Tyrants of Earth - The Legend of Artigan

Ryan was scowling. It wasn’t about how long he had stayed in the dining room while the royal couple went at it. It wasn’t about how he thought he was playing chicken with the couple, until he realized they were fully committed to the act. It wasn’t even about the fact that no matter what he did, he had been checkmated. If he stayed and watched, he would be the weirdo voyeur that got off on watching a couple go at it. If he left, he was the coward that ran away embarrassed by the King.

So it truly wasn’t about exactly how long he had stayed there watching an attractive couple go at it.

The problem that was truly troubling him was that King Theskar’s answer was bad.

Truly.

Civilizations could fall and never rise back up. Sector Four and the Cataclysm Abyss was proof of that. That was why the idea that some unlikely hero would pop up and save the day was an absolutely irresponsible position for a King to have, nor did it fit in with the image of the world Ryan was trying to create. He was certain that King Theskar had a better answer than that.

But the King refused to elaborate while he was at his wife’s bosom.

I can’t believe I was starting to look up to the guy.

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Despite his lack of a satisfactory answer, things had changed the next day. Something had shifted in the way Ryan looked at the world, whether it was because of the discussion, or because the confidants had gotten used to him he could not say.

They sat in a room next to the training grounds, where Ryan had a stack of papers he’d been working on all night. Party compositions, formations, experiences from adventurers. Everything he could think of that was useful from Realmnet had been thrown here for the confidants to study.

Though there was one thing that he had to discuss.

“First of all, after-action reports. Why haven’t you been doing them?”

Miles, feeling more confident around Ryan, answered him. “We do have them, just not for this.”

Ryan, having researched how the Kingdom of Valmere had done things, had prepared for this answer. “Let me guess, where each of you look down at a subordinate and tell them what they did wrong?”

Only Fetters shifted uncomfortably, betraying that it was exactly what happened. The royal confidants were in high positions of military power, it was incredibly unlikely that they did after-action reports like adventurers did. Ryan passed a piece of paper at Miles.

“Consider this a lesson from a more advanced civilization. What we’ve found was that after-action reports are best done in two parts. One where a superior overlooks the process, and another when the team gets together and assesses things themselves. Everyone participating in the discussion and giving feedback is always better than lecturing them.”

Miles Knightly, the pragmatic knight instantly saw the benefits, as well as the flaws.

“This won’t work for the army.”

Military required obedience. Having basic rank and file question the leader’s decision making capability was probably unwise. Ryan was prepared for this rebuttal as well.

“I know. But you five aren’t an army, and we aren’t targeting military groups for these. We’re talking about special units, groups like you five that will be raised from the ground up. Starting from there is where you’ll be able to find and nurture those with high decision making talent.”

Ryan used that point to move onto the next topic.

“For example, Fetters here is both better at adapting and coming up with creative solutions on the fly than the rest of you. Yet she lacks the confidence to truly perform.”

There was no dissent there. Ryan had tested the royal confidants multiple times and beaten it into their skulls that Fetters was better at shotcalling then they were.

“Now, imagine if you identified that ability early on and nurtured it. I think a confident, unhesitating Fetters would let you five deal with the Demon King in most situations.” At least, without King Arctus using his trump card. Ryan didn’t say.

The mention of the late Demon King got their attention once again. As a point Ryan asked Fetters a question.

“Tell me all five of you together in a battlefield where the Demon King is running at your group from a mile away. What do you do?”

Fetters started flustering, confused as to how to answer the question. Naturally, Ryan used a threat.

“Three seconds or I pluck one of King Theskar’s eyelashes.”

Fetters sat up straight, she threw out the first thing she was thinking, knowing that Ryan would absolutely go up to the King and pluck his eyelashes for a late answer. “Wagon formation. I use fireballs, aiming at where he’s going to be, blowing them up by his head. Vedit, would be the driver. We keep backing off until either me or Miles lands a hit, then we uhhh, put him in a holding pattern until he bleeds out.”

Wagon formation was when their two tanks kept facing their enemy, Fetters and Miles would be standing behind their tanks, firing away at the enemy with the last mage in the front, running as fast as he could to keep the pace of retreat. Basically, they moved like a wagon while firing behind.

“Alright now, you’re escorting King Theskar. King Arctus is a mile away. Two seconds.”

“Collapse the wagon formation, Miles takes his majesty ahead of us and we don’t attempt a holding formation.” She thought about it for a second. “Unless Miles comes back and assures us his majesty is safe.”

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“Excellent. Fetters, stop second guessing yourself. I’ll repeat myself as many times as I have to. In highly volatile situations, hesitation is often worse than taking the lesser option. Second-guessing and trying to figure out if you can do better is a matter for the after-action report. Got it?”

Fetters just nodded her head rapidly.

For some reason, Fetters sitting there, always nervously hesitating over a decision reminded him of what Barry had said. About how people could get stuck in their heads, a multitude of possibilities running through their heads when taking action was a priority.

‘Fatal in the long run.’

It was words he knew were true, yet knowing was not the same as teaching. That was the thing, only now, as he drilled the King’s stubborn confidants and repeated the words from the adventurers he’d studied, did instinct and knowledge begin to internalize.

Nothing in his past had been a waste of time.

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In the afternoon.

This was where things had changed in a different manner. King Theskar, the royal scribe and Miles Knightly sat at the table. No longer was it just Ryan dictating his thoughts to the scribe and King Theskar only providing facts. Miles was here arguing with his every decision.

“You are trying to raise an independent force that will become equivalent to the Kingdom itself. It will be an easy weakness for foreign nations to take over and incite!”

“No, it’s a universal entity that exists completely independent of any nation or kingdom.”

“You cannot give benefits without politics, there is no independence for an organization of this size.”

The problem was that Miles was often right. Ryan was constantly trying to rehash the ideas from his world into this one and things didn’t translate one-to-one. Benefits given to adventurers in The Realm was always done independently. Like an organization offering discounts and exclusive membership to high realm adventurers. Not once did a governing body or the Tyrants give adventurers benefits directly.

Ryan’s idea of benefits to push the Guild’s popularity would not work. Not if he wanted to declare it independent.

For the first time King Theskar stepped up to offer his thoughts.

“There is a difference between implementing a standard and an organization. What you want is both. To make it natural and subtle it requires execution. Something only a guiding hand can accomplish. Do you have a candidate for the leader yet?”

Both Ryan and Miles blinked at King Theskar. Miles immediately deferred to his King and Ryan was a little surprised by how helpful Theskar was being.

“Yeah, I have two right now.”

Ryan passed along the two files of retired fifth realm adventurers to the King. He perused them lightly, giving approving nods.

“These two will work, though I believe Diane will be too suspicious to accept. Wesley will be a fine pick. Tell me how did you come to choose these two?”

“Both of them were forced into tricky political situations and came out looking better than when they entered it. Both started from the bottom, got to where they wanted then retired when they got rich enough. They’re smart, sensible and all of their team members considered them a natural leader.”

“Analyzed from messy documents that have been purposefully disorganized.”

“You should try going through the Realmnet for adventurer’s records–wait you were sabotaging me?”

“Testing, you could say, something I don’t believe is necessary anymore.”

King Theskar clicked his fingers and both the royal scribe and Miles bowed then left the room.

“Your ability to read people and interpret data is excellent. Execution is the only thing left, something that I cannot test and teach in the time given, nor do I believe it is necessary for your path.”

“So what? Everything I’ve done was pointless?”

“No. For a ruler that holds power in their hands, the most important thing is to understand people and the situation around them. Finding someone that dissents to your opinion in sir Miles and listening to them showed more wisdom than I had expected. I will execute your plans as you wish, and you will come back to a world that will reflect your desires.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes, refusing to believe in such a free offer. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch. There are simply more important things that I can help you with.”

“Like giving me a better answer for my question?”

“No. I’ve already given you my answer, and I’m certain you’ll come up with it on your own.” King Theskar chuckled and shook his head. “No, I believe I can help you with your aura.”

“Really? No offense Theskar, but your aura control hasn’t been very good either.”

Even if you included yesterday’s display of aura, Theskar’s aura control hadn’t extended beyond flaring it out or raising it in defense.

“You have more aura than I’ve seen anyone in your realm, yet you can’t use it to suppress and overwhelm everyone. Tell me, why do you think that’s the case?”

“Well, it’s dependent on how much they fear me. The core skill is [Unrelenting Aura of Intimidation]. If they aren’t afraid of death or are embraced for it then all of my effects are diminished.”

“Then tell me, why can you solidify aura and use it as a physical force against those that don’t fear you?”

“I–I don’t know?”

Ryan wanted to say ‘it’s a skill’ but that sounded really dumb, even in his head. Theskar started his lecture.

“By physically manifesting your aura and using it as a physical weapon you have skipped a valuable step in understanding what aura is. Aura is simply a projection of one’s soul. It’s why it can be attuned to anything, to mana, to qi, even to emotions or craft. Despite that, aura is not mana or qi, you must remember that.”

King Theskar’s eyes turned into a deep shade of gold, as if he were searching his memories for the right lessons to impart. There were so few written examples of royal bosses doing this that Ryan didn’t even realize it was something they could do on command.

“A vital component of aura, and the one you have skipped, is belief. Yours is strong and willful but split between multiple things. Completely aimless. It is why when you clash your soul against those with strong beliefs it does nothing. Even when they’re embraced for death, your enemies should feel the weight of your existence against their very bodies. Your allies should feel their spirits being lifted up, enhanced with your might.”

“You’re talking about buffs and debuffs. I’m not sure if that’s the best use of my time. I fight alone and the greatest challenges will be against one opponent.”

As much as Ryan seemed overwhelming with the path of aura, it had always been relegated as one of the ‘lesser’ energies for a reason. Something to work on but not put your focus into until all your other skills had reached max level. The reasoning was simple: Buffs and debuffs worked on masses of enemies and allies. While buffs on a massive army was invaluable, in smaller teams, against singular powerful bosses most would rather just have another damage dealer or a tank. Ryan was a team of one.

King Theskar seemed to understand his point. “Tell me, is there a limit to your physical prowess when you gain too much aura?”

Ryan considered this for a bit.

“Often actually. Honestly, other than my right arm I don’t think I get much stronger than what the passive from [Unrelenting Aura of Intimidation] gives me. At least not without [Resource Overdrive].”

His [Unrelenting Aura of Intimidation]’s levels had far outstripped anything that was reasonable for a fourth realm. There was always a cap to how much aura enhancement his body could handle, at least without forcing a realm evolution.

“I believe that you could be much stronger. At the very least, you could begin to take advantage of having two auras in one body.”

The King pointed at the smaller aura at his chest. Ryan looked down at it, staring internally. A burning core of blue aura had always been there, occasionally revealing itself, mostly on Earth. Where it didn’t get overshadowed by his much greater Trial enhanced aura.

“You may not have realized it, but it has been holding the darker nature of your arm at bay. Every triumph has strengthened it, and it has been patiently waiting for the day you finally unleash it.”