Chapter 12

Two more months passed since the first feast. Since then, it became a tradition for it to be held once a month to increase morale and camaraderie amongst everyone. 

In these two months, we have successfully eliminated the use of tents, with everyone now having a wood house to call home. Those who had relations with each other opted to stay together which was fine with me. 

More space for other people. 

We didn't stop even after we had enough houses for everyone, I had them build more. After all, where would people live when they joined us?

Already there were a handful of drifters who had joined us. They were coming from Vale, looking for a fresh start after the plague. The death toll and sickness count during my imprisonment was the highest Vale had ever seen. Even now, they're still recovering. 

I idly wondered how these people would feel knowing that I was the cause of it. 

Moving on, I took my time to design an inn structure with multiple rooms for wanderers. That took more time than I thought it would but I'm slowly getting more familiar with architecture design. 

Other notable structures were the storage house, where fruits and food were stored and the barn which was slowly being filled with animals that I multiplied through demi cellular division. I intend to expand on that later but for now, it is adequate. 

There is still so much to do. 

"Chief." A voice said, breaking me out of my thoughts. 

I turned to the owner of the voice, Omar, who stared at me, excitement in his eyes. Behind him were the men of the village, similar looks on their faces. 

"Apologies. I lost myself for a moment there." I said, bringing myself back to the present. "As I was saying, there is a settlement west of here. It's a three day journey but we'll get there faster. Our objective is to conquer."

I couldn't leave the village unsupervised so I had a few fission clones of Nezu ahead to find nearby settlements. I had a map marked with all the locations he'd found and this is the closest one to us. 

"Unfortunately, they have twice the number of fighters we have. Almost triple." That barely did anything to rein in their excitement but some of those eyes now held caution. 

"And we're still going to attack them?" One of the calmer ones asked. 

"They have the advantage in numbers but we don't need numbers." Nezu can't talk so he couldn't relay the exact amount they had but after a short game of charades, I had a rough number. "Numbers don't guarantee victory. Each of you is worth at least two men in physical capability. You'll find that they are no match for you."

Another reason why the construction moved along so fast is because I modified the physique of my workers, making them a lot stronger than the average man. They were obviously not modified to the level that I am so I fear no revolt and they know not to attempt it. 

"Even with that, the aim is to conquer, not destroy. We want to increase our numbers and a field of dead men is no army. Subdue but don't kill unless necessary." I warned, staring straight at Kahn, the man who had fought me when I first arrived here. 

Kahn was arguably the most battle hungry man amongst them who sought glory in combat. He simply scoffed before looking away. 

"What about the women here? Who is going to protect them while we're out there?" Another man asked. 

That was a valid question. 

"I'll take care of that." I'll have a few Nezu duplicates around the place to keep out any potential troublemakers when we're away. "Now, let's continue making preparations. Tomorrow, we go to battle."

Xx-Xx-Xx

For the twenty men who would follow me into battle, I crafted bone weaponry from the skeletons of creatures that I had Nezu hunt. From bone spears to swords, hardened enough to compete with steel and sharp enough to cut flesh. 

For myself, I crafted a spear from Moro's spine. Morbid, yes, but it would serve as a reminder for me of what has been done and what needs to be done. 

My fighters and I rode to the west, split between two wooden carts we crafted, pulled by my rodent's duplicates. Two more carts, empty, were also being pulled along on our journey. They would be used to transport those who would be brought back with us. 

As I expected, the three day journey was cut down to a few hours with Nezu's speed. 

"Hold!" I exclaimed, causing the creatures to slow to a stop. 

Up ahead, our destination could be seen. In comparison to our small number, they were quite large. If I had to guess, they numbered around sixty. Nezu was roughly correct.

"If you wish to back down now, speak now or forever hold your peace." I said, my voice carrying to my men who only grinned, tightening their grip on their various weapons. 

After a moment of nobody speaking up, I disembarked from the cart, my small score of warriors trailing behind me as we made the short remainder of the journey on foot. 

We didn't go unnoticed, my eyes catching them scrambling around for something, or someone. By the time we got closer, they had assembled a line up of men to 'welcome' us. 

In the armed manner we came, there were delusions as to what we were here for. Our two sides stopped in front of each other, giving some space between ourselves. 

As I stepped forward, a man from the other side stepped forward as well. 

"What is the meaning of this?" The man asked. 

"This is a battle for domination. Lay down your arms. Surrender and I promise you prosperity under my rule." There was no need to butter up my words here. 

Though I would be happy to convince them without bloodshed, that was not the way of life in Vacuo. Strength decides who is right. 

As expected, the man frowned, spitting on the ground in front of me. "Take your 'surrender' and shove it up your hole!" He spat out before turning to his men. "Slaughter these fools!"

They wasted no time, running towards us. They had metal and wooden weaponry but I'm sure our bone armaments would suffice. 

"Attack!" I ordered, the words barely leaving my mouth when my men blurred past me to dive into battle. 

It was no surprise when the first clash resulted in one of our opponents being thrown ten feet away on his back. That gave our opponents a short pause which we immediately capitalized on. 

"To the victor goes the spoils." I muttered to myself, rushing forward to join in. 

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A/N: I may have been a bit over my head when I started this because I genuinely have no idea how to take this where I want it to go. So this might be my last update for a while. 

Though, if you like MHA fics, I'm working on one right now and it's out with two chapters.