Leo stared at the older man as he and his small group of soldiers approached, both looking at each other with wary eyes. Leo and the old man both sized each other up and the older man then looked at his soldiers and visibly recoiled after a second. Leo grinned, knowing that he had just ascertained that all of Leo's soldiers were Green grade troops. The system was a great tool but it was also a great weapon, able to tell each lord troop counts and their relative grades.
Leo knew that at some point his troops would be outed as superior and acknowledged the older man's wisdom to check as soon as he got the chance. Leo and his group finally stopped about 100 feet from the old man and his own group of soldiers, all not saying anything to each other up to this point.
Leo was the first to speak as asked,"What is your name old timer?"
The old timer, for his part, scoffed and said,"Rus, and you?"
Leo looked at Rus and said,"My name is Leo"
Rus's eyes widened in surprise as he cautiously asked,"Leo? THE LEO?!"
Leo beamed him a toothy grin and replied,"The very same! I see you have kept up with my escapades."
Rus nodded his head vehemently and said,"Of course! You are quickly becoming a global powerhouse, everyone in the global and regional chat is talking about how absurdly strong you are!"
Leo also nodded himself and replied,"Then that makes this even easier."
Rus sighed and said,"You have come to take over my land, haven't you?"
Leo smiled and said,"Yup!"
Leo was then surprised as Rus breathed a sigh of relief and said,"I would be happy if you simply took me and my people in, I don't want a fight."
Leo, suspicious of Rus, asked,"This is weird, I expected some resistance from you, but you are willingly giving yourself up. Why?"
Rus responded in a gruff voice,"Lord Leo, I am a tired old man, I have no skin in this game. I have only existed to survive so far. To be perfectly frank, whether you came today or not, it was bound to be my last day as a lord."
Leo was now super curious as he asked,"Why is that?"
Rus had a look of disgust on his face as he described the predicament,"Leo, when the great summoning happened I was with my wife and my brother. When we were transported to this world, my wife was summoned closer to my brother's territory. In the last world, my brother never wed anyone, which I believed to be part of his personality or something. That however was not correct."
Leo figured it out almost instantly as he asked,"Your brother came and conquered your wife's territory, stealing her away from you, is that right?"
Rus shook his head, saying,"I wish that was all it was. I have a skill, called tracking, which lets me track people I've met before or my family members within a 1000 unit area. My wife's skill was a farming skill that let her accelerate the growth of crops by a day, and my brother's skill, well his was terrifying. It allowed him to control monster beasts that are the same grade as his highest affinity or one grade higher."
Leo asked Rus,"Is this the reason you only have 12 troops left?"
Rus nodded, shaking a little with emotion as he said,"So far my brother has managed to subordinate and control 3 White grade beasts as well as 1 Green grade beast. I used to have 20 soldiers, and 8 of them died fighting off and killing the Green grade monster that attacked us just yesterday."
Leo thought about this for a moment before saying."How far away is your brother's territory?"
Rus' eyes widened as he replied,"He- His area is about 800 units north east from here. However, if you plan to go and make him submit, that will be impossible!"
Leo narrowed his eyes and asked,"Why is that?"
Rus shook his head in fear and responded," His skill has made him drunk with power, made him lust over anything that is not his, and made him a bitter old fool. If you go and fight him, mark my words, you will have to kill him before you can make him submit!"
Leo turned to Ash and asked,"What do you think? I believe we should help Rus with his wife, both his skill and his wife's skill would be insane for supporting Fallen Star city."
Ash thought about it seriously and replied," I think we should help, it is like you said, we will be able to gain some decently powerful skills to help with Fallen Star cities development, however if what this 'Rus' says is true, we can expect a fight. A small skirmish but a fight nonetheless, and we even have to end up killing his brother to claim the wife back."
Leo nodded his head and turned back to Rus, saying,"Swear your loyalty as a subordinate and I shall immediately go and attack your brother's holding to get your wife back."
Rus' mouth opened a little to say something back but ultimately he only said,"I pledge my loyalty to Lord Leo and promise to always be a capable subordinate to him." Rus was on one knee as his soldiers looked on from the side, and his citizens looked at this situation from a distance. Leo soon heard the system's familiar voice sound out in his head.
[Lord Leo has gained new Lord subordinate Rus and gained 10% of his active ability 'Tracker'.]
[Innate Skill Tracker: Can track targets that Lord Leo has met before within a range of 100 units a well family members]
Leo smiled and then he got a few more notifications that surprised him greatly.
[Innate skill Midas Touch activated]
[Innate Skill Tracker: Can track targets that Lord Leo has met before within a range of 10,000 units a well family members]
Leo nearly jumped in joy when he heard that as he had completely forgotten that his Midas Touch skill works on active innate skills as well. Leo calmed himself and didn't jump for joy though as he was still in the middle of a very serious situation.
Leo looked down at the still kneeling Rus and said,"You can get up, I have already received the confirmation from the system that you have submitted."
Rus got up slowly like an old man would, and when he was fully standing up, asked,"What about the workers I summoned? What happens to them?"
Leo looked at the soldiers and workers and responded,"Your workers for now will be escorted to my territory by your soldiers. 2 of your soldiers and you will stay with my group while 2 of mine will show them how to get to it. If you have any resources, lay them down in the area and the soldiers we leave behind as well as the workers will carry them back to Fallen Star city."
Rus nodded, agreeing with the sound plan made by Leo. Ash also agreed and quickly pulled 2 soldiers out of the lineup and asked them,"Did you hear what they lord said? Show these soldiers how to get back to the city while we go and clear out that other territory!"
The soldiers saluted and responded,"Yes Sir!" in a uniform and drilled fashion. The former Rus soldiers all looked on in admiration as they viewed the discipline and coordination of Leo's soldiers.
Leo and Rus were standing side by side as they watched the soldier and the workers of the small village gather all the available supplies and start to load them up. Rus truly didn't have much to his name, only having a measly 50 units of wood and 120 units of stone. Leo didn't care that much though because in the future he would have the houses in the area deconstructed to give some more resources.
[Lord Leo, the subordination conversion is complete. All the workers and soldiers now no longer see Rus as their lord, and instead look to you for guidance.]
[Lord Leo has gained 12 White grade soldiers, 4 White grade carpenters, 2 White grade farmers, and 2 White grade stonemasons]
[Lord Leo has fully integrated the territory as his own, would Lord Leo rather settle this area as a new city under his rule, or convert the 50 units of land to one of his cities?]
Leo quietly said,"Convert to Fallen Star city" since Rus was still standing next to him. Rus was none the wiser as he watched a little teary eyed as his citizens started to collect and put away all the things he had collected into carts for transport.
[Lord Leo has chosen to convert 50 unit of land into Fallen Star City, growth will start immediately]
Leo wasn't there at his city to see it personally this time, but he knew that the golden expansion of his borders was happening again. As Leo stood there with Rus watching the things being packed up Leo decided to try and activate the new innate skill he had gained.
Leo thought to himself,"Activate Tracker, search for closest family member"
[Lord Leo has activated Tracker. Area within 10,000 units of distance will be scanned]
[Area scanned. 3 Family members located within permitted distance]
Leo quickly asked,"Who is it!?"
[They are listed by name and distance away from Lord Leo's current location. Arthur, 6010 units. Rosy, 6320 units. Prissa, 8820 units]
Leo wanted to sigh in relief but knew that this was only a small portion of his family. Nonetheless he decided to update his family in the familial chat.
[Leo: Arthur, Rosy and Prissa, I have gained a subordinate lord a few minutes ago and he had a skill that allows one to track family members within a certain distance from his current location. Currently you three are the closest people from the family that are near my location, with Prissa being the farthest of the 3 at around 8800 units. Please survive for just a little bit longer, I will come with a rescue party soon.]
[Arthur: Wonderful news my nephew! Making huge splashes around the world and now gaining a lord underneath your wing! Me and Rosy await your arrival!]
[Rosy: Take your time and stay safe on the journey Leo!]
[Mom: That's such great news Leo! Maybe soon we can all be a happy family in your city like we used to be in our old world! It feels so long ago that we were walking on those streets…]
[Prissa: Omg! Finally! Save me from this hell! The people I summon are, like, totally useless, and like, totally don't deserve me! Come and get me soon Leo]
Leo laughed a hearty laugh. It felt good to laugh like this every once in a while and Leo felt good knowing that it was possible that soon his entire family would be with him once again. Leo was a bit confused though as there was no visible way he could see that would make tracking easy other than checking the distance every hundred or so units.
Leo turned to Rus who had been staring at Leo like he was crazy when he had laughed just now. Leo asked him,"I just activated the Tracking skill, how do I follow the skill to someone I met before? Do I just check the distance they are away from me every now and then?"
Rus, with a puzzled face replied,"No… Lord Leo, do you not see it?"
Leo shrugged and said,"Describe 'it' for me."
Rus simply pointed at the sky and said,"That giant red orb in the sky was always pretty frickin' hard to miss, at least in my old eyes."
Leo replied,"What giant red-" as he looked up. Leo's words were caught in his mouth though as he now noticed the MASSIVE giant red orb that seemed to float in the sky about 1000 feet away from Leo. Leo then stuttered out a,"O- OH, THAT giant red orb"