Lord of Creation

by Lawrence Blackwood

  His newest skill, Whirlwind, was absolutely horrific. This was the first time he had used it against me during a training bout, and would have to be the last. My health was down to 45% even after we both did what we could to make the blow non-fatal. In fact, it had barely hit, which was just another reminder that I was far from a front line fighter.

  "Antuhr, stand down. It was an accident, after all." The Gruff and human didn't get along that well. From what I could make of it, it was mostly just friendly competition. However, there were moments like these that made me doubt my assumptions. Either way, I always made sure to steer well clear of them when they trained.

  Over the past thirty days, Antuhr had become less of a laborer and more of a warrior. The almost comically large Gruff had gotten slightly leaner and quicker, while retaining all of his previous strength and then some. He was Level 17, compared to Austin's 14 Levels and my 22.

  After resting for a few minutes to let my health regen, I slipped back into my normal gear. Even moderately heavy armor like the bronze helmet and mail I was just in was too heavy for my new class of Battle Mage. I had earned the option for a class at Level 20.

  Class Bonus (Battle Mage)- Mana pool capacity and regen are increased by 0.1% per Level, combat spell power increased by 25%

  Fully geared up again, and not bleeding to death, I deposited my ruined training gear with one of the Crafters to repair and went to the original longhouse, which had been turned into a sort of town hall, in search of food.

  "T'was a nasty hit you took, milord. Need'n some refreshments after getting yer ass handed to ya?" A Watcher, one of the first to be created, asked as I approached. She was just under 6' tall, and roped with wiry muscle that could launch into action faster than most people could blink, thanks to Goblin Scourge bodies and a few improvements here and there.

  Her forearms were extremely bulky, almost as thick as my waist. They were a shiny, iridescent blue that matched other parts of her body, forming an exoskeleton of sorts. They came from the shell of massive Tainted Beetles and overly large insects we had killed over the month. Her eyes were a dark, murky brown that had no whites or irises. There were three pairs of them spaced evenly around her face.

  Watchers served as guards for the Clearing, and just over two dozen of them patrolled a bulky twelve foot stone and wood wall that had been built around the Clearing.

  Not all of them were women, of course. Each of my different creations had a random assigned gender, either male or female. "Of course I am, Gida. Maybe you could teach him a thing or two?" The Watcher smiled scarily, before walking off toward the training circle I had just come from.

  As she walked, her forearms uncurled into two plate shields, while twin needle sharp appendages unfolded from her back to point over her shoulder. The spikes were half again as long as she was tall, and the shields were about the size of my chest. Both of them were the same iridescent blue as the rest of her natural armor. "Austin! Think you can face a real warrior?" I heard her call. The last thing I saw before entering the town hall was Austin's terrified face as he stepped into the ring.

  "You're a miserable, rotten king milord!" Turner, a Weaver barkeep, scolded good-naturedly as I entered the hall. He was quickly growing in popularity among the Clearing's citizens because of his slightly eccentric personality.

  "Says the one that's taking a break when they should be serving patrons at the inn!" I shot back, barely containing my laughter.

  "Bah, you know we don't get a whole lot of visitors here in the middle of bumfuck nowhere! We don't have any booze is the problem!"

  We both finally lost it, bursting out in raucous laughter than earned us a few odd glances. After some small talk with Turner, I grabbed a plate of more boar steak and water (which everyone was about sick of) and roasted corn with baked potatoes, which was new. After a few minutes contemplating my conversation with Turner, I figured a brewery actually sounded pretty cool. I quickly messaged a few Crafters to start the project as soon as they had the time for it.

  I took a seat near a corner of the hall, by one of its three fire pits. The building was fifty feet long by twenty wide, and just under fourteen feet tall. A fireplace took up the middle of each end of the building, and the third was right across from the doorway.

  They were a righteous pain in the ass to build at first, because I had to picture what I wanted to create with all of the needed materials in my Inventory. Then Shard informed me, right after I had conveniently almost given myself a hernia, that I could do all of that without needing anything in my Inventory, it just needed to be within a few hundred yards of me.

  After that, I had added stone at the base and corners of the building for support, as well as aesthetics. Nonliving materials were ten times as costly mana wise as living materials were, and they tended to be heavier too, so it took much longer to reinforce the building than I would have liked.

  We couldn't make glass yet, at least not well, but the weather was warm enough that the hall could still have plenty of non covered windows without the need for glass. From the window near my seat, I could see most of the rest of the rapidly expanding Clearing.

  There were three more longhouses, almost identical to the one I was in on the outside. I could only see two of them, as the four were arranged in a diamond pattern with the corners of each building only a dozen or so feet from one another. The other three buildings were for lodging, instead of the public meeting place the one I was in had become.

  In the direct middle of the Clearing, and thus in the direct middle of the quartet of buildings, was a building seemingly made entirely of stone. It's base was 80'x80', and was over thirty feet tall.

  The building was actually wooden, but I had molded a six inch barrier of stone around the whole thing. The doors were thick, heavy oak banded in bronze and covered in a half inch thick layer of stone on either side. There were arrow slits carved into the wall of the top floor, and a short crenellated wall built into the roof.

  The bottom floor was essentially a throne room. There was a large, stone throne in the center of the room facing the doors, with a smaller throne in each corner to hold my advisors. There was a small room in the back, with a staircase leading up to the second floor. The stairs from the second floor to the roof were on the opposite end of the building.

  The building was labeled Haven Keep, and was by far the most defensible building we had between the funnel design of the longhouses to create a chokepoint and the building itself.

  Outside of the defensive diamond was a smithy, managed by a Gruff, two Crafters, and a Weaver. We had more than enough copper and tin to support a population at least two or three times the size of our current 276 humanoids, 2 humans, 28 small bark spiders, 2 large bark spiders (including Arach), and 4 tiny earthshakers (tiny being relative, of course).

  There was a woodworking shop, as well as an almost unused inn, as most of my people just stayed in the longhouses and none of us had any form of currency. The crops that Murlough had started were outside of the wall, and now required 15 Weavers to maintain them. A waterline had been built to and from the river to supply fresh water and dispose of any waste that didn't go to the crops as compost.

  An enormous crash coming from the doorway broke me out of my reverie. Murlough, who was of similar Level to myself at this point, rushed toward me. "Lord Donovan! I have found a settlement of your kind!"

  "Easy, Murlough. Slow down and talk to me. Where were you, and how large of a settlement are we talking about?" The Shaman visibly composed himself, wiping sweat from his brow and taking several long, deep breaths.

  "I'll share maps with you. I was scouting the northern boundaries of our territory when I found them milord. A wooden palisade surrounded the settl- town, I believe is the appropriate term. Judging by the size, I would guess a population of three thousand or more."

  I sat there in silence, absorbing what Murlough had said. The only humans I had known since being brought here were Nico and now Austin. My food started to gro
w cold as I stared into space, and the people, my people, were starting to become anxious. None of them were close enough to have heard our conversation, but everyone in the building couldn't help but notice Murlough's entrance and my thousand yard stare.

  "Gather Antuhr, Austin, and Gida in the throne room. I'll be there shortly." With a concentrated effort, I sent a mental message to all of my people to gather in the throne room.

  Half an hour later, I was in the throne room with my three advisors and Gida, who I also quickly promoted to advisor. Then, we all took our seats as the first of my people began to file in. You know, I should really come up with a species name for these guys. That'll help with introducing them to the humans.

  I snapped back to the present, not wanting to seem vacant to the over two hundred people that now crowded throne room. My advisors watched them without a single motion or sound. They might have been carved from the stone of the room itself, if Antuhr's enormous frame moved a little less as he breathed.

  "People of Haven Clearing, we have progressed well in the past month." I had to pause for a small smattering of applause and a few cheers. "Our population has grown tremendously, and I hope that in the not so distant future I will no longer be pivotal to new additions to our people." I looked pointedly at a female Gruff and male Watcher that were standing slightly too close to each other for social norms. The Gruff blushed and looked at the ground.

  With a warm smile, I resumed my speech. "And yet, we have so far to go. We have so much left to explore, and discover of our enormous world. As you know, we are not the only ones here. There are goblins, large insects, and even creatures tainted by the same foul magic that is slowly rotting this beautiful place. You know of all of these creatures, and they are what I used to make you all.

  "And yet, you have only seen two of my kind. Me, your creator and ruler, and Austin, a trusted advisor and friend to myself. We are unique, but there are still others of our kind. Murlough has discovered a population of humans over one thousand strong. They do not yet know of our presence, as they are near the northern boundary of our territory." I paused for a moment to let everything sink in, and to catch my breath for a second.

  After a few seconds, I continued. "Humans can be compassionate and kind, but untrusting and volatile at the same time. I do not know how they will react to our presence. I plan to take my advisors, as well as Arach, to meet with them. Are there any questions?"

  There were none, which was surprising to say the least. I knew that they had a near fanatical trust in me, being their creator and all, but the way they took the whole thing in stride was unsettling.

  With a signal to my advisors, I left. The crowd parted slightly for me to pass. Shard, give them something to cheer for. I felt a tingling sensation slowly build up through my stomach and spread through my body. It gradually changed into a fierce confidence that made me feel like I could do anything. It was the raw, primal instinct of a predator about to pounce on its prey. It was the feeling of sheer power.

  Pressure built up behind my eyes, hard enough to almost hurt. I looked around, and my people fell to a knee. "My people, we have worked side by side for only a month, but I trust each of you with my life. We are strong, we are powerful! And if the need arises, we will crush my cousins behind their walls."

  I turned and left, advisors on my heels, without another word. I sure felt that Shard, but did they?

  "Of course they did. In their eyes, you are a paragon of strength and reliability. It was a simple matter for me to capitalize on that. What they witnessed here was otherworldly, at least to them."

  Aura of Dominance- For no extra mana cost, project a palpable aura of confidence and power that cannot be ignored. Boosts ally morale while lowering that of enemies. Low Level creatures are susceptible to the Fear debuff.

  I mentally called Arach over to me, along with two of the earthshakers. I had thought about making the visit stealthy, but figured a more direct approach would work. My spider mount arrived only a few minutes before the two "tiny" earthshakers.

  The earthshakers were both sixty feet long from head to tail, easily half that wide, and around twenty feet tall. They had six beefy legs with cloven feet that were slightly spiked. Their tails were a third of the length of their bodies. Strong and whip-like, the tails had large, spiked balls on the end. I took most of my inspiration from the Ankylosaurus, tweaking things here and there as I saw fit. Finally, their massive heads were covered in angular, reinforced bone plating designed to do as much damage as possible when they charged. They were the perfect, living siege weapons.

  "Alright! Antuhr and Gida get on an earthshaker, Austin and Murlough get the other. I'll take Arach. Let's go, I want to be there before nightfall!" The two groups split with a short nod, leaving me alone to fetch Arach.

  ◆◆◆

  Before long, we were all assembled and ready to leave. I led the way, even though Arach was severely dwarfed by the earthshakers. The ruckus their heavy, lumbering steps created scared away any creatures nearby, leaving our trip mostly uneventful. There was one half crazed Tainted Goblin that tried attacking us, but it was quickly crushed by a single punishing tail swipe from an earthshaker.

  After sharing a brief chuckle about the goblin with my advisors, who I was quickly coming to think of as friends more than allies, I checked my minimap. Based on the information Murlough shared with me, we were only a few miles out. There was even a few hours of sunlight left to boot.

  The last leg of our journey was much the same, until we stumbled upon a wide, packed earth road wide enough to fit both of the earthshakers side by side. In the distance, some three or four miles away, sat what could not have been anything but the town Murlough had been talking about. Tall, spiked logs formed an enormous palisade around a village made- to my surprise- of well made stone buildings. The logs were broken up by a tall, iron studded gate that I knew Arach could fit through even if the earthshakers couldn't.

  As we got closer, I noticed nearly three score of grim faced, plate-armored guardsmen formed up outside of the gate. At least that same number stood on the walls with expertly crafted longbows and wicked looking arrows. They looked ready to fight, but hopefully I could manage to change that. Still, I put together a Force Wall that was thin enough to be nearly invisible but strong enough to take an arrow or two. Hopefully.

  "Hail, friends! We do not come bearing arms." I called out, holding my hands up in what I hoped was the universal symbol for "Don't shoot, I'm unarmed!" It also helped that I actually didn't have a weapon on me. If it came down to a fight, I would just get in my Advisors' way with a weapon. Instead, I would cover them with protective Force Walls while raining down whatever spells I could manage on them.

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, I chuckled at my rundown of our plan. If I was back home with powers like these, the director of Star Wars would be all over my ass with copyright claims... Not that condensed mana has anything to do with the force, or course.

  "If you come peacefully, why do you bring such horrific beasts of destruction with you?" A middle aged man, likely captain of the guard, called back. He sounded confident enough, but I noticed a slight quiver to his voice.

  "We merely seek to make our presence known. If my forces and I truly wished you harm, we would have brought more soldiers. As you can see, the only ones here are me and my Advisors. If you and your people are willing, we would like to discuss a partnership, and possibly even establish trading routes. At the very least, I know my people and I are dying for a few good pints of ale!" My last statement caused a few rough laughs to break out in the otherwise stoic ranks of guardsmen and eased both groups' tension somewhat.

  After brief deliberation between the guard captain and a rather poshly dressed, slightly overweight man, the captain voiced their decision. "You and your men can come in, but those beasts stay outside. If you attempt anything inside of these walls, your lives are forfeit. Am I understood?" His voice rang out, carrying no more traces of the uncertainty it
had previously held. It may have just been my imagination, but I swore that I could hear the faint undertones of something more powerful in his voice.

  "He's totally a pally." I heard Austin mutter.

  "Nah, paladins are holy warriors. I don't know what he is. Maybe a battle mage or something, but there's something more to him than just captain of the guard." I responded, pondering what I heard. "Or maybe you two are just crazy," Gida cut in, "But in any case we need to go. We'll draw even more attention if we just sit here like idiots."