The Empires Rise

After working out with Rognar about how to get started with my training with the sword, I thought about something he had said about learning something from all the different classes. "It wouldn't hurt to know more; it might also help me in the long run," I murmured.

Heading over to the archery range, I quickly found Slyvasti. Her tall, lithe stature as an elf made her easy to spot among the various races working on their skills. Approaching her, I was able to work out a similar deal with her. The main difference of this deal is that I would help with healing and provide different scenarios that only I could give. Mainly, it would be practiced by those who want to test their blade skills on a live target, not stationary.

Breathing a quick breath out, I turned to go out, but instead, I found Laxreal nearby with what I can only describe as a smile flickering in his eyes.

"So, Drake, it seems you have found magic too easy, huh?" He says with a bit of mirth in his dry voice.

"I didn't find it easy, but I thought if I could get a better idea of the different primary classes, I would be able to work things through more thoroughly when working with them in the future."

"Not a bad idea, and where did you get this idea from?"

Looking hurt that he would think I couldn't come up with the idea, I retort, "What if I told you that it was my idea?"

"Then I would work you harder for not telling me the truth."

"And how would you know that I wasn't-" I stopped mid-sentence as I heard the sound of wings flapping and saw Laxreal put his arm out as a post for Ritotorous to land on. "Shit," I cursed under my breath.

"Would you like to finish that statement, Drake?" He asks, knowing I don't have an answer for this situation.

Shaking my head, "No, I would rather not. Instead, let me talk about how this idea came to be." With that, I walked up to him and gestured for us to walk to the mage tower in the nearby distance. It doesn't take long for me to tell him about my trying to learn more skills to be a better leader for everyone here and how the idea came a little from Lilith but mostly from my quest that I still haven't had any updates on since I left my trial.

-Noble Class Quest:

You have entered a unique instance for a nobleman. This instance will save your progress after finishing the initial series of battles. During these battles, you will learn about leadership, cunning, people management, delegation, and other minor skills any nobleman must possess.

Tasks:

Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6)

Complete the initial series of battles (10/10)

Rewards: ??

Failure: N/A

Note: Rewards have been lowered due to the lack of skills learned during the trial. Rewards will continue to be reduced based on how long it takes to complete the quest. Due to completing the battles, failure of this task is no longer an option.

Time Taken: 2 Hours 22 Minutes 23 Seconds-

Sharing the screen with Laxreal, we try to figure out a basic plan for tackling the quest.

"There are a couple of things on here that I think we will need the help of some others. Let's take one option off the table for now."

"Which one is that?" I asked.

"Cunning." He says with a flat tone. "Drake, you are not cut out for that. Leave that sort of skill to others for now. Instead, we should focus on simple skills you can acquire quickly."

"And what would those skills be?"

"Basic Etiquette, swordsmanship, delegation, and people management."

"One quick question," I started. "What is the difference between delegation and people management."

He looks at me and answers, "Delegation is handing out tasks to others in confidence that they will complete the task in a manner that would suit your ideal goal. People management is different in that it manages people like a resource. Where should we send more people to work? How many of one type of profession should we focus on now? Can those people also be put into a different position that suits them better? Those two skills coincide with each other. You use one to hand down your orders and the other to fine-tune said orders."

Looking at him more clearly, I ask, "How long do you think it will take to get these skills?"

"If we work on them and do things correctly, we should be able to start tomorrow once we have the different representatives. We can use those representatives as an initial council for the settlement with you as the overall head."

Thinking about what he offered as an idea, I agree with it, but there is one point that he is missing. "If I am to have a council of some sort, I need a good second for those times that I am not there. And there is only one person that could have as much of an interest in this settlement as I have." Giving him a stern look, I ask him. "I know this is putting more on your plate, but I want you to join me as my advisor if we go down this path."

And from what I can tell, a flicker of amusement flashes through the fires in his eyes. "As I am bound to this place, it would be my honor to serve as your advisor and second." He placed one hand over where his heart would have been and gave me a light bow.

Smiling at his antics, I step forward and place my hand on his shoulder. "Now, why don't we get a slight head start on what we should do for those etiquette lessons? I feel I will be using them sooner than I anticipated."

Nodding in agreement, we start from the basics and work until late into the night. Heading back to my manor, I fall asleep with a smile.

I groan when I wake up with the first rays of light coming through my window right onto my face. Getting ready quickly, I head down to the bottom of the stairs and get ready to receive everyone who should be coming soon.

When my parents came downstairs and saw me waiting, they looked at each other and proceeded to the kitchen to make breakfast.

I hear the knock on the front doors shortly after standing in the entry. Straightening myself as Laxreal taught me yesterday, I open the doors. In front of me are seven people. At the front is Laxreal; immediately behind him are Draemish and Eleanor, Shadow and Zul'Zara, and then Vranjaya with Narus. Gesturing for them to come in and then leading the way to the meeting room, we all take our seats once we have settled. Everyone but Laxreal has decided to stand nearby like an advisor in a king's throne room, ready to be called on when needed.

On one side of the table are my military leaders, and on the other are those who can fight for one of the two spots in the auction. Kicking the meeting off, I ask my first question. "You three are the representatives that your worlds have picked?" Narus, Zul'Zara, and Eleanor all nod their heads. Looking at Eleanor, I state my next question, "Why did your world pick you?" After asking my question, my gaze travels over the other two representatives.

Seeming to understand that she should be the first to answer, Eleanor does so. "As the daughter of the progenitor, I have been trained in many different areas of leadership. I was ruling over my house for hundreds of years, and those of my world know of the Blood flights reputation for fairness in all matters."

Following her example, Zul'Zara is the next to speak, "I be of no higher ranking than any of those from my world. They be thinking that since I be with you for longer I be the right choice for handling matters."

I can see why they think this is a wise choice on her world's part, and it was their choice. Seeing that Zul'Zara has nothing else to add, Narus answers last. "I am from a group of goliaths. This puts me in a higher position than most in quite a literal sense. We haven't been hit as hard by the world's ending events. With a lower population base and the terrain advantage we have had, my kind has been known for taking in different refugees from all other races and for helping them as best we can."

Understanding the thoughts of those residing in Uxa's world shows that larger groups can survive and even have a semblance of normalcy. Nodding to all of their answers, I asked another question that Laxreal and I worked on last night for this situation. "Why do you think you should come with me to the auction?"

Looking at each other, I can see them all nodding their heads. This time, it isn't Eleanor who answers the question first, "Drake, we be thinking and talking before this. And with our talks, we be at a conclusion. It be not my place going to the auction. So, I be stepping out of the race." Zul'Zara says decisively.

Seeing the other two nodding to what she said, she continued, "I be here to represent my world, that be it. No more, no less."

With nothing else to add, the other two sit silently and wait for the next question, "Since there isn't an issue with who is coming with me, we should make a game plan for what we should try and focus on while at the auction. I don't know if there will be individual items or if this is an auction for the settlement. It could be a mixed auction, for all I know. Also, I don't know what to expect in any auction scenario." I openly admit.

"I think we should plan like we are trying to advance the settlement as much as possible. If there aren't any items for settlements being listed, we can start looking for items or abilities that will have the most lasting impact for everyone." Eleanor says.

"That wouldn't be a bad option, but to help with this, we need to know what funding we are dealing with. I haven't seen any currency since we arrived, and also we should think about some of the items our people have managed to produce in the last five days. Maybe we can get some of them up on the auction and hopefully have extra funds based on how well they sell." Narus states.

Hearing her words reminds me of the bags of random wealth we received after the wave event. Taking that into consideration, I turn to Laxreal. "Laxreal, can you go and find someone in the manner to get the bags of wealth that are somewhere around here? I want to open them so we can have a general idea of what we are working with."

Nodding, he leaves the room to find my mother or father. "With Laxreal going to find the bags, we should soon be able to figure out our initial game plan and do some budgeting. However, having a tight budget might be hard since we don't know how well certain items will be sold for and what we could get from the items we bring to the auction."

Noticing that everyone in the room agrees, we continue discussing possibilities until Laxreal returns with his arms full of bags. There aren't any sounds coming from the bags, which I find odd considering they should have money in them, but just like with the resource boxes, they must be magic. After opening all the bags and carefully counting, we found 17,280 gold coins available to budget for the auction.

"This is a lot of gold," Shadow states with shock filling his voice.

"Do you all think we are likely to get some items we should need to keep us up and running for the time being?" I asked.

"We should be able to get some of the lower items, though I don't know how far this amount will get us. Just talking with everyone, every world has a different type of currency, whether it is based on precious metals, or is gold coins, or some variation. I would say we should be overly cautious regarding the auction. Plan to spend more than we think on the items we see come up." Draemish advises.

Eleanor stands, "If we can't figure out how to budget currently, we can only hope where the auction is being held will let us have some time to figure things out before it starts. How much time do we have left before the auction starts, Drake?"

"We have four hours left before we have to head out. Are you going to see if there are any spare items we can try to sell?"

"Exactly, I think everyone should; the more items we can gather, the more potential wealth we will have at our disposal."

"Right, let's break for now and reconvene in three and a half hours." With that, everyone gets up from their chairs and heads out. This leaves Laxreal and me alone in the room. Slumping down in the chair, I look back at him. "We need to make sure that there is a representative from my world since after we get back from the auction, it would be unfair not to have one more person from my world to work with and have a balance for all the different worlds."

"Not a bad idea and it will also show that you are looking out for everyone's interests, not just those from other worlds, and leaving your own in a lurch."

"Can you do me a favor than Laxreal?"

"Yes."

"Can you please pass the message to everyone from my world and get them to figure out a representative? We can hold another meeting tomorrow after we rest from the auction to determine the direction of the settlement."

"I will handle the message."

"Thank you, Laxreal."

Congratulations! You have learned how to properly delegate a task to someone with clear intentions of the hoped-for outcome.

Delegation Level 1: People are more likely to understand the underlying meaning of the tasks you hand out to them. -