Leo gathered his thoughts as he walked towards the pens where the water bulls were housed. Leo had specifically set the animal husbandry area next to the side of the farming area and a relatively far distance from the center area. Leo wasn't totally sure, but he remembered vaguely that things that produce waste, and make a lot of noise in the process, need to be put in an area where the common populace doesn't see it.
Huh, so Cities: Skylines did have some benefits after all, he mused.
Leo approached the water bulls pen while the keepers stood to the side with nervous expressions and a few of the soldiers that would be guarding Leo on the journey were slowly marching forwards towards them.
Leo didn't waste any time and cast his [Dark Tamer] on the bull and almost instantly he could feel a connection with the bull in front of him.
Suddenly the bull cocked his head and Leo heard a different voice say in his own mind,"Master?" Leo was a little slack jawed at how easy that was. Not that he wanted it to come true but that when he took the powers of dark tamer from the old freak he was afraid he might corrupt himself if he used it, however he felt absolutely no different than before.
Leo communicated with the water bull and told him of his plans, and after a brief conversation, the water bull that Leo tamed called the other bulls over and Leo individually put each under a dark tame. Leo was kind of impressed with the first bulls authority over his brethren and so he asked,"How have you gotten all of these very strong looking bulls to follow your command?"
The bull huffed its nostrils in discontent and said,"I'll have you know that before your people captured me I was the most virile and statutory male in my herd!"
Leo almost threw up when he heard those words, as certain images floated into his mind.
Leo ignored the matter for now and gathered all the bulls, which he had 6 of and 5 of his soldiers and headed to the wall that was almost halfway to completion, at least in Leo's eyes. The carpenters had already gotten all the panels and framework built, now the stonemasons, who in fairness were smaller in number, would need to come and make the wall as impenetrable as possible.
As Leo passed by the entrance into Falling Star city into the wilderness beyond, it felt odd for him, like he was leaving behind someone he cared about and he didn't want to leave yet. Leo found it strange but pushed down the feeling and moved forward on his bulls back as he headed north.
Leo activated [Tracker] and started to head in the direction of the giant red ball in the sky, praying that he could get there in time.
== 12 hours later ==
Leo had made it about 1800 units away from his city when he encountered his first roadblock. Now, this wasn't a normal roadblock, like a fallen tree or a fast moving river, but instead it was a giant camp.
Normally this wouldn't be a cause for alarm, however Leo was now facing a dilemma as he stared at the screen that popped in front of him.
[Side Quest Activated!]
[Side Quest: Jarls Camp - A savage on the battlefield and a hedonist scumbag off, this is Jarl Erkinson. He is a rapist, a defiler, a savage killer and also a blade master. Be careful when attacking as this foe will not fall so easily. 1 - Save the people, 2 - Kill Jarl and his Men, 3 - ??]
Leo stared at the new quest that had popped up as he and his men had passed by this area. They had spent around 12 hours yesterday on bullback as the trudged through various scenic areas. Of course along the way Leo had done his energy method 2 more times, with his water element energy sitting at almost 95%!
Leo let his men fight a lot of the weaker monsters that appeared in their way from time to time. Leo noticed that not even a green grade monster had appeared yet, compared to the first day where one chased him and his men to near bowel loss!
Leo looked at his men and told them in a hushed tone,"I have received a quest from the gods."
The soldier's eyes all opened wide after he said that. Leo didn't want to lie to these soldiers but he honestly didn't want normal people to know about the system and all the overpowered things that he could do. He wouldn't know how to dig himself out of a PR crisis!
Leo continued and said,"Apparently these guys are or were mercenaries that killed on the battlefield for money, however they became corrupt with power and soon formed a base here where they kidnap local stragglers and refugees. We have been tasked with going in and killing all the brutes inside, as well as saving the people trapped inside the camp!"
The soldiers all hushed "Yes Sir!" and Leo began to tell them about his plan.
==
Jarl was in a good mood right now! He had just conquered the neighboring rival camp and taken that chiefs woman as his victory prize! He had just finished tasting the spoils of war for the 6th time that night when one of his clansmen quickly shouted from outside his hut,"Sir Jarl!"
Jarl snarled at the man for interrupting his celebration, yelling back,"What goddammit! If this is not important I will cut off your head where you stand!"
The soldier hesitated for a moment but quickly regained his composure and replied,"Sir Jarl! We are under an enemy attack!"
Jarl didn't have to be told twice as he quickly got dressed and got his armor on with the help of a couple of women who used to be his sex dolls and were now just mere maids that he played with on occasion. Jarl was clear with his men on one thing, the only thing that you can never get in trouble for is reporting a possible enemy attack!
Jarl and his 2 commanders that had been waiting outside his tent quickly walked to the front of the camp where several guards were looking out at the forest just beyond. Jarl walked up to the group and said,"Cleve! Report!"
The man named Cleve, stood straight and firm as he responded,"Yes chief Jarl! 6 people just came out of the forest across the river line! A magician from the opposing side soon cast multiple water spells under the eyes of multiple of us guards! However, i think that the wizards spell must have gone wrong or something because it simply turned into smoke after a few seconds and then they fled back into the forest!"
Jarl took a look at the area Cleve pointed to and noticed a distinct cloud of white, puffy smoke, that seemed to be floating towards them and slowly rising at the same time. However Jarl also noticed at this point that wind was wrong.
Jarl growled and said,"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the wind moving in the opposite direction than that cloud is headed?"
As soon as he said that a foreboding feeling started to creep in as everyone started to realize that Jarl was indeed correct! The wind should have been pushing the cloud away from the camp, not towards it!
Jarl, and the entire camp could only watch as the strange cloud slowly rose higher and higher and then when they thought that they were just overthinking it, the cloud of mist suddenly stopped in midair!
Everyone watched with mouths agape as the cloud that was once mist slowly reformed into a rotating ball of water in the air!
However as everyone was standing around trying to figure out the mystery Jarl heard one of his men suddenly scream out to his side and his head snapped in the direction of the sound! What Jarl saw shook him with fear to his very soul! Standing there, holding the hair on one of his mens decapitated head, was a man covered in thick mud and leaves, with only the white of his eyes having any real color to them.
Jarl felt as though a great demon was watching him at this moment. However before Jarl could process this killing and the mystery man, the newly formed ball of water that formed in the air suddenly dropped from the sky!
Everyone gasped and turned to run in the opposite direction! People were heard screaming as they feared that this was the last thing that they saw before their lives ended. Jarl had many things going threw his mind as he watched the ball of water fall into the center of his camp, the main one being,"Well fuck me…"
Boom!!
===
Jarl woke up in a daze as his head tried to clear itself from the impact wave of the water ball. Jarl was actually surprised that he lived through that, however his happiness was short lived as when he opened his eyes he realized that the entire camp was covered in such a dense mist that one couldn't see more than a foot in front of them!
Jarls mind raced as he tried to figure what was happening, and he thought about it he heard different screams and wails from the misty depths beyond his field of vision and every second or so another voice would call out from the abyss
No matter what he track his mind raced too, he didn't know what sort of scary existence he had offended to invoke this type of response!
It was at this point that Jarl felt the tip of a weapon pointed at the back of his head and he finally realized the whole plot. He sighed loudly and said,"Damn, I just figured it out too…"
Leo was caught off guard a little by his words but maintained his serious attitude as he said,"Tell me anything of value and you may get to live! Give me some precious treasures, and hehe.. We can talk about future support.."
Jarl was shocked to see someone this greedy and his evil heart naturally acted up as he bragged to his new compatriot anything that would save his life. "The only thing of importance that I know about is this dude named Tokayi over in the west. Apparently his military is rising at such an incredible rate that the surrounding chiefs were talking about banding together to squash him!"
Leo nodded his head at the information, not that Jarl saw him do so, and asked,"Any treasures? The information is sloppy at best."
Jarl racked his brain before remembering,"Ah! Wait! My camp found a skill book! Its in my private quarters!"
Leo then nodded his head and said,"Thanks, now die."
Before Jarl could even get out a word of protest, Leo swung his spear and sliced the man in half at the neck. Leo shuddered at the corpse falling to the ground but painstakingly swallowed his puke and finally dispersed the mist surrounding the camp.
Right as the last bit of mist cleared from the camp, Leo got a notification.
[Side Quest: Jarls Camp, Cleared!]
[Rewards: 1 Save the People 43/57 +1 Wood chest, 2 Kill Jarl and his men 38/38 +1 Stone chest, 3 (Revealed - Innate Skill Book: Analysis)]
[System: Midas touch activated!]
[Rewards: +1 Bronze Chest, +1 Iron Chest, (Revealed - Innate Skill Book: The Lords Eyes)]
Authors note: Hey guys, sorry about the long hiatus, my creative process was crap and I didn't really didn't know where to go with the story overall. I thought about it and I think I've got a good enough idea on what I want the over arcing story to be where I want to continue this story. I will continue to post updates, though this is a hobby right now, so it may be a bit sporadic. Thanks for the support!