City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 264: Grand Ritual of Kama Rakalis II

“Open the gates,” I said with Reaching Voice, a new skill in my Madam Class. It had a range of three hundred meters; it let my voice reach the person far, without raising my voice.
 
The only condition is that I need to see them.
 
The guards heard me and opened the gates. In less than five seconds, the first carriage entered. 
 
I didn’t stay on the first floor and strode upstairs before the gates fully opened.
 
Four hours have passed since the establishment opened, and it was full. The gates have been closed once more and there is not a single place, that is empty on all three floors. 
 
The surprising thing is that the establishment's gates closed a minute earlier than yesterday, despite the number of girls increasing.
 
“Mr. Koml, I hope you are having a good time,” I said, walking toward the man in his fifties who had been ogling me secretly. “I am, but if you join me, I will have the greatest time,” he replied suggestively.
 
To that, I smiled seductively as touched his and harnessed the lust he was feeling for me.
 
“I may not be able to join you, but Hilhan here will do,” I said as the green-haired woman appeared beside me.  
 
He turned to Hilhan while I moved to greet other patrons. Harnessing strands of lust from them. Not all felt lust for me. Some had eyes for those who were sitting next to them, and some didn’t find me their type.
 
Some didn’t have an interest in the women at all.
 
Still, more than half of them, are feeling the lust for me and I harnessing it, before putting it into the charm along with emotions from the establishment.
 
I have started since the first guest arrived, and till now, I have harnessed five to six regular charms worth of lust, but the central piece isn’t even half-filled.
 
I went to the top floor and talked to the patrons and Barb, who is amazing at handling the patrons. Her presence also increased the client's liquor bill, which is great, as the establishment, earns the most through the liquor. 
 
I stayed on the top floor for a while, before going to Remus.
 
“It is looking good,” he said, sounding quite pleased.
 
I didn’t say anything other than smile; there was no need for me to say anything. Everything is clear as day to him, in this little watching room.
 
“Well, I will be sleeping early; I have a lot of things to do tomorrow before I leave the city,” he said and got up from his chair.
 
“Good night, Master Silver,” I said, and he smiled before walking out of the small room.
 
I watched him leave before going back to the top floor. I stayed there for a few minutes before walking to the third floor and then the second floor; the floor with the most girls.
 
The new girls are doing well, and it is not surprising.
 
Unlike the other girls, this batch of girls had the most comprehensive training yet. They were also the first batch to be completely trained in a circle, with envious facilities.
 
Unlike us, they didn’t receive their training in cramped spaces, which would become their place of work every evening.
 
I looked at all the new girls. Especially the girl in the wheelchair.
 
I got worried about her when, in the first half an hour, nobody sat at her table. I shouldn’t have been. I should have had more faith in our training and the patrons we serve.
 
Now she is talking with a handsome man in his mid-thirties, and they seem to be having a deep conversation.
 
He is not the first man, who sat with her. 
 
‘It seemed like Remus was right again,’ I thought and moved to greet the guests.
 
I wanted to keep her third shift because of her condition, which might repel some clients, but Remus put her in the second, our most productive shift.
 
The first shift is twelve to five in the day, the second is six to twelve in the night, and the third is twelve to six nights to morning. 
 
He was right.
 
Yes, some patrons left seeing her, and some complained, but it didn’t affect the business. In a few days, they will get used to her and we will have no problems, aside from a few complaints.
 
Hours passed, and it was two and a half.
 
The establishment is still filled. Though not as much as before, from two, the people would start to leave and by five, it would be completely empty.
 
“I hope, you had a great time with us, Mr. Fustalis,” I said to the leaving patron. “I had a great time, Miss. Caena,” replied the man, with a smile, before leaving, with his friend.
 
Half an hour passed when suddenly a smile appeared on my face.
 
“Danielle, I am leaving,” I informed her. Usually, I leave the charge at two and a half am, but I stayed a little late tonight.
 
I talked to Danielle for a few minutes before taking the elevator to the basement.
 
Click!
 
I opened the door and went inside my suit.
 
I have a suit in the establishment, and it is the one, I used the most. I live in a circle, barely two days a week; most of my time is spent here.
 
I sat down on the chair and closed my eyes for a second, before taking out more charms from my purse.
 
The center charms.
 
The charm is different from all the charms; I had created. First, it is the size of my palm, the second, it is made wholly of magical material; there is not a single mundane thing in it.
 
When one looks at it; the first thing they would notice is thirteen gems. There are twelve gems; all of them are different, but each one of them is expensive.
 
As for the blood-red ruby in the center.
 
It is not ruby, but a blood gem formed from the master silvers' blood.
 
All of them are carefully wrapped in delicate and colorful vines, petals, and leaves; they look like a piece of art.
 
I admired it for a minute, before closing my eyes and concentrating my craft on the ritual.
 
“Eraente,” I said gently and put the last piece of grand ritual Kama Rakalis in its place.
 
The charm flared brightly, and I felt the heat on my hand for several seconds, before the sensation disappeared, along with the charm.
 
“Success,” I said with a smile. 
 
I had some fear that the final piece wouldn’t be clicked, but it did. There seemed to be no problem with it.
 
Hun!
 
I was happily congratulating myself when suddenly I sensed something, and my eyes widened in fear.
 
“Eslaynde,” I said immediately, and a realm establishment appeared in front of me.
 
My eyes immediately went to the twelve hundred and thirty-two enchantments. It is very hard to miss those dots.
 
They are blazing, like an afternoon sun compared to them. The other charms are shining like a star. 
 
There is no change in them.
 
As for the reason for their blaze, it is quite simple. These freaking enchantments are sucking the emotions from the core and the core is sucking them from the establishment.
 
People produce a lot of emotions, but the establishment's core absorbs less than 5% of them and is able to retain, even less than that.
 
Now the sudden and uncontrolled absorption had started sucking the emotions from it. It is not liking it and in self-preservation; it begins to absorb emotions around the establishment.
 
I am shocked. I had not expected this would happen.
 
It should have slowly accepted the emotions from the core and not so suddenly, but it is doing that, and I couldn’t do anything else.
 
I am scared for the core.
 
It is the core of the establishment and the speed with which the grand ritual absorbs the emotions, making me feel like it might destroy the core, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
 
Once the final imprinting started, even Remus wouldn’t be able to stop it.
 
The only thing I could do here is watch how the core is sucking every stray emotion present in the establishment.
 
Minutes passed and the appetite for the grand ritual didn’t seem to have been lessened at all. Instead, it seemed to have increased even further, forcing its core to expand its range, till it covered the whole plot of establishment.
 
It covered exactly the range that the witch had used to bind Remus to it.
 
Hun!
 
I was watching with bated breath when suddenly; I noticed something.
 
“The other charms are also pulling power,” I said as I looked at the other enchantments. 
 
There are thousands of other charms, and they are also absorbing the emotions. Using the opportunity, that grand ritual had opened for them.
 
What they are absorbing is much less than the grand ritual, but it is still increasing their power. This means their effects will also be going to get stronger as well.
 
A few more minutes passed, and the appetite of the grand ritual increased further, that even the size of the core had started to shrink, while it now expanded its range underground and started to absorb the emotions from the building and soil itself.
 
They had a lot of emotions stored in them and now this grand ritual absorbing it all.
 
I only hope it spares the core. If it is consumed or destroyed; then everything is over; even the grand ritual, will only work for a few days at most before disappearing.
 
If the core remains; it can be used in perpetuity. If the establishment ever turned into a legacy; this grand ritual will show its real power. 
 
Minutes passed, and I genuinely feared that it would be such the core itself, seeing every bit of emotions present in, around, and underground of the establishment had absorbed; that now only the core had remained.
 
Hun!
 
I was thinking that when suddenly, the grand ritual begins to slow down its absorptions before stopping.
 
Seeing that relief flooded my heart.
 
The grand ritual had sucked so much emotion that it had reduced the size of the core to the fourth. 
 
Buzz!
 
I was looking at the core when the grand ritual buzzed, and for a moment, I felt a terror before I realized it wasn’t trying to absorb the emotions again.
 
No, instead of all the charms seemed to be moving toward the central charm, before merging with it. It is happening very fast, and within seconds, all the charms merge into a single point.
 
The point blazed for a second, giving me another stare before the blaze began to fade and it revealed itself.
 
A twelve-pointed star made of runes.
 
Gasp!
 
A gasp of shock couldn’t help but come out of my mouth as I saw the twelve-pointed star. 
 
The same star, I had seen in the tome of grand ritual.
 
Though it is more basic than what I had seen in the tome. I could still recognize those runes, which felt clear, but when one tried memorizing them, they turned hazy.
 
Only after fully understanding the grand ritual is one able to see those runes in their realm form.
 
All the enchantments are dots, but only the grand ritual is in the shape of the star; I could already imagine the things it would be able to do, just seeing it.
 
I wanted to use it immediately, but seeing the state of the core, I decided against it.
 
The size of the core had shrunken by a fourth and I could even see the faint instability in it. It would be a big mistake to stress it further. 
 
It might collapse.
 
I won't do anything until it stabilizes fully, including imprinting any new charms on it.
 
I looked at it for a couple of minutes before finally deactivating the spell and returning to the real world. 
 
Unexpected things have happened, but no permanent harm has been done.
 
However, one thing is clear, I will need to keep an eye on it for any irregularity and check the power of the grand ritual as soon as the core has stabilized.
 
I never know when I might need to use it.

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