The Runesmith

‘So this is their leader… doesn’t look too tough.’

“Do you dare accept my…”

“Yeah, let us get this over with, get into the glowy circle Pinocchio, I don’t have the whole day.”

Roland was the one to initiate the challenge this time around in a similar fashion as the wooden commander he faced during his first trial attempt. This time around he was challenging the lord of this fort that he had bashed through the side wall. Even though this place looked a bit closer to a stone keep, it wasn't finished. It was easy to move from one side that didn’t have as many towers and archers protecting it.

To do this he used an old siege ram design. It was a mobile frame with a reinforced wooden roof made of several layers of planks. The iron arrows were not able to pierce through it and after coating it with some special concoction, it wouldn’t catch on fire. It had three large wheels on each side and on the inside, there were several wooden soldiers pushing it. In the middle was the main piece which was a huge log with a large metallic ram head at the end.

Normally he would have given it a more basic shape but this item could be bought from the market to hasten the process of his first siege. Thanks to this faction not having a moat he could use this old tool to bust down their wall. Soon after his soldiers with him in the front were able to just push inside. He made sure to give them the order to leave the civilians alone and not chase after other soldiers that decided to flee.

This was about to become his new base of operations so he needed to keep the damages to a minimum, challenging the enemy leader to single combat was a bit part of this plan. The man in question was a high-level tier 2 wooden puppet made of pale wood. It had a special class that might have been similar to his Runesmith Lord one. This could indicate the same multiplier of two instead of the regular one that tier 2 classes had. Nevertheless, he wasn’t that fearful, he was still thirty levels over this wooden man and also had all his magical runes to help him win this.

The Lord Commander puppet was using an arming sword and shield combination. His body was covered by full-plate armor and he even had a helmet on. The only reason Roland could tell that he was a man made of wood was that his face was peeking through that helmet that lacked a visor that could be closed for some reason. It was a big weak point but with the shield in his hand, it wouldn’t be that easily pierced.

This wooden Lord Commander would have probably been able to defeat any normal tier 2 person but he was going up against a very unique opponent. Roland’s biggest strength came from his ability to make magical armor, it gave him the spells of an experienced mage that didn’t require any in-battle preparation. Within a second he could call upon blasts of fire that could take a flame mage even ten seconds to cast.

A mage's biggest weakness was a close-range battle and this weakness was not something he had. The moment the armored puppet charged in for a shield bash his footing was broken by muddled water that then quickly turned into sharp spikes. Even though he was able to react in time to not sink in, even though the sharp spikes were deflected by the shield, the third attack that was composed of burning flames could not be evaded or protected against.

The huge ball of flames was already forming when the Lord Commander was trying to not slip into the mud. It connected with the wooden man to generate a massive explosion. Though these wooden men were not composed of blood and flesh they reacted in similar ways to heat as humans did. The metal armor that he was wearing turned red with the increase in the temperature and started cooking the owner alive. The simulated screams were quite realistic but instead of flinching Roland just increased the heat by ejecting a torrent of flames from his palm.

“Your Lord has fallen, throw away your weapons and surrender and none of you or the residents in the city will be harmed!”

As his opponent was dying he already started shouting to break up the fight. The more men he could keep alive from the opposition and his own army the better for his future plans. With the lord defeated, even the wooden captains started buckling under pressure. Just as he expected, whenever the lord of the faction was suffering a defeat the debuff taken to the morale of the troops was increased.

“What are you waiting for, surrender!”

“This place belongs to us now! Long live the Lord of the Timberlings!”

While he was making his speech one of his own commander units also started shouting out. It was his old first captain that had managed to reach level one hundred. The more the leader units leveled up the better their speech became. At the level that the commander was on now, he could articulate like a normal person. He immediately started shouting at the other soldiers while waving the flag from his side.

This was a faction banner that he actually had to unlock and design himself. Just by having them around his troops, it was possible to raise their morale further. The more of these symbols he put on their belongings the more it worked. It really showed him that belonging to a side made a big difference. Now that his enemies had nowhere that they belonged to their fate was to either fight until they all died or to become slaves.

‘What will they do? Probably depending on their loyalty to their old leader this could go both ways.’

He tried thinking back to some real-life examples of taking over strongholds and other kingdoms. If an area had a grand leader that they were all behind it was always hard to integrate such lands. The people living there would give up on the surface but behind the kingdom’s backs, they would start plotting. If a chance arose that they could take back the power, then they would. On the other hand, if the leader was a tyrant then the people living there would welcome them with open arms.

‘Hm… this one might have actually been the latter…’

“The tyrant is dead!”

“Thank the gods…”

Soon the soldiers threw away their weapons and the civilians started cheering. They repeated the same two sentences over and over again but he got the picture. When investigating this place he figured out that the leader wasn’t properly managing the region. There were a lot of residential buildings but not enough farms to produce food.

Most of the populace was also conscripted instantly and sent out to attack nearby settlements. This was a good example of someone that was too focused on the offensive and not on the defensive aspects of their army. Their main fort didn’t even have a moat and the walls weren’t in good shape either.

Roland almost flinched as the message popped out in front of his face and was accompanied by a victory tune. The moment it, all the flags and banners that belonged to the Lumberlings started changing into his own. He had not been able to design the crest for his forces, instead, it was a premade image of a bundle of logs next to a fireplace. In comparison, the Lumberlings had logs stacked next to what looked like a sawmill.

‘Maybe I should cut down the forest around my home after this…’

The more he stayed in this place the more he started to dislike anything related to wood. This was to the point of him wanting to reconstruct his entire home into one made from stone and metal. While these thoughts flooded his mind he walked over to the new throne room. Compared to his old one this had a lot more things going for them. It was still made from wood but at least had a large pillow where he could sit.

‘Let’s see… this isn’t the only place I was able to get, if you defeat the lord and the main fortress you get all of their lands… oh there is a condition it seems…’

This Lord Commander managed to capture a port city and a few smaller settlements that weren’t all that great. From how things looked they had been raided by bandits. This simulation didn’t only give him other faction leaders and armies to worry about. There was random monster spawning and sometimes they attacked the villages. To combat this he could establish an adventurer guild that also required a tavern to lure in the sell swords.

Things like dungeons also existed but it was impossible to get into them. Some things could only be executed by simulation. The adventurers would leave the city and vanish into the dungeons. They would have a hidden chance of coming out alive and bringing back materials that could be sold. Their main purpose was to keep monsters away from smaller villages and to generate tax revenue.

Over a month had passed since he arrived in this trial and now he had won his first siege. During this time he had done his utmost to organize his ‘kingdom’ in a proper fashion. It wasn’t that easy but he was managing to keep the populace happy while still being able to contend with unwanted advances from enemy encampments. After capturing this stone keep he had become the most significant force in the area and it wouldn’t take much longer to make all the settlements his.

‘The more my fame grows the more likely it is for the small outpost to surrender without fighting. I just wanted to conserve the life of my soldiers and other potential soldiers but it had a nice side effect.’

Due to his propensity to spare enemy combatants and civilians, he became famous as a benevolent and just leader. This title he could see in the system window or confirm with one of his aids that had multiplied since his first appearance here. There wasn’t a proper explanation but he theorized that this gave him a hidden buff to negotiating after a battle was won and even before it.

It made sense, knowing the opposing leaders were more likely to join up if they knew that they wouldn’t be slaughtered. Perhaps if he was more forceful he would be given a different hidden buff. It wouldn’t be strange if fear was also an option here. The leaders would abandon their posts and flee instead of joining his forces or instead crumble on the battlefield.

‘Has its pros and cons, if they flee I can’t integrate them into my forces but also don’t need to spend money on schools, churches, and indoctrination programs.’

Roland could see both processes being similar in the long run. If he had to choose he would rather walk the path of someone benevolent. The people on the other side were usually in cahoots with forces that he had butted heads with. Becoming more aggressive and downright evil would be more aligned with something like the abyssal cult he had a falling out with. This didn’t mean that he would be soft on his enemies, just that he wasn’t really interested in performing vile acts or slaughtering people to get his way.

‘I guess as a benevolent leader I need to get this shit taken care of, this guy really didn’t put any effort into managing his food. Luckily the farms that I have at the old place will be enough to cover it all… that is if they won’t get captured, I need to start covering the borders with my troops.’

It seemed that the first part of this trial was coming to an end. He had captured one of the largest regions and driven his rivals out. With them gone he would have time to take over all the smaller settlements that weren’t too far from his main cities. This one he was in would become his new capital city while the old fort would become the secondary stronghold. It was already equipped with some runic turrets and wind generators.

While it would be nowhere near as potent as the old defensive structure he had, it didn’t have to. His enemies would most likely focus their actions on his current position. The way to win this game was by defeating all the lords on the battle map. From the way, it looked there were still four other large domains that were still taking form. Thanks to his fast push he was able to keep himself half a step in front of his enemies.

‘First of all, I need to build a moat around this keep and finish those towers, a few archers and turrets should do the trick. I need to check out that port town but considering the map range, naval battles won’t be possible in this trial.’

It was possible to trade with others through the port. After taking it he had been given access to a lot of exotic resources, some were better metals that he would use to create a new runic armor that could carry him through the rest of this trial. Just like with the dungeons, trading with ships was a simulated process that was on a timer. After going through the console he became aware that he couldn’t build any warships. This meant that while he wouldn’t be attacked by a naval force from outside, he could not transport his troops to a more favorable location either.

‘Should I try forming a diplomatic agreement with one of the weaker sides?’

At the moment he had some general idea of who he was dealing with. The biggest problem and perhaps his last opponent would be the Woodlanders. They seemed to possess one of the best territories with a plethora of natural resources. Their borders were also surrounded by a natural barrier made up of mountains. To attack them he would first need to scout out the area for any hidden passages as going through the middle where a fortress was being built was not an option.

‘Maybe if I had an overwhelming supply of forces then I could get in but they will probably conquer the nation right next to them and make it more difficult.’

The Woodlanders were to the northeast while he was across from them to the southwest. Between them were two other nations that were slowly being created. Then to his east side was another one and the last one was to the west of the Woodlanders. There were things outside of these five locations but it was also outside the boundaries of this trial. He had confirmed this by trying to send his scouts in the other direction but he was unable to cross through some mountains before coming back.

His foes would probably take over the developing nation that was to their west side before moving down south towards the other regions. He wasn’t sure if they would be the final opponent but thanks to the natural defenses they would at least be hard to conquer. Perhaps luring their leader out of their zone would be the appropriate tactic instead of forcing it through the mountain range.

‘I don’t think they would give me a trial that I can’t pass, there might be some kind of passage through there that could work and if there isn’t one… then perhaps I could make one for myself.’

After clicking through the console and giving out various orders Roland decided to walk out to his new stronghold. This one had a large mountain range from one side that wouldn’t allow anyone to attack him from the other factions. They would need to go around and then go through the border region where he was already sending out troops and resources to reinforce. Things were moving along but he had already spent over a month here, even though he could fast forward through a lot of events, if he did then he would lose precious time.

Due to his first failure with his class ascension, he had become even more paranoid about the future. Each time when going to bed he could only think about that large mace coming for his face. Sleeping more than two or three hours per day was already a miracle only thanks to his zombie-like fortitude was he able to keep his facilities together.

“Uh… this might take a while… half a year at least… maybe even more…”

His sigh was heard by one of the guards next to him. The wooden man didn’t move nor did he have a facial expression he could relate to. Roland could see the walls already being worked on by his men, not to lose out; he decided to head to the city smithy to see how far this blacksmith was compared to the one he started with. Before his enemies could arrive he needed to create more golems and perhaps other types of weapons that with the dawn of the wind generators were a valid choice…