Quote:
Originally Posted by Sansker
And what if one King beats the other and he or she still doesn't have enough points to level up?
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I think you've completely forgotten.
Once you've achieved Level 9, the ONLY WAY to level up again is to kill five other Level 9 avatars. It doesn't matter how many points they have, or that you acquire. For a Level 9 player, points become irrelevant in regards to leveling up.
Why do you think Scarlet Rain had so many points that she could afford to spend 200 of them just checking out each of Umesato's students to find Silver Crow? Once she achieved Level 9, she no longer needed to save up points for leveling up.
Paying for Acceleration, for Unlimited Burst, for Physical Burst, for Full Physical Burst, for using the train in the UNF, for items from a Shop... those are the only things for which Niko and other Kings can spend Burst Points.
(And apparently, there's some kind of limit to the number or kind or quality of Shop-derived Enhanced Armaments, in terms of equipping yourself. Otherwise, I imagine that Yellow Radio and Scarlet Rain would have a few more tools than we've seen.)
That's why no one has reached level 10. Because the Kings will not fight one another (at least not openly), and because no other Level 8 player is willing to accept the risk of "one loss to another Level 9 --> instant retirement" that all Level 9 players must live with.
If anyone in the Crypto Cosmic Circus became Level 9, Yellow Radio would probably kill them immediately. Not just to take a step towards Level 10, but also to eliminate someone would could potentially retire him with a single lucky win.
Likewise, all of the other Kings must have been blatantly or subtlely pressuring all other Burst Linkers to avoid Level 9, because they don't want more possible threats.
Honestly, if not for the treaty, the Accelerated World probably would have descended into an anarchy reminiscent of the lawless first days. Kings would be killing kings, Level 8s would step over the line to Level 9s and score their own kills, lower level players would be devouring each other in a mad rush to level up...
The Level 10 rule shook the established power balance to the core, since it meant that the strongest and most deeply entrenched players in the game -- the Kings -- could be overthrown.
Without the "instant death" rule, a Level 9 player ought to have massive amounts of Burst Points to spare for individual losses. Furthermore, they are Legion Masters who control vast territories in which outsiders cannot challenge them, not even other kings. And members of their own legions must fear the Judgment Blow on top of the King's greater power and experience (and in four cases, a Sacred Arc).
Take Graphite Edge for example. If he wanted to depose Black Lotus and take over as master of Negas Nebulas, it would be extremely difficult for all of the above reasons.
But if he became Level 9, he just needs one single victory to retire his King.
For the Kings, who had become accustomed to their security, this was an awful shock. Made even worse by the horrific example that Black Lotus made of Red Rider.
One of the strongest legends; someone who had previously been close to immortal... DEAD. Gone. Permanently.
It wasn't just outrage that drove Green Grandee and Yellow Radio to join Blue Knight and Purple Thorn in their attempts to destroy Black Lotus. It was also naked fear of mortality.
They were trying to kill someone who had become, in their eyes, the embodiment of Death Itself.