World Seed

"Do we have enough men to sail all the s.h.i.+ps downriver?" Aerwyn asked the tanned captain.

"With the elves helping, we might be able to take ten s.h.i.+ps, maybe. The Durani s.h.i.+ps require more men, so if those are included, then it would be seven or eight s.h.i.+ps, my lord."

"I need the merchant s.h.i.+ps... Is there no way to just float the rest of them downriver? Ardin is only a few dozen kilometers away."

"...It would be difficult, my lord. The s.h.i.+ps require rowers to steer, especially when coming into port or beaching the s.h.i.+ps. If we stretched it, we might be able to take ten, including the merchant s.h.i.+ps, but we risk damaging the s.h.i.+ps by stretching the men that thin."

Aerwyn sighed before sending the undead captain off. The reality was far bleaker than he ever imagined. He really lamented the thought of burning the s.h.i.+ps, but allowing them to fall in the hands of the orcs was far less favorable. If possible, he would like to be able to return fast enough and take another four s.h.i.+ps with his more agile undead, after all, it would only take a few hours to get to Ardin by s.h.i.+p. If he was quick he might be able to return before the orcs show up with any substantial numbers.

"What has you so concerned, dear boy?" Tylin spoke, appearing behind Aerwyn as usual and giving him a scare.

"...We don"t have enough men to man the s.h.i.+ps. We can only take--Wait, can your skeletons row?" Aerwyn eyes sparkled as he suddenly remembered that Tylin and Nyris were both necromancers.

"They can, but it would require me to be on the same s.h.i.+p as them. My undead will not listen to other"s commands like yours will."

"That"s fine, it means that you and Nyris could each take a merchant s.h.i.+p alone. That would free up enough men to take another three or four s.h.i.+ps."
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It wasn"t much, but it was something. Aerwyn made up his mind, they would take all the s.h.i.+ps that they could for now. He would return back with his undead after dropping the s.h.i.+ps off in Ardin and make one more trip. Whatever he couldn"t take with him then, he would burn. He also decided to leave the remaining three jakku watching over the s.h.i.+ps just in case the orcs showed up while they were away. At least then, he"d be aware of what he was walking into should the orcs show up.

After Aerwyn left Tylin, he sought out Nyris and got him up to speed with his plan. Luckily for him, Nyris spent the previous night using corpses of the dead to restock his inventory of skeletons and death knights, which had previously been depleted due to battle. It was getting late, and Aerwyn had one more stop before he could rest, he needed to speak to Semmy.

Aerwyn found the gruff elf sitting alone by a campfire outside of his tent. He wore the same empty expression that he always did, causing Aerwyn to feel a bit of guilt at what he was about to say. He had every intention of following through with his promise, but the fact that he was essentially using the elf"s daughter as a ransom still left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Semmy." Aerwyn attempted to get his attention as he walked up, but the elf didn"t bother so much as looking his way.

"..."

"I have a proposition for you. I want you to work for me in Ardin... In exchange, I will repurchase your daughter from the man that the slavers sold her to." Semmy"s eyes shot to meet Aerwyn"s the moment he mentioned his daughter.

"You know where she is?" Semmy"s voice was filled with anger as he spoke.

"...I do. The slavers I turned undead are the ones who sold her. I plan-"

"Tell me where she is." Semmy interrupted him, his anger appeared to grow with every word Aerwyn spoke.

"...What would knowing where she is gain you?" Aerwyn was losing control of the conversation quick, and it looked as though his plan was backfiring, but regardless he couldn"t let the elf get himself killed by chasing after his daughter.

"Just tell me, boy!" Semmy roared as he got to his feet.

"She was purchased by a bessos in Duran. According to the slavers to buy her back, I"d need to pay a small fortune, which I have every intention of paying should you work for me."

"..." Semmy"s anger slowly faded from his face as Aerwyn spoke.

"It won"t happen overnight, I"m going to need a stronger army to gain said fortune. That"s where you come in, I want you to begin training some of my undead in your craft so that I can quickly outfit them as I see fit." Aerwyn continued.

"And if this bessos refuses to sell her?" Semmy asked, defeatedly.

"Then I will simply take her from him when my army is large enough, either way, your daughter will be returned to you. You were there when I spoke to the elves in the merchant s.h.i.+p, while I may not yet have the achievements to credibly make such claims, I have every intention of making them a reality. Duran falling before me is just one part of that reality."

"...Fine, but you best keep your word, boy."

"I intend to."

Aerwyn left Semmy and headed to the tent that his undead had set up for him. When he entered, he saw Erit was inside playing with Rin and Ren. He walked over to an expensive-looking sofa and plopped himself down atop it, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Kwee?" Rin gazed over and squeaked.

"What"s wrong, master?" Erit asked.

"Nothing, Semmy will be joining us in Ardin from now on, it just took a little convincing. He looked ready to rip my head off..."

"Why did you not simply let him attack you and claim self-defense after you resurrect him? None would be the wiser, and you could"ve even had the tiny elf admit it once he was under your control." Erit asked with a straight face as if that was the only reasonable approach. It would be a lie if Aerwyn claimed the thought hadn"t entered his mind, but he still decided against it.

"Because the moment I start solving all my problems through murder is the moment I become the enemy of the world. It"s not yet an issue as our stage is still small, but I don"t doubt that once I start solving problems with murder that I"ll find it difficult to stop when I"m needed to. Besides, he came around in the end."

"You"re a fallen G.o.d master. You"re already the enemy of the world." Erit giggled as Rin jumped into Aerwyn"s lap and began to nuzzle him.

"That"s not entirely true. Perhaps my parents have wors.h.i.+ppers of their own who would come to my aid. There"s also the common folk to think about. I can"t simply resurrect the entirety of Alduun, which means I"ll need to rule over them while I wage my war against the G.o.ds. They won"t support me if I simply kill everything in my path, I"ll be seen as no better than an invading force from the gate."

"If the tiny humans and elves can"t see your greatness, then death is the only cure for their ignorance..." Erit mumbled under her breath but still loud enough for Aerwyn to hear it.

"...Anyway, Rin and Ren come get some mana cores." Aerwyn spoke as he grabbed six A Grade cores from a sack next to the sofa. Things had been busy lately, so none of his undead were eating mana cores, let alone any A Grade cores.

"KWEE! KWEE!" Rin squeaked and appeared excited as she spun around on Aerwyn"s lap.

Aerwyn put three on the carpet for Ren and grabbed three more for Rin, who ate them from his hand. As soon as Rin ate the first core, the flames in her eyes began to glow bright, and she jumped from Aerwyn"s lap. The wild purple flames rapidly spread over her body while the same reaction started happening to Ren. He looked towards Ren, there was still one core in front of her that remained uneaten.

"What"s going on?!" Aerwyn asked in a panic, thinking something was wrong with the mana cores the brexil cats ate.

"They"re evolving, master. The same thing happened to me." Erit responded, easing his mind. He witnessed Erit"s evolution from within the darkness, so he hadn"t actually seen the transformation before in the real world.

The flames dissipated around Rin first, yet Aerwyn couldn"t see any difference in her appearance. It was the same for Ren, they both looked exactly the same as they did before. Rin looked over her body for a moment before turning to Aerwyn and opening her mouth as if to speak.

"Master!"