Chapter 25 – Leaders of men – Part Two

Chapter 25 – Leaders of men – Part TwoChapter 25 - Leaders of men - Part Two

It was not until leaving the command tent, that I realised I had not inquired after how exactly Kirk was involved with Cecil and the Midnight Caravan. However, before I had a chance to ask, Cecil had been taken away by Cpt. Kristof and replaced by a familiar junior officer whose name I could not quite place.

“Ahem,” the junior officer, a Lieutenant, straightened her back and delivered a crisp salute. “Chieftain Tim, Field Marshal Klive, formerly Colonel Klive, requests a face to face meeting at your earliest convenience!” By no means trying to be forceful, it was obvious that the Lieutenant was just incredibly excited.

As I had expected, the Colonel had been promoted. Hardly a surprise given the value of the resources he was securing for his king and country. “Alright,” I agreed, “Field Marshal Klive and no more than two accompanying escorts may seek me out when he returns to Sanctuary. We have much to discuss.”

The Lieutenant snapped another salute then spun on her heel and rejoined a small squad of waiting soldiers. As they set out after the column of soldiers and supplies streaming out Sanctuary’s gate, the young Lieutenant took out a communication tablet and began earnestly relaying my response to her superiors, or so I assumed.

With no further need for lingering in the camp, I led the others back towards the public fountain. “Kirk?” I figured now was as good a time as any to indulge my curiosity.

“Uh, yes Tim?” Kirk had been taking in the surrounding barrows with genuine interest and hadn’t expected the question.

“How do you and Rose know Cecil and the caravan?” I asked, making sure not to use the Midnight Caravan’s actual title.

Kirk was quiet for a moment. “Well, we used to help out sometimes,” he admitted vaguely, “After a very close call, we said our goodbyes and took on more predictable work.”

I nodded in understanding. There were few parents who would entertain the idea of orphaning their child, even for a worthy and noble cause.

After reuniting Kirk with his wife and daughter at the hospital, Lash and I wandered through the Druids fields.

Children of all ages were running this way and that, stuffing their mouths with different fruits, nuts and berries while a rather large number of caretakers shadowed the periphery or trailed behind the most excitable groups.

“Lash?” There was still an important question I needed answered.

“Mmm?” Lash batted her vibrant amethyst eyes and leaned in closer.

“Where do monster babies come from?” I blurted out awkwardly.

Lash blinked.

“I mean, I know where they come from,” My cheeks flushed, “But I don’t see any pregnant women, and can’t remember having seen any either.”

“Oh,” Lash’s eyes flashed in understanding. Motioning for me to sit down, Lash sat down beside me. With one sweep of her powerful hand, she cleared a large patch of dirt in front of us. “Every woman taught Mothers Moon,” Lash explained, drawing crude yet unexpectedly artistic stick figure representations of a female Orc, Goblin, and assumedly Serpent-Kin. “All Deep Orcs same, other monsters different but also same,” She drew a large circle above each figure's head, then separated them with crescents, perhaps denoting phases of the moon.

“So it’s a monthly cycle? Uh...Every thirty moons?” I asked, trying to rationalize the reference.

Lash shook her head, “Longer. Much, much, longer.” She began drawing single-lined crescents in the dirt and after a while drew a single circle. “This, Mothers Moon,” Lash explained, pointing to the circle, “This now,” She pointed some distance back from the circle.

I counted the intervening crescents, “Sixty two days?” I asked uncertainly.

Lash nodded.

Mouth dry, I counted the remaining crescents, “Three years?!” I blurted out incredulously.

Lash seemed confused.

“From, uh, Mothers Moon, to the next one,” I pointed from the circle to the first crescent.

Lash nodded.

“That’s...That’s a long time,” I observed awkwardly.

Lash nodded and sighed, tucking her knees up to her chest and then resting her chin on them as she watched the children running and playing around us.

I pulled Lash closer and wrapped my arm around her, “Only sixty-two more days, right?” I asked nervously, feeling in no way confident about the prospect of being a parent.

Lash glanced at me from the corner of her eye and smiled, “Mmm,” She snuggled in closer, resting her head on my chest.

There was still one more question on my mind that concerned me, and had since Clarice first spoke of it. “Will it be dangerous for you? Having our baby I mean? Since I am an...you know...” I tensed at the attempt to say the word, but couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud.

Lash was quiet for a moment, then she glanced up at me with an expression of curiosity, “Half-Breed?” She asked quietly.

I nodded.

Lash smirked and then returned to snuggling into my chest, “Is fine,” she murmured reassuringly.

Not exactly the answer I was hoping for, or expecting, it still reduced my anxiety considerably. Childbirth was no joke, and I had next to no knowledge of oviparous pregnancy. Letting Lash nap for now, I was determined to rectify my ignorance at the next available opportunity. With that goal in mind, I made a mental note to speak with one of the female Serpent-kin Surgeons to thoroughly dispel my ignorance, and hopefully the remainder of my anxiety.

We sat there for close to an hour before one of the gate guards came to inform me of Field Marshal Klive’s arrival and request for a meeting. I sent the guard back with instructions that we would meet our visitors in the emptied grounds previously occupied by the army.

After gently waking Lash from her nap, we slowly made our way over to the assigned meeting place.

As I had expected, the newly promoted Field Marshal Klive was accompanied by the familiar faces of Lt. Rooke and Cpt. Kristof. They had brought a handcart full of assorted supplies, including but not limited to a sort of trestle table and chairs, as well as what looked like an expansive map and an official-looking document.

Field Marshal Klive, Lt. Rooke and Cpt. Kristof each snapped a smart salute upon mine and Lash’s arrival, which I took to be a good sign.

Once everyone was seated, Field Marshal Klive leapt straight into the thick of it. “Chieftain Tim, I have obtained both written and verbal consent from his Majesty, and as per your suggestion will be elevated to the position of Baron within the month. Is there anything in our preparations that you deem wanting before finalizing our agreement?” He asked, equal parts nervous and excited.

I shook my head, “I will require oaths first, but that is part of the process.” I turned my attention to the official-looking document, “This is?” I regretted not bringing one of the girls, or Tobi, to serve as translator.

“A written declaration of mutual defence and non-aggression between our peoples. It also stipulates that your laws take precedence in instances where territories overlap or border one another,” the way Field Marshal Klive confidently motioned to each section in turn gave me little cause to doubt his words, but I still made a mental note to have Nadine check it later. Who knew what legalese or potential loopholes were written in the fine print.

“And the map?” Despite the parchment being a large rectangle, the contents appeared to be perfectly circular.

“Shows the known geography of this floor,” Field Marshal Klive explained and looked expectantly at the Lieutenant.

“We are here,” Lt Rooke pointed with absolute certainty to a position west of the great river that divided the third floor.

“Have you approached the apothecary I asked for?” I asked somewhat offhandedly, only having just remembered that I needed his expertise to better develop paper and ink for record-keeping.

“Aherm, uh, negotiations are ongoing,” Field Marshal Klive replied tactfully, “Apothecary Jonas has concerns about terminating his contract with the Adventurers Guild early.

“He would be forced to pay a fine?” I asked, shifting a little to try and make myself comfortable.

“Well, no. But the long term lease contracts with the Guild cost a great deal of coin...” Field Marshal Klive explained with a hint of frustration, “We have offered to compensate him for the shortfall and relocation, but he was having none of it.”

I frowned.

“Jonas did offer the services of his nephew,” Field Marshal Klive hastily added, “He is less experienced, but appears to be in good standing with the Apothecary Society, and seems receptive to our offer.”

“Alright,” I agreed hesitantly. The whole reason I wanted Jonas was because I already had a reasonably good feel for his moral character. However, if I wanted things to run smoothly and make progress while I was training to become stronger, I needed the materials and means to make literacy commonplace amongst my people.

Field Marshal Klive smiled and then gave Lt. Rooke a curt nod, who in turn took out her communication tablet.

“Have you considered where to establish your Settlement?” I asked, turning my attention back to the map. Ideally, I wanted it close enough to trade with, but far enough that we would have a fair warning of potential dangers headed towards Sanctuary. All the more so, since both Settlements boundaries would continue to grow over time.

“Assuming we can expect help to develop a road of sorts?” Field Marshal Klive paused and gave me a questioning look. Sёarᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“Then our engineers and Rangers suggested establishing the Settlement on the opposite side of the river to the ruined Adventurer foothold. This will allow the Settlement to serve as an intermediary trading hub for the less trustworthy merchants, while those we can issue good behaviour bonds will be allowed to travel the road and make deals with Sanctuary directly. Unless you have changed your mind?” Field Marshal Klive really looked like he was hoping I wouldn’t change my mind.

I couldn’t blame him either, there was probably a great deal of money to be made running a trading post. Seeing the old foothold, and its portal, marked on the map, I looked back to where Lt. Rooke had marked Sanctuary. Even with a road, or more accurately, a solid straight path, the trip would still take two to three days on foot. “Will merchants want to travel that distance?” I asked sceptically.

Field Marshal Klive grinned, “For the spices you have to trade? Definitely! As an added security for Sanctuary, and for the merchants safety, we will provide armed escorts of trained soldiers and a Protective Ward to allow rest or camping at pre-established waystations.”

That seemed reasonable, and another good way for the Field Marshal to wring some more coins out of the merchants, all while being paid to keep an eye on them. “Alright,” I agreed, “That seems like a good plan. But I have another request.”

The trio of officers waited with baited breath.

“I want you to patrol the river too. I don’t want adventurers, mercenaries or sleazy merchants trying to raft across and cause trouble,” I explained. There was always a chance they would risk hopping through a portal without activating the homing beacon, but I was reasonably confident that the swamp would take care of most potential troublemakers attempting that method. Besides, the idea was to ward off the Adventurers Guild as a whole, not just individual members.

Field Marshal Klive nodded in understanding, “We can do that, but it will take time to build the ships.”

“That’s fine,” I agreed, plenty aware of the fact that shipbuilding was a whole engineering feat unto itself. “There is nothing else I can think of right now, so assuming you are willing to swear the oaths, then I will gladly uphold my end of the bargain.”

Field Marshal Klive and his two officers swore the oaths, as dictated, on the spot. Which was hardly surprising.

“Tell me, any of you, have you looked at your Status recently?” I was genuinely curious about this next part.

Field Marshal Klive and Cpt. Kristof stared blankly at nothing for a moment, while Lt. Rooke’s eyes seemed determinedly fixed on something in the upper left-hand side of her vision.

“Interesting,” I hadn’t known what to expect, but Rooke had all but confirmed it. The Human Species was recognised outside of my Settlement. “Eating a manastone progresses it further,” I teased, seeing that the other two seemed to have noticed their slightly altered Status as well.

“How?” Field Marshal Klive asked, his face quite pale.

Since they were under oaths of secrecy and loyalty, I had few reasons not to elaborate and explain things a little. “I promoted a human, gave her a title, and the Labyrinth now recognises Humans as a species of monster. Four Subspecies to be specific.” I couldn’t help but grin a little at the shock on their faces.

“Th-this is...” Cpt. Kristof stared at his shaking hands.

“Amazing!” Whispered Lt. Rooke, “What are our Abilities?!” She asked excitedly.

“Depends. Each Subspecies has a different one,” I explained.

Lt. Rooke’s shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment, “Only one?...”

“They are pretty interesting,” I countered cheekily.

“Lieutenant,” Field Marshal Klive held out an open hand expectantly, “A manastone if you please.”

After about ten minutes, the trio had finished their debate over which Subspecies, and by extension, which Racial Ability, was best suited for which roles and ranks in the armed services. The prevailing consensus was Cooperation, but there was a hard emphasis on having combinations of all four after I reminded them of Group Racial Synergies.

Inducting the trio into the Settlement and promoting Field Marshal Klive to Overseer was almost anticlimactic in comparison.

Since Field Marshal Klive intended to promote both Rooke and Kristof once he had finished inducting the remainder of his men, I decided now would be a good time to unlock A Leadership Class for each of them to later facilitate the progression into the Master tier. Besides, part of our bargain was that I teach and enable Field Marshal Klive to be able to do this himself.

At first, the trio had been somewhat sceptical when I led them out into the swamp and explained what we would be doing. However, after demonstrating how to pin a Swamp Lurker in relative safety, on a wild Swamp Lurker, the trio began taking my explanation much more seriously.

Kristof had volunteered to go first, and nearly lost his arm when he slipped on some mud and tumbled face-first towards the Swamp Lurker. However, Lash’s timely intervention in both pinning the Swamp Lurker and prying open its jaws, left Kristof with only a few punctures in his forearm and doubtless a large bruise come tomorrow.

After Lash suitably tired the Swamp Lurker to compensate for Kristof’s injury, he tried again and managed to fix the taming collar around the Swamp Lurker’s neck. Perusing Kristof’s Status, I confirmed that he had unlocked the expected Classes, in addition to one more I had not seen before but anticipated unlocking, Cavalier.

“Do you have experience and training in riding?” I asked, ignoring Kristof’s semi exhausted state.

Kristof nodded, “Y-Yeah, huf, part of officer, huf, training.”

“That would be it then,” I scratched my chin thoughtfully and nodded.

“Oh!” Field Marshal Klive exclaimed, apparently having checked Kristof's status for himself.

“Probably a combination of weapon training, a bonded mount, and riding training and experience,” I theorised aloud.

Rooke nodded, “Probably,” she agreed and then pointed a short distance off into the swamp, “Another one is coming our way,” Rooke warned.

Having seen firsthand how quickly the maneuver could go wrong, Rooke made damned sure to lure the Swamp Lurker up onto drier ground before attempting to pin and fix the collar around its neck. Just like Kristof, she unlocked Cavalier in addition to the other expected Classes. It was also interesting to see that Rooke had Archer, Scout and Swordsman in addition to the Ranger Class, providing potential hints as to how to unlock the Advanced Class.

When Field Marshal Klive’s turn came, he diligently followed our instructions and managed to tame the Swamp Lurker without serious issues. Positively beaming, his expression faltered somewhat while the Labyrinth made its predicted alterations to his Class. “Legate?” Field Marshal Klive asked uncertainly, his eyes widening in shock as he read through his Status.

Curious to see what Class Abilities the Legate possessed, I decided to take a look as well.

[(Class Ability: Eminence): Monsters slain by minions within range of a Settlement Totem generate bonus EXP that may be awarded through {Quests}. {Willpower} increases the range of Effect. Stored EXP:(26540)]

[(Class Ability: Banner of the Legion {Rank 0}): While the banner stands, so too does the Legion. Allies and minions within range of the banners are granted the {Resolute} Condition. Maximum number of Banners is determined by {Presence} (0:4)]

[(Class Ability: Fortified Position {Rank 0}): Allies and minions within range take reduced damage while in cover. {Willpower/Presence} increases the range of effect.]

[(Class Ability: Elite Guard {Rank 0}): Retinue size is increased by {Presence} (0:4). Retinue Exp penalty is reduced and Group Exp sharing range is increased.]

Although Legate had fewer Class Abilities to start with, they seemed reasonably impressive in terms of macro-level benefits. It was easy to see why Field Marshal Klive was so shocked. Taking a minute to explain what a Retinue was, and that every Lordship title got one, only intensified the shock even further. I couldn’t blame him either, Elite Guard, combined with a Cooperative Racial Ability was just begging to be abused.

Explaining generally how I believed the settlement claiming quest would work, once I issued it to him. I reinforced the fact that I believed abusing the Retinue system would be fine, but he otherwise needed to stick with a single party, otherwise, the quest might become unpredictable.

Mors and Krel, the one-horned Daemons currently working under Qreet in the fields, would be loaned to Field Marshal Klive in order to form the road, rest stops, basic defences, as well as provide food and water for the fledgling Settlement. I could tell he wanted other monsters with Synergies to come along as well, but I suggested he capture some beast monsters instead. Loaning two Daemons was already pretty generous in my opinion. I had also agreed to let Field Marshal Klive receive an advance on his share of the Underlord titles, so he could promote both Kristof and Rooke before heading off to found the second Settlement.

“Do you have a name in mind?” I asked curiously.

Field Marshal Klive shrugged somewhat helplessly, “Naming things had always been above my paygrade,” he admitted.

“Well, you could name it after your King,” I suggested.

“Magnus?” Field Marshal Klive replied sceptically.

I nodded my head and scratched my chin, “Could work,” I agreed, “Port Magnus?” People had named places after prominent figures all the time on Earth, but I never really questioned it. I wonder if it seemed weird to anyone at the time to refer to a place by the name of someone they knew personally.

“Ah, then I think I have the right name,” Field Marshal Klive insisted, “Port Gidian.”

Rooke and Kristof both nodded in agreement, their expressions solemn.

“A war hero?” I guessed.

Field Marshal Klive nodded, “The previous King,” he stated reverently, providing no further explanation.

After another three hours of planning and negotiating with Skrit, Whisp and Lash to loan five warriors as an auxiliary force to provide Racial Synergies and promote long term cooperation, both Field Marshal Klive and I agreed that issuing the quest itself should wait until morning. Since this would give his forces the best time advantage in heading to their destination, it only made sense.

Exempting seeing them off tomorrow morning, this would probably be the last time I would see Field Marshal Klive for who knows how many months. Building up a port town and its requisite defences would be no easy feat, even with the Daemon Druids capable of manipulating the terrain. There was also the distinct possibility of sabotage as well. Neither of us expected the Adventurers Guild to simply roll over and allow Field Marshal Klive to seize a chunk of their monopoly.

Lash and I stopped in to check on Hana and her sister. After defeating the Destroyer, I had hoped that they would both have recovered, but it was sadly not the case. Wraithe insisted that they both showed signs of improvement, but Kohana’s trauma was extensive and would take a long time to heal. Fighting, even through a proxy, had exacerbated their trauma. But the upside of eliminating the root cause was showing dividends in their recovery rate when compared to before.

Sending Lash ahead to pick a spot for eating dinner, I quietly instructed Wraithe to gather information on the breeding cycles of all the Species of monsters in Sanctuary. With the premise that we needed to be prepared for sudden influxes of children and the possibility of complications from pregnancy. Vaguely, I was aware that oviparous species did occasionally have problems laying their eggs, and after considering the process taking place in humanoid anatomy, it would be better to be safe than sorry.

As a potential parent mother, Wraithe quickly accepted the importance of my request and promised she would make it a priority for the Surgeons to compile all the information they could and provide a report.

Noting Toofy and Ril’s absence from the Grove’s fountain, I wasn’t surprised to see the pair giddily lobbing chunks of meat at Dhisi, who had already grown to two feet tall at the shoulder and close to ten feet in length. I had severely underestimated the metabolic effect of my own Iron Gut Racial Ability being shared by the Settlement. On the upside, it looked like Clarice might get her wish and be able to ride the giant monitor lizard as a mount if it continued consistently growing at this accelerated rate.

Taking a seat by Lash, I gratefully accepted the clay bowl of what looked and smelled like stew. When Lash handed me the utensils, I almost dropped them in surprise. It was a pair of small pointed sticks that immediately made me think of chopsticks. However, after watching how others were using them, it seemed the primary purpose was to lance pieces of meat or vegetable and then pull them off with your lips or teeth once they were in your mouth.

So when I started using them as chopsticks, it drew no small amount of attention. However, I quickly lost sight of my surroundings as a cascade of Status Alerts from Sanctuary blocked my vision.

With a grunt, I disabled the notifications, confident that Gric would be keeping a close eye on the Humans being inducted into the Settlement. Once Field Marshal Klive successfully claimed the second Settlement, all the soldiers would be transferred to that Settlement’s registry. The idea of loaning each other auxiliaries for the purposes of Synergies did have an appeal, so I had agreed to leave it to Gric and Field Marshal Klive to hash out amongst themselves. Similarly, Field Marshal Klive would send soldiers to Sanctuary to receive special Class training to avoid revealing accidentally to outside interests.

After helping Lash dismiss the notifications, we continued eating our dinner in peace.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us to the fourth floor?” I asked again.

Lash shook her head, “Clan few, need leader,” she explained reluctantly.

“I understand,” I took her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze, “No matter what happens, I will make sure to return before...you know?...” I lost some of my nerve as Nadine and Clarice began taking an active interest in our conversation.

Lash smiled appreciatively and gave me a fierce kiss, “You will,” she agreed adamantly, staring deeply into my eyes before shifting back into her seat again.

I blushed a little and cleared my throat, “Well, we won’t be leaving until the Settlement of Port Gidian is established anyway,” I reassured Lash before turning my attention to Nadine and the bulging satchel of records on the fourth floor that Lt. Rooke had provided, “Have you managed to find anything interesting?”

Nadine nodded and gulped down her mouthful of food, “The entire floor has been in a state of prolonged drought. The Adventurer Guild claims not to know why, but the foothold is also sitting on one of the only known bodies of water. The person who reviewed this report marked it as suspicious and requested an investigation,” she explained while pulling out another sheaf of papers. After flicking through them, Nadine found what she was looking for and held it out for me to look at.

Aware that Nadine knew I couldn’t read the language, I was surprised to see that I recognised the general format on the page. It was a balance sheet of some kind.

“This is the number of slaves sold to the Guild on the fourth floor each year,” Nadine explained, trailing her finger down the third column on the page. “Two years ago, the number of slaves nearly tripled. If you look at the expenses and appraisal columns,” she traced her finger to the right, “You can see that they paid nothing for the slaves, but valued them at around five to fifteen silver...” Nadine furrowed her brow and turned to the next page, “Oh...That’s why.”

“What?” I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Nadine’s cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment, “Sorry,” she apologised, “The slaves are almost all Orcs,” Nadine gave Lash a sympathetic look before elaborating further, “With how high the value is set, it’s basically guaranteed they are named monsters...”

Besides mild discontent, Lash had no other reaction.

Taking a moment to think about it, expecting a more extreme reaction was unrealistic. The Orcs being sold into slavery were not related to her in any way besides overarching Species.

“What is the landscape of the fourth floor like?” I asked, giving Nadine an easy out from her self inflicted awkwardness.

Nadine busied herself by searching through the satchel for a few minutes, until her cheeks had returned to normal. “Ah, here it is,” she withdrew a large roll of parchment and flattened it out.

Similar to the map of the third floor, the fourth appeared to be perfectly circular and had two markings on the map denoting the portal to the fifth floor and the Adventurer Guild. However, that is where the similarities ended. The circle looked like a swath of desert camouflage, covered in patches of sandy yellows and browns.

“Wow...That’s a lot of desert!” Clarice commented before enthusiastically shovelling more stew into her mouth.

Nadine nodded, “Maybe we should just skip the fourth floor?” She suggested, “Although we should still bring a lot of extra water, just in case.”

I nodded in agreement. Even though skipping a floor meant increasing the expected difficulty of monsters we would be facing, it was still more appealing than fighting and slogging through an endless desert.

The fifth floor looked somewhat interesting, featuring what looked like rolling hills and mountains skirted by forests. That is, of course, unless the cartographer was exaggerating. The foothold was located in what looked like a defensible mountain pass, while the portal to the sixth floor looked like it was in the middle of a forest.

A forest would be something of a change of pace after hanging out in a swamp for so long. It would obviously have its own dangers for us to contend with, but the more I thought about it, the more I was looking forward to it.

“Slave records aren’t as complete as the fourth floor...” Nadine muttered while pouring over another sheaf of papers, “Orcs, Goblins, Serpent-Kin and...” She blinked and took a closer look, “Razortusks?” Nadine furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Wha!” Clarice nearly choked on her food, “Fifth floor has Boarmen?!”

“Boarmen?” I asked, looking to Clarice to elaborate.

Clarice grinned, “You know, Boarmen, like the Gnolls but Boars! They are bloody tough! The fighting pits and arenas were always featuring fights with Boarmen!” She insisted emphatically.

An ugly human and boar hybrid took shape in my mind and almost put me off my dinner.

“We will need to be careful,” Nadine agreed, “But I still think maxing out our levels here on the third floor would be a much smarter approach.”

Clarice shrugged, “True, but we would miss out on trying to recruit more monsters for Tim’s city.”

“When was that a priority?” I chuckled in amusement.

“When you gave us Racial Abilities to Synergise with!” Clarice grinned greedily.

“She’s not entirely wrong...” Nadine agreed reluctantly, “The longer we wait, the more variants that will be enslaved.” She sighed and grew despondent for a moment, “I know we can’t save everyone...That’s just a fact. But waiting longer than we need to...I just don’t feel good about that.”

Clarice nodded sagely, “Mhm mhm.”

“So what will we do about the variants on the fourth floor?” I asked rhetorically. The idea of wandering around a desert was just as unappealing as it had been earlier.

“Not every monster Settlement will be friendly,” Nadine pointed out as a reminder.

“Not to humans anyway,” Clarice agreed, “Be lucky if some of the smaller ones are desperate enough for a new start. The big ones will definitely take one look at you Tim and think we’re on the warpath.”

I nodded and finished off the last of my stew.

Nadine took another look at one of the documents from earlier. After reading for a couple of moments she let out a sigh, “Maybe Tim could challenge for leadership and force them to join? It has got to be better than letting them all kill each other or die of thirst.”

As much as I loathed the prospect of forcing people off their land, the alternatives was hardly appealing. Either way, I would feel guilty over it, so it would be better to make the decision I could live with. At any rate, I wouldn’t have to make a decision for a few days at the least.

The plan was to wait for Field Marshal Klive to establish the Port Settlement, then we would head out for the portal to the fourth floor. Taking Ril with us, the idea was that she could provide us with an emergency portal back to Sanctuary if we needed it. It was one of the reasons I wanted to help her level up, and the other was the prospect of permanently linking Settlements together. For Sanctuary to be truly safe, I wasn’t the only one that needed to become stronger, and for the others to do it safely, we would need defensible enclaves on higher floors and the means to move quickly between them.

After tasking Qreet, Mors and Qrel to get a head start on forming the road, and attaching Dar as a guard, I followed Lash back to our room so we took an early night.

Standing before the hundred and something human soldiers who were standing at attention, I felt like I must look like some third world warlord inspecting expensive mercenaries. It didn’t help that I was dressed only in pants and a tunic, while Field Marshal Klive, his officers and soldiers were decked out in fine armour.

“Overseer Klive,” I made sure to project my voice and promote the gravitas this monumental event deserved, “I command you to claim the disputed territory in my name! Bring honour to your brothers and sisters in arms! AND BRING ME VICTORY!”

Public speaking was not something I had much experience with, let alone inspiring actual soldiers. So when the soldiers raised their arms and cheered, I felt Field Marshal Klive must have given them orders to do it beforehand.

All the same, a familiar notification appeared in front of my eyes.

[You have issued a quest to {Overseer} Klive to Conquer territory and found a Settlement under your dominion.]

[Success: Will establish a Settlement under {Overseer} Klive’s command and award {1} {Overseer} and {3} {Underlord} titles for distribution. {Sanctuary} will be designated as your Capital, upgrade your title to {Overlord}, and unlock {Lord} titles.]

[Failure: All minions under {Overseer} Klive’s command will be slain and prevent {Overseer} Klive from holding titles for {1} year per minion lost. Enemy leaders will have the opportunity to establish a Settlement.]

“That’s interesting,” I muttered distractedly. If I was understanding the failure penalty correctly, the minions would take the worst of it, while the commander, Field Marshal Klive would be barred from leadership. The most interesting part though, was that it seemed like the Underlords working under Field Marshal Klive would be let off the hook entirely, assuming they survived the failure.

Blinking away the notification, I gave Field Marshal Klive and his officers a subtle nod, everything seemed to be in order and I didn’t want to undermine their confidence or nerve. After all, they would need it. “How long has it given you?” I asked quietly, while his subordinates began the march through the swamp.

“Ten days,” Field Marshal Klive replied, a hint of nervousness in his tone.

“You should be fine then,” I reassured him, “With the druids creating walkways across the bog, you should make it with time to spare. It’s defending your Totem for twenty-four hours that will be the most difficult. When I undertook the quest chain, the wild monsters largely ignored us and would push to try and reach the Totem. Just keep that in mind, alright?” I had as much invested in his success as he did, so I didn’t want his forces to grow complacent and trip at the finish line.

Field Marshal Klive nodded determinedly, “And you said the quest did not generate additional monsters? Just those from the spawning hour at midnight?”

I nodded in confirmation.

“Then, gods willing, we will reach the future site of Port Gidian ahead of schedule and prepare adequate defences,” Klive took a deep breath then donned his helmet, ‘The people of Asrus will not forget your generous assistance. You are a true ally.” After giving me a crisp salute, Klive took on a double pace to catch up to the head of the column.

Returning to Sanctuary, Made my way over to the training grounds. True to her word, Lt. Rooke had made arrangements for riding instructors and a few stags sporting both taming collars and saddles. It made sense when I stopped to think about it. Why spend years training a horse to accept a rider, when you can snatch a perfectly obedient one from the Labyrinth? Then you only need to train the rider.

Making a detour, I fetched the Gnolls and Deep Orc smiths to come and inspect the saddles, bit, bridle and stirrups. There was a great deal they could learn just from looking at the completed examples. Similarly, I convinced one of the instructors to temporarily part with his armour and weapons so the smiths could take a closer look at how they were made. Obviously under orders, none of the instructors put up a fuss at the inconvenience.

Training intensely against five opponents at a time, I was slowly beginning to find a comfortable rhythm. I was still far from actually winning one of these training bouts, but the minor improvements to my spatial awareness when fighting were worth the bruises to my ego.

After stripping off my training armour to take a break and wash off, I found Lash watching Clarice and a couple of others taking riding lessons. Once i drew closer, I could see a nervous yearning in her eyes. “You want to try?” I asked Lash, leaning in and giving her a kiss.

Lash fidgetted nervously and nodded.

Seeing someone as powerful as her behaving so timidly was too cute. Waving over one of the instructors, I had him start walking Lash through the basics. The elk were quite large, so they would be able to accommodate her frame, but not mine, so after washing off, I took a seat and watched Lash smile excitedly as she coaxed her mount into a brisk trot.

By the late afternoon, I had returned to being beaten repeatedly with blunt weapons under the pretence of training. Just like my earlier training, I was showing signs of improvement, so I doggedly stuck with it until the evening. I didn’t feel bad for losing, not really. Strength and endurance I had in spades, what I needed was skill and combat instincts.

The majority of my training partners were Deep Orcs by necessity. In order to train effectively, I couldn’t worry about badly hurting someone and holding back, I needed to become more comfortable exercising and leveraging my full strength and size. Of course, that meant the hits I was taking in return were that much harder as well. But that wasn’t all bad either. With my training armour on, the blows hurt enough to be instructive, but not enough to do actual lasting harm.

The second day of training was more interesting. To balance out the rather static nature of my fighting practice, I had Qreet fashion an obstacle course and then spent most of the day running it over and over again. My manual dexterity, or Agility, was my greatest weak point, and any opponent with just a couple points higher could easily dodge or retreat before I had a real chance to land an attack.

The obstacle course was based on what I had seen in movies, featuring potholes, a climbing wall, rope swings, rope wall and commando crawl. By midday, Sanctuary’s kids had commandeered it as their own playground. I spent the rest of the day designing a massive playground for the kids to play on so I could get my training ground back. Knowing it would be incredibly popular, and that they would need supervision, the playground was made in the middle of the residential area.

I was only slightly surprised when I found Lash and Clarice exploring the playground later that evening alongside a horde of children. I had based it on what I could remember of a large playground in a state park my mum took me to a few times as a kid. Even though I only had Mum to play with, it had still been a lot of fun and was a happy memory.

Watching a Serpent-Kin teenager whiz from one end of the playground to the other on the flying fox, I remembered how terrified I had been when I first attempted to try it. Ziplining was something I never truly got used to. The long walks back had always been such a chore compared to the relatively short time spent in the air. All the same, the kids seemed to enjoy it well enough and it was good exercise for them too. It would help them burn off all the sugar from eating so much fruit and berries.

Getting ready for yet another day of weapon training, I was pleased to see that our pottery and smithing industries had been kicked into high gear. The smiths assured me they would be attempting to cast a huge iron cooking pot by the late afternoon. They seemed confident, so I was looking forward to seeing what they managed to put together.

Practising with the Swordsman Class instructor, I quickly realised that I would need to dedicate the rest of the week to get anything meaningful out of it in terms of weapon proficiency. However, the experience in terms of being on the receiving end and how to prioritise defending myself was invaluable. Training with the Spearman instructor was much the same. Without a radical increase in hand-eye coordination, I wouldn’t be changing from heavy blunt weapons anytime soon. On the upside, both instructors were able to teach me some better habits and tricks when using a shield, both defensively and offensively.

With the greatest threats to our team coming from Humans or humanoid monsters, I insisted that all the girls and Tobi spend at least three hours each day actively practising and training to fight against a humanoid opponent

Everyone agreed, but Tobi and Emelia seemed reluctant about leaving Sanctuary.

“We would just rather work at getting max level first,” Tobi explained apologetically, “I’ll definitely make sure we are ready to go next time,” he insisted determinedly, “We have been going out with our hunting team every morning and afternoon, so we are making solid progress. Just need more time...”

Emelia had remained silent throughout the exchange and had avoided eye contact as she was embarrassed.

“It’s okay, no one’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to,” I reassured them, “If you don’t think you are ready, that’s fine. Just bear in mind, before you hyper commit to the Classes you have now, there are other options. It could be worth speaking with Gric to evaluate your options from what we know how to unlock.”

Tobi grinned sheepishly and nodded, “I’ll definitely consider it,” he agreed.

Emelia just nodded.

“Tobi, could I speak with you alone for a minute?” There was something I had wanted to ask for a while now, but had been putting off because of my hectic training schedule.

“Uh, sure?” Tobi smiled and waved back at Emelia as we walked a short distance away.

Emelia waved back with a shy smile and then began wandering over to the cooking fires.

“So, uh, what did you want to talk about?” Tobi asked with a nervous smile.

“Shady is a Variant, isn't he?” I asked bluntly.

Tobi froze, “W-what?!” He spluttered, apparently shocked at the revelation.

“You didn’t know?” I studied his reaction closely and so no signs of deception.

Tobi shook his head, “You...you're sure?” He asked shakily, his face suddenly turning white as a ghost.

“Not completely,” I admitted. I was making a lot of assumptions to back up my rather limited observations.

Tobi nodded shakily and began pacing, his attention obviously elsewhere before suddenly coming to a stop, “What would it take to be sure?” He asked, a near manic intensity in his eyes.

“Well...I can think of one,” I admitted, “But it’s dangerous.”

“Let’s do it!” Tobi insisted.

I nodded in agreement, “We will need Shady.”

As if on cue, the Shadowcat suddenly materialised from a nearby patch of shadows, black smoke rapidly dissipating off his body.

Tobi looked at me expectantly.

“We need to remove the collar, set him free.” Saying it aloud sounded far more dangerous than the concept had seemed in my head. There were a lot of ways this could go bad if I was wrong.

“Okay...” Tobi gulped hard and nodded.

I stopped Tobi as he moved forward to remove the collar himself. If I was wrong, he would be mauled to death in seconds, better I do it. All Tobi would have to do is allow the removal of the collar and Enslavement.

I made my way over to Shady and gingerly unbuckled the collar, a momentary shudder of resistance signalled Tobi cancelling the Enslavement Bond. I finished removing the collar and stepped back. The fact that Shady had not attacked me proved little. Unlike the majority of wild monsters, Shady had been in my proximity long enough to know how I was a substantial threat, Tobi on the other hand was a different story entirely.

Just like Dhizi, Shady had a listed Intelligence of three, which I believed signified higher than Earth animal Intelligence in terms of advanced comprehension and reasoning skills. Shady’s eyes were far too aware compared to animals I had seen at the zoo or on television.

Rather than leaping forward or disappearing in a puff of black smoke, Shady just sat down on the ground and alternated between considering myself and Tobi. Far too relaxed, it was obvious that either Shady was making a show of non-aggression to encourage us to lower our guard, or that he genuinely meant no harm and was curious to see what was going to happen next. In either case, it looked like I had my answer.

“He’s a Variant,” I confirmed and was rewarded by an all too Intelligent stare from Shady. I concentrated mana into my hand and offered it palm up to the Shadowcat.

With only a moment's hesitation, Shady pressed his head into my palm, causing a Status Notification to appear in my peripheral vision.

[Settlement Alert {Sanctuary}: {Shady - Shadowcat} was recruited by {Lord Tim} as a beast minion.]

Shady casually removed his head from my palm, padded over to Tobi and licked his hand.

Any lingering doubts I had regarding Tobi’s character were swept aside by the Shadowcat’s overt display of affection. Even though Shady had been Tobi’s slave, it was clear Tobi had not abused the Shadowcat. If he had, I sincerely doubted that Shady would be so tolerant.

“You know what this means right? Shady has unlimited Evolution potential. You should probably start feeding him the manastones from your hunting trips,” I suggested happily.

Tobi seemed to be in a daze, “Uh...Sure...Right...”

Figuring he just needed time to adjust, and with the need for my training becoming that much more important now that we would be down two members, I headed back to the training field. There was a lot to do, and not much time to do it in.

*****

The fighting had been as fierce as the Chieftain had warned them it would be. The instant the Field Marshal had the statue erected, the surrounding swampland and river had surged into motion. Even though the Scouts and Rangers had thoroughly cleaned the immediate area, it quickly became obvious that the monsters were being drawn from an extreme distance. Without the loaned Druids defences and the Chieftains repeated warnings, they would have been overrun in minutes.

As is, Kristof was certain that the main reason the front line held at all was because of the auxiliaries Synergies. As high a level as he had been before taking on his new special Class, Kristof had never felt so powerful, and he could tell that the other officers felt the same. The feeling of no longer clinging to the bottom ring of the food chain was exhilarating and he couldn’t believe how far they had come in such a short amount of time.

The camp was swarming with activity as monster corpses were butchered for usable materials and their manastones harvested to fuel the Druids efforts to repair and reinforce the port’s defences. With less than eight hours until the monsters would begin respawning, half of the soldiers had been ordered to find what rest they could, while the rest prepared the port for the second wave. Kristof himself was responsible for overseeing the butchering and harvesting efforts. It wasn’t so much that they believed the men and women under their command would risk everyone's lives by withholding manastones for personal use, so much as his presence would make resisting the temptation that much easier.

The Druids were a marvel to watch in action, erecting walls and towers in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks. Granted the walls were densely packed thorns and the towers were trees, but given the circumstances, it was still incredible. Only a Geomancer could do better, and short of another miracle, they had no reason to be expecting one any time soon.

Attempts at negotiating for Druid Class training had been made, but the Chieftain had refused on the grounds that it had very specific requirements that couldn’t be emulated for quite some time. Rooke had later confirmed that he appeared to be telling the truth, so that had been the end of it.

Able to access the accumulated Exp stockpile within Sanctuary, Kristof and the other officers with promoted titles could issue quests to each other and their subordinates, which did wonders for bolstering morale of the rank and file. However, for Kristof himself, the Field Marshals proclamation to fully settle the port once it was claimed, was what compelled him to put forth his absolute best efforts.

The prospect of hiding his family away in the Labyrinth would have seemed insane only a few months ago. However, the situation on the border was growing worse with each passing day, and there were reports of spies infiltrating the outer cities and sowing discord. It was only a matter of time before the chaos would spread to the interior. So when the Field Marshal offered each soldier the opportunity to have their family the opportunity to migrate to Port Gidian, Kristof had accepted without reservation.

Granted, their families would be expected to take the elixir and participate in mandatory militia training each week, but it was a small price to pay to ensure their safety. Besides, the Labyrinth would still present its own dangers, so being trained to defend themselves was to their benefit.

“How’s things?” Rooke had approached from his blindspot and was making a show of rifling through the bloody manastones.

Kristof smiled stiffly and shrugged, “Making progress.”

Rooke grinned and stretched her neck, “He wasn’t kidding you know. We just finished making our patrol. There's more than a five-mile draw radius, which is why the defences on the riverside keep being attacked,” she shrugged and turned her attention to the Druids. “Could you imagine if we had our own Druids?” Rooke sighed wistfully.

Kristof nodded appreciatively, “Yeah...Shame we could only arrange for a loan.”

“Better the loan than nothing at all,” Rooke hung and shook her head as he chuckled ruefully, “Even Geomancers aren’t this useful. We were effectively under siege, yet had close to unlimited food and clean water. That’s crazy!” She grinned and rubbed at her neck, “Why didn’t we have them six years ago?”

Kristof grunted in agreement, then a short pause passed between them. “Are you bringing your family once we get things settled down?” He was genuinely curious since Rooke hadn’t really talked much about it.

Rooke nodded, “Just trying to think of how I am going to explain to Bobby that I lay eggs now,” she snickered in amusement.

Kristof’s stomach churned and he suddenly felt very cold. “Ah...right...” He had forgotten about that. Even though they had no confirmations yet, there was a distinct possibility that their new Racial Abilities came with ‘other’ changes.

“You thought about how you are going to explain it to Lucy and your girls?” Rooke asked with a devilish grin.

No, no Kristof had not. “Ah...I don’t suppose?...”

“I suppose I could talk to the girls for you,” Rooke agreed slyly, a fox-like grin on her lips, “But you will owe me a favour in return.”

“What is it?” Kristof asked with a deep sense of foreboding.

“My eldest, Teddy, you know Teddy right?” Rooke asked rhetorically.

Kristof nodded, he had met Rooke’s brood on a number of occasions. Theodore, or Teddy, was from Rooke’s first marriage. A quiet bookish kid, he had taken after his father and was built like a lumberjack. “He has to be around sixteen, seventeen now right?”

Rooke nodded, “Eighteen next month. Well, Teddy wants to pursue a career in logistics, and a recommendation from a ranking officer could go a really long way to securing a good position.”

Kristof could see where this was going.

Rooke gave him a weighty look, “And since I can’t do it because-”

“-Because logistics hates you?” Kristof replied.

“-Because logistics hates me,” Rooke agreed with no small measure of pride, “I figured the recommendation and guidance provided by a close family friend could really prove useful.”

Kristof groaned and rubbed at his brow, “I’ll do it.”

Rooke patted Kristof on the back, “You have made a wise decision,” she reassured him, “Teddy’s a good boy, and those stuffy bureaucrats would know that if they just gave him a chance!”

Kristof ignored Rooke’s ranting and tried to concentrate on the positives. Soon, the port would be established and his family would be safe from the predations of the looming war. As the first settlers, they would be awarded tax breaks and even be allowed to petition for startup collateral for establishing businesses and services the port would need in order to function. Lucy had always wanted to try her hand at running a tavern, but raising their girls ensuring they had a good education wasn’t cheap, so they had lacked the opportunity before now. Kristof made a mental note to lead with that, hopefully, it would cushion the blow when Rooke informed them they were now egg-laying monsters...