The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

Chapter 69: New Faces

(Monday, October 11th Game Day / Monday, April 5th Real Day)

Dragon's Breach, the crown jewel of the far Northern wastelands, was rising once again. The walls and main buildings were completed in record time, and so too, were the critical infrastructure buildings. Work had already begun on the towers and their main structures had already taken shape. It wouldn't be long now, perhaps a few days at the most, for this village to be fully fortified.

Those that lacked practical skills worked the land, performing the manual labor that was equally necessary. Digging the moat took an immense effort and was largely supplanted by the warriors that were left. Even the priests, were asked to join in.

They would be pulled away though, for a few new faces were arriving shortly.

That meant one thing, the resumption of training… more accurately, the beginning of my first training camp. Things were changing in Dragon's Breach.

I wasn't going to fall victim again.

The blacksmith was back in action, far too busy with their assigned project to pay me any heed. I wasn't bothered by that though. They were asked to produce axes and shields as rapidly as they could. Pattern-welded axes, iron heads with steel edges.

They already made axes previously for the warriors, now they were reworking the weapons, forging them anew. Upgrading, in a sense. The shields weren't necessary for a two-handed axe user, but I wanted them to have one. A shield on the back was better than nothing at all.

The axes were quickly taking shape, which brought a faint smile to my face.

Bearded axes specifically, they were large and long enough to create separation and provided an amazing amount of killing potential to boot. That, in addition to the fact that I was somewhat partial to the style and heritage made them all the more special.

They would be the signature weapon of Dragon's Breach.

I would make it work. My cheap warriors that no one the game-over wanted, would work with the right guidance. I was sure of it, and I was betting my all on it.

Leaving Ansgar and Enok to themselves, I continued on.

The shipbuilder was next, and he had been busy as well.

Working in the darkness of the night, the light provided from a series of torches and the moon was barely enough to get by. The men and women didn't complain. We were pressed for time. Even if, there was no immediate threat clearly visible.

A self-imposed deadline, was what we were all working on.

"Stigr, how goes the Longship?" I called out to the shipbuilder.

"It's comin', short a hand'll take me 'nother day," he replied with his almost broken English. His knack for cutting sentences short was easy enough to get used to though.

"You've got the time," I followed up while examining the boat. "Won't be a week or two before we need her, take as much time as needed, can borrow one of the kids too."

"No need, I'll be done with her 'n weeks' time," he yelled back. "Youngins'll take more time than'er worth, headache is all they'er."

"Good work Stigr, I'll send food and drink your way," I said as I walked away.

Roald had been busy, running errands to the Northern Triangle in order to procure supplies. We lost a lot of stored food in the fire, all of it really. Meat was easy to replace, bread and beverage though, was not quite as easy.

He was expected to arrive within the hour, but he knew what was needed.

I didn't have to babysit him anymore, the death and destruction took care of his penchant for flirting on the job. He was now a fine working man and kept his flirtatious habits to after hours, though none would have it nowadays.

Everyone was stressed, even if they didn't show it.

"Ah, right on time," I mumbled to myself while staring at the village's square.

Friday had finally given way to Saturday.

Night had turned to day as the rising sun brought light and warmth into the world. Only to be followed, by numerous beams of golden-white light that shined down on the center of the village. Engulfing the small area with its radiance, the beams of light faded and then returned an instant later.

Alternating between golden glows and fading whites, every instance spawned a singular NPC. One after another, they filed out from the light. Fourteen warriors and ten casters, ready and willing to serve their leader.

Dare say, their master.

They were free men in theory and they believed that to be the case. I even treated all of the NPCs as if that were the truth. The reality though, was that an NPC was essentially a slave. Disguised partially by their free will, I had learned through forums that it would take extremely sadistic behavior for an NPC to leave their player.

If you recruited them and treated them at least like you would a pet, they would do as you say. They might not perform to their utmost though, if one treated them poorly.

I didn't have to worry about that.

Every NPC that lived in my area that had been recruited by me, had been treated kindly. I had earned their respect and now they worked hard for me. They didn't complain, didn't argue, nor did they disobey.

Now it was time to get things started.

"Welcome to Dragon's Breach," I stated to the twenty-four NPCs that had gathered at the village square. Pacing back and forth, I looked at each and every one of them as I walked by. Satisfied with what I saw, I decided to give a welcoming speech.

"I go by Sigurd around here, and you'll find that I run a tight unit."

They listened intently and silently.

Not even a whisper escaped their lips.

Yeah, they were moldable, alright.

"You'll be free to live your lives as you see fit, so long as you devote half of that life to the cause. You’ve been brought here to one of the best locations on this forsaken continent, far from the greedy hands and eyes of the central kingdoms.

"You will live in relative safety here in this paradise. Though… occasionally, you will have the right to defend yourselves when attacked. And we will be attacked, make no mistake… but remember this, we grow through trials and evolve with tribulation. Every encounter strengthens us, and nothing will break our will.

"This is your home, this will be your land, and when the time comes, you will defend it. You won't be ill-prepared, as every day is an opportunity to improve yourself and your worth. They say when we leave this world, only our names will be left.

"I intend to make all of your names, worthy of remembrance."

Standing still, I continued to look around at the men and women gathered before me. Most, didn't seem to have an opinion. At least, not an opinion visible on their faces. Happy with my spur of the moment speech and having run out of things to say, I decided to call it quits there.

It was time to start the drills.

"Katherine here is my number one, and thus your number two," I said while pointing to the girl at my side. "She will be in command when I am not around."

Katherine nodded but remained silent.

"Havardr and Sigsteinn are your senior warriors, they will lead you in the training exercises and hunting parties, and will prepare you for the raids," I explained while nodding and pointing to my two strongest NPCs. "They are battle-hardened and tested warriors, and are men to be looked to, when one is in need."

Clasping my hands together with a grin, it was time to start.

"All you casters, come with me," I said with my best drill instructor voice, rough and deep but without the hoarseness of a man accustomed to yelling.

Turning my back to the fresh recruits, I began walking towards the forest with ten casters in tow. Katherine followed, as she had yet to leave my side since Selene's death, but I allowed it for now. She was my only Companion… and I wasn't going to lose her.

"Havardr, Sigsteinn, I leave the rest to you," I yelled out with a wave.

"It'll be a pleasure Sigurd," laughed out Sigsteinn.

"Hah, we'll turn these lads into men," bellowed Havardr after.

Yeah, I believed it.

They lived through the battle against [FWB] and killed numerous players. Havardr was actually fighting by my side for the majority of the battle, only separating near the end. Sigsteinn was keeping the priests protected, and did some marvelous work.

I could trust them.

"Excuse me, Sir Sigurd," asked a female caster after some time had passed.

"Yes mi' lady, what can I do for you?" I replied kindly.

"Where, are we going?" she questioned with some concern showing on her face. A petite girl with cute features, she would be quite the catch for one of the other NPCs. At least, that's what I thought. There was no telling if her personality was decent yet, but I recruited only the best.

High Potential ratings were the most important feature of course. The second most important feature though, at least for me, was their character disposition. I picked those with Optimistic or Neutral Outlooks, and those that had positive traits listed.

There wasn't a single Pessimist in this village.

Well, maybe not, I could be considered a pessimist at times.

Excluding me though, and there was only optimism.

"We're going hunting my dear," I stated rather casually while activating my [Keen Sight]. "All of you are going to become advanced magic users, within short order."

Eyeing the girl that had spoken up, a quick inspection showed me all of her details. She was only level one with a base proficiency in Lightning Magic. Effectively, she only knew how to use [Lightning Bolt] and nothing else. Everyone else in the group was the same, minus the Dark Magic users.

The Dark Mages were able to use [Shadow Flare] as their first spell… which according to the description, was a straight-line skill shot that looked, essentially, like a flare. Exploding on contact in a small radius with the possibility of being chain cast, it was a fairly standard, efficient spell.

I couldn't teach them anything else, nor did I know of anyone that could… so for now, they were going to get dual training from Katherine.

Actually, everyone was.

"What's your name," I asked as I raised a brow while looking at the female caster.

I already knew her name, so this was formality.

As the one who ruled Dragon's Breach and in turn, ruled her, I was privy to such information. But, I wanted to be realistic. I would ask, as normal people would, rather than cheat like a stalker and come out already knowing everything.

That sort of behavior, was painfully awkward.

"My given name is Astrid, Sir Sigurd," she answered tactfully.

"A lovely name," I said playfully with a smile. "Alright, Astrid, there's a wolf just behind that bush, between the three pairs of trees. The one with the white flower. I want you to cast a Lightning Bolt directly into the center of that bush."

"Ah-h as you command Sir Sigurd," she stuttered, clearly scared of attacking a beast much stronger than herself. She had little reason to worry though, I was here after all.

Astrid took her stance and began to build up electrical energy between her fingertips as I carefully watched. Two seconds later, and she extended her palms and shot the pathetically small ball of lightning out with little force.

The lightning, thin as it was, almost failed to cut through the air as it impacted the wolf on the other side of the bush. Not visible to those without [Keen Sight], the other casters looked on with confused expressions.

Angered by the weak attack, the wolf burst through the brush as the casters jumped back in fright. Their legs shook as they wanted to run, but most knew better and froze in place. They watched with terror in their eyes as the wolf charged forward.

Then, at the last moment, when hands had been thrown up to shield their faces. In utter panic, some screamed and jumped, while others fell to the floor. But nothing had happened, no noises could be heard except for the sound of crackling electricity.

The confused recruits opened their fingers to take a peek.

There, in front of them, was a wolf completely immobilized as a single tether of electricity extended from my hand and connected the two of us. A few seconds later and the wolf collapsed to the floor with nary a sound.

Amazement, shone from their eyes.

"Sir Sigurd!" shouted one man. "You, you must be a master magician!"

"Lightning Magic of such strength!" yelled another.

"Will we be able to do that too, Sir Sigurd?" asked Astrid as she tried to regain her composure. She was trembling. She was the closest one to the wolf and feared for the worst, right up until electricity shot forth from my hand. She didn't retreat though.

She didn't cover her eyes either.

Astrid, was the most promising one here.

"To a degree, you will all be capable of this," I started to explain. "I have… many years of experience and a lot of time, too much time, ahead of you. But, I can help you develop, to the point where wolves, bears, and maybe even trolls will cower before you."

"What would you ask me to do?" followed up Astrid as she stared at me with her large blue eyes. A cute blonde haired and blue eyed girl, she was going to be a hit.

She was already a hit with me.

I liked her willingness.

It was an endearing trait.

"Simple, we'll be finding creatures and all of you will simultaneously cast your spells. I will correct your stance and teach you of Chanted Verses. And, when you've progressed enough, I will teach you a new spell," I said to the group, spreading my arms out and turning my palms up in a welcoming gesture. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

"Please, lead the way Sir Sigurd," said Astrid with confidence in her eyes.

Yeah, she was promising.

"Heh, as you wish hun."