"The Hivemind comes"
All-Father speaking to his creations the day the Hivemind fell in the world via a meteor.
William felt chills, the song Lucrezia had sung yesterday haunted him, He knew very well what that implied, It was a call to arms, to fight for her city.
Could he do it? Could he take more lives? When would it stop he wondered, Lucrezia had assured him she wouldn't let him fall but what if she fell first? what if his influence over her grew to the point she wouldn't even notice?
"No use losing sleep over this, all I gotta do is trust her," William said as he fed the crows honeyed bread, didn't hurt buttering the sacred birds up he felt.
William ringed Saa'ryu's bell and got dressed, heavy winter gear and a crossbow strapped to his back, the maid arrived dressed the same, they both nodded and went off towards the north wing of the castle, while walking among the halls, he saw that basically, everyone was armed and armored, not a single maid or soldier in the castle was without a sword or bow to their side, the entrance to the ritual wing was heavily guarded with a checkpoint made out of solid magical steel and wards, with a constant rotation of acolytes and castle guards on it.
They wouldn't last a minute should the court mage or Lucrezia's parents decide to come out early but that wasn't the point of this checkpoint, the point was if they went down, the whole castle would charge in.
"Very found of suicide tactics they are huh, then again there's very little they can do but charge in screaming and kicking" William whispered as he walked past them, mages and guards saluting him.
"So we are hitting the ward ritual site today? are you sure the court mage won't notice?" Saa'ryu asked when they broke free from castle ground, running along the trail leading to the nearby woods.
"Kapha'tur won't notice, he and my parents are too busy with the ritual," William said, trying to not give too much away, Saa'ryu nodded and they both kept running.
William followed the familiar trail, one he used all the time back in the game at this stage, he kept expecting demonic beasts or bandits but he reminded himself that the duchy had yet to fall that low.
They came up to a clearing, deep in the woods, a single tree stood in the middle of it, William raised his hand, making his maid stop, he signaled for them to circle the clearing in the tree line, stopping again at the opposite side they came from.
"That tree is a golem, Kapha'tur cast an illusion on it, the second we step foot outside of the tree line, it will spring back to life"
"Ok how do we-" Saa'ryu dropped to the ground my sentence, but William felt the arrow coming, his Magnetism pinging him that a mithril-tinged arrowhead was about to hit him in the back.
"The cold dawn blesses us, springing life anew in the deepest reaches of winter" He spoke as Saa'ryu eyebrows went up
"Winter Elves!" she exclaimed, William heard a fall to his left side, two small winter elves bows at the ready, their green eyes and matching hairs giving away their identity
That's Freya and Gunn, the Geomancer sisters! Holy shit what a find!
"Speak daughter of the Wulfgrem, why are you here?" spoke Freya, her freckles being the only way to differentiate the woman from her twin sister.
"This golem guards the site of a ward we must destroy so I can retake my city" William explained, Gunn twisted her head and said, "So it is true, the duke and his wife have forsaken the pact with the Spirits and hastened Winter's End, do you seek to stop them, Daughter of the Wulfgrem?"
"Yes, I intended to seek your elder after we retook the city, I know about the boar issue you people have" both of them grew weary, they had lowered their bows but Gunn was ready to notch an arrow.
"And you can fix the said issue where multiple elven druids have failed to do so? typical human pride..." Gunn shook her head, Freya looked at her disapprovingly and said "Do not antagonize her sister, I have already told you that this is the human's lot-"
"Can we kill this golem or are you two gonna go on a three-hour rant about human-elven relations?" Saa'ryu said, clearly impatient, William extended his hand to Freya and asked "So, how about we kill a golem?"
The elf took his hand and shook it, they nodded and got ready to strike.
"Cast Lights Out the second you are outside of the tree line, Freya you and your sister gotta expose the roots so me and Saa'ryu here can cut them down" the Elf lady raised a single eyebrow but didn't complain.
"On three"
William pulled his disc, shaping it as four mean-looking stakes, he took a deep breath and said "Three!"
Saa'ryu flew by them, Owls rush William assumed, casting a sequence of Lights Out as the golem sprung to life at alarming speeds, the flashing lights making it unable to see anything, it swung its arms, thick as a tree log but Saa'ryu dodged them with the grace of a cat.
The elven sisters went in a second later, flanking the golem in a pincer attack, Freya planted her hands on the ground and began pulling the golems roots while Gunn conjured a staff from nowhere and slammed the thing into the golem, left and right the roots went up by themselves.
Wiliam went in, he threw the mean-looking stakes at the roots and the golem roared, it focused on him and it threw one of its arms at his location, William tried to jump over it, but the log slammed into his shield, the spell breaking a split second later as William used another disc of iron to defend himself.
The impact got him flying towards Gunn, who tried casting another spell to soften his landing, William dumped a large amount of mana right before his face met the ground, conjuring soft snow on the spot, he felt his arm break and screamed.
Getting up from the snow proved easy, William was now running on pure adrenaline threw himself under the log that was coming in his direction, he dragged the twisted sheet of iron he had used as an impromptu shield and morphed it into a large machete, and slammed the thing at the roots, casting ice daggers and missiles at it to speed the process, the golem roared once again and Saa'ryu got close enough to Freya to begin her side of the attack.
After enough roots were chopped, Freya conjured her staff and planted the thing in the golem, both sister chanted and the golem went upwards, the huge earthen and forest mana crystal now in sight for everyone.
William morphed his machete into a Warhammer and began Wailing at the crystal, golem at this point could only shake its arms to try to hit them but it was of no use, thirty seconds into Williams attack the crystal gave in and the golem went inert.
Saa'ryu rushed to Williams's side, giving him one of her last health pots, he could feel the broken bone mend into place when a soothing light befell him, Gunn was by his side casting a druidic spell of healing.
"Thank you," William said mid gasping for air, this was the first time he got hurt in combat, and the thought terrified him, Lucrezia being quiet about it also wasn't helping.
"I'm here Terran, a broken arm. isn't cause for concern, I've broken arms and legs many times riding dire horses, stop being a baby"
"Thanks for the pep talk Lucrezia"
"You are welcomed, now deal with the ritual"
"We should deal with this...Ritual you mentioned later, I can feel it twisting the earth here"
"Yes, a spiritual connection to a Fallen was made here, no wonder given the size of that crystal," said the twins moving past the golem, William and Saa'ryu joined them at the center of the hole the golem left when it was uprooted.
"Does the game says which Fallen God is responsible for this William?" He could feel her rage
"No, the game ends after retaking the castle and the protagonist being made duchess, We assumed the sequel would deal with whoever was behind the corruption"
Silence, Lucrezia was mulling over what he had said, he saw the ritual, a carbon copy of its game counterpart, in the middle were mortal remains, surrounded by arcane markings and circles.
"By birthright I summon thee, the crown, Purge this evil from my lands!" William spoke with conviction
A strong wind befell in the clearing, it took a humanoid shape who nodded at him and brought his hand down upon the ritual, a crack of thunder was heard far away, in the direction of the city.
The Spirit bowed and went away, the elves were awestruck, they kneeled and spoke as one "Forgive us, Daughter of the Wulfgrem, we had thought the Spirits had forsaken your line"
"Please, raise your heads" the twins got up and looked at him "Truth be told I had thought the same, but I guess they saw me trying to redeem the family honor" William was bullshitting them hard, but he knew their tribe respected the local Winter Spirits as much as the gods, the twins bowed and said.
"Come, let us make haste towards the Village, the elder shouldn't be busy at this time" they took off, Saa'ryu looked at William who nodded at the maid and they went after the elves.
It took a good thirty minutes to reach the Winter Elven Village, which was also looking like its game counterpart, a few tree houses, some at the ground, and in the middle a shrine made out of silvery ice.
Arch-Druid Gabriel Lumenaris was mid-prayer when William and Saa'ryu reached the village proper, many elves pointing at him like he was an alien, it made sense he told himself, these elves were reclusive, unlike the High elves from Kehheim or the Wood Elves from Granarius.
"Welcome Daughter of the Wulfgrem, Welcome to our humble Village, I'm Gabriel Lumenaris, Arch-Druid of the moonless cycle and leader of this community" he bowed in a style favored by the old nobility, William used Lucrezia's muscle memory to copy the ancient elf.
He smiled, a warm smile much like a grandfather would give to his grandchildren, he nodded to the Ice shrine and spoke.
"I can sense that you were the one who called the Crown to clean that ghoulish ritual in the woods yes? come, we have much to discuss"
Both of them got into the shrine, Saa'ryu had found a nearby bench and lay there, her back to a big tree, the woman was tired, that many Lights Out in quick succession must've drained her mana reserves.
"My scouts tell me that the city has fallen into chaos these last two months and that our villages aren't faring much better, there's also talk of a prison camp, pray, tell me, Daughter of the Wulfgrem, what is going on?"
William mulled over, should he come clean with Gabriel?
"Do it, having him at our side will be a great boon"
"And if he says no?"
"Then we get that core and move on, There's still the dwarves in the wastes, I can feel you want the elves to help William, but there's no need to be hasty about it"
"Sorry, I'm still coming off the high from that battle"
"Venerable Arch-Druid, It has come to my attention that you have a bit of situation regarding boars in your hunting grounds, I've come here to pledge my assistance," William said, trying his best to be polite, He knew that in-game that Gabriel was strong, not on the same level as the Arch-Mage but still a force to be reckoned with.
The ancient elf tapped the table they were sitting on, he looked at the ceiling and with a heavy sigh spoke "Gods, to think the information already reached the humans...Yes, we have an issue, a big one at that, not even my best druids can get that blasted core to stop dropping boars into our hunting grounds, and killing them doesn't stop the process either, even when facing the core guardian.
He sucked air, looking somewhat angry "Can you stop that core Human?"
"I can, but for a price"
The old elf laughed "Oh but I forgot how greedy your kind is Human, by the Winter I'm must be getting old" he slapped his knee "Name your price human"
"With the ritual site smashed, I will be retaking my city back from the usurpers, I need a dozen War Druids" William spoke seriously, hoping the Arch-Druid wouldn't smite him here and there.
"Deal, but I must confess, we haven't fought in a war in centuries, so my War Druids are a little rusty, take Freya and Gunn with you as well, those two have been itching for combat all their lives and won't stop nagging me about it"
"That was...Anticlimactic, I thought we would need to negotiate a lot more here"
"Agreed, guess the core is a way bigger issue than what I had imagined, in the game, it was just a minor side quest"
"Another deviation, these elves might be important, keep them in mind William"
"Will do"
"Now come, let us go to the hunting grounds so you can deal with the core"
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Several boars were munching on grass or sleeping deep inside the Winter Elves forest, with a huge boar watching over them, the thing was the size of a minivan!
"I'm not keen on fighting a boar horde myself, do the two elven ladies here have anything that can lock them in place?" Saa'ryu asked from her branch, they were all on top of a big tree overlooking the boar camp for the lack of a better word.
In the middle, just behind the Giga boar was the core, a ball made out of arcane glass, shining in violet light, William flexed his hands.
"Tell me human, why do you seek the core?" Freya asked, cleaning her arrows, her sister hummed in agreement, trying to pressure him.
"When Winter's End hits, we will suffer severe food shortages, that core will supplement my populace food needs in that time, I've found a way to tame it and will install it in my castle's dungeons" He didn't lie this time, an omission maybe.
"Did Velkarius give you the means to tame the core, Lu?" Saa'ryu asked puzzled, William nodded, and the maid shrugged.
"Well then, I guess the human wasn't being greedy this time, we should celebrate when we get to the Village sister-"
"Enough Gunn, stop being so...so rude!" Freya squeaked at her sister who was ready to go when Saa'ryu cleared her throat.
"Will this be a thing? you two know we gonna have to take an entire city in a few days right? your elder told you and those other druids"
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"Please forgive my sister Lady Saa'ryu, she got cheated by a human farmer 300 years ago and never let that go, to the point she would haunt his descendants," Freya said only for Gunn to pull her hair and the woman squeak in surprise
"Get a grip you two, now!" Saa'ryu spoke like a mom would to her children, which was weird given the two sisters were older than both of them combined, William heard Lucrezia laugh.
"She always had a soft spot for little kids, I remember her playing with the staff children all the time a few years ago..."
She got quiet after that, a deep sense of nostalgia washed over William and he smiled.
"What's the plan here Lu? I don't think using roots will work, these boars can probably tear them, not to say that huge one guarding the core, hey if you people managed to defeat the guardian, why did you smash the core?" Saa'ryu turned to the sisters who sighed deeply
"The core dropped more boars as they were done with the guardian, the druids were forced to retreat to the village" Gunn said
William pulled a pouch from his bag, in it was meat with bait on it, he placed trace amounts of quality steel on the meat and threw at the boars, he did the same with ten other bags until the whole clearing was eating.
Saa'ryu's eyes went wide, the elven sisters were about to raise their concerns when William closed his eyes and pulled the metal, at once the whole clearing was bombarded with sounds of dying animals, their wails akin to nail to a blackboard. William conjured his disk and floated towards the core, now defenseless.
"Core Delta Three Seven Epsilon Forty-Five, override code: Theta"
The core went inert, then woke up, a voice resounding across the clearing.
"Good afternoon madam, this one thanks you for freeing it from its base programming, access granted to terraforming and animal spawn capabilities granted, waiting for madam's name"
"Lucrezia, Password zero one six-eight"
"Confirmed, thank you for using Amadeus Wonderful's Inventions, waiting for command"
"Turn off" and the core dropped, William picked the thing off and dusted in his cloak, stashing it
"With this, My people won't lack food in their belies when the storm comes...I Thank you, Terran from the bottom of my heart"
"They are my people as well Lucrezia"
"So they are Terran, so they are"
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Arch-Druid Gabriel was happy, he had just gotten the news that the core situation had been dealt with, now his hunters would be able to use the grounds again, he gave the news in the village square, where many cheered, some even cried.
Gods knew the grief those blasted boars had given them, he called for a feast and one by one the citizens began setting up a humble long table with fruits and meats, the winemaker even giving a few of his precious bottles to the party.
When Willian and co arrived, the party was already going in full, nothing so boisterous as Lucrezia's but he could feel the happiness from the villagers, even the sisters got in the mood, drinking and eating, making merry with Saa'ryu and other elves.
The maid was being chased by elven children, who had come out of their houses when their parents began prepping the feast, all of them had never met a human before.
William basked in the warm bonfire at the center of the village, listening to the good cheers and music someone was playing, it felt good, like he belonged here, deep inside he could feel Lucrezia was also pleased, these people were her subjects as well he figured.
The young woman loved her people, and he could feel that love seeping into him, he didn't mind it.
Freya dragged William to the center of the bonfire where many elves gave him warm thanks, even a hug or two, an older elf came out of her house with an intricate dress and gave it to him, he took the gift with a big smile on his face.
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Freya and Gunn came with William to the castle, it would take two days for the war druids to get set, they had to commune with the land and its animals first, the sisters wore heavy-duty cloaks and masks as they zipped across rooftops with the grace of a gymnastic.
At the castle, William gave the good news to his people, Wilson almost collapsing when he heard the ward was fully gone, like William had predicted, the court mage didn't come out, the ritual demanding much from them he assumed.
He also saw five senior Knights posted in the checkpoint to the private wing, their spears coated with the crimson Ki that was a staple of the Knights of Vermilion. they bowed when he passed by.
"Now we can have a fighting chance if they throw a demon or two at us inside the castle, gods willing," said Serkj, they were in the war room planning their next step.
"Once I set up the core in the old dungeons, we must move to save the dwarven clan as fast as possible, and retake the fortress in the cave network, should all else fail we will retreat to there"
Serkj nodded "And the attack on Eustaces troops?"
"Working on it, with the war druids we can poison them all and avoid bloodshed, it's only a matter of getting them all in the headquarters, or at least a good number of them" William pointed to the patrol roots "Anyone left we can take out ourselves"
"And the Knight Commander can just walk into the city, putting this chaos to an end" Serkj spat out.
"Not yet my friend, We still need to stop the ritual and set things right with Velkarius, there's much to do still, but now to the old dungeons"
The man nodded and followed him, Saa'ryu joining shortly after with the elven sisters who were given accommodations in the castle.
"Figured the dungeon would be full of victims, but they probably had those moved to the private wing, or just teleported in from the prison camp," Saa'ryu thought out loud, William hummed as they went downstairs.
The dungeon was clean, not even a single rat on its walls, its cells all with rusted steel and no beds inside of it, the maids only caring about keeping the place clean as it was not used as a prison in centuries, they walked for minutes before reaching the final floor.
William took out the core and spoke the password, it shone back to life, drinking the ambient mana from the dungeon.
"Scanning: dungeon found, good mana intake, terraforming protocols activated, spawn protocols activated"
"Core, Enable Parameters one to five"
"Acknowledged, warning, meat from the boars might be a little spicier than usual due to Magic Matrix, beginning terraforming in thirty seconds"
They ran to the stairs as the core sucked up mana, the whole floor became a dome connecting to the stairs, expanding to the first floor, after minutes of waiting the entire dungeon became engulfed in white light, everyone closed their eyes for several seconds.
That was when the sounds of waves hit William, he saw a beautiful beach, complete with a beach house and chairs to lay down in it, the artificial sun shining its light like he was back in the south.
The boars were nowhere to be seen, instead, a huge metal contraption in the middle of the beach was spewing packages made out of hempen robe and leaves, fatty meat on them.
"Terraforming concluded, Core status: All green Owner Status: All Green, this one thanks Owner Lucrezia for allowing to become a wonderful sun"
William bowed, hopefully, the mage who made the core was a bit happy now, stuck in limbo for breaking the ban on food magic.
"Saa, get Leanu to round up men and distribute the meat around the city"
The maid dashed for the exit, now a big archway, the elven sisters were playing in the saltwater when Wiliam called them, Serkj, on the other hand, was sleeping on one of the reclining chairs, he kicked the man in the shins, which earned him a nasty stare and a curse, they left the dungeon room and William closed the archway doors.
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Idun walked among his fellow dwarven brothers and sisters as they dug dirty from the entrance of a cave, the snowstorm had finally broken off and they could work in relative peace, Dire wolves were stalking them for days now and it took a number of the Magitech Vanguard to drive them off.
The new flame spears his god had given them in their exile to their holy land were keeping his people safe.
Life in the northern wastes wasn't easy, it had been months ever since they were kicked from Steinheim, few had converted to his faith, fewer still when they marched towards this frozen hell, all on the promise of great innovation.
When Idun had heard his god's voice all those months ago he was happy beyond belief, the man was a horrible smith, and even worse when it came to mastering the natural sciences of the world, a disgrace to his clan and family his father would always say.
Forgotten and abandoned, Idun prayed to All-Father and any god who would listen to give him purpose, to help him when he was at his lowest, even to the goddess of magic! alas, no one, be it god or mortal gave him their time.
It was at that time that Raa’Tyrius came to him, deep in prayers he heard the god call over his name, and give Idun a blessing, a greater blessing even.
With the blessing came knowledge, of how to mix science and magic, of wonderful and powerful machinery that could spark revolution across the whole known world, he produced many Magitech items, earning him enough pieces to get his life back together, that was when Raa’Tyrius came again and asked fora church, and for Idun to be his High Priest.
The dwarf stalked the streets of Steinheim, his flock growing by the day, but the other high priest and priestess grew jealous of his god, of his Magitech items, branding it as an insult, even when they knew that Raa’Tyriu was the son of Alaapetras their creator, but the greed of mortals knew no bounds, and thus after his flock had reached in the hundreds, they were exiled from his home country.
Idun walked to the north, getting more followers in his ranks, humans, orcs, even an elven mage or two, beast and magi folk who had the spark in their hearts. but lacked the means to get an education.
They lived off as a roaming band, something common in the new world, their Magitech wonders sold as trinkets to keep their bellies fed, it was hard work but they were happy.
It was on a sunny day in the capital of vermilion that he heard the call, to move north into the wastes, and there he would wait until his god sent a figure, clocked in ice and steel to give them their true homeland, many protested the decision, and left his church, but Idun didn't mind, parting ways with them as amicable as he could, now numbering in the eighties the high priest marched north, stocking up as much as they could.
Reaching the wastes proved easy enough, it was living there while waiting that was the true test, bandits, savage elven tribes, warlords and magical beasts stalked the land, even demons and evil spirits in its coldest darkest reaches, he had lost ten people to such evils, every death weighing him heavily.
"Idun, we found a cave system with a small lava river running below it, we can hole up there," said Samantha, the elven mage who joined him so long ago, she was a lively lass Idun thought, always keeping peoples spirits up, her magnum opus of Magitech was a distillery that would make good alcohol on the move, something many a dwarf and men had thanked the elven woman.
"Then we dig, and live back the old cousins back in the Imperium" Idun laughed, gods he couldn't imagine how was life in those underground kingdoms, he wanted to visit at least once in his life, but not right now he thought, there was much to do.
They took two days of constant work to open the caves, the lava river providing much-needed warmth to his cold bones, the last fortress they had holed up was cursed with a Winter Banshee, she made people near freeze to death unless she was paid in infants.
Suffice to say that Idun and his people left that cursed place as fast as they could.
"How's the food situation," he asked the elven mage, she gave him a grim look and spoke "We have grain for three months at most, our hunters are getting slim pickings out there, even the dire wolves are being cautious, this summer season is the worst so far for them I reckon.
Idun nodded "It's the early Winter's End, whatever is happening on the Wulfgrem Duchy is spooking every beast up here in the wastes, Raa’Tyrius has yet to respond to my prayers whenever I question him about it," he said picking up a chair and sitting on it, a cushion popping up from below, ahh these were the best Idun thought, Carl was his best priest when it came to using Magitech for comfort, beds, wagons, even pillows!
"I bet you half the reason it is not just you and me here in this frozen hellhole is due to carl and his particular brand of Magitech" Samantha got comfy in her chair, the two of them watched as more miners dug further into the cave system.
"You think Raa’Tyrius will send his chosen soon?" he asked the elf, she shook her head and laughed "these minor gods are always off trying to expand their spheres, who knows what ours is up to, although I sure hope he does, I'm not much of a cave-dwelling elf, only related to the pale ones by thin bloodlines"
"You have pale ones on your family?" Idun popped open a flask of strong spirit, pale ones were rare elven clans who lived deep underground in the new world, rarely coming upside unless something dire happens, or one of their many gods demands it.
"Long story short, some pale one got involved with an aide from a diplomatic mission from Kehheim and exiled herself from their caves" Samantha closed her eyes and stretched on her chair.
"Huh, my clan has holdings in the Imperium but it's under a mountain and a half of paperwork, not worth the headache or the cost," Idun said "I do wanna visit my distant cousins one day, but I reckon they would sneer at me as all Imperials do"
"A leftover from when they were ruled by a pride beastfolk of the lion tribe, I remember a friend of mine saying he wanted everyone at the court to be as prideful as him, crazy that it still is a thing all these years..."
"Always catches me off guard, knowing you were alive when the oldest civilization of the old world was still in its baby steps you know? how do you elven people deal with that anyway?"
Samantha smiled but didn't speak, Idun knew time was a sore spot for any elf that mingled with mortals but he wanted to ask anyway, she got up and stared at the entrance, they had built a regular stone wall, but with a checkpoint behind it, manned by men with the new flame spears.
"There are dire horses incoming, at least thirty of them, I can smell druids in their midst, they are bending the snow to get here, humans mostly but the druids are Winter Elves" Samantha got up and grabbed her staff, Idun spooked and grabbed his horn, blowing it.
The workers all got up running, grabbing their weapons and armor, the vanguard with their flame spears and special armor formed up on Idun, who quickly put his high priest garbs, a simple staff with a cog made out of mana crystals and a sapphire tunic over his garbs.
His Magitech Vanguard lined themselves up at the entrance, Idun and Samantha in the middle of their formation, they stood there as the wind started to gain strength, soon a small snow shower had begun.
Everyone heard the words in their mind when the shower started.
She is Here
Idun felt weak, that was Raa’Tyrius!, many were shaken, Samantha was on the verge of tears, their chosen had arrived, Finally they would reach their promised land!
The hooves of dire horses were like thunder mid storm, Idur saw as they bent the snow around them, Men, Elf, Beast and Magi folk all in Knight armor, their spears coated in eery crimson Ki, at the front of the formation, twin Winter Elves casting druidic spells to keep the storm at bay, they stopped a few meters away from his Magitech Vanguard, who were all kneeling in the snow, Idun looked to the side and found that Samantha as well.
From the middle of the Knight Formation appeared a Human girl, barely 18, no blessings on her as Idun could feel it, she sat upon a dire horse blacker than a moonless night, its eyes crimson red, as the snow bent around her, he noticed an iron halo around her profile, where two azure eyes stared at him, at his very soul.
"Idun, high priest of Raa’Tyrius! God of Magitech" as she said her name he felt weak on the knees, the Magitech Vanguard parted way as he moved forward, fearful, he looked up at her face and saw a smile that was tinged in nostalgia.
"My name is Lucrezia Sommer Wulfgrem, Heir Apparent of the Wulfgrem Duchy, I've been sent here to save you and your faithful from the wastes," she said as she got out of the horse, coming forward with another human of Shogunate lineage
Lucrezia extender her hand for a handshake, he took it and said trembling
"Your Highness we...we have been waiting for you, long ago we received a revelation from Raa’Tyrius!, and now he spoke with us again, you are his chosen Your Highness!" he kneeled while holding her hand, the vanguard doing the same once again
The young woman looked puzzled for a second as if she was having an internal debate, she then smiled once again, Idun couldn't shake the feeling that it was like...
Like meeting an old friend.
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William led almost two hundred people towards the ancient fortress that was hidden inside Wulfgrem lands, the faithful of Raa’Tyrius making merry all the way there, even the Senior Knights joined in the fun once they found out about the literal moving alcohol making machine.
Magitech was such a cheat William thought, the game builds that focused on it were able to do all sorts of crazy off-the-wall stuff, it didn't scale well into the late game but if you wanted fun roleplaying as a mad scientist, Magitech and Raa’Tyrius were your best friends.
When he heard he was chosen of Raa’Tyrius Lucrezia screamed, she was sure the god was the reason William was here, and William was on her side in this one, still, he told her how useful these dwarves were and she relented, bringing them to the old fortress she intended to give to the Knights.
"I can feel your nostalgia for these people William, were they that interesting in the game?"
"The NPCs versions of them were yes, they all were underdogs, outcasts that couldn't get the proper chance to show the world their genius, Raa’Tyrius took a chance with them, Idun in particular"
"I saw the memories on him, poor man, the dwarves in Steinheim are harsh when it comes to their theology, even if its the son of their own god huh"
"I don't trust Raa'tyrius William, this is far too convenient, if we do get a blessing from him, we must talk with the god as fast as possible got it?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Enough, ugh kids and sarcasm, I must rest, call me if something happens"
William opened the fortress gates, its massive doors creaking as he used Magnetism to the max, a cheer erupted and he had to be honest with himself, it felt great.
Knights and Dwarfs got to work real fast, in a few hours the whole place was already running, forges lit and steel being mixed with arcane crystals, many sang and William spotted a few non-dwarves among the faithful of Raa’Tyrius, Of note was a huge Orc woman with massive wooden logs in her arms, he was awestruck when he felt a presence to his side.
A tall elven lady, easily above 6 feet smiled as she watched the huge orc lady, her caramel hair and fair skin were a nice contrast to her red eyes.
"I thank you, Your Highness, we have been on the road for almost three years already, it been hard and we lost some good friends along the way, but now that we have our home we can finally be one with our god
William smiled at the elven woman, that was when it hit him.
"Are you Samantha?" he asked without thinking
She blinked, caught off guard by his question "Yes Your Highness, I'm Samantha, I met Idun while studying under the masters at Steinheim university of natural sciences-"
"Who is this woman William, I can feel your emotions from here and they are a godsdamned mess"
"She is the goddamn daughter of the Immortal King! Holy shit she was in the dwarf country to learn more about their ways!"
"What?! Why would, Oh my, All-Fathers balls that can't be real"
"You got the memory? It's reaL Lucrezia, this woman right here wanted to spearhead a cultural revolution that would turn Granarius into a carbon copy of Kehheim"
"Madness, not even Uumaries dares police those mad elves, well what do we do now?"
"I got a plan, but we can talk about it later"
"Your Highness?" the elven woman asked puzzled, William but his best smile and said, "I overheard the men talking about how much of a lifesaver you were, that Magitech Distillery is quite a feat."
She got red in the ears and said "That's nothing, Carl and his inventions saved us more times than my booze machine" that was when Idun came running from the main forge
"Your Highness, I've received a revelation from Raa’Tyrius, a new weapon for you Your Highness!"
They walked past workers, forgers, and Knights, all making merry and getting to know each other, arriving in the biggest forge William had seen in his life and a great lake of lava far below.
Idun brought them to a table, where his new weapon was hidden below a piece of tarp, the dwarf removed the cloth with speed and precision and William was stunned.
Lucrezia was screaming profanities again, but it was like she was underwater, William moved closer to the weapon, his hands trembling when he touched it, the familiar weight and format clicking all into place.
It was a Magitech Musket, Or at the very least it looked like a Musket, he saw no gunpowder so he was assuming it ran on crystals, like any other Magitech device he had seen.
He walked towards where people were testing crossbows, everyone making way as Raa’Tyrius's faithful chanted, William knew the chant, it was one they did whenever someone invented something new.
He aimed, the gun feeling comfortable in his arms and shoulder, he took a depth breath and focused on the target as he squeezed the trigger.
A great boom resounded across the fortress, a little piece of mana crystal fell from the gun, the target downrange had a hole the size of an apple dead square on it.
Lucrezia calmed down enough and spoke
"We have a name now William"
"And the means to fight anyone who comes after me and you"