The morning arrived before ever realizing I'd fallen asleep, skipping my dreams entirely yet again. I'd dreamt much more before the integration, however whenever I'd slept now, it was like fast forwarding time itself. I didn't mind quite honestly, especially considering fighting the familiar sleep demons of old might come as a laughable chore given all I've dealt with while awake.
Exiting through Pylon building corridor down the staircase and back out to the courtyard, Cassi was helping some of our soldiers with defense forms. I was tempted to hop in when Korbin strolled up beside me.
"They handled themselves very well yesterday. Most of our day-one guys leveled from the first pylon, while the rest definitely did here." Korbin said, extending a handshake to greet me. I obliged while giving my retort.
"I noticed they had little fear out there. I take it you never mentioned Identify as a skill?" I questioned with a knowing smile. Most of our men were both outnumbered and under leveled. Yet, their training had proven enough to negate those disadvantages. At least enough for Cassi, Korbin, and Steve to wipe out the majority of the savage brutes' forces.
"Now why teach a child of sharks when they can't even swim in the pool yet?" Korbin responded, wearing a devilish grin. As he should, it wasn't a terrible point, except…
"That would only be fair if you tried teaching them to swim in the pool while denying them knowledge of sharks existence, just to take them chumming." I said after some though, fighting desperately to hold back a smirk.
"That's a stretch and you know it." Korbin said, pointing his finger at my face in false anger.
"Is it?" I said with a scoff. Korbin's face dropped, clearly having seen the merit in my counter argument to his metaphor for essentially hiding the amount of danger our soldiers truly place themselves for us. Then, his eyes lit up like he'd thought of the perfect counter argument.
"Randy Randy Randy R-" his repetitive mention of that disgusting undead vermin was mute compared to the unbearable ringing pain the mere thought of it brought between my ears. My entire skull felt like it was about to burst from the sheer pressure that welled in my head.
"Fuck…your contracts." I grunted through involuntary growls of pain, clutching my head with both hands. After a few excruciating seconds, the unrelenting pressure suddenly dissipated, leaving me feeling absolutely 100%. Standing up, Korbin was now damn near falling over himself from laughing so hard.
"That shit really hurts dude." I said, very seriously. Though I couldn't help but grin at how stupid this checkmate was.
"I fuckin' bet. 'Read contracts' is all I'm hearing there." Korbin replied, wiping a tear from laughing so hard. It's true, but that didn't change the active use of said contract after that lesson got driven home wasn't a dick move, albeit admittedly hilarious. Though another topic bothered me.
"Hey, another thing. You got your evolution I assume, why is it I could kill 50 people in like two days and not level up? Stronger foes give me extra experience but, these weaker ones felt like they ought to bring more gains?" I asked, after finding no logical answer during my meditation last night.
"Do you explicitly get extra gains, or just like everyone else?" He asked back.
"It's part of being a Chosen for me. Titles and shit." I answered, nonchalantly.
"Okay, so you mean your title boosts experience gained from stronger foes I'm assuming from that terrible answer. Maybe because you get extra gains from strong enemies, the opposite is true for weaker? Besides, it's harder to level as you head up the ranks anyways, according to my sources." Korbin answered after a moment of quiet rumination.
That would explain most of why it hasn't felt too fulfilling winning the last few fights, finding very little issue since the Orca. A shame, knowing many fights to come will bring lackluster rewards. That does give reason to let our soldiers gain power handling it themselves. Or even Steve.
"If you're out of questions, I'm going to upgrade this Pylon a few times for defensive measures. Then we're bailing out toward the next Pylon." Korbin added, interrupting my considerations.
"Yeah I'm all good, do your thing." I said dismissively. Our soldiers remained diligently training while the wooden structures and settlement walls around them lit aflame with bright orange fire. The building colors singed away, replaced with black and orange patterns, the structures taking on a fiery Romanesque style themselves.
The perimeter wall withered under a blazing orange and crimson flame, revealing a marble slab gate much like the same supporting the walls. The settlement adopted many qualities similar to our first Pylon, however it kept many woodland themes as well, such as large scale workshops for craftsmen and profession books regarding lumber work.
Korbin made his way to the front gate from his Pylon building far more practical in terms of efficient travel between areas. No longer was this settlement plagued by unnecessarily winding staircases and corridors but rather an open layout with pillars to support the interior and exterior alike.
"Alright people, yesterday was so fun, we decided we're going to do it all over again today. You've all done well thus far, minus a few cuts and bruises. Keep it up, and a long vacation is in store back home, for all of you." Korbin called as the front gate began rising open. The soldiers cheered weapons raised at the promise of a longstanding reprieve from combat, which really worried me more than anything.
We had barely taken two Pylons, with an innumerable more to go. With any luck, we won't always need the same group of soldiers but, until then these guys had to buckle the fuck down. During our 6 mile hike southeast, they certainly alleviated some of my doubts over them, having taken down 3 giant brown bears and a couple wolf sized bobcats.
The bears were crafty bastards too, hiding high in the trees before trying to pounce. Steve Cassi and I handled most of the dozen that tried to make us their lunch, however the soldiers were left to their own devices with 3 others. Lonni was too occupied letting out some demons on 2 bears at once to lend his flail either. He'd explained to me the fight he'd had won with that mother bear, who sounded much larger and scarier than these flanking bears, however he sounded more proud than haunted by the fight.
His ferocious animalistic screams and willingness to drop his shield to enter grapple implied differently, but I'm not one to judge. Especially when he wins rather handily against level 3 and 4 beasts in such a state, taking big time pressure off of our other guys. 'All's well it ends well' or whatever they say to ignore problems.
The next settlement was certainly smaller, looking like it hadn't gotten past its first upgrade. The wooden walls were cracked and missing chunks out of its structure at the bottom, leaving car sized holes leading into the settlement. Scratch marks and faded bloodstains covered the entryway walls.
"Ugh, excuse me! May I have a word with the Pylon Leader?" Korbin yelled up at the gate, our entire troop standing behind him having met no resistance along the way. There was no response. Korbin shrugged looking back at us before knocking on their large wooden gate. A man's voice drew our attention back up to the top of the wall of the settlement.
"You wished to speak to the leader here? What business do you have with them?" The voice asked, though there was no one in sight above us.
"Negotiations. We wish to seize control over this Pylon peacefully, but are willing and able to do so by force. It is only a choice I'm offering you at this moment, discussions are reserved for the negotiations route." Korbin hollered back, far less affably than his prior two attempts at this offer with other Pylon leaders.
Another long pause brought an uncomfortable silence, Korbin's fist balling at his waist. The tattered gate began loudly creaking upward, revealing a skinny, greying middle aged man in plain tan clothes on the other side. A small party of 3 all at level 2 accompanied him, holding short swords in hand and fear in their eyes. One 'soldier' visibly shivered once he saw the amount of armored warriors awaiting a peace treaty negotiation outside his home.
They all wore plane tan clothes, however the middle aged man in the middle had a hood on as well. It only reached to a little over the middle of his head, leaving part of his ears exposed.
Doesn't even fit the guy.
"S-sir I must say, I've yet to have the pleasure of seeing a giant snake with wings before. I thank you for sharing this experience, unintentional or not." The hooded man said while bowing to Korbin.
"It's not mine. Listen, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. We need your Pylon, and we're willing to allow you to stay as residents and reap the upgrades I'll periodically provide here. After a contract is signed of course, otherwise we take it anyway. What'll it be?" Korbin proposed casually, skipping formalities entirely. He hadn't even asked the guy his name yet.
"A-ahh…you see we can't just g-"
"Why not?" Korbin sneered impatiently.
"Well w-we already have an agreement uh, with the King." The man nervously muttered out, his arms up in a meager defensive pose as he shook. They stood like 20 feet away, yet he maintained a permanent flinch position.
"What King?!" Korbin asked, his tone rather impatient contrast to his intrigued body language.
"H-he's the King of our lands, sir. Provider of wellness and order. Chosen of Kinphilim, God of Truth and Peace." He stuttered, my stomach aching as he spoke.
"Never heard of him. What's your King's name?" Korbin asked.
"N-Nathaniel, sir. And if we g-give this place up h-he'll kill us all." The man spat out, his whole body vibrating in terror regarding his supposed 'King'.
"And if you refuse, we'll kill all of you right now. Either you roll the dice that we can defend you later, or you die today. 10 seconds." Korbin said, crossing his arms. Diplomacy was more fun than I'd imagined.
"9"
"Please sir you must understand i-"
"8"
"This is insane I couldn't possibly dec-"
"7"
I stepped forward releasing my blades at the hilts, allowing lightning mana to crackle from the bottom of my currently sheathed blades. The cowardly middle aged man's eyes locked onto my weapons, looking about ready to cry at this point. His companions could only watch in terror, their blades trembling enough to leave an afterimage from the shaking.
"6"
"O-okay okay just let me talk t-"
"5"
"STOP! Stop please, we'll give it to you!" The man bellowed loudly, dropping to his knees.
"…now was that so hard?" Korbin said smiling, slowly walking over to the hunched over man, shivering violently in fear. Korbin patted him on the shoulder kneeling beside him, causing the man to flinch.
"Relax pal. All you gotta do now is accept this contract, and head back on inside. You won't have to worry your little head over scary things like leadership roles and politics any longer, okay?" Korbin said in a kind tone, his arm around the man's shoulder.
The now crying mess of a man he consoled simply nodded, and after a brief moment of watching Korbin comfort this rather mislead man, Korbin patted his shoulder twice and stood up.
"Come on buddy, let's get you and everyone inside." Korbin said, offering his hand. The man accepted, escorting us into the Pylon settlement. Our soldiers filed through the gate in rows of 2 due to its relative lack of size. The settlement itself was utterly barren, with only the Pylon building being of any use lacking any formal marketplace.
The crudely built wooden homes bore multiple charred areas and destroyed walls. Most housed multiple families based on the quantity of citizens per home. Most of the folk were level 1 or 2, however none were armed. They were devoid of any form of defense from waves whatsoever. Some King.
"Where is this King you speak of? It doesn't seem like he's been here in some time." Korbin asked, entering the Pylon building. The soldiers were left outside with Cassi and Lonni to explain to the settlers why they'd need to sign a contract in order to stay.
"We've never seen the King here. We get word from his carrier birds and soldiers that come to collect taxes." The man answered through sad eyes.
"How did he expect you to pay taxes without giving you professions and workstations? Not even a training area for fighters? Sorry but, your ex-King sounds broke." Korbin put bluntly. The man looked utterly stunned at this comment.
"You'll provide those things?" He asked with a look of bewilderment.
"I'm doin' it right now. The structures are next." Korbin replied. It was only after that I noticed his hand had crept onto the Pylon stone sat within a wooden stand, placed in the middle of an empty room. Peering outside, the Pylon had expanded in size drastically, its walls spanning double what it had prior in a circumference.
The shanty buildings were replaced with Korbin's signature Romanesque architecture, along with his magma turrets and array of profession workstations. The ex-pylon leader stood beside me in the doorway staring outside in amazement at the sudden expansion of opportunity before him.
"H-how? How could you afford this sir?" The man asked, his jaw practically at his boots.
"It's Korbin. Just call me Korbin and, because I can. Would you point me to the other settlement you're aware of around here now?" Korbin asked impatiently. To his credit, he'd done more than proved his word was worth something to these people. A lot of something's if measured by the depth of his coin alone.
The formal pylon leader was fairly compliant from there, pointing out on Korbin's projected regional map he'd be adding to along our journey where the next 2 Pylons were in this area, in fact the only two they'd heard of. Then again, these folks hadn't exactly struck me as 'well informed'.
Our stay was short, considering none of them had any interest in leaving their settlement. They signed over their lives without a second thought, all 14 of them. It was for the best of course, however they didn't know that, not for sure. They didn't ask enough question to rationally know why, other than if they'd live through saying no. At any rate, that place was fortified to fuck by the end of Korbin's upgrading so, they'll be fine. It's just sad to me someone could except such a lack of agency over their lives.
The journey southeast was much like the one we'd just made from the larger settlement of earth affinity fighters. Reason being they'd both proven boring as all fuck. It took several miles for things to get interesting when we came across a shift in biomes while heading for the next settlement.
Loud crunching forest foliage was abruptly replaced with coarse, dry sand, the sun somehow felt exponentially hotter the moment our feet crossed the threshold between forest and desert. Steve was the first to mention the absurdly abrupt shift in temperature.
"Holy shit the sand is hot!" He yelled mentally, his body lifting up trying to avoid the sun kissed sands.
"Is it 'burning your body' hot, or 'sweaty' hot?" I asked, turning and facing my snake who trialed behind me as our soldiers passed by. Lonni noticed my pause and stopped beside me, looking at my feathered serpent as well.
"…sweaty hot." Steve admitted.
"Then let's push through this area quickly, so you don't have to deal with it for long." I encouraged him.
"Your flying water snakes not a fan of the desert I take it?" Lonni said with a smile.
"Tell him he's not a fan of talking to women like the single childless adult male he is. I could be worse." Steve snapped quickly slithering by, trying not to keep in one spot too long. I couldn't help but laugh, making Lonni give a confused look.
"Nothing sorry, Steve said something fucked up. No, no he doesn't like it here. His loss though." I said, turning to catch up to the front again. The heat never really bothered me, not so long as I had some water nearby. If anything it meant I didn't need that many layers to stay warm. In fairness though, Steve's literally cold blooded.
The fact he's been able to regulate himself through the biome changes thus far had been impressive enough, this would be a feat like no other to a pre-system water snake. Then again, the feathered wings might've been a bigger deal. Either way I did hope not to torture the big guy too much out here, and knew I owed him a lot of free roam oceanic hunting time after all this.
The next Pylon had been in view from a couple miles away due to the excellent field of view from a lack of anything else except sand dunes as far as the eye could see. We'd made it about a quarter mile closer when the sand in front of us started shifting. Steve rushed to the front from the back as the rest of us all halted in our tracks. His tongue flung into the air before he mentally spoke.
"Venom. There's another snake here, Tom." He said, his eyes locked to the sand.
"How do you know it's a snake from the smell of venom? You deal with a lot of sand snakes?" I asked, incredibly skeptical.
"Potency, aroma, shit even a snake's skin has a certain stench. I know my kind, even if they don't live where I do." Steve explained, making the gap between beast inter-communication and humans more apparent. The sands shifted below once more, splitting the gap between Steve Korbin and I, and Cassi with Lonni amidst our soldiers. The large sand mound moved in an oscillating path around us before disappearing again.
"It's a snake! Be ready!" I yelled out, Korbin looking at me confused. I flicked my head at Steve, earning an understanding nod from Korbin. A silence that fell over the desert, no one daring to take a step.
Without warning, a burst of sand flew up from under me, the sensation of a fleshy platform drawing my attention. A massive snakes nose surfaced from the sands directly under my foot. Balancing on it just long enough to bend down, I leapt back, flipping and rolling backwards onto the sand.
Finding my legs under me, the snake that had shot up to bite me was now wrapped up with Steve. It was smaller than Steve, however the sand storm that was generating around its body indicated it was no slouch. Seeing the storms intensity subtly increasing, I sprinted through the storm before it was too late to join my beast in combat.
A rock slammed into my foot while charging through the storm, nearly tripping me as I landed with a hand on a dry crackly snake skin. Realizing what I was touching, I stepped to the side, avoiding the sand snakes crashing body as it struggled with Steve.
Steve wrapped his tail around the sand snakes lower body, which I figured was to keep it from escaping. It was until jumping up to stab the enemy serpent did its scorpion-like stinger glimmering green in the sunlight did I understand Steve's tactic. My blade pierced into the portion of the snakes tail that was held down, Lightning mana causing its skin to puff out and stretch like a balloon from the mana dispersed into its body.
The sand snake thrashed wildly in response, Steve's grip on its tail slipping away when he landed a Flow Bite into its incoming tail, the venom dripping stinger falling limp behind it. The snake frantically began burrowing back into the ground. My blades exploded with energy stabbing into its descending body rapidly in succession until it had slipped fully back under the sand.
The damage the desert dwelling serpent had sustained couldn't have been minor, yet no death notification rang out. It hadn't shown any signs of returning after a rather tense 10 minutes of waiting after it escaped. Once the consensus was it retreated, we resumed our journey toward the next settlement. We unanimously agreed the snake wouldn't fuck with us anymore, which Steve was shockingly thankful for.
"If we kept going, I might have burnt out back there I'm not gonna lie. I really need a nap when we get to this Pylon." Steve said tiredly in my head.
"We will buddy, and I'll buy you some water from there too, okay? It's not too expensive and I'm not dead broke." I assured Steve, looking at the 1215 TP I'd accrued earning from slaying richer men.
"Fucking PLEASE that sounds like heaven right now." Steve implored, his snake tongue hanging out like a panting dog. Not sure they're supposed to do that but, he can fly now so, I won't question it.
We finally reached the next Pylons gate an hour or so before dusk, the weather rapidly cooling before we arrived. A pair of guards in metal armors stood out front of the tall slab twin doors at its entrance.
"Halt! State your business travelers." One of them said in a typical soldier tone.
"Negotiations." Korbin answered, dismissively through a furrowed brow.
"Fair enough, welcome to the King's Catalogue, he hopes you find what you seek, and enjoy your stay." The guard answered back through a deep voice unfitting to the kind words from his mouth. The guard pounded the butt of his large battle axe into the giant doors. The hollow thumps were answered with both large doors swinging open loudly.
The settlement was a little larger than the last shantytown of a Pylon we'd arrived at, however the quality of life here was night and day. People worked hastily on their respective roles, almost every citizen being either a shopkeeper or worked for the merchants, creating products via honing their Professions aligned to their merchandise. Blacksmiths, Alchemists, even active construction sites. Above us hung a roof made of thin green vines tied in weaving patterns blocking the direct sun rays. A cool mist fell from them, cooling settlement like vegetables at a market.
There were a few customers browsing said shops, however all of them were definitely soldier all adorning the same attire as the guards, indicating they served the same banner. Their armors glimmered pristinely, with their purple and gold colored insignia on their shoulders, implying rank. An image of a rabbits' outline feasting on a snake in the same colors covered their backs, leading me to assume it represented their faction. One of them had it on the face of their large shield as well. There were only 6 of them perusing the marketplace, the many merchants staring eagerly toward each one as they passed. Korbin surveyed the settlement thoroughly before turning to me.
"I'm going to have Cassi stay here, tell Steve to come with me and you. We need to find the Pylon leader before these new soldiers start asking questions." Korbin said in a hushed tone, heading toward Cassi who was currently chatting with Lonni at the squad's flank.
"Steve! On me and Korbin pal. We're gonna find the Pylon leader so you can get some 'z's!" I commanded mentally to Steve as he entered behind the slow walking Lonni and Cassi who were too busy trading jokes to notice my overheating serpent. One cool part about speaking telepathically was not worrying about being disruptive when 'yelling', though I'm sure Steve wouldn't have minded being rude.
"Tell your oversized lovebirds here that. My tails still in the fucking sun!" Steve yelled back, disgruntled at their moseying at the entrance. Once they crossed a threshold he could pass by, he bumped into Lonni with his large feathered head slithering by, quickly catching up with me and Korbin. Lonni's shoulder shifted over, however not having been thrown 6 feet the other direction paid homage to his utterly ridiculous strength. I certainly would have gotten some air time at least.
Korbin, Steve and I began exploring the many shops in search of someone who looked particularly important. It took 5 shops before we decided to just ask the nearest shopkeeper for information.
"Hello! How you doin' ma'am?" Korbin asked, approaching a middle aged woman wearing plague doctors garments, minus the giant beaked mask that is. Behind her sat rows of shelves by the dozens with different colored potions lining the walls in her shop. Behind her a skinnier young woman could be seen toiling over a cauldron, a hand hovered over the purple bubbling liquid while a large ladle stirring in the other.
"Another beautiful day in paradise! What can I do you for, sir?" The shopkeeper responded with a bubbly attitude. Korbin leaned his elbow on the counter, smiling as he spoke a bit more hushed with her.
"Well I'd like to browse your elixirs here a bit but, first I actually have some important business with your Pylon leader here. Is there any way I can contact him that you know of?" Korbin asked with his signature charismatic smile. Dude still knew how to turn the charm on, he always was a silver tongue when he wanted to be.
The shopkeepers eyelashes fluttered visibly flattered at his approach, her cheeks reddening as she answered.
"Of course! He's our number one merchant, helping insure all of our goods get distributed across the region at fair wages! He's just over there, talking to Gregory at the tannery." She answered happily, pointing across the marketplace to a younger looking lad with dark hair.
Korbin thanked her, taking me with him to confront their leader while Steve sat back and waited. There was no hiding the 30 foot snake, but not having him in your face certainly curves the fight or flight instinct, I hope. Korbin greeted himself loudly to steal the man's attention from 'Gregory' as the nice lady had informed.
"I hear you're the top dog around here my friend?" Korbin said, the mans smiling face wrapping around to meet the complimentary greeting.
"Well you heard right!" The man responded with an over-enthusiastic cackle as he smacked his thigh before straightening his quickly, his fists to his hips.
"Names Jenson, Daryl Jenson. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, friend!" He said excitedly through his long gruffly beard, extending his arm for a handshake. Korbin obliged both the shake and introductions.
"Korbin, Pylon leader of Savants Elysium across the ocean northwest of here, along with 3 others in this region." Korbin admitted, Daryl's eyes flashing a tinge of recognition as he listened.
"Ah…well it's an honor then, your grace." He amended, before giving a quick bow with his hand to his chest.
"Please, there's no need for that." Korbin said, waving his hand. The man looked puzzled at the request.
"Of course, sir. May I ask the nature of your visit then?" Daryl asked, looking less comfortable and charismatic than just a few seconds ago. Korbin's raised eyebrow implied he picked up on that too.
"Negotiations…have you any connection to the King in this region? I only heard word of him at the last Pylon that apparently belonged to him. Didn't have his name on it though." Korbin asked, taking a step closer to Daryl, who stepped back in kind.
"I-I do. In fact, his soldiers are here now, browsing the marketplace. H-he merely takes a tax, however his warriors of all ranks have to pay for their own goods here. He's good to us." The man said quickly while backing away, his hands up with palms facing us. Korbin didn't change his pace, nor his relaxed tone.
"Relax, Daryl. There was no bloodshed at the last Pylon, you don't need to worry. You're a man of business from what I've heard, and that's all I wish to speak about here today. Please, just a few minutes." Korbin pleaded, now stopping his casual pursuit entirely. The man stopped backing away as well, now glancing frantically at me, Korbin, and Steve 15 feet behind us having a coiled nap.
My patience was running thin.
"Daryl. You see that really big snake over there?" I said, pointing back at Steve. He nodded.
"See, he's my snake. We didn't have to come talk to you. We didn't have to knock at the door. We certainly don't have to coddle your cowardice either. Either you calm the fuck down, o-" Korbin's forearm on my chest was enough for me to realize how the end of that sentence would undo most of the small progress we'd made. At least, towards peaceful resolution, for whatever it's worth with this fucking guy.
The man trembled, however he closed his eyes before taking three large breaths. The third exhale being far slower and controlled than the prior, his hands finally stopped shaking.
"Look, this puts my people in an unshakable fucking bind. The King doesn't fuck around and play nice-like, not the way everyone thinks." He said through a discontented hushed tone, now walking closer to us for the first time. His pal Gregory's arm had been frozen in time against the tanning station he was working at this entire time. Now, he was scrambling to head inside his shop.
"That may not be the case, Daryl. We handled the Baron with little effort, and suffered no casualties thus far." Korbin offered hoping to soothe some of the Pylon leaders' dreadful anxiety.
"The Baron was not nearly as well guarded as King Nathaniel. He holds over 100 loyal citizens in his large compound of a Pylon, 60 of them soldiers who are both well armed and trained, and his damned birds." The baron exclaimed, now looking angrily to the sky.
"He networks this entire region out of his giant fucking bird cage. He's honestly a wierd fucking guy, man. I met him once, and he refused to even leave his chambers. The sheer amount of security checks they made me go through, they ought to have bought me dinner first." The man said, chuckling at his own wit.
"So he's well armed and has a large Pylon settlement, what about his defenses? Turrets and traps, things of the sort." Korbin asked.
"Pretty damn good, at least at the front door. It's surrounded by a massive oasis east of here through the desert. They don't particularly expect too much noise from the waters." Daryl wonderfully informed, my eyes turning to back to Steve. Turns out, not smiting the scared Pylon leader immediately could still be a fantastic choice. Who could have guessed?
"Good. Alright Daryl, I'm gonna level with you, this next decision is pivotal to our continued negotiations. Will you willingly allow me to take your place as Pylon leader? I will absolutely do everything in my power to ensure your people's quality of life only improves, and I'm willing to put that promise in system-governed writing." Korbin finally offered. Daryl stood back pondering the proposal, looking over the collective he was responsible for. His fists tightened as resolve overtook his eyes before he spoke.
"Yes, I accept your offer, on the condition that my people will not be forced to fight your battles for you. They are salesmen and mothers, not soldiers." Daryl said, mostly accepting the offer already provided. Weird to imply either couldn't also be soldiers but, it wasn't my place to argue right now.
"Consider it done, Daryl. Take me to your Pylon." Korbin said, before Daryl escorted us to the back of the settlement into a building that sat against the back wall of the perimeter. Up a flight of stairs and through a few hallways sat a green glowing gem, placed on a stand with a purple pillow bed.
Korbin approached the orb, placing his hand on it. The orb flickered its green glow a couple of times before changing to an orange-red hue, similar to Korbin's prior Pylons. After a brief pause, the settlement walls erupted in concert as they burned away, leaving Korbin's black and orange marble in its place. The perimeter expanded out, making the settlement larger while more buildings in their Romanesque styles either built themselves from the ground up, or were augmented to fit the Romanesque theme having already been built.
Daryl stood stunned seeing the Pylon room fold around and extend upward as another floor was added, along with a much needed black and orange paint job.
"H-how the hell can you afford all this, man?! We been saving for the next upgrade for days now, you did like 6?!" Daryl exclaimed, exploring the new and improved Pylon marketplace, his hand on the stone beside Korbin's.
"Told you, I'd take care of any citizen who wishes to stay here under my banner in peace. That being said, please sign this contract, and come with me to inform your citizens they too must sign this contract in order to remain citizens protected under my Pylon." Korbin said, skipping the pleasantries.
Daryl agreed happily, before we exited the building to find dusk had finally broken. Meaning while the soldiers browsing their shops had left already, we had to catch all the people either packing up shop for the night or already at home, preparing for another long workday tomorrow. It felt like forever before we finally had the last contract signed, prompting the rest of our soldiers to file in and head to their desired quarters for the night. A few nice holes opened up due to a few citizens selecting for exile over betraying their King, rather foolishly in truth. Korbin had Daryl and Cassi stay later at the Pylon building, probably to jot up battle strategies against this supposed 'King'.
What a joke. A King, here, during the second week of a multiversal event, this guy decided he was the guy already. Hadn't heard of a single Nathaniel in the tournament's top 10 but, what do I know? At any rate, Daryl mentioned 60 well armed soldiers, and we have 16 not counting Lonni, Cassi, Korbin, Steve, and me…
On second thought, numbers shouldn't be an issue.
With little to occupy my mind with, I found my new bed for the night and began meditating myself to sleep. The day felt far more eventful upon reflection than it had in the moment. We'd learned much of the remaining Pylons in the region, at least to anyone's knowledge that is. Not only that, we actually have some background on a settlement before we just showed up hoping they're cool.
A mixture of confidence and comfort rocked my mind into a peaceful state as I began drifting away into a soft sleep. While slipping into sub-consciousness, the memory of that damned sand snake that got away played through my mind….