“Elder Aetra.” The man that had shouted previously spoke in a respectful tone as the elderly figure approached us.
“So, if ‘Player’ isn’t your race, just what are you?” She asked, curious. “You have neither tails, scales, nor the ears of beasts.”
“I’m a halfblood.” I admitted freely. “A cross between an elf and an orc.”
“I’m a halfling. It’s not really half anything, it’s just… it means I’m a short race.” Diane said, glancing off to the side in frustration.
“I’m an elf.” Bella told them with an awkward chuckle.
The elder nodded her head at that. “We’ve never heard of any races like those before. For the record, since this seems to be your first time seeing us, we are the Chimerae. Our bodies naturally take on the aspects of various beasts throughout our lives.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Elder Aetra.” I said in a sincere tone, bowing towards the shorter elder before me. “I must inform you, we aren’t the only players. We just have an advantage when it comes to speed, so we travelled a bit far from the rift before looking for someone to interact with. It’s only a matter of time until other players arrive, as well.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing for us?” Aetra asked, arching a brow.
“It… could be bad.” There was no point in hiding the truth from them, as it would only strain relations later. “There are people among the players who have exceptionally strong talents, and an inherent right to rule a nation. However, there was no unclaimed land to rule back in our realm, so there are likely those among the players who will seek to claim new land by whatever means they can.”
Aetra nodded her head, eyes focusing on me once again. “And for you to come all this way to get ahead of other players… you are among one of those special individuals, I take it?” She asked, and I widened my eyes in surprise. Several of the nearby chimerae gripped their weapons at this revelation.
I took a deep breath, nodding my head. “That’s right. However, I have no desire to claim territory through force. If you don’t want me to settle here, I will simply move elsewhere. But first, would you mind if I tried something? I promise, whether this attempt succeeds or not, it will have no negative impact on you or your people.”
Aetra kept staring into my eyes, and I felt as if she were looking straight into my soul. “Very well. You may perform your test.” She said, much to the protest of the other warriors.
I didn’t pay attention to their cries. Instead, I focused on creating a simple quest, sharing it with Aetra. The quest was to collect any useful herb, and the reward was the Herbalism skill. When the quest appeared in front of her, she blinked in surprise. “Oh? What’s this?”
“This is a quest, one of the ways players grow stronger. I’m… okay, this is difficult to explain. I’m not strictly a player. Rather, I’m someone that used to be a player, known as a Fallen. Bella is the same. It’s just easier to introduce us all as players to people that don’t understand the terminology.” I admitted, and Aetra nodded.
“The reward for the quest I gave you is a basic gathering skill. Since your people didn’t seem to understand about skills or levels, I wanted to see if you would be able to learn skills yourself. If you could, that is a way for you to get far more powerful. For instance…” I lifted my hand, generating a giant projection of an armored warrior standing behind me. Immediately, the soldiers of the village stepped back in alarm, their eyes wide.
“You wield magic without a ritual, or any runes?” Aetra asked in surprise, catching me off-guard.
“N-no, this actually isn’t a magic skill. It’s a skill that purely uses the energy of the body to manifest different shapes. Though, I would certainly like to hear more about those rituals and runes.” I said, sending a meaningful glance towards Diane, who returned it with a firm nod.
“I see… And this power can be learned by anyone who fulfills your quests?” Aetra questioned.
“That’s… difficult to answer.” I responded, massaging my temples. “To get it to this level, you would have to start training from a far weaker version of the skill, eventually leveling it up to the point where you can perform feats like this. Another skill I have allows me to change my form.”
To demonstrate, I used False Identity-X and changed my skin tone to match Bella’s, grew scales along my forearms, and a long feline tail. “Maybe now I fit in a bit more with your people?” I asked with an awkward chuckle.
Aetra, however, shook her head. “I would rather see you as you really are. Putting on a false front would not benefit either of us.”
I nodded, returning to my previous appearance. After I did so, Aetra asked another question. “If you were to inhabit this land, what would it mean for my people?”
“Elder Aetra!” Chana shouted out in protest. “You can’t be serious!”
“I am merely gathering information.” Aetra answered, without even turning to face him.
I hesitated, before shaking my head. “In truth, I don’t know myself. Right now, I have the option to initiate a land claim, but I don’t know what will happen if I choose to accept it. We could be swarmed with monsters or other natural disasters. That’s why, before anything like that is decided, I intended to construct fortifications in whatever area I chose.”
Aetra nodded her head, seeming satisfied with this answer. “In that case, you can build your fortifications at the base of the eastern mountain. That should be far enough to not trouble my people, and close enough that we can evacuate there if monsters should appear that would threaten us. I assume you wouldn’t be against providing shelter if your claim ultimately caused a disaster for my people?”
I quickly shook my head. “Of course not. Please, if anything looks dangerous, send anyone you want over. I promise that I’ll provide shelter to as many people as I can.”
Chana grit his teeth, still fuming at the direction the conversation went. However, he no longer questioned the elder, who waved at us as we left towards the nearest mountain. “Are you sure it’s okay to build this close to the village?” Bella asked in concern, glancing back at the children playing with a sewn leather ball.
“If you’re worried about the kids, don’t be.” I said, shaking my head once we were far enough away. “Those children are probably stronger than you are.”
When I said this, both Bella and Diane widened their eyes in surprise, Bella looking back at the innocent-looking children while Diane focused her gaze on me. “Explain.”
“The lowest level child I saw here was level one hundred and fifty.” I told them as we walked. I could have simply teleported us to the base of the mountain, but I didn’t want to make any moves that would startle the villager. “The strongest, that elder, was over level five hundred. Rather than being worried about drawing trouble for them, I’m thankful that they let us build so close, since they might help us defend against whatever threats appear in response to the land claim.”
When she heard the levels of the villagers, Bella’s eyes shook in shock. However, Diane nodded her head, seeming to understand something. “So, one of the challengers players must face to establish their land is ‘diplomacy’. They need to either be strong enough to overwhelm the natives, or kind enough to earn their trust.”
“B-but isn’t that unreasonable? I mean, you said that the highest level players now were only in the low two hundreds. They’d just be punching bags for the average chimerae warrior, right?” Bella asked, but I shook my head.
“It wouldn’t be that extreme. Not yet, anyways. The natives of these planes don’t possess skills. Although Chana was a level four hundred and fifty warrior, he was limited to only basic attacks. If you gathered a team of players, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to kill him with the power of skills. However, once the natives join a kingdom, they will be able to start learning skills, either from skill books or from Fallen that give them quests. Let the NPCs like Chana train some skills, and their power will skyrocket.”
Bella blinked when she heard this, nodding slowly. It didn’t take long for the three of us to reach the base of the mountain. From this position, we could just barely see the village in the distance.
I took a deep breath, activating True Dragon Manifestation, focusing on the Martial Construction skill. A large part of my training over these last few weeks had been planning fortifications to prepare for this event. Thankfully, the land that Aetra suggested for me was perfect for my skill, having an overabundance of stone.
If I needed any wood, I could go to the forest nearby to collect it, but just the stone alone would be enough to get started. I activated my evolved Construction Worker skill, loading up the blueprints for the fortress walls that I had created.
Then, with the release of a breath weapon, I watched as the walls began to rapidly construct themselves on the stone surface. Each wall was more than three meters thick, and hundreds of meters long. Along the top of the walls were embattled parapets, making them easier to defend by any troops stationed atop them. Furthermore, I made evenly spaced towers along the walls.
For the time being, I did not construct an inner fortress. If we were going to be attacked by monsters, it would be better to have as much open space to fight in as we could. Houses and such could be constructed after the initial challenges were settled, and I could easily expand the walls.
With that in mind, I looked at the system window, and the flashing message that it presented me.
|
All requirements have been met! Do you wish to initiate a land claim? |
I nodded my head, accepting the message. The window flashed, a new message appearing in front of me.
|
The Trials of the King have begun! You have three hours to prepare your settlement. After that time, all monsters within twenty kilometers will be drawn to your location. In order to establish your fledgling kingdom, you must subdue all challengers! Time until assault: 02:59:57 |
I pursed my lips, reading the message. “Bella.” I looked over at her. “I need you to run back to the village and warn Aetra. In three hours, every monster in a twenty kilometer range will start attacking. They’ll know what creatures live here, and whether this is a serious threat for them to consider.”
“Eh?” Bella blinked, pointing at herself. “You could just teleport over there. Why do you want me to go warn them? Why not you or Diane?”
“You have a more approachable face than Diane, and I need to modify my blueprints.” I said, earning a raised brow from Diane when she heard that comment. “Hey, you’re the one that wanted to go for the stoic, disinterested roleplay.” I told her in a teasing tone.
Bella nodded her head, before sighing and turning to run out of the nearby gate. Once she was gone, Diane looked at me curiously. “What modifications do you need to make?” She asked, and I walked over to the walls.
“Given the levels of the villagers, I can only imagine what level the monsters around here are. So, I want to enhance these walls as much as I can, whether it’s making them thicker or higher. If you have any runes that you can draw to reinforce the walls, that would be appreciated as well.”
Diane pursed her lips, nodding her head. “Three hours, right? I’ll make some scrolls that we can attach to the walls.”
