ends hanging around.

"How exactly did you escape from those troublemakers?"

"I can tell you, but don’t freak out, and please don’t tell anyone."

"Deal."

Avril nodded slightly, closed her eyes, and her red lips parted slightly, making some weird sound.

"Ahh—"

...

...

A slightly pained female voice suddenly drifted out of the house, making everyone outside get the shivers.

"They jumped right into it that fast?"

Eliric stood up, trying to peek toward the house.

Pamin yanked him back down.

"Mind your own business, don’t let your imagination run wild. What the baron does isn’t our call to judge."

Pamin gave everyone the stink eye.

Then he changed the subject, looking at the guards. "Start cooking the meat. After the lord wraps up his business, we can chow down."

"Sir Pamin, but our salt is inside the house."

A guard said helplessly.

"No biggie."

Pamin looked at the little girl nearby. "Susan, does your family have salt? Could you spot us some?"

The little girl nodded and ran to the nearby wooden house, pulling out a white crystal chunk bigger than her palm from the corner and bringing it to Pamin.

"There’s more inside if this isn’t enough," the little girl said.

"This is..."

Pamin slowly took the white crystal. "Rock salt ore?"

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