"When people think of the top players of the game, they only see the resplendent results of their painstaking efforts."
"They do not think of all the planning time and effort it took to get to the top."
"The laborious task of grinding skills day after day
"For the best players, plan from their earliest days within the game."
"From the very first quest reward they get."
"Live their days in a game-like world and sacrifice friendships and relationships in the real world to stay competitive."
"Nor do people understand the ruthless decisions to stay at the top."
"The trampling of hundreds of thousands of dreams and lives."
"All for the sake of being called an emperor or a king."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
….
Railius trotted down the paved road, enjoying nature in the rolling countryside of the Kingdom of Rinada. Birds sang softly in the sparse trees, and sheep, cows, and other livestock lazed and grazed in the peaceful atmosphere, soothing the young noble's soul.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Railius breathed deeply, enjoying the salty sea scent emanating from the sea that was only a half an hour ride away before taking out his waterskin and taking a large swig of it as the sun beat down on him from the clear blue sky. His protective armour was like an oven in the summer heat, as it was now mid-August and one of the game's hottest times of the year.
For nearly a month, Railius had been in the coastal kingdom, all thanks to Kailas' contacts. Her strategic planning led to the establishment of a sturdy foundation in Nathia within just 4 months. With the support of her mother's old loyal subordinates and 50 Pelican Guards for protection, they were ready to pioneer in Rinada, marking the beginning of Quinten's Quality Goods international expansion.
Of course, that number was one for the public. In reality, they had 500 hundred Pelican Guards all here because of the presence of the Lord of House Aurellion.
It would have taken even less time if it hadn't taken so long to get around Nathia with a caravan. Even with Nathia's impressive infrastructure, it still took a month to get from one side to the other, though armies and messengers would have been able to travel from one place to another within a few weeks instead of a month.
The only reason that messages could pass quickly through Nathia is that many powerful nobles' intelligence networks, including Railius' one in Nathia, use messenger pigeons or birds to communicate, massively lowering the time it took for information to be sent from even the farthest reaches of the kingdom to the capital within a few days.
It's just a shame that while information and reports can be sent quickly around the kingdom, physical goods can not, as there were no planes in the medieval world to facilitate air travel for a large number of goods, so the ancient world had to rely on waterways and carts to move goods from one place to another with travel along the rivers and seas being the fastest way to get from place to place before trains and the innovations that came with the modern and industrial world.
Railius dodged the blade of Jordis' halberd that threatened to knock him off his horse, moving his body to the side, a skill that Railius had gotten quite good at over the last few months of daily training. Obviously, it was not a sharp blade but dulled like the rest of the equipment that people in the medieval world used to practice and train with to help prevent injuries.
Anyone who thought of any movies that used real swords when having their characters training is not realistic, as Aldorus and the rest of the Pelican Guards would never allow Railius to take such risks. Hell, even with mail armour on, Jordis' dulled blade left a large bruise, the mail stopping the weapon from causing too much damage as pain exploded from it due to the power and momentum created by two riders charging at each other at full speed.
After having fought with Jordis for months every day, Railius had slowly gotten used to his fighting style and every one of his moves, which only increased the effectiveness of his specialised analytical fighting style. It had gotten to the point where Railius could predict which move would come next and where the next blow would come from, turning what used to be one-sided smackdowns into more of a contest.
Of course, Jordis beat him down every time. Unlike Railius, who was a player and had an AI do most of his character's initial training, Jordis had been training daily since he was 6 years old to wield various weapons. It was only when he was 12 or 13 that he decided to specialise in the full moon halberd, making it his primary weapon.
This spartan-like training had molded him into a formidable fighter even at the tender age of 17, as he was close to the expert rank that most people only reach when they are 25-30 after fighting in a few wars. He made great strides after getting some practical experience from fighting a few bandit groups who dared to mess with Railius' caravan. Each group was quickly and thoroughly exterminated as neither House Aurellion nor House Hostod wanted to publicise their conflict, nearly leading to the deaths of Declan and Kaila.
This meant that once they left the safe areas of Detarnor and the royal capital, they were prayed upon by bandits, who made excellent training material for the prospective Pelican Guards and Railius himself, who finally found opponents on his level to fight. The veterans watched over the fledgeling recruits, only intervening when necessary to save a life.
Because only a bandit leader may usually be at the expert level once he is suppressed or killed by a few veterans, the others are more than capable of being dealt with by the well-trained Pelican Guard recruits, who have received some of the best training available since they were young.
The fast progress of Jordis and the Pelican Guards not only shows talent but something else that is the main reason for the noble families being able to hold power and why it is usually the descendants of nobility who become masters at a young age.
Education.
Something that only the nobility or clergy usually got in the Middle Ages was available to all the children who served under House Aurellion at a considerable expense to the noble house itself. Luckily, because most of the children's fathers and mothers had jobs of one kind or another, only the knowledge and supplies for schooling were required, as all the other necessities were paid for by the children's families, who all had stable jobs serving the house in one way or another.
Whether it was learning martial arts or basic literacy and maths, these skills, which were usually only taught to the children of those with wealth or power, were now all available to the children of the Pelican Guards.
This meant that compared to the children of peasants or craftsmen, who usually only learned their father's trade, these children had endless opportunities. They could learn skills like swordsmanship that usually only those with spare time or the sons of nobles learned.
This means that just like a well-educated person in the modern world, once a few months or years of experience are under their belt, they can become quite proficient in the job they studied for.
It was similar with martial arts. Now that Jordis and the Pelican Guards had some experience fighting, they blossomed like blooming flowers, showing their radiance to the world and made significant progress alongside Railius, who, compared to them, had many years of training to catch up on and, like commoner soldiers with little to no fighting experience and training had to gain most of his by life-and-death experiences.
Railius only planned to travel for a year or two in the game before joining a nation's army and working his way up to a position of power. Leaving it too late would be massively detrimental, as for fallen nobles like him, serving crown prince Kodjis or a nation's military is the fastest route to power, if dangerous.
He had to travel so much in these few years to get to know the world better because his ability to travel would be restricted once he joined the army or a lord's court. He would be bound to either his lord or the army camp, needing to be around to fulfil his duties.
The battle between Railius and Jordis continued for a minute, with Railius using all the skills he had learnt to get a good hit on Jordis. As the young player got more powerful and experienced, the quicker he could perceive and analyse a person's fighting style, moves that once baffled him were understood, and counters swiftly made. However, Jordis merely grunted, having long been used to such pain and injuries that had been inflicted upon him as a child managing to stay on his horse.
Some may say it was cruel to subject a child to such ruthless treatment, but House Mantalon, the protectors of House Aurellion, and their most loyal subjects and bodyguards did not know the meaning of the word soft or cruel and in a world where child labour and slavery was still a legal thing it was a better fate than some in the brutal medieval world.
To them, all that mattered was the protection of the lord of House Aurellion and the execution of every order.
No matter how cruel that order is.
Even if it means cutting the head of a beloved brother, these men would carry it out without hesitation.
Using the spike-like tip, Jordis sent Railius crashing to the ground with a sickening crash. The young player groaned with pain, a sensation he become all too familiar with over his in-game training, almost breaking a bone from the fall, as the tip acted like a wooden stick or lance and sent the young lord flying.
[You have taken 10 points of damage]
[You have taken 5 points of fall damage]
Yet another failure.
But considering that Jordis was widely respected for his talent as a fighter within Leon's dojo, this was to be expected as the Grandmaster of Loyalty had put his all into ensuring his eldest son would be his lord's most stalwart shield once he had passed on, aware of his own age and mortality.
At least it took some effort on his friend's part now instead of a one-sided slaughter, and he had even been hit, but this was mainly due to Railius being over-familiar with Jordis' fighting style, allowing him to create and exploit these kinds of openings.
Looking at his friend's skill, Railius could almost guarantee that he would become a master fighter before the age of 25, something that only the most hardworking nobles or genius' can achieve.
"Are you okay, my lord?"
Jordis asked, quickly dismounting and running over; while mounted training like this was necessary, it didn't stop it from being dangerous. After all, some believe that Henry VIII, the renowned suspicious English monarch, was starting to decline mentally somewhat after a jousting accident.
While Jordis had not heard of this monarch of earth, he did know that a few people had become disabled because of such accidents and if something like this happened to his lord because of him, then he might as well slit his throat as his father would do so the moment the two met again. Luckily, Railius had progressed well as a rider and so managed to fall in a way that, while painful, protected the most important places.
"I'm fine, Jordis."
Railius said, breathing deeply as he massaged his sore bottom.
"Let me have a look."
Aldorus said with concern, riding over the moment he saw that his lord had a particularly nasty fall, making sure to use magic to heal him up before he battered his body again in another round with Jordis, though even Aldorus thought that out of everyone, the one making the most progress was Railius who could now fight semi decently on horseback being far better than he was in the past where he recklessly challenged the assassin trying to kill Declan and almost got himself and his mount killed.
Aldorus could be within the 50 guard escort because he now had both Vice Commander Myrdin, his loyal elven subordinate, and Vice Commander Oswan, the veteran halfling scout, with whom he could safely entrust the other 450 men.
Both of these people had survived the gruelling escape from Chavaria and were so competent and trustworthy, allowing Aldorus to stay by Railius's side. Oswan only joined them when Leon sent him with more men to protect Railius after getting spooked by the visit of Amulius Lunaris, the Chavarian minister of war who seemed to know where their base was.
Both Myrdin and Oswan were at the peak of the expert rank, not far off from the master rank, and had extensive experience to back them up, including dealing with master fighters.
It was normal for merchants who travelled long distances to hire this much protection, as they had to fight off the many brigands who wanted to steal their goods.
After a white glow from Aldorus' hands scattered about Railius' body, he was all healed up. The bruises he had accumulated seemed to disappear in a matter of seconds, replaced by a new layer of fresh skin as the pain throbbing subsided as the healing magic flowed through Railius' body like running water.
"You should be all good now. You're doing well, my lord. Keep it up. We all have noticed your tireless efforts over the last few months."
Aldorus said kindly before returning to his place at the centre of the caravan. He kept one eye on Railius and the other vigilantly at the surroundings for signs of trouble as Jordis gave him a hand up.
"Thank you, Jordis. Let's take a short break."
Railius said, remounting his horse and throwing his training sword back on the training cart, which now had not only a dummy for practising shooting and mounted combat but also a variety of training weapons scattered in neat piles all around readily available for anyone to take as and when they needed them. But even while training, everyone kept at least one sheathed real weapon ready to fight the moment they were ambushed.
'I'll never beat Jordis.'
Railius sighed to himself. The young player knew his limits as even in the real world, he relied more on his brain than his brawn, and while he was a talented swordsman, he had nowhere near the talent and grit Jordis did and opened his character sheet. He was relieved to see that, over the last six months of gruelling training, all of his personal combat skills, with the exception of swordsmanship, had increased by one rank. His archery skill had even improved by two ranks as Railius passed the novice rank within 4 months, and he had started to learn how to use a spear recently, granting him a new skill to work on.
Railius had even gained a few attribute points as well. His physical training had trained his muscles and made him very fit, especially now that he was not trying to slack off, as he would need both a strong body and mind to be able to achieve his ambitions, which had slowly grown over time not willing to feel helpless again at least not without his permission that is.
….
Name: Railius Aurellion
Dynasty: Aurellion
Age:19
HP: 45
MP: 50
Race: Half Dwarf
Faction: House Aurellion
Attributes:
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 9
Vitality: 9
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 11
Equipment.
Light Mail
Steel Burgonet
Railius Customised Ironwood Bow
Righteous Wrath (Customised Longsword.)
High-Quality Warhorse.
House Aurellions Lord's Sigel
Money:
Gold: 35
Silver: 70
Copper: 1000
Skills:
Administration (Novice) (Passive)
Archery (Amateur) (Passive)
Calculated Swordsmanship: (Intermediate) (Passive) (Specialized Skill)
Calculated Cut: (Active skill)
Combat Concentration: (Active skill)
Deception (Novice) (Passive)
Insight (Novice) (Passive)
Leadership (Intermediate) (Passive)
Military Strategy (Intermediate) (Passive)
Negotiation (Novice) (Passive)
Riding (Amateur) (Passive)
Rallying Call (Active)
Polearm Mastery (Beginner) (Passive)
Race Traits:
Interspecies Humanoid Reproduction.
Stout of Heart.
Versatile.
Inheritable Character Traits:
The Rightful Lord of House Aurellion.
….
After looking at his character with a smile, he finally began to see the results of his endless physical and martial training, which had increased his character's core physical attributes by 1 and significantly improved his fighting prowess.
It would still take him at least two in-game years to reach the expert rank, but he was making great progress. After all, Rome was not built in a day, and his character was only 19 years old. He had plenty of time to grow stronger as he left his teenage years and entered his twenties, the peak of his physical youth. His character's birthday was in mid-August, which also happened to be his real-life birthday.
The 8th of August.
Railius did not think this was a coincidence. For someone of James Larant's power and influence, getting information on a commoner like him was as easy as ordering a pie, but I did wonder why the developer did this.
'Was it to try to connect players more with their characters or for another reason?'
Railius wondered but quickly dismissed such thoughts. It wasn't like he was the protagonist of a novel or something, so it's not like something crazy was going to happen, like in those crazy web novels he liked to read where people are transported into another world.
Right?
Deciding that such thoughts would drive him mad, he focused on his newly upgraded skills, not reading the polearm mastery one, as it was likely to be similar to swordsmanship and archery, which increase damage as they level up.
….
Archery (Amateur) (Passive):
Description: The art of archery can be found in even the oldest documents in the DO world. It is the most common ranged skill across the globe, as bows are much easier to make and cheaper to make than crossbows and firearms, despite the latter two being easier to use. A bow's rate of fire and long range make it much more powerful if in the hands of a capable user, and its ease of use on horseback has kept the weapon relevant and widely used by all.
A master archer could fire an arrow every 5 seconds or so, quickly firing and killing their enemy much quicker than an experienced crossbowman or musketeer, even able to pierce the strongest armour at a similar distance if the archer's strength was high enough.
The only drawback is that the training needed to produce excellent archers is far higher than that of crossbowmen and musketeers.
Effect: Increases damage done with bows by 20%
….
Riding (Amateur) (Passive)
Description: Riding dictates how well you ride a horse. This can give you access to better horses, increase your speed, manoeuvrability and combat prowess while mounted and help you to tame wilder horses if you come across them.
Effect: You can ride comfortably on most horses and ride at top speed as long as there are not too many corners or objects in your way.
Increase speed while mounted by 4%.
Increase damage using all weapons while mounted by 4%.