Empire Builder 3: Breed, Populate, Conquer

by Dante King

  The same one in the room.

  How the hell did I not figure it out sooner?

  Ben pointed his sword at the hooded man.

  “You! You’re the Blade Master!”

  The hooded figure said nothing, instead lifting his short sword and stepping toward Ben.

  “All of you,” Ben shouted. “Hold the line! It’s time to finish this.”

  Ben closed the distance between him and the true Blade Master as the rest of the armor, including the massive suit who the Blade Master had been speaking through, attacked the women and monster children.

  Rage filled Ben. He jabbed his blade forward at the hooded man, who neatly dodged to the side.

  “Wow, it really took you longer than I’d expected to figure that one out, Forgotten One.” Unlike the deep, booming voice of the armor, the voice of the true Blade Master was wizened, wry, and elderly. “Then again, you always did need me around to do the thinking for you.”

  Ben ignored his comment, taking another swipe through the air.

  “You’re wasting your energy! I swear, it’s like you’ve forgotten everything I’ve taught you. But I suppose it has been a while.”

  Ben jabbed and jabbed, the Blade Master not even bothering to lift his sword. Simply dodging was enough for him.

  “Do you know how many times I could’ve ended this fight already? You’re leaving opening after opening after opening. Sad, really.”

  Ben felt the strength drain from his body. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Melody and the rest of his companions engaged the armor in combat, one last, desperate struggle as Ben fought for all their lives.

  “Wow, those are some beauties you’ve got with you! Who’s the catgirl? You always did have good taste in women, my lord.”

  “Why won’t you die!” Ben shouted as he frustratedly stabbed into nothing but air one more time.

  “Aw, come on now! I know I was kind of a rough teacher, but is this some kind of revenge? I couldn’t have been that bad…”

  Ben paused, giving himself a minute to catch his breath.

  “There you go,” the Blade Master said. “It’s like trying to court a gorgeous girl—first step is to stop trying so hard!”

  “What… what are you?”

  “What am I? I’m the one who’s waiting for you to get your head out of your backside. Now, do us both a favor and take me down before any of those pretty girls over there get hurt!”

  “Why are you speaking as if you have no choice?”

  “Because I don’t! Now, take me down! You know how to do this, Benzhameen. I should know—I taught you myself!”

  Ben was tired and frustrated, but he decided to do what the Blade Master said. He closed his eyes and focused.

  He remembered. He remembered instructions with an old man, a small but spry codger who was better with a blade than anyone Ben had ever seen, an old man who could win a sword fight with one hand behind his back and one eye on whatever pretty girl happened to be nearby.

  And he remembered the technique.

  Ben focused his energy, taking the hilt with two hands and preparing for what looked to be a full-effort jab. He thrust the blade forward, moving until he was certain the Master had taken the bait. When he was sure he’d fallen for the feint, Ben pivoted the blade to the side, then swiped up with the pommel.

  Contact. He slammed the hard jewel at the bottom of the hilt into the Master’s chin, sending him staggering back. Once the advantage was Ben’s, he drove the blade forward, pushing into the man’s gut with all his strength.

  The Master froze. The short sword, dingy and rusted, dropped to the floor in a clatter. The Master looked up slowly, taking the hood into his wrinkled fingers and tossing it back. The face he revealed was elderly, wrinkled and thin. His head was bald, a white goatee around his mouth—a mouth that twisted into a knowing smile. Despite his age, there was intensity and youthful energy behind those watery, blue eyes.[1]

  He looked down at the wound, then back up at Ben, the smile still on his lips.

  “About damn time,” he said, blood trickling from his mouth. “I was… I was worried I’d have to dance around with you all day.”

  And then he dropped, along with all the armor. Blood pooled on the front of the man’s robe.

  Melody and the rest of the women rushed over.

  “What happened?” Lexi asked.

  “Who is that man?” Lulu asked.

  Ben dropped to his knees and ripped open the man’s shirt.

  “I’m hoping the fight being over means the null field is done,” Ben said. “Because otherwise…”

  He held his hands over the stab wound, focusing his magical energy to mending it.

  “Come on, come on.” Ben spoke quietly to himself as he channeled Healing Touch.

  Both sides of the puncture wound began to reach over to one another, the cut healing. Ben let out a sigh of relief as Healing Touch went to work.

  “Wait,” Lexi said. “Didn’t this guy just try to kill us? Why are you worried about whether he lives or dies?”

  “Ben knows what he’s doing,” Lulu said. “Whatever’s happening, I’m sure he’s got a good reason for it.”

  The wound sealed, nothing remaining but the blood that had seeped out.

  “Wake up, old man,” Ben said. “You owe me big for trying to kill me like that.”

  Moments passed, and Ben began to worry he hadn’t healed the Blade Master in time.

  But then those watery eyes opened, and a sly smile spread across his wrinkled face.

  “Now, I’m not sure if I’m dead or not. But waking up to three beauties like these? Makes me pretty sure I’ve croaked and gone to heaven!”

  The women shared confused looks as the Blade Master sat up and looked around, his eyes going right to Melody’s cleavage.

  “Especially you! Damn, nothing like waking up and being eye-to-breast with a catgirl!”

  “Oh no!” Melody exclaimed as she stood up. “He tried to kill us and he’s a perv?”

  “And you’re not so bad yourself, bird girl,” he said, giving Lexi a once-over. “And I’ve always had a soft spot for nymphs, mhm-hmm. Say, maybe I can pretend to be out cold again and you can do a little mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Sound good?”

  “Gross,” Lulu said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Tell me who you are and what the hell you’re doing here,” Ben said.

  The man reached up toward Ben. “Come on, you’re really not going to help an old man to his feet?”

  “Not an old man who just tried to kill me.”

  The man arched his bushy, white eyebrows. “Are you serious? You’re the one who put me up to that? You’re going to force me to battle you to the death and then you’re going to punish me for it? I swear, a geezer can’t catch a break around here. So much for respecting the elderly!”

  Ben glanced over at the women, who all seemed as confused as he was.

  “Fine.” Ben reached down and took the old man’s hand, his palm thick with callouses, his grip surprisingly strong.

  “That’s better,” he said, hopping up to his feet. “Now, I’m guessing you’re going to want some answers after what just went down in my dojo.”

  “Your dojo?”

  “What the hell do you think this is? A juice bar? It’s my dojo! You know, the place where I trained you and everyone else you wanted to handle a blade without accidentally slicing their own pecker off?”

  Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

  “Let’s start from the beginning,” Ben said. “Tell me your name, and who you are, exactly.”

  “Who I am?” The man gave an exaggeratedly formal bow. “My name is Zitochi, grand swordmaster, known in some parts as the Ghost Blade of Syoti. But you can just call me Zitochi—or Zito if you’re not one for formalities. And judging by your technique, my lord, you’re quite rusty after all these years. Now, I hope you’re ready to put in some work. Because your training is about to really b
egin.”

  Chapter 3

  “Now!” Zito yelled, his wrinkly hands on his hips as he looked around the dojo. “Where’s the door to get back to the rest of the tower?”

  Ben was confused. “’The rest of the tower’?”

  Zito knitted his bushy brows and cocked his head to the side.

  “Yeah—the tower. You know, your tower? The really, really tall building that the Forgotten Ruler, well, rules from? Don’t tell me that’s gone or something.”

  “There’s certainly a tower,” Melody said. “But it’s a ways away—good walk from here.”

  Now Zito was even more confused. “You’re pulling my leg, catgirl! Which is fine, but there’s something else I’d rather you be pulling on, if you get my drift.” He followed this up with more eyebrow waggling.

  Ben shook his head, realizing he had to put up with much more of this while Zito traveled with them.

  “Focus, Zito,” Ben said, a stern tone to his voice.

  “Fine, fine,” Zito said. “Just that it’s hard to focus when…” His eyes moved from girl to girl, a grin on his face. “Focus!” He shook his head then turned his attention to Ben. “Anyway, this—“ Zito swept his hand toward the dojo, “—like I said, this was the training dojo, the place where I trained not only you, but the Luminous Blades.”

  “The what?” Ben asked.

  Zito beamed. “The Luminous Blades were the elite swordsmen that I handpicked from your armies and trained personally. And they were top-notch, the best there were! Every idiot with a sword and a swinging dick knew all about the Luminous Blades, how a single one was worth an entire regiment of regular swordsmen.”

  This piqued Ben’s interest, but he had other matters to learn about first. He made a mental note to ask Zito about the Luminous Blades at a later time.

  “On topic,” Ben said.

  “Sorry, Forgotten One. There are two things I think about more than anything else—girls and swords! When one or the other gets brought up, it’s hard to stop me from going on and on. Anyway, this dojo was where you trained, meaning it was part of your tower. And now you’re telling me that the tower’s somewhere else? That doesn’t make any sense!”

  Ben felt the same way. He turned to Melody, hoping for answers. She glanced around, as if the reason for the distance might somehow reveal itself.

  “I… I don’t know what to say. While I’m vaguely aware of Zito and the Luminous Blades, I don’t know where they trained and certainly not where the dojo was located. Is it possible that you’re mistaken?”

  “Are you kidding, catgirl?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips. “You really think I don’t know where my own dojo was? I trained in this room from dawn to dusk, and when I and the rest of the Blades finished for the day, we’d take the elevator up to the fifth floor to drink at the tavern.” At the mention of the tavern, he licked his lips and grinned. “Speaking of which, you don’t still serve that bloodmoon ale that you used to have, do you, Forgotten Ruler? That stuff hit the spot like nothing else after a long day of training.”

  While some ale did sound good, Ben kept the subject on the matter at hand.

  “So, you’re saying that the dojo was attached to the tower,” he said.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Your tower had everything you needed—training facilities, equipment rooms, even a couple of taverns. That’s one of the things I always loved about the Forgotten Ruler—he, er, you, knew how to live!”

  “But it doesn’t make any sense,” Ben said. “How is it possible that this place was in the tower, and now it’s not?”

  Melody glanced aside, as if trying to puzzle out the mystery. “I… I can’t say why this is, exactly. It’s certainly possible that our pervy blademaster had one too many mugs of bloodmoon ale over the years and simply isn’t remembering things how they actually were.”

  “Easy, catgirl,” he said. “Just because I look as old as the ugliest wart on a tree stump, doesn’t mean my brain’s rotted.”

  “Let’s assume he knows what he’s talking about,” Ben said. “What would be a possible explanation?”

  Melody nodded. “It makes me wonder if someone knew about your tower, knew the power it held, and what you’d be able to do once you had it again. It’s possible that, somehow, they were able to use some kind of magic to separate parts of the tower, sending them here and there. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s possible.”

  “Makes sense to me!” Zito said. “No doubt in my mind that if anyone was afraid of your power, they’d do their damndest to keep you as far away from me and the Luminous Blades as possible!”

  “Alright,” Ben said. “Supposing that’s what happened—is it possible to bring the different parts of the tower back to where they’re meant to be? Reunite them with the tower?”

  Melody shrugged. “If magic was used to separate them, then magic can be used to bring them back. Magic tends to balance like that. But it would be powerful magic that could do something like that. If I were to guess, I’d imagine that sort of power was contained in an artifact—that’s how the most powerful spells tend to be contained.”[2]

  “Hmm.” Ben gave the matter some thought. “Well, regardless of what happened, the situation now is that the dojo is here and the tower is there. The only thing to do is go back to the tower and figure out our next move.”

  “That works for me!” Zito said, enthusiasm in his voice. “I love my dojo, don’t get me wrong, but I’m ready for some new sights after all this time cooped up in here!”

  “Then let’s get moving,” Ben said. “We’ve got a trek back to the tower. And more work ahead of that.”

  “Nothing wrong with a little relaxing once we get there,” Zito said. “After all, we’ve all fought hard! Maybe some ale and some time with one, or a few, of the beautiful ladies here and, well, we can see where the night takes us!”

  He smiled lecherously at Lexi as he spoke and went to reach for her, but she stopped him cold.

  “Be careful what you do with that arm of yours, old man,” Lexi said. “You reach for me again and you might find yourself pulling back a bloody stump.”

  Zito wasn’t dissuaded. “Yes! I like them when they’re spunky.”

  Ben decided he’d had enough. “Zito, I don’t know how I used to do things back in the day, but I know how I do them now. These women are mine—keep your hands off them, and don’t look or speak to them in a way that gives me a reason to question your loyalties. If you want to find yourself some tail after all these years, then you’ll be finding it outside of my harem. Got it?”

  Zito grinned for a few seconds, before his demeanor became serious. “Of course. I would never do anything to betray you, Forgotten One.”

  “Good. Because if you ever give even the suggestion of betrayal, you’ll be back here with only these suits of armor for company for the rest of your days.” Ben turned back to the others. “Come on, all of you. We’ve got a long trek back to the tower.”

  With that, the group gathered their things and headed out of the dojo, and then the dungeon. Soon, they were outside in the woods surrounding the ruins. Zito looked around with wide eyes, clearly shocked at what he was seeing.

  “This… this is the middle of the damned woods! How the hell did my beautiful, precious dojo get out here where no one could find it?”

  “Likely for that very reason,” Melody said. “As much as I don’t want to give this little perv a big head, it would seem that whoever made sure the dojo was this far away from the tower, separated entirely, did so because they didn’t want you, Ben, to have access to it.”

  The One Who Rules All, Ben thought. There’s a damn good chance he could be behind this.

  “Right!” Zito shouted. “And we’re going to make them pay for it! We’re going to show them what the Forgotten Ruler and his Luminous Blades can do!”

  Ben at the lead, the group started through the woods. As they moved, Zito kept speaking.

  “So,” he said. “What’s the plan?
I assume you have an army back at the tower, ready for me to whip into shape? Now, you should be keenly aware of my role in the army. I’m a military advisor and personal bodyguard to the ruler, sure, but I’m not in charge of the rabble! You had other generals to lead the meat-shield spearmen and such. I was in charge of the best of the best! The way it worked was that the soldiers in the main body of the army, the ones who truly distinguished themselves in battle, were who were considered to be a part of the Luminous Blades.”

  Ben said nothing, listening as Zito explained this new aspect of his army.

  “Now, once they qualified to try out, they still had a long way to go. Most washed out! But that’s fine—that’s how we ensured that we’d be getting the best of the best with our soldiers. So, I assume that’s what you’ve already done? Sifted through the masses in order to bring me the rocks to polish into diamonds?”

  Ben shared a look with Melody, both of them knowing the truth of the matter.

  “That’s… not really the case,” Ben said. “We have my tower under control, but we don’t have an army.”

  Zito seemed confused. Birds chirped in the woods, and the wind blew softly.

  “You… you what? You don’t have an army? Then how do you plan to retake the empire that was once yours?”

  “That’s where we come in!” Melody said. “We’re creating an army of monsters, all of them with unique powers. They’re going to be our military.”

  “And their numbers grow by the day,” Lulu said.

  Zito looked around at the monsters and monsterkin in the group. Nipper snorted, as if offended that Zito would think so little of him.

  “Well, they certainly look tough enough. But monsters aren’t going to do the job on their own. You’re going to need fighters—you know, men and women in armor who carry big swords and shields and bows and all that!”

  Ben said nothing and nodded, knowing he was right.

  “But we can worry about all that later,” Zito said. “For now, I need to get you back to the tower and assess your ability with a blade.”

  They continued, Zito filling the air with more talk about the Luminous Blades, how powerful and legendary and feared they were. As Ben listened, he tried to sift through Zito’s bluster. By the time Zito was done and the tower appeared in the distance, Ben had come to the conclusion that if the Luminous Blades were even half as skilled and powerful as Zito said, they were truly something to be reckoned with.