Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – The advantages of a returner
Looking around him, Drodosis felt a bit nostalgic. In the past, he had been a gullible and spoilt brat who didn't understand the proper value of time. After wasting his childhood by fooling around and playing, he didn't join a proper academy before reaching 16. Only then did he start cultivating seriously, but he had already wasted 4 years by then since people could cultivate starting from the age of 12.
Anyway, this was probably his biggest regret in his life, besides the other one, where he was too impatient, indebting himself to death. Since it was in the middle of the year 661, Drodosis felt bitter. His mother was out, dealing the territory problems such as food shortage, while his father was chasing bandits, preying on the merchants and weak villagers.
In the meantime, his brother Jack was fooling around, playing with maids, while he himself shared a similar behaviour. However, in this lifetime, Drodosis wouldn't give up the inheritance of the barony. Even though his brother was 5 years older than him, and initially stronger, Drodosis was a returner. He didn't have any doubt of becoming an acolyte soon, and unlike his past life, he didn't want to be contracted and serve other powers. Instead, he wanted to walk his own path, that of a roaming adept.
"Although I am not the most knowledgeable acolyte, I have confidence in being in the top 1% of acolytes, since I have 36 years' worth of memories inside my brain. Not to mention that I know the basics like the back of my hands, I also got access to some restricted information. Even I join another academy, the cons would be far more numerous than the pros. Moreover, by inheriting the Gloom Barony, I would be able to prepare against the demonic invasion."
The demonic invasion. It was a deadly calamity that claimed the lives of him and millions of other innocent humans. Every 200 years, demons would try to conquer more territories. Although to adepts, it was a great source of wealth, it was the bane of noblemen and other average humans. The only way to benefit from it would be to kill the monsters, and harvest the materials for selling purpose. However, the demonic invasion was stronger than ever, and it would forever mark the continent's history. Thousands of adepts lost their lives, including that of the only rank 4 adept in human's ranks.
For this precise reason, Drodosis was ready to do anything.
But every myth has a beginning.
Although it was boring, he started by training both his body and his spirit by meditating, working out and eating large amount of fresh meat. Continuing his routine, he also used his spare time to build a merchant company from scratch, with nothing but his saved pocket money.
Two years later, a youth in armour looked at himself in the mirror. He could only see a grinning youth, with eyes radiating wisdom and savagery at the same time. Naturally, this youth is Drodosis Gloom, the Grinning devil, or at least, this is how the inhabitants of Starlight City called him because of his shrewdness, greediness and overall strength.
Frederick Gloom – "Son, I heard of your achievements when I was out, chasing the Black Brothers Mercenary Band. I killed them all, but my feats pale in front of yours. I heard that you managed to get your hands on a merchant route, by yourself!"
Drodosis – "Yes, father. My company, Starlight Industries, has welcomed all kind pharmaceuticals and physicians. I used my noble status to buy about a thousand slaves, and I made them work on a plot of land, 15 kilometres away from the castle. They produce raw materials, like Jade Flower Plants, golden wheat and nature apples. From these medicinal plants, the 45 artisans under my command refine them into pills and potions. They are luxury goods, and unmatched in the entire Phuinem Swamp region. Because there is a very high demand, but little supply: us, we're making a very large amount of profit. Since I am your son, I also gave them a few months of non-tax privilege, to entice them further into a very one-sided contract on my favour."
Frederick – "Haha! Seems like you inherited your mother's intelligence. I am proud of you. Your brother has turned into a fine man as well. He doesn't stop from bothering me about making you the new count."
Drodosis – "This…I have been training swordsmanship with him for the past two years. I reached the third tier, so every time we spar he gets enlightened a little bit. I think he isn't far from the preparatory knight realm. If he continues on this path, reaching the knight realm by the time he reaches 21 might be doable."
Frederick – "This is decided then. The day you turn 21, I will gift you this household, and I will retire. Don't make such a shocked face! I will support you in the beginning, and teach you whatever secrets our castle holds!"
This wasn't your average father and son conversation, but in the end, Drodosis couldn't help but grin like a devil. His nickname was not baseless after all. His hard work of faking an upright nobleman businessman and genius worked out in the end. He concealed it from his father, but the amount of profit he made every month exceeded 10 000 gold coins, a sum that was worth 2 years of the Gloom Territory's income.
On paper, he only made a few hundred gold coins of profit, but in reality, his medicinal pills were also sold in underworld auction houses. Moreover, out of his thousands of slaves, only 500 were real farmers. Drodosis had also been training an army whenever he had spare time. 200 had reached a 90% hit rate with crossbows, and the rest had at least reach the first tier of the Gloom Swordsmanship. They were all of the same kind: Imperial Norsemen Slaves. They were extremely loyal, and they respected strength. Since he reached the rank 1 acolyte realm, his fireballs earned him utmost respect from them.
The reason why he needed such a big army was simple. Firstly, he would need loyal subordinates for future display of strengths. Secondly, he needed to protect his plantations. In the past two years, his subordinates killed over 800 thieves and spies. Although it was not visible from the outside, the plot of land where he was farming, located near a hill, had 12-meters-high walls, sheltering a bunker made of strange yet sturdy metals. The bunker was used to provide each one of his slave an individual room. They had their own space, which was unthinkable for a slave, hence boosting their productivity. Besides, their response time would also be boosted thanks to the architectural plans Drodosis himself made. This bunker was actually an improved copy of an acolyte bunker who made experience.
Of course, this bunker would become the foundation of his magical tower, for the time when he would reach the adept rank. He had his own laboratories within the lower levels of the bunker, which were several time better than those he gifted to the physicians he had hired. They signed a contract that restricted their freedom to the bunker space, in order to fend off any spies.
He had achieved all of this, in just two years. However, these materials improvements paled a lot in front of his acolyte achievements. Reaching the first rank in just two years, was enough to rival the so-called geniuses. Of course, his high-grade meditation technique and his experience played a big role, but it was praiseworthy nevertheless. The other benefit from having slaves at his disposal with a lot of farming proficiency is that he recently started to plant magical plants. The hill wasn't a random plot of land, or else he wouldn't have based his future HQ here. It was actually a very fertile plot of land, which would attract greed from many acolytes in the future. It could also endure the strain of farming magical plants easily.
Jackul – "Young master, you have returned safely to us. This is great news."
Drodosis – "Cut the crap, I know you were following me in the shadows…How could anything happen to me, with you protecting me?"
Jackul – "Mm, *cough*, I was only making sure that you wouldn't get attacked by any enemy."
Drodosis – "How are things going on, in the plantations?"
Jackul – "Everything is going well. Because we used your farming techniques, the farmers estimate the quality of the products to go up by 22%. The profits will probably increase by 50%."
Drodosis – "This is great news. How about your cultivation?"
Jackul – "Thanks to young master, I have already reached the apex of the knight realm, and my dagger mastery is nearing rank 3."
Drodosis – "Great. Continue to look around, and be alert. We don't want to be found out by any enemy."
Jackul - "Don't worry, I have been managing companies for years, although none of them were of this size."
Jackul was one of his three best subordinates. He was a knight who swore loyalty to him after saving him from a certain death. Drodosis had burnt his enemies alive, although he only wanted to get rid of enemies at this point. Jackul was actually a mere merchant at the moment. His body was weak, and since he was 30, he had little expectations. However, after a little training, Jackul showed enormous potential in management and assassination. He was a true martial artist genius.
Drodosis – 'If he overcome the bottleneck of the knight realm, he will become as strong as a rank 2 acolyte, overshadowing me. Hehe, what a lucky fellow I am!'
However, the reason why Drodosis valued him so much was more thanks to his management potential. His achievements and experience far exceeded his. This wasn't a small feat, to say the least.
Besides him, Drodosis also had two other subordinates worth mentioning: Wiz, an alchemist who could refine any kind of pills. Although he was already 50, he was extremely experienced and loyal as Drodosis offered a way to pursue his dreams of saving lives, while progressing as an alchemist. Teaching others as well, the company's profit would be halved if not for this genius. Other than him, Drodosis could only value Fitz as much as Wiz and Jackul, as a shrewd underworld merchant. Although the latter wasn't exactly his subordinate but more of a business partner, Drodosis reached the underworld markets thanks to him. Thanks to him, Drodosis got his hands on various auction items, such as magical plants seeds, and other acolyte stuff and acolyte communities locations near his territory.
In two years, he reached status and influence exceeding thresholds that would never be achieved by most of humans. He discovered his true self in these past 2 years: that of a ruler. He had no plans of taking over neighbouring territories, but he was hell bent in acquiring the title of count in the future, for taxes privileges at least. However, a certain event interrupted his thoughts.
Jackul – "Sir, we have a problem."
Drodosis – "What is it?"
Jackul – "Do you remember the bandit group that attacked the Yellow Yale Village?"
Drodosis – "Yes, did they appear once again?"
Jackul – "Yes. However, this time, they spared no one. They didn't even spare the children."
Drodosis turned dark at this point. His grin became more devilish than ever, but he wasn't grinning because of what happened, but more because of what would be happening. The bandit group, The Blood Legion, was linked to the Sahuagin Household. By torturing them, he would get proof of the Sahuagin Household's misgivings. And by doing that, he would get an excuse to conquer the Sahuagin territory. Even the royal family wouldn't be able to intervene at this point.
Drodosis – "Prepare 100 of the best crossbowmen and 50 tier 2 swordsmen."
Jackul – "Naturally. Are we going to conquer the Sahuagin barony?"
Drodosis – "We will first capture the Blood Legion. I will let the other swordsmen in the HQ get information from them. Without waiting for confirmation, we will siege the castle stealthily. I already informed my father of what I was thinking of doing. He already prepared the army a few weeks ago already, we were waiting for them to show up."
Jackul – "What will we do?"
Drodosis – "We will kill the scouts, and kill their vanguards. We will also make them regret what they did by stealing killing their lords, and inheritors. We don't want any fallen noble to scheme behind our back. My father will take credit; I want no survivors. Is that alright for you?"
Jackul – "We are loyal to you. However, I would recommend destroying the castle. Without castle, no Sahuagin's ally would have interest taking their sides."
Drodosis – "Fair enough. It's very good since I've gotten my hand on this fire staff, but still couldn't find an opportunity to use it."
Jackul – "Is that a magical artefact?"
Drodosis – "Yes, acolyte's currency is actually not gold coins, but magical crystals. The exchange rate is usually 1:1000. And such staff cost about 200 magic crystals. This is a true treasure, even more valuable than a castle."
Jackul – "Impressive."
As Drodosis went out of the bunker, 150 men in an arrow formation greeted him. An overwhelming aura of oppression was emitted by them. At this moment, Drodosis was proud of himself. It was time to show his enemies, the fruit of his two-years-long labour.
Little did he know, as this event would forever change the Gloom Barony's Fate.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Reapout
Reapout The incoming battle will be bloody...
Thx for reading!
I've playing a game called albion online.
Feel free to try it. Here is the link (I gain a bit of gold if you play it so why not give it you haha!)
https://albiononline.com/?ref=TTGFH1MDLF
PS: Chapters will be about 2000-words long from now on.
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