The main hall of the town hall.
In the neatly arranged seats along with the huge round table, the members of the legacy village taskforce committee were gathered. As usual, Olivier was seated on the main seat while Kratos and Aria took the seat left and right respectively to Olivier's seat.
"How is she?" asked Olivier in a somber voice.
"She is alive, her breathing has become stable but she is still unconscious. The wounds on her body are not healing". Aria replied matching Olivier's somberness.
"Sigh.. Our village is severely lacking a healer and medicines. We could solve that problem but we will need to upgrade our town hall to level 5 or 6. We are still too far away from achieving that". Olivier let out a heavy sign. No sorts of medicines were available in the legacy village. Among all the villagers, no one had any knowledge regarding medicines and healing. It could be solved if he could upgrade the town hall to level 5 and build the spell factory or by unlocking the healers in town hall 6 but it was not possible at the moment.
Kratos also spoke out. "We need to find a way to heal our people in case of any injuries. While we barbarians and you could heal our injuries with our body regeneration speed, it is not the same for the archers. It will take forever to heal their injuries if we only rely on the body's natural healing capability. Sooner to later, there will be consequences of neglecting this issue".
"Sign.. How could I not be aware of it, uncle Kratos. I am well aware of our disability but what can we do? Do you have any suggestions?"
Kratos remained silent. "Aria?". There was no sound. Olivier called out the name of all the members of the task force committee but there was only silence.
"Let's just leave it at that. We will talk about it again". Olivier concluded the matter. He slightly adjusted his posture and started talking again, "Before losing consciousness, she was saying 'They are back'. Now, we need to figure out who is back, and either 'they' are our enemies or allies. But since only one archer returned out of the five archers assigned on that mission, the possibility of them being our enemy is higher". Olivier then locked his gaze on Aria. "Aria, I will leave the matter of questioning to you. When she wakes up ask her what happened in detail. So that we are prepared to face whoever 'they' are".
Aria nodded. "I will get all the details".
"Remember to be gentle and give her time. We don't know what she went through and where her companions are. Do not be forceful". Olivier added causing Aria's eyes to warm up seeing him care about her people.
"In the meantime, we will prepare. We are unsure what we are about to face but I know we are not ready for that. We will prioritize increasing our strength and the defense of our village. After she wakes up and our preparation is complete, we will head into the forest to rescue our villagers. We will get our people back whether dead or alive".
"We will follow your instructions".
"Good! Saya from now on, focus our gold on building mortar and walls around the village". Olivier instructed.
"Mmmm...". Saya light nodded her head acknowledging his command.
Olivier then turned to the builders with a slightly apologetic smile. "I guess I will have to trouble you guys again. I really wish to hire one more builder to lessen your burden...".
"Chief, we know the current situation and we are happy to be of assistance to the village". Bryan interrupted Olivier reassuring him with a smile.
"Hahaha... Chief Olivier, you can put your trust in these bad boys. Michael and Jamie are always ready to work". Erwin stood and start flexing his biceps like a bodybuilder.
"you guys... I am really lucky to have you guys". Olivier then looked turned his head and stood up from his seat. "Uncle Kratos, Aria. You guys follow. I will show you the magical powers of our village".
Before walking put, he did not forget to instruct Saya. "If we still have some spare time and resources after upgrading the defense, remember to upgrade the army camp and barracks". He then put out his hand in the and clenched them into fists in the direction of the two builders with an encouraging look and walked away. The two builders laughed seeing their young chief encouraging them in his own way.
Meanwhile, Olivier, Kratos, and Aria arrived in front of the laboratory. Some of the idle barbarians and archers had followed them here. Olivier was chatting happily with them along the way.
"Oliv, you said that you want to show some magic. What is this all about?" One of the barbarians asked walking beside Olivier. Olivier spread his arms around the barbarian's shoulder and said mysteriously, "Of course. When have I ever lied to you, Arda? You will jump with happiness after this is over".
"What about us?"One of the archers asked hugging into his hand. He ruffled her hair lightly and smiled, "Mina, I can't possibly leave out of the fun, now can I?"
"You should never leave me out of fun". She humphed lightly making a cute spectacle.
Laughing with the barbarians and the archer, Olivier arrived in front of the laboratory. the laboratory was a wooden octagonal structure with multiple door-less entrances, a mass of black tubing covered the center of the Laboratory's roof. Colored slightly pinkish and purplish along its wall, the laboratory looked like a large oversized oven.
"This is the laboratory of our village, the place where the magic happens". He walked forward with Kratos and Aria and said in a lowered voice, "Uncles Kratos, will there be any adverse effect when one advances from tier-1 to tier-2 strength?"
"You mean?" Aria's eye widened a little but it soon returned to normal.
"No, no such thing will occur. After one advances from tier-1 to tier-2 strength, one will gain the ability to control the energies in the air as long as they come in contact with them. Other than that, one will awaken mind's eye, the ability to see and examine one's own body's internal structure." Kratos said lightly and turning his head back to his people, he added, "Perhaps, they might do something in excitement."
Olivier smiled knowing Kratos' concern. He then connected with the laboratory in his mind. Several new pieces of information appeared inside his mind as he was informed of the cost of leveling up and the time it required.
Barbarians level 1 to 2.
Resources required: 20,000 Elixirs
Time required: 2 Hours
Archer level 1 to 2
Resources required: 30,000 Elixirs
Time required: 3 Hours
Olivier then sent a mental command. 'Upgrade Barbarians to level 2.' The laboratory then started lighting up as colorful rays of light escaped from its open entrances.
The barbarians and the archers backed up a little seeing the laboratory light up.
"What now?" Kratos asked watching intently at the laboratory. "Now we wait, wait for the magic!" Olivier shrugged his shoulders
Then, they waited.
After exactly two hours, the lights of the laboratory went out and at the same time, all the barbarians on the legacy village were surrounded by a purple halo for a second. When the halo disappeared, all the barbarians felt the change in their bodies like they had gotten stronger instantly. They all felt energized and in their excitement, they started running around madly and some started to fight roaring in loud voices like a crazed beast.
'This is what Uncle Kratos was worried about huh?' Olivier thought as he looked at the mayhem the barbarians were creating. When he looked at them closely, there were some changes that he noticed instantly. All the barbarians now had a leather belt coiled around their bulky pants with a steel shield-shaped buckle. They also had spiked wristbands on both of their wrists which looked quite cool. He looked to his side and saw that Kratos was slightly dazed-looking at his clenched fist, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
'He does not usually show his emotions but he is also quite happy and excited to get stronger.'
"The archer's next." Olivier muttered as he issued another mental command. 'Upgrade the archers to level 2.'
The laboratory lighted up again and after 3 hours, the archers were covered in a purple halo. When the halo disappeared, Olivier saw that there were no changes in the appearance of archers like the barbarians. He only felt that they even lost quite a bit of their presence making them emanate the presence like an ordinary person.
Meanwhile, on the other part of the legacy village, Saya, Bryan, and Erwin were looking at the newly built mortar and the walls with a satisfied expression. After toiling continuously for hours without rest, they have built the mortar, new walls and upgraded the barracks to level 4. While they could potentially upgrade the barracks up to level 5 but it will take them four hours to complete upgrading each one. So, first, they wanted to ask for Olivier's suggestion before proceeding further.
"The chief will be happy after seeing this right?" Saya asked the two builders with a happy smile. Bryan also smiled but did not say anything. Erwin however said with excitement, "How could chief Olivier not be happy after seeing this? Look at those hip designs that I drew on the wall. Nobody could dislike those". Erwin pointed towards the small drawing of an arm flexing its biceps which was drawn on every single wall.
Bryan's face started twitching as he watched Erwin's shameless display of his weird logos. 'Should I also start drawing my logos on the building that I build? No, No. I definitely can't stoop down to his level.' Bryan shook his head to cleat those thoughts of his mind.
Inside the town hall, Olivier seated on his comfortable seat was looking at the sheet in his hands in satisfaction. Olivier had drawn a big rectangular pattern on the paper which was filled with several circles. He had written several words inside those circles like 'GM', 'TH', 'C', 'EC'. etc. This was the new base design of the legacy village.
Smiling slightly, Olivier issued a mental command. 'Change the base map of the village according to my instruction.'
A magical change started occurring in the legacy village. Under the incredulous eyes of the villagers, buildings started to disappear and appear in another place. When those changes stopped occurring, the villagers were shocked to see that the village was now surrounded by a wall that looked to be made up of wood. The buildings were arranged in an organized manner surrounding the town hall. The defensive buildings like the canons, archer tower and mortar were scattered throughout the village covering every single area in their attack range.
Inside the town hall, Olivier smiled satisfied. 'If everything goes according to the game and my planning, the village should be safe from all the attacks from anything like goblins. The single-targeted enemies would not get past our defense unless they attack us hundreds'. He smiled but then his smile froze as he thought of Kratos. Wasn't he also supposed to be a single-target troop? He shook his head. 'I need more plans to keep the village safe in case of any and all possible attacks.'
Olivier then started racking his brains to formulate more ideas.
In the training camp where archers resided,
In one of the tents, a girl with pink hair and several bruises and wounds on her face and arms was sleeping soundly in her bed. Several archers were surrounding her as they cast worried glances towards the girl in the bed. One of the archers would remove the towel from her forehead, dip it into the water, and put the towel back onto her forehead from time to time.
Suddenly, the eyebrows of the girl started to quiver. Noticing this, one of the archers ran out of the tent. A few moments later, she entered again as another archer was following behind her. She had a slightly mature aura around her but her face was cold like frost.
As she looked at the bruised girl, who was putting some effort to sit up. The coldness on her face melted like snow and she smiled warmly. She reach out her hand and helped up her. She checked her pulse and noticing it was normal, she heaved a sigh of relief. "I have let you suffer, Arjuna." She muttered softly with a hint of self-blame as she caressed the cheeks of the bruised girls causing her eye to well up with tears.
"I...I am fine. It's just.. sister Mina and the other... they... they..." She started to choke on her own tears as she tried to recall the event that transpired in that forest.
"It's okay, Arjuna. You are fine and they will be fine as well. We will go and save them. Just take your time and explain what happened to you guys slowly." She light patted her head and comforted and encouraged her.
Under the encouragement, the girl nodded as she started to explain. "Sister Aria, we five entered the forest....."
As she explained further, the faces of all the archers turned paler by the second. Aria's face did not show any change in her expression but her eyes started to shine mysteriously with deep blue colors. Only she knew that a storm of hate and anger was brewing inside her heart.
When the girl stopped recounting, Aria stood and left the tent heading towards the town hall.
Inside the town hall, the members of the task force committee listened as Aria recounted the whole story that she had just heard. When she stopped, the main hall was shrouded in suffocating pressure.
Kratos' whole body was emitting an immense amount of killing intent as his eyes were clouded with fury.
Oliviers' presence had also changed. His body was releasing pressure that did not lose out to Kratos'. His eyes were shining with multiple colors sometimes green, sometimes gold, and sometimes purple. His body was also shinning with a golden gleam as an outline of flames started to appear all over his body. As if affected by his anger, his right palm started to shine in white colors. Filled with wrath and murderous intent, he announced:
"I WILL SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"