I was in my fifties when I got my first command. Over thirty years of service as a grunt. I was still a grunt afterwards, but a grunt with a squad to lead. A quick promotion, for us, but not unheard of. It would probably sound like far too long to the Captain and his people, but we were a society of immortals, technological gods that had conquered biology, outgrown our baser ancestors.
Or so the propaganda said, anyway.
Like any nation, corruption and nepotism were common. In fact, I would say such things were rampant, compared to other nations, along with the politicking and maneuvering, thanks to the fact that people only died in accidents and combat, and so their positions were never freed up through 'natural' means.
Being the adopted child of a Legate, I had been groomed for command, raised for it, taught everything I needed to know, and then set loose into the Imperium to gain experience. What parent doesn't pass their skills on to their children, after all?
The result was a series of relatively quick promotions, and accusations of nepotism from all sides. My subordinates, my commanders, the public.
I was introduced to the darker side of the Imperium by being thrown into it at the deep end.
Sink or swim, child, my mother had told me. There was no preparing for what awaited me if I followed in her footsteps and became a government official, she claimed. It would change and warp and twist in the years it would take me to learn the political landscape at the time. I would need adaptability to survive it, and that could not be taught, not like tactics, logistics, and critical thought could be.
Sink or swim. Live or drown. Thrive, or die.
I supposed that it was this experience, this object lesson my mother had thrust onto me, that let me adapt so quickly to finding myself trapped in a crystal in another reality.
Why is it that this reality has Humans? Different conditions should have given rise to different species... If one soul can slip between the cracks, could a town, as well?
"Lycoris! Are you ready, my friend?"
Callahans voice interrupted my idle musings, and I turned my attention to him as he stepped over the threshold separating the mountain from the outside world. The middle-aged magus carried small stack of books under one arm, though I still could not see well enough to read their titles.
[I am. Just considering a few oddities of reality,] I told him, and saw his eyes light up. [We can talk about that later, during one of our lessons, perhaps.]
His face fell when I pre-empted his questions, but he nodded in agreement. "Later, then," he said, opening the door to my chamber, and lifting one of the books he'd brought. "Bestiary. One on dungeons, specifically. We should test at some point if you can summon things not normally found in dungeons, but for now..."
[We'll need to confirm I can control them first. No need to introduce two dangerous variables at once.]
"Right you are, my friend," he agreed, pulling his chair from its place near the wall towards the center of the room. He didn't really need to, but I suppose it was more comfortable for him.
"Let's see..." he muttered, more to himself than me, as he opened the book to leaf through its pages. "We'll need the sapient section, then troglophilic... Hm... Elementals fit, but they're only sapient when much too large for this nascent fortress, and they would take too much mana to summon anyway."
[Elementals?]
"Ah, you don't have those where you're from, either, I assume?" he asked, crossing one leg over the other as he looked up at my Core. "They're animate magic, more or less, elementally aligned in some way, nigh invisible when they're young."
[And they're aligned in a similar fashion to the key-runes you've been teaching me?]
"Just so. Fire, earth, water, wind, lightning, ice... I've also heard tell of light and shadow elementals, but I've never been able to find real evidence of them. They're largely considered myths."
[I see... They have power over the element they're aligned to in some way?]
"Of course. Quite a lot of power, in fact. Even the modest earth sprites, for example, can move hundreds of pounds of stone in... Ah, I see what you're thinking," he said, looking down at his book once more, to find the earth elemental section, I assumed. "Yes, that may work as a replacement for the golems..."
Once he found it, he dog-earned the page, and flipped back through to another section. "Right, first, the sapient denizens. If you don't mind, Lycoris, I will skip a few creatures that would make life for the rest of us mortals... rather unpleasant.
"Which means, we are left with... two options. Just two? Hrm. I would've thought there would be more... Perhaps this bestiary is outdated. Anyway, we have the Goblin and the Kobold as options. Either would work for our purposes just as well as the other, to be honest, both of them being bipedal with hands that can use tools.
"Goblins are smart, dexterous little fiends, and mischievous, too. They're warm-blooded like us, but three heads shorter, and they have excellent sight in the dark. Kobolds, on the other hand, are about the same height as Goblins, but covered in scales, and cold-blooded, with sharp claws meant for digging, and sharper teeth for eating small animals. Kobolds may be cold-blooded, but this region has mild weather, and even the winter wouldn't be too harsh on the little blighters."
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[What about their... reputation, I suppose? How they're seen by the people of this land.]
"A fair question," he said, snapping the book shut and leaning back in his chair to think. "Goblins are commonly seen as raiders and thieves, pests for adventurers to slay, but they're known to be amenable to trade deals, occasionally. They're also commonly found in Orcish lands, sometimes as mercenaries, others as skilled craftsmen.
"Kobolds, however, are more of an unknown. Truth be told, we don't have any Kobolds in this country, and even if we did, we might not know about them. They're reclusive, and insular. Though from what I know of them, that is more due to fear of persecution and the unknown than anything else. They're largely spoken of in legends as the children, or perhaps... Servants? Of dragons."
Ah. Well now I have to go with Kobolds, don't I?
[We will go with Kobolds, then. They seem most useful for the situation, and least hated. Besides... I told Markus a few days ago, but the Imperium had a... church that called itself the Cult of the Dragon.]
"I see. And you were religious?"
I let out a half-laugh. [No, not really. My mother, my predecessor as a Legate, was, but... I never really saw the point.]
The man nodded, as if he understood, and dropped the subject there. "Sadly, my friend, I cannot guide you through the process of summoning a denizen, for obvious reasons. However, it shouldn't be too difficult for you. I'd need to get into high level magical theory to truly explain it, but suffice it to say you just need to focus on the idea of a Kobold. This should be almost instinctual for you, as a Core."
I turned in on myself at that, examining myself until I was satisfied with the method for my first attempt, and discovered that Callahan was right. It was easy. Where casting a spell needed me to carve a mold of the spell into my mind on top of pouring my mana into it, this was like the mold had always been there, at the edges of my memory, and it drank mana without resistance.
A small creature, perhaps a meter or so in height at most, collapsed into reality between me and the Archmagus, catching itself as it touched the floor. It shook its head, and stood up tall, letting the two of us see it properly.
The first thing about them that stuck me was they had a tail almost as long as they were tall, lined with small crested scales right down the middle. Then, they were digitigrade, like a wolf or cat, with thick, muscular thighs and calves, the toes capped by thumb-long claws. From there, their hands sported similar claws, though not as long, short enough to not get in the way of tool use, I would assume, with only somewhat thin arms that ended in rather Human-like shoulders – though there's likely only so many ways a bipedal creature could make a manipulator limb... - leading to a thick neck topped by a doglike head, swapping fur and ears for scales and horns.
They were sort of cute.
The little Kobold looked up at me in awe for several seconds before they heard Callahan shift behind they, and whirled on him, angry, and afraid, I thought.
[Stop. That is a friend of mine.]
As soon as I spoke to the Kobold, they froze and relaxed.
[Good. Can you speak?]
The Kobold turned back towards me, cocking their head slightly as they worked their jaw. The Archmagus behind them watched intently, leaning forward in his seat, legs no longer crossed. I could see the mana in him begin to move and coil, ready to be used.
Finally – "Yes... master?" Their voice was somewhat lower than I expected, with such a small body, but not grating.
[Good, good,] I said, relaxing as my new denizen answered. [Callahan, it seems we've succeeded, in the summoning, at least.]
"So I see," he replied, relaxing as well. "Still need to make sure your new denizen follows orders properly, though."
And so we did. The next hour was solely dedicated to testing my control over the Kobold, and their loyalty. I found I could issue non-verbal commands, and telepathic ones, and the Kobold unquestioningly fulfilled both to the limits of their abilities.
[I think that proves it, does it not, Callahan? As far as we can prove it on a limited time scale, anyway.]
"I would agree with that assessment, my friend. I'll start writing my report to the Queen immediately," he said, and carried his chair back over to the replacement desk to begin doing just that.
[Now,] I started, turning my attention back to the Kobold. [What do I call you? Do you have a preference for masculine or feminine? Don't worry if you don't, child, you can decide later.]
The Kobold tilted their head a little as they thought about it, but eventually indicated they did not.
[In that case, as I did for myself, I will name you after a flower from my home that I loved. For you...] I paused, pulling one to mind. Since I couldn't see the colors of the Kobold, I chose at random, pulling parts of its proper name apart and putting them back together until I found something that could pass for a name. [Fera, after the lotus.]
Something in the Kobolds eyes lit up at that, and they sat a little straighter on their folded hind legs.
[It is good to meet you, Fera, my first child, and I'm sorry to bring you to this world only to make you work and fight,] I told them, and they shook their head vehemently, slowly getting to their feet and walking up to me, reaching out as if to hug me, and then they did, climbing up the stone pedestal my Core sat on to wrap themselves around me.
"No. Want to help, want to work. Thank you... Chief?"
Feras actions surprised me, as did their words. It was most likely a result of the Core enchantments, I reasoned, but still, it was strange to me that they'd immediately latch onto me like this, not to mention the fact I couldn't feel their embrace at all.
['Chief' will work for now, Fera.] - I will have to think of a more appropriate title later - [Now, get down, child. I'm going to summon you some siblings.]
"Siblings?" they asked, dexterously slinking back down to the floor.
I planned on summoning five in total, but judging from the amount of mana summoning just Fera took, I didn't think I would get beyond three in one day, not if I also wanted to summon sprites for them, and I still didn't even know how much mana sprites would take to summon.
So, I summoned two more, and each time, we had to repeat the process of telling the new-born Kobold that Callahan was my friend and he was allowed to be there, though the third and final time saw Fera and their first sibling almost tackle the third Kobold to the ground, and Callahan just chuckled at the display, and went back to writing his report.
I named the second and third Paeona and Alva, after peonies and water lilies, respectively.
I had my estimate for how many I could summon right, as well. By the time I summoned the second earth sprite, a tiny little glowing mote of yellow-brown energy, my senses already began to blur and fade a little. The third would take almost everything I had left that I was comfortable with spending.
Once the third sprite was summoned, I assigned one of them to each of my new children, and instructed them to always be respectful and kind to their partner, as they were just that, not tools, and not servants.
For the night, though, I simply had them work together to smooth out the corridor and chamber beyond, to make it more comfortable to move through and set up equipment and furniture in.
More complex work could wait until tomorrow, when I could speak to Markus about the cult, and the counter-attack we knew would come down on us, sooner or later.