Ethan woke up to find the conquest board had been updated.
He went to check the registry. Found WL-114 listed with his name on it all neat and tidy like a receipt.
The valley was still there that feeling of pressure behind his chest like the sound of rain that you get used to after a while.
He could feel his titans through it calm and patient as always.
The resources from the day before had settled in overnight. Something about the valley felt different, heavier, like a room that people have been living in.
He was not sure if his titans had fed or if the resources from the dimension were enough to make a difference.
He did not know what it meant for them to be hungry or full. He was starting to think that not knowing was a bigger problem than he thought.
Ethan needed to go into the valley really be there not just feel it from a distance.
He sat down on the floor closed his eyes and opened the door to the valley.
The valley surrounded him like a tide, with its earth steam rising from the cracks and the sky sitting low and heavy.
His titans were there each one like things that seem the same from far away but are different up close.
Ethan stood in the center of the valley taking it all in and saw that the resources from WL-114 had spread out making the cracks glow warmer the steam thicker and the veins in the walls pulse stronger.
The valley had taken in the conquest. It was what fed his titans not the other way around.
One of his titans took a step forward slowly and crouched down beside him its face blank and pale its eyes empty but not in a way.
It put its hand on the ground palm down and Ethan felt like it was acknowledging him like it was saying hello.
He put his hand on the titans hand. Their connection got stronger like a knot tightening.
He could feel the titans state, existing not hungry not needing anything.
Ethan pressed deeper into the connection and found out that his titans did not need to eat to survive they just consumed because that was what they did.
When they did something happened they got a boost, noticeable.
He realized that conquest was not about getting resources but about giving his titans a chance to become more than they were.
He needed to understand how this worked, what the limits were and how to make the most of it.
He pulled his hand back stood up and looked at his titans, who were waiting for him their faces blank, their eyes empty.
He nodded to himself. Closed the connection.
Ethans eyes. He was back in his bedroom morning light coming through the window.
He saw the conquest registry card on his desk and two new green flags on the board.
His comm unit buzzed it was Mira she said "You cleared WL-114 ". He said "Yesterday afternoon."
Mira said she had cleared WL-112. It took her longer than she wanted her griffins were aerial so the terrain was a problem.
She asked if he wanted to compare notes and he agreed they would meet at a place near the zone it had good coffee and the conquest board was, on the wall.
Ethan looked at the two green flags on his registry card.
"One hour " he said.
"One hour " she. Ended the call.
---
The place Mira had mentioned was called Reyas. It was a building wedged into the corner where the commercial district met the boundary zones outer edge. Reyas had the conquest board on the back wall just like Mira said. The board had a feed that updated in real time. The interior of Reyas was simple the kind of place where people go to think not to show off.
Mira was already at a corner table when Ethan arrived. There were two coffees on the table and a small notebook open in front of her. She closed the notebook when Ethan sat down.
"Giant-type " she said, picking up her coffee. "I have been thinking about that since the Ordenhall. I was looking at the bureaus taxonomy database night. They have four registered giant-type subspecies.. None of them match a pure valley environment with multiple individuals at initial awakening." Mira looked at Ethan over the rim of her cup. "Most giant-types start with one, two. The assessment noted yours as substantial. Then stopped there."
"It did " Ethan said.
"How many " Mira asked.
Ethan picked up his coffee. "Enough " he said.
Mira studied Ethan for a moment. She was deciding whether to push or let something go. She let it go. That was one of the things Ethan had always appreciated about Mira. She knew where the line between curiosity and intrusion was. She stayed on the right side of it.
"My griffins fed well from the conquest " Mira said, shifting naturally to her situation. "Aerial types pull from the atmosphere of the dimensions environment. The canopy slowed my race down during the fight. The dimension itself had good upper-layer resources." Mira tapped the edge of her coffee cup. "What about your types. How do they feed."
Ethan considered how much to say.
"The valley sustains my types " he said. "Conquest resources feed the valley and the valley does the rest. My giant-types do not need consumption to maintain themselves."
Miras expression shifted slightly. Not dramatically just a small change as she added information to an existing picture. "That is unusual. Most races have a direct feeding requirement. My griffins need prey or an equivalent resource or their combat effectiveness drops within a few days."
"My giant-types do not drop " Ethan said.
"At all?" Mira asked.
" All " Ethan said. ". They do consume during conquests. Not out of need it is more fundamental than need.. When they do there is a temporary increase in their output. Combat effectiveness, response to direction the quality of the connection. It improves for a period. Then returns to baseline."
Mira was quiet for a moment looking at the conquest board on the wall than at Ethan. "A boost mechanic " she said finally. "Tied to consumption than resource acquisition."
"That is what it looks like far " Ethan said.
"How long does the boost last " Mira asked.
Ethan did not have data yet. "Yesterday was the time I could measure it and I did not know what I was measuring until this morning " he said.
Mira nodded slowly. Turned back to her coffee. Outside the window the boundary zone stretched toward the line where Varenheims edge met the open Wildlands. Two Lords were visible in the distance moving toward a flagged dimension with the particular focused walk of people who had done this before and were not thinking about anything except what was ahead of them.
"The quarterly minimum is not going to be enough for you " Mira said.
"No " Ethan agreed. "It is not."
Mira looked at the board. Ethan looked at the board. Two green flags still sitting unclaimed both of them closer to the zone than WL-114 had been.
"I am going back out today " Mira said. It was not an invitation exactly it was information being offered without pressure.
"So am I " Ethan said.
Mira picked up her coffee. Finished it. She closed her notebook. Tucked it into her jacket and looked at Ethan with the straightforward assessment of someone who had known him long enough to skip the preliminary readings.
"You already knew what you were getting " Mira said. "At the Ordenhall when they read your result you did not react the way everyone else reacted. You looked like someone who had already done the math."
Ethan said nothing.
Mira nodded once as though Ethan had answered anyway and stood up from the table.
"Same place tomorrow " she said. "If you clear both of those today I want the data."
Mira walked out. Through the window Ethan watched her cross the street toward the zone already pulling up her registry card as she walked.
Ethan looked at the two flags, on the board. Then he finished his coffee stood up and followed Mira out into the morning.