New Age

After a silly episode where he looked like a teenager in love, Derrick profusely thanked Brigand before immediately leaving for Akata.

The merchant couldn't figure out why the necromancer was in such a hurry, but he figured he had urgent matters to attend to.

When Derrick arrived, it was already evening.

He discreetly roamed around and assessed the progress of the Military Quarters. The land was already starting to take shape as the self-taught lumberjacks plowed through.

He didn't convey a meeting, as it would be pointless without something concrete to present.

The immediate thing he had to do was going to the forge and get iron and bronze alloys. It was a prerequisite for the spell to work.

When he approached the building, he heard clinging sounds and saw that smoke was coming out. It appeared that the dwarf was already hard at work, hammering what seemed to be his ninth set of Iron armor.

"You've been working hard!"

Fomamli nearly jumped through the roof in surprise. Why the hell was someone annoying him during such a delicate step?! Just as he was about to turn around and rain curses on the intruder, his face went from one of anger to one of happiness.

What betrayed his true emotions, however, were the large beads of sweat that instantly formed on his forehead. He continuously thanked the gods he had restrained himself before erupting.

The dwarf's reaction made it hard for Derrick to contain his laughter.

"Sorry for the disturbance. I only came to borrow Iron and Bronze alloys. I'll return them shortly afterward. Also, well done on the progress. Keep up the good work"

Without waiting for a response, the necromancer then took the materials and left, leaving behind a truly happy Fomamli. He knew he had a long road ahead, but he was happy to have already begun repaying his debt.

***

While riding Io above the town-square, Derrick started casting the spell.

The first thing he wanted to find was iron, since it was the very foundation of economies due to its immense versatility.

"Discovery Spell : Iron"

A small shock wave emanated from the hand holding the ore, and it extended 10 kilometers around the town.

[Searching... 1 deposit found. Size of the deposit : Large. Located 3 kilometers south of Akata]

Derrick was initially super happy, only to be greatly frustrated.

Happy that he had been right, but frustrated about the distance separating them from the resources. Three kilometers in this wilderness filled with danger was massive.

It appeared that he needed to fast-forward his road project, which required way more people than Akata currently had.

A grin slowly crept on Derrick's face. Was it finally time to conquer again?

After noting down the location of the iron deposit, it was time to find copper and tin, as the bronze alloy was the amalgam of these two minerals.

"Discovery Spell : Bronze"

[Searching... 1 deposit found. Nature : Copper. Size of the deposit : Small. Located 6 kilometers north of Akata]

Another jackpot!

It was even further away, but it didn't matter. Now that he knew that roads were essentials, just finding the resources in Akata's vicinity was enough.

With this over, it was time to augment his ranks...

***

Yamato village, 8 kilometers north of Akata.

The villagers were all having a pleasant day.

The sun was shining and there were barely any clouds, exposing the beautiful azure sky. The soldiers on patrol duty were sitting down together at a table, drinking and gambling. There were no conflicts in this remote area, making their jobs more symbolic than anything else nowadays.

On top of this, their mentality and will to improve had gradually waned since the village's growth. Since they were the biggest around, nobody had dared to attack them, making them complacent to the extreme.

"You lazy shits! Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"

In a loud bang, a fist came crashing down on the table, shattering it in a million pieces. The soldiers instantly got up before running away, terrified at the sight of their worst nightmare.

With a humph, the figure turned around, satisfied by their reaction.

The figure's name was Moira, and she had just turned 21 years old. She was the fiercest warrior of the village, as well as its peerless beauty. Her silk brown hair, green eyes, slender waist and perky breasts had earned her the nickname Viper : beautiful, but deadly.

As for her past, it was anything but easy.

During her childhood, the Krakow Empire had purged her native village, accusing it of hiding refugees of other races. Of course, this had been a fabricated lie.

The true reason why they had been targeted was because they couldn't pay the exorbitant tax that their lord had imposed. The lord had then taken it upon himself to show what would happen if anyone else defaulted, thus turning them into an example.

Her father had managed to sneak her out, but her mother hadn't been so lucky. She had been killed in front of her, stabbed in the back. Moira's last memory of her was her warm smile and the sentence she had uttered in her final breath.

"Grow to be a strong and fierce woman who can decide her path..."

Together with her father, they had fled the Empire and had taken refuge in this wilderness, isolated from the rest of the world.

Over the years, they had both built the refuge in which they still lived, now accompanied by many others who shared their situation.

By abiding to her mother's words, she had made her father extremely proud and felt like she had also honored her memory.

*BUUUUUUUUUUUVVVVVV*

A horn sounded, stopping her in her tracks. Was there... an intruder?

Without waiting another second, she bolted atop of their wooden walls.

"Where is it?"

The guard who had sounded the alarm was taken aback by her reaction, but he rapidly responded.

"He's over there"

She looked in the direction he pointed and saw a peculiar sight.

A single man, wrapped in a black cloak, was walking nonchalantly towards them. He was tall, had golden hair, and from the distance, looked rather handsome as well.

When a distance of 100 meters separated them, he stopped.

"Villagers and soldiers of Yamato, my name is Derrick Tarlin, and I come here asking for your surrender. No blood needs to be spilled"

His loud and large voice resounded throughout the village, taking its people by enormous surprise.

Who the hell was this man?! He had a lot of courage to come here and ask for their surrender!

Moira couldn't believe her ears. What the fuck?

How could one person be this arrogant!

Shortly after, her father, chief Julio, arrived.

"Moira, what the hell is going on?"

"I'm as lost as you are... This man just arrived and asked us to surrender"

Her tone was filled with contempt, and she was waiting for her father's permission to go beat that idiot.

Julio's eyes quickly narrowed on Derrick, and he began analyzing him.

The man was unscathed and looked well-fed. The wilderness was a terribly dangerous place, so how had he stayed in such a condition?

"Traveler, we have no intentions of surrendering to you. We are, however, prepared to offer you shelter and food"

Moira was stunned. Why was her father being accommodating right now?

When he sensed his daughter's doubts, the elderly man explained.

"Look at him. He's definitely not weak, since he crossed the forest unharmed. Your worst enemy is always the unknown. Remember that"

Derrick, who could hear the entire conversation, was quite impressed by the astute old man.

Moreover, his daughter really struck him, ultimately deciding that he also wanted her.

"I'm thankful for your kindness, but I will have to decline. I came here to conquer, not to put on false pretenses"

The father and daughter's expressions drastically changed. This fellow clearly didn't value his life!

Julio started shouting.

"Well, don't blame us for being heartless! Open the gates! Send the soldiers to put him down"

Derrick's heartbeat accelerated. The party could finally get started...