“Aim for their eyes! Blind the Trolls!” 

Standing in front of a dozen of Vaegir Marksmen and beside Alayen (pronounced ‘Alan’) – the Companion that Peter had chosen from the system – both he and the young man both held weapons and harassed the green monster. 

He naturally carried a 2-handed battle axe, while Alayen was equipped with a spear, and together they were there to both cleanse the river and to gain experience. 

The experience gain didn’t mean much to Peter, given that he needed millions of EXP to level up, but after [Recruiting] Alayen he discovered that Companions could level up as well! 

In truth, when Peter had gotten the option to recruit a ‘hero’ from the [Mount and Blade] System he only had 2 characters immediately in mind. 

One was Lezalit, a military instructor who naturally had the [Trainer] Skill, naturally had the mind to command armies, but also naturally got on everybody’s bad side due to his harsh personality. 

The other was Alayen, the only Vaegir Noble available as a Companion, who naturally had a higher [Riding] Skill, had been properly trained as a Knight, who also had the ability to lead armies or manage towns, and most importantly was generally well regarded. 

And if one of those choices seemed obvious, the power of the [Trainer] Skill alone was almost enough to have Peter choose Lezalit.

After all, having [Recruits] from Calradia able to upgrade at any moment was an incredibly powerful feature of the [Mount and Blade] System, and Peter wasn’t sure if Companions could be leveled up in the same way he had. 

Though, thankfully, his worry turned out to be unfounded. 

After days of killing River Trolls, the former Noble’s [Character Sheet] read: 

[Name: Alayen

Level: 7

STR: 11

AGL: 8

INT: 12 

CHA: 8

HEALTH: 48]

Having been disowned from his family Alayen had no official surname, but that was of no consequence to Peter who didn’t plan on having any permanent class of ‘Nobility’.

Though he had hypocritically accepted the title of ‘Lord’ due to his circumstances – he was fundamentally an American and believed Democracy to be the best system of government.

At the very least, Peter thought, if there had to be ‘nobles’ he would never be so foolish to give out permanent titles or non-taxable lands.

Turning back to the matter at hand, as soon as the Marksmen shot their arrows, Alayen stabbed the Troll in the thighs and shins over and over – staying as far away as he could – and when the Troll became somewhat unsteady it was Peter who delivered the killing blow with his axe.

With the River Troll dead, there were no cheers or chants. Over the last several days that had killed too many for that.

But even so, it wasn’t enough for them or Peter.

 It was amazing just how much could change in such a short period of time.

After getting some time to relax, Peter, Professor Helsing, and Father Anderson had gone over the illustrated book detailing monsters, and though they didn’t have the direct Dwarven translations, between the 3 of them they were able to give English names to almost all the monsters inside.

There were many monsters illustrated in the book, including Trolls, Ogres, Orcs, Goblins, Vampires, Treemen, Giants, Dryads, Dragons, Manticores, Minotaur, Bog Octopi, Griffons, Hippogriffs, and many others.

For Father Anderson and Professor Helsing it was seen as ‘providence’ from the One True God that they should have been summoned to such a corrupt world, and proof of that was how in this place their knowledge of the arcane and metaphysics should be so useful.

And now, using their knowledge to train the soldiers with, for days now Peter had taken groups of Knights, Marksmen, and Sword Sisters out with him as he went to give Ayalen experience to level up.

Being able to [Level] up Alayen was a massive boon, and after ticking the man’s INT to 12 he had put valuable Skill Points into [Leadership], [Engineering] and [Trainer].

In truth, Peter hadn’t chosen Ayalen to fight at all.

With Professor Helsing spending all his time with the Dwarf studying a new language, Peter needed someone else who was capable of heading the administration of a new settlement.

And ideally, now that he knew it was possible, Peter wanted someone to passively give out EXP to the Rank 2 Footmen and Huntresses while going about their daily tasks.

This was also why Peter hadn’t invested any points into Ayalen’s physical attributes – he didn’t need a ‘general’ at this point in time!

For the short-term future, when they only had a few settlements, Peter alone was enough to lead the few expeditions that they could muster.

That would leave his most capable people to lead in their own respective fields.

A ‘new’ Catholic Church would be designed by Father Anderson. This new church would preach the message of Jesus while considering that in this world there hadn’t been any of the biblical profits that had existed on Earth.

Professor Helsing had ostensibly the most to due.

He would not only learn local languages from the Dwarven guest; he would help Anderson in writing the new Christian canon while simultaneously creating a new medical field from the ground up.

Besides that, his own curiosity about the metaphysical phenomena in this world stoked his mind to discover any hard rules for such things as ‘magic’.

 It was early spring, and with barely 4 months to work with, Peter’s goal was to have constructed 2 self-sustaining settlements before it got cold again.

Of course, he didn’t expect 2 large settlements, but besides their current location he wanted the area that Marcin, the first Horseman he had spoken to, had scouted out the week before.

That location was close to a couple stone quarries, it had easy access to the river, and was well defended on 3 sides.

For Peter, that would be a perfect location for a small community, but it would only be so if he killed as many Trolls as he possible could.

So, thinking this, he didn’t waste time.

For the next several days Peter went out with more and more groups of soldiers until finally each and every Knight, Sword Sister, and Marksmen had seen the River Trolls firsthand.

Because he could not always be there, he stood by and let them even face small groups and found himself amazed that these normal humans – skilled as they were – could kill the Trolls relatively safely under certain circumstances.

The main circumstances being, to always outnumber a Troll 10 to 1 and to always bring good archers.

Though he could summon endless [Recruits] from the [Mount and Blade] System, Peter didn’t want to spend lives in such a manner.

Deaths were going to be inevitable, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t care about his peoples welfare.

Finally, at the end of the 9th day of killing Trolls with Ayalen – or nearly 2 weeks since Peter had been dropped into this world – the wooden wall and guard towers were finished around the camp, the first marriages had been happily performed by Father Anderson, the Marksmen had a rough understanding of the terrain and had become more efficient hunters, and the surrounding grassland had been roughly tilled, the first actual crop fields had been planted, and the area around the nearby river had been deemed safe enough to start brick making on a sizeable scale.

Seeing these many improvements and given that the former Noble had reached level 14, Peter was ready to start the next settlement.

After all, while the fired red bricks would be used in the construction of the inner town, solid stone would be needed for proper walls and roadways.

The last thing they had to do was give their 1st settlement an actual name.

Given its location it would probably never be a huge city, but it would have something that no other castle, town, fortress, or even metropolis could ever boast.

That it would always be the ‘first’.

In that vein, based on the local geography, and after consulting with his administrators, Peter decided its’ name.

[Rivacheg]

And in a nod to the first person from Calradia that Peter had ever spoken to, the new settlement that was to be made would be called [Mazen].

Located just 10 miles to the east of Rivacheg, Mazen would be near enough to receive and send regular support until the 2 settlements were fully constructed.

And even after that, the 2 settlements would act as valuable real estate which would provide immense benefits over time.

So, despite choosing to being frugal with his remaining FC, Peter opened the [Fate Casino] and purchased 2 familiar [Items].

[Small Movable Camp – 50,000FC]

[Venetian Well (full) – 20,000FC]

Following along beside the Horseman, Marcin, and in front of Alayen and 50 Marksmen, they reached their destination in the early morning, just a few hours after they had left, and Peter Redeemed his purchases and at the same time opened the [Mount and Blade] System:

[User – Peter Ivankov

Current Denars – 160,632 (-20,638/Wk)

Recruit – Vaegir, Mercenary

Active Forces – 607

Villages – 1

Castles – 0

Towns – 0

Caravans – 0

Inventory – 5/60 Slots

Ransom – 0 Prisoners

Sell Loot/Cargo

Recruit Companion – 1/1

Open Store – N/A]

His personal Inventory was full due to him carrying materials besides what the [Small Moveable Camp] would supply, and without thinking twice he immediately summoned the people who would live and work here for the time being.

[Recruit 100 Vaegir Footmen (-6,000 Denar) y/n?]

[Recruit 100 Huntress (-6,600 Denar) y/n?]

Unlike the Fate Casino which would directly materialize it’s purchases, like before when he [Recruited] people from the [Mount and Blade] System a noise could be heard in the near distance, and from behind one of the stony outcrops a couple hundred men and women were seen walking in their direction.

Upon seeing Peter, they knelt and saluted until he waved for them to stand.

Currently these new Recruits had very little self-awareness, but speaking to them all the same, Peter said loudly: “The town to be built here will be called Mazen, I’m sure many of you are familiar with the name and do not doubt that’s one reason why it was chosen.

For now you will work under the orders of a Mayor that I have set in place, but once this settlement is built you will have freedom to do what you do for a living, so long as it’s legal under the law.

There will be a stone quarry opened as soon as possible, and I can assure you the demand will be high, so if any of you have that kind of experience you will benefit from it.

Besides that, this world is dangerous as you all know. We’re already beginning to clear out monsters surrounding the area, but there are still many many more out there.”

Looking around at the still-blank faces, Peter added one more thing: Many of you have come to this world for another chance at youth, and I want you to live in the best manner than you can.”

And this was the truth.

Even though the reasons for the settlements were purely one for personal gain, so that he could sell [Loot] to the System and make a steady income for Denars, Peter didn’t purely see the people who he [Recruited] as merely tools.

Turning to Alayen, he slapped the noble teenager on the shoulder – giving him the reins of Government.

After spending the next half day at Mazen, Peter left behind 40 Marksmen, 5 Horsemen including Marcin, dozens of pelts, and tons of grain and dry meat Peter bade them farewell and said that he would be back soon check in.

Of course, when he said this, he thought he would be back in a week.

For Peter, who had been prepared to kill monsters the size of Trolls, he forgot that even in this most dangerous magical world, ‘humans’ were not only victims.

Peter had somehow forgotten that ‘humans’ were also perpetrators of some of the most tragic events.

He had forgotten that in his planned Crusade across these lands, that in some ways, monsters were the easier targets to deal with.

He had forgotten that in this world the most difficult of all were those monsters that wore human skin.