I'd managed to avoid Mother at breakfast by leaving before she woke—a feat that required me sneaking out at dawn like a guilty teenager. Which, considering what happened yesterday, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Still can't believe what she did to me. What I let her do to me.
The memory sent heat through my entire body. The System notifications from yesterday were still glowing in my peripheral vision, a constant reminder of just how thoroughly I'd been dominated.
[CARNAL EVOLUTION TRIGGERED - ADVANCED SUBMISSION SCENARIO]
[Partner: Duchess Selena von Ravencrest - Level 180 (Ascendant Tier)]
[NEW EXPERIENCES DISCOVERED: Complete Sexual Submission to Superior Power: +1,000 IP]
[Advanced Oral Techniques Received: +800 IP]
[Psychological Dominance Conditioning: +700 IP]
[Maternal Authority Submission: +600 IP]
[Pain/Pleasure Integration Training: +500 IP]
[Extended Worship/Devotion Session: +400 IP]
[TOTAL INCUBUS POINTS EARNED: 4,000 IP]
[CURRENT BALANCE: 10,450 IP]
[STORED EXPERIENCE: 76,000 EXP]
Ten thousand Incubus Points. And 76,000 stored experience that could boost me to Master tier or beyond if I used it.
But not yet. Too dangerous with the imperial meeting tomorrow.
The Ravencrest library became my sanctuary for the day. If I was going to face Empress Aurelia tomorrow, I needed to understand the true power structures of this world.
*
The foundational text "Essence Dynamics and Imperial Power" by Grand Magister Aurelius was over 3,000 pages of pure magical theory. I spent nearly four hours just on the energy cultivation basics.
Essence/Mana wasn't just ambient magical energy—it was the fundamental force that separated this world from mundane reality. Every magical being, from the weakest Novice to the mightiest Immortal, operated by absorbing, refining, and projecting this energy.
The cultivation process was far more complex than I'd realized:
Primary Absorption: Natural environmental intake—about 100 EXP per day for normal individuals.
Active Cultivation: Meditation and breathing techniques—500-1000 EXP per day for trained mages.
Combat Absorption: Killing magical beasts and absorbing their cores—5000-100,000 EXP depending on beast tier.
Dungeon Harvesting: Clearing Essence dungeons—100,000-5000,000 EXP per successful run.
Alchemical Enhancement: Consuming refined Essence potions—1000-100,000 EXP per dose
So normal people take decades to advance a higher single level, while powerful individuals can jump multiple tiers through strategic combat and resource acquisition.
The real revelation was mana density. Areas with higher magical concentration produced stronger individuals naturally—which explained why the most powerful empires controlled the richest magical territories.
Next was the Beast Core Economics:
A single Grandmaster-tier beast core was worth more than most cities' annual tax revenue. The cores weren't just advancement materials—they powered magical power source with mana accumulated by these beasts, enhanced weapons, and served as currency for the highest levels of society.
There's an independent lesson of Dungeon Systems and Forbidden Towers...
The next three hours were spent on "Dimensional Anomalies and Cultivation Environments" by Immortal Scholar Valderon. This was where the world's true magical nature became apparent.
Dungeons weren't just pocket dimensions—they were living ecosystems that generated magical creatures, treasures, and concentrated Essence/Mana. The dungeons scaled with the power of those who entered them, making them perfect training grounds for advancing cultivators.
Dungeon Classifications by Imperial Standards was:
Copper Dungeons: Level 1-20, generate common or sometimes rare materials and low-tier beast cores.
Silver Dungeons: Level 21-40, produce everything in Copper rare or higher magical artifacts and intermediate cultivation resources.
Gold Dungeons: Level 41-80, yield everything in Silver precious gems and advanced magical components, treasures, mana cores.
Platinum Dungeons: Level 81-120, contain everything in Gold tier and legendary artifacts and treasures and Grandmaster-tier beast and higher.
Mythril Dungeons: Level 121-160, everything in Platinum, house ancient knowledge and Transcendent-tier treasures.
Adamantine Dungeons: Level 161+, rumored to contain immortality elixirs and divine techniques
The higher tiers are exponentially more dangerous. A single mistake in a Mythril dungeon could kill even Transcendent-tier mages.
But the real mysteries were the Forbidden Towers. According to the texts, there were originally Ten Towers scattered across both continents, built by the mysterious "Primordial Beings" as their home before recorded history.
Nine Towers remained sealed, their guardians so powerful that even coordinated immortal expeditions had failed to breach their defenses. These towers were said to contain:
Complete cultivation techniques that transcended current understanding Artifacts and treasures capable of reshaping the mortal realm and its continents, Knowledge of the original magical system before the Divine Wars The secrets of true immortality
The Tenth Tower had been cleared exactly 847 years ago by a coalition of immortals led by someone called "The Eternal Empress." Whatever they found inside was classified beyond even imperial access levels.
But here's the interesting part—the recent academy recall mentioned "breakthrough discoveries necessitating accelerated preparation for immortality candidates."
What if they figured out how to open another tower?
The timing was too convenient. Summon every powerful young individual across six empires for a mysterious "Transcendence Track" program, right after discovering something significant enough to change their entire educational approach.
They're not just teaching advanced magic. They're preparing us for something that requires immortal-level power to survive.
*
After a quick lunch delivered by Anna (who blushed crimson the entire time—my enhanced appeal was definitely getting stronger), I dove into the economic foundations that actually moved this world.
"Imperial Commerce and Magical Industries" by Economist-Mage Lyralei was a 2,500-page analysis of how magical power translated to economic dominance.
The system was far more sophisticated than simple feudalism. This was a techno-magical economy where advancement resources, magical services, and Essence refinement drove everything.
The Great Houses weren't just nobility—they were magical-industrial complexes:
House Ravencrest: Controlled the most advanced magical research institutes, consulting services for inter-empire magical problems, and the premier academies for versatile magic training or lower rank mages not part of the big academy, led the combined ducal houses armies. Annual revenue: 500+ million Imperial Crystals.
House Goldmane: Monopolized magical metal, gems and other precious minerals extraction, enchanted weapon manufacturing, and the infrastructure that powered imperial cities. Revenue: 800+ million Imperial Crystals.
House Blackthorne: Operated intelligence networks, information trading, shadow and assassin services, and the magical communication systems connecting all six empires. Revenue: Unknown (estimated 100+ million Imperial Crystals).
House Stormwind: Controlled agriculture and food production, magical transportation networks, and the sky-ship industry that enabled inter-continental commerce. Revenue: 700+ million Imperial Crystals.
House Silvermoon: Managed temporal and spatial magic applications, dungeon calendar systems, and the precise timing required for large-scale magical and dungeon breakouts and appearances Revenue: 400+ million Imperial Crystals.
We're not just noble families. We're the backbone of magical civilization under the Empress.
Corporate Hierarchies followed strict power-based structures:
In the magical realm, Empress-tier individuals reign as supreme sovereigns, owning the very essence of magic and commanding the Noble Houses, with dominion over resources vast enough to feed the population for years.
Beneath them, Ascendant-tier mages (who are not nobles) serve as regional rulers and big city Lords, governing powerful cities and acting as the magical world's elite governors. Apex-tier individuals function as heads of enchanted divisions and expert strategists, managing complex arcane operations.
Some Beyond Mortal tier in the empire includes their secret guards and shadow armies who lead high-risk magical expeditions and oversee critical enchantment projects.
Transcendent+ mages serve as skilled specialists and mid-level overseers, coordinating the Imperial Army and guards. At the base, Lower-tier mages consist of apprentices and junior mages occupying entry-level roles within the palace, in the capitol; spell forges, alchemy halls, and arcane guilds and more.
Gender Role Distribution reflected both biological reality and cultural adaptation:
Heavy Physical Labor? Exclusively female—their superior magical enhancement made them far stronger than unenhanced males Precision Manufacturing was mixed but female-supervised—magical control required for quality.
Administrative Roles were mostly male-dominated under female oversight—men's enhanced detail orientation was valued.
Creative Industries: Male-heavy—art, literature, music, entertainment where men excelled.
Combat Professions: Female-dominated—magical combat required the raw power women naturally possessed.
Domestic Services: Mixed—catering to the needs of powerful mages regardless of gender.
Men aren't excluded from work—they're channeled into roles that utilize their natural strengths while keeping them away from positions that require the kind of power they typically can't achieve.
Imperial Economic Control was where Empress Aurelia's true power became apparent. The texts painted her not as some beautiful collector, but as the ultimate predator who systematically absorbed competing power structures over centuries.
She didn't just rule the Aetherian Empire—she owned it:
Controlled 70% of all Essence/Mana refineries on the continent. Held monopolies on the most advanced magical transportation. Commanded the largest networks of high-tier dungeons. Possessed exclusive access to three different Mythril-level and above dungeons then the control she had over all nobles.
She was the ultimate supreme in the continent, just like other Empresses.
Her invitation isn't political courtesy. It's an evaluation. She's determining whether I'm worth more as an asset or eliminated as a potential competitor.
Hopefully I'm wrong for the latter.
The final texts were the most restricted—imperial policy documents that required my family bloodline to even access. "Strategic Resource Management in Multi-Empire Politics" revealed truths that made my earlier research seem naive.
The 30% Male Birthrate wasn't just a magical side effect—it was reaching a crisis point. Magical advancement was accelerating across all empires, and the mana density was approaching levels that could drop male births below 20%.