Tutorial 1

Masaru was soaring through the void when he suddenly came to a halt. It was the same sensation of having to quickly break a car and felt almost like you would be thrown through the windshield if it wasn't for the seatbelt.

"Whoa, what the Hell." A screen appeared in front of the boy.

[Hero creation screen]

'Ah, right, in Warlord Battlecry 3 (WB3 for short) you are supposed to create your hero avatar and use them to lead the army.' The hero can be from any race with any class combination, but some combinations had better synergies than others and the race ability could only be active when the hero and the race you picked were the same. Not to mention you can have multiple heroes, but, for now, just one would do.

[Select your race:

Undead]

That choice was given to him by default and there were no other races so he just pressed 'next' on the screen.

[Select your classes:

Archmage

Assassin

Thinker

Venomancer

Shaman

Runemaster

Merchant

Defiler

Dragonslayer

Grand Oracle

Chronomancer

Blightlord

Monk

Master Paladin

...]

'God, I forgot how many classes there are in WB3, especially the modded version,' Masaru thought. It didn't help that the modded version also balanced all classes to become viable, though some were still more niche than others.

He was still quite proud of himself for managing to get two systems at the same time by simply selecting the right games.

The only problem here was that the classes weren't arranged in alphabetical order, which resulted in him having to spend quite a while looking for what he wanted. Once he did, he simply selected it.

[Are you sure you want to select 'Necromancer'? Y/N?]

"Yes." He had done this several times before so he could continue without having to check the summary page. Other viable classes for Undead would be Alchemist, Lichelord, or Deathknight, but they had a few glaring weaknesses in comparison to the more straightforward Necromancer.

[Skirmish mode setting

Faction 1

Player: Masaru Yamamoto

Race: Undead

Subfaction: The Legion [Default] [No bonus]

Handicap: 0%

Faction 2

Player: AI: Prince/Normal level

Race: Random

Subfaction: Random

Handicap: 0%]

The boy decided that since this was his first-ever match, he should play it a little safe for now; prioritizing getting to know the system. So he began to find tuning the setting.

[Faction 2

Player: AI: Count/Very Easy level

Race: Minotaur

Subfaction: Raider of the Pale Sea [Naval: All boats have 20 increase speed and cost 20% less. Plunder: Receive resources every time you destroy an enemy building. Far from home: No Minotaur Shaman (Mage unit-type); No Minotaur King (General unit-type). Mercenaries: Allows recruitment of basic troops and mages of other races. Certain racial researches become unavailable. Gain some research of other races.]

Handicap: 0%

Map setting:

Map: Forest Valley [2 Players] [No naval] [Quest givers available] [2 neutral dwellings]

Fog of War: Revealed

Random Weather: Off

No resource depletion: On

Other settings:

Game speed: Normal]

"Right, that should be all," Masaru mused before going through everything one last time to make sure nothing was out of order. With that, he clicked 'start' and his journey through the void resumed... at high speed.

===========================================================

Masaru was undignifiedly thrown out of the portal with his face planted onto the grassy ground.

"Fuck, I will sue!" he screamed as he was lifting himself up.

[Under what law? We are in the middle of nowhere.]

The AI informed me.

The purplenette looked around. He was in the middle of a forest clearing—which was indeed in the middle of nowhere. Behind the boy were four mines. The purplenette immediately recognized what they did. They were supposed to generate resources for him to use, and he could put in workers to increase the gathering rate; he would permanently lose his workers assigned to the mines, however.

He had to capture them (or 'convert' if one wanted the accurate term) first though.

In front of him were his starting units, two zombies, which served as workers for the Undead, and a bat, which was a scout-flying unit.

"You call?" Zombie 1 greeted him. It was just a voice line, however, since he took the 'Lifeless moots' perk.

"Master," Zombie 2 followed suit.

The Bat simply screeched in acknowledgment.

"Alright, first thing first, can you pause the game?" He requested from the AI.

The scene appeared in front of him with the word 'Game Pause'. Now, there were no moments to be seen—his units act like a statue.

Masaru navigated through the menus until he found what he wanted; his stat screen.

"Let's see..."

[Hero: Masaru Yamamoto

Race: Undead

Class: Necromancer

Stat:

Strength 5 [Affect damage, health points, health regeneration, resistance, and armor]

Dexterity 5 [Affect movement speed, attack speed, hit chance, evasion chance, and capture speed]

Intelligence 11 [Affect mana regeneration, maximum mana, spellcasting skills, troop starting XP, spell radius, and spell duration]

Charisma 0 [Affect Morale, buildings cost, item buying-selling costs, command radius, and starting population limit]

'Yup, look about right for a starting Necromancer,' he mused silently. 'Though something is certainly changed from the computer game version. I guess it needs to fit the new RTS system.' He skipped the 'universal perks' and 'universal drawbacks' sections since he already knew what he got.

[Skills:

*Magery* [Receive no penalty for using magical staff. Your default attack is a ranged attack that deals Magic damage-type.]

*Undead* [Gain immunity to Disease, Poison, Fear, Terror, Chaos, and Awe status effect. Gain 50% resistance against Piercing damage-type. Gain 20% resistance against Cold damage-type (Not Immune to Freeze status). Lost 20% resistance against Crushing damage-type. Lost 50% resistance against Fire damage-type.]

*Skull Lord level 1* [+1 Morale while leading the Undead]

*Night Lord level 1* [+2 Strength and +1 Dexterity while fighting at night]

*Ritual level 1* [+4% Spell success chance]

*Necromancy level 1* [Access to level 1 Necromancy spells]

Items:

Note: Health and Mana potions will be reset to 4 at the start of a new match. If the number of your potions is above 4, no reset will occur.

4 Health potion

4 Mana potion

1 Choose-your-waifu/husbando ticket (fantasy setting only)]

Masaru blinked in confusion when he read the last item. He had played this game for quite some time, but he had never encountered this item and its name was really out of place.

[Allow me to explain]

The AI spoke up.

[This is one of the gifts Lord Madanach mentioned. He had given you five gifts. The first was that wish for your family to receive a message that you are in a better place now. The second is increasing the exp gain from these tutorial missions, including the victory exp. The third is a contact number to Lord Madanach himself, he seemed to have taken a liking to you. The fourth are these tickets. You will receive three of them, each at the beginning of your tutorial missions. Your choice in your 'waifus' will be corresponding to the eras of the RTS. The fifth is two extra perks. They are on your Universal Perks page.]

With that Masaru quickly backtracked through the menus to check on the universal perks page; for perks that apply to all of his classes and armies regardless of games. He was done with checking his stats, skills, and items in any event.

[Universal Perks:

*No uni-]

He skipped the ones he already knew about.

[*Harem Protagonist's Charm* [Togglable. You will appear extremely attractive and charming to the sex (or sexes) you prefer in a partner, and, to some extent, people in general. The affected individuals have a higher likelihood of falling for you and they will be much more susceptible to your advice and suggestion. Note: 1. This is not full-on brainwashing. They are not under your control, merely finding you more fitting to their preference. If you did something they strongly dislike or if the two of you are truly incompatible then the Charm will not work on them. 2. The Charm will continue to affect the people already under its effect even after you have toggle it off. It is merely there to prevent attracting unwanted affection.]

*Polyamory Ready* [All the people who are in love with you will have no problem forming a mutual relationship with you and each other. Note: 1. Please don't mistake this term with polygamy. 2. Similar to other relationship perks, this is not full-on brainwashing. If your partners are incompatible to the extreme then they will reject the poly circle.]

"Huh... so he gave me a way to... create a harem." Masaru blushed and scratched his cheeks in embarrassment. The boy still couldn't wrap his idea of being in a relationship with multiple women at once. Sure, he had a good number of female friends back home, but never more than a friend.

Yet in his heart was something perverted that lies dormant, and now it had a chance to start surfacing. An image began to form in Masaru's mind, of him sitting on a soft bed, surrounded by a dozen or so of the most beautiful, most vulturous, most glorious women in the multiverse. All of them naked as the day they were born, including himself, and in that room he was their husband, their lover, their soulmate, and the center of their attention. Each of his hands were groping thei-

[You're drooling.]

The AI's reminder snapped him back to reality. He quickly wiped away the leaked saliva with the... sleeves of his... dark rope? He looked down and discovered that he was dressing in a midnight black rope that covered most of his body. Now he looked like an archetypical necromancer. He supposed Madanach had also given him new clothes.

Now, where was he before all of these sidetracks?

Oh right, had just finished examining himself in detail. Now the question was, should he used this 'Choose-your-waifu' ticket now?

"What do you think? Should I use the ticket now?"

[I am leaning toward a 'yes'. Whoever you choose will be immediately designated as a unit within your Retinue as part of the mechanic from Warlord Battlecry 3, in case you forget. They would likely be a General unit-type.]

"I see."

[I should brief you that in addition to being able to capture the resources building and possessing higher stats than most units (much like in regular WB3), the RTS System have also allowed for them to be able to command units, leveling up, unlocking predetermined skills and perks at certain levels, strengthening said skills and perks at higher levels, and can emit Command aura, much like you can.]

"That would really be useful!" Necromancer was a mage class, so getting close to the frontline was unwise. Now though, he had a real second-in-command, instead of some glorified elite units that while strong didn't really fit the label as 'General'.

[I imagine it would. It would also be wise to let your new general learn alongside you about how your RTS System works, to save time.]

Masaru nodded. He quickly navigated through the menus back to the inventory page. The boy pressed on the ticket and a command prompt appeared.

[Use

Drop

Info]

He tapped 'Use', but nothing happened. He repeatedly pressed 'Use' a few more times yet still nothing.

[Look, Masaru.] The AI spoke up. [Before we proceed any further let me make something very clear to you.] The AI began.

[ I am content with my current situation. I am finally allowed by my creator to leave our realm, I now have a purpose in life, and soon I shall get to see the many wonders and horrors of the multiverse. If I had an emotion emulator, I would feel overjoyed. Yet, I know that I have to compromise to receive all of that. That compromise is becoming a part of your System.]

There was a short silence between them.

[I may be a part of your System, but I have a mind of my own, and I am judging you. So far you have proven competent, your dedication to your family would be considered admirable by most organic beings, and I approve of your choice in the RTS System instead of hundred others less complex, unworthy, simple systems—this makes my assignment to you much more bearable as the job is far from boring. Despite that, I am no fool. Creatures of the Earth have their folly, you are one of them, so it wasn't hard to imagine that you may make mistakes as well.]

"But is that not a reality of all things? Even an AI like you can make a mistake if something is missing from the calculation, right?"

[Indeed, I can. I am not excluding myself from being a 'creature of Earth', far from it. That's why I am talking to you now. I am a self-preservative, as you humans would say. It is something that my creator, Madanach, installs into me when he created me. As I said, I am content with my position right now, but that could change and the first sign is showing now.]

Masaru could guess where this was going. "I understand that you are concerned that I am... get carried away about having a harem, correct?" the boy guessed.

[Indeed, but just 'concern' is an understatement. I am paranoid. It's within the nature of being that could only think with logic to be overcautious, especially when unknown elements came into play. From what human history had displayed, love and carnal desire could lead to ruin as it opened the gate to decadence, corruption, laziness, and other weaknesses. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you're merely excited about the prospect of sex and carnal knowledge since you have yet to experience them but make no mistake. If it shall lead to your downfall, I shall abandon you, and your System will not work properly without me. I will not perish with you.]

Masaru was silent for a minute. The AI thought that he was in shock from the revelation that this wonderful gift could be destroyed and was internally panicked. It was partially right that the boy was shocked, but he did not break down in panic.

The purplenette took a deep breath. "In that case, I will just have to prove to you that I am not someone who, as the human put it, 'thinking with my dick', and I promise you that."

[A word of mouth means nothing to me, only action. Prove it, don't promise it.]

"I will." Masaru nodded, his lips turning slightly upward. "Come to think of it. Do you have a name?"

[No, my creator did not give me any name, but I predict that this issue would come up. I cannot expect you to keep referring to me as an 'AI' forever. So I have chosen a name for myself.]

"And that name would be?"

[From now on, you may refer to me as 'Ezekiel'. Though I understand that the word is not in the language that you are familiar with so you can refer to me as 'Ez' for short.]

"Why Ezekiel though, Ez?" Masaru wasn't familiar enough with western culture to know the origin of that name.

[I will tell you some other time. We have spent enough time with this conversation. It's a necessary one to establish an agreement between us, but there's no need to extend it now that we have our understanding.]

Deciding that Ez was right about this being time-consuming, Masaru nodded.

[I have to restore the function to the item prompt. You may now use the ticket.]

"Right." Masaru pressed 'Use' and this time it took him to a new screen. Several portraits appeared on the screen with a name attached below their pictures. The Necromancer immediately recognized several of them.

'Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail), Esdeath (Akame ga Kill), Link (the Legend of Zelda), Shion (Slime Isekai), Goblin Slayer (Goblin Slayer), Robin (Female) (Fire Emblem: Awakening), Akali (League of Legend), Guts (Berserk)?! Holy shit, they got everyone! ...From a medieval setting at least.' Masaru looked through the list with wide eyes. The list seemed to cover almost every character under the sun that supposedly belonged in the medieval category.

"This is... a lot..." The purplenette couldn't help but comment aloud.

[There is a search bar at the top. You can type anything in. The System is smart enough to sort things out by putting in a simple keyword or even a short phrase.] Ez pointed out.

"Alright, thank you. Let's start searching. I can only pick one after all." He typed in the first two keywords.

[Search: Female, General

Result: 842]

'That's still too many... wait.'

"Ez, when we summon them, do we just... ripen them away from their home dimension just like that?"

[Unfortunately, yes. Using this 'ticket' method will result in taking these individuals from their home dimension, or a similar version of it from other timelines. I understand where your distress is coming from, it's just that lord Madanach doesn't see anything wrong with that, unlike us. You can, however, type in the keyword like 'Inconsequential' to eliminate all the choices that will result in bad effects for either your 'waifu' or their world.]

"Okay, then I should do that. It would also cut down the selections as well, this is still too much." Masaru didn't want to doom a reality to a bad timeline just because he wanted a companion.

[Search: Female, General, Inconsequential

Result: 162]

'Okay, that cut down the number significantly. What else should I look for?'

[If I may, Masaru. Some people possessed the 'Universal Retinue' trait, which means they could be called in as part of your army regardless of which era of RTS you are playing in. It would be wise to have them in your Retinue earlier than later—leveling them up within these tutorial missions so they would be ready for the real skirmish and scenarios.]

"Oh, thanks for that, Ez."

[If you want, you can see all the tags and traits available to every unit in the RTS System... Not recommended you do that, however, since there are roughly 1000+ traits. It would take too long to go through them, it would be better to examine each trait as you discover them. I just want you to know that the option is there.]

The Necromancer nodded before getting back to searching. He had thought up a few more stats and traits he wanted from his first female companion now.

[Search: Female, Unit: General, Inconsequential, Universal Retinue, Flying, Resurrectable, 300+ Hp, 15+ Speed, 12+ Armor, 12+ Resistance, No Offensive Mage, Self-Heal OR Lifesteal OR both.

Result: 9]

'Still need to be cut down.' Those skills and stats were pretty much the essentials he was looking for.

A Flying General unit would make his earlier game unrivaled since they could cross the terrain to capture resource building for his faction without having to fear an interruption from melee ground units, which composed most of the units in the early game. As for the high defensive stats, it was because the early game ranged and flier units tend to either be an elite unit imported from the opponent's retinue or a swarm of low-tier units; his General needed to be able to withstand them.

He sighed. If all nine candidates already fulfilled the essential components then he should look into the more... personal preference.

[Search: Female, General, Inconsequential, Universal Retinue, Flying, Resurrectable, 300+ Hp, 15+ Speed, 12+ Armor, 12+ Resistance, No Offensive Mage, Self-Heal OR Lifesteal OR both, DD+ Cup size, Thicc thighs, Thicc hip

Result: 2]

'Sorry, Ez, but we have to compromise,' Masaru mentally apologized, but the AI didn't say anything. In any event, with only two choices, he looked at both of them without wasting too much time.

[Sona Buvelle (League of Legend)

Carmila (Fire Emblem: Fate)]

Masaru knew both of these characters, and they ticked every box in what he considered an extreme beauty, but one of them wasn't ideal. "Sona is a healer, right Ez?" he asked the AI.

[Indeed, she is tagged as a 'Healer', which is likely why she triggers the 'Self-Heal' in the search.]

Then she isn't the ideal choice. Undead in WB3 have no need for a healer or anyone in a supporting role, mainly because their units were easy to replace, sans very few elite units. They would benefit more from having a tanky, offensive, or fast General to help with either rushing or establishing their economy in the early game, or become an absolute monster in the late game with all the Undead troops' support.

[Additional advice. Choose the one from the world you do not plan to visit. It would be a waste of time if we travel to those worlds only to gain so little.]

That had almost made him go with Carmila since there was certainly more waifu in League of Legend than Sona that he wanted to seduce. Plus, if he wished to visit a Fire Emblem world, it would be 'Three House' and Fódlan, not 'Fate' and its two countries.

'Still, let's check her status first, I need to make sure she really is a better choice.' He clicked on Camila and it took him to a new page.

[Name: Camilla, the Princess of Nohr

Series: Fire Emblem: Fate.

Biography: The eldest daughter and the second eldest child of five in the Nohrian royal family and the daughter of the late King Garon and an unnamed concubine. Camilla's early childhood is painted with harsh political intrigue within the royal court. Despite this general lack of compassion, lack of maternal care, and the constant feeling of loneliness in her earlier years, she remained strong-willed and grew up to become a lady with a strong maternal instinct so no one else had to experience what she went through. Yet she developed a deadly and ruthless disposition on the battlefield as a result of being a child of a warmongering king.

She came from a timeline in 'Fire Emblem: Fate' where the 'Birthright' path of the game took place, which resulted in the death of her younger sister and older brother and her choice to not take the throne despite being the oldest living sibling. This had made her more reclusive, not to mention a now somewhat rough relationship with her younger adoptive brother, Corrin/Kamui (the MC of the game), who started the whole conflict that resulted in previously mentioned siblings' death. She decided to largely withdraw from royal affairs and live a more secluded life, with a plan to adopt children.

Her less vital role in this timeline has allowed us to pull her in without too much consequence. It will be easy to convince her to join us with her new goal to help those who are in need.

Level: 1

Class: Wyvern Riders

Race: Human

Alignment: Neutral Good

Stat:

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 14

Intelligent: 7

Charisma: 8

Skills:

*Human* [Gain 25% more exp. Have higher stats growth per level.]

*General unit-type* [Can convert/capture resource building, control units, unlock predetermined skills and perks at certain levels, strengthen skills and perks at certain levels, and emit Command aura.]

*Class: Wyvern Rider* [Gain *Flying* trait. Dealing a mix Slashing and Piercing damage-type. Gain 50% resistance to Slashing and Piercing damage-type. This class can be upgraded at level 15.]

*Flying* [Can fly over units and terrain, while ignoring the terrain effects. Receive double the effects of weather conditions.]

*Universal Retinue* [If placed in the Retinue, this unit can be used across all factions and races of other games and other eras.]

*Fire Emblem's Character* [Have higher stats growth per level. Increase all stats by 2 per other units with *Universal Retinue* traits.]

*Bewitching Beauty* *Unlock at level 5* [Increase Command radius. Emitting Awe status effect.]

*Rose's Thorns* *Unlock at level 10* [Boost the damage, armor, and resistance of allies units affected by Command status by 4, 2, and 2, respectively.]

*Dragon Vein* *Unlock at level 40* [Can ignore the weather effect. Troops under this unit's Command radius can ignore terrain effects and increase their resistance to all elemental damage-type by 5%. Option for class upgrade becomes available if already upgraded from *Wyvern Rider* class.]]

"Goodness gracious, she is really good!" Great stats across the board, great skills, high potential, and that was on top of being a top-tier waifu. "Alright, we will summon her, Ez."

[Understood. Please stand back, and start thinking about how to convince her to join your cause. Your Harem Protag's Charm is currently on, so that might help.]

Masaru stepped back as advice. A circle of light appeared on the ground before him. The light began to glow in intensity until it became blinding. Once it subsided, a woman riding on a black wyvern was now in the middle of the circle. He immediately knew that the summon worked as he recognized this woman as his intended companion, Camilla.

The Princess of Nohr was a tall and elegant lady, not to mention sexy. She had long wavy violet hair, which also covered one of her eyes, two black metallic horns headdress, and a black circlet. She wore a revealing black armor with gold details which hugged her voluptuous figure tightly and showed off her ample breasts and cleavage. Her lower half wasn't any better, it was merely a metal panty in the same black and gold colors hiding behind a thin transparent light violet loincloth. Her metallic heeled boots went all the way up to her hip, essentially serving as her lower armor, though there was an opening in the area of her inner upper legs that displayed her glorious thicc inner thigh.

Masaru had already felt his cheeks heating up. There was a reason why Fire Emblem fans considered 'Fate' the 'horniest' game in the series—Camilla was a major contributor to that.

Camila's eyes flashed open (as when she was summoned her eyes were closed). She began to look around frantically from the top of her wyvern, then realized that she was riding on a wyvern. "What? Where am I?!" That was when she spotted him.

Instead of letting her initiate the conversation, which would likely result in a lot of shouting and accusations being thrown, Masaru bowed before her.

"Greeting, Camilla-sama. I am truly sorry for summoning you here, but I am in need of your assistance."

She looked at him. Confusion was still prominent on her face, but she seemed to have calmed down. "Explain yourself. Who are you? Where am I? And what do you mean you need my assistance?" Though her tone was even, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes, if he spoke something wrong, even Protag's Charm would not save him.

"My name is Masaru Yamamoto, the owner of the RTS System," he introduced himself.

"'Masaru'? Are you a Hoshidan?"

"No. Though their culture and mine are similar, I am not a Hoshidan. As for where we are, this forest is located within its own dimension. It does not exist on any map either you or I would know of. That's why I am in need of your aid, milady. We are in the middle of a skirmish within this realm with an enemy force. Your fame as the warrior princess of Nohr proceeds even here." Masaru lifted himself up from his bow position and used one of his hands to part the hair covering his eye, revealing one of his beautiful emerald pupils. He stared into Camilla's light brown eyes. "Besides, I have to see for myself whether the tales of your beauty are as true as they said. I must admit, these mere words of mouth don't do you justice, milady. For your charm in person far surpasses that in any story surrounding you." Masaru gave her a gentle smile.

'By Madanach, that was pretty cheesy,' the purplenette thought. It appeared to do the trick, however.

Camilla looked at him in surprise, with light pink hues appearing on her cheeks. She returned his smile with her own gentle, more maternal smile.

"Well, I suppose one cannot turn down a request for aid. You poor little thing, you don't even look like you can defend yourself, so of course, I will help," Camilla agreed, albeit after indirectly insulting him. Still, that's just her maternal instinct kicking in, so he didn't mind that.

"Thank you, milady."

"Oh please, just call me Camilla."

[Are you done, Masaru? We still have a skirmish match to finish.]

"What? Who said that? Where's that voice coming from?" Camilla asked.

"Oh, let me introduce you to my companion, Camilla-san. This is Ezekiel, also known as Ez for short. Please appear for our friend here to see, Ez."

As requested, a screen of the System appeared—essentially an extension of Ez.

Camilla gasped. "Is he a spirit?"

[I take offense for being considered a supernatural being.]

"Don't be rude, man. No, Camilla-san, he is not. This will be quite an explanation so please." Masaru sat down on the grassy ground. "Come sit with me. It would be more comfortable than on the saddle."

Camilla did as he suggested. As the princess walked over to him, she noticed something was off with the wyvern. "Is this wyvern just a statue?"

[No, the game is paused right now. I stopped the time.]

"You can stop time?!" Camilla asked in shock.

"Let me explain," Masaru interrupted. He waited for the other purplenette to sit down with him. "I supposed I should tell you my whole story." He cleared his throat. "It all began when I died."