The Named Seven

{POV: Charybdis 'Vel'}

I felt Naga in the forest, moving slowly through the forest with a few other serpents. Her presence felt much different since a month ago when I left. My naming her must have evolved her to a less pathetic race.

Coincidentally, I just finished writing the book, 'Basic Rune Circuit Theory' so I signed it as 'C.Vel', like the others and added it to the pile.

I stood up, used earth magic and made my stone chair and table return to the ground. I turned, and was stunned by the lamia's figure.

It wasn't a problem before, but the ragged cloths they used for clothing really left nothing to the imagination. Serpents didn't have breasts, but apparently, lamias do. And big ones.

Behind Naga, some of her servants, riding volpins, were pulling a small platform on wheels carrying what I assumed were my tributes. There were various colorful old books, two magic staves, one big and one small, a small bag and a golden sword.

The fact that one of the seven main villages already had to resort to a gold tribute meant that they were desperate and didn't have anything else they could give me to my specifications. Also, they could have absolutely carried all of this in their hands or in a bag, but they did their best to make it feel like an official visit to royalty.

They all bowed in front of me, waiting for me to address them.

"Hello Naga. How have the villages reacted to my presence?"

The beautiful lamia straightened. "My lady. I gathered all the seven leaders of the war alliance, including me, and informed them of your claim over the area and the protection you've offered us. Everyone complied with your requirements."

Her mouth twisted in a small scowl, before returning to normal. "We tried to use our rudimentary knowledge in runes to teach more people, so they could create better runic devices for you, but we didn't get very far."

She stepped to the side, and gestured to the wooden plank on wheels. "The books are all material in runes from the central village, my village, and the other two serpent centric villages. There are also a few books on magic and the big staff, from the gnome village. The small staff is from the goblin village, the bag that has more capacity than its appearance suggests is an old artifact from the gnolls of the north and the golden sword is from the gnolls of the south…"

She joined her hands behind her back, pushing her chest up, as I scrutinized the items. They gathered everything I asked for, but they most likely won't have many more of the required items. I have to discard the idea of tributes and teach them the skills needed for them to eventually be useful to me.

"Alright. This is acceptable. I want you to gather the seven leaders in the central village in seven days. I have some orders to give."

I had a few ideas to incorporate among my subordinates. For example, in 'honor' of the seven war leaders, I would give them names, except Naga, who is already named, and then create a tradition where once a year, a tournament would take part to select seven unnamed candidates for me to name.

Naga gave me a small smile. "Oh. The Seven are already at the central village. They stayed after bringing in your tributes out of curiosity to meet you.", she said in a cheerful voice.

Interesting. That speeds things up. "That's convenient. Prepare everyone in the central village for an audience with me tomorrow. I have some new rules to announce. Also, take this werebear, and do whatever you want with it."

Naga bowed once again. "Certainly, my lady. We are thankful for your benevolence."

I smiled and nodded. She deposited the offerings on the side of the cave, helped the other serpents carry the body of the wolf to the mobile platform and left.

I raised my temporary workstation again, and continued writing my books on basic runes with my right hand, and read the new runic books with my left. These were about unproven theories, basically educated hypotheses about what could be possible in the future. Some serpentfolk must have had a fertile imagination on runes.

The most interesting book detailed interactions between runes in a remote connection, with no circuit. According to all known laws of runeology, there is no way for controlled remote mana transmission to exist, but it was still somewhat interesting and maybe plausible, so I filed the information away for later research in the future.

While I write and read, I'm also thinking through what kinds of rules or laws I should set for my domain. First, to encourage advancement, for the sake of my own comfort, I want to adopt a system where skilled people, and not just strong people are put into higher positions or given more amenities.

Second. No one leaves or enters Jura, east of the Ameld without my express permission. My existence must remain secret to the outside for now. Most human nations and even monster's would be antagonistic to me, especially with my recent unconscious attacks. For this, I'm going to have to design a complex barrier with optical runes, to confuse and rout any unwanted visitors.

Those are my basic ideas for right now. Maybe to encourage unity, I should give a name to my territory, like the kingdoms do. At least it would be better than always saying 'east of the Jura Forest'.

What should I call it? It's not like it's that important. I can always change it in the future, so I will just simply call it 'Velest'. Not after my fake name, but after the legendary spear, that also symbolizes wisdom or knowledge, called 'Vel'.

I looked to the horizon. The sun was rising over the horizon just as I was finishing my last book, titled 'Communication Runes and its Applications', and signed it.

All of the empty books were now filled with my basic knowledge on runes, piled in a stack. I floated them behind me and flew in the direction of Naga's village.

The decrepit wooden houses in the central village really were in stark contrast to the stone buildings in the dwarf nation. Even worse is the fact that this is the most advanced village in Velest. It just goes to show that I need to urgently teach or gain a subordinate with construction skills.

There was a crowd of people from the different east races gathering in front of a small raised wooden platform. Naga was speaking to the villagers in the podium, with two serpentfolk, two gnolls, one goblin and one gnome behind her. I suppose those must be the seven leaders of the alliance.

As I lowered myself to the ground, I heard several gasps from the crowd. I landed on Naga's right and stood there for a second, waiting to be announced by Naga.

She cleared her throat. "Everyone. This is our new ruler, Lady Charybdis.", she said in a serious tone of voice.

As I expected, no applause was given to me, like I've seen done, as a dead spirit, when kings or just the royal family in general are announced in some other nations. I was no queen after all. I coldly observed them, my single eye sweeping every face in front of me.

They were not very impressive right now, but they would be after a few years, if I had a say in it. And I had, being the leader of the territory these puny monsters lived on.

I adopted the authoritative tone most monarchs used when addressing their subjects. It was important that no dumb individuals got funny ideas of going against me, believing to have some kind of chance.

"Greetings, my subordinates. Things are going to change in the east Jura forest now that all of its territory has been claimed by me. Some of you may be scared of the Storm Dragon, Veldora, but I assure you, he is not going to be a problem. After all, he is my father." I paused, to let their inferior minds process the information.

The crowd stopped whispering and muttering to each other as I cleared my throat. "The first thing I am going to change is naming my territory for the sake of convenience…". "From now on, the Great Jura Forest, to the east of the Great Ameld River shall be known as 'Velest'. My hope is that in the future, it can be recognized as a nation, and become the 'Kingdom of Velest', but that is in the future."

The murmuring got louder, more annoying, and after a long moment, I flared up my aura as a reminder that I could completely destroy this village in a single second if such was my will. They stood in silence yet again.

"Now, I am going to set a few rules for the people living in Velest. Number one, I will reward those under me that show the most ability on a specific craft. This can range from fighting strength, spell crafting, rune engineering, to weaving clothes. Any ability that can be of value to me is recognized under this first law."

"Also, in honor of the seven main village leaders, I will be naming them, and creating a tournament, which I will call, 'The Tournament of the Unnamed 7'. At the end of each year, I will name the six people who contributed the most and also the winner of the tournament." Behind me, I heard six excited gasps.

"Number two. I prohibit anyone from leaving or entering Velest. I don't need to explain myself, but I will, for the sake of the slowest among you. You were just in a losing war. If we are discovered to be uniting and becoming stronger, an execution force will come from somewhere, or everywhere, to stop the threat that we can represent in the future. Only with my permission will any of you be leaving."

Some people looked slightly annoyed, but I suppose most of them have never even thought of leaving the forest, so it isn't that much of an imposition.

"As I look around at the shabby buildings you have erected, I realize the extent of your puny construction expertise. So, I offer an opportunity for you to learn a craft. Form lines from my left to my right in accordance with the order of the crafts you wish to learn. Runes, Magic, Fighting, Masonry, Blacksmithing, Weaving, Woodworking and Cooking." 

I waited as they organized themselves in the lines I asked for. "Before I start explaining how your teaching is going to work, I will start with the first 'naming of the seven'." I announced as I called them by their alliance titles.

"Leader number 2. The orange serpent. Come here to receive your name."

She looked surprised, for some reason, still not believing this course of events. "Certainly." she said, excitedly sliding until she reached me.

"Tell me. Except for runes and combat, which of the professions I said interests you?" I asked the black and orange snake.

"... I have sometimes imagined grand structures described in our ancestors' books and how I could design even grander ones, so I guess that would be masonry.", she said, somewhat shyly.

"Your guess is incorrect. I will name you Raven and you will be taught architecture, the art of designing buildings. Your most important project will be to design a majestic castle for me to eventually live in. You will also teach masonry when you are ready to do so to the villagers that chose it.".

She smiled. "I accept the name you have given me gratefully.", she beamed as she shone.

It took me around 20 minutes to name all six individuals. The green snake, Esmeralda, was interested in weaving, the old goblin, Eggcell, was interested in cooking, and the little big gnome, Kolussos, was the best magician in the forest. The gnolls only really liked fighting, but at least the one with two functional eyes, Cackll, was amenable to learn blacksmithing. The other I named Sturbbun, after the word 'stubborn', as the one eyed hyena only accepted fighting. Naga chose to learn runes.

Naming was said to be dangerous for the name giver, but this was only if the unnamed was powerful enough. Naming a weakling didn't drain me much, but if I were to name everyone in the village, I could be permanently damaged. That's why I decided on seven names a year. If I were to invent a method to store mana, I could perhaps name everyone, but I don't know if I could do it, or would want to do it.

I turned around to the crowd, slightly annoyed after naming Sturbbun, but not showing anything in my face. "This is how you are going to learn to be useful to me. Through the course of multiple months, I am going to bring the subordinates I have named with me to the Armed Nation of Dwargon. I will pay for their education completely and then, when they come back, they will start working and teaching you all."

The villagers stared attentively at me as I spoke. "I am going to reiterate that you are free to act according to your will, as long as you follow the rules I have outlined. However, if you don't work, or don't show results, I am not going to pay you in any way. Be that food, position, name or power. Think carefully about how much you will apply yourselves to study under the seven. After all, any of you can rise to their position with good results."

I paused a second, gauging their reactions. They were unsurprisingly positive. I didn't have to fight for a name, but I imagine that any monster would want one with the power that it represented. "Naga will teach you runes, Raven will teach masonry, Esmeralda will teach weaving, Eggcell will teach cooking, Kolussos will teach magic and Cackll will teach blacksmithing. Warrior training will be handled by Sturbbun."

"Naga, Kolussos and Sturbbun, don't need to come to Dwargon, as they will learn from the books I've written. Except for Sturbbun who already knows how to fight.", I floated my books, split them, with the great majority being about runes and so, landed in front of the lamia. The rest floated towards the gnome.

"After the initial learning stage in the central village, we will send teachers to the other villages while we build a bigger settlement, more central to Velest itself and not just close to the Ameld. That will be our capital, where we will prosper and become the best nation in the world!" I proclaimed louder in the end. A rapturous applause and loud cheering echoed through the plains.

I didn't want to build a kingdom for the comfort of my subjects, but can you imagine the luxuries I could obtain by being the wealthiest queen in the realm? I could taste all kinds of delicacies, maybe even better than Tyrimana Brandy. I could have any amount of gold to thrash around in. The technology would constantly evolve, sating my curiosity of what's possible and giving me even more comforts. I almost drooled at the thought.

After that whole ordeal, and after telling the seven that tributes were no longer necessary, Naga immediately went home to study my books, and so did Kolussos. Most people returned to everyday life, except the warriors, now training under Sturbbun, probably harder than ever according to their shouting. I decided I would bring two at a time with me to Dwargon to avoid suspicion.

I stayed in Velest a few more days, to study the magic staves gifted to me. Staves were made from a magical material, normally the heart of a monster, and then stabilized with special wood with secret crafting methods. They basically helped control the mana and gave a slight amplification to the power of the spell.

The staves I was inspecting didn't have any runes, but I could already imagine that if I created one with runes, it could become many times more powerful. Explaining the creation process like this is easy, but actually crafting one is much harder than it looks, because of the magical instability of monster parts.

I also believed that the monster core could be substituted for a magically conducive material, like magisteel, and with the addition of runes, you could create pre-loaded effects or amplify the power of normal spells.

Anyways, I wasn't much of a fan of staves. They were normally bulky and cumbersome to carry. Plus I didn't need the small power boost it gave me when I could construct a spell quicker barehanded or just use a skill.

In the end I decided to bring Raven and Esmeralda to Dwargon first, for no particular reason. They needed time to learn, and time was one of the things I had the most of. Raven evolved into a lamia, with skills focused on fire. She now had black hair, orange at the ends, and an attractive body, just like Naga, except she was a bit less gifted in the chest.

Esmeralda was much the same, except her hair was a gradient of dark green to a lighter shade of green. Their tails stayed the same as before.

Gnomes are a very interesting species. Their main method of survival is to ally with someone else, infect them with the spores they can release, and create a symbiotic relationship with them, supporting them with powerful buffing magic, to the benefit of both. 

They also have a way to attack that isn't very efficient, but can be powerful when combined with the aforementioned ally. They can create a parasitic relationship by infecting the enemy and then weakening them with weak nerfing magic.

Kolussos was a very smart individual, and was one of the few inferior monsters that already possessed a skill prior to naming and evolution. He was very intelligent, perhaps because he had [sage], or perhaps he had [sage] because he was already very clever.

After naming the little man, he evolved into a Deep Gnome. They were given this name because they were mostly found in deep caverns underneath the earth. Deep Gnomes are also known for their affinity to earth magic, so I look forward to seeing what his meager strength will yield.

Contrary to the Lesser Gnomes, which the majority of them were, his beady blue eyes were now a bit bigger, his ears even longer than before in a conical shape, the color of his facial hair transformed from gray to orange, as if he had been rejuvenated from an old man to a young adult. Only his height didn't change, as he kept being only slightly taller than the others.

Eggcell, the old goblin, was also looking much younger and bigger than before. He had evolved into a hobgoblin. Basically just a big goblin with muscles. A human with green skin and small pointy ears.

Cackll and Sturbbun had grown a bit, standing now clearly taller than me by at least two heads. Their fur had shortened, but their hides were noticeably tougher and their muscles more defined.

Looking at all of them, it became clear that our monster congregation needed a skilled weaver. The clothes everyone was wearing almost only covered their private parts and were in terrible condition, ripped and full of holes. I wouldn't even call them clothes.

I also wanted some good clothes for myself. The current ones, besides not being 'real', offered no protection and weren't very stylish for a monster leader.

My reflection only made my decision of starting with Esmeralda seem more justified, and so, at the end of the day, me, Emeralda and Raven were flying in the direction of the Armed Nation of Dwargon.

Unfortunately for them, they couldn't fly, so I was manipulating the gravity for all three of us on our quick journey. I left Naga in charge, because my books were easy to learn from, so that would relieve her teaching duties and give more time for village administration. We were already planning and designing the future capital of Velest, a very time expensive endeavor in which the seven and myself would work on for the next few years.

Before arriving in Dwargon I felt Gazel Dwargo's aura again, in the middle of the forest. I suppose he must really be taking his training seriously.

When we arrived, the army that had departed around a month ago, when I first arrived, was returning with a giant fish. A lot of them were injured and that was not even speaking of those not present. If I strained my senses, I could 'hear' parts of what they were saying.

My aura almost exploded out of me, completely losing control, when I heard one of the pathetically weak and inferior dwarf soldiers say that they had slain Charybdis itself. How could someone even so much as compare this mere Megalodon with my majestic self.

The only reason why I walked past without exploding his head off was the mental image of the humanoid fire dragon that almost killed me before I became self-aware. If not her, then any number of other heroes could appear. I hadn't heard of the demise of demon lord Milim Nava for example. She had killed me once, and having not been killed yet, she would live forever.

Upon entry, Esmeralda and Raven had to put the bronze colored bracelets on because of a lack of ID. The color was different from the one I had previously but their purpose was the same. Perhaps they were a weaker version meant for the more frail monsters.

I couldn't pay for their ID, or to the local artisans to teach their valuable skills to random monsters, so that meant I had to make some money.

I thought about selling my scales once again, but that would be suspicious, as even the army only found the lone megalodon in the forest. I heard that books could give a pretty big profit, by selling publishing rights to a publisher, they would sell the book to a wide audience and take a share of the profits in return.

For educational or scientific books, there was a clause on the law that gave them priority, as long as they were found to be accurate and useful by a qualified evaluator. The better the book the better the initial pay, and most likely, the higher the overall profits as well.

While I waited for the evaluation of my mountain of books, which should take a few days if what the publisher told me was right, I gave a gold coin to each of my subordinates, for food and a bed, and went to the advanced library to further my understanding of runes. Particularly, the barrier, light and optical runes, for my project of a repelling barrier to erect around Velest.

My books on the basics of runes were approved after a few days, and I got a massive deal. They called my books masterpieces and offered three gold coins upfront, per book, and 35% royalties, for a contractual period of ten years. With the little research I had done, this was an insane amount of money and royalties to be offering, and the only difference to more traditional contracts, was the period, which was on average three to five years.

Leaving the publisher building almost 30 gold coins heavier, totaling at 38 with the few I had saved, a big smile on my face, I immediately spent half on IDs for my little snakes and then a bit more to secure some famous artisans, known for clothes weaving and grand architecture, to teach them. It wasn't cheap, but with the stream of money that would now pour in from my books, I wasn't much concerned.

The last absolutely necessary thing to do was visiting the 'biggest' 'Butterfly' and drinking through the night.