《Emperor's Reign》 Prologue The night was cold. Aeron dragged his tired body across the street. Blood stained his clothes, a gunshot wound visible on his abdomen. Bodies lay on the ground around him, some uniformed and some dressed in civilian clothes, not that they were truly civilians. Police lights flash, illuminating the horrifying scene. "Backup, we... I need backup."This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A panicked voice sounds out from behind one of the police vehicles. That was where Aeron was headed. Aeron stumbled over, seeing an armed officer crouching behind the car holding a walkie talkie. Aeron mouthed words, sound seemingly stuck in his throat. The officer looked up to see a young man, barely 18 years of age, clutching a wound and stumbling towards him. A fear lights up in the officer¡¯s eyes as he recognises the boy. His trembling hands lift his gun. At that moment, Aeron pounces. He jumps to the side of the officer, out of the line of fire, and brings his knee up against the officer''s chin. "Shut up." he finally spits out before fainting from blood loss. ... A shattering sound is heard, the night sky seemingly breaks apart as thousands of crystals rain down from above. The crystals pass through everything they touch, sinking into the ground, or a person. Crystals pass right through all the bodies lying on the street, all except one. "Lifeform with basic intelligence detected. Commencing soulbinding." "Soulbinding complete. Transferring consciousness." Prologue Part 2 "Detecting no royal bloodlines." "Detecting no powerful ancestor." "Detecting no unique constitution." A voice sounds out next to Aeron''s ear as he stands in an endless void. He doesn''t know what''s going on but by the sounds of it he''s not off to a good start.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "No personal legacies to inherit." "Detecting personal achievements." "Detecting no cultivation." "Detecting no supernatural powers." "Detecting combat records." After the last notification, a screen of text flashes past Aeron''s eyes faster than he could possibly read. After the text flashes past, the voice sounds out again. "Host determined to be exceptional." "Creating new legacy." At this moment, the cold emotionless voice became warm, feminine and filled with life. "Congratulations host, you have created a legacy to be passed down to your descendants." "Congratulations host, your legacy has been determined worthy of receiving an iron ranked village creation token." "Congratulations host, two of your ancestors have been determined worthy of joining your legacy." "Legacy bestowal complete. Welcome to the Heaven Domain." Chapter 1 Aeron appeared in a forest. The canopy was thick and the trees close together. Various sizes of trees were around him. Some a hundred meters tall and ten meters thick and others only ten meters high. It was daytime, but the leaves growing from the trees blocked out most of the sunlight, making it dark where Aeron stood. Information flowed into Aeron''s mind. This was the Heaven Domain, a world 100 times larger than Earth. Only Aeron''s soul was here, his body was still back on Earth so even if he died here, he would not truly be dead. Time worked differently here. Three days here was equivalent to one on Earth. If he were to die here, he would not be able to enter this world for 10 Earth days and all his stats, levels and skills would be lost. ''Stats?'' Aeron thought and a window appeared before him. Name: Aeron Titles: None Profession: None Achievement Points: Commoner (0/200) Race: Human Age: 18 (100) Stats: Strength 6, Constitution 5, Agility 7, Intelligence 9 Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: None Skills: None More information rushed into Aeron''s mind. His stats were based on his body in the real world and his progress here combined. So, if he trained in the real world, he would become stronger here. In a long time, Earth would merge with the Heaven Domain, and his real body would merge with this one. At that time, he would truly die if killed. There would be no more second chances.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Another important note was that aside from humans, this world was home to countless other races and terrifying magic beasts. Normally, he would be sent to one of the system''s main cities but since Aeron had a legacy, he was sent to the wilderness instead. Floating just in front of Aeron was an iron token. He reached out curiously and grabbed it. A window appeared before him describing what it was. Village Creation Token (Iron) Can be used to create an iron ranked village. Aeron instantly knew how to use this but did not immediately. Instead he looked around for a nearby clearing before heading to the centre and pressing the token into the ground. A ripple of formless energy spread out from that location, devouring any trees, grass and plants that stood in its way. It left behind flat and smooth ground of one square kilometre, from which buildings began to rise. Walls surrounded the newly claimed land. There was a [Village Hall] [Blacksmith] and [Tailor], as well as a circular podium that stood in the centre of the village called the [Origin] and a thatched cottage with two stone steles in it and the name [Profession Change]. A light flashed and four people appeared. They all looked quite dazed before coming to their senses and bowing to Aeron. "Greetings, Your Majesty." They all spoke in union. "Rise." Aeron said, feeling a little awkward but thrilled at the same time. Each of them stepped forwards. The first two to do so were a blacksmith and tailor respectively. They were newly created and were gifted by the system for creating a legacy village. The next two were called Lance and Edmund. Lance was a soldier who fought in the first world war, being abandoned behind enemy lines and surviving until the allies recaptured the land he was in. During this time, he killed many enemies with his bayonet to avoid the sound of a firing rifle giving away his position. His stats were as follows: Name: Lance Titles: Survivor (-10% effect of injuries) Profession: None Grade: S Race: Human Age: 24 (100) Stats: Strength 8, Constitution 8, Agility 8, Intelligence 14 Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: None Skills: None Edmund was a knight in medieval Britain, he duelled many opponents for his Lord and gained meritorious achievements on the battlefield, taking the head of the enemy commander twice throughout his life. Name: Edmund Titles: Duellist (+10% stats during a duel) Profession: None Grade: S Race: Human Age: 29 (100) Stats: Strength 12, Constitution 12, Agility 8, Intelligence 8 Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: None Skills: None These people given by the system were completely loyal to their lieges upon creation, this could be influenced negativity by the Lord''s actions or the condition of his subjects but it ensured that Aeron wouldn''t have to worry about betrayal for now. Each of the people''s attire was the same as Aeron''s, coarse cloth shirts trousers, and shoes. However, Lance also carried a spear and Edmund a sword. All four people were S ranked. This was quite high in the Heaven Domain as talented was split into letter grades from F to A and then to S, SS and SSS. The higher one''s grade, the faster one''s cultivation would progress. An E grade would progress twice as fast as an F grade, a D grade would progress twice as fast as an E grade or four times as fast as an F grade. Military forces also had grades but were further split into 3 sub-grades for each grade, such as F-, F, and F+. Aeron asked his new followers to wait as he headed into the village hall. There he could see the overall stats of his village. Village Name: None (Iron) Level: Rank 1 Village (0/1000) Village Area: 1 Square Kilometre Residents: 4/300 Soldiers: 0/120 Popular Support: 100 Village Special Stats: +20% soldier stats Popular support was at 100 since all 4 of his territory¡¯s residents had loyalties of 100. Aeron left the Village Hall after deciding to temporarily put naming the village on hold. Afterwards, he approached the stone steles in the [Profession Change] building. On each of them was a profession that soldiers could change to. [Spearman]: F+ grade Military Receive [Basic Spear Technique] skill, +5% strength and constitution [Knight]: E grade Military Receive [Basic Sword Technique] Skill, [Duel] Skill, +10% strength and constitution Aeron thought the professions were given to him based on the two of his ancestors that revived. He personally chooses the [Knight] profession and his ancestors each choose the profession created based on them. He picked a normal grade sword from the blacksmith and some normal grade armour from the tailor and headed over to the [Origin] at the centre of the village. Chapter 2 Every day, the [Origin] would spawn new residents. The number is based on the grade of the village. The grades of villages, from lowest to highest, are: Normal, Copper, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Legendary, Epic And equipment is ranked in the same manner. Normal grade villages spawned one to four people, Copper grade three to six, Iron grade five to eight, Bronze grade seven to ten, Silver grade nine to twelve, Gold grade eleven to fourteen, Legendary grade thirteen to sixteen, and Epic grade fifteen to eighteen. Aeron waved his hand towards the [Origin] and seven people appeared. Out of the new villagers, one was E grade and the rest were F grade. Their average loyalty was 70. Aeron would need to improve that as when popular support dropped below 80, the village would stop spawning new villagers. An iron ranked village would usually summon F grade villagers, with one E grade every day, one D grade every 3 days, one C grade every 12 days, one B grade every 48 days and one A grade every 192 days. S grade villagers would only be summoned on exceedingly rare occasions. This spawn rate could not compare to any of the big legacies, but it was way better than a village created without a legacy. For now, Aeron arrange the villagers into woodcutters and builders with the E grade as the supervisor. There were various tools in the village hall that would let them perform their tasks. Aeron then left Lance to guard the village and left with Edmund. The two [Knights] went off in search of a wild beast to hunt. They found their prey not long after. Three boars snacked on berries in the bushes. There were two adult boars and a piglet.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Aeron and Edmund nodded to each other in silent understanding. They each stepped forwards to deal with one adult boar each. They snuck up behind their quarry and pounced before the boars even noticed their presence. Blades flashed in the shadows of the forest and a body slumped to the floor. Squeals echoed through the trees as Aeron struck again to finish off his target. ''I''m not used to fighting with a blade.'' He thought. By the time he looked up, Edmund had already captured the piglet which was now squirming in his arms. "What do we do with this?" He asked. "Bring it with us. I''ve got a use for it tomorrow." Aeron replied. Edmund sheathed his sword, tucked the piglet under one arm and began dragging a boar carcass with the other. Aeron also dragged a dead boar but, being physically weaker, had to use two hands. By the time they reached the village, darkness was already falling on the forest. The village remained brighter because of the absence of trees within its walls. A cooking fire had been made in the village and the boars were roasted on a makeshift spit. Everyone ate in merriment that night, enjoying their first meal on this world. A day of working together had formed a sense of camaraderie between the villagers and a sense if belonging to the village. Now that they had somewhere to live and some food in their bellies, their loyalty had risen to an average of 85, bringing popular support past the threshold of 80. ''It''s about time I checked on my body on Earth.'' Aeron thought. He bid goodnight to the villagers as they went back to their homes to rest. He discussed patrols with Lance and Edmund who took half the night each and stowed the piglet in a cage formed of thick branches jammed into the ground. Focusing on returning, his body began to fade out of existence. ... Jolting awake with a start, Aeron looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He appeared to be in a hospital room. His gunshot wound was bandaged and his wrist handcuffed to the bed. Of course, he knew how to break them but he didn''t think it would be the best course of action given the situation he was in. The door creaked open and Aeron feigned the expression of someone still in shock. A nurse walked in, and seeing him awake walked to the side of the bed slowly. Aeron''s frightened eyes tracked the nurse across the room, trying his best to fake fear and shock. The nurse reached out and pressed a buzzer at the side of his bed before speaking to him soothingly. "It''s ok. Everything''s going to be ok. You''re in XXX Hospital. Are you in any pain?" Aeron slowly shook his head from side to side, refraining from speaking. "Good, that''s good." The nurse was about to continue when a police officer burst into the room. "I''m going to need you to leave the room." "But the patient." "Now." The officer stressed. The nurse could only send a pitying glance towards Aeron as they dejectedly hung their head and shuffled out the room. The officer sits down on the seat next to the bed and searches Aeron''s face for any clues as to what he''s thinking. All he finds is an expression of trauma and fear. "Sir, I''m gonna need you to tell me what happened on XXX street 3 hours ago." Aeron chokes up, curling into a ball as best he can and sobbing. The officer waits for him to stop before repeating the statement. "T-there was a f-f-fight between some policemen and some thugs. T-there were guns and everything was s-so loud. I tried to run and h-hide but I got s-shot..." His stuttering speech drifts off as his eye¡¯s lose focus, as if looking into the past. "Is there anything else you remember?" "N-no. Not at all." "Well if you do remember anything give me a call. I''m detective XXX and here''s my number." The officer pulls out a card with a name and number and puts it on the bedside desk before uncuffing Aeron and leaving. The nurse, who had been waiting outside, rushes in with a doctor by their side. They begin checking Aeron''s condition as he stares off into the distance. His thoughts on the inside are all about the Heaven Domain whereas his outer appearance is one of a shock patient. Chapter 3 Back in the Heaven Domain, Aeron''s body fades back into existence. It''s the morning and he felt ready for the day. Acting in front of the nurses and doctors at the hospital was exhausting but worth it. He was able to be left alone after only four hours of check-ups, exercise and attempted counselling. Now, he had the chance to roam free, likely until the evening. It was 7 AM in the real world. Only 7 hours after the crystals fell from the sky, but it had almost been a day in the Heaven Domain. Aeron chose to remain in the village as the new villagers would be spawned at midday and he wanted to be there to receive them. He went to look for Edmund and found him practicing his swordsmanship. "May I join you?" He asked. "Of course, Your Majesty." Edmund replied, the system enforced loyalty making him regard Aeron as his King. They practised together for a while before sparring. Their swords clashed together as they fought. Edmund had a stronger body before, but it was even further enhanced by them being in a duel, and his sword technique was mikes better than Aeron''s. However, Aeron''s battle sense and footwork were superb. He dodged in and out of Edmund''s guard, forcing the knight to overextend himself or reveal an opening. It''s just that his sword technique wasn''t enough for him to capitalise on those moments against a veteran swordsman. It was unknown when, but a crowd had formed around the two. Lance continued his patrol of the walls whilst the other residents of the village gathered round and watched the spar in awe. Aeron''s improvement was visible to even the untrained eye. At first, he could only passively defend but as time went on, he began to fight on equal footing with Edmund.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It finally ended when Aeron made Edmund take half a step too far, leaving an opening which Aeron used to disarm his opponent with a blow to the wrist. The crowd burst into applause and Edmund bowed towards his liege. "Very well done Your Majesty." "You''re just not used to fighting with this equipment, that''s all. If you had your knight''s armour who knows what the outcome would''ve been?" What Aeron said was true. As a knight, Edmund was used to heavy armour which he could use instead if defending himself. His swordsmanship was based more towards the offensive for this reason. Why block when you can come out unscathed and deliver a fatal blow to your enemy? He wasn''t used to defending his body with just his sword and was therefore put at a disadvantage in trying to adapt his style to accommodate for his body''s exposure to the enemy. This still didn''t make Aeron''s feat any less noteworthy. He who was completely new to the sword yesterday managed to defeat a veteran knight in a fair duel. It was a feat matching up to Aeron''s evaluation of being ''exceptional''. The crowd congratulated him on his victory and began to disperse, but upon noticing the position of the sun instead bid them to follow him. They arrived at the [Origin] and Aeron waved his hand towards it. Eight villagers slowly appeared on it. They were young or old, male or female, but they were all newly created beings. They bowed towards him. Their average loyalty dragged the popular opinion stat to just under 80 so Aeron would need to raise that if he wanted more villagers tomorrow. He greeted each one of them in turn, noticing their loyalty going up by one or two whenever he did so, and left hunting with Lance this time as it was Edmund''s duty to patrol. They brought along the piglet and the new E grade villager who changed profession into a [Knight] to the place where the boars were killed yesterday. Aeron took the piglet and released it. It looked around, lost for a moment before realising where it was. It began to run away furiously from its human captors and the trio followed behind. After almost losing the piglet several times and breaking through many bushes and brambles, they finally reached the piglet''s destination. A den in the forest. The piglet ran into the cave squealing and Aeron and his followers waited in ambush outside the den entrance. The first boar to exit the cave was swiftly dispatched by Aeron, and the second in the same manner. The next two came at once so Aeron could only leave one of the boars to his followers. The three of them stood at the den entrance, making use of the narrow opening as a bottleneck to slay the boars one by one. Maybe they heard the death throes of their comrades, or maybe it was just about time they returned, but two lots of three boars came rushing back through the forest towards the group from opposite directions. Surrounded, the situation looked bad. "You two continue blocking the entrance, I''ll deal with these boars." Aeron said before taking a step back. The pressure on his companions instantly doubled as they had to deal with one boar each. Lance could easily hold his own still but the [Knight] was having a hard time. Aeron would have to end this quick. He roared out in challenge towards the approaching boars. In their fury, they focused their sole attention on him as they charged forwards. Aeron ran to meet the first group half way, his blade rising and falling to take a life. It''s companions completely lost their selves in rage and leapt at him. He sides stepped one and brought his sword up to meet the other one. The impact sent him backwards as a now dead body slammed into him. He used the momentum of the impact to spin around, his blade reaping the life of a boar from the second group which had caught up to him. All of a sudden, Aeron heard a pained yell from his followers. A larger boar, big enough to take up the whole den entrance by itself, charged out of the cave, knocking aside the two humans in its path. The Boar King had arrived. Chapter 4 The King Boar was furious. These humans had barged into its home and started killing its family. This was unacceptable. It knocked aside the two pests in front of it and locked eyes with the main culprit of this, Aeron. The King Boar could sense the threat this human posed to its and its family''s lives. It charged towards the human, infusing its cultivation power into its two large tusks and lashing out with all its rage. In that moment, Aeron threw out all doubts and trusted his instincts. He dropped his sword and grabbed onto the King Boar''s tusks, using them as a lever to vault over the beast. He landed on the other side of the beast and looked to his hands. Despite being in contact with the tusks for only a brief moment, they were injured by a mysterious energy that permeated them. He quickly refocused his thoughts on the battle at hand, running back to pick up his dropped sword. Aeron''s decisiveness had truly shocked the King Boar, it thought it had hit the human with its tusks but instead Aeron had vaulted over it. The beast''s charge continued, crushing two of its family underfoot as it struggled to stop. The charging power of the King Boar was truly terrifying, but all that momentum could not just be stopped at a moment¡¯s notice. It continued onwards, slowing down until it finally stopped by crashing into a tree. Birds scattered as the tree shook and groaned under the massive amount of transferred force. Cracks appeared in the bark but the mighty tree did not fall. Grasping the opportunity, Aeron rushed up behind the dazed beast and slashed at its side. The tough hide prevented much damage from being done but it still left behind a gash.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The King Boar roared in frustration, swinging its head to the side to attempt a blow. This forced Aeron to dodge, giving time for the King Boar to turn around and properly face him. It charged again, pushing more cultivation power into its tusks as it barrelled forwards. As it got close to its target, it swung its head, not giving the human the chance to grab its tusks again without him being gutted. Aeron did the exact opposite, dropping to the floor and slashing at the beast''s now exposed jugular. Ever since the other boars backed out of this fight and became spectators, Aeron''s [Duel] skill triggered. It allowed him razor focus on his enemy as he did not have to worry about others interfering. The energy given off by the fight did much to deter the other beasts from joining in and gave Aeron the confidence he needed to succeed. His blade left a gash in the King Boar''s neck, not deep enough to be lethal but not shallow enough to be inconsequential. As the King Boar passed over Aeron, it lifted its legs from the floor, its body slamming down towards him. Aeron rolled, barely making it out from under the boar. Its momentum still carrying it forwards, the King Boar slid along the ground. Aeon took this chance to leave wounds all across its side as it struggled to get up under the assault. Finally getting up, the King Boar went berserk. Its muscles bulged and it suddenly grew another boar''s height. Aeron quickly retreated, putting his back against a tree. The King Boar put it all into one final charge, aiming to finish off its opponent as quickly as possible. All its cultivation power was pushed into its tusks and head, the energy growing so thick that its tusks glowed in the shadowed forest. Its enhanced legs pushed against the floor and it took off with a burst of speed. It sped towards the human with immense speed, crossing the distance between them in a matter of moments. With one final leap, it went to impale the intruder on its tusk or just crush him with the sheer force of its charge. Just before its leap, Aeron jumped and stabbed his sword into the trunk above him, using it as a lever to swing himself up and hugging the bark so he would stay in place. The King Boar crashed straight into the tree it had done before. Aeron put his back against this particular tree for that reason. The trunk shattered on impact, the force of the charge carrying the King Boar through the tree. The trunk above fell, bringing Aeron with it, and with its momentum stopped the King Boar fell on what was left of the tree stump. The charge''s impact had almost literally torn the upper part of the tree from the stump, leaving a few jagged edges that the King Boar impaled itself on, gravity using the beast''s own weight against it. Aeron crashed to the ground along with the tree, its thick trunk absorbing most of the impact. He wrenched his blade free from the trunk, the metal covered in blood and sap. He walked over to the struggling beast and went around it, leaving lacerations all over it which slowly drained it of its blood and life. With the fight over, Aeron went to check on the others. Luckily the other boars had been too enraptured in their King''s battle that they forgot about the other humans that invaded their territory. With the King Boar''s loss, the remaining beasts scattered into the wilderness, preserving their lives over their den. Lance was relatively ok, but the [Knight] had several broken ribs. Aeron left them both outside as he explored the cave the boars had called their home. Inside was a cavern, not too large but enough to fit several families of boars comfortably. Around it lay sows and piglets, easy targets for Aeron''s blade. He had found out earlier that each boar gave 1 Achievement Point for each one killed and the King Boar gave 20. His subjects'' kills had also increased Aeron''s Achievement Points. Since a free meal had offered itself up to Aeron, why not take it? A blade flashed in the darkness of the cave. Chapter 5 He did leave some of the sows alive though, as many as he could escort back to the village without them escaping. This would keep the meat fresh so they could be slaughtered at a later date for food. Aeron also found several items in the King''s horde as well as a large pile of berries. He kept these and headed back to the village, forcing one of the sows to carry his injured companion on its back. The boars seemed more fearful of him than vengeful which Aeron supposed made sense. He had killed their most powerful member, what was the use of revenge if they didn''t have the strength to take it. Of course, the actual thoughts of these animals would be less complex than that, more about instinctual fear suppressing the violent desire that was sure to get them killed if acted upon. He also tied a boar carcass to each of the sows using a makeshift vine rope. Some of these would snap or have to be cut on the way back but it was better than nothing. When he returned to the village, the villagers were besides themselves with the amount of meat he brought back. They worked together to form cages for the sows and hanging the boars so they could be drained of blood. Aeron would''ve done this yesterday, but there wasn''t much time left in the day, everyone was hungry and there weren''t as many people to feed. The people of this world were stronger than Earth''s. They could work all day with only one meal. Two or three meals were preferable, but one was enough to sustain them. Seeing this amount of meat and the chest piece of armour that Lance had filled up with berries and carried here was enough to make them extremely happy. They could eat two meals a day and there would still be food wasted from rot. Aeron left Edmund and the injured knight in the village, and brought the rest of the villagers over to the battlefield to carry the rest of the berries and boars back to the village. The villagers were shocked at what their Lord and two others had accomplished in the time they were out, and it took five people just to move the massive body of the King. They made another trip after that before finally moving all the bodies back to the village.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The tailor set to work on skinning some of the boars, the rest were hung up to drain and the tusks were removed from all of them and place in a pile. The blacksmith personally removed the King Boar''s tusks and got to work on forging a new set of weapons for his Lord. The tailor also began work on some new armour using the King Boar''s hide. The feast that night was filled with extreme merriment. When Aeron ate the meat of the King Boar, he felt a warm sensation flow from his stomach to the rest of his body and he felt strengthened. Following this, he glutinously ate the rest of it and check his stats afterwards. Name: Aeron Titles: None Profession: Knight Achievement Points: Commoner (57/200) Race: Human Age: 18 (100) Stats: Strength 10 (8+2), Constitution 9 (7+2), Agility 10 (8+2), Intelligence 11 (9+2) Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: None Skills: [Basic Sword Technique] [Duel] Aeon quickly figured out that the numbers outside the brackets were the total values of his stats and the number in the brackets was the base stat followed by the enhancement of his class and the village''s special stats. Speaking of the village stats. Each boar killed gave 1 exp towards the village''s next grade and the King Boar gave 20 exp. Aeron then checked over his spoils from the earlier battle. The King Boar itself had dropped two items upon death. They were: Stage 1 King Boar Bloodline Grants the user the [King Boar Bloodline] and slowly improves their cultivation to Stage 1 but heightens the difficulty of advancing further than that. Berserk Skill Book Grants the user the [Berserk] skill. This [Berserk] Skill doubles Strength and improves Constitution by half for a period of 30 seconds but puts the user in a weakened state for 300 seconds after it ends. No cooldown but the effects cannot stack though the state of weakness can. Aeron gave both if these to the injured [Knight]. The bloodline would help him recover quickly and the berserk skill would be improved with him using it since both items had the same source. The injured knight''s loyalty reached 99 points, meaning he was more than willing to die for the Lord who had showed him such kindness. There was no kindness in Aeron''s actions, just a cost-benefit analysis. He could not give the bloodline to Edmund or Lance as it would limit their future potential. On the other hand, the knight as an E grade had little potential for improvement in the future. This action would also increase the knight''s loyalty towards Aeron, would cause the knight to be a crippled burden for a lot less time and would recycle an already battle tested soldier. It also reinforced that he was a caring Lord in all of his subordinates, increasing their loyalty by a few points each. Aeron then looked to the items in the King Boar''s stash. They were as follows: Weak Gem of Ice When crushed and used to help craft weapons, imbue the ice attribute into them. Weak Ring of Strength (Normal) Grants the wearer +1 strength. Illusionary Second Strike Skill Book Grants the user the [Illusionary Second Strike] Skill. The skill creates an illusion of a second strike when the user attacks. Aeron learned the skill and wore the ring. As for the gem, he gave it to the blacksmith to use in forging his weapons. After dealing with the loot, Aeron said goodnight to his subjects and went to the [Village Hall]. There he focused on returning to Earth and his body slowly faded from this world. Chapter 6 Aeron woke up back on Earth. He lay there for a few seconds holding his breath, trying to hear the breathing of anyone else in the room. After confirming there was no one else in there with him, he looked at the clock: 11 AM, eleven hours since the crystal shattering incident and almost one and a half days in the Heaven Domain. Aeron noticed a remote for the room''s TV on his bedside table so he turned it on and went to the news. It was just coming off the commercials as Aeron tuned in. "So, for any new watchers out there, here''s our latest news stories: " "The Otherworld: Real, or a mass hallucination?" "Scientists discuss the Crystal Phenomenon." "And, 23 dead in police shootout." "I''m Debra Adams, and this is 11 o''clock news." The screen switched to the logo of the news channel as a nurse walked in, attracted by the sound of the news. They rushed over, grabbing the remote from Aeron''s unresisting hands. "It won''t do you good to watch this. Here, I''ll switch it to something better." The nurse flipped the channel to a cheesy Rom Com before walking out the room saying something about how they''ll be back in a few minutes with something for him to eat. Aeron endured the next few minutes of cringe antics on the TV by distracting himself with thoughts of the Heaven Domain. If what he knew was true, then he would have to build up a solid power base for when the Heaven Domain devoured the real world. Not long later, the nurse came back with lunch. He ate in silence after shrinking away from the nurse''s hand after they tried to feed him, allowing him to eat it by himself. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Half way through, a doctor walks in. "Your condition is stable; we''d like you to leave before night falls." The doctor said. "But doctor, he''s still in shock." The nurse replied. "I know, but we need all the beds we can get. The hospitals been filled up by car crash and other accident victims. That Crystal Phenomenon caused people to fall asleep at the wheel or during other activities. The ambulances have been going out nonstop since this morning." The doctor explained. "But still..." "He''s fine, you checked his condition yourself. Now get back to work." "Ok..." The nurse and the doctor left the room together. Aeron finished eating before getting out of bed and leaving as well. ... Back in his flat, Aeon pulled out a flip phone and dialled a number. It rung three times before the called person picked up. "Viper, what happened? I heard the South Streets got into a shootout with the police." A voice was heard from the phone. "Mamba, next time tell your boys not to stick their noses where they don''t belong." Aeron replied. "I don''t know what you mean, I didn''t tell the, to do anything." The voice said. "Mamba, I know you''ve been trying to find out my identity for a while now but this is too far. Try this again and your head will roll." Aeron growled. "You know Baba won''t allow that." The voice spoke again after a small pause, seeming a little scared. "Oh, my poor poor Mamba, you remember what happened to Cobra right?" "T-that was you?" The voice was audibly trembling now. "I''ll leave it up to you to figure that one out Mamba. You''ve always been good at using your head." Aeron closed the flip phone, taking out the SIM card and crushing it in his hand before hooking the phone itself into the trash. ... 3 PM: back in the Heaven Domain, it was morning again. Aeron lightly sparred with Edmund, practicing his newly gained skill. Each time he attacked, it looked like he swung from two different angles, only one being real and the other an illusion. Edmund couldn''t tell real from fake, instead opting to block both in some fantastic displays of swordsmanship. It would of course be different in a real battle. Aeron was not striking to kill, and as such his swings were not as fast or strong as they would otherwise be. He was purely focusing on practicing the skill, wanting to be able to use it naturally in combat. Close to 3 hours passed like that. Aeron and Edmund finished their spar and went to greet the new arrivals. As it was the third day of spawning, a D grade villager was spawned, but that wasn''t the only thing different about this batch. There were 5 people in total: 1 D grade, 1 E grade, and 3 F grades. However, one of the F grades had a profession. They were a [Militia]. [Militia] was an F- grade profession that only gave the [Basic Spear Technique] Skill and no stat bonuses. Aeron took the villager to class change into a [Spearman] since they already had system-given knowledge of how to use a spear. He then got the new [Spearman] and Lance to teach each other their spearmanship so that they could learn and improve their own. One''s spearmanship was born of desperation and the need to kill to survive whilst the other¡¯s was refined and simple. They could integrate moves from each other¡¯s style to further their own. Walking into the [Village Hall], Aeron checked the new stats of his village with satisfaction. Village Name: None (Iron) Level: Grade 1 Village (57/1000) Village Area: 1 Square Kilometre Residents: 20/300 Soldiers: 4/120 Popular Support: 86 Village Special Stats: +20% soldier stats He was still a long way to go off a Grade 2 village, and to speed that process up he needed to conquer other villages out here in the wilderness. His military might wasn''t much so he would have to resort to cunning if he wanted to do so. The first step, however, was to find another village first. Aeron left the injured knight to recover, Edmund to patrol the walls, and the two spearmen to train together. He went off once again into the forest looking for any traces of activity, human or otherwise. Chapter 7 Most of the day had already had already passed when Aeron stumbled across a small squad of human soldiers. They were topless, with tattoos scrawled across their skin. They spoke in the Heaven Domain''s native language and carried oval-shaped wooden shields and light spears. They stood a head taller than the average man, and muscles bulged whenever they moved. Aeron followed them stealthily on their hunt until they returned to their village when night fell. Aeron made sure to remember where it was and scouted around it for a bit, counting their numbers and weapons. When he returned, it was around midnight in the Heaven Domain. He returned to Earth for 3 hours to work out, get something to eat, and take care of his body. When he returned to the Heaven Domain at 11 PM Earth Time, it was already morning there. As Aeron looked around, he was greeted by an exhausted but satisfied tailor. "Your Majesty. I would be honoured to present you with my proudest work, the [King Boar Hide Armour]." The tailor guided him to the [Tailor] building where 6 sets of armour stood out from the rest. "I made 6 pieces of [King Boar Hide Armour], but only one of them can be worthy of my Lord." The tailor gestured towards the armour in the centre of the workshop that looked grander than all the rest. Superior King Boar Hide Armour (Bronze) Tough armour that cannot be pierced by any attacks of Stage 1 or bellow. Grants the wearer +3 Strength and Constitution. It was well worth waiting the day and a half it took for this to be made, Aeron thought as he replaced his old armour with this one. He then turned his gaze towards the other 5. King Boar Hide Armour (Iron) Tough armour that cannot be pierced by attacks of Stage 1 or bellow. Grants the wearer +2 to Strength and Constitution. Truly worthy of being an S rank tailor, Aeron thought. Equipment was graded based on the stats it provided, not on any extra effects it may have. That was the reason the armour was graded at the Iron and Bronze grades despite being able to resist all attacks from Stage 1 or lower opponents. With these, Aeron saw hope of defeating the village he saw earlier. "Good job. Get some rest." Aeron said towards the tailor. The tailor nodded and left towards the houses. Aeron looked around at the rest of the armour in the room. There were two more types: System provided normal grade armour that only offered basic protection from attacks, and some armours made of boar hides.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. There were 50 system provided armours if you counted the ones the current military were wearing, and there was eight boar hide armours that seemed to have been made as a warm up or practice before the King Boar Hide ones. Boar Hide Armour (Copper) Grants the wearer +1 Strength and Constitution. These looked like they could be mass produced since the materials were relatively easy to get and they already had a stockpile of them in the [Tailor]. After looking around, Aeron went to visit the [Blacksmith]. There, he found the blacksmith collapsed in front of the cooling bucket. After checking the blacksmith was okay and moving him to a more comfortable resting place, Aeron looked to the bucket. The water inside the bucket was frozen and two swords were embedded in the ice. The items were as follows: Twin Frozen Swords of the Boar King (Silver) Twin swords made of the tusks of a King Boar and imbued with the ice attribute. Grants the wielder +4 Strength and Agility per sword Grants the wielder an additional +2 Strength and Agility if wielding both swords. Aeron grabbed both blades, sliding them out if the ice that sheathed them, and replaced his sword with these two. Itching to test them out, Aeron made sure the blacksmith was moved to his bed before setting off into the forest. He bounded forwards in great strides, weaving around trunks and roots as he did. His enhanced stats allowed him to speed through the forest with ease. The noise of his dash attracted the beasts from the surroundings. Not many of them would catch up if he continued running at this speed so he slowed down to a light jog. Aeron located a clearing and went to it, standing in the centre and waiting for the beasts to arrive. A pack of wolves prowled out from the tree line, having chased off the other pursuing animals. They circled him, intending to seal off all his escape routes. Aeron smirked when he saw this, he wouldn''t need them. The alpha stalked forwards and the other wolves closed the circle in on Aeron and got ready to pounce. The alpha wolf and Aeron locked eyes and sized each other up. Perhaps sensing the danger Aeron presented, the Alpha backed off to behind its subordinates and barked out an order to attack. Two blue arcs met the leaping wolves mid-air and then both sides collided. Aeron protected his head and neck so he came out unscathed, but the same couldn''t be said for the wolves. Two of them had been cut cleanly in half, and another had its paws frozen from where it had made contact with Aeron''s swords. Out of the five that leapt at him, three had been removed from the fight. New wolves stepped up to take their fallen comrades'' place in the encirclement. The alpha commanded them to keep attacking to exhaust the human. Such a strong human would undoubtedly nourish it enough to break through to Stage 1 from its current Stage 0-9 cultivation. They fought several rounds like this, the wolves always coming out with losses and Aeron unscathed. His armour was just too tough for such low cultivation beasts to harm him. He only needed to defend his neck and head and they wouldn''t be able to harm a hair on his body. Having exhausted his minions for very little effect, the alpha turned tail and ran. Aeron finished off the injured wolves before pursuing their fleeing leader. Chapter 8 With his enhanced strength and agility, Aeron barely kept the alpha in his sight. He chased for half an hour, and as the alpha showed signs of tiring it ran out onto a grassy plain. Letting loose a howl, it looked backwards with a human like smirk on its face. It sprinted in a final burst of speed as Aeron drew close. It was only then that Aeron realised what it had been smirking about. On the plains in front of him was a huge colony of wolves. Their numbers made it feel like he was looking at a sea of silvery grey fur. Among the horde, Aeron could spot many Stage 1 individuals and even the occasional Stage 2. The leader of such a colony would most definitely be a Stage 3 or above being. The current Aeron could only fight a single Stage 2 at best, let alone the number on these plains or the Stage 3 hidden within the crowd. He tossed aside all his thoughts of fighting and quickly fled. A pack split off from the horde to give chase, but only the Stage 1''s could keep pace with him, and even then, they slowly lagged behind. As for Stage 2 wolves? They couldn''t care less about the alpha''s call for help. Why would they assist a being that''s not even able to lead more than a few of its kind? Aeron ran in a direction away from the village for a while before cautiously making his way back to it, being sure not to leave a trail and covering himself with wild berry juice beforehand. When he got back, it was already nightfall. He washed himself of the berries and blood in a nearby river before entering. He did not go back to retrieve the bodies of the wolves he had slain for fear of running into any wolves that may be searching the area for signs of him. Seven new arrivals had appeared at the [Origin] earlier today. They were greeted by the villagers and quickly settled into life here. Aeron did not need to be there for the [Origin] to spawn new people. It just spawned them half an hour later than it would have if Aeron had been there to trigger it. There was nothing special about today''s batch, just the usual F grades with a single E grade. The tailor and blacksmith had recovered from their exhaustion so Aeron assigned each if them their new tasks.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The tailor was to make sheaths for his twin swords, and start work on mass producing [Boar Hide Armour]. The blacksmith was to make swords out of the boar tusks that had been collected previously and the remaining material left over from crafting his twin swords. They would start their given tasks tomorrow morning, for now they tried to rest and get their sleep schedules back on track. ... Aeron returned to Earth, where it was 3 AM. He got up and stretched before performing his morning routine with additional exercise added in. He checked his work phone for jobs but there were none. ''Guess I should head right back in then.'' He thought as he lay down on his bed again. ... Aeron''s body faded back into existence in the Heaven Domain. He went to the walls and relieved Lance, the current patrol of his duty. He would keep watch tonight. He swung his swords to practice duel wielding as he patrolled. Using both swords at once was easy for him, but making them work together was proving a challenge. Aeron also integrated [Illusionary Second Strikes] into his practice, trying to use it with both swords at once. Other than that, it was an uneventful night. The next morning, Aeron gathered up his current military, a measly 4 soldiers even with the knight''s recovery. Luckily, 3 out of 4 were elites and the other was above average. He gave out the [King Boar Hide Armour] from the [Tailor] and discussed the plan for attacking the village Aeron had found the other day. At midday, they welcomed 6 new villagers into the village and collected two of the three swords the blacksmith had made out of the remaining King Boar materials and the scabbards for Aeron''s swords. King Boar Tusk Sword (Iron) A sword made from the tusk of a Boar King. Grants the wielder +3 Strength and +1 Agility. King Boar Hide Scabbards (Normal) Scabbards made from the hide of a Boar King. Restores the sharpness of any sword sheathed in it. Grants the wielder +1 Strength per Scabbard Due to having a different design to Aeron''s swords, these swords'' stat bonuses were balanced towards strength. This was better for the knights that wielded them as theirs was a class focused more on strength than agility. With their new gear equipped, they set off towards the other village after giving the D grade temporary command. Once arrived at the enemy village, Aeron and his followers lay in wait in the forest a bit away from the gates. Earlier, Aeron had gone over the Intel they had regarding this village. "There are three patrols of 10 men at night, so there are at least 30 soldiers in the enemy camp. We can assume they have a reserve patrol of 10 so that makes 40." He had explained. "Given that some new villagers will have spawned in, we can say that they have, at most, 50 soldiers. Of which, at least 30 of the, are lightly equipped and have no chance of hurting us individually. They only pose a threat to us if they fight us as a group of 20, and even then, they''ll only get one of us if we''re careless." He continued. "They go out hunting and scouting in groups of 5 and return through one of the two gates. To reduce their numbers, we''re going to set an ambush for the returning parties outside one of the gates." This plan had gotten much praise from his soldiers, especially since none of them knew much about strategy. The only problem was what would happen after the ambush, as the village would certainly be alerted by some of their patrols not returning. "At that point, we won''t need a plan. We can just rush in and kill them." Aeron had said boldly. Now, lying in ambush, Aeron was ready to put that plan into action. Chapter 9 The first squad to return didn''t even know how they died. Aeron''s swords claimed the lives of the first two in an instant, and the knights quickly dispatched one target each. The two spearmen leapt out from the bushes and stabbed each of their spears into the body of the same soldier, instantly ending his life as well. Aeron and his subjects dragged the bodies into the underbrush and lay in wait once again. The second returning party noticed something was off the second they smelt blood, but that still didn''t save them from the same fate as the first. "That''s all of them." Aeron whispered. He then led them towards the gates after taking a light spear each from the corpses. Five guards stood on watch at the gate. Aeron''s soldiers charged towards them and threw their spears before the guards could even react. Only two hit home, piercing their targets and fatally wounding them. The other 3 spears missed, clearly showing the throwers'' inexperience at this. The shocked guards only managed to shout an alarm when the intruders reached the gate. Roaring, the knight activated the [Berserk] Skill and charged into the gate, shattering the wood and making a large enough hole for one person to fit through at a time. The berserking knight was already through and raced up the walls to slaughter the three guards still alive there. Soldiers were gathering up near the [Origin], organised by an elderly man who held a gnarled staff. Aeron marched his troops to the other gate after picking up spears once again. They quickly killed the guards stationed there and took their positions. Not long after, a squad of soldiers came from the forest. They got to the gates without noticing anything wrong with the situation. "We''re back. Open up." One of them shouted up. Aeron responded with a volley of spears. At this close range, four of them managed to hit. Aeron had to take a spear from one of the more recently slain guards in order to finish the last enemy off. By now, the defenders had finished gathering in the centre of the village. Only 5 of the lightly equipped soldiers were left. The remaining troops all carried greatswords and were completely covered in tattoos, unlike their partially covered brethren.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The elderly man stood in the centre of the formation, rallying them. All the citizens hid in their houses, not daring to come out. They thought the enemy force was much bigger than it was. The leather clad warriors casually made their way over to the defensive force, taking their time to allow the knight to fully recover from his earlier berserk. "Why have you come here?" The elder called out. Aeron didn''t deem it necessary to reply. Instead, he and his subordinates threw the last four light spears they had at the enemy ranks. They saw it coming this time, so only one of the enemies got hit, and it wasn''t even fatal. Seeing that there was no use talking it out, the elder gave an order. "Charge!" The muscled warriors went forth screaming battle cries. Each step they took, they grew a little. "Careful!" Aeron yelled. "They''re berserking!" The knight activated his own berserk again and met a charging berserker head on. His own strength overpowered that of the tattooed warrior''s and lopped his arm clean off. Lance stabbed forwards, ripping open the neck of a berserker before he even got within greatsword range, and Edmund threw himself inside the swing of an enemy, bringing his sword into their chest and straight through their heart. The spearman managed to hold his own, keeping a berserker at spear length but not inflicting any fatal wounds. Aeron sped forwards, two blue arcs cleaving into the chests of the enemy and reaping their lives. The old man had been chanting since he gave the order to charge. He finished the chant with a flurry of his staff and yelled. "Mass Entangle!" Roots shot up from the ground, binding themselves round the feet of Aeron''s allies but missing Aeron himself because of his speed. The knight ripped right through his bindings, going on to slay another berserker, and Lance didn''t need to move to fight against these opponents. However, Edmund and the spearman were stuck in a tricky situation. Aeron rushed over to the spearman first, knowing that Edmund could hold his own. His blades flashed and the vines were cut as well as the neck of the nearest berserker. Spears rained towards Edmund, bouncing off his armour but distracting him long enough for an enemy to land a savage horizontal blow across his chest. He flew backwards, his feet ripping from their bindings. Angered, Aeron bounded over, shoving his blade through the offender''s stomach. He watched the savage expression on his enemy¡¯s face turn to pain, then to fear, then to despair. Revenge complete, Aeron ran over to Edmund to check if he was ok. As he got there, Edmund pulled himself up from the ground. "I''m fine my Lord." He said. "Just a little roughed up is all." Aeron laughed at the absurdity of his own worry. With this armour on, which of them feared receiving attacks anywhere but the head? When he was done, Aeron looked at the state of the battlefield. All the berserkers were dead or dying, the lightly equipped soldiers were being dealt with by Lance and the spearman, and a still raging knight was fighting off some nature golem the old man had summoned. They didn''t really need him, but just to be sure Aeron charged towards the elderly man. Startled from his chanting, the words got stuck in the elder''s throat as he turned to face Aeron. His expression was one of fear right before his head was detached from his body. With its summoner dead, the golem collapsed and so did the knight soon after. All obstructions cleared, Aeron walked up to the [Origin] and placed his hand on it. Two options appeared: [Capture] or [Destroy] Chapter 10 "I choose [Capture]." Aeron said. A ripple spread across the origin and it shrunk. He felt a stirring in his blood as some small part of it awakened. It didn''t have any effect on his body, but his bloodline had been altered slightly. When a village was captured, it would be returned to the first Rank of its size and half of that experience would go to the village that captured it. After capturing the village, there was a new option in place of [Capture], [Relocate]. Aeron decided to leave the village where it was for now. Wanting to see what else he had gained; Aeron went into the [Profession Change] building. There were two stone stele there: [Skirmisher] and [Celtic Berserker]. [Skirmisher] F+ grade Military Receive [Basic Spear Technique] Skill, [Basic Spear Throwing Technique] Skill, +10% agility [Celtic Berserker] E grade Military Receive [Basic Sword Technique] Skill, [Berserk] Skill, +10% Strength and Constitution Both were good professions, though the Celtic one required them to have a Celtish bloodline. Surprisingly, he found that he could choose it if he wanted. That must be what awakened in his bloodline earlier, the Celtish part of it. And since his villagers¡¯ bloodline was based on his, didn''t that mean they could choose this profession too? Going to the [Village Hall], Aeron went to check the stats of the village only to be surprised that there was a stone stele there also. It had the profession the elder had on it. [Druid] D- grade Military Receive [Animal Companion] Skill, [Nature Magic] Skill, +30% intelligence Limit: 0/5 Seeing this, Aeron changed profession immediately. He kept his [Basic Sword Technique] Skill since he would''ve gained it naturally through his sparring matches with Edmund, but he lost the [Duel] Skill. Afterwards, he checked the village stats. It was a Copper Grade village with no special stats and no residents or soldiers. This was because Aeron now owned the village and none of his citizens were living here. The former residents hadn''t submitted yet and so weren''t classed as his.Stolen novel; please report. He exited the building to find that his soldiers had rounded up the surviving Celts. Aeron walked over. Two of the prisoners were kept separate since they were S class like his own tailor and blacksmith. "I''ll give you a choice: Submit or die." He said to the captured masses calmly. "I''ll never follow you, murderer." One of the captured spat. A blade flashed and a head rolled. "Anybody else?" Aeron''s voice cut through the commotion that was brewing. No one spoke. Gradually, some of them knelt saying: "I am willing to submit to Your Majesty." Aeron gave it two minutes, he then nodded to his followers. Anyone not kneeling was killed where they stood, causing blood to wash over the prisoners. They all stayed silent as they knew what speaking up would get them. Aeron walked over to Edmund, wanting to test his newly gained [Nature Magic]. He chanted in a low voice before placing his hand on Edmund''s chest. "Cure Light Wounds!" He intoned. A green light washed over the knight, healing him of any light wounds and chasing away his fatigue. Whispers started amongst the captured Celts. They had seen their village head do this many times. "He''s a druid." "Maybe following him won''t be so bad." "His spell is even as strong as the elder''s." The hatred Aeron had garnered from them wouldn''t be washed away in an instant, however the Celts saw him as fit to lead them and they truly surrendered to their fates. It was then that a change occurred in them, changing their bloodline to be more similar to Aeron''s. It wasn''t as pure or concentrated, but they now truly were his citizens. The next morning, Aeron left behind Edmund to guard the village and bring over the newly spawned villagers each day and took the Celts over to his legacy village. They took everything of value in the village with them as well, including the profession change steles. Out of the 164 villagers (not including soldiers), 36 tried to resist, 1 was killed for speaking up, and 22 refused to submit. This left a total of 105 new villagers joining his village. The Popular Support score dipped below 80 so Aeron took steps to remedy that. First, he recruited some of the higher loyalty ones into the army, forming two 10-man squads of [Celtic Berserkers] and [Knights] respectively. Second, he arranged families to stay in the same rooms within the houses and did not separate them. There wasn''t enough housing space, so Aeron instructed some makeshift shelters be set up for them until they could build newer houses for them. Lastly, he went around healing the injured and reinforcing the shelters with his [Nature Magic]. All of this managed to drag popular support barely over 80 before midday. Just enough to allow the next villagers to spawn in. After greeting the eight new arrivals, one of which was a D grade villager, Aeron met with the two S grades from the Celtic village. One was a Shieldsmith. He was the one who had made the wooden shields the skirmishers used. The other was a Celtic Tattoo Artist. He had drawn the tattoos on the Celtic soldiers'' bodies. The tattoos had the effect of boosting stats by a fixed amount depending on the materials used. When these craftsmen entered the village as Aeron''s residents, the corresponding buildings had risen up within Aeron''s territory. He gave them each a task. The Shieldsmith was responsible for mass producing wooden shields for military use and the Celtic Tattoo Artist was given a group of villagers and the spearman to defend them as they went out to search for some of the materials needed for tattoos. Some were already brought some over from the other village, but they were lacking in the main material, blood, so they could only stockpile the other materials. With that, Aeron began the selection and equipping of his new military force. The village was less than a hundred experience from breaking through to Rank 2 and Aeron needed a large number of soldiers to get that done quickly. Chapter 11 Aeron picked 20 of the 41 remaining residents spawned here and created a spearman squad of 10, and a squad of skirmishers. He equipped the spearmen with normal grade spears, wooden shields and system given armours. Lance was assigned to teach them spearmanship. He gave the skirmishers 3 light spears for throwing each and the system given spears to them to be melee weapons. He also gave the skirmishers a shield each as well. They each wore a set of system given armour. The berserkers were given 10 of the greatswords found in the Celtic [Village Hall]. They were also equipped with the [Boar Hide Armour] produced by the tailor, though that was all of the currently made [Boar Hide Armour]. The knights were given the copper ranked swords the blacksmith had been making and a set of system given armour each. Aeron''s faithful knight, whose name was Kay, switched profession to [Celtic Berserker] and swapped his main weapon from the Iron grade sword to a Normal grade greatsword. This profession suited him better as both of his Berserk skills combined into a more powerful version. However, he still taught the knights swordsmanship. Now, Aeron had a squad of each stone stele in the [Profession Change] building under his command. He also recruited the two D grade villagers as [Druids]. They both used a staff found in the Celtic village to channel their [Nature Magic] to make it more powerful. There was very little system given armours and weapons left in Aeron''s arsenal. Only 20 armours, 4 spears and 25 swords. The one''s looted from the other village meant he also had 14 greatswords and 3 staffs as well. That afternoon, Edmund brought back 3 new F grade villagers and 1 E grade from the captured village. Since it was Copper grade, only 3 to 6 villagers spawned each day and the higher grades each took twice as long to spawn. Tomorrow would be all F grade villagers from the Celtic village. Aeron arranged guard shifts, one every six hours. Three soldiers from each unit would be on patrol, with one of the squad leaders supervising them. The original 4 soldiers were all exempt from patrols but would randomly inspect one every few days to make sure everything was in order. The Celtic Tattoo Artist and his group returned, bringing back various herbs and plants.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That night, they had to kill the sows to feed everybody. They would need to hunt again tomorrow to prevent people from starving. ... Back in the real world, it was 7 PM. Aeron had slept the day away to execute his invasion plan. He got up, stretched, took care of his body, and did some basic exercises. He checked his work phone, there was one new message from an undisclosed number. A job. He memorised the details before deleting the message. Aeron lifted the kitchen sink: a black outfit, painted mask, and gloves were contained in a layer of plastic. He took the plastic bag out of the plumbing, putting the sink back in place. He unwrapped it, getting changed into the outfit and placing the mask onto his face. He pulled the gloves on and left his apartment through the back window, scaling down two stories of brick wall. He took off into the night, only to return 3 hours later. "Phew, still an hour to spare." He commented, having just climbed back into his apartment. He changed into a fresh set of clothes, resealing the work kit into the plastic bag and hiding it under the sink again. Aeron watched the news for the next hour, noting two stories of interest to him. The first was that a forum had been set up for any English that chose to go to the Heaven Domain, he would have to check that out later. And the second was only mentioned towards the end of the hour. A newly rising, local drug lord had been killed a couple hours ago in his own home. There were no living witnesses as the guards were also found dead. It was linked to a string of serial killings happening recently. The victims were all criminals trying to set up shop in a certain area. Aeron smirked. ''Looks like they''re covering up the politician''s death by focusing on this one. How typical.'' He thought, switching the TV off and heading back to his room. Before returning to the Heaven Domain, Aeron checked his bank account. Two separate payments had been made into it. One from an untraceable source. That was for the drug lord. The other was from an offshore bank account. This one for the politician. ... Aeron detailed his plan to the troops. Each patrol would handle the beasts in the forest in one if three directions, with the final patrol staying behind to defend. Patrols would switch out with the defending patrol in shifts to spread the fighting amongst all the soldiers, allowing them all to get some experience under their belts. Each direction would be handled by one of Aeron''s elites, the soldiers fighting in that area being under their command. Aeron himself would stay at the village and take charge of the defensive force. A group of villagers trailed behind each patrol, collecting and bringing back the dead beasts left in the soldiers'' wake. With this: the village would gain experience points, Aeron would gain achievement points, the craftsmen would have enough materials to make equipment to replace the system given items, the soldiers would gain battle experience, Aeron''s elites would gain commanding experience, and the Tattoo Artist could start work on tattooing the soldiers that were left behind to defend. With a rallying cry, the operation began. With so many soldiers and villagers gone, the village was quieter than usual. Aeron discussed with the Tattoo Artist about what tattoos one could get and what they did. From this, he gained a general outline of the craft and began debating which ones he would like for himself. Since he could currently fight a Stage 2 beast, Aeron decided he would use a Stage 2 creature''s blood as the base material for his tattoo and at least Stage 1 for his elite subordinates. The experience of the village gradually climbed until it was ready to upgrade. Chapter 12 "Congratulations, you have reached Rank 1 Baron." "Congratulations, you have been rewarded as the 3rd person to reach Rank 1 Baron in England." "Congratulations, you have been rewarded 250 gold coins, a Ring of Intelligence (Iron), and an Army Flag (Iron)." Two items and a pile of coins appeared in front of Aeron. Now knowing there was a first bonus, Aeron quickly grabbed the items and rushed to the [Village Hall]. There, he selected to [Upgrade] the village. "You must name the village before it can [Upgrade]." ''Dammit.'' Aeron''s mind spun as he tried to come up with a good name. He quickly came up with one. "Rising Sun Village." He chose this because this village would be where the sun rose on his empire. "Village name acceptable." "Congratulations, Rising Sun Village has become a Rank 2 village." "Congratulations, you have been rewarded as the first village to upgrade to a Rank 2 Village in England." Aeron heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It looked like most were struggling to capture a second village or at the very least were struggling to capture a village with many experience points. "Congratulations, you have been rewarded a Village Rank Increase Token (Silver), an S rank General, and an S rank craftsman." A token appeared in front of Aeron. The General and craftsman would be added on to the next spawn of villagers. He immediately used the token on Rising Sun Village, upgrading it to Silver Grade. Afterwards, he checked the items he got from the Baron reward. The gold coins were pretty self-explanatory, they were currency. In the Heaven Domain the lowest coin was the copper coin. 10 copper coins made up a silver coin and 100 silver coins made up a gold coin. After gold coins were Violet Gold coins and they were worth 1000 gold coins. The denominations went higher but were exponentially rarer as you went further up in value. The Ring of Intelligence was like the Weak Ring of Strength Aeron already had, but was better. Both rings could be worn together as you could wear one from each tier at the same time. He wore it on his finger. Ring of Intelligence (Iron) Grants the wearer +5 IntelligenceThe author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The army flag wasn''t like a piece of equipment that improved personal strength, it was an item that improved the strength of a group. Army Flag (Iron) Grants up to 1000 soldiers under the bearer¡¯s command +2 to all stats. The army flag was the equivalent of giving three to four extra Copper Grade pieces of equipment to a whole legion of soldiers. After upgrading, the [Village Hall] had grown larger and was made of wood instead of thatch, and the [Origin] had grown in size. It was around midday so Aeron walked over to the [Origin]. After activating it, 25 people began to appear on the platform. The village being Silver grade upgraded the basic spawn amount to 9-12 and getting to Rank 2 doubled that. Plus, the two from the Rank up reward spawned on top of that. "Your majesty." They all bowed. A new building rose up in the territory but Aeron couldn''t check it from here so that would have to wait until later. He greeted the new arrivals, giving each of them tasks to perform. He finished the greetings and sent them all off bar the two S ranks. The general, Henry, was able to take on two military professions due to his [General] profession. He chose [Knight] and [Druid], gaining both support and fighting capabilities. The craftsman was a Pill Maker. He could create pills of various different effects if he had the ingredients. Aeron sent the Pill Maker off and went to equip the general. He gave Henry the last [King Boar Hide Armour] and Kay''s Iron ranked sword. He also added Henry to the shifts of fighting happening today, making the elites have one shift where they manned the wall with the defensive patrol. 2 more D ranks spawned in today since talented people''s spawns went up when the village became silver grade and the amount of talents doubled since it was Rank 2. Aeron opted to not recruit them as druids since talents would become more abundant from here on out. He was waiting for the B grades which would now spawn on day 12. This really made him wonder how well the other legacies were doing, especially the ones that started out stronger than his. If he had their rate of villager attraction and talent spawning, how much better would he be doing now? He quickly tossed that thought out of his mind, there was no use wondering what ifs. At this moment, a villager ran through the gates. "Your majesty. I have something to report." The villager said in between pants. Aeron signalled for the villager to go on. "Sir Lance has asked me to inform you that he has found a beast lair." "Good job, get some rest. I''ll go and see for myself." Aeron nodded towards the villager and left, sprinting towards the direction Lance was in charge of. His enhanced body carried him there quickly, and he got there in time to see Lance facing off against a Stage 2 beast king. The beast was at a clear advantage, Lance only barely being able to hold out against it. Aeron dreaded to think of what would happen if it was the other spearman in Lance''s position. Aeron sprinted towards the battle, passing by the soldiers who could only watch, and chanted under his breath as he did so. "Summon Plant Golem." He intoned as he stamped his foot against the ground, launching himself towards the beast king. He swung his blades, getting blocked by the beast king''s antlers as it was a stag, and used the impact to somersault over his opponent. The King Stag turned towards him, trying to strike out with its antlers, when the newly summoned plant golem rammed into its side. Its Stage 1 strength only managed to stagger the stag, but that was enough since Aeron had finished his second chant. "Self-Destruct." The golem grappled the King Stag before exploding into a mass of vines that wrapped around the beast, restricting its movements. Aeron took the opportunity to knock its antlers up with one blade and slash its throat with the other. Ice coated the wound, freezing up its neck and preventing it from breathing. He backed off, standing ready in case anything happened. The King Stag tried to put up one final struggle. It wrestled the vines, managing to break free, and took two steps towards Aeron. It never managed to reach him though, as it fell to the ground from lack of oxygen. Its wrathful eyes stared up at Aeron for the ground as the light slowly faded from them. Chapter 13 "Cure light wounds." A green light bathed Lance, healing his injuries. "Thank you, my Lord." He said. Aeron nodded to acknowledge him before turning to the group of villagers trailing behind. "Collect the corpses and bring them back." Aeron walked into the beast den, dealing with any stragglers left over. To his disappointment, he only found one item within the entire den. Fortunately, the King Stag had dropped three items otherwise Aeron would''ve felt cheated out of his effort. Aeron thought of making one of the Stage 1 stags his animal companion, but decided against it as he would rather have a beast more suited for battle as his companion. The stags were herbivores, only knowing how to fight for self-defence and deciding the dominance hierarchy. They were not as suited for combat as carnivores generally were. He headed back to the village, carrying the King Stag''s body with a few other villagers. Once there, he set it down and watched as the craftsmen descended upon it. The blacksmith took its antlers, the tailor its hide, the Tattoo Artist took its blood, the pill maker took its bones, eyes and other organs, whilst a couple of the villagers took the meat to be cooked for their Lord later during the feast, which was becoming a daily routine at this point. Hardly any of the beast king was wasted and it was all taken to be processed into useful things for Rising Sun Village and its people. Aeron looked forwards to seeing what would be made of the mighty beast. He then checked the items he got from the King Stag and its den. The first was a carved statue about the size if a fist. Nature Idol An idol that converts Faith Power into Nature Power to form a Nature Spirit. Can create and sustain one Nature Spirit. The second was an ornate dagger, encrusted with green gems. Sacrificial Dagger (Nature) A dagger that can be used in sacrificial ceremonies, increasing the effect of the offering if the ceremony is dedicated to a Nature Spirit.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The third item, and final one dropped by the stag, was a green crystal that pulsed with energy. Small Nature Crystal Crystallised Nature Power that can be consumed but not replenished. Those three items fit well together and Aeron already had plans on how he would use them. The final item was a beautiful flower that emanated a enticing aura even after being uprooted. Fairy Flower When properly taken care of, produces Flower Fairies. Aeron carefully replanted the flower, not knowing how to take care of it but hoping he would in the future. With all the items dealt with, Aeron went back to his training all the while thinking of plans. That afternoon, Edmund came with 4 more villagers. With nothing special about them, Aeron got them to join the logging and construction crews building houses and another building Aeron ordered built. When Edmund was about to leave, Aeron bid him to stay until tomorrow morning as he was needed for tonight. He also went and recruited a D rank to fill the final [Druid] slot as an extra would help later. He compared swordsmanship with Edmund until the patrols had finished for the day and returned. After that, the whole village once again had a feast as the meat hunted throughout the day was cooked or stored in a dry storage building. Aeron himself ate the meat from the King Stag. His body once again was improved until the point it couldn''t be strengthened further, though that was because if his non-existent cultivation. After the feast, Aeron went to look for the Tattoo Artist. Throughout the day, the Tattoo Artist had given tattoos to every soldier under Aeron''s command besides the elites and the druids. The Berserkers and Spearmen had strength boosting patterns, the Knights had constitution boosting patterns, and the Skirmishers had Agility boosting patterns. The main material used in these had been pre-Stage 1 beast blood and so the patterns only increased the given stat by 3. This was like giving every soldier an extra Copper grade piece of equipment, but it wasn''t good enough for Aeron''s elites. Aeron decided that the Druids, besides himself and Henry, would have intelligence patterns drawn with Stage 1 beast blood and he and his elites would use the Stage 2 blood of the King Stag. The three Druids were done quickly and it was then Aeron''s turn to choose. Since agility was the King Stag''s best attribute, Aeron decided to choose that as it would give an extra bonus. Henry chose Intelligence like the other Druids, Edmund chose Constitution, and the other 3 chose Strength. The Druids'' tattoos gave them +5 whilst the elites gained +8 in their chosen stat. Aeron himself gained +10 to his agility. Unfortunately, class stat bonuses did not include the tattoos effects. His agility now naturally surpassed that of Stage 1 humans, and with equipment it even beat that of an unequipped Stage 2. He now had 2 attributes crossing into the 30s: Agility and Strength. This advantage would truly show itself against the beasts in the wild as they could not equip items like humans could and their species would determine how much their attributes grew through cultivation and it would usually be lopsided. Aeron looked over his status with pride. Name: Aeron Titles: None Profession: Druid Achievement Points: Rank 1 Baron (143/1000) Race: Human Age: 18 (100) Stats: Strength 30 (12+2+16), Constitution 16 (12+2+3), Agility 34 (12+2+10+10), Intelligence 19 (9+5+5) Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: None Skills: [Animal Companion] [Basic Sword Technique] [Illusionary Second Strike] [Nature Magic] Equipment: King Boar Hide Scabbards (+2 Strength), Ring of Intelligence (+5 Intelligence), Superior King Boar Hide Armour (+3 Strength and Constitution), Twin Frozen Swords of the Boar King (+10 Strength and Agility), Weak Ring of Strength (+1 Strength) Extra: King Stag''s Tattoo of Agility (+10 Agility) How far he had come in just a few short days. Chapter 14 Aeron gathered the whole village to the large structure he had built during the day. The building itself was a temple of sorts, containing a large hall and some side dormitories. He and the other Druids stood at the front of the congregation in the hall. Behind them was an altar, and behind that was a shrine containing the Nature Idol. Aeron silenced the crowd with a wave if his hands. One of the druids stepped forwards and spoke. "We gather here today to witness the birth of a Nature Spirit, a being that will watch over and protect us for years to come. All it needs of you is faith in it. Faith that it will protect and aid us and serve the Lord and the people faithfully." The druid took the initiative to kneel towards the shrine, bowing his head but not as far as he bowed it to Aeron. Everyone else in the hall did the same except Aeron who brandished the Sacrificial Dagger and walked towards the altar. "Oh, great Spirit of Nature, be born and serve me well." He chanted. "Oh, great Spirit of Nature, be born and serve our King." The druids chanted, followed closely by the crowd. A thin layer of light covered the wooden Idol. Aeron took out the Small Nature Crystal and placed it on the altar. He raised the Sacrificial Dagger into the air and spoke, "Come forth and serve me now!" The dagger fell, shattering the crystal and causing the pieces to turn into a green energy and float towards the Idol. The Idol absorbed the energy, glowing brighter and brighter until Aeron couldn''t keep his eyes open. Even then, the light seemed to pierce through his eyelids, but Aeron still refused to bow his head. Eventually, the light receded and Aeron opened his eyes again. Infront of him was a humanoid mass of the green energy. It was 3-foot-tall and stood on the altar. The idol no longer glowed, though it now seemed to be in the shape of the being in front of them. It assessed the gathered people before bowing to Aeron. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting me a body. I will serve Your Majesty to my upmost ability." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.The Spirit spoke in pleasing feminine voice. Aeron nodded in acknowledgement before dispersing the crowd. "What can you do?" He asked once the villagers had all left. "Currently I cannot do much, however if I keep receiving Nature Power then I will grow stronger and be able to aid my Lord more." The Spirit replied. "Ok then. What do you know about Fairy Flowers?" He asked. If the Spirit before him had features, it no doubt would be one of shock and surprise. "You have a Fairy Flower?" It asked in disbelief. Aeon nodded before repeating his question. "I can send my energies into a Fairy Flower and make it my own. In doing so, it will give me a constant source of Nature Power and I will provide it with the energies it needs to produce fairies and grow." The Spirit explained. Hearing this, Aeron immediately had the Fairy Flower moved into the shrine part of the temple. Since the birth of the Nature Spirit, vines had grown and reinforced the temples structure as well as made the shrine larger and more vibrant. When the Fairy Flower was planted, the vines opened up a hole in the roof so that light could shine down upon it. The Nature Spirit floated over to it, placing its hand on top of the flower. The stem began to shimmer and the petals grew longer before curling upwards and closing the flower. "Done." The Spirit said, sounding exhausted but content. "It will produce a Flower Fairy a day." It continued. Aeron nodded and left. He didn''t know what a Flower Fairy was, but he would find out when he came back tomorrow. He thanked one of the druids for coming up with the ceremonial chant and then returned to Earth. ... It was 3 AM on Earth, already deep into the night. He wondered who else was like him, waking up at this time after exiting the Heaven Domain but the thought quickly passed. To kill time, Aeron went to his computer, opening up the English Heaven Domain Forums. There he found people discussing their experiences and actions in the Heaven Domain as well as theories about it. Currency there was already being exchanged for currency here, though it wasn''t that organised since you had to be in the same region as someone and trust that they would keep up with their end of the bargain. Aeron would''ve joined in himself, having quite a lot of disposable income. It''s not like he would be able to use it since the world was being assimilated in a few years. Unfortunately, Aeron didn''t even know where the System Cities in his region were, let alone how to get to them. The majority of players were housed in those cities whereas he was out in the wilderness along with the NPC villages and other legacy players. He called them NPCs and players since that was what the common consensus was on what to call them. The distinction would become unclear after Earth was swallowed, but for now it separated those who could come back from death and those who could not. The reason players could only trade within their region was because there were massive ''Void Zones'' between each region which were devoid of most life except powerful Void Beasts. The current power of players wasn''t enough to cross these zones, and it wouldn''t be worth the time and effort put into crossing anyways. Whilst reading through the forums, Aeron stumbled across a thread started by someone in the same region as him. It was about starting an adventuring guild in one of the system cities as the person had gained a Baron title and managed to buy some land using it. That land would be their base and a headquarters was already being built. Aeron contacted the guildmaster with a proposition. If all went as planned, Aeron would gain a foothold in a system city before anyone else. Chapter 15 Through the forums, Aeron had found out there was something called a teleportation formation that could be used to transport people and goods over long distances. Firstly, Aeron negotiated with the guildmaster about using the latter''s rank to find out how to make one. Luckily, the other party responded quickly to his message request. They had probably just returned from the Heaven Domain as well, given that it was nightfall over there. They finally settled on a modest ¡ê5,000, with Aeron arguing that it was just a game (he knew otherwise but the guildmaster didn''t) and the guildmaster arguing that he was the only one who could get it for him. They decided on a meeting location on Earth. It was an hour away from Aeron''s house but he didn''t want to reveal where he lived so that would suit him just fine. They were both up already and so decided to meet right away to conduct the exchange. They met at a 24-hour cafe, hiring a private room for them to do their business in. The guildmaster, who introduced himself as Derek, sent his consciousness to the Heaven Domain whilst seated opposite from Aeron. The waitress came in and took Aeron''s order. 15 minutes later, Derek reopened his eyes to find a thick stack of cash on the table in front of him. "Tell me how to make it and this is yours, just like we agreed." Aeron said whilst finishing his second hot chocolate. "I''m going to need a paper and pen." Replied Derek. They managed to borrow the waitress'' notepad, Derek going in and out of the Heaven Domain to make sure he was drawing the formation right. Once done, he tore the page out of the notebook, handing it to Aeron. It was a sketch of a circle of runes, followed by a list of the materials needed to complete it. "Here you go. Are we done?" He spoke. "Not yet, just let me test it out first." Aeron replied, noting that Derek remained perfectly calm as he said this. He shut his eyes, focusing, and entering the otherworld. There, he carved the runes into the floor at an accessible location in the village and noticed how they hummed with power even before being activated.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. This, along with Derek''s calm composure, convinced him it was the real deal. Returning to Earth, he shook Derek''s hand over the table. "The money is yours. However, I have another proposition I would like to make if you would be interested?" Aeron said. "I''m listening." Was the reply. "How about I fund your guild. I''ll pay you and the core members a wage, and you''ll give me the profit you earn after paying for living expenses and gear in the Heaven Domain." Aeron explained, cutting right to the point. Derek obviously did not expect this as it took him a few moments to process it. However, he was a capable person and quickly got over his shock. "What kind of wages are we talking..." The two broke off into discussion, negotiating the price of Derek''s guild. Eventually they settled on a minimum pay, with extra depending on how much profit they earned for Aeron. Both of them satisfied with the outcome, they drafted and signed the contract over the next few hours. Not wanting to be too late logging on, Aeron booked into a hotel for the day and went back to the Heaven Domain. ... It was late morning when Aeron materialized in his village. The soldiers had already set out to clear the various directions again. Aeron visited the various craftsmen, checking if they had any of the materials he needed to make the teleportation formation. He managed to gather around half from the craftsmen, and a few more from the storage building. Aeron only needed a few more and it would be complete. When he was done, Aeron went to the [Origin] to welcome the 20 new villagers spawning in before heading to the temple. There, he was greeted by the Nature Spirit. "Your Majesty, you came just in time. The first fairy is about to be born." The Spirit said, bringing Aeron over to where the flower was. The Spirit laid its hands on either side of the flower, sending a surge of power into it. The flower shivered and the petals opened up, revealing the tiny figure of a fairy with petals for a dress. It looked up at them both with big eyes before fluttering into the air with the tiny wings on its back. As it flew out of the flower, the petals closed up again. Curious, Aeron looked over the fairy''s status. Name: Titles: Firstborn (+50% to all stats) Profession: None Grade: A Race: Flower Fairy Age: 0 (250) Stats: Strength 3 (2+1), Constitution 3 (2+1), Agility 9 (6+3), Intelligence 6 (4+2) Cultivation: Stage 0 Cultivation Technique: Flower-Fairy Coexistence Skills: [Fairies'' Blessing] [Flower Magic] [Telepathy] The fairy had pitiful stats but a high grade and a cultivation technique. That, along with its skills would make it a helpful support for the village. "Hello." A childish voice spoke in his mind. "Hello. My name is Aeron, what should I call you." He spoke aloud. "Rose." Was the response. "Well Rose, I wish you a happy life here in Rising Sun Village." He said. "Thank you." The petite fairy lowered her head in shyness. Aeron gave it a kind smile before turning to leave. Before he did though, the fairy flew up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations, Rising Sun Village has received the [Fairies'' Blessing]." "Congratulations, residents will feel comfortable and warm here and sleeping in the village makes one feel well rested." "The blessing will get more powerful the more fairies live in the village." The system announced. Aeron nodded in gratitude towards the fairy who had flown away to hide behind the flower and was now peeking out from over the top of it. He exited the temple to find a villager rushing over to him. "Your Majesty, Kay found another village." Chapter 16 Aeron rushed out the moment he got the direction Kay was in. He sprinted thought the forest much faster than yesterday thanks to his new tattoo speeding up his movements. He reached Kay''s squad, who had been waiting for him whilst scouting the enemy forces. They bowed their heads in greeting before Kay got straight to business. "Your Majesty, it¡¯s only a small village. We''ve determined they have a garrison of 5 [Militia] and at least that number hunting for food." Kay reported. "There are 30-40 villagers living within the walls, and the village chief is a strong warrior. We saw her earlier dragging back a Stage 1 beast she killed and she left the village again not long after." He continued."Ok then, here''s the plan. We''re going to rush the gate and take out the militia. Then, we''re going to split into two groups to hold the two gates and prevent any villagers from escaping." The soldiers nodded. "Kay, you''re going to [Capture] the village. Kill anyone who gets in your way." "Yes sir!" "As for myself, I''ll be patrolling the walls waiting for the chief and her hunting squad to come back. If any militia return, try to capture them alive, though staying safe is a priority so feel free to kill if it gets too dangerous." The soldiers nodded again before psyching themselves up for battle. Aeron took out the Army Flag, fixing it to the back if his armour. The soldiers instantly felt their equipment become lighter and easier to move in as all their stats were raised. "To battle." Aeron roared as he charged out of the forest towards the gate. He arrived there in a matter of seconds, barging through it with his superhuman strength. The militia on the walls turned to look at him but a volley of 3 spears made them refocus their attention outside. Aeron stood to the side, letting his soldiers experience killing other human beings for the first time. He ordered Kay to do the same, sending the Berserker towards the [Origin] to capture the village. Five of the soldiers split up from the rest, heading along the inner side of the wall to the other gate and wresting control of it from the militia there. Within a short 10 minutes, Aeron had gained control of another village. Unfortunately, this was only Rank 1 and so didn''t have much experience to give Rising Sun Village.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. That afternoon, the village chief returned. She was once again dragging the body of a Stage 1 beast she had hunted down. Noticing unfamiliar faces on the walls above, she called out to them. They had already sent one of their members running off to get Aeron so they tried to stall for time. "Who are you?" The village chief yelled up. "You don''t recognise us?" One of the more quick-witted soldiers replied. "No. Should I?" The warrior questioned. "Of course you should, I''ve been here since the start." The soldier yelled down. "I would know you if you had of. Your just an invader! Don''t try to trick me!" The former chief shouted. Luckily, Aeron had arrived so they didn''t need to stall for time anymore. "Hello there. I''m the new owner of this village. I''d appreciate it if you just turned yourself over without a fight." He said, his voice somehow carrying down to the chief at ground level. "Get down here and fight me you coward!" The warrior roared. "Fine, fight it is." Aeron muttered as he jumped down off the wall. He crouched as he landed before quickly bringing his blade up to block an overhead strike from the female warrior. She recoiled backwards, her greatsword bucking upwards from the force if the impact. Standing, Aeron brushed himself off. "And you said I was the coward." He commented. Enraged, the warrior let forth a flurry of blows with astounding speed for a greatsword wielder. Unfortunately for her, she was fighting Aeron. His duel swords were faster than her greatsword, blocking or parrying all her attacks while slipping in attacks of his own. He was careful not to hurt her, wanting to take her into his army after this, so he landed blows with the flat of his blade on her joints. The ice attribute froze them bit by bit until she couldn''t move them. The attacks slowed, then stopped. The fight was over. The soldiers on the wall behind him cheered at their Lord''s victory as the warrior in front of Aeron stared at the ground dejectedly. Suddenly, she looked up with an unyielding expression. "You''ve won, now kill me." She said with resoluteness. "I don''t think I will." Aeron said as he sheathed his swords. "Why not?" She asked. "It would be a shame to lose a strong warrior like yourself." He answered. "Now that your life belongs to me, why not use it for something greater?" He continued. "Come, join my army. I have need for one as strong as yourself." He said as he extended his hand towards her. Gritting her teeth, she managed to move her frozen arm up to place her hand in his. "As you wish, it is your right as victor." She said. Aeron sighed, if only all his future fights would be this easy. After his offer of help was refused, Aeron re-entered the village with a half-frozen Bellona, that was the warrior''s name, in tow. Seeing there chief following behind someone else, the villagers gave up all thoughts of resistance. Out of the 38, only 2 of them had been killed for resisting or getting in Kay''s way. This was a way better result than at the Celtic village, though it was a smaller crowd than that time. That evening, the militia hunting squad returned to find their home occupied by invaders. However, after seeing how docile the villagers and their chief was being, they surrendered peacefully. Aeron stated in the Heaven Domain that night to make sure none of the villagers tried anything whilst half the soldiers were asleep. Fortunately for them, nobody tried anything and morning came without incident. Chapter 17 Aeron did not choose to [Relocate] the village as new buildings and walls would not be produced after placing it down again. So, instead he decided to make use of the walls that had already formed to protect the [Origin]. Therefore, he left Kay to guard the village and bring any villagers that spawned to Rising Sun Village. It would be an inconvenience to leave him here, however, it was better than taking the risk of someone finding an unprotected village or a beast destroying it. Aeron and his soldiers escorted the villagers back to the main village. The [Militia] were made temporary army members and the warrior, Bellona, was given command of a patrol. The village they captured also had a tailor who was assigned to work in the [Tailor] building and trade techniques with the Rising Sun Village''s original tailor. Bellona changed profession to a [Berserker] and the militia temporary helped out the villagers with construction and gathering activities until the next military reorganisation. Bellona was given a Stage 1 tattoo of strength and some [Boar Hide Armour] as well as one of the copper grade greatswords the blacksmith had been making for the Berserkers before being sent to replace the defending patrol''s leader. That leader was assigned the newly returned patrol of soldiers, that had taken down the village with Aeron, and was immediately sent out in a new direction to hunt and scout. After getting back, Aeron found out that Edmund had come by yesterday afternoon to drop off the 6 new villagers from the Celtic village. They had already settled into new roles in the village. Today, Aeron was expecting two C Grades to spawn, and they did, along with 19 others. He brought along the two C grades to the temple since the Nature Spirit had told him about a power it would be able to use today. They walked into the temple in time to witness the birth of the second fairy. It was not as strong as the first as it lacked the [Firstborn] title, but it nevertheless added its strength to the blessing the village was under. The Spirit of Nature looked more solid since he had first seen it, having condensed the leftover [Nature Power] from the ritual into its form. "Greetings Your Majesty." It said as it bowed. Aeron nodded in acknowledgement. "These two are C Grades, they should hopefully be enough." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.He introduced. "Yes, Your Majesty, though only for the lowest level. Which is fine as it is all I can manage to bestow with my current strength." It replied. Without further hesitation, the Spirit got the two to kneel in front of its altar, sending instructions into their mind by laying its incorporeal hand upon their heads. "We are willing to serve the Spirit in its goal of aiding His Majesty." The chanted in union. They repeated it twice more and on the final utterance they were lifted into the air by a mysterious force. "I accept you as my priests." The Spirit said. Green light radiated from the two floating villagers as the fairies looked on in awe. The light condensed, covering the two like a cocoon. The cocoons gradually shrunk until they disappeared into the bodies of the new priests. Their old clothes had disappeared, being replaced with flowing green priest robes. Just when they thought it was over, a pink radiance covered the room, coming from the Fairy Flower. It bathed the priests in its light, and flower patterns gradually formed on their robes as some of the light was absorbed into their bodies. The pink light gradually faded and the ceremony was over. The two descended to the ground as the mysterious force disappeared. They bowed to Aeron and then to the Spirit, showing deference to their Spirit and its master. Curious, Aeron checked out the profession they had both gained. [Nature Priest of Flowers] C+ Grade Civilian Grants [Nature''s Essence] Cultivation Technique, [Nature Power], [Fairy Familiar] Skill, [Nature Magic] Skill, +50% intelligence, +5% agility. ''Damn that''s powerful.'' Aeron thought. However, it was not a profession without drawbacks. As a civilian profession, the priests could not learn any weapon technique skills or benefit from any soldier buffs like the village speciality provided or the bonus stats from the army flag. However, the benefits to having it definitely outweighed the negatives. The cultivation technique would allow the priest to start on the path of cultivation with a technique that suited their profession and [Nature Power] would allow their magic to be a lot more powerful than druids of the same intelligence stat. The [Fairy Familiar] Skill was already showing its worth as the new born fairy had bonded with one of the two priests whilst the [Firstborn] refused to do so. With the priests being able to order around the fairies effectively, Aeron could see the Flower Fairies'' [Telepathy] being a crucial method of passing orders and reports across the battlefield. Aeron had one try channelling the power and determined it was about half as strong as the King Boar''s cultivation power. Since the King Boar had been Stage 1, and the priests were currently Stage 0, Aeron determined that their [Nature Power] was half a Stage stronger than they were, allowing them to cast spells stronger than they should otherwise be or bend nature itself to their will. Aeron looked forwards to their strength on the battlefield. He turned to look at the Nature Spirit who was noticeably more transparent than before the ritual. "You''ve done well." He said. "It''s nothing Your Majesty. Making them priests may have exhausted a lot of my power, but any excess [Nature Power] they generate will go to me so it¡¯s worth it in the long run." The Spirit explained. "Good. Make sure you train them well; I''ll need to make use if them when the time comes." He said. "Yes, Your Majesty." The Spirit bowed. "We live to serve." The priests bowed as well. He had noticed both of their Loyalty stats rapidly rose as they underwent the ceremony, becoming completely loyal at 100 points by the end of it. Aeron nodded in acknowledgement and left the temple, leaving them behind to focus on their training. Chapter 18 Aeron was startled as a whole group of villagers ran in through the gates, panting. One of the more physically fit ones regained their breath before the rest. "Your Majesty, wolves, a pack of wolves found us." They said. "Henry said to tell you that some escaped and they''ll be heading back through a longer route and covering their scents and traces to make them take longer to find the village." They reported. "Good work." Aeron said before sending a fresh runner to each of the patrols to get them to return. Whilst he was waiting, he ordered the villagers to make wooden stakes and makeshift throwing spears, instead of buildings, and to dig pits around the village which would be filled with the stakes. However, most of the villagers were chopping wood and storing it in the village. The [Druids] grew thorny vines up against the walls, taking measures against them being climbed. Groups made their way back into the village throughout the afternoon, including Edmund and Kay who brought back 4 and 3 villagers respectively. Everyone who returned, stayed. There was more than enough food to feed the whole village for three to five days so only small hunting parties were sent out. The five [Militia] were made into [Spearmen] and equipped in [Boar Hide Armour] and given copper rank spears the Blacksmith was able to make. By now, every member of the army had copper ranked weapons and armour as well as Stage 0 tattoos matching their profession. Aeron took out the Army Flag and gave it to Henry when he returned as Henry would be commanding and supporting whilst Aeron would be on the front lines. That evening, the wolves didn''t find them but, everyone slept uneasy and Aeron didn''t return to Earth. In the morning, they all resumed their tasks: patrolling, hunting, making stakes, digging pits or chopping wood. It wasn''t until after the next group of 20 villagers spawned that there were signs of the wolves. A small group ran within line if sight with the village before turning and running back to the main force they had been scouting for. Aeron stopped the villagers from digging pits, instead willing them with steaks and having the [Druids] grow grass over them that would collapse when stepped on. He then retreated everyone behind the village walls. After the village reached Rank 2, a second set of walls had risen to contain 3 square kilometres with the [Origin] at the centre. Aeron got the villagers to run logistical support in the outer rind whilst those who could not stayed in the inner, original, walls. Now, all the villagers that could work focused on making the stored wood into makeshift throwing spears and handing them up the walls to the soldiers.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Late in the afternoon, the main force finally came across the village. Their numbers were a bit over 600 strong so Aeron guessed it must''ve been led by a Stage 2. He sent for the Nature Priests to come out of the temple and join them on the front lines. Both were accompanied by a fairy now, another having been born today. The wolves gathered on the north side of the walls so Aeron shifted the majority of his forces to defend against them, leaving only a token force on the other walls. The seven people with nature magic all exited through the North Gate, standing together in the clearing. Taking this as provocation, the leading wolf ordered a charge with a long howl. The wolves rushed forwards, some falling into the pits and being skewered. The pits didn''t do much though as only one or two fell victim to each one, the others avoided them or just straight up jumped over them when they were exposed to their sights. The spell casters gathered together, placing their hands on the ground and using almost all their magic and [Nature Power]. "Mass Summon Plant Golems." They chanted, feeling drained as they did so. Aeron and Henry held back a bit so they would remain clear headed for the battle to come. The magic users returned to the village as several large golems and a multitude of smaller ones rose from the ground and initiated a charge of their own. There were 9 Stage 1 golems and 90 Stage 0 golems that met the wolf charge. Where large golems met a large wolf they were quickly overwhelmed by their equal as it had allies, where the large golems met normal wolves there was a massacre as every move would be followed by the death of a normal wolf. The small golems weren''t even instructed to fight. Instead they charged at the enemy line and self-destructed, taking one or two wolves with them and binding another few to be crushed under their own allies¡¯ momentum. Detonations went off across the battlefield as golems self-destructed one by one, tearing chunks out of the sea of fur that were quickly replaced. The [Druids] and [Priests] except Aeron and Henry were all moved behind the inner walls as they had completely exhausted themselves and would have to spend a few days recovering. Boom! The final golem detonated and the sea was no longer slowed in its advance. "Throw!" Henry yelled. A volley of wooden spears flew from the walls. "Throw at will!" Was the next command. Immediately after grabbing another spear, a soldier would throw it and go to grab another one. The system given spears from the Celtic village were used up quickly and the soldiers began using makeshift ones to pelt the approaching wolves. By the time the wolves reached the walls, about half the horde had been killed, though the Stage 1 wolves only had a couple casualties. The wolves tried climbing the walls, but there were thorny vines in the way which injured there paws. The second line of wolves collided with the first, crushing some if them against the wood. A group of 18 Stage 1s gathered at the gates, preparing to smash them. "Open the gates!" Aeron yelled as he led Lance, Edmund and Kay to guard were they would come in. He also got a few skirmishers to stand above the gate and pelt spears upon the wolves as they came through. The gates opened and the wolves charged in, only to be met with Aeron''s icy blades. Light glinted off bone and two wolves fell to the ground, dead. Aeron''s subordinates followed his example, taking out a Stage 1 wolf each as it rushed in. The situation then devolved into three-vs-one matches for control of the gateway whilst Aeron himself fought four-to-one. Spears came down from above, a couple at a time, and injured the wolves. Aeron''s side was at a clear advantage. Just as he had finished off his 4 opponents and was about to help his followers, a grey blur shot out from the watching sea outside the gates. It slammed into him, sending him rolling backwards. In a well-executed move, Aeron rolled back into standing with practiced ease and turned to face his new enemy. Chapter 19 The Stage 2 Wolf had finally shown itself. It was smaller than even normal wolves and its fur was a darker grey. It was a variant. Seeing Aeron still alive, the beast growled and pounced once more, turning into a blur that streaked towards him. Even with agility being his highest stat, Aeron stood no chance against the creature''s speed. Claws slammed against hastily raised blades, the strength behind them not overpowering but the Stage 2 power easily pushing Aeron backwards. His arms felt numb from resisting that strike. He truly was outclassed in almost every way by this beast. So, he had three advantages against this animal. He begun to use the first, technique. The two duelled at the open gates, the shear intensity of the battle allowing no interference. The elites each finished up their battles against the Stage 1 wolves before moving to assist those on the walls as they knew they would be no help in their liege''s battle. Aeron barely hung on, relying on his newly acquired sword skills and the occasional illusion to protect his vitals. Cuts gradually appeared over his body and various muscles around the injuries wouldn''t respond properly under the influence of the wolf''s cultivation. As he was nearing his limit, he muttered a chant under his breath. "Cure Light Wounds." Dipping into his nearly exhausted pool of magic, he utilised his second advantage. A faint green light washed over him, relieving his fatigue and healing some of his injuries though not the effects the cultivation power had on him. Like this, he continued to hold on, teetering on the edge of life and death but managing to keep a firm grasp on the mortal realm. When his magic was running low, his final advantage began to show itself, equipment. Every time the two clashed, since Aeron''s swords would make contact with some part of the beast''s body, frost began to spread. The paws were worst off, being almost completely stiff, whilst its joints that had been targeted since the start began to lock up and slow it down.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The wolf had to spread its cultivation power throughout its body in order to maintain its speed, but that meant its attacks continuously got weaker as the battle drew on. Eventually, the two became evenly matched, Aeron having run out of magic and the beast having spread its power thin by focusing it all over its body. Both drew back, panting from exertion. Aeron took this chance to check on the main battle. A few of his soldiers had been dragged off the wall by pouncing wolves, but they otherwise held firm. The knights, berserkers and spearmen were battered and bloody from repelling waves of assaulting beasts whilst the skirmishers sent a small but steady bombardment of spears over the walls. The dead wolves had formed a pile of corpses which the remaining ones used to climb up the wall easier, stepping on their comrades to reach the enemy. The wolf he was facing surveyed the battle also, noting how its side was losing. It was about to howl a retreat when Aeron, noticing his achievement points rising, dragged his tired body to attack once again. Taking the initiative this time, Aeron utilised his [Illusionary Second Strike] skill to the maximum, forcing it to block vital areas whilst instead inflicting superficial wounds to spread the cold effect. Seeing their leader losing, the last few Stage 1 wolves threw themselves into the duel. They stabilised the situation, letting the leader strike back and taking hits for it. They fell one by one until it was just the two of them again but they once again fought on equal grounds. They were both driven to the braking point again and again, but managed to come back every time. After a long and hard fought battle, the wolf managed to break away. It didn''t even howl a retreat as it ran, using the lives of its army in exchange for not being followed. Aeron tiredly climbed the walls, gesturing for Henry to hand him a throwing spear. He turned to the battlefield, noticing the wolf leader nearing the tree line. He strained his mind, managing to use the [Illusionary Second Strike] skill on the throwing spear as he spent the last of his energy to hurl it out. He then immediately collapsed to the floor, completely spent physically, mentally, and magically. The wolf neared the forest, swearing vengeance as it glanced towards the village that almost killed it. Its eyes widened as it saw a spear travelling ridiculously fast in an arc towards it. It slammed all four legs into the ground, skidding to a halt. The spear hit the ground a few feet in front of it, but made no impact. Before the surprise could even register in its mind, a second spear pierced through its skull from above. Wanting to flee as quickly as possible, it had moved all its cultivation power to its legs and frozen joints. Its head, whilst still tough, was at its weakest, allowing the wooden throwing spear to stab into its brain. The battlefield froze for a moment as the wolf leader managed to let out one last, unresigned howl before it perished. The silence passed and the wolves retreated like a grey tide going out. They left behind hundreds of corpses of their friends and pack mates, but they did not care since their primal instincts told them to get out of their as quickly as possible so they did, running back with their tails between their legs. The defending soldiers let out a cheer and hugged each other. This had been their first truly trying battle in which they had been pushed to the brink of exhaustion and death. Henry took over the post battle matters of collecting the fallen soldiers'' bodies and getting the villagers to drag the wolf bodies into a large pile inside the outer wall away from scavengers. Meanwhile, Aeron faded from the wall, falling into a deep sleep after returning to Earth. Chapter 20 Aeron awoke to the sound of a phone buzzing. He picked himself up out of bed and stretched away his tiredness. Checking his phone, he saw an invitation to a party Saturday evening, today. He scrolled through it, noting that it was for work and that he was one of the ones selected for the ''party game'' they would be playing. He sent a reply email, saying he would be there, and checked the time. 11 AM, that meant he had been out a full 8 hours. It was the first time he slept properly since the arrival of the Heaven Domain as every other time he had entered the Otherworld instead of purely resting. Doing a quick bit of maths in his head, he figured out that it was evening in the Heaven Domain and there wasn''t much reason for him to go back. He trusted the others to hold down the fort for a bit, if only because their loyalty scores were 100. Now that he had 4 hours to kill, Aeron decided to start trying to make up for his shortcoming that he noticed during the battle earlier. He couldn''t effectively command. Earlier, he left the arrangements up to Henry and Kay whilst only giving out some simple orders himself. Even the golem summoning plan had been suggested to him by one of the Druids. It was not that he lacked the confidence or ability to, he just lacked the knowledge to utilise his soldiers and resources properly. To make up for this, during the four hours on Earth, Aeron studied Ancient Military Strategy. He would study this on a rotating schedule of Ancient Military Strategy, Battle Tactics and browsing the Heaven Domain forums for different magics or supernatural effects that could not be found in the real world. When he finished his first session, it was already 3 PM. He quickly washed and changed before sending his consciousness back to the Otherworld. ... He appeared on the walls, the same place he had left. A patrolling soldier almost walked into him as he materialized. Hurriedly stopping, the soldier awkwardly pulled out their weapon as their partner did the same. There was a momentary standoff before the soldiers recognised him and hurriedly bowed. "Apologies your majesty." The said in union. It looked like his elites were improving military discipline amongst the soldiers.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. He nodded to acknowledge them before jumping down off the wall and walking towards the centre of the village. However, he was interrupted by a system notification in his ear. "Playing paused notifications." "Congratulations, you have reached Rank 2 Baron." "Congratulations, you have been rewarded as the 1st person to reach Rank 2 Baron in England." "Congratulations, you have been rewarded 1000 gold, a Major Ring of Agility (Silver), and a Summon Guards Token (Silver)." The voice finished and the two items appeared in front of him as well as a pile of coins. Grabbing the items first, he checked out their stats. Major Ring of Agility (Silver) Grants the wearer +9 Agility. Summon Guards Token (Silver) Can be used to summon 25 [Silver Guards] at the [Origin]. He slid the ring onto a finger and kept the token securely in his pocket. He would send people to gather up the gold coins later. Continuing on to the village centre, Aeron was greeted by a hurried Henry who came to greet him. "We were worried about you Lord." He said as he bowed. Aeron smiled and waved his hand to dismiss it, showing his attitude towards this matter. Henry understood, nodding and hurrying off to pass the news that Aeron was alright. Meanwhile, Aeron stepped up to the [Origin] and pressed the token into it, watching as it sunk in and made the [Origin] shine with a silver light. There was a silver flash and when the light subsided there were 25 soldiers standing on the podium. They were all equipped in armour that shone silver and even the halberds they used as weapons reflected the sunlight from polished silver surfaces. They bowed in union and the captain stepped forwards. "Your Majesty, we are at your service." He said. Aeron nodded and replied, "It''s an honour to have you." After saying that, he checked out the captain''s stats. Name: Constantine Titles: Silver Guard Captain (+5% stats for Silver Guards under command) Profession: Silver Guard Grade: S Race: Human Age: 32 (100) Stats: Strength 44 (27+12+5), Constitution 44 (27+12+5), Agility 32 (27+5), Intelligence 32 (27+5) Cultivation: Stage 1-5 Cultivation Technique: Eyes of Silver Skills: [Command Silver Guards] [Crescent Slash] [Silver Halberd Technique] [Vigilance] Equipment: Silver Guard Armour (+2 Strength, +3 Constitution), Silver Guard Halberd (+3 Strength, +2 Constitution) Power: [Stage 1] Damn was he strong, even stronger than Aeron in terms of pure stats. Curious, Aeron checked out the profession. [Silver Guard]: C grade Military Receive [Eyes of Silver] Cultivation Technique, [Crescent Slash] Skill, [Silver Halberd Technique] Skill, [Vigilance] Skill, +25% Strength, +25% Constitution That was also extremely powerful, making Aeron feel conflicted. He was happy he had these people under his command but at the same time he was frustrated at having a weaker profession than his subordinates. This was a good thing for the village however you looked at it. Each Silver Guard was at least Stage 1 and had gear specifically made for them by the system. They had a named halberd technique and were capable of mid ranged attacks using their [Crescent Slash] Skill. As an added benefit, their eyes were modified as they cultivated their technique, allowing them to see in dark and dim lighting. This was a truly elite force, more powerful than the one Aeron had put together himself. This was even more evident when you noticed that their loyalty stat was 100 and they would lay down their lives the moment Aeron asked it of them. With the help of these soldiers, Aeron could see very few obstacles to his development in the near future. "I look forwards to your service." He addressed the gathered soldiers before giving them their assignment. Chapter 21 After the 21 people spawning today were settled and the people sent out to collect the people from the other villages returned with 7 more, Aeron held a funeral for the soldiers who died in battle. 6 spearmen, 3 knights, 4 berserkers and 1 skirmisher had fallen during the wolf attack. Aeron showed them the respect they deserved, leading a procession of soldiers who carried the fallen on a full circuit of the city walls before having them placed gently in an untouched grassy area. The soldiers gave a military salute towards the bodies, their eyes filled with respect and grief. The Nature Spirit rose from the ground, making branches grow and weave into a casket around each of the dead. "Today we mourn the passing of these brave souls." Aeron began. "They fell on the battlefield and gave their lives to protect ours, and for that we are grateful." He turned to look at the crowd. "But their sacrifices are not in vain as we still live on!" The fairies flew over the caskets, causing beautiful flowers to bloom all over them. "So we shall live on to honour their sacrifice!" With this he turned around and gestured to the Spirit. "Rest now, brave souls, you are not forgotten." He spoke solemnly as the caskets sunk into the ground, being buried in the earth and surrounded by nature. Aeron bowed his head towards where the bodies had sunk. The others followed. Over the next hour, the people dispersed slowly and Aeron only left once everyone else had. He headed towards the temple since he had seen a change in Rose during the ceremony earlier. He got there and was surprised by how the temple now looked. There was a willow arch for an entrance and flowers bloomed from the walls and floor. Such a change was brought about as more flower fairies were born and resided here. Aeron went up to Rose, who was in telepathic conversation with the Nature Spirit the temple was dedicated to. "Greetings." Said a voice in his head. He almost didn''t recognise it as Rose since it had gained some maturity in the tone. "Greetings." He replied. He took in the physical changes the firstborn fairy had since he last saw her. She was taller by an inch and wore a more elegant dress which flowed down to her knees and she carried herself with more confidence. The wings on her back had also grown larger since last time. "What happened to you?" He inquired. "When there were five Flower Fairies, I was promoted to a Flower Fairy Baron to lead them."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. She answered. Indeed, when he looked at Rose''s stats, the base values had doubled, if you didn''t include the bonuses from her improved cultivation, and her race had changed to what she had said. Aeron was intrigued by this transformation and wondered if Rose''s race would continue to promote as more and more fairies were under her. Along with the appearance of a Fairy Baron, the blessing on the village had grown in strength, increasing most people''s loyalty by one or two points. Aeron smiled and bid them farewell before leaving. He exited the Heaven Domain as it was 7 PM on Earth, almost time for his party. ... Dressed in a sleek black suit, Aeron stepped out of the car. He adjusted his overcoat as the driver went to park. The event had started half an hour ago, though the guests were only required to be there at this time. Despite that, many had turned up early. There was a band playing classical music on a raised platform off to the side and a stage set up in front of the dance floor, which was currently empty. Entering the venue, Aeron checked his watch and tapped twice on its surface. He then looked up and watched as several people scattered across the room each tapped one of their accessories twice. Fixing a warm smile on his face, he entered the venue, being served a glass if champagne by a nearby waiter. He kept it in his left hand and entered one of the circles of people discussing, quickly taking control of the conversation. Seeing this, one of the other guests decided to leave this discussion, brushing passed Aeron and muttered to him, "Know your place Little Snake." The words were laced with venom and a hint of mockery, especially as they spat Aeron''s nickname. He sighed inside, the identity he''d chosen for himself truly had its share of problems. Nevertheless, he continued conversing with the others as usual, travelling around the room and talking to different people. On his way around, a woman in a sparkly dress tripped and fell in front if him. On instinct, he caught her with one arm and the champagne glass with another. Recovering from the fall, the woman stood up straight, thanking Aeron for catching her and asking if he would like a dance. He agreed, leading her elegantly towards the currently empty dance floor. When they reached it however, neither of them made any move to dance and several others from around the room joined them. Once no one else moved towards the dance floor, the sound of a fork tapping a champagne glass filled the room, causing the conversations to die down almost immediately. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to today''s participants." A tall man dressed spoke as he walked up to the stage. Two people, one man and one woman, followed him up and stood a little behind to each side. All the guests in the room turned to look at the man, reverence, fear, or envy clear in each of their eyes. "If the participants would be so kind as to reveal their tokens." The man spoke. Each of the people on the dance floor reached for an accessory on their person, opening them via a hidden latch. Aeron himself flipped open the top of his watch to reveal an empty hidden compartment. The woman he had led to the dance floor gave him a mocking smirk before flipping open one of her earrings like a locket to reveal that it was also empty. Aeron returned her smirk. The two of them weren''t the only ones to open an empty compartment as most of the participants looked around in confusion as to who stole their token. Following this, Aeron, the woman and the guest who had warned Aeron earlier reached into a pocket on their person. The woman was the first to reveal hers, taking out Aeron''s token and another. The guest revealed his second, showing four tokens to the man on the stage. Aeron himself pulled out six, both the woman''s and the other guest''s tokens being among them. Seeing this, the other guest''s face turned pale as if he remembered something. At that moment the man on the stage spoke, "According to the rules, if you possess someone''s token half their count is added to yours so congratulations Aeron for winning with a score of 9 and congratulations to Emma for being the runner up with a score of 5." After saying that, the man walked off the stage, shook Aeron''s hand, and went back to where he was standing. The other man, still on the stage, stepped up to the speaking position and looked over the participants. His face scrunched into distaste as his gaze passed over Aeron, and disappointment when it passed over 3rd place. He spoke a few words of congratulations before both people left the stage. The woman from the stage approached Aeron and spoke, "Your teacher, Viper, would be proud of you." She said with a knowing wink. "Thank you Baba, your praise means a lot." Aeron replied with a slight bow. "It''s a shame your teacher can''t show up to these events, considering he''s a Snake and all." Baba said. "I doubt he would enjoy the company. He finds Spiders to be a bit boring and predictable." He replied. At this, the woman laughed. "Well give him my regards Little Snake." She patted his shoulder, gave him another knowing wink, and left to stand with the two men from earlier. Aeron turned, facing the other participants, smiled and spoke, "It was a good round. I hope to see you all again." He then left the venue, stepping into the car that was waiting for him outside. "You know me too well." He said to the driver. "It''s part of my job." The driver said, his smile reflecting off the rear view mirror. The car drove off, leaving the party behind now that he was no longer needed. Chapter 22 After returning to the Heaven Domain, Aeron once again recruited soldiers, bringing the number of each profession in the army to a round 10, not including the elites. Even though he had the Silver Guards now, they were off doing a separate mission for him and were not here right now. Also, he wanted to train up some soldiers now they could help train newbies who were going to be recruited in the future. Next, he checked up on the Nature Priests who were recovering from the overuseing of their powers. They all seemed to be in a decent condition and were making a timely recovery in the presence of their Spirit. He chatted with the Spirit for a bit and watched the fairies as they flew around. By the time he''d made a round of the village it was time for the new villagers to spawn. This round included two B grade talents and two C grades. He brought hem to the temple and had the C grades gain the priest profession. The B grades, however, gained the High Priest version of the profession, getting an additional +10% intelligence and another skill. The skill was [Animal Transformation]. It allowed them to take the form of a creature of the same stage of cultivation they had encountered and observed for a while. Aeron was extremely satisfied with the Nature Spirit, it had only been a few days since it joined the village and it had already made the Fairy Flower bloom and indirectly helped in the battle against the wolves. It also had great potential for future development as shown with the increasing power of the priest profession for people with higher grades. Of course, Aeron would not trust the Spirit so much as to let it turn one of his elites into a priest as once it did they would have a dual loyalty. Maybe, in the future, when there were a lot of S grades, he would let the Spirit have them as followers. Alternatively, since the Spirit''s priests had massively increased loyalty, he could use this method to make captured high grade talents loyal to him. There really wasn''t much to except prepare for plans he wanted to set in motion and rush over whenever a hunting squad found a village or a particularly large or strong den. ... Five days in the Heaven Domain later. In this time, two more villages were captured and their populations joined Rising Sun Village after their bloodlines were awakened to be the same as his.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! He had only found one profession stele his village didn''t already have, the [Archer] profession. [Archer] F+ grade Military Gain [Basic Archery Technique] Skill and +10% Strength He had recruited ten archers to balance out the composition of his army a bit more. Also, today they had found the last material required to complete the teleportation formation he had been making. He added the last material to the pattern he had carved. Swirls appeared around it as the surrounding magic power in the air was drawn towards the formation. The energies were absorbed into the patterns and they began to glow. A faint shimmer appeared above the formation, forming a wall of shimmering air in a circle around it. Once the formation drew enough energy to start up, it started to passively charge itself not as rapidly as before. Once the formation stabilised, Aeron stepped through the wall of shimmering air and into the formation. A selection screen appeared before him, allowing him a choice between the four system made cities in this region. He chose the one he had a guild in and disappeared from Rising Sun Village. ... The process of teleportation was a relatively pleasant one compared to what he was expecting. Aeron only felt a slight tug on his stomach as he was transported through space. His body reappeared in a city dozens of kilometres away. He stepped out of the formation and took a moment to get his bearings. The city was large and clean, people packed the streets and soldiers of Stage 1 cultivation patrolled frequently. Aeron sighed, he wondered when his Rising Sun Village could grow into a city as large and prosperous as this. Asking for directions from a passer by, Aeron was able to locate Derek''s guild. It was based in a medium sized building near the outskirts of the city, not ideal but the best he could get with a Baron title. Aeron tried to enter the building but was stopped by two ''players'' who guarded it. "Halt, what business do you have here?" One spoke. The other guard tried to stifle a laugh as they saw their friend talking in that way. "Go tell Derek that his investor is here to see him." Aeron said. The two guards were unsure of what to do, they had never been in a situation like this as they had only spent a couple weeks in the Heaven Domain and had been in the guild for even less. On one hand, if this person was truly the guild leader''s investor them it would be truly awkward for them if they didn''t bring him to Derek but on the other, if he wasn''t then they would''ve wasted their leaders time and would not be looked kindly upon. They had to make the right choice here or it could put their future promotion at risk. They discussed between each other and eventually decided on a conclusion. They got Aeron''s name and one of them went to find the leader and quickly check Aeron''s identity. They didn''t have to wait long because as soon as Derek heard Aeron was here he rushed to greet him. The relationship the two of them had was like boss and employee. Aeron paid him a generous amount and he just had to do what he was going to do anyway. After seeing the first payment to his bank account, Derek had been loyal to Aeron, building up a guild and setting aside the silvers and gold they earned for if Aeron required them. When he heard this, Aeron told Derek to use it all to develop the guild and instead the guild would acquire items Aeron asked for and fought enemies Aeron told them to fight. With this, Aeron had a chess piece buried in the city for much later on.