“Who the fuck are you?” Jack immediately unsheathed his sword at the unwelcome guest.
“Wait,” Robb stopped him with his hand before looking at the young man in the black suit, “What’s your name?”
“Aswad,” The young man replied with a smile. He then shifted his focus to Roy and asked, “Are these your subordinates, my lord?”
“What the fuck did he say?” Robb no longer stopped Jack and glared at Aswad. He put his hand on his katana’s grip, ready to pounce at any moment.
“Motherfucker is looking for a fight,” Jack chuckled and played around with his sword. Even though his lips were smiling, his eyes held a murderous intent.
“They’re not my subordinate, they’re my friends,” Roy cut in.
“Oh, I am very sorry for offending you then,” Aswad continued kneeling and looked down to the ground.
Roy took the lead and walked toward Aswad. He knew that if he did not take control of the situation, it could derail very easily. “Who are you? Why do you call me ‘lord’?”
Aswad looked up at Roy with a slight smile, “I am the guardian of your realm, and your guide, my lord.”
Hearing the young man’s answer, Robb burst out laughing, “Wow, you already got your first follower. You’re close to achieving your dream now.”
“Stop fucking around,” Roy shook his head with red cheeks. He then looked at Aswad and asked, “Will you be showing me how to make this village?”
Aswad nodded, “Of course, my lord. That is my duty.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” Roy then looked at the raging flames eating away at the forest in the distance. “Before that, we need to somehow kill the fire.”
“I can do that if you wish, my lord,” Aswad looked at the fire with a grin.
“Stop with the ‘my lord’; it’s too stiff. Just call me Roy.” Roy frowned before taking a small breath. “So, how are you gonna do that?”
“As you wish,” Aswad nodded. “If you allow me to use a portion of the monster gems you have stored in the territory, I can easily quench this fire.”
Roy was taken aback by Aswad’s demand before shrugging, “Sure, if that’s all then there is no reason to refuse.”
“Thank you,” Aswad stood up with a grin on his face. A clear blue aura covered his body as he whispered chants with incredible speed.
Seconds passed and nothing happened.
“What is he doing? This better not be a prank,” Jaimie raised an eyebrow at Aswad’s weird antics.
However, as was usual with Jack, the moment he spoke, a rumbling noise came from the direction of the lake. The sound was overwhelming as if a flood or a tsunami was rushing toward them.
“Am I seeing things right?” Marth’s voice could be barely heard from the thundering sound.
“If you’re dreaming, I’m dreaming too,” Hawk replied.
Water, a colossal amount of it flew from the lake like a water dragon above the trees. It was as if it had become alive with a will of its own, as it slithered through the air toward its destination. Gigantic torrents of water crashed on the burning forest, quenching the flames with herculean force.
“Are you a god?” Hassan asked with an incredulous look on his face. He then looked at the tail behind Aswad and grimaced, “Or maybe the devil?”
With the fire gone, Aswad stopped chanting and the blue glow covering his body disappeared. He opened his eyes and looked at Hassan with a smile, “I’m nothing of the sort. I’m but a servant of the realm.”
Aswad then looked at Roy and said, “I think it would be wise to start building the village right now. You will grow much stronger once you choose a class.”
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“No, not yet,” Roy shook his head. He then looked back to his friends with a somber face. “Let’s hold a funeral; for Conrad, for Parker, for Mr. Brian. They more than deserve it.”
There was silence for a few seconds, as everyone came face-to-face with the reality of their losses.
Jack looked down and bit his lips, before sniffing his tears, “That fucking John, man. I swear I’ll kill him if he is not already dead.”
“Yeah, we will,” Alfonse clenched his fist with an enraged look. “I want to open his chest and see if there is really a heart in there.”
“You’ll only find piss and shit in there,” Robb replied with a cold expression. “I heard he used to put spikes in his enemies' heads to scare off the opposing army. I wonder how his head would look on a spike?”
While his friends were talking with each other, Roy scanned the three groups with his eyes. They were all dealing with grief differently. Some were enraged, some were sad and fearful, and others were just in a state of shock.
The young boy, Thomas, was especially hurt. His eyes were hollow, his lips were dry, and even as Derek was trying to talk to him, he was not responding at all.
I can’t even imagine his guilt.
Roy saw what happened to the poor young boy. Brian had saved him from the jaws of death, only for the middle-aged man to die right after. Thomas must be screaming at himself, believing it was his fault that Mr. Brian had died.
However, he was not the only one dealing with a loss. The group of knights was now one member down.
“I want to bury Conrad next to the lake,” Marth said after a minute of silence. He then smiled and looked back at the magnificent lake; a mirror to the moon and the stars. “Conrad would have loved just spending his days here, it’s his kind of place.”
Roy nodded at Marth’s words, “Yeah, it is a good place to spend eternity. He deserves it.”
Roy looked beyond Marth and the groups at the lake behind them, and a chuckle escaped his lips. He smiled with tears dripping down his eyes, “Aiden loved this place too.”
Hearing Roy’s words, Alfonse’s eyes lightened up, “Let’s bury Aiden here too!”
“What are you going to bury?!” Jack snapped and clenched his fist. “He is just ashes now. Even his bones are god-knows-where!”
“You can have a ceremonial burying,” Marth cut in with a calm voice. “Even with no corpse, you can make a place his tomb.”
“Thank the gods for that and thank the gods for you, Marth,” Robb complimented the captain with a genuinely surprised expression.
“Ehm, I’m sorry to cut in, but I think I might have some important information for you,” Aswad hesitantly joined the conversation. “The ground under the area of influence of the territory cannot be dug or changed, other than by the system itself.”
“What does that mean?” Roy raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying we can’t bury our friends here?”
“No, you can,” Aswad reassured the frustrated men with a smile. “However, you will need to build a graveyard first. You can do so through the system by thinking Territory Display.”
Roy breathed out a sigh of relief before thinking those two words.
Everlast Village
* Level: Low-Grade Village
Owned Buildings
N/A
Available Buildings
* Wall Segment (Low-Grade)
A ten-meter-long segment of a kilometer-long circular wall centered on the Territory Altar with four gates and a watchtower every fifty meters.
Durability: 1000 Armor: 5 Cost: 5 Wood
0/100 Built
* House (Low-Grade)
A single-story building with furnished bedrooms and a central courtyard.
Durability: 500 Armor: 3 Cost: 80 Wood Occupancy: 5
0 Built
* Village Hall (Low-Grade)
A single-story building that is at the center of the village. It acts as the office space of the lord and his subjects for bureaucratic work.
Durability: 1000 Armor: 5 Cost: 500 Wood
0 Built
* Class Hall (Low-Grade)
A single-story building where citizens can choose their class. The hall is split into two chambers with one for combat classes while the other is for production classes.
Durability: 1000 Armor: 5 Cost: 500 Wood
0 Built
* Shop (Low-Grade)
A shop that sells a variety of items, from consumables to skill scrolls, to history books.
Durability: 500 Armor: 5 Cost: 200 Wood
0 Built
* Graveyard (Low Grade)
A place designated for burying people. The area and the decor of the graveyard increase with its levels.
Area: 400 m² Durability: 500 Armor: 3 Cost: 100 Wood
0 Built
Upgrade Conditions
* 100 Registered Citizens
* Standard Grade Village Hall
* Standard Grade Class Hall
* 1000 Monster Gems