《Total War Unbound》 Chapter 1 - Selection Welcome, Player! You have been selected for the game universe centered around ¡®Total War.¡¯ You are the thirty-first Player to be selected for this game universe since the Systems introduction on Earth. Several changes have been made based on multiple data collections. You may choose the game within the Total War Universe you will be playing, you must defeat each game while remaining alive to earn your rewards. Changes include the right to choose your difficulty, and a selection of perks you may select based upon your chosen difficulty, game, faction, and starting unit. You may now begin changing your appearance. Upon completion you will be prompted to select your game, then your difficulty, and then your perks. You are limited to three perks, anything beyond that will require you to choose detrimental effects. Please begin your selections Player. Sighing I stared at the box in front of me with complete bafflement. Alright, apparently I¡¯ve been chosen for those sick games. What other explanation was there for this predicament? Secondly this System apparently didn¡¯t give a rats ass about when it took a ¡®Player¡¯ into its games. I mean, taking a man while he¡¯s having a nice shit? Really? I suppose I should be thankful I had at least finished before being taken but, well, I still had to wipe. Scratching the back of my head, I removed a sock. ¡°Sorry whitey, time for you to serve a purpose¡± the little voice in my head imagined my sock screaming nooooooo! It was enough to make me smile, but I still had to do it. I refused to have this issue unsolved. When I finished my nasty little business, the sock actually turned to dust. Apparently, this System didn¡¯t like shit covered socks hitting its floor. Serves it right. Ok, moving on from that I had to choose my appearance? Alright, this should be fun. Hmm, change the chin, I always wanted it to be stronger looking. Cant the eyes ever so slightly and give me a bit of a sharper appearance. Turn them yellow, change the pupil a bit and turn the hair into long brown dreadlocks. A five-o''clock shadow, go ahead and make me ripped as well. Considering I was about to be thrown into a world that literally revolved around an ever-changing geopolitical environment where war was as constant as a lingering fart. The fact I could make myself taller was a big perk, so I slid that up to just a little over six foot. I nodded in appreciation at the image before me. I no longer looked like a squat black dwarf at least. Now I actually looked like someone who could fuck your world up, at least in this screen. A piercing gaze, shredded body, and my normal dick, no need to improve that beasty. Confirming my selection, I started screaming as my flesh wriggled and writhed under my skin. I could feel my bones breaking and regrowing all over to increase my height. I passed out at some point, I doubt for long considering the pain was still massive! ¡°Son of a bitch that hurt¡­¡± A message telling me that drastic changes would be painful was blinking in front of me. Now you tell me, I was beginning to see why several of the Players on the T.V regularly called this thing a dick or some other creative euphemism. That left selecting my game. I ruled out the whole Warhammer aspect of the game universe right off the bat. I had no desire to fight in that death trap, not yet at least. I¡¯d choose something a little easier, one I was more familiar with for the first game experience. I looked through the list. It was a massive list. Total War had begun adding in popular games regardless of their genre into the line up like they had Warhammer but I¡¯d go with a classic. Oldie but goodie mentality here. I chose Total War: Rome, the first in that series. Things got more interesting after that, I could choose any of the known factions, but there was a new one that had certainly never been in the game itself. Mercenary - You have chosen the life of a mercenary. You belong to no faction and yet all at once. Coin is your life''s blood, and no job is beyond your reach as long as they pay you properly. You are no limited by factions in the choice of your recruitments, though you are limited in the number of units you may have active on a campaign at a given time. This may be increased with system rewards. Ooh, shiny new thing! I chose it and smiled a bit. I had to admit, most people would be freaking out right about now but this was a dream come true for me. Not the game itself, but a chance at a new life, something away from my life. The Lumerians had improved multiple aspects of society but I always felt living in a game would be better, any game, even with the possibility of death. I mean, you could die just getting out of your bed nowadays, at least with this you knew where you stood. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Following my selection of a faction, a new little list popped up. Each one was the difficulty and a few of the possible perks you could select based upon your faction selection. A few of them actually made me laugh. I was only looking at the Hard setting though, the one I¡¯d played most as a kid. No need to go into that brutal shit like the moron in Starcraft. Hard would be a good enough choice, for now; I made it without looking at the others beyond the cursory glance. The perks were nice, though apparently, they had a ¡®limiter¡¯ or actual cost. The best actually took more than one slot. I frowned a bit at that; they had detrimental aspects too. Hard - Beneficial Evolving Items - 9 PS Upgradable Starting Unit - 4 PS Increased Health x2 - 2 PS Increased Damage x2 - 2 PS Increased Health x1 - 1 PS Increased Damage x1 - 1 PS Increased Diplomacy with Allies - 3 PS Easier Diplomacy - 5 PS Respawning First Unit - 10 PS Hard - Detrimental Difficult Diplomacy + 2 PS Decreased Damage x2 + 1 PS Decreased Health x2 + 1 PS Sticks and Stones + 10 PS Harder Diplomacy Gain + 3 Ever Low Tier Unit + 6 It went along that line for a while in both tabs. It made it difficult. I had several I wanted and fiddling with the options I learned I couldn¡¯t take a detrimental that directly opposed a beneficial or vice versa. Alright, let''s do this like a merc might. Diplomacy would increase my contracts, no doubt, but at the same time no matter what I did it would negatively impact my rep, as it were, with the other nations. Lets go ahead and take the ¡®Difficult Diplomacy¡¯ and ¡®Harder Diplomacy Gains,¡¯ if any of the other games were something to go by then even with negative starting points people would always be people. That actually made a lot of these choices a lot easier haha. I took ¡®Sticks and Stones¡¯ as well. It made my units starting gear the absolute lowest possible and removed the evolving item ability but I could raid the dead around the battlefield for those improvements. That gave me eighteen perk spots and a lot to work with. Alright, the whole health and damage things seemed pretty self-explanatory. The more health my troops had, the longer they lasted in a fight, kind of like defense or ¡®shield¡¯ that helped them survive the fights a bit longer. The more damage, the more likely they were to fell the enemies. Seemed a bit controversial in a game like this but I went ahead and took the third tier of them for three points each. That dropped me down to nine points. I took the ¡®Upgradeable Starting Unit¡¯ for four slots, bringing me down to five in total. Apparently, the upgrade part of that allowed my starting unit to actually ¡®evolve¡¯ into a higher tiered unit after a set amount of experience was gained. It made me laugh my ass off for about five minutes, Pokemon Total War! Still laughing I went ahead and selected some very small one slot perks. ¡®Of the forest,¡¯ it was kind of like ensuring the units under my command were more adept in the forest. Gave like a percent or two increased movement speed and aim for bow units while in wooded areas. ¡®Sacking¡¯ was next, self-explanatory again. Gave me an odd increase in the amount of coin I gained from just raiding a settlement or sacking it. That left me with three slots left. Frowning as I went through everything, I didn¡¯t see a whole lot that I wanted. Shrugging, I chose a three slot at random, thinking it would be useful. What I got was ¡°Loyalty Increase x3.¡± It would seem that even in this game your men being loyal to you was needed, I liked the fact it was an incremental daily increase as well. Just three points a day, but depending on how I ran shit it might be the difference between life and death. With that, all of the perks I wanted or was willing to go bat-shit to acquire was done. That left me with the unit selection. I could only choose from the ¡®Mercenary Units¡¯ right now, but apparently, that would change depending on my diplomatic relations with some factions. I¡¯d have to choose one faction to help conquer the game to win it as well. No matter what I asked, the System never told me if I would be able to bring anything into the other games. I¡¯d have to assume I couldn¡¯t for now and focus more on my own shit where I could. I went through the list for a bit and found the best unit you could get in the early game from the merc troops. I knew their gear would be shit thanks to my ¡®Sticks and Stones¡¯ addition, but they should still be pretty damn amazing. Mercenary Hoplites - Among the best armored Roman Mercenary Units, capable of forming a phalanx and breaking chariot charges. I¡¯d made my choices. I¡¯d ensured I had a chance while knowing I had to take a few hits for those chances. Now it¡¯d just depend on how I could handle actual fights. Confirming all of my selections I could only think that practice would make perfect in the art of killing. Chapter 2 - Moving to engage The sound of chirping birds and the babble of a nearby creek were the first things I noticed when the white light that had engulfed my body dissipated. I had to blink my eyes multiple times after first opening them. Everything was so fucking bright! Blinking a bit more, I shook my head and tried to get a barring on my location. I¡¯d been dropped in what looked like a neat and tidy little glade. A copse of trees surrounded my small meadow. A stream ran through the center and birds flew through the air. Everything seemed more vibrant, alive. It felt nothing like Earth, with all of the pollution and destruction we¡¯d done to our planet. I took a big lungful of air, coughing at the feeling of something not laced with some kind of toxic element entering my lungs. I was still coughing when the System itself made itself known to me. Attention Player! You have entered into your personalized tutorial. The tutorial will consist of you defeating an enemy force in battle with your selected faction and unit. As you have chosen the Mercenary faction, you will be fighting the enemy with a small confederation of mercenary companies. All losses that occur to your personal unit upon completion of this tutorial will be undone. Be advised that if you die there is no second chance. Before beginning the battle portion of your tutorial, you must select a name for your mercenary band and a moniker to be known as. Be advised this cannot be changed once chosen. You are only allowed this option because of your choice in Faction. You have five minutes to select both before you are forced into something random that could be detrimental throughout your game. Well, that wasn¡¯t much time at all to come up with some fantastic name. What the hell? I also needed a moniker? I mean I know that some Generals and Agents in the game got something like that after completing so many missions of winning so many battles. Maybe it dealt with whatever the Mercenary faction gave me as a whole. I was reminded that a minute had gone by while going through my little monologue and cursed. Name, moniker, the words revolved around in my mind for a bit before I finally said fuck it and went with what was probably the single worst fucking mercenary band name I in history, literally in this case. ¡°Pride, for the Mercenary band.¡± Mercenary Band name has been designated as pride. You have three minutes for a moniker, or one will be randomly selected for you. Groaning at this fucking stupidity, I had no idea what to pick. I mean, yea, countless names went through my head; Deadpun (just go with it,) Fang, Snake. You know, all those neat little names some of the biggest badasses in games get to be called. Thanks to me driving myself insane over this little fact my time ran out though, and the System just gave me a randomly generated moniker, not that I could complain about it. Player has gone beyond his granted time for selection. Random moniker has been generated. The player shall now be known as The Nubian within this Total War game. Win battles, earn renown, kill your enemies and spread your name across the land! Well, the obvious fact is it actually went well with my chocolate brown ass was beside the point. My real concern was what the point behind the last statement was. Spread my name? Earn Renown? That wasn¡¯t in the game at all. I was still frowning a bit before just shrugging it off. Fuck it. Everything is more realistic in these things anyway. At least going by all the shows with the other people popped into the games. I didn¡¯t really have long to bitch about that though. The System was already shooting another box at me. This one seemed more fun, a lot more fun. The player will now be granted his Mercenary Unit. Mercenary Hoplites being generated beside player. Gear changed to the worst possible equipment because of selected detrimental perk. Health and Attack increased by thirty percent because of Players chosen positive Perks. Mercenary Hoplites have been granted the ability to ambush in wooden terrain regardless of gear thanks to Players selection of ¡®Of the Forest.¡¯ Mercenary Hoplites are more efficient at sacking a settlement because of Player Perk ¡®Sacking.¡¯ All individuals under the command of the Player will have a set Loyalty increase three thanks to the ¡®Loyalty¡¯ Perk. Starting Unit may evolve into higher tiered Units thanks to the ¡®Upgrading Starting Unit¡¯ Perk One hundred Mercenary Hoplites have been spawned and placed into the ¡®Pride¡¯ Mercenary Band. System generated tutorial mission is to move through the forest and meet up with the other Mercenary Bands before assaulting the Germanic Tribe force attempting to cleanse your kind from the area. Good luck, and always fight for the enjoyment of the Lumerians. Goodie goodie, my people were spawned, and they had the shitiest possible gear ever! I really can¡¯t bitch too much about that since I caused it with my choices, but it still sucked some major donkey dick. I let go of my little ¡®bitch monster¡¯ as I called it and actually looked at the men that had just kinda popped into existence all around me. They were in orderly lines, and every single head was turned toward me. They just, stared, kinda like that special kid in class. You know the one I¡¯m talking about, always just staring at someone or something for hours with a creepily intense gaze. I always thought they looked like they were focusing on some massive dump they were holding, but it was creepy nonetheless. Either Way, this was a game, so let¡¯s go right on ahead and give this a shot. Start with the creepy staring men that looked like they ate lightning and crapped thunder.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mercenary Hoplite Squad. Squad size: 100 Designation: Hastati - Frontline troop Experience: 0/1000 Tier: One Troop Loyalty: 100 Health: 30 Attack: 3 Weapon: Poor wooden spear Armor: Rusted Curais Description A Century of Roman soldiers turned mercenary for one reason or another. Highly trained and vicious attackers these men of the Roman army are relics of a past when Hoplites were prevalent in Roman armies instead of the more common Legionaries. Led by a Centurion these hundred men can be living embodiments of death. Ok, wait...when the fuck were Hoplites Roman? Weren¡¯t they, like, greek or trojan or whatever in origin? You know what doesn¡¯t matter. Apparently, the health was more like their defense, and the single reason it was thirty was because of my modifier. Same with the attack. The idea that if I had not gotten that boost, they would be set at a big fat zero unless I got them gear somehow made me shudder a bit. Thankfully I had gotten those modifiers. Their loyalty as a troop of soldiers was maxed it seemed, I wondered about the individual loyalty but I really just didn¡¯t care about it right now. This was the ¡®tutorial.¡¯ Even on hard, it should be a fucking breeze. I¡¯d just send these big boys in and watch them cause death and mayhem. Nodding to myself, I went ahead and checked my status. Name: James York Moniker: The Nubian Mercenary Company: Pride Experience: 0/1000 Tier: Zero Health: 50 (Army General Modifier +20) Attack: 8 (Army General Modifier +5) Weapon: Rusty Saber Armor Rusted Curais Perks ~ Attack +3, Health +3, Of the Forest, Sacking, Loyalty +3, Upgrade First Unit, Difficult Diplomacy, Harder Diplomacy Gains, Sticks, and Stones. Oh? So my troops were tier one while I was zero? Was there even a Zero in the game? Thinking about that a bit, I realized that the disposable units used as sacrificial lambs were the tier zero units. Fuck me, so I was at the same level as those things? Fuck that noise. I¡¯d just have to show the System it was wrong! Moving on from that, I had a modifier for me personally as well. Apparently being the ¡®General¡¯ gave me increased health and attack. That was actually pretty damn good to know. Basically, it meant that on top of my Perk modifier I also had a natural one that would make me stronger on its own. I could see it now, the best gear possible along with my modifiers. I¡¯d be out facing down hundreds of enemies on my own! Not really, I wasn¡¯t that fucking idiotic. These ¡®people,¡¯ if they could really be called that since the System generated them, were my pawns. I¡¯d use them up before I had to do something that stupid. Alrighty then! I clapped my hands together and grinned at the hundred faces just staring at me in that creepy silent way. ¡°Who¡¯s ready to fight some Barbarians?¡± I assumed they¡¯d be Barbarians based on that whole Germanic Tribe shit. I had no actual idea. The resounding roar that met my words as every single one of them clapped their hands to their chests and stomped their left foot over and over while screaming incoherently was really fucking shocking. They had just been there all silent and creepy and then suddenly let out a battle cry that made me want to piss myself. Seriously? When they finally calmed down, I decided that riling them up wouldn¡¯t happen often. That had been terrifying. ¡°Alright, so, who wants to be second in command?¡± As one they all looked at me and then at another of their ilk, though this one had a big red plume of feathers in his cap. He stepped forward three steps and clapped a hand over his heart while bowing before me. ¡°I am your second, General. I am Centurion Silvius. The men are ready and willing to move out and bath in the blood of our enemies. We await your order.¡± Well, aren¡¯t you just the little go-getter? I smiled like a mad-man. In a way I was, I was gonna send these fine and upstanding soldiers into battle for me and test out what I could exploit at the cost of their lives since I¡¯d get them all back at the end as long as I won. ¡°Move out then! We need to meet up with the others and engage these bastards trying to wipe us out!¡± ¡°You heard him! Form up you lousy sons of whores! I want us on the front lines double time! If we aren¡¯t the first one to draw Barbarian blood, I will personally flog every one of you!¡± Holy shit, that man was a fierce fucker, wasn¡¯t he? Good giddy God. I bet he rubbed wounds with salt and lemon and said it felt tingly. Chuckling at the imagery, I watched in fascination as each of my men turned as one and started marching into the forest in a square formation, shields facing forward, and moving at a hop. I moved in behind them while Silvius was still yelling out marching orders that would make any drill sergeant I had ever heard of proud. I was focused more on my new body though, I mean damn I felt awesome! I was packed full of muscle. No more fat, no more fatigue after just ten steps. This was fucking amazing! I even started moving forward at a jog and dropping to the ground to do push-ups until they passed me then repeated it. The heat had me sweating, but I only felt warmed up and ready for action! I could only really think that this was fucking amazing again! We reached the edge of the forest a short time later, I didn¡¯t know how long it actually was, and I saw Silvius screaming at the men to lock shield and make ready. I heard them yell a ¡®waah,¡¯ then heard their shield slam into each other and watched as their bodies bent forward a bit allowing the row of men behind them to lift their shields up above their heads. This process repeated itself all the way to the back while the men at the outer edge turned their shields outward, leaving only the back undefended. Silvius moved toward the front, the men actually splitting apart to open a space for him. He slammed his shield into place and then screamed ¡°Forward!¡± The men let out another yell, and they moved forward at a slow jog as one. I was confused at. First, I¡¯d been focusing on them and my new body so I didn¡¯t see the cause for that action. Actually looking away from them and toward the bottom of the hill we had found ourselves on after leaving the woods I saw why. Below us were countless men fighting each other in close combat. I blinked, hearing the clash of metal and the cries of men dying reached me at last. Shouting came out ¡°reinforcements incoming!¡± I assumed that the voice meant us and ran to catch up toward my Hoplites. I was still smiling. This was a new life in a game! What could actually go wrong? Chapter 3 - Fight or Flight Response. A deep breath followed shortly after by a stream of vomit. I screamed in abject terror at everything around me. Men were dying, blood and guts and the stench! My God the stench alone was one of the worst things I have ever had the dissatisfaction to smell. I was currently trying to hide behind a small line of my men. The plan had been simple. I would send them in to wipe out the enemy in this Tutorial, earn EXP and level up to become stronger. Things had gone so far from the ideal I didn¡¯t even know where the fuck it was anymore. It had started well enough. The square formation that had been comprised of my men had slammed into the side of the enemy. When I¡¯d gotten closer, I¡¯d seen what they were wearing. A mixing of animal hide, leathers, and each of them wore some sort of war-paint. They screamed in mindless rage at the other Mercenary units that were engaged in the battle as well. My men, after making contact, had thrust their shitty spear into the ranks of the Barbarians and managed to kill several dozens before things began to take a turn for the worse. I had also made it a personal note to upgrade their weapons and armor at the earliest opportunity because as soon as my men engaged and took the first few lives the Barbarians had rushed into the shield wall like madmen. They slammed into the shields like a tidal wave crashing against a cliff. At first, I swore the shield wall would hold, and my men would start thrusting out with their spears, like in the movie with the Spartans. I was quickly shown the error in that logic. The shields held, but their spears were cut by enemy axes or broken upon entering an enemy soldiers body. Shortly after the weight of bodies buckled the line of Hoplites. They cut through their ranks like screaming reapers with but one goal, the utter annihilation of their enemy. The Centurion, Silvius, was oddly still alive. The man had used the broken shaft of his spear to gut a Barbarian and stolen his ax. He and a few Hoplites that followed his lead had created a circle while their brothers fell around them. The ring they had formed was strewn with the body parts of the Barbarians, heads, entrails, arms, and legs. My location was a bit more, well, pathetic. Silvius had sent two of his little circle after me, screaming at the top of his lungs ¡°protect the General!¡± He was lost from my view a moment after when the biggest motherfucker I had ever seen in my life came rushing at me, waving his ax around his head and screaming bloody murder. It had seemed so surreal at the time. These were NPC¡¯s, useless bits of data in the grand scheme of whatever the fuck the System was that had intruded itself into our reality. That didn¡¯t keep me from screaming like a little girl, and gripping my pathetic sword, try to make him stab himself on the blade. The Barbarian had knocked my blade aside, almost casually. With what I could only assume was a sneer he then moved in for the kill. I saw my life flash before my eyes. This wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to go. It was a Tutorial, and I was meant to dominate this shit, earn rewards, and conquer the first game with ease. Even on hard, it should have been possible. I mean, that guy in the Starcraft game was continually overcoming horrible situations and being granted overpowered rewards! It wasn¡¯t fair! I opened my mouth and closed my eyes, about to scream and beg for my life. Even knowing it would do nothing. A second before I could speak I felt something warm splash my face. It smelled of copper and spice. The sound of a gurgling man came to me. Oddly that single sound overcame the chaos surrounding me, the screams of dying men and the clang of weapons. I opened my eyes and was shocked to see what had happened. The barbarian was dead, slumping to the ground as the raging fire that was his life left his eyes. Behind him stood one of my Hoplites, he was one of the few that seemed to have maintained his initial spear. He ripped that same spear free of the corpse, kicking it to the side while lunging forward in a massive step while thrusting his spear...at me! Oh, fuck! The spear went past my ear, grazing it as it did, I heard another gurgling cry and turned to see another Barbarian fall to the side in death. I looked at my savior and was about to say thank you when he fell forward. His eyes wide and panicked, asking me to save him. A strangled cry and then a sword was thrust through his chest from the back. Oh God! I felt the tears then, the actual horror of my situation all but breaking me. I had entered a battlefield in one of the most violent and horrific game series ever created thinking that it would be like the game and still be in favor of the player. I was wrong, oh so wrong. If this was the Tutorial then what the hell was the actual game going to be like?! I saw my savior fall to the ground. His eyes had long since grown dim as death took hold. Behind him was a slim man who was smiling, covered in blood and gore. He was bald, wrinkled all to hell, with brown eyes. He wore leather armor scarred with age and use, with a necklace of ears around his neck. He looked at me after my soldier had been killed and slowly, to my eyes at least, brought his blade up and licked the blood in one long swipe off the blade. Then he grinned and lunged at me again.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I screamed then, falling back in a mad scramble to survive. I had to move, had to find something to keep me alive. The chaos around us, this Barbarian and I, seemed to flow away and around without interfering at this moment. I searched around me in my stumbling attempt to flee backward for something, anything. I found a shield, rent on the side and all but useless. I used it to block a strike aimed at my neck. I saw a brief frown grace the man''s face before he yelled and struck again. This blow numbed my hands and arms, the weight cleaving the shield more. The blade landed just beside my head in the ground. Eyes wide with terror I questioned how I hadn¡¯t been killed and rammed my leg up on instinct so I could have a few more moments of life. I felt my kick connect with the man, a primal cry of rage and pain was ripped free from him before he started cursing in a language I couldn¡¯t understand. I used all the strength I had in that kick. Hoping beyond hope it would buy me a few seconds I gripped the useless shield as hard as I could and flung it to the side. I got lucky because the shield went with little resistance, followed by the sword that had gotten caught in the damn thing. The bad part was that I now saw just how much I had pissed off the Barbarian. He pulled a knife free from his belt, quicker than my eye could follow and threw himself on top of me while screaming out his anger again. I saw the knife flash toward me and felt something click, instinct, something primal and ancient locked inside of a Human''s brain. I didn¡¯t know what the fuck it was but I grappled with him, screaming back while fighting for the knife. We rolled around for a time, struggling and fighting for dominance. He ended up beneath me and I had managed to grip his knife hand and was grunting with exertion as I forced his arms back, turning the blade toward him. I could feel the veins in my arms popping out while he fought back with all he had. Finally, the knife found its home, inside the man''s chest. It slid through his leathers slowly, the armor fighting the blade, but it still slid its way into him. I heard him gasping then, his arms still trembling as he attempted to change the outcome. My response to that was to put more of my weight on that knife, forcing it fully into his chest. Surprise filled his eyes. A mixing of that rage and surprise was all I saw before yanking the knife free of his chest and limp hands and stabbing him again, and again, and again. Over and over I stabbed the man while crying out in fear and my own rage at nearly being killed. I stabbed the man as though he were all that had gone wrong with me, forgetting my surrounding entirely during the process of losing my sanity. When I finally came to I sat atop what could only be described as a piece of minced meat. It took me a moment before I realized that this had been the Barbarian that had tried to kill me. It took me a moment longer to realize that I had done this. I had done this to another person. I¡¯d stabbed him so much that nothing about this...thing, could ever be considered Human again. That was when I took in the scents around me and vomited onto the corpse beneath me. I threw up again when I realized that some dark part of me felt proud I¡¯d turned the man into a lump of flesh. The battle was still happening as well, though it seemed to have moved further away, toward the Barbarians. Gasping for air while I came to terms with exactly what had happened I looked around me and saw a few of the Hoplites around me. Just four of them, but they were wandering the battlefield and sliding weapons, no doubt looted from the dead, into still writhing bodies as they cleared the battlefield. Again a sickening sense of pleasure at seeing lives being ended reared its head and I fought to ignore it. I wasn¡¯t like that, I was a fucking gamer and this was a game. It had to be, none of this could be real, what I¡¯d done could not be real! I had once heard that denial was the leading cause of all self-harm. To deny what you were, what you had become, or what you were capable of would lead you down a dark and pain filled path. In this case, I chose to ignore those old words and deny the ever living fuck out of that dark part that seemed to revel in all of this carnage. Throwing up one last time I rose to my feet, unsteadily, while avoiding as much contact with the corpse beneath me as I could. One of the Hoplites noticed me and jogged over. He looked young, fifteen or sixteen. He had looted a better-looking spear, though it still looked a little bent, his shield held several dents and rents as well. The armor wasn¡¯t much better. His eyes though, they scared me. They were blue in color but cold, and I mean cold. It was like looking into the eyes of a doll, no emotion. He stopped a foot from me and did that weird salute, fist over his heart, before speaking. ¡°Sir, Centurion Silvius has bid myself and my squad to remain with you and protect you for the duration of this battle.¡± He paused, looking at me, his eyes flicking briefly toward the corpse just a bit behind me, the blood steaming in the heat of the day as it cooled. I ignored the look of pride that flashed through the little psycho¡¯s eyes before he continued. ¡°The Barbarians began falling back after you killed their War-Leader. You were rather, occupied, during the event but the fighting had stopped around you for a time during your duel with the man. Your display put the fear of the Gods into them and they began to retreat. Centurion Silvius took the remainder the men to give chase and earn more esteem for our Company. Would you have us give chase as well?¡± The raw hope that filled his eyes made me almost vomit again. What kind of person would willingly want to follow that and keep killing? This is a game, I have to remember that. During this time period, people were more battle-crazed too. I needed to remember...just a game, a game. I took a few deep breaths, ignoring the stench as my stomach roiled in protest. It was a game of death. One I had to win. I tried to speak a few times, finally forcing my throat clear with a cough and gave my order while stowing the knife I¡¯d used into the odd cinch in my leather belt so it would stay put. ¡°We follow. Gather what weapons you can and be ready to move in a moment.¡± I paused, regarding him and ignoring the fucking doll-eyed stare he gave back. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He smiled then, a slow and brutal smile while bending down to pick up an ax, more a hatchet really. ¡°I am Sejanus.¡± Chapter 4 - Tutorial Ends. I snagged an oddly ornamental looking ax as Sejanus and me with the other men in his squad jogged toward the new battle line. I say ornamental because the damn thing had small animal skulls and charms all along the base of the blade itself, just where it met the handle. The ax head itself had what appeared to be a purposefully crafted notch in the center of the edge, made jagged with small grooves. The back end looked more like a pick, and I had a feeling it was far more dangerous than the design suggested. I¡¯d check out the stats later, for now, it was a weapon and looked amazing. The knife I had...liberated from the War-Leader was securely fastened into my belt loop. I still found myself checking it from time to time during our jog. I had the oddest desire to keep my ¡®trophy¡¯ secure. Shaking away the idea, I questioned my sanity. Here I was, a modern man, wearing ancient ass fucking armor that was piss-poor and running toward a fight from a previous battle where I all but butchered a man. I could feel the bile rising in my throat, and I forced it down while chanting ¡®it isn¡¯t real, they are NPCs. It isn¡¯t real. They are NPCs.¡¯ The odd little mantra helped me some. It also had the bonus effect of making me feel like I could kill more of these NPC fuckers. I was real. They were not. A little maniacal smile spread itself along my face at that mental leap. I¡¯d do what I wished, how I wished, and as long as I survived these games, it wouldn¡¯t matter. It made me feel free, and got rid of the little conscious every child learned to call ¡®Jiminy Cricket.¡¯ ¡°Which part is Silvius managing?¡± There was no real way Sejanus would know that. I asked all the same. He paused beside me and looked around the new battle lines. The Barbarians were clearly disoriented but still fighting with an animalistic fury that baffled me. If I had indeed killed their leader then why were they still struggling? Was it that unsimilar to the game where they would keep fighting without their leader. Was it as simple as them having more than one or just that they were savage little fuckers? During my internal questioning, Sejanus seemed to locate where Silvius was. ¡°He is there.¡± I saw his eyes narrow and looked in the same direction. I saw the distinctive red flare of the man''s helmet. Marveling at my amazing eyesight for a moment I also saw that the knot of men fighting with him was far fewer than I remembered. Before I lost my shit, we had lost thirty or so of the Hoplites at most. That should have left Silvius over sixty men when you took out the ones left behind with me. What I saw was a flimsy line of battered and bloodied Hoplites that couldn¡¯t number more than a handful. They were fighting with what looked like stolen weapons and holding back a force that was easily twice their number. The other Mercenary Bands were either ignoring their plight or busy fighting. Judging by the overall set-up, it was the first reason. They just didn¡¯t care. Not shocking, they were mercenary¡¯s. Fewer bands meant less competition for work. At least that¡¯s what I thought. Well, fuck them then. I¡¯d go ahead and slaughter these NPC¡¯s and farm EXP like a madman and then see if I could kill the other mercenaries for more EXP and rewards. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go join them. They look a little overwhelmed.¡± Sejanus smiled, baring his teeth. The action looked more like a feral animal about to snarl. Note to self, don¡¯t get into a fight with the bloodthirsty kid. At least not one where I didn¡¯t cheat like a motherfucker. We set off at a run. I could feel my blood pumping, hear my heart beating like crazy. It felt like a time when I was still a kid and had almost died. I¡¯d been jumped by some other kids. They had knives. I had run away then, run for my life. I knew it was adrenaline but all around me, time seemed to slow for a brief moment. That moment ended when I reached the line of my men. One fell beneath the combined attack of three bare-chested Barbarians who howled in pure elation at the kill. The howls were cut short when Sejanus dove into them, an ax and spear twirling around him when he hit. The action was flashy and seemed dangerous. It still pushed the three foes back a few steps though. He took that time to slam his ax into the skull of one, deflect a poorly aimed strike by another before ripping the ax free and throwing it at the third one. The ax found its home in his chest, and he rammed the spear into the skull of the one who had acted before his counterparts. The spear broke inside the man''s skull, at least that¡¯s what I thought. Considering the spear was missing the point when he pulled it free it was a logical assumption. The kid rushed forward and pulled the ax free from the chest of his second victim and then he ran into a knot of Hoplites holding off a few more bare-chested men with their battered shields. I lost sight of him in the resulting carnage. The others in his squad had joined the lines, providing a few fresh bodies to help take the strain off of the others. It wasn''t a lot, but it was something. Silvius found me a moment later. The man was coated in blood and gore. He¡¯d long since lost his shield and spear and had instead taken two axes for weapons. With that flaring red fringe on his helmet, he looked like a certain berserker with a Scottish brogue in my mind. ¡°General we are hard pressed here. What would you have us do?¡± I looked around the line we were holding a moment before deciding that the other bands really could do with some fucking humbling. ¡°Pull back, make it seem as natural as you can. I want a gap created so they can strike the flanks of the other mercenary¡¯s. Let the men rest a moment, and then we strike.¡± Silvius didn¡¯t seem to like that order much. Not like it mattered, just an NPC. After a moment of staring at me, he nodded very slowly and started shouting out orders for the scattered men to form up and pull back slowly. I actually had more men than I initially thought. More along the lines of thirty-six or so found their way toward Silvius and myself. I gulped down the rising bile again when I found myself in the fucking formation. I needed the EXP, just keep thinking of that. I lashed out in a piss-poor imitation of some of the others beside me with my looted ax. The thing snagged on the raised arm of a Barbarian, and I felt the resistance of bone when it lodged itself in his flesh. I put more force into the strike but pulled rather than follow through with the blow. The resulting scream of agony as the notch in my ax found purchase on his bone and yanked a shard of it, and a chunk of flesh free made me smile. I felt that dark urge rise again and let it be. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I let it be because when I tried to analyze the fucking thing like an idiot, another Barbarian had taken that ones place and nearly split my skull in two. The only reason I survived was thanks to Silvius, who was beside me, finding a lovely home for his ax in the man''s skull. I chose to ignore everything then, trying to not think about how real these things looked and focused on survival. Another Barbarian showed himself, and I decapitated the man. That continued while we took one slow and bloody step back at a time. Around me, Hoplites fought, bled, and died. For some reason, the Barbarians never actually just surrounded the formation. I was curious about that. It seemed like something you¡¯d want to do. More so when it happened all the time in the game. Another body of EXP fell before me, and we took another step back. We continued this until the tide of Barbarians realized that they had a clear route at the other mercenary bands flanks. SLowly the ones attacking us were killed while their ¡®reinforcements¡¯ split off to strike at the occupied and unsuspecting backs of the others. Rather than fight the dwindling band of Hoplites that seemed to refuse to die, they would rather crush the other enemies first. I took gasping breaths, my entire body sore and vomited once again after whatever the fuck was wrong with me, that dark place in my mind, receded and I realized I¡¯d damn near died countless times and had reveled in the pain my ax had caused the Barbarians I fought. It had maimed them more than killed. I could still hear the cries of agony from each one I struck in my head. What made me sick though was my odd enjoyment of it. I closed my eyes, forcing the moral dilemma from my mind. ¡°S-Silvius,¡± I gasped, ¡°have the men rest some. Keep an eye on the lines, and when both sides look utterly drained, I want us to slam into them.¡± The man nodded, looking at the small trail of bodies, Hoplite and Barbarian, that led back toward the ever-flowing line of battle. The hole we allowed to form had a massive chunk of the Barbarian horde flowing through it. I could hear the screaming orders and the roar of the Barbarians themselves. The fact, so few of my men were left now made it easier for us to go unnoticed in the chaos. The mercenary¡¯s still had the upper hand. The first engagement that led to the Barbarians fleeing still affected the monstrous men and their morale. The two companies of men that had been on the left and right of my men were currently being slaughtered though. I frowned at the loss of potential EXP but enjoyed the fact that they were dying. They had planned to allow my people to perish and reduce the competition. That was just rude, Tutorial or not. Another half hour passed, and the remainder of my men were rested, more or less. The Barbarian numbers had significantly diminished, so had the Mercenaries. Both were down from however many thousands that had initially been present to a couple of hundred all around. I smiled and motioned Silvius over. ¡°Get ready to charge back in, kill everything, and I mean everything, that is in front of us.¡± The mercenary bands and barbarians where we had initially been were devastated. They still fought, but they moved like they were just one breath from falling over. ¡°Form up!¡± Silvius shouted, and my men formed up. Twenty-nine survived, Sejanus among them, and we made a row of three. Ten in each of the first two rows and nine in the rear. I was putting my happy black ass right at the back as well. No need to risk myself more than I needed. Sejanus was, unsurprisingly, in the very front and near the center of our little formation. ¡°Charge! Kill them all!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs. A responding roar met my shout, and we took off at a run. We collided with the rear element of the barbarians that had surrounded the other mercenaries and met next to no resistance. My leading element cut into them with their stolen weapons like a hot knife through butter. Several didn¡¯t even have the energy to scream in shock or pain before they died. We did this for a minute, the scattered barbarians falling quickly. That was when we hit the mercenaries. I smiled at the first face I saw through the gaps in my men. They seemed relieved. That relief turned into horror a moment later when Sejanus cut down the first mercenary. It was almost childs play at that point as we cleared the few dozens or so on both sides with minimal effort. I¡¯d even killed a few of them myself before a horn sounded out across the meadow and I found myself being engulfed in a white light that sent me back to the ¡®character creation¡¯ room I had been in prior to the battle. All the blood and oval was cleaned off my body when I entered, and several boxes greeted me. They were my rewards for completing the tutorial and surviving. I happened to notice my evil little ax was missing, but the knife was still secured in my belt when the first box became clear. Congratulations Player! You have completed the Tutorial and earned the right to enter the game of Total War: Rome. You have also maintained your right to live. For Killing a War-Leader in single combat, you have been granted his weapon, Life-Drinker. You have gained a personal trait for losing your mind in combat yet surviving. Berserk. You have personally killed thirty-two enemies in the Tutorial and been granted thirty-two experience. Your Mercenary Hoplite Unit killed two-hundred and three enemies and earned two-hundred and three experience. You betrayed your fellow Mercenary Bands and earned the title ¡®Cut Throat.¡¯ For completing the Tutorial and achieving a hidden goal by killing a War-Leader you have been granted tow additional rewards. ¡®Follow Camp¡¯ and one-thousand Gold Coins. Interesting. I enjoyed those rewards, though I had absolutely no idea what they all gave me. I focused in on the prizes, they were highlighted for some reason and obtained the information I wanted. Gold Coins - The Currency of your new reality. This currency has taken the place of the games original currency. Follower Camp - A camp of Followers that do the chores such as making camp, cooking, sexually relieving your men. Essential to the morale and well being of your soldiers. Cut Throat (Title) - Earned for ensuring the death of allies in a combat scenario that did not require their deaths. You are less likely to be trusted by those fighting beside you and your men. Increased damage while attacking at a .1% ratio. Berserk (Trait) - You fly into rages during combat. You will lose all sense of yourself while in this rage, barely distinguishing friend from foe. 20% increase in overall stats. Ignore most damage, lack of self-preservation. Mental fortitude will mitigate the adverse effects to a degree. Berserk might become an issue, but it would also be a nice little addition to my arsenal. Cut-throat didn¡¯t do a damn thing that I hadn¡¯t already chosen either. It might mean that my employers stab me in the back, but I could plan for that in time. My personal favorite though was the Follower Camp. I liked the idea of having more people under my command. More people to use as a meat shield. The sexual relief would be even more fun. The lack of actual sex in my life made me particularly desperate for that. Don¡¯t judge me. Not everyone gets to have sex. Least of all overweight nerds. I turned toward the final rewards, Life-Drinker, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why I was allowed keep this weapon, but I was pleased about having something that seemed like it would be useful in the future. Chapter 5 - Choice Matters. Life-Drinker Type: Knife (Growth Weapon) Grade: Epic Damage: 9 Perk: Life steal Description - A blade drenched in the blood of countless individuals. The blade has taken on a name of its own and strives to ensure its wielder can survive, if for no other reason than so it can continue to feast on the lives of others. Oooou, very nice! I got an Epic item! Life steal was even an ability granted by this blade. I didn¡¯t even need to know what that did, any Gamer worth his salt knew what the shit did. The growth thing was fascinating. Apparently, the weapon could ¡®evolve¡¯ or ¡®grow¡¯ in strength. No doubt it would take a lot of NPC¡¯s. More so if the granted experience of one point per life was anything to go by. Talk about the weight of a life, right? Utterly worthless. The description was interesting as well. I bet the sick little bastard I killed did a lot of heinous things with this knife. I took the blade from my belt and regarded it with mild fascination, twirling it lightly. Of course, nothing like this was ever in the game itself, unless you counted the Fantasy versions of Total War. Probably one of those ¡®changes¡¯ the System was talking about before the Tutorial. Putting my knife up, I looked at the other boxes. These seemed more along the ¡®show¡¯ portion. Nothing like this ever got shown by the episodes we watched. Of course, everyone knew about the Follower System. Joining as a Follower put you in the running to replace the previous person in the game when they died. My case seemed a little unusual since I never did become a follower, but that was the basic idea behind it. I had apparently garnered fifty Followers right off the bat from my ¡®live streamed¡¯ Tutorial. That part was new. It gave me access to the Follower Store. Looking at exactly what that store gave me explained a few things about where some of the Players obtained items. It also made me question why a few of them, the one in Starcraft among them, never took advantage of this fantastic feature! Follower Store - Expand Selection - Cost (Currency/Follower Count) Units + Weapons + Armor + Perks + Unique Characters + Buildings + Companions + Slaves + Mods + It gave several different tabs that I could expand by focusing on them, and the cost seemed more a description that applied once you chose a tab to peruse. I selected Unique Characters out of curiosity and a list of historical people, both fictional and real, appeared in the expanded list. Along with their cost. Unique Characters - Cost (Gold/Followers) Spartacus - 100,000/500 Caesar - 100,000/500 Crixus - 90,000/450 Romulus - 500,000/1000 Remus - 500,000/1000 Juno - 85,000/450Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Livia - 100,000/500 Julia - 10,000/100 Octavia - 15,000/150 Augustus - 1,000,000/50,000 There were countless individuals depicted in History, the Roman seemed to be at the top of the list for some reason, but further down you had people from the Gaelic Tribes, Africa, Egypt, so on and so forth. Each seemed to cost an astronomical amount of either gold or followers but considering they were ¡®Unique¡¯ that probably meant they were damn near game breaking and meant for the ¡®late game¡¯ stage. I knew Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome was there, a few female characters and everyone knew who Spartacus and Crixus were. At least everyone who enjoyed the T.V show at least. I couldn¡¯t afford anything there right now, but it was still amazing to see what I could obtain if I earned enough rewards. I checked out the Mods tab, and nothing there looked even remotely familiar. It seemed that the System created its own ¡®Mods¡¯ for this version of the game. The ¡®Amazons¡¯ interested me, if only because warrior women were fucking hot. That would cost everything I had though, so it was a big-fat-no. Weapons, Units, Armor were all about the same. Though, I had the option for personal armaments or obtaining upgrades for my units. I had two in the Weapons and Armor section that I wanted and could afford. Weapons - Cost (Gold/Follower) Bronze Weapons (Units) - 300/25 Armor - Cost (Gold/Follower) Light Steel (Units) - 300/25 I wasn¡¯t sure why the Steel version of weapons was over triple the cost of the Bronze weapons while light steel armor was way cheaper. I could only assume it was based on some numerical factor in the System to prevent me from steamrolling everything. I debated on them both. I could afford them if I used my Follower count, I wanted to save the gold for actually entering the full version of the game. At the same time, I wanted to save, purchase something better when I got more shit. I checked ¡®Slaves¡¯ next and found almost nothing of use. It was just like the Unit tab where it gave you more Units based on your Faction. Slaves were just that, slaves, unarmed and unarmored people meant to be fodder. It might be something to use in the future if I ran out of money. Companions were animals that were listed as either social or battle types. Kinda reminded me of Pokemon and I had my eye on one, in particular, I might get in the future, for now, I moved on to Perks. They were the same as my initial choices, but I could gain more positive without the issue of obtaining negative Perks. It gave me the option to remove all of my Negative Perks as well. Each removal cost over ten thousand Followers or two million gold though so that was out. I frowned, going over the lists a few more times before thinking about my situation. I¡¯d chosen Hard as my difficulty, and I knew the original game loved to cheat to make shit harder. No reason to believe that it still wouldn¡¯t be that way in this rendition so giving my units more of an advantage would be the smartest option. I hovered over the choices and selected the Bronze Weapons and the Light Steel Armor. A notification from the System came through a moment later. Congratulations! You have made your first purchases through the Follower Shop. You have gained ¡®Light Steel Armor,¡¯ and ¡®Bronze Weapons¡¯ for your starting Unit. These upgrades will automatically apply to any future Units purchased through the Follower Store or obtained as System based rewards. Units obtained through the natural course of the game will not benefit from these increases. Upgrades will take place upon waking the day after purchase. Well, that kind of sucked. I wouldn¡¯t have those upgrades until a day after I purchased them. I could still work with it though. Finally, I looked toward the System Prompts that had slowly been growing darker in color, almost a blood red. I was beginning to believe that the System was both impatient and a bit of a dick. You may now select the region you wish to spawn into. Be advised your choice cannot be changed and that several factions might attempt to purge you as Mercenaries to deny a potential resource to enemies. A list of all the available regions came up then, as well as the factions they belonged to. I figured it¡¯d be like those level one starting zones, depending on where I went. That made the massive Factions such as the Romans, Greek States, so on and so forth were a bit out. I¡¯d need to choose a small Faction, one I could help expand and earn Rep with, then direct the course of history! Alright, a place that Mercenaries would be more or less welcome, I couldn¡¯t think of a fucking thing. I finally ended up making my choice based on the Faction I always enjoyed playing as thanks to the impracticality of invading them early on, the Britons. You have selected the Britons Faction as your starting Regions. Your difficulty setting has ensured you will begin as disliked with this faction, complete contracts as a mercenary to increase your reputation with this faction. That will, in turn, lower your reputation with other factions at war with them. Your options are unlimited, however, and you may turn your Mercenary Band into something more than what it is. The choice is ultimately yours. You are being spawned with your men outside of the City of Londinium. Your difficulty setting has ensured all Factions begin in their Capital Cities and must expand and claim land from ¡®Barbarian¡¯ clans that belong to no Faction. Your game is open-world. Play for your life, play for the enjoyment of the Lumarians, and play for power! Chapter 6 - Marching Orders? Name: James York Moniker: The Nubian Title: Cut-Throat Mercenary Company: Pride Experience: 32/1000 Tier: Zero Health: 50 (Army General Modifier +20) Attack: 14 (Army General Modifier +5) Weapon: Blood-Drinker Armor: Rusted Curais Traits: Berserk Unused Rewards: Follower Camp Perks ~ Attack +3, Health +3, Of the Forest, Sacking, Loyalty +3, Upgrade First Unit, Difficult Diplomacy, Harder Diplomacy Gains, Sticks, and Stones. Mercenary Hoplite Squad. Mercenary Band: Pride Squad size: 100 Designation: Hastati - Frontline troop Experience: 203/1000 Tier: One Troop Loyalty: 100 Health: 30 Attack: 10 Weapon: Bronze Weapons (Assorted) Armor: Light Steel Armor Description + I went over both my status and that of my Units when I ¡®spawned¡¯ into the world of Total War: Rome. I had a pretty decent boost to my attack with Blood-Drinker. I¡¯d still need to see about getting another decent weapon to use as my main one. The knife was just too small of a blade to be practical. My Hoplites even received a large boost to their attack. The Bronze Weapons jumped them from a measly three to a nice fat ten. The assorted part was a little confusing, but when the actual unit spawned into existence, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll figure it out. It likely meant that they would have different weapons. I could live with that. The health didn¡¯t increase with the improved armor, but it should still be pretty useful for them as a whole. I took a moment to figure out where the fuck I was. Like in the Tutorial I was in a little glade surrounded by trees. Unlike the Tutorial, one of the corners held what looked like a small wooden palisade. Said palisade also had multiple people moving around behind it. They were a little hard to make out, though the wooden towers spaced at odd intervals with archers in them were pretty fucking easy for me to see. More so when I realized the fuckers were pointing their arrows at me, and the distant shouts that accompanied surprised people weren¡¯t far behind. Apparently, my men had ¡®spawned¡¯ at some point during my examination. Silvius, Sejanus, both were just behind me, and I realized why they were freaking out. I smacked the palm of my hand into my face and groaned. Lovely, just fucking perfect. I¡¯m supposedly spawned outside of Londinium, a really piss-poor and barely founded version, but the Capital City of the Britons all the same. ¡°General, I still don¡¯t understand why you moved us to the ass end of nowhere, away from the splendor of Rome, to find work with these savages.¡± I looked over, shocked, at Silvius and tried to remember when the fuck I¡¯d EVER said something like that. Shaking my head, I realized it was the System setting the background and reasoning for my men. Sejanus was smiling that creepy fucking smile and had a pair of very brutal looking bronze axes hanging at his waist. The fact he was fiddling with one of the blades, continually cutting his finger on the sharpened edge was another point toward the ¡®crazy¡¯ factor for him. When I realized Sejanus, who oddly had a bronze sword that reminded me of a gladius, wanted an answer I shrugged. ¡°Think about it this way, Silvius, we can earn more here. Less competition from other mercs. You also get the chance to kill Barbarians and earn more coin.¡± I heard him let out a small sigh, something he tried very hard to hide. He nodded all the same and started screaming for the men to form up. I looked over everyone''s armor and weapons then. The Light Steel armor was just that. It offered the barest protection for vital areas while the rest of the armor was leather, shitty leather at that. I frowned a bit, mostly because I realized just how cheap the System was with those rewards. At least nothing as horrible as a bronze bow showed up. That would have been a complete disaster and would have denied me multiple men that would have gotten stuck with the uselessly heavy weapons. The fact my Hoplites were melee was probably the only reason why they didn¡¯t get something like that. I¡¯d have to be very careful in the future if I ever obtained ranged units. The shields my men bore appeared to have been affected by the light steel purchase as well. They were rimmed in light steel, but the majority of their make was simple wood. Groaning a bit, wishing I¡¯d just gone all out on one focus rather than trying to be well rounded, I chalked it up as a learning experience. ¡°Patrol,¡± whispered Sejanus. I jumped, terrified by how fucking close the man was. I regretted the action a moment later when the kid smiled at me. That smile said he¡¯d found something amusing and that he¡¯d make it happen again. I really hope he dies in a battle soon. The kid was just way to fucking creepy. The patrol in question was riding toward us. A quick estimate had me assuming they were around thirty riders. ¡°Silvius, maybe we should have the men ready their shields¡­¡± I said, a bit nervous at the speed the riders in question were moving. ¡°If that is your command, they are a welcoming party, however. If they wished to engage, they would have sent infantry as well.¡± I didn¡¯t like it, but I really would have to rely on him for a time while I figured out the ¡®rules¡¯ of this game and the changes the System made. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A moment later the patrol came to a screeching halt about fifty yards from us, and a lone rider detached himself from the group, trotting closer. It was a young man, about the same age as Sejanus. Unlike Sejanus, this lad looked both terrified and curious. He wore padded cloth and leather while holding what looked like a massive standard in one hand. I narrowed my eyes, confused about this entire affair when he called out to us. ¡°Hail! You are within Briton lands under the rule of our glorious King Randolfinius. Why have you come?¡± That...didn¡¯t sound right at all. I didn¡¯t really remember the leader of the Briton Factions name, I always killed him off for someone else, but that sure as hell was not the name. Taking a moment to look at the Riders I wondered exactly what was up with that. The Brits in the game used Chariots, not single rider cavalry. I mean, sure, realistically it was prudent to use them when dispatching messages and shit here, but it still felt weird. I expected more things like the game, not something that could be mistaken for a living world. Whatever, moving on. I should probably answer the kid before he freaks and we have to fight our way out. I¡¯d rather not lose any of my little NPCs yet. ¡°We¡¯re a Mercenary Band called Pride. I¡¯ve led my men here to look for work and help your King expand.¡± I debated on having Silvius speak first, but the sneer the man was throwing out was a little too pronounced. I doubted I¡¯d learn much about proper greetings from him when dealing with factions outside the norm. I had to hold off a morbid chuckle with that. People were really racist around this time, or would that be nationalist? I think it had less to do with the color of the skin and more to do with their homeland. As long as the man listened to me, then it didn¡¯t matter. I doubted I¡¯d have to deal with as much persecution myself, but who knows? The man said something, and I missed it. He repeated himself a moment later though, saving me from having to ask what the hell he¡¯d said. ¡°Welcome then. If you will come with me, I will take you to meet the King. Your men will have to stay here.¡± Yeah, that kind of sucked. ¡°Allow me two of my men?¡± Shit, I should have made that a statement or just brought them. I¡¯d made it a question instead. Appearing weak in this time was probably a piss poor idea. The young man just nodded though, and I had Sejanus, my psychotic little killer, and one of the other men come with me toward their patrol after having Silvius take command. Sejanus, Tralius, and myself were given horses to ride for the time being, and we made our way into the ¡®City.¡¯ It was more like a massive town than a city. Dirt roads made muddy by the weather with thatched buildings and a wooden palisade. A few towards lining the palisade were their only real defense. The ¡®castle¡¯ was the single stone building. It also seemed to act as a barracks of sorts though I saw a clear field off to the side and down a hill with several men training. Mustering Field? The ¡®castle¡¯ wasn¡¯t all that large, two stories at the most. It was fairly long with an outer stone wall that served as a courtyard and what seemed like the barracks for their ¡®elite¡¯ troops. We were led through a small hallway decorated with random bits of finery, animal hide, art and all sorts of things that looked as if they were designed to show off wealth and prosperity more than actual functionality. Your basic royalty in that sense I suppose. Always had to be the best. At the end of the tunnel, we were greeted with a large single room with multiple people dressed in finer clothing than anyone else I¡¯d seen on our way here. A few guards that seemed to be better armed and at the end of the room sat three thrones. The largest throne held a fat man with a crown, hello Randy, the slightly smaller one held a comely woman with a grown and a heavy looking dress. The third one, placed a step lower and far smaller held a child that looked to be about eight or nine and was fidgeting with some clothing in his hand. A Prince? Meh, they didn¡¯t really matter regardless. In the end, they were a means to an end, whether they were the people I helped toward that end was up in the air. ¡°Announcing Pride Mercenary...The Nubian.¡± I snickered at his pause. He had really hated me telling him that that was my name. It wasn¡¯t, but it most likely would become that while I was in this version of the games. I swaggered into the room then, Sejanus and Tralius flanking me. I had to make up for my idiotic mistake before, more so in front of my personal psycho. The notion he might think me weak and kill me in my sleep was a genuine fear. So, I swaggered my newly sexified ass right into that room like I owned it. I caught the King eyeing me. He looked a little pissed. The fact his Queen looked like she was about to wolf whistle might have been the cause. I might even have felt proud of that, but her eyes were on Sejanus. You know what? He can have her. Now that I have a closer look she looks about the age of my fuckin grandmother. Shuddering at the mere notion of that, I forced all of my attention onto the King. He wasn¡¯t really fat, but he was a rotund fellow. He had a heavy black beard laced with white and a balding head underneath the shoddy golden crown he wore. Muddy brown eyes gazed back at me while he tapped a finger, I noticed each finger had heavy rings on them, against the arm-rest of his throne. When he spoke, it was with a slightly high pitched and nasally voice. ¡°Why have you come to Our lands and with such a show of force? Furthermore, We have heard no reports of your troop further afield. Do you come for nefarious purposes?¡± I fought the urge to facepalm when I heard the royal ¡®We¡¯ crap come out of that big bugger. Alright, obviously this pompous windbag is going to be annoying to deal with. I¡¯m too weak to do anything about it at the moment though. Realistically at least. In the game, each faction started with one or two elite unit types while the rest were fillers. The Brits were notorious for not having anything even remotely considered range in the first installment as well. Just slingers. This faction focused more on infantry and the chariots for flanking. When the time came, and I had enough men I¡¯d be able to tell this douche to stuff it. Best play the role for now though. ¡°We have newly arrived on the isle. We traveled mostly through the forest and only ever met a caravan or two along the way. This would likely be why your esteemed highness never received word. I can assure you that my men and I do not have nefarious agendas but instead would like to offer you our services as men for hire. I will understand if one as mighty as you has no need for men such as us, but it would be our honor to fight under your command.¡± The king regarded me steadily for a time, silent, then the fugly ass old biddy leaned over and whispered into his ear, never taking her eyes off of Sejanus. The king frowned, then nodded once before rising, his wife following behind him. ¡°Our Queen has convinced me of your possible uses, Nubian, as well as the uses of your men. We can speak more of that at a later date, for now. We have an objective for you, to prove your sincerity toward Us. We desire you to retake our surrounding Holdings in Our name, bring them back into the fold. Do this, and We will be assured of your sincerity, and We shall take you into Our armed forces. Speak with Our General, Hark. He will give you all the information you need.¡± He left with his wife, son, and a host of guards shortly after. My men and I were the only ones who didn¡¯t bow. The pompous dick didn¡¯t deserve it, and we weren¡¯t in his actual employ yet. I hated the fact he¡¯d managed to ensure we would work for free as well, at least for now. That meant I¡¯d need to get resources through less savory means. I turned toward the General in question, a short and stout man wearing hardened animal hides with a thick metal breastplate littered with dents. The man had been through some hell from the looks of it as well. His bald head, multiple scars, and thousand yard stare told me he¡¯d be a scary fucker. It had the little primal urge in the back of my mind going apeshit, screaming ¡°run you, moron! He''s going to eat your heart!¡± Doing my best to hide the shudder while continuing my little swagger, that¡¯s right, watch that booty jiggle you dressed up dick-bags, I walked toward him. Time to find out what fresh hell they had in store for me. It turns out. The General was a man of few words. With a voice hoarse from years of screaming orders. ¡°Go Northwest, the town of Deva. Take it from the smattering of forces that hold sway over the good folk. Come back when you do.¡±