Krieg was thinking about his situation. In the tents, a total of fifty three captured villagers were found in cages, probably to be sold into slavery by the bandits when they could be taken to another kingdom.
Their village was destroyed and most of the strongest men who tried to defend against the bandits were dead, leaving only around ten able bodied men. Likewise, the elderly without practical skills were killed in the village, as they wouldn't be worth much. The remaining population consisted of mostly women and children, except for a couple of old villagers that could read, write, or do propper math.
The bandits had enough food to last them and their prisoners for a couple of months, but the real problem wasn't that.
'What are we going to do with these people?'
That was the thought on Krieg's mind as he sat in the tent formerly occupied by the bandit leader.
If they were released to do whatever they wanted, or worse, pointed to Re'avire, their location would be spread and he would have to run further away into unknown land again to avoid retribution for the perceived crime of his class.
If there was one good thing about his situation, it was that the guard proper of Re'avire would likely not follow them this far into the forest. After all, their purpose was the defense of the city. Any tasks outside of this were likely relegated to adventurers and mercenaries.
His serious thoughts wandered for a moment.
'What rank is the quest to kill me?'
He quickly brushed it from his mind as his thoughts went back to the people.
Killing them is out of the question. They hadn't done anything to him, nor anyone else. They were just victims of bad luck, and he wasn't going to make it stay that way.
'Be the change you want to see in the world, right?'
Krieg was by no means a peaceful person since arriving in this world. The bodies on his hands seemed to stack up by the day. But he could confidently say that the world was better off without them. Thieves and bandits were an all too common scourge in this kingdom, and they reaped a toll in lives and economic opportunity.
This county, he had learned, was corrupt at its core. The resources and riches of its land were funneled into an increasingly small group of nobles. When one went too far and betrayed the others in some way, they ate up the property and possessions to feed their greed, and split it amongst themselves.
The nobles were safe and happy and they kept it that way by forcing more and more of the countries' resources into themselves instead of reinvesting them into the land.
'If they can't be killed or released, then we should try to recruit them, no?'
The question was to what? Could he convince them that it was worth it to stick around in this forest in the middle of nowhere? It was made a bit easier by them having no home to return to, as sad as it was. If he played his cards right, he could form his own town in the woods, his very own tiny, secret kingdom.
With that matter sorted he returned to what he was doing and once again brought out the small book from his cloak.
It shone faintly with light and he opened it again.
First, he flipped to his class skills and updated them.
Competent Skeletal Tactics was upgraded to Skilled Skeletal Tactics, and Skilled Skeletal General was upgraded to Specialized Skeletal General.
With that out f the way, he finally got the options for his new class upgrades.
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Awakened Skeletal Monster:
Trade in your flesh for a skeletal body you can sculpt with your talents, and use the bones of other creatures to supplement your own.
Awakened Skeletal Bruiser:
Create bigger skeletons with more strength when you desire.
Awakened Soul Sealer:
Trap the souls of enemies killed by you or your creations in items or creations, depending on the past of the soul, a low impact may be had on the performance of the sealed creations
Awakened Skeletal Lord:
Increases the general utility of skeletons. Control distance increased to 20km. Slightly better quality of items provided to creations. Increased job specificity of summoned skeletons.
Awakened Lich:
Gain the powers of immortality and magic. Decreased summon cost. Loss of sanity. Decay of body.
_______________________
'...'
'What is with these options?'
The options in front of him were worthy of the fear of others. Some of them were the stuff of nightmares. But, when you're life depends on it, it's best to think things through logically.
Giant skeletons sound cool, but they would be pretty weak in reality, right? Aside from their attack power, their power would be lower, they would be easier to hit, and they couldn't fit in tight spaces. It sounds impractical.
The soul sealer. Krieg shuddered as he thought about it. Would these souls still be conscious? Trapping people in skeletons and items just to improve their effect… that's just too creepy. I really would become the bad guy. Not to mention the fact that it gave a seemingly low reward. If the item or creation was destroyed, the soul would presumably be lost. Making it nowhere near as valuable as overall starting stats.
The lich class was reminiscent of a medicine ad. The benefits were really good, but the side effects were terrible. In the end, that was the least appealing option on the list, despite the obvious intrigue of being able to use magic and summon skeletons at the same time.
The side effects made that class a no go. They really made it too gruesome.
But skeletal lord was different. It almost felt like white bread compared to the others, but that was just because it wasn't an actively terrifying class. It just helped what he already had. What he already had was good, and with the benefits of the skeletal lord, it could be even better.
With that simple thought in mind, he selected the skeletal lord option and left the tent.
Outside, a party of sorts happening around a campfire in the dark.
Food was being cooked and eaten, people were talking and some children were already playing. But their future was uncertain and it hung over them like a shadow. Dampening their moods.
Best to get this out of the way quickly
"Who here can be said to be the leader?"
After some quiet deliberation between themselves, one of the older surviving me stepped forward.
"Let's talk about your future ok? Follow me for a second and we'll sort things out.
The man nodded and followed him.
After twenty minutes of waiting with bated breath, the villagers watched with anticipation as Krieg and the man re-entered the camp.
As the man walked over to the people to explain the situation, Krieg walked back to his new tent and laid down.
Soft furs lay on the ground in a large portion of the tent. The tents were unlike anything Krieg had experienced before in his past life.
Instead of the small cramped domes of camping tents, these were large canvas tents held up by sticks that served as poles. In this tent, it was possible to walk around in a large part without even ducking. The leader's tent was supported by four poles in the shape of a triangle with one large pole as the peak, two smaller for the sides, and one medium in the middle to stop the slack canvas from picking up rain.
Half of this space, on the far side of the tent between the medium and small poles, was covered in all types of furs.
As he laid down, he heard the sounds of genuine laughter and happy conversation from outside. The people were relieved and finally free to celebrate as they wanted.
This was the start of a new kingdom, and a shift for the course of the world.