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AUTHOR NOTE: This is a map of Vynyir, the elf village.
Keys-
Blue: One of the many rivers in the kensari wilds. Unnamed as of yet.
Green: The surrounding kensari forest which includes many exotic woods like ironwood, elderwood and vaneerwood.
Yellow: The crops of Vinyir village, the most popular being a root vegetable called Eruba which is similar to the potato.
Brown: Dirt roads, kept reletively clear and maintained.
Black: Houses.
Lines: Elevation
Red 1: Where soren first landed and now the current location of the EMU, the eleanor medicare unit.
Red 2: The deep gorge where Soren crossed.
Red 3: The spot chosen for Soren's attack on the human slavers.
Red 4: The area where the humans set up their tents, now it's a horrific sight full of the dead who were torn apart by 50 cal rounds.
Red 5: Elder fulven's house where the remaining elves were kept under guard.
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As I stare at the crowd of cheering elves, something strange happens.
The creation power that I could barely feel within myself suddenly became surprisingly clear.
If I were to describe it, it would be as if there was a tank full of water in the center of my body. Using my ability just then to create those guns decreased it by about 5 percent.
But the shocking thing was that this tank was currently increasing in strength, growing larger as the seconds passed, though it was only slightly.
‘What could have caused this?’ I think quickly and then my eyes focus on the elves and their expressions. Most elves were mostly caught up in the moment, some showing skepticism but there were a few who had looks of fanaticism, and then I saw a young female elf start cheering along with the rest with great enthusiasm, her face showing that same fanaticism.
At that moment I felt my creation ability grow stronger, and with understanding, my heart began to beat faster.
‘Does my ability require faith to grow stronger?’ I stew on the thought for awhile.
It sounded preposterous but was it really? The ability to create anything from earth was in itself crazy but it was already a proven that it existed, let alone the fact that this was an odd world of fantasy and magic.
My eyes narrow. ‘If that’s the case, my ability can continue to grow but I would require people with a fanatical belief in me. I can feel that the elves who don’t hold strong belief can still increase my ability by a small amount but it’s just that it’s nowhere near as effective as the fanatics.’
‘For now I’ll focus my efforts on these few elves. There are still quite a few lost sheep, but soon they’ll see that only I can save them.’ I smile to myself, already feeling like some kind of messiah.
My hands lower and the cheering stops.
I inspect the crowd and find a four candidates who look rather competent, two of which showed some initiative by asking questions. After they come forward, I ask their names.
One was called Nylan, and apparently he was the village elder’s grandson. He had silver hair and a slim face akin to a young male model and also the bearing of a scholar. Nylan was rather guarded and one of the few elves who had no belief in me, though I have confidence that’ll change some day.
Then there was the woman I gifted the sword to called Aela who held quite a large amount of belief, though nowhere close to that of a fanatic. With a toned figure likened to an Olympic athlete, she had lavender hair and a tomboyish beauty. She seemed to show an unhealthy interest in the new weapons I provided, a trait I found quite pleasing as she would likely master them quickly.
The next was black haired elf called Valter. With a rather stoic and cold demeanor, his demenor revealed a tortured soul. It was no wonder after all considering he lost his wife and son in the recent attack which fueled the flames of vengeance deep within his violet eyes. Though his belief was small, his loyalty was assured to anyone who would grant his revenge.
Lastly a woman called Cynthia. She had coal colored hair and silver eyes that held a deep intelligence. She seemed particularly perceptive as her eyes were constantly observing me like a hawk. It was a bit creepy to be honest and my first thought was that she may hold some ulterior motives. Though her moderate belief somewhat lowered my guard, it’s best to keep an eye on her.
The first thing that had to be done was to teach them how to use the Ak-47. I wasn’t going to teach each villager individually as that would take too much time, but rather I would teach one and then they could pass on those teachings to the others.
After asking, Aela quickly volunteered. Her eyes seem to light up as I gave a detailed breakdown on the Ak-47, the other three also showed various expressions as I explained its basic concepts.
Nylan held a bullet to his eye, his face full of shock. “You mean to say that this little thing here is what tore those humans apart?”
I nod. “Yes, it’s called a bullet. You could say that it uses the explosiveness of fire to push this chunk of metal at blinding speeds.”
“And there’s 30 of these bullets.. this.. doesn’t this make our bows obsolete?” Aela’s breath became heavy.
Valter shook his head and said. “Not completely, these guns are so loud. When stealth is needed, the bow still holds value.”
Cynthia’s eyes narrow as she scoffed. “With these weapons, is there any need for stealth? With enough of these, superiority on the battlefield is guaranteed.”
I smile and say. “There are ways around the noise if necessary but for now, it’s not important.” I then continue to talk about the gun’s effectiveness, how to reload it, gun safety and its firing modes.
The reason I chose the Ak-47 was because of one thing, reliability. Although its a bit more difficult to shoot than say an AR15, it can make up for it with its durability in bad conditions with minimal maintenance.
Taking apart the guns for cleaning and oiling can be taught at a later time, what I need now is soldiers who can point, shoot and reload without worrying if the gun is gonna jam or not.
After listening intently and firmly understanding its functions, Aela smiled and nodded. “Soren, I’m ready to teach the others.”
“Good, you’ll need some practice and you can’t do that without enough bullets.”
When I go to create a hundred round can of 7.62 ammunition, its image flashes in my mind though something was different and I gasp.
When I looked at the image in my mind, I could see how much energy was required for its creation which surprisingly wasn’t much at around half a percent.
I Felt a burst of excitement well up inside me s I quickly looked at some other things.
I look up the my Lariat B cybernetic arm and it showed that it would require all my energy plus 1.12 years of my lifespan, same with the other cybernetics. When I was about to sigh from the injustice of it all, I suddenly felt a pit in my gut as I realized something.
I quickly checked how much it cost to create an EMU and what I saw caused me immeasurable trauma. Not even that damned hungry wolf came close.
‘It cost me 20 years to create... so I was 16 when I arrived in this world.’ I coudn't help but grit my teeth and lament of what was lost.
With an almost soulless look, I shake my head and create 10 ammo cans.
“Take these along with the guns. Make sure you follow the gun safety rules closely as I don’t want any of our brothers or sisters getting killed accidentally, remember these are dangerous weapons and they must be respected!” I make sure enunciate showing how serious I was.
Gun safety cannot be taken for granted as it is an essential part of an effective armed force and I made sure to drill the primary rules into their heads, especially Aela who looked like the forgetful type.
Aela couldn’t wait to get started as she hurriedly said. “Don’t worry! I’ll make sure each weapon has the safety switched on.”
“Aela, repeat the four primary rules.” I say sternly.
Aela rolled her eyes and said. “One, always treat a gun as if it is loaded. Two, know your target and what lays beyond it. Three, never point your gun at something you aren’t willing to shoot. Four, keep your finger off the trigger until you are absolutely ready to shoot.”
I nod my head and add. “Teach them well.”
Aela grinned and said. “Of course.” And then shouted to the crowd of elves. They swiftly came over, picking up the weapons and spare ammunition. She then led them to the nearby treeline where they would begin training.
My next concern was when the slavers would attack. With almost half the remaining elves carrying the red mark, it couldn’t be too far off.
I turn to Nylan who seemed rather knowledgable and asked him.
“A week at most is all we have. These slavers usually have a large camp nearby and what was sent to this village was just a small portion of their forces, just enough to subjugate us. When they don’t return, they’ll most likely send some scouts.”
I frown and ask. “Can we deal with these scouts?”
Nylan sighed and shook his head. “I believe that some of these scouts will possess shadow magic, making them difficult to see.”
“Shadow magic? What’s that?”
Realizing that I had no prior knowledge on this world including magic, Nylan gives me the basic description.
The most common forms of magic included the elements, water, wind, fire and earth. Then there were the more rarer magics but still relatively popular. They included dark magic which shadow magic descended from, light magic and blood magic.
There were more obscure magics but he knew no more than this because of our inability to use magic, much knowledge was lost. Shadow magic itself was very good at concealment and a basic tool for assassins.
‘Magic seems to be really dangerous and knowing nothing about it is even more so. I’ll need more information if I am to come up with countermeasures.. perhaps I can capture some of the mage slavers?’ The moment I think of it, the thought stays stuck in my mind.
I nod my head. ‘Yes, with a show of overwhelming force some may choose to surrender otherwise.. they can all just die.’
One could say I was being cold hearted, feeling nothing at all when mentioning killing but isn’t it normal? I had no past experiences to shape my character, to define my morals and ethics. No upbringing, social experiences parents, siblings, friends or loved ones. I am laughably... empty.
My first feeling in this world was fear of death, then horror at being devoured and finally violence which resulting in killing.
I myself am quite surprised at my own restraint and tolerance, considering I could have just threatened these elves with death and forced them to do my bidding.
Instead I was cautious and sympathetic in my actions, maybe a bit rash but I still helped these elves even if it may have been for selfish reasons originally.
“So these slavers will find out that their original force has been wiped out and then?”
Nylan’s expression changes, his black eyes showing a grim seriousness. “They will likely send their entire force towards us, emptying their camp. Not only for revenge but to wipe out all resistance, we have fought back before but the consequences have always resulted in great suffering.”
“How many can we expect?” I ask with a solemn tone.
“Camps often host around a hundred men with some larger having more than two hundred. They usually send out small capture teams of ten to twenty. Though considering the size of our village, they sent out around forty.”
“So at best, we can expect to see sixty men or more heading our way, with an unknown amount of mages?” I look around at the devastated village, and my brow furrows.
In the first place, it was not fortified at all. There no wooden spikes to deny mobility, moats or even some basic wooden walls.
Before there were at least a few houses in the area which provided at least a little cover but many of them have now been reduced to ruin.
I think for a moment. ‘This won’t work at all, with such an open area it will be difficult to defend.’
I browse my memories and find something that makes my lips raise in a grin.
“My god.. concrete and cement are so cheap to create that it’s almost negligible, even the premade walls are cheap!’ My eyes begin to shine. I feel as if I’ve stumbled upon a jackpot or that found that an item I wanted on special. ‘It must be because of its simplicity as they are made of basic materials.’
Many more images flash and I my eyes nearly pop out. ‘I can create historic castles, late 21st century megablocks that could house over a hundred thousand people and even entire cities as their blueprints are all there..’
I quickly push the thoughts urging me to create some gigantic fort like the Krak Des Chevaliers as it would quickly reduce me to shrivelled corpse due to its sheer scale.
I look back to Nylan who had a grim expression and smile. “Nylan don’t worry, I shall build us a safe haven.”
