The Empires Rise

The goblins scamper to prepare for the rush of gnolls headed in their direction. It doesn't take long before the forces clash. The goblins, ill-prepared as they were, take charge and immediately start to fall. The gnoll's weapons reap several lives before the goblins retreat from the battle. Overall, the battle, from my perspective, wasn't impressive in the slightest, but what can I expect from a small group of goblins?

The succubus couldn't do anything before the gnolls cleared the enemies, so I couldn't gauge her abilities. Looking at my map, I see a new option on the tile my forces have cleared.

- Would you like to lay claim to this tile? Yes/No -

I selected' Yes' without even giving it a second thought. After that, the troops returned, and a small flag was placed on the tile they had left.

The flag has four separate quadrants: one golden, representing holy symbols; one green, representing leaves and plant life; one purple, representing corrupted beings; and the last black, representing decaying bodies. In the center of the flag is a dragon entwined around a heart.

Overall, the banner looks fantastic. After looking at the map some more, I selected the other tile and had the troops head to clear it.

Getting the directive to go and clear the next tile, they head from the tile they just cleared. Upon reaching the next tile, they find another set of goblins. There are only two of them this time, so just like the last time, the group quickly charges through and kills both enemies before they can put up much of a defense.

Again, I don't see the succubus' abilities, but that is ok. Feeling good about how much has been completed, I again claim the additional tile. I have three tiles under my banner now, and I am looking to see if there are any other options. Not finding any other options, I wait a second for her to return to the tent.

She saunters inside and looks at me, "Is there anything else we need to complete?"

"There isn't anything else that I can do at this moment. I have sent the bats out as many times to scout as I could. What can you tell me of what I need to do next?"

She looked at me with a smirk, "Next, we get to see what you are like when it comes to giving orders in actual combat."

I look at her curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

"With no other options to scout or build, the only other thing is for you to step out of your tent and battle."

Thinking about her words, I get curious. "Rito, did my quest update?"

He looks at me from his perch and gives me the best side-eye a raven could, "Drake, I can't see your quests. Even if I could, I would tell you to look after yourself."

Looking at him with a wry smile, I say, "Wasn't one of the things I need to learn to delegate? So, I thought I would try to delegate the task to you."

Again, he looked at me, "Delegating does not mean you can be lazy; it means learning how to properly instruct the people under you with instructions of what needs to happen next and giving them the freedom and trust to complete the task, not doing your menial tasks for you. That is what a servant is for."

Signing after his mild scolding and hearing the succubus titering from what I can only assume is my embarrassed face. I look at my quest to see if there are any updates.

- Tasks:

Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6)

Complete the initial series of battles (0/10) -

Seeing that no battles are completed in the quest, I look stumped.

"Rito, why haven't any battles been added to the quest?"

"Those battles didn't count? Interesting. I think I have an idea about why that is the case."

"Would you mind explaining?"

"The battles it is counting are those you initiate from leaving the tent. Not those that you use to acquire land from the strategy table."

"Well, we will see here in a second. I must start the battle since I can't build anything else, and the barracks are full."

Having considered everything, I head up to the tent flap again.

- Would you like to start the battle? Yes/No -

Choosing 'Yes,' this time, I can leave the tent. Once I step outside, the sun is high, and another notification appears.

- The battle is about to start. Please prepare your troops and defend yourself. -

Quickly gathering my troops, I prepare them for battle. Turning around, I find the succubus has followed me out of the tent.

"What are your orders?"

"I want to know what we are facing. Do we have any sentient beings able to scout?"

"Well, I can scout, but we can also use one set of the gnolls to scout. They should be able to give a rough estimate of the numbers we are facing."

"Alright," I continued, thinking about Ritotorous's words. I will leave this to you. Let me know immediately once you have a report on what we are facing."

She bows her head and follows through with her idea, leading a set of gnolls out of the walls. Gathering the rest of the gnolls, we head to the only opening in the defenses. I set up a basic defensive line and waited for her report.

It takes a minute before she returns, "There is a small force heading this way. From what I could tell, their numbers are around ten in total."

Nodding at her, I prepare to cast my spells. Reaching into myself, I gather the mana to cast Nature's Grasp. And when the spell completes, nothing happens. I try again to cast the spell, and again nothing happens.

I tried several times before I finally gave up. My mana has reached 200/280. "Why aren't my spells working?" I ask out loud.

Shrugging her shoulders, the succubus looks at me. "This isn't the first time I have seen this. It is funny to watch as mage nobles come in and can't cast any high-tier spells using their high-tier mana."

Spinning on her, I glare at her, "And you didn't think that would be good information for me?"

Smirking, she replies, "You never asked." With that, she strolls to the group of gnolls and finalizes the defensive line.

Reaching out to Ritotorous, I ask, "What can I do if I can't cast any of my spells?"

"That will be tricky for you, but my advice is to re-think her words. I can't give you all the answers as I am being stopped." He flies off and lands on the walls to overlook what is coming.

I stop and think of her words over and over. Occasionally, I look up and find her staring back at me with a smirk. Seeing her like that is making me frustrated. Then I see the enemies approach, and the gnolls start slinging rocks at them.

Seeing that she controls the defense, I think about her words. Confusion turns into frustration and then anger because I don't understand.

The battle finishes just as quickly as it starts. There is one loss on our side. One of the bats got too close and was skewered by a lucky spear thrust by a goblin.

I'm still frustrated at not knowing what I need to do to cast spells. I am suddenly teleported back into the tent. In front of me, the succubus still smirked at me while Ritotorous gave me a look of concern and pity.

"I don't get it!" I finally shout at her, "What can I do to cast spells?"

"That is something you will need to figure out for yourself. From what I can feel from you, you won't be able to use any of your four mana types."

Giving her an incredulous look, I tell her, "I only have two mana types."

She titters at me again, "No, you don't. You have four mana types. Quite rare, I must say."

"Oh, and what makes you think I have four mana types?" I ask, still skeptical.

"I have seen a lot of different nobles. Their banner backgrounds always show how many mana types they have. Not everyone is privy to this knowledge. Only heroes like myself can see the truth and inform the nobles we are under of such things."

Sighing, I look at her, "And there isn't any way you can tell me how to cast spells."

She puts one finger to her lips and whispers, "It's a secret," before laughing at my expense.

I try to get my mind off of how infuriating she is and look at my quest.

- Complete the initial series of battles (1/10) -

Finally, one of the battles has been completed. When I return to the strategy table, I immediately receive a notification.

- You have received resources:

Total Tiles Claimed: 3

Tiles Lost: 0

Total Resources Received: 3 -

Adding these three resources to my remaining five, I am two short of being able to make the training yard. I start the process of selecting tiles and scouting.

I can scout another two tiles to the west and south. It is all plains, and a couple more enemies must be cleared. Sending the troops to clear them is a simple task. The succubus leaves to lead the troops. I sit and wait for her to come back. While she is gone, my mind wanders to her statement.

I can't use my high-tier spells, and I can't use any high-tier mana. Thinking through the problem, there is only one thing I can think of: I don't have high-tier spells, so I need to find a way to cast my current spells with a different form of mana.

I am still pondering how to cast spells while reviewing my skills/spell list.

- Skills:

Analyze: Level 3

Mana Circulation: Level 8

Mana Control: Level 6

Leadership: Level 5

Spells:

Arcane Shot: Cost 2 MP Level 8

Minor Healing: Cost 6 MP Level 6

Shield: Cost 4 MP Level 6

Mend: Cost 5 MP Level 3

Smite: Cost 4 MP Level 1

Nature's Grasp: Cost 8 MP Level 6

Barkskin: Cost 5 MP Level 3

Corrupting Bolt: Cost 6 MP Level 1 -

Checking one of the skills, I smack my head. "Of course, why didn't I think of that sooner."

- Mana Control: Level 6; Description: Increases the control of external mana. -