by Adam Drake
More people, more problems, he thought to himself. It had been a lifelong saying he used to justify his self-imposed solitude. Now, he was getting it thrown back in his face.
“Let's get to camp,” he said and turned to walk quickly north.
Jace jogged to keep up. He could sense something was wrong. “What you have done is a tremendous accomplishment, my Lord,” he said. “Something for the history books.”
Rob wanted to turn that back on the woodcutter, tell him it didn't matter, that he shouldn't even be here, but he bit his tongue and only nodded.
Why can't this be over now? I killed Perrin, I saved this crappy little kingdom, now can I go home?
The jubilation he felt after defeating the undead king quickly drowned in his own thoughts of escape.
“Look, my Lord, the mountains of your kingdom,” Jace said waving a hand east to west.
Tall imposing snow-capped mountains crouched at both sides of the valley like looming gods. Aprons of forest spread out before them. Past the mountains he could see even more mountains and cloudy skies.
It did make for a beautiful sight. But it wasn't real. None of it was.
He noticed Jace looking at him strangely, so he tacked on a smile. “They look amazing,” he said, trying to sound convincing.
Jace's smile faltered, but didn't vanish completely. “My Lord, you are tired,” he said.
“Considering what you and I have been through, that's an understatement.”
They arrived at the camp to find the other three of his subjects waiting for them.
Fumi ran over. “Oh, Jacey! You're okay!” She blew past Rob, nearly knocking him over.
The cook came to a stop when she saw the state Jace was in. “What happened to your shirt?” she bellowed. “And your skin is all covered in scabs!”
“We ran into some complications,” Jace said, with a comforting smile. “But we worked through them, didn't we, my Lord?”
“That we did,” Rob said.
Fumi huffed. “I have a special salve that will help with those scabs.” She gave Rob a cursory glance. “I'll give what's left to you when he's done with it.”
Erwin walked over and patted Rob on the shoulder. “My Lord, you've done it! You've saved the kingdom!”
“Thanks,” Rob said. “It had to be done, and we did it. Both Jace and I.” He was starting to feel uncomfortable with this praise. Maybe he should just go to his manor for a while.
Saif glided up to him, a knowing grin stretching his silver goatee. “My Lord, what an accomplishment! We knew you had succeeded the moment the walls vanished. It's such a relief to finally see the sky and mountains, again.”
Rob nodded. “If it weren't for Jace's help, I wouldn't have been able to do it.”
Erwin's eyes lit up. “You could make Jace a knight! You are king after all. Want to be a knight, Jace?”
“No,” Jace said without missing a beat. “I want to go back to my woodpile and my chopping.”
Saif said, “My Lord, did those stones come in handy?”
“Yes,” Rob said emphatically. “It killed Perrin outright. I missed with two, but the third worked like a charm.”
“Not a charm, my Lord. A sharded stone,” Saif corrected. The Sage looked down at the cornerstone in his arms. “You recovered it! Fantastic, my Lord!”
“This thing is starting to get heavy,” Rob said, shifting the cornerstone to his other arm.
Erwin helped him remove his shield. “That goes on the hill. Got a hole waiting there and everything.”
Rob looked up at castle hill, its grass rippling in the wind.
Saif said, “Allow me to show you, my Lord.”
He followed the Sage up the side of the hill, the tall grass swishing against his shins. Rob was genuinely curious to see what happened next. It was just one block. They'd need more. A lot more before even a basic structure could be built.
A big headache, he thought. What did he know about building castles? Castles took years to build. He hoped Saif or someone else would take over that responsibility.
They reached the top and found a large square hole dug into the ground.
Saif waved at it. “Place the cornerstone in there, my Lord.”
Rob leaned down and carefully put the white block into the hole. Then he stood back.
A prompt appeared.
You have placed a cornerstone for a Phase 1 Castle at this location.
Do you wish to continue? Yes or No?
“Yes,” Rob said. The prompt disappeared.
After several moments, he said to Saif, “So what happens next?”
Erwin and the others let out a gasp from down below. They shouted and pointed to the north.
Rob looked.
There, at the bottom of the northern edge of the hill were blocks of stone. Hundreds and hundreds of them, neatly arranged into larger blocks. There were also piles of large cut wood-beams along with stacks of other materials he couldn't identify.
He laughed in surprise. All of it had appeared out of thin air. Just like you would expect in a video game.
“All the material required to build your castle, my Lord,” Saif said with a smile. “Now we just need laborers and a lot of money and we can get started!”
Rob looked at the massive amount of materials. “How much is it going to cost?”
“Leave that to me,” Saif said and patted his arm. “You collect the gold on your adventures and I will spend it for you.”
Sounds like marriage, Rob thought.
Saif suddenly raised a finger. “Ah, I nearly forget. Based on what you have accomplished so far, I believe you should be able to bless the cornerstone.”
“Bless it? What do you mean?”
“The cornerstone doesn't only allow for the building of a castle my Lord, it is also the very key to the kingdom's existence.”
“You're losing me, Saif,” Rob said. He was tired, and he wanted to rest.
“The kingdom relies on you to keep it healthy and vibrant. When you excel in your adventures and accomplishments, it benefits directly. You've done enough already for the next step.”
“And what step is that?”
Saif waved to the cornerstone, “Humor me, my Lord. Please place your hand on the stone. You'll see for yourself.”
Wanting this to be over and done with, Rob leaned down and placed his palm on the top of the cornerstone. It felt strangely warm to the touch.
A prompt appeared.
Congratulations! Based on your incredible adventures and grand accomplishments, your kingdom is now ready to progress to the next level! Raising your kingdom's level grants options previously unavailable.
Raise your kingdom to level two?
Accept or Decline?
“I have kingdom options?” Rob said to Saif, giving him a suspicious look. “Shouldn't I have known about them before?”
Saif raised his hands in a placating gesture. “No, my Lord, the level one options for the kingdom do not exist. You only gain access to them once you are level two.”
Rob decided to let that go. For now. “I accept,” he said.
Congratulations! Your kingdom is now at level two! Diplomatic options and a kingdom reputation screen have been added.
Please note: Your own character's reputation directly effects your kingdom's reputation, so keep that in mind as you explore the world. Your actions will have consequences.
The message ended and Rob swiped it away. He looked around expecting to find things different, but they weren't.
“That's it? Isn't something suppose to happen?”
“My Lord, thanks to what you have done, the foundation has been laid forth for your kingdom to grow and expand.”
“Expand?” Rob said, dreading what he was hearing. “Expand into what?”
“An empire!” Saif said, spreading his arms wide for emphasis. He turned and pointed down at the squalid camp. “One day, through your effort and kingly prowess, this will become a bustling town!”
“Uh-huh,” Rob said. He felt a headache coming on.
“But not only that,” the Sage continued, getting carried away, “it could eventually become a great city, renowned and feared around the world!”
“All I did was put my hand on the stone,” Rob said.
“And you shall do it many more times as you continue your adventures, my Lord. Your history has only just begun.”
Okay, Rob thought, that's it for me. I need to crash.
The exuberance of Saif's words only weighed down on his mind. He didn't want to think of any of this right now. He wanted to sleep.
Rob raised a hand in surrender. “Fine. I'll build a great empire. Can I go wash my face now?”
Saif's huge grin collapsed into an expression of concern. “Oh, yes, my Lord. You must be exhausted from your day. Please, retire to your manor and I will have water brought to you.”
Without another word Rob turned away and walked down the hill. Not wanting to suffer through more adulation, he avoided the camp and went directly to his manor house.
Once inside he thumped the door closed, kicked off his boots and sat on the bed.
“What a day,” he said, feeling tired. Yet, he was apprehensive about going to sleep, even for a short while. What if he had that crazy dream again?
He noticed a tall stack of prompts and message alerts at the bottom of his vision.
“Later,” he said. He just wanted to wash up and go to sleep. All those numbers and statistics could wait for him when he was good and ready.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he called.
It opened and the huge figure of Fumi pushed in with a large washbasin in her hands, sloping water on the floor. Behind her came Erwin carrying a wooden stand.
“My Lord,” Fumi said, “I have brought you some water to wash with. You'll be happy to know that because of what you and Jacey have done, the rivers and streams have returned, so don't worry about using this up.”
She turned to glare at Erwin and the little dockmaster scrambled forward to place the stand against a wall.
Fumi put the washbasin on it, steam rising from the water. “You got good and burned like my Jacey, but those potions didn't clear all the dead skin away, so use this.” She plopped a wedge of yellow soap by the basin. From under her massive arm she produced a mirror which she hung from a nail above the stand.
“I hope this is to your liking, my Lord,” she said, looking at him with her eye.
Rob was a little taken aback. This was probably the first time she'd spoken to him without yelling. “Thank you, Fumi, this is great.”
A hint of a smile tugged at the cook's lips. “You brought my Jacey back. Maybe not all in one piece, but he's alive. Thank you.”
For several moments she simply looked at Rob.
“Is there something else?” Rob said.
“Yes,” Fumi said. “The Sage says now that Perrin is gone, you can finally name the kingdom something proper. Did you have a name in mind?”
“Anika,” Rob said without thinking. “I'll name it Anika.”
“Anika,” Fumi said, mulling the word over. “Sound's foreign.”
Then she snapped her fingers and Erwin backed out the door, bowing at Rob the whole time. Fumi followed, thumping the door closed behind them.
Wow, Rob thought. Talk about a cast of characters.
He stood and went to the washbasin. Its water had been sprinkled with little leaves and it smelled faintly of lavender.
Nice, he thought and looked at his reflection.
There he was. The janitor who would be king.
He dipped his hands into the warm water and began to wipe away at the dried blood and crusted skin on his face.
His five o'clock shadow from the day before had grown. He'd never had a full beard before. Maybe he should start. He couldn't match Jace's beard, but he was certain he could give the woodcutter a run for his money.
The skin across his forehead was particularly scabby. The magical fire Perrin had used damaged the skin and flesh, but the healing potion fixed all that. Now he was covered in a thin layer of dead flesh and burnt hair.
Dipping the soap into the water, be used it to scrub harder at his face, exposing clean red skin.
As he scrubbed, his mind returned to Anika. What was happening with her, now? He'd been gone about two days. She must be losing her mind with worry. He had to get back to her.
Getting out of this strange nightmare was still the priority. Sure he got testy with Saif on the hill, but he needed to stay more focused on his main task.
Finding a way back home.
When he escaped the tutorial island on the back of the turtle, he had resolved then to play along with whatever this nonsense was. He'd level, he'd quest, and now he'd play the role of king.
All of it was a bid to buy himself time. Time to discover a way to get back to Anika.
He could do this. He looked at his reflection. “You can do this,” he said to himself.
There. He felt a little better. He'd take on whatever they threw at him.
He resolved that nothing would stop him, nothing would get in his way. They want a king? Fine, he'd be their damn king. They want an adventurer? Fine. Adventurer Rob at your service.
He wiped away the last of the crud from his face and smiled at himself. “I look like a king,” he said and chuckled.
Then he noticed something in the mirror and froze.
“What the hell?” he said, eyes widening in horror.
He leaned forward and turned his head to get a better look.
“Oh, God,” he gasped as he recognized what it was. “No! No!”
Ice cold fear seized at his heart, his mind racing with implications.
There, on the side of his face, by his left eye, was a deep black mark of a crescent moon.
Rob's Odyssey Continues In
Kingdom Level Two
Kingdom Level Two
A baptism of fire for a neophyte king.
Resigned to his fate, Robert must adapt to his new role as King of Anika. Expected to cleanse the kingdom of its many festering problems, he starts by trying to gain levels and useful skills.
But the daunting task quickly becomes a lesson in humility as he finds himself underpowered and overwhelmed. Desperate for gear and experience points, he stumbles upon a secret place so terrifying he questions whether he can be an adventurer king at all.
For here he must learn the one true skill that matters above all others:
Survival.
PROLOGUE
“Did we lose another King?”
Erwin sat across the table from Fumi while hacking at a rat carcass with a cleaver. They were under a wooden lean-to, in the middle of the muddy camp, trying to prepare breakfast.
He'd been skinning these rodents all morning, and now that he was finished, what was his reward? Hacking those same rats into little bits that's what.
Fumi was lost in thought, cutting up a bunch of wild turnips Jace had found in the forest. She carefully carved each turnip into equal parts, scrutinizing each piece with her one eye before tossing it into a boiling pot.
When the large woman didn't answer, Erwin asked again, “Is the King gone?” He tried to keep his voice calm but failed. Recent events had put him through an emotional ringer. What he needed now were reassurances. Solid answers.
Fumi frowned at another turnip, trying to find the best spot for the first cut. “The King hasn't gone anywhere. He's resting. That's what kings do when they save an entire kingdom, they rest!”
“But he's been in that house for days! That can't be right. Something is wrong,” Erwin said as he slammed the cleaver into another skinned rat.
“Ain't been days,” the cook said. “Just a day and two nights, is all. Nothing to get yourself all tied up into knots over. Now watch what you're doing with that cleaver! Cut them into even parts or everyone will complain!”
“I am watching!” Erwin said. “No need to yell at me!�
� He knew what he was doing. Cutting rats had become his speciality. Ever since all the fish vanished from the sea he'd been recruited, despite his protests, to help Fumi with the meals.
“Well, maybe if you had better luck with that net of yours we'd be supping on fish for breakfast,” Fumi said.
