by Lucas Dunn
“These are all of the soul gems, bones, and 50% of the loot the soldiers have gathered from the dungeons these last few days.”
Taking the pack, I choked when I saw the amount of items they had gathered. I had enough bones to make a thousand skeletons, sadly there were only 250 soul gems of common quality and five of flawless, but that was still very good. Even though the sheer amount of bones was stunning what really made me choke was the money. When I added up all of the copper, silver, gold, and platina it came to over 250 platina!
“Tell our squad and Raken to pack for the trip. We are going to be able to leave way ahead of the schedule.” I was planning on waiting because I wanted to have at least 1,500 forces to protect the fort, but with the materials I had just received it would be just enough. It would take me a day to raise the skeletons, add the soul gems, and get the new troops I was planning to hire acclimated.
I spent the majority of the day in the courtyard raising skeletons, and once I was done with them, I spent time hiring NPC’s. With the influx of troops coming in I went into my castle’s settings and checked the advanced tab for population keeping in mind my basic skeletons didn’t count as regular citizens because they couldn’t think for themselves like the competent of advanced ones.
Total Population
1,192
Basic Skeletons
1,024 (Average level: 22)
Competent Skeletons
500 (Average level: 29)
Advanced Skeletons
50 (Average level: 32)
Giant Skeletons
1 (Average level: 38)
Carpenters
10
Tanners
3
Smiths
5
Farmers
10
Specialized NPC’s (Squad trained)
28 (Average level: 39)
Fort Staff
3
Guards
580 (Average level: 5)
Enchanters
10 (Average level: 1)
At first I was horrified by my guard’s average level but I realized almost all of them were at zero because I just hired them and the others were at much higher levels. My skeletons were the main force of our army right now so I broke the 500 competent skeletons into groups of ten. From there I assigned 1 advanced skeleton to each group coming up with 50 groups of 11. These skeletons were sent to guard the perimeter as the new wall was being built. My basic skeletons were put to manual labor and gather all of the raw resources at an incredible rate and finally I put my Giant skeleton as head of the skeletons. With all the new guards, I made all of the specialized NPC’s that I first trained into squads into teachers/commanders of the regular guards to raise their level. The guards would be used to guard inside of the walls while I planned to make my specialized group not only teachers and commanders, but also one of my most advanced forces that would guard the castle. Finally, the enchanters I bought because when they got to a high enough level they could enchant my building and walls to make them withstand massive amounts of damage and much much more. Not only that but they would be able to learn enchantments. Unlike Gannon where he needed a stone with an attribute like the one I gave him, Enchanters just needed a soul stone to be able to enchant things. By the time I was done I still had half the day left and I started to wonder why I hadn’t seen Jake or Grimm in a while but dismissed it since they were probably just had somewhere else to be.
With nothing else to do I thought back to our battle with BoneCrusher. His village was still out there and I did not want leave while there was someone out there who would without a doubt want revenge. Grabbing all 80 of my trained guards we headed out to the location of the village. The jog there consisted of every living thing in our area fleeing the forest, but once we arrived at the village it was completely devoid of life. The village was completely blackened from the flames that devoured the wooden huts. We searched the village but found nothing. The good thing was that he clearly torched the place and left, the bad thing was I didn’t know where he was and that unsettled me. Annoyed at the waste of time we headed back to see the new wall coming together extremely well. With the amount of mages, I had, they were able to take the black stone from the mines and meld it seamlessly together. My plan was to make this wall twice as thick and twice as tall as the last one since we had unlimited raw resources and a ton of laborers and mages. The wall overall was going to be 24 feet tall and 10 feet thick making the possibility of breaking through impossible once it was enchanted. They could still get on top of the walls if they had siege equipment, but I couldn’t stop that no matter how tall I made them within the realm of being reasonable.
Before heading to bed I met with my attendant and set the plans for the next few days while I was gone. I wanted leveling the enchanters to be a main priority along with the wall. After that I designated half of the soul gems coming out of the dungeon to them. From there I made sure the bones and money were being gathered. I also was going to send a contingent of 50 guards to get animals and other farming materials from the closest large city. Feeling great about how things were progressing, I headed to my room to get some sleep before we left tomorrow.
Chapter 34
Waking up at the break of dawn, I grabbed my pack which now held plenty of money, the relics, my soul gems, changes of clothes, and extra set of black rhino armor, and a few potions. Of course I had already packed other essentials like and months’ worth of food and water. All of this only took up ten out of the hundred slots in my bag making me marvel at the wonders of this world. The downside of all the materials would of course be the weight, but with my massive strength stats I could hardly feel it on my back. Gathering my things, I entered the dining hall where my squad was waiting. We discussed our plans as we ate.
We would head to the Elven city first with the guards. From there we would purchase mounts and talk to the leader of the elves. After that we would head to the Drow who were also situated in a smaller forest on the farthest side of the plain opposite of me. Last, would be the dwarves who lived in the northern mountains. Doing it in a circle allowed for us to avoid the center Steppes and deserts that hosted the Ogres and orcs. Not only that but the majority of the territory was unexplored land that held many different biomes that were home to many beasts.
Getting the guards ready, we exited the gates in perfect order and I left a note with the attendant to tell Jake and Grimm where I had gone if they asked. The trip was slow and painful through the jungle but we went relatively unmolested. The villages and city we entered welcomed us in like we were kings, giving us their best hospitality. Being the main man of two gods definitely helped, but I liked to think it was my charming personality. One thing I noticed when we entered our first city, El’drath, was the sheer amount of people. When I was met by the city lord, we discussed many things on of which being the population of the cities and Capitals on the continent. I couldn’t help but gasp when he said this was a smaller city. The army stationed in the smaller cities ranged from 100,000 to 200,000. Medium cities held 200,000 to 500,000 and capitals typically had an army of 1,000,000 give or take a few hundred thousand. In comparison, my city, even with the new walls could hardly hold 100,000 men. Realizing how little I knew I spent two days in the city just learning about the rest of the world. While I thought the dark races forces were massive, it wasn’t even half of the light one’s forces due to how many humans were on his side. It wasn’t an impossible war to win, but at the same time it was two against one and the light one had a lot more gods. Part of my stay their consisted of me entering into the dark one’s temple and blessing their altar. This allowed for the whole city to officially worship the dark one and pretty soon I would have millions of worshipping points every day. Sadly, the cost to increase the bonuses would still make it go very slowly.
As we planned to leave, my guards were able to attain all of the supplies and animals they needed and headed back the way we came. We were gifted with horses that could run
all day and at a good speed. The only problem that arose was when the other players sent me hundreds of friend requests. Not only that but they would flock around my group asking to come with me or hundreds of other questions I blatantly ignored. I guess a player being treated like royalty was a pretty big event, but I just tried to ignore the attention. Hopping on our horses we galloped away, leaving the others in the dust. We left the city with one extra person in my squad. The elder of the city wanted to send a contingent of his best guards, but I convinced him to send just one. Even so the elf’s level monstrous at level 152. As he followed silently behind us, we made our way to the Elvin capital which took about three days. Jake and Grimm hadn’t messaged me so I assumed they were doing fine at the fort and didn’t think anything of it once we arrived at the capital.
Chapter 35
As we entered the gates, it was like I was the Dark One himself. There was a huge welcoming parade that led straight through the city made of tall connected trees. The guard retinue that greeted me led me through the throngs of people to a massive white barked tree easily as tall as a mountain. At the base of the tree I was greeted by the leader of the Dark Elves. Bowing to each other, I was told before I entered the city by Elif that it was customary to bring gifts when meeting Kings of any race. This created an opportune time for me to pull out the bow.
Upon examining the relic, the king and his elder advisers were sent into a frenzy causing me to slightly grin at the sight of it. By the time they were done with their whisperings, Areon the king of elves approached me. He had pure white hair and eyes so brown they were almost black; his skin was pale but his body well-toned.
“I’m afraid we were not prepared for such generosity, though we expected you to come and ask for our aid we thought you to be like your ancestors and have no regard for us. You have truly humbled me and my advisers and we apologize for our impunity. Our home is your home Lord of Two Gods.”
After the introductions we were taken to a huge feast and finally after that we got down to business.
“The elves are going to be the front line of the war. I hate to say it, but that means your people will suffer greatly. This war is not about conquering, but about repelling the Light one’s forces and restoring the balance. This gives us the advantage since we will not have to move troops any further than the no man’s land. I will be visiting with the Drow and the Dwarves next. From there they will send forces to aid your elves in defending no man’s land. What movement have you seen from the Light Ones forces”
Looking at king Areon he spoke “Our intelligence troops suggest the Light One has not yet started rallying his troops, but instead is sending his priests to spread lies about how we are planning to attack and that they must be the ones to strike first or lose their loved ones. He is building up and psychological and moral base for his army even if it is wrong. It will be extremely hard to fight troops that pious, but luckily ours know the truth and will fight even harder. Our best guess is that he plans to attack in six months’ time. That is if he was to start pulling his troops from across his side of the continent right now but it is unlikely.”
I originally thought he would be on our doorstep any second but with that much time to prepare I began to change my strategy.
“Alright let’s do this, send your men to start on construction of four major forts. All of them will be spread evenly across no man’s land. This will force the enemy troops to have to siege and attack the forts at the cost of many men. This will hold them off for even longer because if the are stupid enough to not attack the forts and go right by, then we will be able to sandwich them between two forces and destroy them. If they leave half their troops at a fort and send the other half forward, they will lose their two on one advantage balancing it out anyways. This will neutralize their larger army advantage completely. While your troops start on that, they will be joined by the other races as soon as we can get to them. I encourage you to reach out to the sub-races since we won’t have time to visit them.”
We went over more strategies and tactics until it was early morning. Bleary eyed my squad ended up sleeping until midday. Upon awakening I was asked by an attendant to see the king. Guided to a dining hall I greeted the king who was sitting alone. Inviting me to breakfast we enjoyed a meal in comfortable silence until he finally spoke.
“Your knowledge of warfare, as well as your kindness has greatly surprised us. We should not have questioned the Dark One’s choice, but once we heard that it would be an outside person leading our armies we couldn’t help but doubt your character and ability. While we do not have much to offer because of our constant war with the light elves, what we can offer will greatly help speed your travels to the other races. We have teleport zones in each of our cities leading to the other races. These are known only to few for obvious reasons. You would have been teleported in the first major city but we needed to get a feel for who you really were. You are scheduled to leave in just a few hours and your elf guard is being sent back to his city since you will be teleporting. Before you go however, I would like for you to bless a couple of our altars.”
This was definitely the best gift I could have. A whole month’s worth of travel was going to be done in an instant!
“Thank you, that is very kind. I will gather my companions so they know as well as get ready to bless the altars”
Taking my leave, I went to get my companions and we headed to multiple temples so I could give them my blessing. After which we killed time by going through the multiple herb stores which Elif was ecstatic about. With her own money, she was able to buy a variety of herbs and an alchemy set so she could finally start making potions. Finally, the time came when we were escorted back to the castle.
We entered a small room made completely of pure white wood. In the middle of the room stood a 10-foot archway with a swirling blue center. It cast a glow throughout the room that sent peaceful waves cascading over me. Admiring the portal, my group took a few minutes before I stepped into it. A sense of nausea swept through me as I exited to the other side totally betraying the warm feeling the portal gave off. Leaning onto my knees and breathing heavily I took a few minutes to hold in my puke before I finally took in my surroundings.
As my companions stepped through the portal, I saw the small group that greeted me. And when I say small, I mean there were only four people and none of them were taller than five feet. They weren’t dwarves, but the Drow. Like the elves, they had smooth flawless skin and big oval eyes, but unlike the elves their skin ranged from dark to light blue. Their bodies were smaller but seemed to hold a strength that was coiled like a whipcord. Whereas the elves were taller than average and lithe, the Drow were like small coils that could most likely move at extreme speed and with great stealth. The four in front of me were clearly all part of the noble family. After being welcomed, we went through a process similar to the elves except this time I gave them the Twin Fangs I was given a gift in return along with my whole group!
Item received: Splendid ring of Speed. +30 Dexterity
Dang! That was only a splendid level gem! There were still a two levels above that. Each member of my group received a similar ring matching their class which made me realize the Dark Elves must have come through the portal and informed them before we came. Thanking them for the gifts I blessed more altars and gathered my group so we could spend the rest of our day visiting the village. There were quite a more magic shops in the massive Drow city. Unlike the Elves city the homes were designed a variety of ways. The outer edges consisted of houses inside of mounds in the earth, others were made from the trees like the elves and the last type was made of regular materials like the ones being built in my town.
The Drow were clearly more magically focused and the amount of enchanted tools and armor was stunning. While the Elves focused on potions and herbs, the Drow were focused on magic and the Dwarves obviously did forging. It took a while to browse through the shops and even then, we didn’t get through even a hundredth of them. The
whole group, even me, had picked up useful things. I got three rings that increased my stamina by a total of 30 which means I would be a lot safer when using my skills, another thing I noticed was that even though I hit over level fifty in stamina, because of the rings, I wasn’t rewarded with a new skill. I had assumed but it was still nice to know.
I woke up in a comfortable bed in the Drow palace and went to the rooms of each of my companions to wake them. Instead of planning with the Drow, we had decided to meet with all of the kings at once so that we could plan the war collectively. We gathered into the familiar room we entered through and right as I stepped through the portal, I blacked out.
Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes and noticed bodies strewn out all around me. My companions were laying on the ground a few feet from me, their bodies splayed awkwardly on the floor. Coming to my senses I shot up and ran to my companions checking to see if they were alive. Each of them still breathed and I let out a sigh of relief. Glancing around, the bodies on the ground were had thick limbs and were about the same size as the Drow. Dwarves.
“HAHAHAHA! You should have seen yer face! Looking around with big eyes like you just woke up in a battlefield. HAHAHAHA!”
A dwarf with a crown sat upon a pure gold thrown I hadn’t seen before. Taking a quick moment, I started to see the bodies of the floor start to move. Glancing around more, I saw tankards of golden brown liquid and huge kegs spread out along the wall clearly emptied of their contents. More movement in the corner of my eye caused me to turn back to the crowned dwarf and instinctively catch a “Restorative potion”. Seeing the Dwarf drinking his own I shrugged and downed mine. Suddenly a cold feeling scorched my veins and brain, I was hit with a wave of memories as I recalled what happened.
