"Kick some green butts?"
"That's merely a figure of speech. We have some serious planning to do. But before we begin, I need you to be honest with me. Can I trust you, Uncle Kratos?" Olivier inquired. He fixed his gaze on Kratos and waited for an answer.
Kratos shifted his gaze to the youngster in front of him. After some thought, he answered, "I can grant you our full support, but I have two conditions."
"Do you speak for the whole camp?"
"Mmmm..."
"Then, Please state your condition Uncle Kratos. I shall do everything in my power to fulfill it."
"The first condition concerns my people. You claimed you can make us stronger. Does that apply to all other creatures in slumber whom you will awaken in the future?'"
"That is true for all of the creatures in the legacy village."
"Does it mean we can only get stronger by relying on you? I've noticed that my strength is stuck in the tier-1 warrior realm, and this is true for everyone in the camp. I tried training, but it had no effect."
"I'm not certain. There may be techniques to improve your strength via training, but I am confident that I can help you get stronger through the use of elixirs. That is true for all of your people. When I use that technique, the strength of everyone of your race in this village will increase by one level. And this elixir can only be produced in this village, or rather, this world. On the outside, I'd never heard of anything miraculous like elixir. Only t he legend of the dew of life, which can grant immortality with a single drop, comes the closest."
Kratos fell silent once again. According to Olivier, the strength of the entire barbarian race was dependant on this elixir. He's been to the mines and the resource storage previously. So he knew they were all protected by some mysterious law and had no way of stealing those resources by force. Only Olivier had access to those resources, hence the strength of his barbarian race was determined by Olivier's attitude. If he liked them, they could get steadily stronger; if he didn't, their strength may stagnate. Other races, presumably more powerful in slumber, could be woken at any moment. So, when he was at his weakest and had little to no power, this was the greatest opportunity to bargain and push for more benefits. As more races awaken and experience the bliss of rising strength, he will have the utmost authority in the village. Thus, he had come today after much deliberation, knowing that this was the opportunity that had been offered to him. The archers had not yet been awakened. This was the evidence. If he takes that long to make a decision, the opportunity will be delivered to the archers, who will be the next to be awakened.
I want you to give my people first priority when it comes to strength; my people should be the first to receive the upgrade in strength."
Olivier paused for a moment and shook his head. "You're asking for too much, Uncle Kratos. Each increase in strength requires a massive investment in resources. As your strength grows, so does the amount required. At the time, the village can function normally with the resources obtained from the mines, but this is only temporary. Those mines will be unable to meet our increasing demand in the future. Resources will be in short supply. I can't make such lofty promises that I can't keep. What I can guarantee is that I will not ignore the advancement of your race as long as they respect the legacy village's laws. As I previously stated, I hope to develop our village into one in which every single member is like a family to each other. Certain rules should be followed by all members of a family, including myself, for the family to run properly. I will treat everyone in this village as if they were my own family as long as they follow the rules. The decision to increase the strength will be made after a discussion among the members of the community. The leader of each race will have the right to vote for advancement and I will make the decision based on that. While I will have the exclusive power over the decision, I am not an unreasonable person. Your votes will be the foundation upon which I will make my judgment."
Kratos remained silent. Everything Olivier stated made sense. He did not obtain what he desired, yet this alleviated his concerns. Barbarians were naturally hot-headed. Their fist strikes first, followed by their voice. It was in their nature to do so. So what he was most concerned about was his people being mistreated and ostracized. While there was no lack of intelligent barbarians, their emotions would cloud their judgment. He was not the kind to be persuaded by empty promises. But Oliviers' choice to establish a rule, a law that everyone had to obey, gave him comfort. When one person wields the most power, there must be laws and regulations in place to keep them in check. As a result, when rules are established, there will be individuals to execute them . Otherwise, the legacy village will become Olivier's monocratic empire, with everyone at his disposal. As a result of this decision, Kratos now respected him a little which he would never admit. After all, not everyone could make such a decision in the face of overwhelming power.
"However, Uncle Kratos, I can assure you about this. If there is no significant opposition, your people will be the first I will decide to promote "..
Even Kratos, who seldom smiled, chuckled at the last word. He was astounded by the intellect of the young man in front of him. First, he showed the worth of his condition and the amount of resource he might have to spend on it. He even went so far as to illustrate the significance of resources. He even decided to develop rules to first pacify him and any other races that might awaken in the future. Finally, he pledged that he would favor the barbarians more. That was equivalent to completing the first requirement on his part. He was saying, 'I will give you my favour but prove your ability to me first'. To get what they were promised, they would need to have the ability convince others that they should be the first to get promoted. And what could persuade others? Merit. By doing more service for the village than others, they may accumulate enough merit to be promoted first.
That would also be in Olivier's favor. By promoting barbarians who fully supported him and the one with the most merit, it would serve as a model for others to work for the village and support him more. And what kind of task could they undertake to gain more merit? That would the tasks assigned by the village. Who is in charge of assigning tasks for the village? Other than Olivier, who?
Kratos was convinced by Olivier's method. If he were in Olivier's shoe, he would definitely choose the way of tyrant. That was attributed to his strength. Without strength, you need to give concession to one or other.
"Uncle Kratos, what is your next condition?", asked Olivier.
"My second condition is a request rather than a condition. I'd like to accompany you when you return to your world, the outer world. I don't like being trapped on one place. What I seek is a life full of adventure and battles. So I want to explore the outside world, and I can furthermore protect you as well".
Olivier gave a nod. "Uncle Kratos, if you seek adventure and battles, you can find them in this world. Our village is built in a small clearing in a magical forest . It is unknown what is within the forest. I intended to explore them later in order to gather resources. In addition, I intend to take a few of the villagers with me to the outside world. So , I'll leave the decision to you. I will respect your decision whether you wish to explore this forest or accompany me to the outside world . it will up to you ".
Kratos gave a nod. He didn't know much about this world, but he was determined to go with Olivier. Besides seeking adventure and battles , he had another purpose in mind: to appease his curiosity. He wanted to see how far Olivier could go and what he could achieve with his eyes.
"Uncle Kratos, I have a request as well".
"Speak!". Kratos replied straightforwardly.
"I'd like you to train me. I'm not really talented. After more than six years of training, I could barely match the strength of a tier-1 warrior. I'm not particularly gifted at magic. But I am eager to learn everything you can teach me ".
"You can learn our Barbarian race's body refining technique. It does not require one to have talent. To achieve success with this technique, one must have a strong willpower. But you must be prepared. It will be horribly painful, more so than you can fathom. Are you certain you want to practice with me in that method?" Kratos inquired.
"Yes". Olivier responded cheerfully. He was willing to endure any amount of suffering if it could grant him the strength to be at the forefront of his peers again. He wished to return home as the Olivier Martin who had been blessed by fate since birth, the one who was praised as a genius not some trash who had no strength. "I will train hard. Also, uncle Kratos, you should make some preparations. We will awaken the archers in two days ".
Kratos gave a nod. "Then we will meet in two days. In the meantime, you can find me at the training camp ".
Olivier spent the following two days running around the village. He worked with the two builders to improve the village. He raised the level of all resource structures (GM,GS,EC,ES) to level 3. The village can now store up to 8500 gold and elixir resources. Each resource collector could mine roughly 800 resources each hour, and the village had two gold and elixir mines. The army camp was upgraded to level 2, bringing the army capacity up to 30 soldiers. The two army barracks were upgraded to level 2, unlocking archers. Similarly, the townhall was renovated to level 2, allowing more structures to be unlocked. He had to construct walls around townhall before he could renovate it, which was annoying because he had to spend thousands of golds on the walls. He spent almost 5000 elixirs to construct a laboratory to enhance the troops' strength to the next level. He'd established a new camp and improved it to level 2. The village now had 60 soldiers capacity in the army camp, and Olivier was ready to awaken the sharpshooting beauties.
The sun had only risen early in the morning. The golden rays of the sun shined down in the Legacy Village covering the village in a light golden hue. The birds were awake and lively searching for food. The sound of the flowing river combined with the chirping songs of the birds created a serene atmosphere that relaxed one's mind. The village girls dressed in green were walking around holding a basket and rustling the bushes to collecting wild fruits. The morning environment was peaceful with fresh air and slight chill.
However, at another part of the village.
Olivier was standing before two structures. The structure was one story tall, with a slanted roof adorned with two large crossed swords. The structure had windows and an entrance with no door. There were two archery targets on the building's side, each with many arrows embedded in it. This was the newly upgraded level 2 army barracks, and today was the day to awaken the archers.
Saya, Erwin, and Bryan stood behind Olivier. The barbarians were behind them, with Kratos in the lead. They were all invited by Olivier to welcome the new members of the village.
Olivier inhaled deeply and nodded to the people behind him. 'Train 20 archers,' he said inside his mind. The cost of training each archer was 30 elixir and the time it took to train a single archer was 300 seconds.
They sat and waited. Many attractive women exited the two army barracks gracefully one after the other. Each woman had a thin and graceful body. They all had their hair short and pink, reaching over their shoulders. They were all dressed in dark green dresses that extended over their knees and brown boots. They were carrying a bow and an arrow quilt on their back. Each one of them were stunning beyond description but they had cold and detached expression on their face. Especially, their blue eyes were keen and piercing.
'20'. Olivier counted as their number reached 20. He then put on his most brilliant smile and took a step forward. Then a cheerful voice welcomed the newly awakened and confused archers.
"Welcome! I am Olivier Martin, the chief of the legacy village. It's my pleasure to meet the legendary archers".
.......
GS - gold storage
GM - gold mine
EC - elixir collector
ES - elixir storage
FROM NOW ON, I WILL BE USING THESE SHORT FORMS TO DESCRIBE THEM. HOPE YOU DON'T MIND. THE AMOUNT OF GOLD AND ELIXIR WILL BE HARD TO CALCULATE AS THE STORY PROGRESSES FURTHER, SO I WILL NOT ADD THEM IN THE STORY. WHILE, I DO HAVE CALCULATED THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES STORED AND EXPENDED, I WILL AVOID IT IN THE STORY TO NOT MAKE READERS CONFUSED. BUT IF YOU WANT ME TO ADD IT, I CAN DO THAT AS WELL.