Instead of sleeping, Eden went back to review her stats and began to shift the troops again and pushed all her Knights in robes to the academy. She then expanded the academy to send her remaining army. The shield would remain up for 8 hrs. There was no need to have her troops out of the city gathering food, lumber, stone or iron. She began to look at her arsenal and saw a building buff of 50 percent more. She activated it and pushed her builder to improve the castle and its defenses.
"My liege, you unlocked a general role for your wall. Would you like to recruit a general or select a knight you wish to promote to general?" Said Erza.
"Take me to the recruiting hall before I make up my mind."
In the recruiting hall she saw lots of portraits of generals she could hire. The gold frames indicated prestige and higher ranking buffs. Below was their commissioning cost. In addition it showed the stats that can improve their strength once certain items were needed. Eden reviewed each general and asked Erza, "Do I need a general at the moment? Can I leave the position open until later?" Erza replied hesitantly "The position can be left open, but I advise that you keep a general in charge of the troops you leave at home to defend the territory in your absence."
"Leave it open," said Eden as she turned her heel to walk towards the exit, then paused, "I need more of those force shields, take me to purchase some."
When they arrived at the market, there were three types of shields that could be purchased. The shields were 8 hours, 24 hrs and one for 3 days. Eden purchased 10 of the 8 hours shield and one 24 hour. She figured that the attacks didn't just happen right after the shield would stop. They have had to travel to notice that her territory was not able to defend a strong attack.
Eden called for Thunder and climbed aboard. Erza quickly ran to her side as she said hastily, "My liege, if you ride on your own, there won't be an army to defend you in case of an attack."
"I know that. Thunder and I are only going to venture in the lands to scout our surroundings. I have all my troops in the academy for another few hours. When I return I will have an idea of what is out there."
Thunder took off west of the territory. They reached a small village within an hour and noticed that there was a crest of an alliance over the gate, USS. From afar Eden observed that their army was not as large and continued to roam in a circular route, her territory at the center. Again she noticed another Alliance, FOX. This one seemed more active than the last one. Eden kept traveling where she saw SSC and DRK villages. Eden marked her map to know where they were seen. DRK was one of her allies and decided to visit that village.
Upon arriving she was greeted with caution. The main gate slowly opens and a woman with a glow of grace walked over to Eden. Her hair was brunette and she was tall. She had fair skin. She was wearing a red silk Kimono embroidered with a gold dragon that wrapped around her silhouette. She noticed the emblem on Eden's horse Thunder and the initials DRK. She held her hand up and slowly dropped it down with her palm facing the ground. Just then Eden noticed the archers on the wall lower their bows and arrows.
"I am Corruption" She smiled as she took a step back to the side. "Please come in, your horse must be tired and hungry from your travels.
"I am Eden, thank you," replied Eden after snapping back from her thoughts. She then got off the horse and walked inside the village. Eden realized that she was too presumptuous that she would be recognized as friend rather than foe right away from a distance.
They took a seat in a gazebo in her garden. There was tea and pastries set out for them. Eden wasn't fond of tea but didn't say anything. She didn't want to be rude and it wasn't the most terrible thing she has ever had. Corruption noticed Eden's hesitation to pick up the tea and cleared her throat a little. "The tea has gotten a little cold, please brew a different batch. What flavor did you prefer Eden?"
Eden's face lit up, "actually, I would like some coffee with cream and sugar please," she replied incredulously.
"Would that be a light, medium or dark roast?"
"Dark roast," Eden paused and smiled before saying thank you.
Corruption was very perceptive and showed her elegance in the way she handled the tea situation. Eden was more at ease once noticing how thoughtful Corruption was and saved her from being impertinent.
"I want to thank you for your hospitality and for teaching me a lesson," said Eden with her eyes looking down at her cup. Corruption stayed silent as she sipped on her drink. "I rode here without being cautious and forgetting that there are those who would attack feing friendliness. It won't happen again."
Placing her cup down, Corruption spoke softly, "I must say, you were either very brave or very foolish to ride on your own without sending a message in advance. But because I couldn't tell, I decided to keep my guard up."
"Foolish indeed," replied Eden with a laugh. They both laughed for a bit and inhaled before letting out a sigh.
"Do you know what's going on? I imagine you arrived here like I have and we are on the same boat." asked Eden as she took a bite of cake.
"It looks like we were sucked in after accepting that contract and we are stuck here until we reach a certain level. Although I am used to MMO games with a storyline , this one doesn't seem to have a storyline to follow. It's almost free range."
"MMO?"
"Massive multiplayer online game"
"So does that mean we aren't from the same area either"
"Nope, check your chat icon on your messages, select alliance, there's world chat too but it's full of nonsense."
Eden opened her chat and noticed her alliance was barely speaking to each other still. Then switched over to world chat to see postings for recruitment and people asking why they got attacked.
"How come our leader just asks us to get stronger and doesn't say how to do it? It's hard work trying to find out the answers on your own."
"Well we had multiple leaders, they've been poached. This guy doesn't speak English, look at the stamp on the end, it tells you what language they are writing in."
"What! We aren't even in the same country!" Eden's eyes widened in amazement.
"We understand each other perfectly because I assume we both speak English" Said Corruption as she crossed her legs and leaned back to look over the garden.
Eden said slowly, "I'm in the USA, or was"
Without looking at Eden, Corruption sighed and said "I'm in Europe"
"That's actually really cool, to meet here of all places." Eden said as she perked up a little.
"Well, that's how MMO games work. I can see how thrilled you are." said Corruption with a small smile.
A bird suddenly flew into the gazebo and dropped a scroll on Eden's lap. It had a seal with her crest on it. She broke it and read it quickly. It was a report of the progress of her troops. They had leveled up and the castle repairs were complete. New upgrades were available to fortify her walls. Decisions needed to be made. Eden wrote approval on selected areas and closed the scroll. The bird flew back and took it with it.
"You can make decisions through your passport too. You don't have to wait on your messenger to give you an update. Just add it to your queue," said Corruption.
"Thank you for telling me that, that saves me loads of time."
Eden opened her passport and began to add more things to her queue. Corruption would look over at Eden once in a while as she kept going over her stats. She couldn't help herself and chuckled a little. Eden ignored the chuckle. "she probably thinks I'm a little kid" thought Eden as she was finishing up. "I don't think you're a kid, I just think you have a sort of innocence to this environment. It reminds me of when I played my first MMO game. It was a good feeling."
"I think you are a very intelligent person and perceptive. I want us to remain friends." Eden said seriously as she was putting away her items. Corruption paused and stared at Eden, wondering how quickly her demeanor changed. She showed a sort of maturity with a level of sternness in her voice. "Very well, I will help you where I can," answered Corruption after a few minutes of pondering on the type of person Eden was. With that, Eden stood up and thanked her again.
Back at her territory, Eden saw her walls were now made of stone. Her castle had grown and her troops had a different look to them. She stayed on Thunder and called out, "Arthur, assemble the army. We are heading out now." The troops got ready right away. As they marched, they made many monster kills. Eden kept increasing her power fast.
By the third day in this world, Eden's power was noticeable and she then began getting messages from others asking for help. One message was from her alliance leader asking to speak to her privately. Eden sighed and thought, he probably doesn't want me to leave the alliance since my power has increased exponentially. She put away her scroll and signaled her troops that they were returning home. By now, she had grown an army that appeared large in strength with different tiers. She kept the force field on because she knew if an attack was to happen, her power level would drop and the vultures would come. She needed to make an appearance until her foundation was strong. After resting for a bit, she got dressed in her formal attire and had Thunder adorn as well. The troops proudly carried their banners with their crest and behind each, the alliance banner. They marched to the leader's castle.
Upon arriving, the leader wearing black metal armor greeted her. He spoke very slowly and praised her show of strength before asking, "Is this your entire army?" Eden looked back, and took pride in her troops. "This is my best, but not all" She replied with a grin.
"Are you not afraid of an attack?"
"Why would I be? My castle walls are strong and there's no worry because I have a shield active," replied Eden with a hint of distrust.
"I didn't mean anything by it," replied the leader with his hands up. "I was surprised to see your entire army march here."
"You are the leader, I assumed you wanted to inspect my strength," said Eden as she got off Thunder.
"Yes, about that, I wanted to talk to you about leadership," he gave a small bow and gestured to enter his castle.
They sat in an office adorned with different type of animal skins and weapons picked up from monsters. There were names on the wall with the title R4 next to it.
"How can I be of service, leader?" asked Eden as she sat down.
"Please call Menki," he replied as he cleared his throat. He poured wine for them and kept a straight face.
"I requested an audience with you because I wanted to discuss our alliance affairs."
"What of them? I stay out of trouble for the sake of the alliance"
"Yes, but you are strong and we need your power on the front lines Eden"
"What do you mean front lines? Is there a war with another alliance that I don't know about?"
"Our members have been attacked on the outskirts of our alliance territory. We can't defend them with our troops if you stay in your lands."
"So you want me to move my forces to the center of the alliance?"
"That's one option, the other is to show your strength to the attacker, make them see we are not to be messed with"
"I cannot pick a fight with everyone who attacks our alliance members, they need to get strong as well. Damage to my army cost repairs and time to regain. What you need to do as a leader is teach us how to get stronger. Organize your people to fight back with their own strength. The cost to only defend is high if you understand what I mean"
"Yes, but since you are the strongest in our alliance, then you should help the others."
"I can help, but for how long until my army is weaken and then I suffer from those vultures"
"We will support you"
"How?"
"We can send you resources"
"Resources are only good if I still have an army to feed, but if I lose half my army, it will take time to recover."
"I understand what you mean"
"I'm not trying to be selfish, if anything I want everyone to grow strong as well. But if they rely on me, then they will be easy pickings for the enemy. That is a losing battle."
Menki took a gulp of his drink before taking a deep breath. He smiled a bit as he kept looking at his glass in his hand. Through the glass he saw Eden still sitting without breaking away from staring at him. She had a stern look on her face. He then took another gulp and placed his glass down. "Thank you for your time," Menki said as he rose from his chair. Eden, still slightly bewildered, stood up thinking of what she just said. Had she gone too far. Was she disrespectful for how she spoke to him? All these questions were replaying as she was walking back to Thunder. Eden climbed on her horse and looked back at Menki. "If you ever need help defending your castle, don't hesitate to ask." Menki gave a nod and smiled warmly towards her. Her army began to descend. Menki kept watching Eden as she disappeared into the woods. He lit a cigar as he took out his passport. He released the contracts he had with his army and then went to his leadership board. He was on the window to select a new leader and hovered his finger over Great Eden. Taking another puff he said to himself, "you will make a good one. Too bad I'm tired of this world to see it through." He pressed the button and then selected the leave alliance. Menki went back inside his castle. His gates were then blown open by the army of FTG Expatriate. Calvary rushed through as men set the buildings on fire. His infantry looted the treasury. Steps were heard approaching Menki's office. A General dressed in armor with gold and equipped with high level gear walked in. He looked at Menki, still sitting there with a drink in his hand. The General took off his helmet and spoke, " You deserve to see the face of who will kill you." without any restraint, Menki was killed. The fire devoured everything. There was no trace of a castle standing there.
Eden had gone to bed having an uneasy feeling. Her memory of Menki eyes that looked like they lost their light. She had looked back and beyond the mountains she saw the sky still clear before she kept going. When she got to her castle it was already raining and it was really dark outside. Something kept bothering her about the demeanor of Menki. Did he really invite her just to ask for her help? He could have just messaged her. She decided to set things on her queue until she fell asleep.
Erza woke up Eden as usual, however this time she said, "you have urgent matters to attend to my liege, your people need your guidance." Eden frowned because she had already placed things on the queue the night before, which was so urgent it needed to get addressed, she thought. She went to her office where she noticed it looked larger than before. There was another wall in her office similar to Menki's. She furrowed her eyes and sat down as she began to read her reports. Then she noticed multiple messages on her desk. She began to read them. They were all from alliance members and they all had questions of what happened to Menki. Eden was shocked, she just spoke to him yesterday. She then saw another message from Corruption, Congratulations on being our leader. Eden opened her passport right away. There it was, next to her name, Leader of DRK.
It took an hour for Eden to reply to all the messages she had received regarding leadership and questions about Menki. Then Erza spoke, "My liege, why don't you send an alliance message. It would save you time in addressing everyone." Eden was annoyed with Erza for not saying anything sooner but moved on.
" Greetings from your fearless leader,
Forgive me for a belated response in addressing all your inquiries. I was unaware that Menki had appointed me his successor. Our last conversation was regarding the alliance defense. I have sent a scout to his castle coordinate and am awaiting to see what happened to him. He left the alliance before I can reach out to him. In addition, my first order of action will be to implement alliance rules and select a leadership board who will help in making this alliance strong. Please reply only if you have interest in the position. As for the rest, please wait for another alliance mail to address all questions.
Best Regards, Great Eden"
After sending that email, the messages stopped and Eden called for Erza on the status of the scout. "The scout returned to report that there was nothing in those coordinates. The place burned and there was no sign of Menki's survival" said Erza as she handed Eden the report. After looking things over, she noticed no traces of troop deaths. It didn't have the remnants of a battle taking place. Eden can only think of one thing, suicide. But would he be able to return home was her next thought. With a heavy heart she wrote another alliance mail.
" Greetings,
It is believed that Menki found a way back from this world. There was no trace of his castle. I have attached the report to his last known location. For those that wish to leave the alliance please request privately to avoid fees. Everyone else, please await the announcement of your new R4.
Best Regards"
There were three requests to leave. One of them had third in line for power in their alliance. Eden decided to message them directly to understand why they want to leave. From her investigation, Menki didn't have a group of people who he was confined in. He barely spoke to his leadership board. After speaking to the member, it was obvious it was a jump ship move. He saw Menki's decision to leave as if the alliance was not going to survive. It was there that Eden decided a new name would suit them best.
Eden sent mail to a few individuals that stood out; Maur, Corruption, Ron, Notme, Onibat and Blowzabella. These would be her new Alliance Generals. She had set up a meeting room to gather them for a formal introduction.
"Thank you all for coming, I wanted to set up some alliance rules so that it runs smoothly and so that we don't become someone else's food. I noticed that we have a ruler now who stated that the ranking of an alliance determines whether they have peace or not. We are currently 6th place. The peace rank begins at 5th place. I did the math and if we all increase our power by 20% , then we can knock them out of the rank."
Everyone was still silent around the table, then Eden cleared her throat, "I apologize, I have a bad habit of just getting down to business. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Without your support I don't see this alliance surviving."
"Are there more appointed Generals?" asked Maur
"I could do that, but I think a small group could do it for now until we expand" said Eden
"What roles would we play," added Corruption
"For now, my second in command is Corruption. She has an observant eye and makes wise decisions. Maur, my politician who speaks with carefully thought responses. Onibat would take the warlord position with Ron and Notme as aids. Blowzabella is the lesion for recruitment." Eden took a pause, "after speaking with everyone individually, these were the responsibilities I thought would best suit your character. Please feel free to speak to me privately if you don't agree."
"I think that is wise, how will you get the rest of the alliance to fall in line?" asked Corruption.
"With an iron fist of course," Eden laughed as their faces darken except Corruption's who had an idea of Eden's humor. Blowzabella who was quiet until then said, "That's no way to rule. You are dealing with people."
Eden said lazily "We are in a war zone, there is no sweet way of putting it. If everyone stays oblivious to war, then we are just sitting ducks. Besides, I lead by example. If there's an attack, I will respond, but in return I expect those I'm protecting to get stronger. There's no point in me sending my army and taking damage if the people I'm protecting don't show they are worth protecting. Big or small they all have their uses. They don't need to be as strong as I am, but get smart about not being open for an attack."
"How do you plan on getting them to where you want them to be?" asked Maur as he took a sip of his wine and leaned back.
"I'll use the Alliance mail to send out tips on how to avoid an attack and best ways to counter. Kinda like a newsletter." replied Eden as she dropped her first draft on her newsletter. They all reviewed it.
Onibat frowned a little before speaking, "You're going to teach them? Shouldn't they know a few of these things by now?"
"You're right, they should know, but not everyone learns the same way. We all have a learning curve."
"I will do anything to help, I'm not very good at this game either," said Ron earnestly.
"You and Notme are more of the muscle. With your knowledge in war, I can pick your brain what is the best way to attack," Eden raised her glass and took a gulp before announcing her reason, "Ron and Notme are veterans. They know military tactics in the real world. Though this is a game and rules are different, it's important to remember these are human minds we deal with."
"Yes, which is why you can't rule with an iron fist!" said Blowzabella.
"She was joking, If I know Eden, she wouldn't be that unfair. Why would she bring us to decide on the alliance rule together? The past leaders never did that." said Corruption with a soft voice.
"It's okay Corruption, I should have been more observant and joked lightly. Thank you for clarifying that for me. This is why you are my voice of reason." Eden smiled and pulled out another scroll for everyone. "I've outlined the rules of being in this alliance. In addition, I don't like that Menki placed me in this position without my consent or those of the previous leadership board members. Here are my terms to stay leader. If I ever go silent for unforeseen events, My second in command takes charge of the alliance. If for some reason anyone feels that I am not adequate for this role, anyone sitting at this table can petition to remove me off my seat, but to succeed, there must be a vote. Majority wins. Does everyone agree?" said Eden as she handed everyone a quill to sign the agreement. "This includes any future R4 / Generals." added Eden as she was the first to sign.
"Are you that confident in your abilities to gamble your position?" asked Maur.
"I am not, that is why I am ready to step down if there is anyone among us who can do better. My alliance needs come first before my own needs."
With that, Maur signed as well as the rest followed except Corruption. Eden looked at her surprised. Then Corruption said, "I don't believe you will need to step down, but I will sign in support of your decisions."
The next morning the Generals packed to leave and sat in the dining hall. They had just finished eating when Eden got up and made one last announcement.
"Thank you again for your support. In the honor of our new agreement and collaboration I wanted us to start with a new identity. One that will be remembered and recognized. We will be known as Excalibur, EXC." The banners changed showing the new coat of arms and its crest. "I wanted something that has a meaning behind it. I hope you all like it."
Everyone awed looking at the banners and the change in clothing. Their robes now have gold and silver on them.Smiles on everyone's faces. "We should have a round table just like the story," said Corruption as she looked at her new robes.
Corruption was the last one to leave because Eden had asked her to stay behind for a talk. They were walking around the castle gardens when Eden let out a sigh. "I'm afraid that Blowzabella and I will have disagreements in the future. My joke alone was enough to show me I need to really consider a more humane approach." Corruption pressed her lips a little and thought for a few minutes. "You can try to be more appealing, but it's like you said. War is not sugar coated. She will come around once she sees it for herself. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
"No, I wanted to talk about Boss raids. I know not everyone is capable of sending strong troops to support. That means I have to rely on the strongest to help take the beating during these events. I didn't want for us to fall behind and be able to take bosses like the other strong alliances. However, this also means you would take the most damage."
"I understand what you mean. We can have everyone send what they can. Besides, you also would take a lot of damage as well."
"Yeah, but that's my role"
"Did you forget your own speech? We are in this together"
"You know you really know how to slap someone in the face without lifting a finger"
They both laughed and headed to the battle room to discuss numbers and which bosses they needed to go for.
Eden was on the scoreboard as 15th place in power. She had unlocked her dragon which gave her a boost. Her and Corruption would lead the boss raids as the two power houses of the alliance. There were attacks on their smaller allies but Eden was not always awake during the attacks. It made her ponder on how they knew when she or Corruption would be sleeping. They would be alerted and by the time they arrived, their allies had already been drained of their resources.
"You think there's a spy in the alliance?" asked Maur as they sat down in the office.
"I have a hunch that someone is acting as a decoy, I don't know how they're doing it but it became clear to me after looking at the report times. Also, some of these people were on my communication list under friendly, but attacked once I went to sleep."
"It did seem strange that when you said goodnight to everyone yesterday, an attack happened 5 minutes after."
"They have become bold, making it more obvious or sloppy"
"What do you think of doing?"
"Clear my friendly communication list and sign peace agreements with the surrounding alliances"
"That sounds good and all, will they agree?"
"Well, if they don't, then I'll launch a full-on attack on their alliance until they comply. I doubt most of them will want a constant pressure of war from me."
"You are devious, but I like your style hahaha"
"How are the new recruits doing? I sent them resources"
"They seem to be settling in nicely, though they still have fear in their eyes when your name is mentioned"
"Hmm I know my style of recruiting is ruthless, but the survival of the alliance is a priority. Once I get the majority of the alliances to sign a peace agreement I'll stop"
"But we won't get to see the wrath of Eden anymore"
"Hahaha you'll see it, It will be reserved for others. With that said, I need your help"
"What can I help you with?"
"I know you are very good at deducting information and getting all the juicy secrets, I want to see if any one in the alliance has a similar style of speaking as someone else. And if they are active at the same time in our alliance chat or alternatively. I know it's a lot of work, but you are discrete. We can go over the list together to select which seems odd."
"A secret mission?"
"Corruption is aware of my suspicions"
"Of course, your second in command would know"
"I really hate to believe anyone here is willing to sell us out, but there's people who take joy in such schemes."
Maur nodded and began to cross off the list of people that are not suspects. Eden took the second list and did the same. After narrowing down the list they had more than a handful of suspects. "These hardly ever show communication with others and these haven't grown in strength," pointed Maur at the ones who weren't crossed off. "These haven't responded to my messages that I sent privately and I agree with the ones who aren't growing in strength. They must be hoarding the rewards of the alliance," responded Eden and then her eyes lit up.
"Let's throw a ball of some sort. Invite everyone and take attendance. For the ones who don't attend, we send out scouts to see if they are even home," said Eden.
"But how will we bait them into making the trip?" asked Maur with a small hint of doubt.
"Rewards. We set a goal for power increase and their stats improved. Have everyone send a report and then we distribute rewards. I have a couple of things in my arsenal."
They agreed and invitations were sent out. Eden received a private message from Blowzabella. "Why are we forcing everyone to increase power? Power isn't everything. Some can't put in the time and energy as the power houses. They have other matters to attend to." Eden took a deep breath. She took a moment to think about how to reply when Onibat sent his message. "They should get strong on their own without you rewarding them. You and Corruption already take the short end of that stick. But I understand you are trying to encourage them. I'll be there as a guard." A smile appeared on Eden. A third message arrived, "I'll put in for some of the rewards, you can't bear the cost alone." wrote Corruption. Eden awed at their replies, but still didn't know how to respond to Blowzabella without her opinion on the matter. She had been supporting the lower ranked alliance members, but she wasn't always involved in the decisions of the alliance. Then Eden decided not to explain everything to her and responded, "It's an optional participation."
The ball went well, everyone was enjoying themselves. Eden snuck away to check on the progress of the plan behind the scenes. It turned out that five of the members were unresponsive and were not home.
That night Eden made an announcement that she would like to hear from everyone and make it a mandatory check in so that events like the ball can be joyful. Her propaganda to make the alliance more lively was also meant to snuff out the five that weren't home. After a few days, Eden gave the order to Corruption and Maur to kick out the ones who weren't participating in alliance rules. There were no complaints from the five. They had joined a new alliance before the end of the day. After seeing that, Maur walked into Eden's office. "Did you notice how they joined another alliance right away?" Eden nodded, She handed Maur her notes. "I cross reference out attack logs, those that are gone, went to the alliance that attacked them in the past." Maur curved her lips up giving a big grin. "So they were spies. Do we have more?"
"Not that I can think of. But we should be cautious on who we let in going forward. I doubt they will make the same mistake again," said Eden as she took a deep breath. "Is there something on your mind?" asked Maur while tilting his head with his eyes furrowed.
"Just that it's time to demonstrate our strength. I have these peace agreements here, but they are only a fraction of what we need. The larger alliances are still the threat. They need to see us worthy of signing a contract."
"Well, you haven't steered us wrong and we have grown to rank 5 on your leadership. We're close to rank 4."
"We will have to get better at war, I think it's time to make everyone else a stone cold killer," said Eden as she looked at the map.