"We are here," Alice spoke for the first time in quite a while. I guess it was quite a shock to finding out that I am the otherworlder they were searching for. When I exited the carriage with Zero, I could see beautiful medieval buildings lined up on the streets and hundreds of people laughing and talking in the plaza where we have stopped. I could see Royce exiting his carriage looking extraordinarily irritated and angry as he met his steward and entered the other carriage which will probably bring him home. But not before he came me a last ugly look before entering the carriage, I, of course, waved goodbye to him but his face just darkened even more, and Royce quickly entered the carriage.
"Well, fuck him too." I thought as I saw his carriage leave. I stretched my arms on Zeroes back and looked around the city, excited by the prospect of exploring it until Alice spoke up. "Syntax, The Holy Princess Alexandra of the Kingdom of Archon is inviting you to the palace for a banquet," Alice said with a proud tone like it was her who got invited.
"No thanks, Zero, let's go," I said as my five warriors move out, we were a strange bunch. Zero was walking first while wearing leather armour with fur from the hellhound while carrying a stone spear, and Axeman was even larger than Zero and carrying an axe made from stone. Yeah, we got weird looks from the populace, especially me who was on the back of Zero. It was great.
"Father!" I said as I bowed down towards a person sitting on a chair, extravagantly decorated with gold and stones. "How did it go, Royce? Has your romance succeeded against the princess?" Father asked, "Father, our family and I have been humiliated by a random peasant." Royce said in an angry tone. "What?!" Royce's father, whose name was Rowan stood up from his seat and immediately asked questions about what happened during the princesses mission.
Royce explained everything from how he protected the princess from wild beasts and how he could sense that bandits have prepared an ambush for them and how he saved the convoy from collapsing but then filthy mercenaries came and ruined everything by dragging him out of princesses carriage. At the same time, he tried to protect her and made him crawl in the mud. Of course, this story he told his father was far from the truth, but the crawling on the ground was real, and Rowan couldn't tolerate it.
"Where is he now?" Rowan asked his son. "I don't know father; he left with his group immediately after arriving at the central plaza. But it will be easy to find them, father." Royce smiled. "How so?" Rowan asked, intrigued. "Syntax is a fucking cripple, he has to be carried around everywhere, and everyone in that group has leather and animal pelts as their clothes while carrying stone spears. They look like barbarians, father." Royce laughed, Syntax is done for, and he doesn't even know.
"Boss, we don't have any money," Zero said to me. "Its okay Zero, it's okay. I can just create food out of mid-air, you remember?" I said. "But sir, what about accommodations?" Zero asked. "Oh, fuck." I thought, should we sleep in the streets? Is that even allowed?" I thought as we walked through the fair streets of the Capital.
"There they are!" We heard a shout coming from behind us; when we looked back, we could see several guards with someone who looked like a waiter behind them.
I ordered Zero and the others to stop and asked them who they were. "We are the personal guards of the noble family Rowan. And you have disgraced the heir of the family, Sir Royce! You will have to come back with us! You filthy peasants!" The Waiter explained with a disgusted look while he looked at us.
I looked at him. "How about you fuck off, and we don't put a spear through your brain, you old fart?" I spoke as I looked directly at his eyes. The waiters face turned ashed and red at the same time. "How dare you insult an employee of a noble family? The punishment for this is death! Guards! Get them!" The Waiter shouted as guards rushed from the front, and mercenaries came from behind us. "Royce probably told his family about the strength of my warriors." I thought as I heard a ping in my mind.
//Emergency Quest Complete//
-Protect the Princess from the Kingdom of Archon(Complete)
-Help her search for Otherworlders (Complete)
-Protect her during transit back to the Capital (Complete)
Reward: One of the following
-Full reparation of the body
"Where is the question mark reward?" I thought and then suddenly I saw it.
//Side quest completed (Ambush)//
//New Reward (Roman Legionaries)//
Reward: One of the following
-Full reparation of the body
-Roman Legionaries (Iron Age)
My pupils dilated, can I form a Roman Empire and command the legionaries? The mere thought of it made me drool. "Ah fuck it," I said as I pressed on 2nd option. "I can stay a cripple for a little longer."
//Roman Legionaries unlocked//
//Technological Age increased to Iron Age//
Just as the notification appeared, I could sense it. Clouds gathered around the street we were in, civilians who were watching were shocked the same as the guards and the mercenaries.
I could see changes in Zero and the others, their weapons dissolved as Gladiuses appeared in their hands, their pelts and leather fell to the ground as they dissolved to ash. In their place, a shinning armor appeared followed by the roman helmet and footwear and the Scutum, made from wood but reinforced with Iron to make sure it was durable. The muscles of my legionaries decreased while keeping their strength.
I could see it in their eyes; they were no longer a random band of warriors, they had a special glint in their eyes which told me that they no longer looked at themself as savages but the people in front of them.
"What is this evil magic!" Waiter exclaimed, "Kill them and bring their heads to the priest! They are demons!". The Waiter said as he slowly moved away. I understood him; the eyes of my men were no longer of human; they were the eyes of men who have seen the frontiers of Germania and Syria. The discipline and the nerve of my men were absolute in a continent where there was no tradition of discipline.
"Legatus Legionis! What are your orders?" Zero shouted as the guards, and the mercenaries rushed towards us from both sides. Most guards were equipped with heavy cloth and copper swords while mercenaries had to use mostly stone spears as copper and even more Iron was expensive.
"Into that alleyway! Make a shield wall and kill those filthy savages of Archon!" I shouted, I had fucking enough of these nobles and this fucking country, I will fucking slaughter my way out of here if I have to.
"Yes! Legatus Legionis, I will carry our Legatus, move up and form a shield wall now!" Zero shouted as he grabbed me and carried me to the alleyway. As soon as I was safe, the others together with Zero formed a shield wall by putting shield close to each other while, the alleyway was relatively narrow, so the remaining two put their Scutum above Zero and the others forming a perfect shield wall. "Holy shit, they behave like they have fought thousands of battles." But what was shocking was their combat ability.
"What are they doing?" The Waiter thought, why did they run to a dead end and put up wooden plates in front of them? The Waiter smirked as he ordered the guards and the mercenaries charge at them. "I don't believe that they will hold out for long with how stupid their disabled leader is." The Waiter laughed as he said it. Little did he know that this was a start of something new, and if he knows what Syntax would command in a year, he would probably change sides.
The sentence Syntax Invicta would spread throughout the continent in the following years, but this was just the start.