Rowan paced back and forth in the library. Organizing a meeting in a hurry was surprisingly tricky, especially considering the fact that he needed to get his full party, Olivia’s parents, and Blake in one room. I guess the stress was going to catch up to me at some point, might as well be now.
The baron couple had been busy ever since the engagement celebration, catching up and working on improving the state of Rest’s Remorse. Doubly so, now that the engagement meant that their daughter would eventually be directly in charge of the city.
Rowan’s pacing continued above, and Blake’s sword swings were being practiced below. Sweat dripped down his forehead into his eyes, and he was forced to pause. The kingdom’s chosen was using every waking moment he had to grow, to get back to where he used to be. He managed to claw his way back up to level fifty-nine before eradicating the local rare population.
In order to find more prey, Blake would have to spend the night outside of the city walls, but both Blake’s party and his gaggle of fiancées were still leery of letting him do that.
In response, the fallen hero spent his time strengthening Rowan’s fledgling [Knights], intent on staying sharp and building a backup party beyond his gaggle of fiancées.
Rowan was, overall, amused. But also somewhat worried that Blake might have effectively stolen his newest recruits.
The combination of complications he’d unearthed meant that he had to force a meeting regardless of people’s busy schedules. He managed to gather everyone a couple of minutes later, but people were shooting him ugly looks at their schedule being disrupted, unaware of the severity of the situation.
“I know all of you have plenty of things to do, so I’ll keep this brief. Yesterday, I met with Tamara, Lucius, and Amanda. The things I’ve learned talking to the latter two are somewhat… troubling.”
The room exploded with stunned silence. Blake’s eyes narrowed at Rowan’s admission that he’d had words with his fiancée, and the mention of Tamara was enough to warrant a particularly icy look from the baroness.
“What did you learn, exactly?” Blake demanded, prompting Rowan to launch into the story.
It took a while to cover the nuances, especially his chat with the Mercenary King. “So, overall, I’m afraid that we’re stuck. I have no clue what orders Lucius got, but they’re obviously not benevolent if he felt the need to warn us in such a roundabout way.”
“Whatever they’re planning, they’re planning to pull it off during your venture into the wastes. It isn’t as if you’re going in blind,” Kayden supplied, looking the calmest out of everyone in the room. Camilla was shocked and worried, but her husband showed quiet resolve. There was something in his eyes Rowan couldn’t pin down, something between pride and resignation that made him vaguely suspicious.
“Knowing when it will happen still doesn’t help us stop it,” a wolf kin quipped. Marcus had his arms crossed over his chest and his fur was all puffed up. Hearing the news that the king might be working against them had rattled him, but he clearly wasn’t cowering.
“True, but we can make educated guesses. We know they need us to fight the legendary demons. So why? If they want those gone, why are they so eager to end us before we kill the demon king?” Milena rumbled with a vicious look in her eyes.
Rowan shot a questioning look at the baron, but the man was silent now. Lips pressed into a tight line. It was Camilla who spoke up next.
“There are plenty of stories about heroes, most of which end with the death of the demon king and the heroes’ return to their world. But when the heroes decide to stay? Occasionally, it ends quite badly for the local nobility.” She hesitated, eyes flitting between the two heroes. “What story is the king thinking of that’s frightening him so much? Without that, it doesn’t make any sense. Why be afraid of people you chose to summon?”
“Technically, Gods summon heroes. The chosen kingdom just helps facilitate the process,” Olivia chimed in, grinning mischievously even when her mother shot another glare her way.
Thankfully, her interruption eased the stifling atmosphere of the room considerably.
“Olivia, behave. There are too many stories to be sure. There are some stories that paint heroes who stay as paragons who start prosperous kingdoms and go on to be the best of kings. There are just as many, however, about heroes who proceed to act like tyrants and monsters. Heroes with a maligned sense of justice that ends up driving the world into war.”
Rowan panned over to Blake, only to find his fellow hero shooting the same look back at him. Rowan was really loath to admit it, but he could easily see the way such a thing might happen. And while he’d like to say he wasn’t tempted to try and change things, it would be a lie.
The way lower classes were treated here made him want to act out. And Blake? Well, Rowan strongly suspected that there wasn’t much his friend wouldn’t do if his goddess asked him nicely. That was still something the Stalwart Hero needed to confront his friend about.
“So, that’s it? The king is worried that we’ll destroy his kingdom afterwards?” Rowan asked bitterly once he managed to get out of his staring contest with Blake. “Couldn’t he stop us easily enough? The kingdom must have enough epic tiers to form a small army.”
The baroness shrugged, visibly uncomfortable. “The king may be powerful, and he does have a strong following, yes, but you overestimate how many nobles would willingly fight for him. Besides, if the stories are to be believed, heroes become much more powerful when they finally strike down the demon king.”
“More powerful how? Do our blessings get boosted somehow?” Blake asked eagerly, eyes lighting up in expectation.
“All I can tell you is that it happens, and that it’s intrinsically linked to heroes. The details of the process are kept a closely guarded secret. I’m not sure anyone knows, past the royal family, of course.”
“Of course,” Rowan echoed, stealing another glance at Kayden.
The baron’s face was carefully blank, and though he maintained eye contact when he caught Rowan looking, the hero got a strong feeling he’d prefer not to.
The Stalwart Hero felt frustration bubbling up. Time after time, he found himself talking to people who were supposed to be his allies. And time after time, they refused to tell him the whole truth.
The most painful part of the whole affair was that he strongly suspected that they actually couldn’t. The princess had used very precise wording. And he’d never seen the baron with a look on his face quite like that one before.
Thinking back to all the discussions they’d had, the man always skipped over certain topics. Certain topics that mostly had to do with hero cards and why they were so appealing. For the time being, Rowan decided to shelve his suspicions in favor of practical matters.
“Whatever the king is scheming, I think it’s safe to assume we’ll face a knife to the back while we’re fighting the legendary demons. This means that we need to worry about the demons and the scheming both. Any suggestion on how to deal with that?”
“Power,” the baron immediately spat out, the word coming out with both distaste and stubborn insistence. “We need you all to be as powerful as you possibly can be. This means no more wasting experience, cards, and training time. I admire what you’re trying to do, but this is not the time.”
Rowan wanted to object, but couldn’t. “What do you suggest, then? It’s not like we can benefit much from hunting down uncommons and rares. Well, other than Blake, no offense buddy.”
“None taken.”
The baron ignored the byplay. “Sure, you can’t benefit from killing them directly. Your [Knights] can help, but you need to increase your overall strength. In this case, it means working on your decks. You can’t tell me you all have a perfect spread of epic cards.”
He eyed them all like he was daring them to countermand him, but none of them did.
“Getting enough cards to pull something like that off is going to be tough,” Rowan said hesitantly, thinking about his own cards. He still had an uncommon in his deck after all, even if Blood Siphon was a pretty solid card.
“Not if you pool all of your resources. Think like a Duke. If you order all your troops to sally out and collect cards for you, think about how many cards they can collect in a day. If each soldier contributes five uncommon cards a day, you’ll meet your needs soon enough.
Rowan twitched. He genuinely hated the idea of sending his men into combat and then demanding their hard-earned trophies just so he could empower himself. A part of him wanted to insist on heading out himself and earning everything himself.
“Do not give me that look, young man.” Surprisingly enough, it was Olivia’s mother that snapped at Rowan. “You made a commitment to keep my daughter safe. Now, you’re going to honor it. With everything in your power, keep both of you safe. You might see it as a grievous injustice, but there is practical merit to that tradition here. You must gather power to protect your people, too.”
There was a tense moment of silence while everyone waited for Rowan’s answer. Even Blake’s eyes were fixed on him, though Rowan couldn’t figure out what his friend was thinking. “Fine,” he spat out at long last, sagging at the agreement. “But I wish I disagreed.”
Rowan understood the underlying logic. He understood why Olivia’s parents were pushing for that particular course of action. Still, he felt like he’d fundamentally failed the people who put trust in him. His shoulders sank. That means I’m failing myself too.
“It’s okay. We’ve got plenty of time to buff everyone up to epic if that’s what you want once all the demons are dead,” Olivia offered with a sad smile, squeezing his hand underneath the table.
That did make him feel better.
“I’ll stop pouting, don’t worry. I recognize that it’s… immature, I guess. I just wanted to do things differently. Is that really so bad?” He might have been talking to Olivia, but Rowan really asked the question to the room at large.
“It’s not. But even back home, similar rules are respected by all. You need a strong leader to protect everyone and give them a chance to grow,” Milena supplied softly, surprising Rowan.
“I’m with you on making everyone stronger, you know that dude,” Blake chimed in with a genuine smile on his face. “But I don’t think you’re letting them down, Rowan. Hells, I know for a fact your soldiers all love you. It’s kinda weird, to be honest. You were never this popular back home.” He winked.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Rowan rolled his eyes at the good natured teasing, but another surge of optimism coursed through him. If he looked at it like he was asking for help, maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Everyone needed a hand occasionally, right?
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it. I’ll organize an assembly and pass out the orders. Is there anything else we can do to prepare? What about you guys?” He addressed his party members, unable to deny his curiosity. “Do you need something special to make your new classes work better?”
They still hadn’t sat down and properly discussed their new classes, much to the hero’s chagrin. Even Olivia had weaseled her way out of telling him what she got, though he could tell it was because his frustration amused her.
Milena pulled at her fur a bit while she considered things, but still answered first. “Afraid not. Well, I obviously need scrap and cards so I can upgrade my deck’s rarity, but otherwise, I’m set. I got [Ancestral Shaman] years earlier than I thought I would. Really, I should blame you for throwing off my schedule.” Milena’s smile was light and teasing, making Rowan grin.
“I’m similarly set. My class was… a bit of a surprise, honestly. Didn’t think I’d get something so unique.” The other half of the twin set said, then surprised Rowan when a system window came up in front of him.
[Bulwark Of Salvation]
You are the saving grace, the life-sparing shield, the final bastion between your allies and death. Hold fast.
By selecting the [Bulwark Of Salvation] class you will gain the ability to prevent, redirect, and delay damage dealt to you and your allies.
Additional beneficial effects:
* A grand boost to the effectiveness of your vitality and wisdom stats
* A massive boost to all your resistances, including resistances to esoteric effects
* You can trigger a five second window of time where all damage taken by you and your allies will be delayed and stored instead. You can hold onto this damage for ten seconds, before it is all dealt to you or an ally of choice.
* If your Wisdom and Vitality stats total is twice that of your enemy, you can shift all stored damage to them when in direct contact with them. Weapons and armor are treated as an extension of your body in this instance.
Class Penalties:
* A grand decrease to your damage output
Attached card: Salvation’s Blessing (Epic, Active)
“That’s… impressive, especially damage onto an enemy,” Rowan remarked, eyes going back to the description of shifting damage to an enemy again and again. With it, as long as he had some relatively weak monsters within reach, it was unlikely that Marcus would ever go down.
“It’s impressive, sure, but you need to read the descriptions a bit more closely. I can only hold one ‘charge’ at a time. Even if the damage from it doesn’t trigger, I can’t sponge more hits until I offload the current charge. I can still get obliterated.”
Marcus was aiming to be humble, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told Rowan he was more than a little proud of his class.
He’d also chosen to share freely, something his sister hadn’t done. Rowan could only assume it was because her own class came straight from their clan, and was likely considered sensitive in some shape or form. He didn’t begrudge her for keeping the details to herself, regardless.
“And you, you little gremlin?” Rowan snarked jokingly, looking down at his favorite alchemist. “Are you going to finally tell me exactly what class you got, or are you going to keep teasing me?”
She gave him a Cheshire grin, and Rowan almost resolved himself to waiting longer before another system window popped up in his notifications. His eyebrows climbed higher the further he read.
[Alchemist of Entropy]
The world is your playground. Dissolve or enrich it as you please.
By picking the [Alchemist of Entropy] class you get to tap into the Law of [Entropy], imposing it on the world or reversing its effects.
Warning: This class deals with a Fundamental Law. Y̘̗̱̏ͦȍ̵̴̡͇͎͎̳̫͔̜͂͛̓̌̈́͒͑͑͞ų̵̶̣̻͕̠͉͍ͪ̅͛̐̃ͤ͊ͨ́ͧ̏̂͒͑ͮ̂ͮ̚͢͞ͅ a̸̷̸̸̷̢̡̢̜̼̥͇͚͈̹͚̟̺̬̖̙̜̭͖̳͎̣ͬ̈̐̊̄̆ͪͪ̎ͯ̅́̿ͩͦͩ̆͟͠ȑ̴̸̶̘̞̞̩̱̰̥̻̖̖͔̪̗̋̑̈̐̿̓̃̋̔̃̊̅͞e̡̡̞͋̂͆ͅ n̸̨͕͚̲͉ͨ̍͛̾ͣ̈̐̓̊͋̾ͬͦ̎̕͟͡͡ŏ̴̠̠̽ͪ̇̋ͮ_̴̷̝̋̈͠ţ̸̦̪̱̪̖͖̎͊ͫ̆ͮ́ͦͯ͘͟͞ r̡̢̛͔͈͎̯̲͖͙̙͙͎̹̞͈̜̰̂̎̔͆ͤ̂͆͋ͪ̔̌ͣ̾ͦ̒̏͌ͅe̢̢̢̢̳̺̝̘͖͍̤̩͍͆͑̍̾̓͋͂͋̐ͤ̒͜͝͝_̯_̓a̗̖̗͖ͨ̐̆ͦ_̶̶̧̡̨̤̬̘͍̙̭̼̬̗͇̱̱͇̪̭̼̀ͧ̀̅̅̎̏̅ͨ͆ͮͬͣ̐̑͡͡d̶̡̛͍̞̰͙̙̲̘̥̤ͧ͂̏̋̐̈̂ͬͮ̿͊ͧ̄̀ͧ̑͟y̵̨̼̖͔̪͎͇̗̣̋͂͛̓͌͑̾͗͡͡_̡̡͓̬̩͚̮̯̻͎͔͇͕̪͉͖̈̅̓̌̒̃͊ͯ͘͟.
Additional beneficial effects:
* A grand boost to the effectiveness of your intelligence and wisdom stats
* A grand boost to the growth of your mana pool
* Your mana bears the flavor of [Entropy]
* You can leverage [Entropy] in your alchemical pursuits, dissolving certain traits of your ingredients or condensing others
Class Penalties:
* They Are Watching
* ฿Ɇ₩₳ⱤɆ Ø₣ ₩łɆⱠĐł₦₲ ₣ØⱤ₵Ɇ₴ ɎØɄ ₵₳₦₦Ø₮ ₵Ø₥₱ⱤɆⱧɆ₦Đ, ₵ⱧłⱠĐ
Attached card: Entropy’s Embrace (Epic, Active)
“Olivia, dear, you never get to tell me to stop being reckless ever again.” Rowan somehow managed to say that without gritting his teeth or sounding upset.
“Whatever do you mean? I did nothing wrong.” Olivia’s expression of perfect innocence was not working as intended, but Rowan found it difficult to feel upset. He’d done his fair share of stupid things, after all.
Unfortunately for Olivia, she’d apparently neglected to let her parents know about her class prior to the meeting as well. And, judging by the way the baroness was choking on her own spit and staring at her daughter with bulging eyes, she wasn’t happy.
Even her father looked pained, though the way he was staring at her spoke more of resignation than of any real anger.
“Can I ask why, of all things, you chose to pick a class like this, daughter? You know as well as I do that plenty of [Alchemist] classes are monitored if not outright forbidden by the temples.”
“I did it because I refuse to be a burden, and because I refuse to be weak. With this class, I can match any one of you,” Olivia declared, steel in her voice.
Rowan didn’t doubt what she was saying for even a second. He wasn’t entirely sure what the class entailed, but it certainly looked like it would have plenty of application in direct combat. Whatever else might happen due to her choices, Olivia was unlikely to feel vulnerable again.
“Just… let me know what I can do to help you improve your cards, okay?” Rowan offered, and got a dazzling smile in return. “I’ll even refrain from ribbing you about all your complaining — but only if you decide to be less reckless than me.” He added, and the smile was replaced by a scowl.
“You can be such an ass,” Olivia grumbled, but Rowan felt like he was the winner when she gave him a small smile anyway.
“Yes, yes, touching emotional moment aside, we need to finish up here. Anything else we need to plan for? We’ve got our epic tier classes, and we’ll be working on getting our decks up to the same tier, too. Can we do anything else?” Marcus got the group back on track.
“Well…” a very meek Blake sheepishly said, “I’d like some help, if that’s okay? I need to go deeper. Rares are pretty much gone from the area, and I’m not getting nearly enough experience to get back to epic any time soon. Maybe a small hunting trip?”
“I can help with that, if you’d like,” Rowan offered immediately. His mind went back to the conversation he had with the princess.
“We can help. I’ll come with. I need to experiment a bit with my new class anyway,” Olivia joined in immediately, wrapping her arms around Rowan a bit more tightly. He shot her an apologetic smile in turn, only for her to roll her eyes at him.
“I could use an outing, too. I haven’t played around much with my new ability to shift damage to an enemy. It’s not a good idea to test that kind of thing when things are dire,” Marcus offered as well. All eyes fell on his sister.
Milena huffed and threw up her hands in exasperation. “What? Don’t look at me like that! I’m all for solidarity and all that, but I need to study, unlike the rest of you. Rituals don’t perform themselves, you know? I’ll be staying, thank you very much. You lot have fun.”
“Do you think your party will want to tag along too, Blake?” Rowan ventured hesitantly, making his fellow hero sigh.
“Almost definitely. I’ll ask them to stay this time around, though. Maybe they’ll accept if I ask them to hang out with your knightly trio?”
“I swear, they follow you around like lost puppies. I tried to make an elite party of [Knights], and you snatch it right out from under me,” Rowan complained, but his joking tone made it fairly obvious that he wasn’t actually upset.
“Well, maybe you should take better care of your subordinates, man!” Blake shot back with a cocky smirk.
Rowan just huffed. “Maybe.” Or maybe I should just keep them away from ridiculously charismatic heroes instead. “Okay, well, if that’s all for today, let’s get to it. I’ll get my troops together and pass on my orders, then we’ll head out tomorrow to wrap up Blake’s recovery.”
There was a wave of general assent, and then people started streaming out of the room. Rowan stayed seated though, with Olivia still attached to him.
With the meeting done, he suddenly felt tired and worried. It felt like the final moments of peace before a storm were slipping out between his fingers.
“It’s going to be okay, you know?” Olivia said quietly, scooting her chair closer and plopping her chin on his shoulder. “We’ll be ready, and whatever the demons and kingdom throw our way, we’ll be fine.”
“I really want to believe that. I do. It’s just… I’m worried. I just want to stay here, with you,” Rowan admitted, guilt and dread swamping him. “But I don’t want anymore of my soldiers to die either.”
He knew full well that plenty of resources and struggle had gone into his journey already. People had paid the ultimate price on his behalf, at his command. To falter now and choose to hide would be spitting directly on their memory. Even then, the temptation remained.
Olivia sighed and brushed her hands through his hair before firmly forcing him to face her. The kisses that followed didn’t solve all of Rowan’s problems, but they definitely made them feel more distant and bearable.
—
Rowan’s summons had gone out, the soldiers had mustered, and now the full array of his troops stood before him. A bit over five hundred souls, each and every one sworn to him. Each and every one willing to march at his order, to glory or to death. The sun was still low in the sky, but it was high enough that it’s golden light crept over the walls.
He took advantage of the officers doing final inspections of their troops to delay the moment he’d have to start his speech. He was usually queasy before making large troop announcement like this, but knowing how sharp the thorns were on the path ahead, Rowan tasted bile in his mouth and swallowed it down as stealthily as he could.
Finally, the last uniform was straightened, the last piece of armor forcefully polished, and the last warning about sloppiness and military etiquette given out.
Which meant it was time for him to open his mouth.
“Thank you for gathering here so quickly. You still have your normal duties to attend to, so I will be brief,” Rowan opened, sweeping his eyes over the arrayed troops.
He knew all of them at this point, if not by name then by features. It was hard to force himself to commit their faces to memory, when it was so much easier to pretend they were a faceless mass afraid of death. It would be much easier to send a nameless grunt to their death than it would be to send a soldier named John, who married his childhood friend only the week before.
That wouldn’t be fair to any of them. He would remember who they are, future pain be damned.
“I’m here today to inform you that we’re almost ready. The time to charge into the wastes is nearing, and we will bring the demons to heel. We will kill the leaders of their armies, legendary tier or not. And we will bring triumph over demon kind. We will have another peace again. That I promise you.”
Rowan felt pathetic, making that particular promise. It was hard to stand tall when feared he’d have to ask them to take up arms against fellow humans immediately after.
He still meant every word.
“To do this, however, we need to finish our preparation. For this reason, I give you the following orders: I need you to go out into the wastes in force, and cull as many monsters as you can. Bring back their cards, so that we can guarantee our victory against demons. I promise you, we will not fail your hard work and effort. The cards you collect will be invaluable for the task we have been entrusted with.”
He expected to hear jeering, not cheering. He thought he’d see unhappy faces, at the very least. Instead, the Stalwart Hero’s heart broke a little when he saw the proud smiles and determined expressions. Are they actually happy about this?
Their Lord, their Hero, had given them a task.
His army would do their best to fulfill it.
“Thank you once again for your service. Thank you for your loyalty. I couldn’t ask for a better army. Even if the king were to offer me his royal guard to replace you, I’d choose you over them in a heartbeat.” Rowan’s speech concluded, sincerity ringing in his every word. He bowed.
A ripple spread through his army before they returned the gesture. Rowan only barely kept the smile on his face as he walked right through their ranks, exchanging greetings and comments.
Olivia was right by his side, a steadying presence in the whirlwind that was his mind.
Why don’t they resent me?
“You did amazing out there,” his fiancée whispered once they were in the manor, away from all the orders and the weight of expectations.
“Did I?” Rowan asked.
“You did. You realize they wouldn’t so readily follow any of the previous mayors in Rest’s Remorse, right? Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, you’ve improved their lives, Rowan.”
That, at last, brought a smile to the hero’s lips. Perhaps it felt a bit hollow, to improve someone’s life and then ask them to risk it all.
They had a war to win and a future to fight for. Rowan swore he would do whatever he could to bring them all back.