7 First contact

The following weeks, Amulius learned from Varioneru that this region is unexplored and full of horror stories. All they know is that the land here is full of wonders. There was a rumour in their town back then that there is a land here that can grow any kind of plants and every plant that grows here are imbued with mana. There was also a rumour that there is a tunnel of marvels here where all kind of minerals can be found and unlimited. The trees in this plain and in the mountain ranges are said to be infinite where when you cut tree, another will grow somewhere near. However, the reason that there are no brave explorers to reach this place is because this is the home of a dragon. The mountain ranges was also said to be home of various violent species and monsters. Hearing this, Amulius realized that the goblin cave that they have is the tunnel that Varioneru is talking about and it is true that any plant can be cultivated in this land.

"Lord, I noticed that it is only you who have mana core among your people." Varioneru in a casual chat with Amulius in the yard of Regia. Varioneru and the rest of his people has integrated into the Romavena society, they were granted the Plebeian social class status as they swore an oath to serve and protect Romavena with their life. The former refugees can be distinguished because of their physical features, they are of the mongol race.

"How can you say? Tell me more about this mana core."

"I can feel it when I'm close to the person. The mana core you have is unique, its crimson red. I can teach you a few but effective beginner cultivation technique for your mana core. The more you refine your mana core, the stronger your magic power. There are 4 pillar elements of mana: water, earth, air and fire. Each elements has its own cultivation techniques, I'm on the Earth element cultivation. However, yours is a special kind of Fire element. I can only teach you the basic cultivation technique that is suitable for all elements." That explains why Varioneru was able to compress the Stones in the Wall and make the job a lot easier. The construction was hastened and more sturdy because of Elder Varioneru's Earth technique.

"Tell me more! I want to learn how to cultivate my mana core!" Amulius plead like a child who thirst for power. One of the main principle of the Romans is might is right, one should be powerful to lead the world. The powerful is always right, that is why most Romans killed one another for power. Back in Roman empire, Statesmen flex their power in the Curia debates, Campaigns, and killing their political enemies.

"Mana core is just unique to people who can use magic as skills and abilities. To further enhance your magical capacity and ability, first, feel your mana core. You can sense it if you focus your attention to your sea of consciousness. Be as neutral as you can, do not fight the current. Once you become the purest neutral of yourself, you will feel your mana core and its size. As you start feeling your mana core, you can also feel the mana element of other people. Now try it. " Varioneru became the teacher of Amulius in magic cultivation. If you're going to notice it, Amulius quickly trusted this old man Varioneru. Amulius always trusted his instincts, his instinct tells him that Varioneru is someone who can help him. His instincts was never wrong, that is why he trusted this old man in teaching him cultivation. But if ever this old man has evil motives against them, then his people will be massacred right away. Varioneru's people are mostly woman, children, old women, and a few militiamen who are mostly old men. Although Varioneru has a strong magic power, it cannot protect all of his people. What harm can they do if they only have a few lousy militiamen and substandard weapons that cannot even harm wild animals? The men of Amulius are mostly experienced men from British campaign. Their weapons are also of highest quality as most of the quality weapons of the empire are brought to the frontier. They have advanced agricultural tools, warmachines like ballistas, military organization and other technologies that only Roman empire has.

Amulius sat as he closed his eyes and dove in his sea of consciousness. His senses are still on high alert, he can still hear the outside noise, smell the surroundings, feel the surroundings, because he is a Roman soldier with vast military experience despite his young age. The sea of consciousness of Amulius is now in a turbulence as he focus his attention in his sea of consciousness. The calm current inside his sea of consciousness has now turned into turbulence, he remembered that he should not fight the current. Instead, he should be attain tranquility inside his sea of consciousness. Hours has passed, Varioneru left the Regia while Amulius is still in tranquil state.

The next morning, Amulius woke up feeling refreshed. He finally attained the state of tranquility and feel his mana core. He can also feel the strong aura of Varioneru. He thank himself that he did the right decision to treat them well. They can obviously defeat Varioneru and his people, but the losses will be greater than what they can earn. Besides, these people has finally joined them. They became their assets, and the people of Varioneru are also happy to be part of them. Most of them are farmers and animal hunters, this place became a paradise for them as Romavena has a very different vibe than what they feel back in Nescaria Kingdom. They believe that this place is the most peaceful and safest place.

"Elder Varioneru, thank you for teaching me the first step on. How about you teach me the second?"

"Second, the world has mana everywhere, you should focus on gathering those in your surrounding and transfer it to your mana core. The more you transfer those mana, the more you cultivate your mana core. Feel the mana in your surroundings, gather the mana, absorb it and transfer it to your mana core. However, be warned that there are places where the mana is destructive to your mana core. Choose the place where you cultivate, as much as possible it should be a place where it has the most elements the same to your mana type. There are also places abundant of mana, there are also places with less or has no mana. You can try it now." Varioneru then left after Amulius started cultivating. Amulius is cultivating inside the Regia, he ordered his guards that no one should be allowed to enter as soon as he start his cultivation.

*knock* *knock*

" Sir, we have a situation of urgency. The council asks for your presence." The guard interrupted the cultivation of Amulius. As soon as he heard that it is urgent, he did not became mad. He wore his Centurion armor and his olive wreath crown awarded to him by the Romavena Senate, and went to the Curia.

The Curia is in a heated debate, everyone is shouting to each other. The composed attitude of the Senators before quickly turned into irate. The arrival of Amulius brought an end to their seemingly endless debate.

"What happened here?! Explain it to me. " Amulius angrily shouted to the chaotic council.

"Governor, we have a visitor. An orc. We cannot understand what he's saying, but he is pointing to the Orc fortress in the west. Now we do not know how to handle the Orc since we couldn't understand him. Senator Marius wants the orc to be executed, Senator Adrian Varro wants the orc to be examined and used for research, Senator Felix wants the orc to be tamed for agricultural purposes. However, I think the orc came to negotiate or establish diplomacy." When Justus was still a governor, he also experienced this kind of situation. As a governor, he also receives diplomatic envoys from foreign tribes. Most of the time, the envoys know how to speak Latin but there are also a few envoys who does not know Latin. But in those cases, they have translators. However, the circumstance is different now. These orcs are monsters and physically stronger than them. If these orcs decided an all-out war, they would not last a month of siege even if they rely on their sturdy walls. They do not know the exact military strength of the orcs, that is why its better to know thy enemy before facing them head-on.

"Where is the orc? Treat him as a diplomatic envoy. I will talk to him later today." Amulius response is quick and decisive. This is the most awaited moment of Amulius. He then went to Varioneru to ask if he can speak the orc language.

"My apologies, but I do not speak their language." Amulius then went to the legionnaire who first learned the Nescarian language from Varioneru.

"Soldier, I am appointing you to be Diplomatic officer. You will handle our foreign diplomatic affairs. Your duty will be to establish contact, know their identity and culture, know their language, negotiation for the benefit of Romavena. Pick five of your best pals and report to Curia, because I have an assignment for you. " The legionnaire was not able to react because everything went too fast. He picked his 5 best pals and went to the Curia.

"Gentlemen, I want you to welcome the first diplomatic agents of Romavena. These are my personally hand-picked men that are best for diplomatic communication. They will be our diplomatic representatives to foreign entities." Amulius announced to the Senators the Legionnaires who are now Diplomatic agents of Romavena. This formal announcement is to let the Senate and people know that they now have a formal diplomatic team. This is a very dangerous job, they will have situation where they will be coming into enemy camp to talk to the enemy leader. The orc visitor will be their first assignment.

"Thurso, I want your team to learn the Orcish language and this orc's identity and intention. Report to me every details." Amulius does not plan to face the Orc visitor without knowing the identity and intention of this orc beforehand. He is aware that his word has gravity and may change the fate of Romavena.

After 3 days, the diplomatic team quickly learned the identity and intention of the Orc visitor. They learned a little bit of the orcish language, but 3 days is probably not enough to learn a foreign language. Every detail of their interaction with the orc is logged in their book of records, and a separate report letter is being prepared to be handed over to Amulius and the Senate.

"Thurso reporting, the orc's name is Buraktite. He said that he is an envoy under Gaguka the older brother of the orc chief. He said that they demand the handover of the refugees from the Nescaria Kingdom. If such demands are not met in a week, Gaguka will burn our Town to the ground."

"Hmm, tell him that we can afford a few losses. " Amulius' response is quite taunting. They know that they are no match against the Orcs in an open battle. However, he doesn't mind thinning their numbers. Amulius like it this way, the Orcs are impossible to defeat if they are on defensive. But there is a chance to defeat these Orcs on an ambush and skirmishes. They need to outsmart the Orcs because it is impossible to defeat them on an open battle. The information about the orcs that he have are from Shadow, he keep a close monitoring to the orcs and a regular report personally handed to Amulius. The orcs may be superior in strength, but they are less intelligent.

After giving the response to the orc, they let go of the orc envoy. As soon as the orc envoy returned, Gaguka turned hysterical.

"Prepare the brutes! We are going to burn a town." Gaguka assembled his troops. His younger brother the Chief is not aware of this operation. Gaguka assembled a 100-man orcish brutes. These brutes are armed with sturdy wooden clubs, iron axes, and sharpened bamboo javelins.

Meanwhile...

"Chief Langyako, Lord Gaguka left with 100-man troops en route to the human town in the East."

"Let him be. He wants to prove something."