The Leader, Hamid

“A disaster! The heathens killed one of our own, we have to respond.”

“You saw their power! We have no chance against that monster in human flesh. His stats are immense. And the number of cities he has, is too large.”

“Appeasement? Bah! Fight, fight to the death, I say.”

“We don’t even know where his cities are? We would have to fight him directly. If you want to do that, go right ahead.”

“If we can’t easily kill the sword user or the monster, then we have no chance.”

“The Leader was right to make peace.”

I listened to the arguments from my men swirl around me as I sat brooding over the recent developments. The giddiness that Emperor had shown at seeing the map made me regret letting him view it. But we couldn’t afford to fight.

Looking at Michael’s stats and that of his teammates we were completely outclassed. That woman and the man with him were far higher than I had expected. I could fight, but I didn’t think I had a chance. If our stats were even, then I would not have allowed him to trample all over our pride. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Out of all the things I had expected, a random Emperor of 19 cities to just show up out of the blue was not one of them. His plan to send people out to expand and create a warzone, was brutal but clever. We would have to use it as a tempering ground to gather knowledge, resources, and to prepare for the future.

Also, the boarder needed to be secured much more. We couldn’t afford hordes of rampaging Westerners invading our zones. They were from the East of this place, but they were still the West in my mind. I knew how destructive Imperialism was to the places the Imperialists took over.

We just had to be too hard to swallow and not give any offense. Meech and the Indian Sultanate were going to die and soon. That was one thing I was confident about. I anticipated them sending an envoy begging for sanctuary when death in human form came to them.

That many stats in one person was something I had always worried about. I had hoped the rest of the cities would be in turmoil while I slowly progressed, but it hadn’t been enough. Nowhere near enough. The sheer difference in cities and scope, the very thing that made Emperor Michael giddy, was exactly the thing that was the final nail in the coffin.

My advisors and soldiers kept arguing and I let them. They needed to express themselves and get their opinions off their chest. Well, I might just have to pick another wife from the new arrivals that were showing up today. That would help relieve the stress and headache from this encounter.

This entire situation had devolved into a complete disaster in my mind. Our isolation was over. The hope had been to build up and grow stronger over time to take some cities to the South. But we weren’t fast enough. The East had been considered a wasteland for the longest time. Now that was all changing.

“What do you think Leader?” one of my men asked me. Everyone turned to look at me. I hadn’t even been paying attention, but I knew how to handle this situation.

“We can’t win in a fight. We can’t win long term either. Our only hope is that this Emperor Michael dies and his Empire fractures. But we don’t even know where it is, except East,” I said with a shake of my head. “If it was just him there might have been a chance, but the stats of his people are too high. That is far more concerning.”

There were nods at that. “Captain Hasad has also reported he easily deflected his skill. And with that attack he used in the conference room, we can’t win. But we won’t surrender either. He is more interested in the sword and the monster.”

“We just need to wait and see what happens. He doesn’t plan to conquer anything either. So, we will take the time to learn, and see what happens. The winner of any battle isn’t the one who strikes the first blow, but who remains standing at the end.” There were nods all around at this.

“No offense will be given, but we will remain hospitable. But we will not change our culture or way of life. For now, we will gather more information. While our guests remained tight lipped, we know they are to the East. Past the dead zones of the old Indian Sultanate.” There were more nods at this.

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“We can also gather they suffered an attack of some kind. Since they didn’t come via airship. That either means there is a much stronger force to the East and they fled. Or the monster attacked them while traveling and disabled their airship,” I concluded and there were more nods at this.

“And if they make more demands?” one of my advisors asked.

“We comply. It is that simple. Like we do with the sword users, we kite them. Delays, slowdowns, while being polite. We avoid conflict while accumulating strength in the long term. Again, it is about outlasting everyone else. Let other people fight pointlessly and die. We need to be focused on not dying while slowly getting stronger,” I countered. It was the same strategy that we had been using for a while, but we would keep it up.

The nations to the South were incredibly weak and in a state of chaos in my mind. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the strength to fight them right now. Their constant state of warfare had evolved combat to a high degree.

I couldn’t say that my people were not good fighters, but they were content and there was little threat. Even this Emperor Michael wasn’t a huge threat. They would quickly lapse back into complacency once he left. If I tried to change things too much, they would depose me.

While I was called the Leader, the title was more like shackles around me, weighing me down. How nice would it be to just arrange things like I wanted. But I needed consensus. That was why everyone agreed with the policy of doing nothing. It was the safe choice. While I didn’t like it, there was nothing I could do to change it.

To change things in the Leader’s Domain, was impossible. It was ironic that Emperor Michael probably thought I had unilateral power, which was far from the truth. Even now, people were more concerned about how to benefit from the death of one of their comrades, rather than outrage.

I wasn’t totally opposed to inaction. I had come this far, but each fight was a risk. A risk I didn’t want to keep taking. It only took one time for combat to go against me and I would be dead.

Doctor Katz

People from India had arrived in the city. The fact that it was deserted, but had owned buildings was highly concerning. That meant people had fled, and no one was left to occupy the city. I had looked for the Regional Map building to try and find my way, but there was nothing. No sign of Michael or anyone else from my team either.

Would he have turned back or kept going? If I had survived, I had no doubt he had survived. That wasn’t even a question in my mind. The man was too stubborn to die. Going back meant having to cross level 5 zones, which wasn’t simple on my own.

I might be able to do it, but it wouldn’t be easy. Fighting was never my strong suite. I only came on these trips and agreed to be part of his team, since it was a matter learning and prestige. Michael respected people who went out and fought. I also couldn’t afford to be weak either.

That was another thing he was right about. Leaving my fate in someone else’s hands left a bad taste in my mouth. That is why I put up with the cramped conditions on the airship and risked my life in the fights. There was also a small sliver of hope that we would find a way to escape this place and return to Earth. To stop the senseless deaths that occurred.

Now that people were showing up, I didn’t know what to do. They had no clue where they were, or what was going on. I hesitated on what to do. I knew I should probably leave the city, to keep searching for Michael, but looking at these confused and crying people made me reconsider.

Doing what was right was never easy. I leapt off a building and landed in the plaza, attracting attention. “Does anyone here speak English and can translate to Hindi?” I called out.

“I can speak, English, alright,” a younger man came over and said.

“Some of this can be complicated, you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, I can help,” he replied.

“I am Doctor Benjamin Katz. What is your name?” I asked him.

“I am Daler,” he replied, and I nodded at this. Other people were gathering around.

“Everyone, please be quiet, I am going to explain things. No questions until the end.” Daler began to shout loudly out in Hindi and people began to quiet down thankfully even if there was still muttering and looks of concern.

“You have been transported to the Systemic Lands. There are several cities that transport people, once every 10 days from Earth. No one knows why or how. Or if it is possible to return.” There were screams and cries, but thankfully people didn’t riot. Being upfront and honest was important to getting people’s trust.

“I was separated from my teammates. But let me explain some things to help you out.” I then began to talk about the monsters outside of the city. The store and points. Daler did his best to translate it all, but I could tell he was a bit overwhelmed.

“While I would like to stay and help, I need to keep moving to find my teammates. But hopefully this information will help you all organize yourselves and avoid needless panic,” I said in conclusion. That was when the shouting began. Lots and lots of shouting.

People were in a panic. Demanding answers, demanding their family, demanding help. There was nothing more I could do for them. I needed to leave and keep looking for Michael and anyone else who might have survived. While this empty city was a mystery, there was no use staying here. I couldn’t save everyone unfortunately.

I began walking away. Thankfully no one tried to stop me. Just as I was about to kick off the ground and go full speed, I heard a shout. “Wait up,” Daler said and caught up with me. “Can I come with you?” he asked. I wanted to say yes, but it just wasn’t possible with his stats, which were zero.

The gulf in abilities was too much for this to be a realistic option. “I am sorry, but I will be traveling too fast.” I said and kicked off the ground, leaving Daler behind.

As I traveled through the city, I thought I heard screaming behind me. I let out a heavy sigh at that. People were the biggest threat, far more than monsters around this place. How else could a city be depopulated except for mutual annihilation?