The Empires Rise

The battle progresses in the same manner as the previous two. Goblins came, the gnolls fought them off using some minor advantages, and then those that can flee while the rest perished under our might. There were several casualties, which increased the number of available command points in the barracks located in the main camp. I look at my command points to see if I got them back or if they are gone forever.

- Command Points: 48/59 -

Asking the succubus, "Why did my point total go down, but I didn't receive any points back for the death of the group of bats during the last battle?"

She rolls her eyes at me before replying, "Remember when I said that newcomers get a bonus of ten command points on their first entry into this instance?" I nod along with what she is saying. "Well, when one of the groups summoned past the cap of your noble level dies, those points go away. You don't get anything from their death other than the knowledge that they did their jobs."

"But that is so confusing. How am I supposed to know what troops are summoned with which points?"

"The answer is simple: it doesn't matter what troops die; as long as they were summoned when you had the bonus points, the CP value will be deducted until those points have been exhausted."

"What would happen if I had a 10 CP creature die when only 5 points are left?"

"Also simple: you will lose the remaining five points but will receive five points because of the loss of the creature to your total CP."

"Could you please explain that with numbers? Just talking about losing and gaining points has confused me further?"

"Fine," she looks at me exasperated, "Let's say you have 35 total CPs, and five of those CPs are the newcomer bonus. You have used 14 CP of your total, which looks like this." She takes her finger, and in the air, a light comes from the tip, and she writes.'21/35' "Using the same creature as before that uses ten CP when it dies, the numbers will shift in accordance to a new total." Again, she uses her finger to write a new set of numbers in the air. '26/30' "That is what I meant when I said you would lose the remaining bonus points while gaining the five from the creature's death. There is one thing to consider about the death of your troops. The CPs won't return immediately to your pool. They will only return after you come back to this event. So, take caution when throwing your entire army at a problem. You don't want to lose them all just to be wiped out because you can't summon any more forces until you return."

"Thank you for the information. That was quite informative," I sincerely thank her.

"Do you have any other questions about how this works?" She asks me.

"Not at the moment. I was just about to conclude the battle and receive the resources. And thank you again for the thorough explanation."

She nods before slowly fiddling with her finger, making different shapes with her mana while giving me a sly grin. Ignoring her and returning my gaze to the table, I receive the resource report from the battle.

- You have received resources:

Total Tiles Claimed: 10

Tiles Lost: 0

Total Resources Received: 10 -

With these resources, I built another barrack on the newly walled-off tile, receiving another ten command points of space for more troop recruitment. Thinking about my options again, I consulted with the succubus to see if she had any ideas for what we should get for troops.

She ponders the question briefly before responding, "The next units we should get are some infiltrators. They will help in the long run. Once we find another nobleman's territory, we can send it over and get a more detailed view of their forces. I would also recommend getting some more gnolls and bats. It never hurts to have more basic troops to expand our reach further."

Thinking about what she has offered, I can't entirely agree with her. "Why should we invest in infiltration units so early on? There are plenty of other options, and this will limit us to how many more troops we can summon for a weaker unit that can't help with the main fighting."

"The earlier we get them, the more likely we can get an early mover advantage over enemies we can't see. Don't forget that other noblemen must scout out tiles before knowing who occupies them."

Thinking about this statement, I ask, "Won't other noblemen figure out something is strange when a group of bats or other scouting unit appears on their maps?"

"If they can see the units, then yes, but for the most part, it doesn't show them much unless they have defenses that prevent scouts from viewing their tiles. And even if they do, it typically won't cover all of their tiles." She responds.

Great, now I have to think about having defenses for different scouting units from opposing nobles. Considering my options, I summon one doppelganger with the rest of the command points towards three more sets of gnolls and two units of bats to make up for the one unit I lost in the last combat.

With all my barracks filled, I hand off the scouting and clearing of tiles back to the succubus. I need to figure out a name for her. This is starting to bother me. She heads out and gets the units scouting and clearing tiles, specifically in the direction of the resource point.

Taking a few moments for myself again, I consider what I should do as a preventative for other nobles from immediately noticing my claim. One option is to claim a set of tiles around, leaving at least one empty tile between myself and the border of my discovered land. The other option is to scout two tiles out and expand while slowly clearing out the tiles after keeping a buffer of neutral combatants between myself and those further away.

Checking the map, I see that the scouting teams are finishing quickly. The resource point is only two tiles in total. Near the resource point are several groups of goblins, but there is also a militia with a tattered banner on one of the tiles. Investigating the militia further, I haven't received much information.

- Enemy Troops: 2-8 -

There are also four chests that I presume contain resources that the succubus mentioned. They are on the spaced around the resource point.

Pulling away from the table, I head over to my chair, sit down, and work on my mana control idly while starting to think of a name for the succubus. "One thing at a time, Drake," I muttered.

- Lilith's POV -

Looking at the gnolls and bats around me, I find joy knowing that the noble I serve this time is so young. The young always make things easy for me. They don't have ridiculous questions because they would feel embarrassed to ask them, and they take things sometimes at face value. I am a demon, so of course, I want to have some fun with him before he dies, and I am sent back to that hell of limbo, waiting until I am summoned again. His face gets so funny when he tries to address me. I could have told him my name, but why should I? It is far more fun for me to see him squirm as he is talking to me.

Walking behind the gnolls, I wait for them to engage in the enemy goblins when I see the militia in the distance. "Huh," I mutter, "I wouldn't have expected to see a fallen noble so close to where I was summoned. I should probably let Drake know what this means."

Thinking about him, he is probably in his tent, watching as we slowly scout out the terrain, trying to think of his next move. Trying to let me have some leeway but not fully wanting to let go of control. He doesn't know all the rules of this world. Again, I could tell him, but this is just the beginning, and he has to survive his initial trial before I am willing to give him more information. I wonder how long this brat will last. I hope it is longer than the last one.