“We need a blacksmith, but for that we need a variety of equipment, a specialized building, and, of course, metal. I need you to get with Lucas, see if he knows or has heard of any metal deposits around.” I took a breath. “I need… I’m sorry, Dawn, who is going to be our blacksmith?” I asked, assessing the three elves behind Dawn, trying to find out who I was giving directions to. A stick of an elf came forward, bowing his head, looking all of eighteen years old. This should be interesting.
Melkor
Level: 1
Sun Elf
“Alright, Melkor. You might need to take up mining as a learned skill to get ore. As long as it doesn’t somehow turn your class into a miner, we don’t want that.” I chuckled.
“No, Great Rho,” he responded, his voice low and deep. “The lady said that wouldn’t happen.”
“Good to know,” I said, smiling. “After more elves have converted over to the system, I’ll get you more help, but for now, you’re on your own.” I paused, taking a good look at him, nodding happily back to him after seeing the eager, understanding expression on his face. “Good. Okay, I also need you to get with Lucas. Set up a time for a consult with the construction crew to work on the infrastructure we need to move forward with a functional smithy.”
“Dawn, what kind of crafting are you looking to get into?” I inquired, turning from the now departing Melkor.
“Leatherworking, Great Rho,” she said. I had been trying to get the elves to stop with the “great one” crap, but nothing I said did anything to change it. It does make Tabby laugh, though, I thought, half irritated, half happy that at least my awkwardness makes her laugh.
“Alright, I need you to start getting that together. Have yours and Melkor’s buildings built close together when the time comes. Also, the same goes for you. Do as much work as you can to advance your class, get your class, however that works.” I shrugged as I said it. “We’ll get you help as soon we can.” That left me with the last two elves to deal with before combat classes “Alright, Sayer. Let me guess… you’re a carpenter.” I said, giving him a wink and a finger gun.
“I am, indeed, Rho.” The friendly elf acknowledged.
“Good, I want you to talk to Tabby during her break. Get her to tell you about furniture, ask her for blueprints. Then talk to the civil engineer about helping. Make sure beds and mattresses are a priority,” I stressed. “You’ll probably need to do lumberjacking or get some more elves to help you gather lumber.” Finished with assigning Sayer his duties, I was in a hurry to get this done with and join those starting combat training. Celeste was the last elf standing before me, but I was only half paying attention to her. After telling me she wanted to be a tailor and could already weave, we didn’t have anything to discuss, and she went about her day. With that out of the way, I went to check on Lucky’s work, pleasantly surprised to see that he had mastered the first half of the letters.
“Good job, Lucky, but time to go.” I enthused after taking the time to point to and sound out the letters he had mastered. “Now, keep up, we’re running to my yurt.” With that, I was off, not applying any buffs and keeping my pace just above what Lucky could match comfortably.
As we reached my yurt, I was behind Lucky, doing my best drill sergeant impression to “motivate” him. Keeping him moving all the way until we got in front of the cleared area the elves I sent there had managed to produce. I let him puke to the side as I called the others together. “Alright, you sorry fucks, form up!” Of course, they had no idea what I meant. So, I ran them until they threw up. What followed was as close to what I could remember of my first day of combat training, with me being on the other side this time. Giving me a deeper understanding on the whole training soldiers process. The physical training, the smack downs for any lack of discipline, the colorful ways to express vulgarity—seriously, it’s a tradition that soldiers have the most creatively foul mouths, and who was I to change it—and the yelling. Oh, so much yelling. All in an effort to, gently, get the elves used to the chaos of battle.
Once lunch was over with I gathered them all for a hunt. They were worn out, as planned, unable to hold a spear upright, let alone against an opponent. I ended up using a homemade spear, properly, to bring down the first deer. Well, an analog that was so close to one that I couldn’t tell the difference. I looted the deer, showing them how the process was done in the system. After that disgusting display, along with a little more vomit, I led them to ten animals, forcing each of them to fight and kill their prey with the spear in proper forms. Lucky, however, didn’t get to kill anything as he was practicing sword forms and stances while running around bringing the animals to the spear wielder whose turn it was. This led to me saving his ass more than once when he lost his footing. I could tell after the second antler cut, he was starting to understand that while some of my training took more of a hands-off approach, that by no means would any of it be easy.
When we arrived back at camp, the elves were tired and hungry, but pleased with the exp gains. A few of the scouts who I brought with me as I used my senses to locate animals had even gained learned skills. I dismissed the hunters, so they could finish their tasks, thus providing food for the villagers. Then, I discovered something that we were missing. “Alright, you lot, listen up, for now, we don’t have a barracks, so you can go to whatever filth-covered, ass smelling yurt you came from, but don’t worry, cupcakes, I mean to rectify this situation. Dismissed!” I yelled at them.
“Okay, Lucky, I need you to remind me to talk to Tabby about a commanding officer for the elven military. Now, let’s work on your forms.” A few grueling hours later, well, grueling for Lucky anyway, Lucas showed up for magic lessons, bringing the report I asked for from Aila as well. Lucky looked about ready to collapse, relieved for a break from the exhausting forms I had him doing with a stick I judged to be about the correct size and weight for training.
I took the elves to the middle of the freshly created training field. There, I told them to make themselves comfortable, motioning to the logs I had pulled over. Lucky was confused for a second, looking around skeptically, trying to sense a trap after the shit I put him through today, but finally decided it was okay to relax. “Okay, what do you guys know about magic?”
After a few dozen seconds had ticked by, Lucas spoke first. “Magic is energy guided by us but manifested in an unnatural way.” He stated, I could tell it was an answer given to him by Tabby.
“Well, that is true, but it doesn’t explain much about it, does it?” I challenged. “The truth is simple, yet vastly complicated.” Laughing, I shook my head, thinking, I sound like a wizened old wizard. Well, I guess I could be sounding like a jackass as well. Assuming there’s a difference, I laughed again, then coughed to cut it off, trying to continue what I had been saying. “Hmm, let me see. I guess, the best way to put it… Okay, everyone has a sort of power reserve in them, a well of sorts,” I explained, taking my time to clarify something that I really didn’t know how to put into words. I mean, I knew exactly how casting worked, but the concepts involved and the reality of making it work were two different things. Plus, I’m a shit teacher, and it doesn’t help that I’m no magic theorist.
“That is then broken into spell slots.” I continued, focusing my thoughts as I walked around the occupied logs. “For mage classes, those slot uses will differ depending on the amount of energy used in the spell cast. This means that you can only cast so many spells before the well runs dry. The how and why of this energy isn’t going to be the subject of our lessons for a while, but I’m trying to explain what I can to move us forward.” I said, taking a step back, mentally thanking Tabby for teaching again. “The energy restores as you rest, and some abilities help with this. However, how you tap into that well is the key to using magic.” I paused, turning to look at the lost expressions on both elves’ faces. This was especially saddening to see on Lucas’ face as he was in the system, and any magic his class had unlocked was already known to him. Just great!
The next few hours were spent walking them through the basics of meditation, helping to relax them from the overwhelming frustration they were feeling. Neither of them accomplished much, but that was to be expected. It took me years to focus enough to create my mindscape. When I told Tabby I hoped it wouldn’t take that long, she explained to me that the elves would be much faster. She said it was due to them always being in the system and not—and I quote, “poor souls ripped from the beyond, from system-less failures of worlds.” I thought that was a little system biased but decided it didn’t really want to go down that rabbit hole of a conversation.
In the yurt, I was laying down next to Tabby, neither of us talking both of us just unwinding from the day. I was going over the project outline Aila had put together, noticing that they didn’t take into account the use of magic, the new crafters, or the system in their plans. That was just to name a few of the issues I saw with the report. Sighing, I put it down. “Tabs, how long do you think teaching the first elves magic is going to take?”
“Hmm... I’m not sure, Rho, but it will be a few weeks. Why?” She asked, turning her head on her pillow to look at me, away from whatever report she had in her hand.
“I was just looking at the plan for the wall, and yeah, we need it ASAP,” I admitted, shaking my head at her objection. “This plan the construction crew came up with, it’s just plain impossible, if we ever want to leave this place. Well, this decade anyway.” I sighed, grumbling a little to myself as I removed a piece of rock from under my bedroll. “Hey, did the crafters find you? I really miss beds and clothes that aren’t just there to make the armor less chafing.”
Tabby smiled at me, love written across her face, regardless of whether she meant to show it or not. “Yes, Rho, I gave them all they needed, even managed to sneak in a quest for beds, with a reward that scales with the quality of the bed.”
“Awesome,” I exclaimed, closing my eyes.
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, I asked Lucas to find me the soldier who was in command of the elven fighters. As Lucky and I started to head our way to the central village fire, I waved goodbye to Tabby. Seeing that she had to go in another direction to begin classes for the day.
There at the fire to greet us was the construction crew. “Aila,” I nodded to her as I approached. “Got to say I’m not pleased with your proposal.” At that, the elves grew pale, and Aila threw herself to her knees.
“Please, Great Rho, punish me, but I beg spare my crew.” She said hurriedly.
“What? Get up, all of you. Stop with the drama, okay. Just ’cause I didn’t like what you brought me doesn’t mean I’m going to kill you all. Jeez,” I said, shaking my head, waiting for them to get to their feet. “Alright, listen up,” I ordered as I saw Lucas coming toward me with an elf I didn’t know. “Your plan didn’t fully take into account your newfound system knowledge, magic, or your new crafters.” I took a breath, watching the elves straighten up again. Though they wouldn’t lift their heads to look at me. “I need a new plan, and I need it by story time. Now, get to work and remember, think about the different ways you can use the system, together with the classes you have just learned.”
I waved to Lucas, who stopped a few yards in front of me. “Who is this, Lucas,” I inquired, looking the older elf who accompanied Lucas in the face. He was unremarkable, but reminded me somewhat of the first knucklehead I hit when I inadvertently took control of the village.
“This is Maximus, father of…”
“Tweedledee, of course, he is,” I mumbled to myself as Lucas said the elf’s real name, making it so I didn’t hear it.
“He is to be in charge of the military,” he finished, ignoring my comment. Wow, just a few days and already he knows me so well. I mused to myself.
“Alright, Lucas, send him to Tabby for advanced lessons, then he can join us for training after classes each day.” I said, nodding my head to the elf in question.
The day went mostly the same as the last, until it was time to practice meditation again. Maximus had joined our military training in the afternoon, sticking close to me so he could learn my command style with no issues, but other than that the day had gone smoothly. However, about an hour into our lesson, Lucky and Lucas shocked me, both learning to meditate, unlocking their mindscapes, and leaving me staring like a slack-jawed idiot. Seriously, I just stared at them for a good minute, open-mouthed and honestly a little jealous. Wow! I wish I’d learned it that fast. After eveyone had calmed down, I was able to talk to the two elves in depth about the process of contacting their nanites, but we ended it there. Choosing to call it quits for the evening, I decided against having the elves try to contact their nanites. Both elves left in my fire in wonder, but also a tad concerned about the alien presence discovered inside them.
That night, I was reviewing the plans for the wall. They were better, not great, but doable. The issue was materials, or lack thereof, not to mention the time involved with the primitive tools available. I had to think of a different approach in order to solve this issue both for the elves safety, and our own time constraints. After laying on my bedroll for a few minutes thinking about what I knew about elves—which wasn’t much outside of fiction from Earth—I turned to Tabby to see if she was still awake. “Hey, Tabs, did the elves of this world live in trees?” I asked after finding that she wasn’t asleep.
She looked over at me, a quizzical expression along with a smirk on her face. “What? Why would elves live in trees?” She laughed, stopping when she saw me frown. “Wood elves have a deep love of nature, but I never heard of them living in trees. Why do you ask?” she questioned.
“Well, back on Earth where my... soul? Maybe,” I shrugged my shoulders, just moving along with the conversation, “came from. Our fiction had elves. In a lot of them, they were said to live in magic trees that they grew themselves. I was just thinking of any possible way to help with the wall issue.” I turned away from her before laying back down.
Tabby was silent for a few seconds, smirking as she shook her head, “that’s funny. Did they swing on vines as well?”
“What, no.” I sighed, looking back over to her, a little frustrated. “Not living in trees like that. The trees they grew were more like skyscrapers, with homes built into them, and the branches acting like roads. Usually, their cities were all in the trees, deep in primal forests clouded by obscuring magic.” I stopped, seeing the derisive look on her face. I stuck my tongue out at her. “Hey, I’m just trying to find a solution to our problem, no need to mock writers long dead.” I said, defending the fiction of Earth.
Seeing my expression turning toward anger, she stopped. “Sorry. It’s just… You’re talking about fiction from another world that had no magic at all, or elves, and well... Honestly, I can’t get rid of the image of the elves in their animal skins swinging from branch to branch. Which is funny.” My anger disappeared, and I smiled at her. That was funny. We both sat up in our bedrolls again, turning to face each other. Tabby continued.
“Elves didn’t evolve from primates like humans did. Humans did live in trees, but elves…” She shook her head. “Their evolutionary path came from an offshoot of an avian descendant of dinosaurs. A flightless avian I might add. So, they never lived
in trees. In fact, their low birth count, and long lives are evolutionary traits developed as they moved away from their avian roots. Don’t ask,” she advised me, seeing the questioning look on my face. “They were past that stage when I regained my sentience.”
I cut in, deciding to get back on track. “As fascinating as all that is, it’s not really helping with the issue. The wall just isn’t feasible at this point, and without some form of defense, I don’t like the elves’ chances on their own.” I shook my head in frustration. “I don’t want to waste my time. Our time,” I corrected. “Training these people just to have them go extinct because they lack basic defenses.” I paused looking at her to see if I could read what she was thinking. She looked troubled, affirming that she knew I was right. “I was hoping to think outside the box. That’s why I brought up the stories from my old world. I understand now that they are ridiculous, but what if this time around we make it a reality.”
G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier Page 13
