Empire Builder 3: Breed, Populate, Conquer

by Dante King

  Zito took the sword into his hands. Ben had been training for him long enough to know what was going to come next.

  And he was ready.

  Zito went from standing perfectly still to moving, the blade ready to stab again. This time, Ben closed his eyes and focused on his Drain spell. As Zito ran, Ben found the strand of energy in him that represented his speed. Ben focused on it and drained some of it away. Even when Ben had taken a great deal there was plenty to spare. The blademaster contained great wells of both strength and speed.

  Zito slowed, a confused expression on his face. He was still moving quickly but not nearly as fast. Then Ben moved to the cord of strength, pulling some of that away. With Zito’s strength and speed on his side, Ben rushed in with his blade, pausing for a moment to waggle the end of it before Zito.

  “Really funny.” Zito shook his head very slowly as he realized what was happening.

  Zito tried to swing his blade, but Ben dodged the stab, moving out of the way and using his own practice sword to tip up Zito. The blademaster hurtled through the air, but Ben rushed over and grabbed him by the arm before he could hit the ground.

  Ben grinned, pleased that his plan had worked.

  “Alright, oh great Forgotten Ruler,” Zito said. “Can I have my strength and speed back now?”

  “Sure, sure,” Ben said. He used Drain to transfer the energy back to Zito.

  Zito didn’t waste a second before using it. He slipped the practice sword between Ben’s legs, tripping him up. This time, Zito was the one to make sure Ben didn’t fall.

  “Had to get you back for that one,” Zito said with a smirk.

  “Fair enough.”

  “But seriously!” Zito marched over to one of the benches on the side of the training dojo, taking the two waterskins there and tossing one to Ben. “This dojo is to practice your blade skills, not your magic. The whole idea is that you don’t get too dependent on your magic powers.”

  “I know, I know,” Ben said. “But damn, I’m bad with a blade.” He opened the top of his waterskin and took a long swig, the water cool and refreshing.

  “You’re getting better.” Zito drank greedily, water pouring down his chin. When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s only been a week, but you’ve been improving! And besides that, you remember what I taught you that first day we trained—that you can’t always depend on your magic to keep you safe. Sometimes it’s going to be just you and your sword and that’s it.”

  Ben knew he spoke the truth. All the same, he hated feeling weak and clumsy. While he believed in Master Zito’s ability to make him better with the blade, Ben had a sense that the sword would never be his strong suit. With magic, it was like the sky was the limit, that if he wanted to, he could become the greatest sorcerer this world had ever seen. That wasn’t the case with the blade.

  “I want to teach you a particular technique,” Zito said. “I think you’re ready to handle it.”

  “A technique?” Ben asked. “What kind of technique?”

  “How to describe it? When you’re as good with the blade as me, you learn all sorts of tricks. There’s more to fighting than stabbing and swiping and dodging. There are moves you can pull off, ones that you get better at the more time you spend with the blade.”

  Ben cocked his head to the side. “You’re going to have to explain what you mean.”

  Zito grinned. “I’d rather just show you.”

  After he spoke, Zito stepped back from Ben, putting about twenty feet of distance between the two of them. Once that was done, he held the hilt of his sword in front of him with two hands.

  “It’s a little trick I call whirlwind strike. Watch!”

  Zito kept his eyes closed, as if tapping into some kind of magical power. Then with a hyah!, he leaped up, spinning his body to the side until he was parallel to the ground. As he spun, he swung his blade around him, cutting through the air at a three hundred and sixty degree angle. He landed on his palms, holding his legs in the air for a moment before springing backward and finishing on his feet.

  “That… that was impressive,” Ben said. “I have to admit.”

  Zito winked. “It’s great for crowd control. You ever find yourself in the middle of a group of baddies, no way out, just do that trick. At the very least, you’ll give yourself some breathing room! And there’s a hell of a lot more of those techniques where that came from. Give it a try!”

  “Are you serious?” Ben asked. “There’s no way in hell I can pull that off on the first try!”

  “The idea isn’t to be an expert from your first attempt—it’s to know how it’s done so you can practice it. Now, try! First, plant your feet on the ground.”

  Ben did as he was told.

  “Then, you hold your sword like I did.”

  Ben did it.

  “Then, you pivot all your weight to your right foot and jump!”

  Zito repeated the technique, spinning in the air and landing on his hands, springing back like he’d done before.

  “I’m not sure I can move like that,” Ben said.

  Zito scrunched up his forehead as if confused. Then his face lit up.

  “Oh yeah! I almost forgot—if you’re not as skilled as me, you can tap into your mana reserves to give you a little extra boost. That’ll get you pointed in the right direction. The more you use it, or any of these other special techniques, you’ll need to use less and less mana. So, use your magic and give it a shot!”

  That made a little more sense to Ben. He positioned himself as Zito had shown him, holding his blade in two hands. Then, when he was ready, he tapped into his mana reserve. He felt the magical power move through him, enhancing his muscles and agility. The magic taking hold, he leaped into the air and spun… and landed on his side, the sword clattering away.

  “Ow.” Ben moaned as he got up, his side aching.

  “You’ll get better at it,” Zito said. “And, most importantly, now that you know it you can practice it on your own. Get that trick down and I’ll teach you another one. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Ben rubbed his ribs where he’d landed.

  But before he could focus too much on the pain, words appeared in front of him.

  NEW SWORD TECHNIQUE ACQUIRED!

  WHIRLWIND STRIKE

  “Perfect!” Zito said. “You may not be a pro at it yet, but you’ve at least added it to your bag of tricks! Just keep at it and you’ll be a pro before too long. Trust me, when you’ve got a horde of orcs surrounding you with that mean look they get in their eyes, you’re going to want this skill at your disposal.”

  Ben stretched. His muscles were sore, but he was ready for more.

  “Here,” Zito said. “I’ll tell you what. I’ve been giving you a hard time, but you’ve made a hell of a lot of progress over the last few days, and you’ve really been busting that skinny rear end of yours. How about we both do a little training?”

  Ben tossed the waterskin back at Zito. With a smooth motion, Zito caught it by its leather strap and set the bottle on the bench. Zito was showing off, but Ben was impressed all the same.

  “How do you mean?” Ben asked.

  “Well, you’ve got your new spells, right? And you’ve been so dedicated to training with me that you haven’t had a chance to use them.”

  “That’s true,” Ben said. “Two new spells, and I haven’t been using them. What are you suggesting?”

  “The one,” Zito said. “Energy Dart? I think that has some promise. How about you try that out on me? Fire some of those little darts in my direction, and I’ll see if I can block them. That’d be practice for the both of us.”

  Ben nodded. “I like that idea. You ready?”

  Zito stepped into the middle of the training arena and held his blade with both hands.

  “Do your worst, oh great Forgotten Ruler!”

  Ben closed his eyes and focused.

  As he held the name of the spell in his mind, he felt something. It was a tingle, on
e at the ends of his fingertips—the middle and index fingers on both hands, to be specific. The tingle grew and grew in intensity. When he opened his eyes, he saw that crimson-colored energy had gathered at the ends of the fingers that had been tingling.

  He held the energy there for as long as he could, letting it grow as much as possible before the tingling became unbearable. When that happened, he pointed his fingers at Zito and fired, the four energy darts shooting through the air like bullets.

  “Holy shit!” Zito didn’t even try to block them with his sword. Instead, Zito hit the ground just in time for the darts to fly over him. The energy darts slammed into the wall on the far side of the dojo, cracks splitting the plaster.

  When Zito realized what had happened, he rushed over and inspected the damage.

  “Wow! Those things… they’re nothing to mess around with!” The crimson-colored darts stayed stuck in the wall, lingering for a few moments before dissipating in a hiss of steam the same color. “You could’ve killed me with those, bud!”

  “Sorry,” Ben said. “I tried it once before, but it didn’t so much as scratch the stone dungeon door.”

  Zito grinned as he made his way back to the middle of the dojo. “Nothing to apologize for! I love danger in training, as you can tell. Now, try and hit me with those again!”

  “Are you sure?” Ben asked. “If you’re not fast enough…”

  Zito waved his hand. “Don’t you worry about me! I’m as fast as they come! I’ve dodged out of the way of an orcish ballistae more times than I can count—I can handle a few darts or whatever they are!”

  Ben nodded, still not sure of the plan, but when Zito was in position, he focused his magic and gathered more energy at his fingertips. Once again his fingertips tingled, and when the tingling became too much to take, Ben pointed his fingers at Zito. Unlike before, Ben felt as if he had some level of control over the energy. Instead of simply letting the darts fly, he took the time to point them at Zito.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Don’t ask if I’m ready!” Zito replied. “That defeats the whole purpose! Do I ever ask you if you’re ready?”

  “Good point.”

  Ben fired the darts, the crimson bits of energy whizzing through the air and leaving trails of light in their wake. Zito grinned, then swung his sword and moved his body to the side. Two of the energy darts were deflected by the swing, shooting to far corners of the dojo. The other two sailed past Zito, slamming into the wall where the others had hit.

  “Nice!” Zito shouted. “Looks like you had better control over those, too!”

  Ben summoned more darts, these new ones coming faster and firing with greater ease. Zito let out a “hah!” as they flew toward him, and with a fanning sweep of his sword, he knocked them all off course. When the darts were gone, he tucked the training sword into his belt and put his hands on his hips.

  Ben kept at it, and by the time he used the last of his mana, the darts had grown in size, now bigger than his fingers. Words appeared in front of him, just like when he’d learned Whirlwind Strike.

  ENERGY DARTS

  LEVEL INCREASED!

  “There you go!” Zito said, a big grin across his face. “You’ll learn more than just swordplay when you train with me!”

  Ben was pleased with his progress. Master Zito approached him as Ben caught his breath, and clapped his hand down on his shoulder in the way he seemed to like.

  “I’d say that was one more great session for the books! What do you say we get back to the tower and have some lunch—I’m starving like you wouldn’t believe!”

  Ben placed his hand on his belly, a growl sounding at the mere mention of food. He’d eaten lightly that morning, his mind both on the training ahead and his party. Melody and the rest had been gone for a week, and he was beginning to worry something had gone terribly wrong.

  “I know what’s on your mind,” Zito said, “and I wouldn’t worry about it one bit. Those ladies are beautiful, but I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on them that they were tough, too! No doubt in my mind that they’ll show up before too long.”

  Together, Ben and Zito started toward the dojo’s exit.

  “It’s a strange feeling, to know they’re out there and I’m here and all I can do is wait for news. I don’t like it.”

  “That’s because you’re a doer. I’m one of them, too. Us doers are ambitious. More than that, we like getting our hands dirty ourselves, not sending out other people to do the work for us. But that comes with the territory when you’re the big man on top! You have to get the best people and let them do their thing. Sometimes they’ll surprise you, sometimes they’ll disappoint you. You just need to know the power in letting go while they do the job you ordered them to.”

  They stepped out of the dojo and into the woods. The day was overcast, the thick, gray clouds above promising rain. Zito and Ben began in the direction of the tower.

  “You sound like you’ve got some experience in the matter.”

  “I sure do! That’s how I run the Luminous Blades. Granted, being the head of an elite team of warriors is a little different than running an empire, but it’s the same idea. And more than that, I was by your side when you ruled this empire before. I wasn’t the one calling the shots, but I sure did learn a thing or two.”

  I nodded, the two of us making our way through the woods.

  “If they’re not back in three days,” Ben said. “I’ll go looking for them.”

  “There you go. Give them a little time to do the job, and if they’re still straggling when three days pass, then you can plan something else. But until then, just—”

  Zito didn’t get a chance to finish. Something rustled in the forest ahead, something that made them pause where they stood. Both men’s hands darted to their training blades.

  “I’ve killed more men with a wooden sword than most divisions have with real weapons,” Zito said. “If this is one of the other guy’s goons up ahead, I’ve got your back!”

  But when the figure came closer, Ben realized there was nothing to worry about.

  There wasn’t just one figure, but two—Imogen and Brock. The look on her face made it clear something had happened.

  “There you two are!” Imogen said, her gray eyes wide. Brock was in his humanoid form, but as Imogen stood still and ready, he broke apart into several smaller rocks and floated around her, forming a barrier of sorts. “It’s OK, baby—nothing to worry about.” Brock returned to his humanoid form.

  “What is it?” Ben asked.

  “It’s Melody and her group—they’re back!”

  Ben’s heart skipped a beat, and a relief like he’d never before known washed over him.

  “Come on!” she said. “They’re in the meeting room right now. And… there’s someone new with them!”

  Ben and Zito shared a look, one that made it clear they both knew what a huge development this was.

  “Then let’s get a move on!” Zito shouted.

  The group hurried through the woods, Ben tapping into energy he didn’t know he had as they rushed down the path that led to the tower. Soon they were there, the doors opening as Ben approached and the group entering the main hall. Melody and the rest weren’t there—only an aurochkin who seemed to be waiting for them.

  “They’re all in the dining room,” she said. “The moment Melody arrived, she asked for a huge meal to be prepared.”

  Ben’s stomach grumbled. More than anything, he was excited to see his companions, but knowing there was a feast waiting for him promised to make the reunion all the better. Eager and excited, Ben got into the elevator with Zito, Imogen, and Brock and took it to the dining hall.

  Chapter 6

  The celebration was already underway when they arrived. Melody was there with the rest of Ben’s companions, the table covered with food and drink as the aurochkins hurried to replace what was being eaten.

  “Benzhameen!” Melody’s purple eyes lit up as she spotted Ben. She rushed over
and threw her slender arms around him, pressing her soft body against his. He hugged her right back before greeting Vinata and Lexi. Nipper bounded over, putting his paws on Ben’s shoulders and licking his face.

  “Woah!” Ben scratched behind Nipper’s ears, and when he did, he realized the beast was slightly bigger than he’d been before he’d gone on his adventure.

  “How are you all?” Ben asked, his eyes moving from party member to party member. “Seems like you’re all safe and sound.”

  Melody nodded. “Thankfully, none of us were harmed. Because, make no mistake, Ben—there was danger.”

  He was eager to hear all about it. He gestured to the table, and everyone sat down.

  He was hungry, but his appetite moved aside as he prepared to listen eagerly to Melody.

  Melody, Lexi, and Vinata glanced at one another, as if none of them were sure where to begin.

  “Melody,” Ben said. “You were the one in charge of the journey—you tell the story.”

  Melody nodded, then closed her eyes as she tried to choose a place to start.

  “The journey down to the river was quiet,” she said. “We didn’t go the most direct path, as we wanted to avoid anyone on the way who might want to do us harm. When we arrived at the river, we encountered a small group of fishing boats—all commanded by monsterkin. When they saw we were like them, they asked us if we escaped from one of the other villages.”

  “Escaped?” Ben asked. “What do you mean?”

  “That’s the same question we asked. When they realized we weren’t native to any of the towns, they told us what was going on—the towns are all controlled by The One Who Rules All.”

  Ben sat back, letting the information wash over him. “Then all of this territory is under his command.”

  “Correct,” Melody said. “He controls the length of the river. All the towns and cities along it are used as slave labor.” Her eyes lit up. “But there are so many of them! So many villages. And there’s a city, called The Bank, where thousands of monsterkin live.”