The Tyrannical King
"B-b-but sir, those without talent can't cultivate!" shouted someone else on instinct.
"No, no, no, it is not that those without talent cannot cultivate but instead that they cultivate slowly! The King probably knows of this fact too but has said as such since he doesn't wish to waste resources on talentless people. Those with talent will be able to use resources more effectively while cultivating faster so normally people choose to select those with better talents. They can basically train someone to a higher level with a lower cost. For us though, the costs are inconsequential and what really matters to us is not talent but elemental affinities! Elemental affinities is what those in higher worlds use to judge disciples and not talent. To explain it to you in simpler terms, talent changes how fast you can get from one place to another but elemental affinities changes the distance itself! Meaning, if you have a high affinity to an element, you can reach a higher realm than someone with low elemental affinity but higher talent!" Lucius explained with the aid of a holographic demo he pulled up using the DISC. The current lecture was being recorded from the side and would be shown to all future recruits instead of Lucius needing to repeat himself every time.
"Then sir, what about the Black Rock King? Are you really strong enough to beat him? Will we become strong enough to beat him?" asked a bald man.
"Currently, I'm unsure of the strength of the king, however, the strongest of the military are merely at the spirit gathering realm! The weakest out of us three is at the spirit condensing realm! 2 whole realms above them! Don't worry, we will be able to slaughter them all if we have to. That being said though, we don't want to wantonly slaughter them. We want to take them all down simultaneously, the military, the nobles and the decrepit king. All in one go! And to answer your last question, yes you will! The minimum level you will reach in the future will be the 4th tier, right now, Delilah and I are only at the 2nd level! That should show you that in the future, we will have a baseline strength strong enough to conquer this entire world!"
"Yes sir!" the bald man responded with enthusiasm and a bow, admiring the boldness of the young kid in front of him.
"Now then, as the questions are out of the way I'll describe the immediate plan to you all. Firstly, I'm sorry but for now I'll need you all to return to your normal lives. Every night though, we will bring you here to eat your fill! We will begin to train you and help you develop enough strength to enact our plans. Currently, there are around 6400 soldiers and there will be even more men that are with the king and nobles. We need to be able to kill all of them at the same time! This means that we need a higher number of people on our side, currently we only have 1000 men that we brought with us and you guys. Your strength doesn't matter as long as you have enough strength to move around smoothly and the will to put an end to this dictatorship!" Lucius explained with fervour, exciting a deep desire within the crowd to serve this kid and help him achieve his goals.
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After a week had passed the number of troops in the clan had increased to around 50,000. The Kingdom had around a million inhabitants so the word spread by the 600 was able to reach a lot of people. The plan was developing rapidly as they began to target more specialised help instead of the workers, the soldiers who were good at heart and helped people secretly were all exposed to the trio and quickly joined the clan. The next step was the west side workers that were happy to join as soon as they promised the death of the Black Rock King. It seemed like the palace workers all hated him since he was abusive and impulsive. He raped the maids, he executed butlers that went against him and killed every chef that made a bad dish. He was a Tyrannical king who didn't care for anyone, wantonly killing those who angered him.
However the part they hated the most was the method of execution. The Black Rock King had a special fetish where he got off on violence and gore, but more specifically he enjoyed gladiatorial battles. This was why he had created such a huge coliseum instead of helping his poor citizens out. The people lived in poverty while he spent all their food funds on building a gladiator ring. The way he executed those that angered him was by putting them in the coliseum to fight against his pet beast! Neither man, woman or child was spared from such a fate as he let them run for their lives as his pet toyed them to death while he forced his subjects and palace workers to watch as an example.
In fact, the king was so despised that soon enough, half the military had already joined the trio's side since these were the men that had been forced into the military and forced to watch their family members rot away in the slums. They had silently been looking for an opportunity to fight back and this was it! Now, the only remaining opposition were the nobles and high level military who were the ones that profited the most. The nobles didn't belong to this kingdom in the first place and were instead merchants who had bought a title from the king. They controlled the imports and exports, they were basically the kings accountants. The military officials were hired by the king from outside the kingdom.
Previously this place was known as Black Rock town and was a fishing town that was peaceful and serene. They had fished for a living and never fought with others, the city of Oswock would trade with them while the Green Hound Bandits didn't care much for the barren fishing town. However, everything changed when the Black Rock King arrived and established his monarchy! He banned fishing and started the more lucrative mining business. The Black Rock town was built on a large mine of black rock, otherwise known as black iron. It was a tier 1 ore that could be sold for a lot more than the fishes at the shore, however, it was also far more laborious and was damaging to the health of the miners.
The King did not care for the people of Black Rock town though as he immediately executed all those that opposed him before beginning his reign and developing the town into a city. He had lived here for 20 years now, doing whatever he wanted and keeping the order using brutal methods. As none of the people in the town were cultivators, they couldn't fight back or run away as one way lead to a vast sea that was far more dangerous than land and the forest range adjacent to the town was filled with magic beasts. Even if they were successful in escaping, it was highly likely they would be captured by the Green Hound Bandits as they were closer to the forest than the city of Oswock was.
These 20 years were gruelling and painful for many who lived in Black Rock Kingdom so they were even more grateful when a chance to change their lives had finally arrived. They were quick to spread the word of Lucius and the Garden as they began to note him as the saviour. Those guards that were able to catch on were either added into the Gardens troops or silently taken out. The high officials were too busy enjoying themselves to actually notice anything though. After 2 weeks though, the trio had accepted enough people to start their coup. Firstly, they had taken over all the soldiers that controlled the mining that happened at the outskirts of the continent. Lucius and Maria installed mining machines and made the process autonomous. They effectively ended the labour of the people and then began to start the second stage of the plan.
Two days later there would be a special event known as the kings banquet. It was an annual celebration held by the king to celebrate his own crowning and re-establish his dominance over the people. It was a key event that required the participation of all the high levelled officials and nobles. If one didn't show up, the king would set his pet on him! This was basically an opportunity send down from the gods for the coup though, as everyone they needed to assassinate would be in the same place, at the same time and all of them would be intoxicated!