Will spoke to the man for a half an hour. He realized very quickly that it wasn’t a real person, just a shell of one. It couldn’t make any real decisions, and could be tripped up quite easily. In the end it seemed more like a machine made to imitate the individual than the individual itself. After a while, Will brought up the point he really wanted to make.
“You are the one who has been guiding my training then, correct?” Will asked.
“Certainly. Who else could it be?” Tirum Alexander said. His voice was derogatory, as though Will had asked a stupid question.
“Why then did you direct me to pulse my royal aura at my friend?” Will asked.
“Friend? What do you mean by friend? The man is obviously far below you. The way he was speaking was wholly inappropriate.” Will sighed at those words.
“I am not a king, Tirum Alexander. There is no reason for me to treat him in such a manner.”
“Sure you are not a king yet, but you will be. I have never heard of a man with the royal aura not becoming a king. People are simply drawn to follow you, and if you let this kind of behavior slide early on, it will cause problems later on.” Tirum Alexander had his nose as high in the air as he could manage.
“Your insane! I have no plans or desire to become king, the entire thought is ludicrous.” Will said. “Even if I were to become king, I would never want to use such methods. If I did, it would be on my enemies, not my friends.”
“Pah, fine, I won’t direct you to use such methods in the future. But I warn you, failing to set proper boundaries of respect will cause you major problems in the long run.” Will ignored Tirum Alexander.
“Good talk. I have to go play bandit now.”
“Good luck. I'll be there to guide you the entire way.” Tirum Alexander beamed at him. These kinds of radical mood swings were common for the simulacrum, but it still seemed too much.
“You are ok with me being a bandit? Weren't you a king?”
“Pah, what are kings but the most successful bandits? I say, it really is a racket.” the simulacrum said jovially.
“So if I went out and started killing and stealing indiscriminately, you would be fine with that.”
“Well, no, but you also haven’t struck me as someone who would kill and steal without good reason. So why are you pillaging and plundering?” The simulacrum said.
“My people are starving.”
“Well there you go, acting the king already.” The simulacrum said. “As a king, if your people are starving, everyone not giving you food is your enemy and is fair game.” With that Will just shook his head and left the mindscape. He decided to keep the concept on for the time being. He didn’t know about becoming a king, but the simulacrum was knowledgeable and had the potential to upgrade everything Will did.
Will headed downstairs to find the kitchen empty, and Emerys nowhere to be found. He would have to catch up with him later to apologize properly. So Will went out to where the farmers were, to find the fields completely unattended except for a boy that was lazily standing guard against birds. Will asked the boy where the men were to find out that they were training in the entrance courtyard all the way at the bottom of the hill. It was right next to the gatehouse that had yet to be rebuilt by the System Relay Node. He went down to find Emerys and several of the followers working the men who had concepts through their drills. Will could also see that a few slimes had been brought up from their new earth mana cave. The men were doing their best to damage the slimes, and they all sighed in relief when one of them suddenly deflated.
A necklace with a blue gem hung from each of their necks, and each necklace glowed as it captured the energy from the slime as it deflated. The men cheered and attacked the other slime, being constantly chided on their lack of form and discipline. Will approached Emerys, who grinned at him. Will was instantly relieved. He had been worried Emerys might hold a grudge, but he shouldn’t have been worried.
“How are things going, milord?” Emerys said. Maybe he wasn’t quite so over it, or maybe he was simply going to use the incident to tease him forever.
“Quite well, my ever so loyal and humble servant.” Two could play at that game. Emerys knelt down, hands up in supplication, proving that he was completely unable to be embarrassed.
“Please, milord, grace thine humble servant with the knowledge of thine most grand condition!” The combat had completely stopped and everyone was staring at them. Will’s face went red, and he pulled Emerys to his feet.
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“Get up!” he said, and once Emerys was on his feet, he thanked the man. “Thanks for helping with the refugees.”
“Not a problem. I was just trying to get them into shape so we could do some banditing.” Will let his head fall into his hands to hide the grinning countenance before him.
“Banditing? Really?” Wil asked. “Wait, you're coming?”
“I couldn’t help but notice how much bread I ate this past week. If banditry means bread, I’m in.” that gave Will mixed feelings, but he was glad he would have Emerys along. With Emerys and the two followers, along with the four refugees, they nearly had enough to take on some small groups without a fight. That would be for the best in the long run, it meant fewer injuries and less chance of death.
“Let's go then.” and they headed out, the refugees still tired from their training, but determined nonetheless.
It took them five hours to make it to the nearest road. The refugees were slow, barely more than normal people at this point. It meant it was well past noon already, which meant they had little daylight remaining. Will sent the two followers out in both directions to scout, looking for likely targets. The rest of the group remained hidden in the forest.
They did not have to wait long before one of the scouts returned.
“Caravan, three wagons and a half a dozen guards. Look to be hauling various goods, food included. I don’t know if they are hauling any grain, but the wagons are mostly covered.”
“Moving towards us or away?” Will asked.
“Away.” Will looked to Emerys, who shrugged.
“Let's go.” Will said. They moved back from the road by more than five hundred feet to a point where it would be impossible to see them from the road, and they ran to head off the caravan. The other scout caught up along the way, but had nothing to report. After an hour they had a respectable lead on the caravan. They set up on either side of the road, disguising themselves with branches so they wouldn’t be seen. It wasn’t long before three covered wagons came into sight. Two looked fairly traditional, with large hoops covered in waxed canvas covering the cargo. The one in the middle however looked like a house on wheels. Will was glad he had instructed them to only kill the combatants. A tinkerer would be useful.
When the caravan was solidly between the two parties, Will shouted, and they all burst out and attacked. There was no banter or talk of peace, their group wasn’t big enough for that. Their only hope was to take out the guards as fast as possible.
Will rocketed toward a man mounted on a horse. The man held a crossbow and was aiming it at one of Will’s men. With a flick of his rapier however, the string was cut, and Will was graced with the image of the crossbow kicking so hard in response, it knocked the man off his horse. Will finished the man with an easy stab. Mortal guard. Not a cultivator. Will looked around to find his next target. He saw that the old man had fled into his little home, while his people on Will’s side of the caravan were struggling against a couple men. The two were obviously experienced soldiers, and were managing to hold back the four refugees with some difficulty. The fight completely turned when Will joined. As experienced as they were, they were no match for Will’s increased strength and speed.
Will ran between the carts to find Emerys locked in a battle with a man, obviously a cultivator, wearing the clothing and armor of a guard, though of higher quality. The man’s strength and speed were easily on par with Emerys’, and his skin was covered in what seemed to be an armor made of pebbles. Every time Emerys’ mace hit, the armor would thicken a split second beforehand. Meanwhile, Emerys was taking wounds. Will nearly stepped forward, but was stopped by one of the followers. He then watched as Emerys baited the man into overextending himself before dropping a load of conjured boulders on top of him. The repeated hits finally penetrated the man’s armor and knocked him to the ground where three hits with the mace finished him off.
“Hell yeah! The wonders of having a mind concept!” Emerys shouted. He then touched the body so he could loot the man’s inventory. “Damn, this guy was being paid in silver! You take the rest Will, my inventory is full.”
“We came to loot a caravan, didn’t you think to empty your inventory first?” Will said peevishly.
“Nah, why should I when your inventory is obviously so overpowered?” Emerys grinned at him, but Will simply put his hand up in the air before going to the first cart. Will grinned to see the first cart was full of textiles. He sucked them all up into his inventory, getting a few full rugs, some clothing, but mostly cloth and thread. Will skipped the tinker cart and went to the third cart, which held something even better, food. He could see grains of several kinds, as well as some vegetable and fruit preserves. The best find was some dried meats far more appetizing than the bear meat.
On that thought, Will needed to figure out how to tell the group he still had the meat from the other animals they had killed without getting too much flack. Will took all of the third cart’s contents into his inventory, and released the horses connected to the two carts. He didn’t really need them, and they would be really hard to sell without getting too much attention. Finally he turned to the tinker’s cart.
“Good tinker, come on out, we have some things to discuss.” A muffled voice replied from inside the cart.
“I am not a tinker! I am a traveling enchanter!” Will wanted to cheer. His luck wasn’t that good, was it?
“Well then, good enchanter, I would like to avail myself of your services!” Will said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, good enchanter, me and my merry band are in need of enchantments, but even more, I am in need of training.” Will said.
“I don’t know the sword, I can’t train you!” the enchanter yelled back. “Please just take the cargo and go!”
“Enchanter, that is not one of the options. Either you come with us or you join your friends. It is as simple as that.” one of the shutters on the side of the cart opened slightly to reveal the face of the old man.
“Please, good sir, I have nothing of interest to the likes of you, please leave me be! I have family in Stinburough and I promised to get back to them.” The old man’t pleading face nearly broke Will’s resolve.
“If you do as we say, you will be allowed to return to your family. On my honor.” Will let out a pulse of his royal aura, and the man’s eyes widened.
“Yes, of course my lord!”