Respect?

Valerie was inspecting the dead scorpions on the ground. Her soldiers were shooting the heads of the scorpions since it's the most sure way that they stay dead.

'Scorpions have been an extinct species for almost half a century. Ever since the hero Christopher Lawrence claimed to have exterminated all of them after one of them killed his son. Obviously, he was wrong.' Valerie thought.

Many species have gone extinct in this world, like slimes were once a very common and weak monster, like goblins. But thanks to the heroes they are now all gone for good. And also other species are gone thanks to the heroes.

The human's species special ability is to make other entire species go extinct.

Valerie right now has one goal in mind, to become allies or even trading partners with Will. Before she wasn't so sure since she didn't know his ability, but now she really wants to.

The main reason she wants to ally with Will is because of that destructive, enchanted gun he used. Their empire does indeed have various powerful weapons but that one weapon Will had is very destructive.

If he could make more of those she can proceed with her future plans.

Once Will exited the cave, Valerie immediately walked towards him.

"Empress!" Her soldiers immediately followed her to protect her. There's nothing saying that a scorpion or another monster could pop out of nowhere.

"Hero, let us help you rebuild." The Empress offered her help to Will.

"No, don't bother. I can do this by myself."

While it was annoying for Will to have to start over, he was confident he could rebuild his castle again in a few days. Now that he was familiar with the system's building ability he could rebuild it faster than before.

"Hmm… okay, I won't offer my help, but I can offer something you want. You did say you wanted a stronger metal, right? This world has a metal that is without a doubt the strongest in this world. Not even steel or dragon scales can be compared to it."

Will's eyes shined. A metal even stronger than steel and dragon scales? If he could use it on his golems he wouldn't need to worry about them being destroyed.

After the scorpion incident he wasn't planning on using golems for the time being. It was too risky. Unless he could somehow protect them he won't use them. They were far too valuable to simply toss them away like that.9

And besides it wasn't the first time he lost something valuable, like those countless times he died in lava with enchanted diamond gear on Minecraft.

Will died before the nether update so he never lost netherite before. But he would have lost the netherite armor and tools if the update had come sooner.

"Rico, hand me your anti-hero chestpiece." Valerie asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Rico took off his armor and revealed beneath a sort of chain armor, but it was very shiny, very blue like the ocean with a bit of white.

The strange metal looked almost alive, like the colors were breathing and moving like the ocean.

Rico took it off and handed it to Valerie.

"This armor is called 'anti-hero' metal. It's called that because it's the only metal that can restrain heroes, and powerful monsters. Many say that even the great sage can't break this metal though it has never been proven. The kingdom uses this metal to create cuffs to restrain fallen heroes. Though it only restrains their strength and not their special abilities. It's also heavy so we can't make entire armor made of this anti-hero metal."

It is called 'anti-hero' solely because the Great Sage was the first to discover it and therefore gave it that name. He's not the type to put too much thought into things like names.

"Is that so?" Will reached for the armor to touch it, but the Empress slowly pulled back.

"Hold on. If you want this type of metal I need something from you in return." Valerie could see her plan worked.

It's like how it is in fishing: you toss a line with bait in it, you wait for the fish to take the bait, and once you see the fish take the bait you reel him in.

In this case Will is the fish, she's the one with the fishing rod, and the 'metal' is her bait. And Will took the bait.

"What do you need?"

"That weapon you used, can you make more?"

"The turret handgun?" Will asked to be sure.

"Yes, that one. Can you make more?"

"I can."

Will could tell that she wanted his handgun turrets since they are very powerful. However, they didn't know Will had all the leverage, and Will knew he had it.

The handgun turret is amazing but at the same time no. It's simply a handgun that can only carry 6 bullets, and has terrible aim. Without the infinite enchantment, it's pretty much useless. And also he is the only who knows he can make them, and the only one who can add the infinite enchantment on any weapon.

Without a doubt even expert blacksmiths could probably replicate his handgun. Will has seen Jack able to create a pistol from scratch in a few days, and he is a beginner blacksmith. A very experienced blacksmith could make a pistol in a few hours.

Though some of his weapons do come out defective, Will can make 100 of those turret guns in a matter of minutes.

But the real power isn't his turret handgun, it is the infinite enchantment that is on his weapon.

"How many can you make?"

"Oof, hard to say. Making those weapons is very difficult for me. Not to mention my entire castle was recently destroyed." Will feigned it. When actually it was super easy, barely an inconvenience.

It's just that if he made it seem easy then it wouldn't seem as valuable.

It was a good trade in his mind. And besides he has been meaning to trade his weapons to someone, but not the kingdom. After all, trading with villagers is one of his favorite things to do in minecraft, that and enslaving them, but he doesn't see any benefit in enslaving people like in minecraft. If anything, golems were the better choice to use instead of people.

"But can we talk about business later? I need to rebuild my base first… castle."

As much as Will would like to trade with her, he needed to rebuild his destroyed castle. Otherwise he'll be very vulnerable.

Thanks to the scorpions he's gonna have to add more layers of protection to his base. How's he going to do that? He had no idea. But after all this time on his world, he is used to solving things on his own now.

"Um… sure. Need any help?" Asked Valerie, again.

"Nah, I'm good."

Will proceeded to first gather any resources he could find that weren't damaged by the scorpions, or his explosions.

Unfortunately most of his items were destroyed, even his fruit farm was completely destroyed, and his camels were all dead.

It was the equivalent of dying in hardcore minecraft but only worse, because this is real life and it was way more difficult in comparison.

On the bright side he would have never made it further than 3 months on hardcore mode. He could barely make it 1 day on hardcore minecraft.

"Empress, by any chance should we take 'care' of him? Permanently?" Rico whispered to Valerie.

"No. Why make enemies when we can make friends. Still keep an eye out. We'll be staying here for a few days at most." Valerie did think about it, but that '0' timer on Will's clock made her very worried, and his destructive weapons worried her, too.

It was hard to say how many of her men would be killed should he go all trigger happy with his infinite explosion bullets.

In other words it just wasn't worth having Will as an enemy.

Regardless, Valerie decided to set up camp a bit further away from Will's base to observe him, and to be prepared if any scorpions or other nuisances popped out of nowhere.

Valerie was forced by her men to rest in a tent that they set up for her. She wanted to keep guard for the night but her men were very insistent that she rest.

It has been like this for many years now. Most times she would be seen helping out her people in roles like lookout or cooking, cleaning, anything. Valerie always first took important rules like making important decisions in expanding their territory, or leading her men to battle against monsters, always taking charge.

But when she isn't busy with something important, she would try to make herself useful to her people in any way she could. Oftentimes she would find herself being persuaded by everyone to not help them out in such minor roles, and would instead encourage her to rest, eat, anything really.

But being stubborn she would help them out regardless. Her help has made many people's lives a little easier.

And whatever riches she would get like gold, or jewels, she would give them to her people instead of herself. Apart from the few clothes she owns and some weapons, whatever else she didn't need it would go to the people.

Forget about fancy dishes, or expensive items. She didn't own such items apart from powerful and useful items that could be used to protect herself and her people.

Whenever something expensive comes along her way, she would always ask herself 'what would I do with this?' if it is nothing too important it goes to enrich the lives of her people. If it is important it would go to her empire to ensure the safety of her people.

To her people it was weird to see such an important figure like her help them out like that. They enjoyed it nonetheless. It is also why her men treat her with such respect, and it's why she commands their total loyalty.

In this world, aside from the heroes, the most well known figure is the king, And no king had ever 'lowered' himself to stand on night guard, or cook, or clean.

They could always be seen sitting on their fancy thrones for hours at a time, getting blisters on their asses for sitting for too long. Or abuse their wealth and power.

Very few kings have tried to help out their own people, as not all of them are born assholes. But those few unfortunately had done a terrible job, often making their situation worse than it already is and having their decision be mistaken on purpose.

Of course those kings who sought to ruin the lives of people would be stripped of their power by the Great Sage. The king will always be an important role, but the one who has the power is the Great Sage without a doubt and everyone knows it.

...

Morning rose. Valerie woke up feeling refreshed. She washed her face and exited her tent fully armed.

She never took more rest than her people, and she worked just as hard if not more than anybody else. She treats herself just the same as everybody else.

"Empress, you're awake." Everyone suddenly became more active. Like when your boss suddenly enters the room you pretend to be working hard.

"I am. Everyone, you don't need to pretend to work. Just relax but be on guard." Valerie yawned and stretched out her arms.

Then she noticed that Will's base had been rebuilded from scratch. Well his walls at least are back to how it used to be.

"Holy… that was fast." Valerie was amazed to find the torn down walls rebuilt overnight. What kind of hero ability lets someone build something that quick?

Even a single hero would find himself working tirelessly for months or even years to make something like that. And yet Will did it all by himself in a night.

"Empress!" A young woman came running to her as soon as she saw her. She appeared to be somewhere in her mid-twenties. She had freckles, short black hair, and was well fit.

In order to be a guard for the empire they are required to always be fit and young. This is so these people would have a better chance to protect themselves and others. If they are fat, out of shape, they would be fired. Those who got fired have the chance to get rehired should they get back in shape.

Those who are too old to fight are given a retirement fund to relax. Or if they want to work in other field areas that don't require much physical labor.

"Rico… he's taking a break. He asked me to give you this report should you wake up."

"Okay." Valerie took the report from her hands and read it carefully.

"I've never heard of a hero with such an ability, or abilities. Most heroes usually have copies of other heroes, with the exception of the Great Sage and Shaun Quincy, who's the only one to have the 'longer lifespan' ability."

"Well, this one hero is unique." Valerie responded.

Will didn't care if they saw him building. Now that the Empress knew about his existence there was no point in hiding anymore. It was only a matter of time before the king knew about him, too.

Valerie read the first few lines and was weirded out.

"Did… he actually fly as well?" Valerie asked. Reading the first few lines she questioned her people.

"He did, but it was weird. According to what we saw, the hero sprouted small wings, like a dragon's, and flew. But the first hour was just him crashing on the ground over, and over, and over again."

2 or 3 of them did see Will fly while the scorpions attacked, but that lasted for only a second and thought that it had something to do with scorpions.

What Will wanted to do is use his armor's set ability to fly and build like in creative mode in minecraft. After all it was easy to build when flying, well in video games anyways, but it was a different story in real life.

Will remembered that he flew for a second when the scorpions were destroying his base, but he didn't know how he did that, it was just instinct. It took a while but he managed to sprout actual wings. He was happy, and it felt weird, like it was a part of his body and he could control it with ease, as if it had always been a part of his body.

That was the easy part. The difficult part was being able to fly. And he felt like Iron Man when he first learned to fly. There were many holes around his base because he made those holes when he crashed down when trying to fly. Eventually he got the hang of it and learned to fly.

For a literal hour he just flew around just enjoying it. When he flew it was as if he was alive, an incredible sensation he could never describe, like he was free from being weighed down, like all his worries were tossed out the window.

'Is this how it feels to fly like a superhero?' Will thought.

Then he eventually flew down to his base to rebuild it. First he built the easiest and most important part of his base, the giant stone walls. After that he focused on the rest.

Valerie finished the report and handed it back to the young woman.

"Good job. I'll help prepare the meals. Keep a lookout."

"Yes, sir! I mean ma'am! Empress! Lady? Gah!" The young woman suddenly felt embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Will was just sitting in the middle of his base. He managed to rebuild most of it, but his farms couldn't be replaced since all of his fruit seeds and camels were destroyed.

He couldn't even make golems to mine because there is a huge chance they would find scorpions again, and destroy his base once again.

He had the idea of making even more turrets and placing them underground. It seemed like a good idea but that would take too long. Still he is going to try, just not right now.

He just sat there thinking what to do next. Tired and exhausted from working through the night, he just laid down to fall asleep. His dragon scale armor was not only comfy but it also protected him from the sun's heat.

"Hmmm… most of my metals I keep in my chest underground. Luckily most of them were undamaged. Looks like I will have to make a separate room filled with all my ores and valuables. Leaving them in chests all over the place was a bad idea from the start."

Will started to see the errors he committed. But now he knows how to fix them.

"Hold on… I can ask Sandra for help." Will send his ex a simple message using his communication stone. Once he was stone he closed his eyes and fell asleep in the morning. He was just too tired to keep working.

Will closed his eyes and just slept. He wanted to stay awake but his eyes felt like they started to weigh a ton, and got heavier by the second. No sooner than later he slept on the ground.

Meanwhile…

The kingdom read the reports handed to him by his soldiers.

"Are you sure that this is real?" The king asked a half noble by his side.

"I can assure you it is. My cousin swears upon his life it's true."

"Huh… I cannot believe it. I cannot believe that cashews come from a fruit." The king thought that that once sentence could be made into a song, but dismissed it. He's not a singer or a songwriter.

"What's next… hold on, is this other report also true?" The king's eyes widened as he looked at the half noble.

"It is true, my king. I swear upon my father's grave!"

"I'm right here, Andre!" Andre's alive father shouted. He stood guard beside the walls.

"Why is the Empress in the deserted lands?" The king asked.

"According to our spies reports, she believes that the 100th hero is there."

"Is he there? Did she find him?" The king stood up in panic. If she got a hero like that it'll be a huge loss for the kingdom.

"We are not sure yet. The spy wasn't brought along with them. And he couldn't follow them because it'll look suspicious."

"Gah… be sure to have him message you the second he knows something about the hero."

"Yes. But should we send some of our men? Like maybe a hero or 2 to kill them?"

"Hmm… How many men does she have with her?"

"We don't know. But the spy said she has possibly over 50 fully equipped men. Possibly even more."

"Of course she does…"

The king went into thinking mode.

The king was worried that she did find and pulled the missing hero to her side. But thinking about it he had no reason to be worried.

The king did send some sorcerers to scout out the area for the possibility that the rumors were true, but he then heard back that the rumors were entirely made up. All they found was a giant hill in the middle of it.

It's possible that this was a move to confuse him, or that the empress was merely plotting something else.

He did see the Empress as a formidable opponent. Being all rich and resourceful made him envious. If he had her wealth he could power up all the heroes and make the kingdom grow.

The kingdom of Reyes has always had trouble maintaining a stable income, especially when the 100 heroes are summoned every 100 years.

"No, don't send anybody there. It could be a death trap for all we know. And the heroes are still not ready for combat." The king decided to play it safe. He had too much to lose to simply risk it.

This made him remember what he saw when Shaun was training the heroes. He had never seen Shaun so disappointed, so mad, and so angry before. He didn't even get that mad when his hero buddies were killed.

He remembered asking him what was wrong, and his words were,

"I fought for my country during the horrific war! Over 116.000 Americans died in the war, and among them my brothers fought and died so we could protect them! And when I see those new 'heroes' it reminds me that I fought for them, for THEM!!! Those little, annoying, no good, waste of meat- GAH! I just can't! My brothers must be rolling in their graves to see what they risked their lives and fought to their deaths to protect! I'm taking a vacation for the next 100 years! Hopefully the next group of heroes aren't as pathetic!"

Shaun said that loud enough so all the heroes could hear them. And they all got sad and pissed.

Shaun was saddened and disappointed to see how people in the year 2020 turned out to be.

And honestly could anyone blame him?

Before they were summoned, his expectations were high for them. To be strong, fearless, heart of gold, strong wills, like soldiers. Now he didn't expect everyone to be soldiers, but 95% of those heroes are just the most sensitive, laziest people he has ever met.

Only 1 of them had any kind of training and it wasn't even that great to him.

"Poor Shaun." The king thought the same way. He had to treat the heroes like very fragile glass, otherwise they would leave, literally. 3 of them have already made that threat to him.

"Your majesty!" Ronald, the crossdresser appeared in front of the king in a panicked state. This time he was dressed casually in men's clothes.

"Ronald? You aren't supposed to hand me a report until night." The king seemed a bit annoyed that Ronald couldn't follow a simple order.

"I know, but this couldn't wait. This is horrible!" Ronald took a pause to catch his breath.

"What happened?"

"A… the people from the villages have started to revolt."

"Tch. Are you serious?" The king almost laughed. He didn't think people would actually revolt against him this fast, not when the heroes are on his side.

In truth he expected a revolt but not for another few months. He was planning to add a 'few' more tax laws in a few months. And by a 'few' he means a lot.

"The villages who have already signed your protection fees have started to refuse paying it. And those newer villages don't want to join the kingdom. Instead they've either started harassing your soldiers, stealing from each other, or moving away."

"Ronald, I expected some bumps when I decided to add these tax laws. Nothing weird about it."

"I know, but they are moving to live in the Empire."

The king's eyes shined a bit. Then anger emerged on his face.

"What?" The King asked, furious.

If his people started to revolt, that's fine. Harass and steal from his soldiers and workers? Fine as well. But moving to the empire for a better life? That is something he can't tolerate.

"Well… I guess that's fine. Those poor souls won't make it to the empire on foot. It'll take at most a month on foot. Not to mention all the predators lurking there. They won't make it halfway. Either they'll be killed or they'll come back." The king assured himself that those people won't make it.

"Yeah… about that. Nearby villages also had the same idea, and they decided to use carriages and horses to travel. They formed a group of 300 people and are marching as we speak. And more people are joining them."

The people know they can't go against the king, the heroes, nobles, and sorcerers are just too powerful. So instead of fighting, they decided to run away.

"..." The king was furious.

"And, also… it seems that a portion of your soldiers have joined in as well." Ronald could see the ugly expression on the king's face, but he decided to keep feeding him bad news.

Soldiers are also affected by the heavy tax laws, and most of them have families. So instead of dying for the kingdom that is making their lives a living hell, they decided it was better to join the group of people looking for a better place, for their families and themselves.

The king placed his palm on his face.

'Should have seen that coming, honestly.' He thought.

"How could this get any worse?"

"Your majesty!" A sorcerer appeared before him. "Clement, he's establishing a force to fight against the kingdom! He's leading a group of people who all hate the kingdom, or you, or anyone affiliated with the kingdom and have started to kill soldiers and pillage the villages that are under your protection!"

*Shatter*

The king accidentally applied too much pressure on his wine glass that it broke.

"Okay, that is it! I want the nobles here, and all available sorcerers right this instant!" The king shouted. He planned on bringing back those people back to the kingdom by force, and also to find and kill Clement, seeing as how his king's men aren't doing a very good job at it.

"I think not."

The king heard a voice inside his head. He knew who it was. He calmed down, repressed his anger and sat down.

"Forgot what I said. Just go. Everyone go! I want to be alone with my thoughts!"

"But, Clement he's-"

"I will deal with that later! Now leave my sight!"

Everyone heeded his orders and left the king alone.

"What was it exactly that you were going to do?" The Great Sage appeared before the king. The king looked away, not looking at him.

"Nothing at all." He responded.

"I ignored these tax rules simply because I couldn't be bothered by them. But planning on killing innocents is something I will not tolerate."

"I was only planning on killing Clement. As for the rest, I was going to bring them back."

"And have you forgotten why Clement betrayed you? Whose fault do you think it is?"

"..." The king didn't respond.

"I believe you've forgotten who has the real power here. You're not the worst king I have met, but you are certainly one of the most stupid one I've seen."

The king already heard this speech, like a child being scolded by his parents for the hundredth time.

The Great Sage could remove the king from the throne, but he doesn't want to simply because he could care less who is king as long as they are not bloodthirsty tyrants.

If he wanted to make the kingdom a better place he would have become king long ago.

"Have you forgotten what gives you power? Is the crown the one that gives you power? Is it the fact that you're king that gives you power?"

"No… it's the respect from the heroes, the nobles, and you, their respect is what gives me power." The king answered.

Heroes and nobles are what truly gives him power. He believes as long as they're by his side he has all the power. It is why he made the tax laws in the first place, so he could give the heroes what they needed, and in turn they'd give him their loyalty and respect.

Just like how the empress commands the loyalty and respect of her people. He wanted that for himself but just doesn't do as good a job as her.

"Respect? If respect is the only thing protecting you from a knife in the back, respect is nothing, right?"

"..." The king.