I've been testing a few things and I plan on starting to write books for the future. Over the past month, we've finished making all the new pirate ships. Our fleet now consists of 10 of each type of ship. I've got the designs for a new ship in mind but unless we go to war with a naval enemy they are unnecessary.
The black turtles are going to act as our frontal assault group once the war starts. If they are powered, they can act as transport for hundreds of troops as well as add to the strength of the fighting force later. The war is still going to happen eventually… What I had accomplished against Gold might change the time it happens. It could be sooner or later depending on when they find out.
Most of the elite squads of each group are finishing. The poor healers who have been put through the most rigorous training don't even appear to be the same people. I had to break up a fist fight between 2 healers and 5 of the demon folk tribe where the healers were winning the fight. The changes towards the charisma based classes effected the healers the most… Rounding out their stats and giving them special training made them a force to be reckoned with.
After a month of killing fish to collect philosopher's stone, I'm now satisfied with the amount. Moving all of the animals and automatons into the castle mimic. I have it submerged into the philosopher's stones. With my being inside to see the effects… It is as I predicted, it rains the philosopher's stone… But sort of like a diluted version of it. I think if I had enough, allowing each monster to drink one would have more of an effect. This is the best choice for strengthening all of my monster troops at once… All of the automatons and even the time tree looked to have been strengthened. The insides of the castle mimic also expand to be about another 50 feet in each direction. Except for the castle mimic, I wouldn't say they were strengthened the same amount as using a philosopher's stone on each one though.
I've also been thinking of making a new set of troops. A sort of tanky explosives troop. Cutting out about 50 tanks from the group. I pair them off with the porcupine monsters that the beast riders had tamed. They didn't see any action in the war, so I've been thinking about what to do with them. Each person will be able to either wear the porcupine on their back or use them as a shield. The quills are very strong. At least strong enough to stop a sword being swung at someone. Then if things get too bad or they are outnumbered, they can make the porcupines release their quills at the enemy. This is at an increased radius of effect as the porcupines would normally shoot most of their payload into the air.
Morpheus returned after a few more weeks. His return trip had taken him far longer then his trip to his home. With him, he brought several more changlings. I greet them all but they can't understand me. Morpheus has to translate… Morpheus told me to pretend I was a follower of the god of death… After showing them my arm, they all believed me.
Speaking of arm… I did it, with supervision around I decided to use my lich form. During this process only my arm changed. Blue magic coursed through the cracks in the skin as I could use my arm at full power again, maybe even more powerful than before. Being in lich form makes me closer to Wrath though… I can almost feel him pushing through when I go into partial lich form. He hasn't spoken since he had tried to take over my body during the contest.
Lance… He and Trice both left, Trice taking Duchess with her. He is going to try and become a high ranking officer before the war starts to make a name for himself. Trice following because they are finally a couple. I hope the best for them and they will always be welcome back but… It feels like my brother and sister are leaving me to find something better… With him leaving a chain of events also happened.
Around 50 of the demon folk left to try to find another tribe the could join in the north east. Epieoth stayed, most likely out of the feeling of debt. Losing 50 demon tribe folk is a heavy hit to our troops. Most of them being done with war, even some of the ones who remain at the fortress no longer plan to fight a war they don't care about. The elementalists on the other hand… As peaceful as they are, they want revenge against the country that betrayed them. Especially Green, I think she'll play a big role in the upcoming war.
Even some of my pets have left for now… 4 of my pets left to speak with the elemental lords of this land. Red, Blue, Purple and Pokodo all left to find their elemental lords… I hope they return safely, they will all be traveling through the central continent to meet their leaders. They will be strengthened by their leaders after declaring submission to them… The rules that elemental rulers are slightly different than other monsters. Any elemental can challenge the leader to become the next elemental lord. It is too early… Someday I hope they can become the pinnacle of their element.
The leader of the kobolds was chosen. It was the big one who made it into the top 32 of the unarmed combatants… I think his name was Tikki. He isn't fit to be a leader as he is actually quite shy. I ask for the person who took leadership and led the group who brought the black turtle onto the battlefield to come speak with me. A much smaller, far weaker kobold comes forwards…
He has a look in his eye that shows the same brains as the previous leader. I make this kobold the adviser and his name was Tok. He just so happens to be a relative of Shikki. A grandson of Shikki's brother or something. I also told them that I am not a god. If they make any sacrifices like they did before, I will no longer want them to be a part of my army. We've already lost enough people, losing more to sacrificial attacks would be too hard for my heart to handle.
I found out that the children Nami is taking care of weren't her children but her siblings… I feel so stupid for not realizing it until now. It wasn't important, it just made me feel stupid for not realizing sooner. The ninja's have all started getting accustomed to their new life here. Several have started taking part in training and the few who have tested all passed the elite squad training with flying colors.
Gargarz approached me one night and asked for a special automaton to be made for him. After hearing he wanted one that could protect him I offered him Tank (Gizmo’s brother) but he didn't want it… He wanted something more feminine, I decided to make one for him but after hearing the specifications I couldn't… Many of thing things he wanted added are just above the technology we can pull off at the moment. I tried to introduce him to some girls instead but he was almost terrified to the point in not being able to speak… I feel bad for him but their isn't a quick fix to his situation…
I made some adjustments to my Gear again. Adding a stomach cannon that acts like an actual mana cannon. His feet can now drill into the ground for this set-up as if he doesn't he is launched backwards several feet and he sometimes falls over.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I've been trying to redesign a smaller, more easily usable version of Gear for my other generals. These Minigear's will attach directly to their arm. It will function as a third arm in that sense. Being outfitted with an extendible blade, it can fire up to 4 arrows before reloading and has a built in void bag to throw projectiles. I refuse to teach these hands anything and I keep them far away from myself after they are made. I don't want any to become sentient… A life like that where you are just worn and can't do anything for yourself is no way to live. Speaking of which…
Leaf and Aegis are getting along well. I sometimes catch Leaf making faces as if she is having a private conversation like I used to. He is still fairly big and I had to custom tailor Leaf's robes so he could fit more easily without catching and tugging on her clothing. They even developed a cool combination move that Leaf called “rocket punch”. It is just Aegis firing himself off of Leaf with her help, she produces a mana arrow inside him and fires it to speed him up. The power isn't very strong right now… It could prove useful in certain situations though.
I've started a subcommittee of all the smart generals to talk about future plans and problems arising in the army. Swift has asked for aid in gaining books for our library and perhaps expanding the portals to other regions of our continent more. I agree with him and we begin sending squads out to place more teleport scrolls in each town. I send one to my grandpa Grey's house…
Once the envoy gets there I speak with Grey. After discussing everything that has happened since I was last there. When I get to the part with the awakened classes he looks surprised. Finally stating.
“That is surprising… I'm not sure teaching you this will work but I do have a secret skill you might be able to learn… I wanted you to get stronger before you attempted anything to do with this skill… So I wanted to wait to teach it to you, so you didn't get any stupid ideas.”
He begins to explain the secret skill.
Secret Warrior passive skill Dragon slayer- Increased damage dealt to all dragonkin, decreased damage taken from dragonkin
...What a powerful skill. My grandfather was wrong, if he had taught me before I wouldn't have used this skill even if I had the chance… I'm not foolish enough to fight a dragon… Darkclaw is now the size of a 100 year old dragon… There are dragons that are hundreds, if not thousands of years old. Some almost the size of mountains… To fight against something that strong would take an army… And there wouldn't be anything to show for fighting them. Most of the old dragons are smart enough to stay away from civilizations. To avoid a senseless death they could avoid… Some don't have that fear though…
I doubt in my lifetime I wont use this skill though… I have no doubt that it will happen. That I will be forced to fight one for the sake of my army. Dragons are attracted to treasure and I have plenty of it. I talk to him some more, teaching him the druid class to make growing plants easier. He was surprised by this, I offered him a spot at my fortress but he refused. His life as an adventurer is over, he just wants to grow crops peacefully now since that is his passion.
It got me thinking of my passion… The love of running a dungeon, the thrill of finding something new and interesting… I've been so caught up in this war that I have been neglecting those two things. I need to get back to inventing and adventuring. I head back to the fortress that night with renewed love for those two things.
The next few days more and more people continue to leave the army… A group of lizard men left to go on an adventure to the south continent. More demon folk left to join the group that went to search for more demon tribes. They all had taken a portal scroll so I can visit and they can ask for help but I doubt I will see them unless they really need help. The numbers that left now equal around 100. Leon also decided to leave.
Him leaving was hard on me... More and more of my generals are leaving for their own goals. He left to search for the cure to his ghoulification. Kline also left with him, I guess Silky wanted to see more of the world and it is a good opportunity for that. I feel a little better that a healer decided to travel with Leon but yet another one of my generals have left. I don't know if they'll return safely or not.
I've sent a few of my troops to higher level raid dungeons. In a few weeks, we'll be able to train more off of bosses again. At our current strength… I would say we are at about tier 4 raids. They go up to tier 6 to my knowledge. Tier 6 raid dungeons would give you more than enough wealth for every participant to retire. Often times, tier 6 raid dungeons are done with army size groups that throw 15 members in at a time to challenge bosses. Many lose their lives in the process but if a single raid boss is managed to be killed the rewards could change the tides of a war.
It's been about 2 months since the end of the war now. The vikings managed to make it back to their home. My boats cut the time it had taken them by months. The skeppare I had made the deal with sent a viking through to tell me he is on his way to speak with the jarl and try to get a meeting for me. If I remember correctly, the jarl is in failing health and had sent his skeppare to lead his troops. There might be more than a single jarl and they will fight for my partnership if I let them… I will have to make it clear that I serve no single jarl and that my weapons and supplies can be bought by anyone.
With a portal rune at the vikings homeland. I can stock up on faraway supplies. The first step is looking for the white leaf I was told about during their last mission. Flying over the town as a small bird to not alert any of the vikings who had set-up a home here. I find about 2 dozen plants over the period of a few hours. Making sure to take extra special care of them, I plan on making a special room to grow these in so I don't have to rely on getting a supply from the vikings. I also set-up a portal scroll somewhere in a different location then the portal rune. That way if they ever invade or become hostile, I can still make it back there if I need to.
The next few days is setting up a room for the plants. I need to make sure one is male and another is female to start the process of reproducing so I can continue to grow them in the future. I doubt that all 2 dozen of the plants are the same sex. I make a few experimental ice bombs with two of the white leaf plants.
Someone I wasn't expecting to return so early has shown up through the portals… It is the bugbear who I had captured previously, it looks like he is less than a days travel from his village… We start the preparations for this battle again... I start to feel slightly excited but try to calm my nerves so Wrath doesn't take over. For once, we're going to have the advantage in this fight with a sneak attack and more numbers then them.