Journey to The Pirate Coves

Alexios make a step out of the gate and saw vast wheat fields along the city walls.Hellots were harvesting wheat and loading it to carts,while being watched by Spartan youths.Alexios was leading his soldiers while little anxious,he never lead so many people nor Ancient Spartan warrios in a fantasy world filled with greek mythology."My first speech and it was not so bad,i almost crumble like house of cards,but i manage it!",Alexios said to himself with pride.

"My king can i ask a question?" Said one of the Hippeis,who was walking beside him,Alexios almost jumped like a cat who saw pickle,but he managed to keep it together."W..what is it my dear Hippei?",Alexios was sure he is gonna ask about the spear and shield,rather the lack of it."I wasn't sure if your missing spear and shield is some kind of self limitation?" Hippei asked.

"y..Yes it is,i am so strong not even cyclops would dare to approach me!".

Fuck now i done it,i hope there is some system that would help me kill enemies with my Xiphon,more like some form of combat system? i doubt that it will be this easy but still,I never fought someone in my previous life,especially with sword.I have a lot of time to find some sort of combat system,oh right i must send Spartan youths ahead of me,advance scouting its called...i think.

"Are you satisfied by my answer Hippei?",Alexios said to his curious Hippei."Yes my king,i have no doubt that you would even defeat Hydra my king",Hippeis said with pride,Alexios on the other hand was feeling ill from the thought of fighting hydra,he hoped that one day he will become strong enough to be one man army,but it will take time to reach that point."Call Youths i have job for them",Spartan youths were in the back,ensuring that wooden carts pulled by helots would not fall behind,"It shall be done my king",

Hippei rushed to the back,passing hoplites in Phalanx formation,followed by wooden carts in line,and lastly Spartan youths.Moments later Hippei came back with youths following him,"My king what are your orders?"One of the youths said with excitement,they were only guarding,so they were more than eager to prove themselves as warriors by their old Hoplite peers.

"My order is simple,you and the rest will head out first to scout area if it was safe for our forces to advance,if not 1 or 2 will report to me,the rest will be waiting and if that's possible hide,you will not fight them and the wait for rest of us to arrive,Understood?".

Alexios make that last part very clear,they would definitely fight enemy's if they saw them just to prove themselves."ye..yes my king we Understood,we shall do as you command,but what about the helots?,who will stop them from running away?".

Alexios knew they would asked about this matter,after all they were last in the back of the marching formation.Hoplites would not catch them with their heavy armor,and neither of Hippeis,but before Alexios would answer his Hippei was faster.

"The forest ahead of us is dangerous,if they run from the dirt road to the forest,that was full of dangerous beast lurking from the shadows casted by tall trees,even if they managed to run from them there is almost nothing to eat except poisonous berries,and they lacked necessary tools to hunt local wildlife,if they were any left".Another useful information added to my note,so the forest were dangerous you say?,huh interesting,but you are telling me,expect Korithians and Sparta there is no one else? nonsense i think he counted the possibility that Helots must firstly escape from the forest,witch the odds were low,it would be miracle if they managed to do that.

"w...we shall depart immediately my king" and just like that they runed of to the road ahead of us,and my loyal Hippei took his position to my left as usual,as the right side was taken by his fellow Hippei.

As they marched for would seem like eternity was actually few hours.Eventually they arrived at the entrance of the forest,Alexios took deep breath and take all his courage to enter with his small army to the mouth of dense forest.

Alexios alias Spartan king, resplendent in his crimson cloak and adorned with a gleaming Corinthian helmet and Cuirass, led his procession through the ancient forest with the disciplined precision that defined the warriors of Sparta. The rhythmic clank of bronze armor echoed through the dense woodland as the king marched at the forefront of his formation.

Twenty hoplites, their crimson-draped shields forming a formidable phalanx, followed in lockstep behind their King. Each warrior bore the iconic Corinthian helmet and wielded a long spear, its bronze tip glinting in the dappled sunlight filtering through the dense canopy overhead. The forest floor crunched beneath the relentless advance of their bronze-clad sandals.

Two wooden carts, pulled by sturdy helots, creaked along the uneven path in the wake of the Spartan warriors. Laden with supplies and provisions for the campaign of acquiring wealth, the carts trundled through the forest, their wheels occasionally catching on exposed roots and rocks. The helots, faces etched with the weariness of their servitude, strained against the weight of the carts,

their eyes downcast as they dutifully followed their Spartan masters.

On either side of the Spartan king, two elite Hippeis, maintained a vigilant watch. Clad in intricately adorned armor and armed with Spears, the Hippeis were the epitome of Spartan equestrian prowess. Their Footsteps stirred the fallen leaves as they moved in perfect harmony with their fellow Brothers, adding a rhythmic cadence to the martial symphony that echoed through the ancient woodland.

The towering trees to the south cast long shadows across the forest floor, the occasional shafts of sunlight piercing through the thick foliage. The air was filled with the earthy scent of moss and the distant murmur of a babbling brook. The Spartan king's gaze, unwavering and focused, scanned the surroundings as he navigated the natural obstacle course of the forest with the assurance.

The march continued, a disciplined procession cutting through the heart of the ancient woodland, as the Spartans pressed forward on their mission with the solemn determination that had become synonymous with the warriors of Sparta.

"I am glad that i entrusted city to Elder Cleomenes in my absence is simple, he was not so hot headed like Thoren nor too keen to diplomatic solutions,perfect middle ground".

"1 day to arrive at the shores of Mystara Abyss and 1 day back,given the Korithians started marching yesterday..only day would remain after my return,shit..shit that's too little time,i pray to Zeus i can summon at least 500 Spartan Hoplites, and i still don't know how to raise my capacity of my Warriors,agh and i still don't know that requirements i must fulfill to upgrade my buildings,or how to raise level of my city state".Aleixos was very anxious,he did not how to raise level of his city nor his buildings,but his answers will be soon revealed.

"And that library i must find some Philosof or something,but how? i did not see in my City state system either",Alexios was now certain he must raise the level of his city to get that library,but even if he got it,he had that weakness of slow research,so library is completely useless and to tease him little more the phalanx formation was not in Spartan hoplites abilities,only ability was Hoplite wall.That fact was frustrating,his soldiers only used it in the march,but otherwise they would be in Hoplite wall that was available only in battle that would soon happen.

The sun begins to retreat from the skies as night is approaching,Alexios thought that he will soon fall from exhaustion,as he looked behind his shoulder he saw his men were still in good shape,no sign of fatigue in their faces,even hellots as they doing hard labor,they were had plentiful stamina,expect their king who was near his limit.

"Thank to Zeus i did not take my spear and shield,i would be eating dirt if that was the case..wait aren't those youths? and 2 of them as i commanded them,so they have report to me,please tell me we are here". Alexios hoped that Youths were caring good news witch they did,but not only good news will come from their mouths."My king we are reporting that we spotted one of the pirate cove ".Spoke Youth who was kneeling when he reported to his king,same with the second one,"And we have another report that needs your attention".It better be something like big piles of Dachmars just laying there,otherwise i am going insane,Thought Alexios."We spotted approximately 120 pirates and 2 docking triremes my king".

"WHAT?! that's double the amount of pirates than said before,i have elite infantry but only of 20!,how am i supposed to defeat them! shit even with my abilities and armor stats and other things it's..almost Impossible".Alexios was in the corner,he did not expect so many pirates,this will be test to put his abilities to good use.