The Empires Rise

By sending out the five different scouting parties, I could view more of the area around the initial point I was placed in. Looking at the succubus still in the tent with me, I ask her, "How would you like to be in charge of the troops? Give them the orders and relay any important information to me?"

She grins at me, "It would be a pleasure to lead these troops. Can I make requests once we have more resources?"

"Naturally," I respond.

"Good, then I will be off. Expect good news," she says as she saunters out of the tent.

"Why did you give her the power to lead the troops?" Ritotorous questions me.

Answering him, "Because if I don't take something off my plate, how am I supposed to get better at manipulating mana to cast spells? All I have done so far is direct the troops; she seems intelligent enough not to waste the opportunity."

"That is true. I hope you can be of more use than just a figurehead, based on what she has told us."

Thinking about it, I ask, "Should I name her? I don't feel comfortable calling her succubus, and you seem so lacking."

"That is up to you, Drake. If you want her to have a name, then give her one. If you don't want to give her one, don't."

Muttering under my breath, I comment, "I wish Laxreal, Draemish, or someone else were here with me. It would make this so much easier." There is a rustle of wings, and then I feel the back of my head smacked.

"That is no way to think of this. You are here to learn, so learn. Figure out what you are lacking as a nobleman. See if there are things you could be doing."

"What?" I asked with frustration in my tone due to my being smacked. "What could I do besides what I have been working on or already done?"

"Have you thought about developing some close combat abilities? Have you thought about what kind of settlement you want? Have you done your research on everything involved in this room?" A torrent of questions come flying at me.

"No," I say, looking downcast at how much I still have to do.

"It never hurts to know you aren't ready and have a starting point." He encourages.

Looking at him, I think about what I should start on next. Knowing I don't have the bearing of a nobleman, I decide to focus on my magic and what sort of settlement I want to build. Sitting down away from the strategy table, I begin to think while absent-mindedly trying to manipulate the mana around me.

What am I striving for with my settlement? What is the end goal? What should I do as my next step to complete said goal? How will I convince people my aspirations are the right way to go?

Taking a deep breath, I start to ponder the first question. Am I merely striving for survival until I can separate my world from this one, or am I trying to make this a new home? My thoughts go down the hole of what my world offers me. There was technology, but nothing says we can't have the same technology after we get things on track for research. This world has mana and magic, and going back to how things might have killed me due to my heart condition, Continuing to ponder this issue for a couple more minutes with different pros and cons for each option, I make up my mind and choose to stay in this world for longer than till I can go back.

What is my end goal? Like with the first question, survival is my immediate option; after that, I want to make something of my life; from what I learned from my father, those with a dragon bloodline have longer lives once they finally awaken to a certain point. My goal will be to awaken my bloodline to the best of my ability while striving to make Caelnova a place where everyone can feel comfortable living, regardless of race. Thinking about different races, I know my next steps will involve having different worlds of people as part of a council and providing feedback to help the settlement grow.

How do I convince everyone this is the right path when I return? This is the most complex question since the settlement has many different types of people. Those from different worlds have other thoughts on how things should go. I think one of my steps to get everyone to come together is to set up some organization or see if there are buildings that do the same thing and help people find a common goal.

As I sit there fiddling with trying to get the mana to form what I want, someone comes and pokes my head. Looking at the offending finger in question, I follow it up to the drop-dead gorgeous eyes of the succubus, staring intently at my seated form.

"Huh, so you do notice when someone touches you," she smirks. "I was worried that you had spaced off so hard you might have passed." Tittering, she steps back tantalizingly.

"Is there anything to report?" I ask her, neither frustrated nor giving into her little game.

"Poo, you're no fun," she replies, "There isn't anything problematic to report. We did the scouting and slowly cleared the different tiles. We did manage to acquire a couple of loose resources while we were out."

"Oh, interesting." Standing up, I head to the strategy table and loom over it. Once I get a clear view of the table, I see seven notifications. Going through them quickly, the first five are the basic reports asking if I want to claim the tile. Once they come into view, the last two pique my interest the most.

- Resource Point Discovered: Uncovering the whole resource point will allow the command post to build a collector on the point to accumulate additional resources for them. -

- Resources Collected: 6 -

I ask, "Where did the resources come from?"

"They were in a little chest in one of the tiles we explored. It was a small chest, but it produced resources at least."

"Did we lose any of the fighters?"

"No, we didn't. It was all small groups of goblins and a couple of skeleton troops out there."

Hearing news about a new type of enemy in this instance, I heighten my guard of what is to come. "Anything else that is worth noting?"

"Nothing else, just those few things."

Nodding and proceeding with this small influx of resources, I looked at the building options, selected the tile directly in front of the gate, and expanded the defenses. There is a rumble from outside, and it doesn't take long before the map updates with the changes I initiated. There are now three different gates entering the tile. Looking closely, I see only one gate still leads into the initial tile, with one directly across from it and the third leading into the tile claimed directly next to it.

Looking over at the succubus, I ask, "Shall we start the next battle?"

She nods her head and grins, "Absolutely.”