William pondered on what to do over the hour. He felt that Wallace was the best choice to be the leader of their group. William just didn’t have the same level of life experience as him. He would like to take the role in the future, but he knew that he was not mentally mature enough for such an undertaking. Various thoughts came and went one after another. The final decision William had decided on would be for Wallace to lead, but to teach William how to do the same thing. Essentially grooming him to take over at a future point. To William it was a legitimately decent resolution to the problem, sating any concerns the other villagers had of being led by someone in their late teens. William also smiled thinking of the side benefit of securing more time to level and adventure in the future.
A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. He got to his feet and opened the door to see the newcomers and his party together waiting for him. William smiled slightly and stepped outside.
“Good, We need to talk about a few things,” William said, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the grass before he leaned back against the shed.
“We’re all ears,” Devlin said, with a friendly smile.
Everyone sat down in a small circle to discuss things.
William spoke up first, “First and foremost, we need knowledge on the bandits and how they attack places. Can you tell us what you know of that? I’m sorry if it’s a sensitive topic right now.”
The newcomers slumped slightly, clearly reminded of what they had survived and probably who they lost.
A long moment passed before Devlin scratched his beard and replied, “We don’t really know much. None of us were fighters. The town we came from was called Shaderest. The town was large, holding several hundred people, mostly non-combatants. The guards we had numbered sixty or so. They had numbers and defenses yet the town still fell.”
Devlin shook his head woefully and sighed before continuing, “We thought the defenses were standing strong, but suddenly bandits were in the town slaughtering everyone they could find. They torched houses and shops at every opportunity. I...saw them burn the school down. The children were hidden inside with guards to protect them, but they all...burned. The screams...I...can’t...sorry.”
William saw the pallid and grieved expressions on the newcomers’ faces, as well as the sheer horror on the faces of his party. These were not what William felt. He felt a growing, searing rage form deep in his core. He was eager for their assault now. When that time came, he would slaughter them all with no mercy.
“I will personally butcher that scum like the animals they are, Devlin,” William unfortunately failed to keep a neutral expression as he said those words, the rage seeping through gritted teeth.
Everyone looked up and William was surprised when they all paled slightly at him. He snapped out of those thoughts and was confused now.
“What? Did I say something weird?” William said, with a stupefied expression.
Everyone relaxed slightly, but William noticed Devlin use [Identify].
“I see,” The balding man said, scratching his beard in thought.
William surmised that it was probably a habit of Devlin’s.
Devlin continued, “You’re nearly level twenty. From what I’ve heard, once you reach that area in levels, you start producing an aura equivalent to your rank. Aura’s are known to convey the emotions of the owner if not kept under control. Earlier, some of that seeped out with killing intent when you made your proclamation. You don’t have a full aura yet it seems, but it’s nearly at the point where it will surround you at all times.”
William was shocked at that. He would need to keep those emotions under control if his aura would reflect them. Maybe he could even weaponize it somehow in the future?
He considered Devlin’s words for a moment, running a hand through his long hair before he replied directing his words to Frenn now, “I’ll work on controlling it from now on. Sorry for taking us off on a tangent. It seems like you don’t know their siege tactics or how they got inside, but can you tell us how you escaped, and if others also managed to escape?”
William watched as Frenn scratched his stubbly beard in the same way as Devlin, amusing William ever so slightly. He kept a straight face though.
Frenn shared looks with the other newcomers and they all seemed...ashamed?
He let out a sigh and slightly nodded to himself before replying, “We saw the bandits taking down guards from behind while they were fending off those beyond the walls. Devlin and I hid between two buildings amongst the bins as swords and screams sounded out all around us. Noctis and Armine also picked the same alley to hide in and that’s how we all grouped up. I don’t know how long we hid for whether it was mere minutes or over an hour.”
Frenn paused and looked down, not bothering to hide his shame. A sentiment mirrored by his companions.
A few moments passed before he continued, “It all quietened down enough for us to stick our heads out to see what the situation was. There were bodies everywhere. Friends, peers, family. Our large community laid lifeless in the streets with only the flames to guide their souls to the next life. We thought we would be next, but then we saw that a small group of guards had gathered what few survivors there were and they fled out of the north gate.”
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William felt bad for them, that was some rough shit they had to see. He was still confused at why they appeared ashamed of themselves.
He decided to address the elephant in the room, “Okay, if that’s the case, why do you all look like you’re ashamed of something?”
That startled the group awake, and William figured they had just realized that their feelings were as plain as day.
Frenn locked eyes with William, and William could see guilt in the man’s eyes.
“William, We’re ashamed because we saw the bandits give chase, and used the opportunity to flee from the south gate. Don’t you see? We abandoned the rest of our people to save our own worthless hides,” Frenn said, his composure beginning to crack in the same way as his companions were beginning to fray.
William raised an eyebrow and replied, “Frenn, none of you are fighters, all you would have done would be to make the bandits four arrows poorer. Also, you didn’t see the survivors fall to the bandits. They might still be out there for all you know. Don’t be ashamed for being smart.”
All the newcomers looked at William questioningly, as if he was some priest forgiving them of their sins.
William sighed and added, “Don’t give me those looks, you don’t have anything to atone for. Keep on living and embrace your talents. Especially using them to better Greenwell. Once the bandits are gone, we can start connecting to other settlements and maybe you will be reunited with the other survivors. It’s best to immerse yourself in something until then.”
The group nodded silently, and Armine gave him a warm smile. William didn’t mind getting a few extra brownie points.
Devlin seemed to have managed regaining his composure and said, “Is there anything else you need from us? I’d like to start getting stuck into my work if possible. I need the distraction.”
William considered the group. They had recounted a harrowing experience and it would be pretty shitty of William to make them say any more. There was something he felt was incredibly important to know.
“What other settlements are in the region?” William asked, trying not to sound overly excited.
Devlin nodded and replied, “Not too many major settlements. By that, I mean walled settlements. Most small villages and hamlets have been evacuated to walled settlements since the bandit appearance. Three settlements remain as far as I know other than Greenwell.”
“That’s...significantly less than I expected.”
“There were two others, Shaderest included, but both lay in ruins. The remaining settlements are: Haven, roughly one hundred miles north of the Woodlands, Fort Boulder, A military garrison, guarding the border of this region with the neighboring one about seventy miles west towards the mountains. The final settlement is Everglade, fifty or so miles to the south.”
William’s eyes widened at the distance between settlements. That would be a long journey on foot, even with his enhanced stats. There must be some transportation method the locals used. Also, did he just say Military Garrison?!
“Wait a sec. If there’s a military garrison to the west, why don’t the just send a group of soldiers to wipe the bandits out?” William replied, almost stupefied by the revelation Devlin had just shed light on.
“It’s...not that simple. A Baron from the Kingdom of Stonegate rules the settlement, and is part of the neighboring region. Their refugee policy is stern. They expect refugees to work in their industries in return for letting them take shelter and eat their food. Those who don’t contribute get kicked out and left to fend for themselves. If they piss off the wrong guards or officers, then they get evicted inside the mountain region and that is a death sentence for non-combatants.”
“So to simplify, they’re shitty cunts, in it for themselves and they don’t give a toss about this region?” William replied, heat carried on his voice once more.
His anger this time was more subdued and not emitted from an aura. His comment got a chuckle from the others.
Armine spoke up then, “Hit the nail on the head there. They won’t risk their soldiers for us. Also, the average level in that region for people and beasts is above thirty. This region tends to have beasts around levels fifteen to twenty, the same for people too.”
William was initially confused, but he realized that GAEA probably had region levels like in MMOs he had played. “Really shitty of you, GAEA to dump level ones in a fucking level fifteen zone.” William cursed in his mind.
He let out a sigh and shook his head slightly, frustrated at the mess that the region was in. The positive thing about the situation was that William had already reached Human level eighteen, so he felt like the bandit’s wouldn’t be as much of a threat as he initially thought.
Armine was still staring at William and he realized that he hadn’t replied to her, “Sorry Armine, got lost in thought at that. The distance between settlements is quite vast. How do people go between them normally? Is their a particular form of transport?”
Armine seemed relieved that William replied once he snapped out of his inner thoughts. He didn’t want to be rude to her or the other newcomers, after all.
She nodded at his question and said, “Yes, there’s sphere carriages drawn by pairs of Rellzin.”
“Sorry, those are all words I’m not really familiar with. Transport in our world was advanced enough to not need creatures.”
“Oh? Fascinating! I’ll explain further. Sphere carriages are spheres made of wood with a central box that is connected to two bars that the Rellzin pull. Rellzin are quadrupedal lizards, brown and scaly. They’re adorable, unlike a lot of their reptilian cousins. They like to lick you and it tickles quite a bit,” Armine said, with a warm smile.
William had wondered if she was a dog or a cat person, but the answer may be neither after hearing that. From the description, William had a weird mental image akin to one of those inflatable bouncy spheres in his old world being pulled by two salamanders, or Komodo dragons. He would need to see these Rellzin with his own eyes. Maybe once the bandit stuff is dealt with.
“Thanks for all the info everyone, It’s getting close to dusk, so feel free to join any of the fires that people will be setting up shortly and unwind. Intermingle and all of that,” William said to the whole group with a warm and inviting smile, or what he hoped was one anyway.
They started to go, and William added, “Wallace, can I chat to you a sec before you go?”
“Of course lad,” The older man said with a soft smile of his own.
The last to leave were Stacey and Armine, with the latter saying, “Will you be joining us after your chat?”
“Yeah of course, I’m rather hungry. This shouldn’t take too long so save me a spot please?” William returned with a wink, causing both girls to go one shade redder.
The pair left shortly afterwards, leaving William and Wallace to discuss more important matters.
“So, Wallace, I want to talk about leadership things if you don’t mind?”
“Go for it lad, I’m all ears,” Wallace said putting on a sagely expression.
William was both curious and excited to see how amicable Wallace was to the scheme he had conjured before. It was high time to get a leader in place.