3 Chapter three- "Management" (Under rework)
Andrew woke up with a headache that felt like it would split his skull. The sun was shining in his face- wait, where was he? He shook his head and looked around at the dusty room he was in. the room was bare, with the bed being the only piece of furniture in the room. The room wasn't that well-lit, with the only light coming through the window. His armor was in the corner, with the yellow stripe on his Suddenly, a blue boarded popped in front of him with a cheerful ping.
[Congratulations on selecting the shadow captain as your class, you crazy bastard!]
"Who are you?"
Another board popped in front of him.
[I'm your strategy assistant machine, tasked with keeping you and your soldiers alive and guide you through your brand new system, also, just call me SAM.]
"Alright then, sam, show me."
[Gladly. The first thing I will show you is the purchase system. You can purchase three types of units at this level: foot, Ranged, and magic. Foot soldiers are the main meat of your army, and you can buy different weapons for recruits from your world. Several examples are Halberds, Scottish claymores, longswords, shortsword with shield, etc. The base cost of 5 soldiers is one recruit. If you decide to exchange ten stat points for two recruits, you will be able to spend it, but you can transfer only 1000 stat points a week. Also, don't try to buy a soldier with an M16. Just don't.]
[Ranged have many different uses, as they can be a multi-tool. Unlike magic ranged, you can set them to work, and they get a bonus when defending a castle/ stronghold/ fort/ outpost. it is usually a 1/1 cost/get ratio.]
[Magic units can use magic, but it depends on the soldier. They can be bows, crossbows, throwing spears, etc. If it is a melee, it will enchant the weapon with the element the soldier chooses. Usually, magic units can combine certain weapons with a shield, like a two-handed ax with a shield or a two-handed spear with a shield. However, you will get a damage debuff, depending on your rank. Right now, it is a -15% damage debuff. Ranged magic can enchant the ranged projectile being shot. For example, a fire-element archer would shoot an arrow, and whatever it hit would catch on fire. Rock elements would hit harder; wind projectiles would be like a bullet, you know the deal. Magic casters, also called mages, can use multiple elements, but it would increase the cost of recruits per mage. For example, you can have a fire mage and a wind mage, but to use spells, they have to read magic books to learn spells, like every other mage on this planet. However, you are unique, being the first dual-magic mastery, as most high-level/experienced mages, also called sages, have only mastered one element. People who have mastered an element can also write magic books, passing on their knowledge, or train the mage themself, passing a significant portion of their ability to the disciple. Still, their ability will stay the same. as of right now, it is 5 recruits per mage.]
After reading the boards, Andrew rubbed his temple.
"How about this? Instead of dropping an info dump on me like a 50-ton asteroid on a guy's head, how about you guide me through it, alright?"
{Sure, as long as you don't instruct your soldiers to jump off a cliff, I'll help you.}
Andrew laughed and walked over to his armor & sword and put it on. Cracking his neck, he walked over to the door. Taking a moment, he picked up his helmet and put it on the bed, with the verticle yellow stripe gleaming in the thin sunlight. As he walked through the brightly lit hallway, another blue board popped up on his right. He sighed,
"What now?"
[Say "Territory management."]
"Territory... management?"
Suddenly, everything he saw was like a 3D blueprint he sometimes sees his dad studying. Suddenly, his vision transitioned into a birds-eye view of the castle & town. With no warning of this, he threw up from the sudden perspective change. With his knees wobbly and his head spinning, he looked down and gasped. The entire castle-town was blue, with white lines interacting, making squares, sharing a resemblance to a blueprint on something. With a shaking arm, he lifts his arm up to the town. With a shock, he was thrown back, and a green grid appeared.
A green board, much like the blue one, popped up with a ding.
{Whaddya think you're doing, trying to interact with a territory without purchasing it first?!}
Blinking, he coughed out,
"Who are you?"
{I'm your Territory Interactive Management system or Tim for short, I'm here to help you manage your territory, Ye Who Has No Common sense.}
Andrew actually laughed at the last little joke.
"Well then, can you walk me through it?"
Almost instantaneously, another green board popped up, and Andrew jumped.
{The territory management system is requesting 30 recruits to buy the unclaimed land. Would you like to spend 30 recruits to unlock it? (Spend 30 to unlock) (No thanks)}
(A/N: Quick notice, the [] brackets are SAM's and the {} brackets are the alerts/TIM's. You can usually tell by the way the notice is, and the () in the other brackets are buttons. Thank you for listening to my ramble.)
[Hey, big dude, I suggest you purchase it. you have 130 recruits to start off, but you can only use them if you have a base, so it'll probably help you.]
Taking a moment to think over the options, he pressed the spend button, and with a cheerful ding, the green grid disappeared.
[Thank you for actually taking my advice! Now, say "Manage."]
"Manage?"
He started to move around the town, although he himself was not controlling it. Several buildings lit up, as well as a lot of empty spaces.
{These are your slots. You can use these to build buildings. However, this place already built 10 for you, as it was a castle-town. However, 3 are locked. You currently have 25 unbuilt slots, but 20 of them are locked due to overgrown plants. As this place was cleansed of demons, you were able to buy it. It can be overrun again, and you won't be able to summon units in it/build anything, but you don't have to re-unlock it.}
Andrew nodded after he read it. Seeing as there were 5 slots, he'd save them for when he knew he should use them. He suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, sam?"
[Yes?]
"How do I exit this?"
[Say exit menu. this goes for all interactive menus.]
"Exit menu?"
Suddenly, his vision distorted, removing the birds-eye view and threw him back into his body & normal vision, without warning. He dry-heaved, as he hadn't had a proper meal since the last day in his world. Falling on a wall, he slowly slid down to a sitting position. His vision blurred; he looked around at the hallway, with the sun shining through the windows. Noticing his fallen sword, he picked it up and stood up slowly, using it for something to balance on. After a couple of seconds, his vision readjusted, and he put the sword back into its scabbard. Breathing heavily and using the wall to support him, he slowly walked toward the end of the corridor, where the exit to the stronghold was located, and opened it.
Outside, what waited for him were 2 soldiers having a duel, one with a two-handed sword and the other with a two-handed ax. The rest were sitting on the sidelines and watching. Suddenly, the one with the ax pulled it back behind its head, leaving his chest wide open. The one with the sword, seeing this, took advantage and sliced at his stomach, causing the soldier with the ax to wince but not die. Instead, he slammed the ax down onto the other soldier's head, causing it to split wide open. He was about to stop it from hurting any of the others, but then he saw something amazing.
Instead of falling from the fatal blow, his head regrew, the darkness entwining itself like vines coiling around each other. A few seconds later, his head was regrown, completely. The soldier who got his head split walked over to the other soldier, who had backed away, and held out his hand, nodding. After in awe at this show, sam's ping brought him back to reality.
[Y'know, those are your soldiers.]
"Wait, what?"
[Yep, you summoned 12 soldiers last night. You'd normally have 15, but you had to summon all of them within 6 hours of gaining the class. Although to be fair, you did get Tim early, as normally you would get it at around a rank above what you are now. Also, you can talk to them, but they won't respond because they are mute. Although, they do communicate with hand gestures.]
Andrew facepalmed. How long had it been since he'd played an RPG game? At least 5 years, he reckoned. He looked at the soldiers sitting around.
"Hey, how can I tell them to do something other than sitting around?"
[Assign them a task. The only ones you can tell them to do right now are train, clear slots of overgrowth, and set others on guard.]
"What does each do?"
[Train sets your units to train in the training fields, one of the buildings here. The units can gain experience and level up their skills when they train. They can get a level every hour they train at the level they are currently at. Setting them to clear your slots will clear them at a rate of a slot a day per soldier, and if you tell them to stop clearing, it will resume at that time when you stopped it. Setting soldiers to guard will keep a territory clear of monsters, but the number of soldiers needed expands depending on how big the territory is and how many slots you have open. Right now, it is 4.]
"Wait, what level am I? Status!"
{Name: Andrew Perez
Species: human
Class: Shadow Captain
Title(s): A True Summoned hero from another world!
Level 51
HP: 60k/60k
MP: 30k/30k
STR: 160+15
INT: 40
DEF: 65 +19
SPD: 25-4
Stat points: 290
total monster kill count: 39,982
Transferred Skills: Longsword mastery MAX LVL, Judo mastery LVL 19, BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) mastery LVL17, bow mastery LVL 15, Karate mastery LVL 13, Throwing daggers mastery LVL 11, Boxing mastery LVL 9, Spear mastery LVL 7, Wrestling mastery LVL 2, M16 mastery LVL 1, Crossbow LVL 26 Horseback riding LVL 18, Katana LVL 14, Halberd LVL 12, Mace LVL 12, Axe LVL 8, Tough skin LVL 8, Halberd LVL 4.}
His eyes widened. Every single one of his stats was increased in massive amounts. Even more, was the massive amount of monsters killed.
[I also took the liberty of assigning all of your stat points. Due to being a warrior from another world, all the stat points you get are doubled, and the points I get are also doubled. Double trouble, double buffs! Fun fact, only knights & heroes can access their stat points. Did I also mention that the average knight is level 90, but you already have the stats to take one head-on and win? Also, that amount of weapon skills are ungodly. Period. Also, how is it possible to have killed 39k+ monsters and still have not gotten to around level 120? These are some mysteries we may never know the answer to.]
Andrew burst out laughing and holding his sides. Through tears in his eyes, he coughed out,
"You're a funny guy, sam!"
It seemed to hesitate for a minute before responding with one word.
[Thanks.]
He was just barely able to read it through his tears before it disappeared.
"Anyways, I should start going. Do you know where the nearest town is?"
[Yep, go northwest from here, and continue walking.]
"Alright then, onward we go! Also, set 4 to guard, 6 to train, and two to clean up the slots."
Suddenly, something hit him on the head. Confused and dazed, he looked around to see what hit him; he saw his helmet laying on the ground.
[Y'know, no knight is complete without his helmet.]
Andrew, smiling, picked up the helmet and put it on his head, securing the faceplate. Then, he started walking in the direction of the town.
Two hours later...
Andrew stood in front of a bustling town. Walking through the streets, he took in all the aspects of these people's life. The liveliness of the town, the yelling of the street vendors, the chimes of a bell ringing in the distance. He continued walking toward the town center, where there was a giant fountain, with angels blowing into horns that are pouring water out of them. Walking around, he looked over to the inscription engraved in the fountain. Glitching for a second, it read:
To all the lives lost in the 3rd demon war and the holy angels that protected our kingdom from destruction.
Tilting his head to the side, he read it. I must learn more about the history of this world, he thought. Looking around, he saw something that caught his eye. A gold-adorned sign hung out of a giant building. He squinted to read the sign which said: Mercenary Guild. Stretching his neck, he walked toward the building, with all of the people on the street avoiding him.
________________________________________________________
(This switches over to first-person POV for a little.)
I, a guild employee was having a bad day. By all means, the job paid nicely, with 1500 ral a week, but I hate explaining to mercenaries that you can't exploit the people who paid you, and you weren't paid if you did the job incorrectly. I sighed as I heard the standard heavy boots of a mercenary pounding on the wood. The entire room went silent, with no noise being made, which was uncommon, but it happened sometimes. I sighed and looked up to the mercenary.
"Sir, what do you ne-"
My eyes widened. This thing was wearing full black armor, with the only non-black piece being a vertical orange stripe on his helmet, specifically on his faceplate. I looked into his helmet, and it started down at me for a moment before a raspy voice whispered something I couldn't hear. I responded,
"Excuse me, sir, I couldn't hear you. Can you please repeat what you just said?"
I wasn't even sure if it was human at this point. I looked over Rames, who nodded at me. Then, it spoke in its devilish voice again.
"How do I become a mercenary?"
All of the other mercenaries in the room started to draw their weapons slowly. Shaking my head to them, I looked back at the knight.
"Well, first you have to pay the entrance fee of one gold coin, and then let us check your status."
The words had just left my mouth when a gauntlet slammed onto the wooden counter, cracking it. I heard several flicks of daggers being drawn out of sheathes. It slowly moved its hand away to reveal a shiny gold coin.
It quickly grabbed something, like a sheet in the air, and gave it to me. It shined and revealed itself to be a status screen. Quickly grabbing it, I inserted it into the registering stone and gasped at what I saw.
Alias: The Shadow Knight
Species: human
Class: Shadow Captain
Title(s): UNKNOWN
Level 51
HP: 60k/60k
MP: 30k/30k
STR: 160+15
INT: 40
DEF: 65 +19
SPD: 25-4
total monster kill count: 39,982
Magic: Dark & Light Mastery.
Skills: Longsword mastery MAX LVL, Judo mastery LVL 19, BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) mastery LVL17, bow mastery LVL 15, Karate mastery LVL 13, Throwing daggers mastery LVL 11, Boxing mastery LVL 9, Spear mastery LVL 7, Wrestling mastery LVL 2, M16 mastery LVL 1, Crossbow LVL 26 Horseback riding LVL 18, Katana LVL 14, Halberd LVL 12, Mace LVL 12, Axe LVL 8, Tough skin LVL 8, Halberd LVL 4.}
My eyes widened. This man had 10 fighting skills in the mastery stage. I don't even think a knight has as many fighting skills as half of what he has in total! And his health and mana... The health was 6 times higher than the average mercenary, and the MP was 3 times higher than the average wizard!
Even worse was that unholy kill count. Even a knight will only have 20,000 monster kills! What did he do, go to the cursed town that separates us and the demons and kill every single monster there? Or was he a knight in the
Breaking concentration, I immediately registered him, as he did not have the class of a bandit, and he had was above the minimum level to register, which is 25.
"Do you affiliate with any mercenary companies?"
"Mercenary... Company?"
I sighed in relief, as this truly proved that he was not a veteran re-registering, even though his stats said otherwise.
"A mercenary company is a company that deals in large-scale operations, like being in wars between countries, protecting cities from monsters, defeating armies, and the likes. You have to have at least 500 men or creatures. Several examples are humans, demi-humans, golems, and the like. They get their own floor in the regional guild buildings they operate in. Are you going to affiliate with one?"
"How... How do I make one?"
"With all due respect, sir, you can't do it. Many companies have over 10 thousand soldiers for hire, and you need to spend a holy gold coin to create a company and find at least 500 members in a month. I don't think you can even meet one of the require-"
A single white-gold shining coin the size of my palm dropped onto the counter, interrupting me. The employee on my right grabbed it and inspected it. With wide eyes, he nodded, confirming it was a holy gold coin.
"Still, sir, you need to find 500 soldiers."
"How about this? I find 100 soldiers in the next few [Seconds]."
100 soldiers? I chuckled.
"How about this. If you can find 100 soldiers, if I count down from 60, I'll get you your company, tax-free, and waive away all your taxes from your personal card. I still can't stop your entry fee. However, if you can't, you have to give me 3 holy silver coins."
"I agree to these terms."
Suddenly, the wind constricted around both of us for a moment, then dissipated. I smiled.
"Your time starts... now!"
The soldier stood perfectly still, not even moving a muscle. Everyone in the guild was staring at him, the knight who looked otherworldly in his dark armor, with a demonic voice to boot. 50, it looked like parts of the floor were encased by darkness. 47, wary mercenaries stood up and drew their weapons.
At 40, they started coming out of the floor. Arms clad in black armor pulled themselves out of the floor, slowly as if they were stuck in a pit of slimes. And their screams. Oh gods, their screams. It sounded as if the very souls of the damned were coming out of the ground. 29, they pulled themselves out of the ground they started walking toward him.
All the mercenaries, now on guard and out of their seats, kept a distance from the monsters. The monsters ignored them. 21, they started kneeling. They started bowing to the monster of a knight, who could make what looked like the souls of soldiers kneel to him. At 15, he spoke, breaking my caravan of thought.
"I believe these are 100 soldiers."
That's when I started counting them. When I finished counting them, I swallowed.
"Yes, there are 100 soldiers."
Nodding slowly. The knight took the mercenary ID card that the registering stone spat out. Turning around, he started walking towards the door, with every step resonating through the guild. When he got to the door he stopped right in front of it and uttered one phrase.
"On me."
Instantly, all the soldiers turned into wisps of darkness and flew into his shadow, which absorbed them. As the knight reached for the door handle, I shouted,
"Wait! Sir, what do you wish to name your company?"
"..."
"The Army of Darkness."
And with this, he walked out of the door, with a medium-sized militia in his shadow.
___________________________________________________________
(Change of POV, back to our MC. still in first person.)
My throat was on fire. I hadn't drunk a single drop of water since yesterday, and my throat was burning. Running through the crowd, I turned into an alley and fell onto a wall. Grabbing a bottle of water from his inventory, I started to chug the water like a dehydrated deer. After I felt the cool, refreshing water flow through my throat, I calmed down. After drinking all of it, and feeling refreshed, I wiped the small dribble of water off my mouth and put the empty water bottle back into my inventory.
Breathing in, he looked toward the sky, wondering what may happen next.
