Shadow Sun Progression: Shadow Sun Book Four

by Dave Willmarth

Allistor was impressed by the initiative taken by his lead battle droid. “Thank you, Nigel. Please ask Prime to join me in the lobby. Also, is Ramon here in the city?”

  “General Prime is already on his way to this location. He will arrive momentarily. Baron Ramon is at his Citadel on the island. Shall I summon him for you?”

  “No, thank you Nigel. Please just connect me so I can speak to him.”

  There was a slight pause, then Ramon’s voice seemed to echo up from the floor. “Morning, boss. How’s the head? I hear you overindulged a bit last night?”

  “Oh, man. If Harmon or any of the orcanin offer you that clear stuff that smells like licorice, don’t drink it. I might still be a little drunk right now.” Allistor grinned at nothing in particular. “Listen, clearly you’re up on the latest gossip, but I wanted to be sure you’re aware that we picked up about four hundred new citizens yesterday, and may bring in as many as a thousand more today and tomorrow. Not to mention the thirty thousand or so beastkin that will be joining us soon. I wanted to talk to you about beefing up your capabilities when it comes to scrolls and such.”

  Ramon coughed once before answering. “I’m glad to hear you weren’t expecting me to just pull thousands of scrolls out of my ass. And yes, let’s talk about increasing our capabilities. Want me to come over there? Or would you like to stop by my workshop here?”

  Seeing Prime crossing the lobby toward him, Allistor replied, “Prime and I will come there. Anything you’d like me to bring with me?”

  “Scroll parchment. We’re working on a way to craft our own from wood pulp, but for now we still need to buy it. Luckily it’s cheap and available in large quantities. Load me up with a few thousand sheets?”

  “You got it, man. I’ll be there in a few. Just need to poke around and take care of a couple things here, first. Oh! And it seems we didn’t kill all the goblins yesterday. So if you and Nancy want in on hunting the rest, we’ll need to handle that very soon.”

  “You know it. Always up for some sweet xp. See you in a few.”

  Prime stopped in front of Allistor and saluted with a fist to his chest. “Good morning, Sire.”

  “Good morning, Prime. I wanted to commend you on your decision to send droids to follow the goblin scouts. Thank you for taking the initiative.”

  “You are most welcome, sire. I endeavor to anticipate and provide for your needs.”

  “And you’re doing a fine job. I wanted to ask, when you upgrade your troops, I know there is a tank variant with heavier armor, and a flight-capable variant. Is there a scout or stealth configuration?”

  “There is, yes. Currently I have thirty battle droids modified for scouting. Their armor now features a light-bending tech that renders them nearly invisible to biological entities. It also masks their already reduced internal heat signature to avoid heat-sensing abilities both biological and technological.”

  “That’s awesome! I don’t suppose that material is available for armor my people could use?”

  “I believe there is a mercenary guild that makes regular use of such armor for its fighters. However it is not as effective as the natural stealth abilities many biologicals are able to employ.”

  “Right. That makes sense. I’ll ask Michael to look into it. Maybe he can learn to craft something similar, but better. In the meantime, how are you doing as far as troop strength? Do you have enough to cover our rapidly expanding territories?”

  “I have sufficient forces for your current holdings. However, if you continue your current rate of expansion, I will need to increase our capabilities, or reduce deployment levels to free up units for new duties.”

  “Then let’s get you some more troops. I don’t have plans right this minute to expand further, but stuff happens. And I want to be prepared. How about another five thousand battle droids?”

  “That would allow for significant additional expansion, sire.”

  “Nigel, I’m authorizing Prime to order an additional five thousand troops, modified as he sees fit. And an appropriate number of charging stations. Please let Chris know, as well?”

  “Certainly, sire.” Nigel replied. “Also, Master Longbeard wishes to speak with you.”

  Have him join me here, please. In fact, ask all four of the analysts to join me. I want to discuss a few things.”

  There was a delay of approximately fifteen seconds before Nigel reported. “Your analysts have been notified of your desire to meet, and will arrive in two to three minutes.”

  “Thanks Nigel. Prime, I’m heading to Ramon’s Citadel for the next hour or so, if you need me.” The general saluted again and departed, heading toward the teleporter. While he waited for the advisors, he spotted William headed his way, staff in hand.

  “Allistor! I got six levels during that fight yesterday! I’m almost level nineteen!” the boy was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

  “That’s great, William! Did you do as I instructed and put points into Intelligence and Will Power?”

  The young squire nodded his head. “Some of them. I got twelve points, so I put four each into those, then I put two into Constitution, one into Stamina, and one into Adaptability.”

  Allistor put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “That was good thinking, buddy. Never hurts to have a little extra health and energy. And I’m pretty sure Adaptability is what kept me alive in those early days. I’m proud of you.”

  William beamed up at him, then a look of consternation crossed his face. “I want to pick Knight as my class, but the system won’t let me.”

  Allistor crouched down so that he was face to face with the boy. “That might be because of your age. Or the fact that you’ve just become a squire. I’m not really sure. But we’ll check into it. There’s no rush. You just keep training, learning, and getting stronger.”

  “But your announcement said everybody who could pick a class needed to hurry up!” William’s eyes looked worried.

  “That was just so I know what kind of trainers to hire, buddy. And I already know what you want, even if you can’t pick your class yet. So I’ve got you covered, okay? Don’t worry.”

  Looking relieved, William just nodded his head. Allistor stood and waved at the approaching advisors. “I won’t be doing any crafting today, so you’ve got the day to yourself. Though if you want to come with me to visit Ramon, Nancy, and Chloe, you can tag along. Maybe do some fishing, or play with Max?”

  “Yesss!” William nodded. “I bet I’m a higher level than Chloe now!”

  Grinning, Allistor greeted the analysts. In addition to Master Longbeard the dwarf, there was L’olwyn, Selby, and Droban the minotaur, who he hadn’t seen much of since the massive creature had accepted the analyst position. Droban’s specialty was research, and he tended to stay locked away much of the time, buried deep in his various information sources.

  “Thank you all for coming. If you wouldn’t mind accompanying me, I’m headed to see Ramon at his Citadel. There are some things we need to discuss that I think you all should be up to date on.”

  Each of them nodded in respect as they fell into step with Allistor and William, all of them moving toward the kiosk, where Allistor quickly purchased ten thousand sheets of scroll parchment. After inserting the material into his ring, he led them to the teleport pad and through to the Citadel on what was formerly Governor’s Island. Chloe greeted them at the pad, immediately dashing forward and throwing herself into Allistor’s arms.

  “Allistor! I missed you. Welcome to our castle!” She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and squeezed, and gave him a peck on the cheek. Then, realizing there were other guests, she squirmed to be let down. As soon as she was on the ground, she gave a slight bow to the advisors. “Welcome, honored guests. Please allow me to escort you to…” She paused and whispered to William, “Where do they want to go?”

  When the boy just shrugged, Allistor helped her out by whispering, “Ramon’s new workshop.”

  “Allow me to escort you to the workshop!” The
little girl smiled brightly at Allistor before taking William by the hand and leading them all toward the old fort building that Ramon had recently modified. As they walked, Allistor heard her quietly tell William, “Momma is teaching me stuff like the proper way to greet guests. You should learn it too.” William looked thoughtful, then nodded. He took his duties as a squire quite seriously.

  It only took a few minutes for them to reach Ramon and his new workshop. Which was basically a giant open room with bookshelves covering every wall from floor to ceiling, except where they were interrupted by doors or windows. Crafting tables and reading tables littered the open space in the middle, and at least a dozen citizens were hard at work. Some were inscribing scrolls, others mixing ingredients to create different colored inks.

  “Allistor! You brought a whole posse with you. What’s up?” Ramon nodded a greeting at each of the advisors, then gave William a wink and a fist-bump.

  “Well, you know I wanted to talk about scrolls for the new recruits. And we have a few other things to cover. Is there someplace private we can sit and talk? Also, the new place is awesome!” he scanned the room again, smiling.

  Ramon quickly led them through a side door into a dining room with a long table. Everyone except William and Chloe, who disappeared to go find Max and do kid-and-dog stuff. When everyone had taken seats, Ramon got things started.

  “Okay, about scrolls for the new people. We’re cranking them out as fast as we can, but it’ll take us months to produce more than thirty thousand of each of just the basic three healing, light, and fire scrolls. Let alone the more advanced spells.”

  Allistor sighed. “I figured as much. We could recruit more helpers for you, prioritize scrolls for those who are going to be fighting. New raiders, people who join the crews clearing buildings. And if we have to choose one spell to focus on, I say make it the heals.”

  Ramon raised a hand to stop Allistor. “We were thinking along the same lines at first. But I think we have a better alternative. You know that Nancy has mastered her growth spell, and has been able to teach it directly to others without using a scroll. If we can do those basic spells that way, with several of us having mastered those spells and being able to teach them directly, it would save a lot of time, and materials. And it would free up my people to focus on the more advanced items, which we’ll need fewer of.”

  Allistor grinned at his friend. “And do we have people who have mastered all the spells?”

  Ramon shook his head. “No one person that I’m aware of has mastered them all. It takes a lot of practice casting each one before you reach the level where you can teach. Nancy was fast-growing veggies and fruit trees for the better part of a year before she reached it. But there are a dozen or so healers that have cast the basic Restore spell enough to teach it. And two of the raiders I’ve spoken to can teach the Light spell, having used it in many raids. There might be more. Four of them have mastered the basic Flame Shot spell. I think with a little time, several more could reach mastery of those two.”

  Allistor quickly checked his own skill sheet, and was surprised to find that the only spells he’d mastered were Restore and Barrier. The others were advancing, but he hadn’t used them often enough, apparently. “I can teach Restore, and Barrier. But I don’t know if Barrier requires a specific class?” He looked toward the advisors.

  Droban’s deep voice was the first to answer. “There are indeed a few spells that are restricted to specific classes. Though they are mostly higher order spells that require certain other class skills be learned as a prerequisite. Most spells can be learned by anyone with sufficient personal level, Intelligence and Will Power. Some spells that are more physical in nature, like Berserker Fury or Levitate have additional Strength or Stamina requirements.”

  Allistor’s pulse quickened when the minotaur mentioned Levitate in relation to requirements, and he made note to clarify that. “Right! Some of the scrolls we found, like Dimensional Step, had minimum requirements. Which is why I was the one to use it.”

  “Exactly so, Allistor.” The minotaur nodded.

  “Thank you, Droban. Since we’re on the topic, I want to quickly ask you more about Levitate, specifically. I tried to use it to lift something very heavy yesterday, and I seem to have injured myself. It burned my insides until I let the spell drop, and then each time I tried to cast after that, I felt significant pain.”

  Selby spoke before Droban could, standing up in her chair and leaning across the table toward Allistor. “Did you pass out? How bad did it hurt? Does it still hurt now?” she rapid-fired questions at him, a concerned look on her face. The other advisors shared similar looks.

  “Uhhh… on a scale of one to ten, the pain was a solid nine when it first happened. No, I didn’t pass out, but I did scream like a little girl. It hurt less toward the end of the day, yesterday. And I actually only cast restore a couple times this morning. The pain was much less.” He grinned at them before adding, “Amanda grounded me from casting last night.”

  Selby snorted, hopping from the chair up onto the table and walking across until she was face to face with Allistor. She reached out a tiny hand and pried open one of his eyes, looking deep inside. He saw her own eyes begin to glow with magic much like when Amanda cast her Internal Analysis. After a few seconds, the glow faded and she turned to walk back to her seat.

  “You’ll be okay. But you got very lucky. I think you just damaged a few pathways instead of burning yourself out altogether.”

  Both Ramon and Allistor spoke the same word at the same time. “Pathways?”

  Selby looked at them both like foolish children for a moment, then sighed. “I keep forgetting that you’ve not had trainers here before now. Or anyone to explain the basics of your abilities.” She looked left and right at the elf, dwarf, and minotaur, but none of them volunteered.

  “Okay so you know that your bodies contain a finite supply of mana, the extent of which is indicated by the blue bar, and the numeric designation in your personal interface.” She waited as both men nodded. Ramon held up a hand for her to wait, then stuck his head out the door, shouting instructions. Returning to his seat, he asked, “Can you hold on for about two minutes? I want Nancy and the others in the building to hear this. Then we can pass the information on to everyone else.”

  Allistor took it a step further. “Actually, do you mind if we just transmit this to everyone? I’m sure we all need to know what you’re about to reveal.”

  “I don’t mind at all.” The little gnomess smiled. “This isn’t top secret or anything. In normal circumstances you would learn this in your first lesson from a trainer.”

  “Nigel, can you record and transmit a hologram of this in each location?”

  “Certainly, sire. It would take a few minutes for your people to gather in significant numbers.”

  “Please give me loudspeaker, everywhere. Can you project the images in… the courtyards of each Stronghold? Or the dining areas?”

  “Either, as you prefer. Whenever you are ready.”

  “Hey everybody, Allistor here. We’re about to transmit a hologram of Advisor Selby laying down some vital information about how magic works here on Earth. I need as many of you as possible to stop what you’re doing and move to either your Stronghold’s dining area, or the courtyard, so that you can see and hear. We’ll start in five minutes. If you’re in the middle of something you can’t put down, don’t sweat it. You’ll be able to get the info later.”

  Allistor made a cutting motion across his neck, letting Nigel know to turn off loudspeaker, and start the timer. Nancy walked into the room and sat down next to Ramon, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Okay, while we wait for everyone to gather, a few quick things. First, I spoke to Amanda, and she has agreed that we should delay the wedding for three months. I also told her about the likelihood that other factions would try to marry their daughters to me. She wasn’t so agreeable on that point.” He paused as Nancy snorted, giving her a dirty look th
at made both her and Ramon laugh.

  “Anyway… I need all of you advisors to help us figure out how we decline any additional brides for me, without offending the other factions. This is important. We’ve got three months at least to come up with a strategy. And longer if we can convince everyone that my ‘first wife’ wants me to herself for a while.” The advisors all nodded their heads, none of them feeling a need to speak. When Nancy chuckled softly, Allistor added, “Maybe I can pass potential brides off to my ministers and vassals, like Baron Ramon?”

  Nancy glared at him, sticking her tongue out as Ramon coughed in surprise.

  “Next, L’olwyn we’ll need some of your time to train us on proper behavior, manners, which fork to use, whether to stick a pinky out when sipping tea, whatever. Assume we’re barely more than trained apes with no social graces whatsoever, and start there.” He grinned at the elf.

  “Of course, Allistor. I would be happy to help.”

  Allistor looked at Ramon and Nancy. “Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t hurt for all of my ministers and advisors to attend the lessons. Since you’ll be attending formal functions alongside us.”

  Nancy nodded her head, smiling even as Ramon rolled his eyes and asked, “Is it too late to resign?”

  Nigel interrupted before Allistor could poke at his friend. “Sire, approximately ninety two percent of your citizens have gathered in appropriate places.”

  “Thank you, Nigel. Please begin the projection. First myself, then Selby. And anyone else in the room who offers up additional information.”

  “Go ahead, sire.”

  “Hello again, folks. I hope all of you can see me clearly, or at least hear my voice. A few minutes ago I asked our advisors about a situation during the battle yesterday.” He paused and sighed. “For those of you who haven’t heard yet, we found approximately a thousand other survivors in a stronghold here in Invictus City. They were under attack by a goblin horde. There was a fight, and about a thousand goblins died. We lost Frank and Chuck, two of our own, and the Stronghold lost about sixty of their people. During the fight, I tried to Levitate a K-rail, and hurt myself. Apparently I overdid it, which is dangerous. Selby is about to explain to all of us what I did, and why none of you should ever, ever do what I did. Selby, if you please.”