Although there were many smiles among our soldiers, there were others too who looked shocked: pale, slumped and tearful.

‘Except those guarding prisoners, fall in to your units!’ My order brought their training back and even the most wretched looking stiffened and hurried to find a place in the ranks.

‘You fought well. Very well! And today will be the day I promised you. You will eat out on the story of the battle of Three Ways for the rest of your lives. But our work isn’t yet done. Those of you on horseback…’ I made my way to the light cavalry, half of whom were missing, chasing the retreating enemy, ‘ride down the road, killing any enemy stragglers you find. Then, when our own soldiers return, scout beyond them until evening and report back here by dark… On you go!’

As the riders rode off, I turned to our archers. ‘Sergeants, have your squads take the abandoned bows and quivers of the enemy; gather any unbroken arrows you can.’

‘You heard the king!’ shouted a sergeant, ‘on me!’

‘Sergeant of the swordsmen,’ this to the squad leader of our twelve heavy infantry, ‘take the prisoners and find a way to lock them in the small tower. They can be given food and water but make sure none of them is armed.’

‘Yes sire!’

‘You,’ I pointed to the sergeant of a unit of twelve light infantry, ‘are on the same task.’

‘And you,’ looking at the sergeant of my other infantry squad, ‘get a cart and fill it with the abandoned weapons and any armour that is still useful. Also, tell the ballista crew to report to me at the bridge.’

There was a bustle of activity now and the eagerness with which the soldiers set about their tasks was heartening.

‘Sire?’ It was the cleric. ‘May I heal you?’

I checked my hit points, 33 from 40. ‘No.’

Coming down the hillside was a weak-looking Parrin, being helped by Carlena. I gestured towards them. ‘Go heal the chancellor.’

By the time they reached me, the scout was looking a lot more cheerful. ‘Sire, permission to shake your hand.’

‘Granted.’ I smiled at our scout as he took my heavy right hand in both of his and pumped it up and down.

‘That… that was magnificent. Your charge. I’ll never forget it, ever. I don’t have the words.’ And indeed, I could see tears were welling up in the elderly man’s dark eyes.

‘Good man yourself, Chancellor, your backstab was an excellent initiative.’ I gave him a slap with my free arm. ‘The shaman might not have been able to save the battle for them, but we were about to lose a lot of men. It was brave too, with the sabre-toothed tiger at his side.’

I turned to Carlena. ‘You too. To face the shaman’s spells and his pet without hesitation was impressive. I’m proud to be working with such courageous comrades.’

Carlena gave me the warmest smile I’d yet seen from her, a sincere one, from the heart. ‘A rhino was a good choice for the potion.’

‘When you said to pick something the size of my body… well, it came to mind.’

‘Well done sire.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Thank you Sean de Courcy. You really are the warrior we need. King Carlos would have stayed in Carrick. Yet that was a battle we might easily have lost and with it, the realm.’

Our mutual fan club was broken up by the arrival of the ballista crew, who had come at the double, as if to make up for the fact they had missed out on the fighting. Their sergeant saluted.

‘Hard luck, sergeant. You were to be the hero of the battle by the original plan.’

Checking first that I wasn’t looking too serious, the powerful-looking young man allowed himself a reply. ‘We’re very disappointed sire; next time I hope you’ll leave some for us.’

‘Good man. Well, I’ve a task that will make you popular with the rest of the army. Are you honest?’

‘As honest as a mirror sire.’

‘That’s what I hoped. I want you to search all the enemy bodies for coin. Then roll the corpses into the river along with any dead horses. We’ll demoralise their army downstream as their dead comrades float past. Our own dead we’ll bring home in carts for their families. When you’ve all the coin, report to me and I’ll share it equally with every soldier here. Even you lot.’

‘You heard the king!’ The sergeant gave me a salute and the crew immediately set to their somewhat morbid task as though it was a pleasure. Which perhaps it was. Loot was loot after all. Which gave me a thought.

‘Do you have a Detect Magic spell?’ I asked Carlena, who nodded.

‘Can you use it and see if there are any magic items on the dead, perhaps on the shaman or their officers?'

‘Oh, I should have thought of that.’ Carlena hurried back up the hill.

‘Any orders for me sire?’ asked Chancellor Parrin.

‘Soon I’ll want you to go scouting again, in case the rest of their army moves up towards us. I’ve a feeling that they won’t. For now though, if you could find some decent wine and tolerable bread, I could really use it. Being a rhino for eight minutes is a hell of a calorie burn… I mean it gives you an appetite.’

Slowly, I made my way back over the bridge and up to the gatehouse, bringing the cleric with me. On my way, busy soldiers glanced at me in an entirely different way than they had before the battle. There was respect and admiration in their eyes. Affection too even. I was becoming the king they wanted. And whenever my gaze rested on soldiers performing their duties, they hurried that bit faster, as though wanting to demonstrate their backing for me. This was a complete contrast to the sullen looks and slow responses when I had first gone to the barracks in Carrick.

Of course, I’d been wanting to study the effects of the battle on my character sheet ever since the fighting had ended, but only now, after a deliberate pause to consider if I had overlooked any important orders, did I feel the time had come when I could open that menu.

Sean de Courcy, king of Greyland

Fighter, Level 5 HP 40 AC 0

Str 7

Dex 4

Con 8

Int 16

Wis 16

Cha 4

Skills

Bash 25

Block 1

Defensive Stance 1

Deflect 1

Dodge 1

Impale 25

Lunge 5

Parry 5

Wield Rapier 5

Wield Shortbow 3

You have 4 attribute points to assign.

You have 15 skill points to assign.

XP 2,860 (3,200)

My attribute points I decided to save, again, tempting though it was to put a point in Dexterity. Assuming I could train up the low stats, I’d want those points for later.

There was also a new notification attached to my character sheet, which I opened.

Congratulations Sean de Courcy on reaching Level 5 in Fighter. You have unlocked the following specialisations within the Fighter class. Please choose one:

Berserker

Champion

Paladin

Shadow Knight

Warlord

Each had a description, which corresponded to fighter sub-types I was familiar with from Storm Wars: the berserker specialised in speed, high DPS and was a master of improvisation, downside, medium armour only; the champion was a duellist, a weapons specialist perfect for one-on-one fights, downside, all the benefits were individual only; the paladin had holy spells as well as combat skills, downside incompatible with evil troops and creatures; the shadow knight was the opposite to the paladin, with unholy spells and an incompatibility with good; the warlord was the opposite to the champion, a tactical specialist, all the benefits were group ones.

Obviously, with Lord Arval being a paladin, the shadow knight was out. And it wasn’t smart to replicate his spells and skill bonuses when I could gain new ones for our realm. Even if I got this body into reasonable shape, I was never going to be a berserker. So that left Champion and Warlord.

Rereading the description of both, the Champion appealed to my pride. Following that path would ultimately lead to a character who could defeat anyone else in the world in a face-to-face encounter. I could visualise myself using Lightning Draw to bring a sword into my hands faster than my opponent anticipated and cutting them down with Critical Strike before they’d even drawn breath.

It was clear though, that in this world of twenty-five kingdoms battling for mastery, the Warlord was going to be the right option. As a Warlord I’d get feats that could rally shaken troops, that could heighten the combat skills of those nearby and at high level could identify unfamiliar enemy troop types. I selected it and immediately got twenty or so new skill options and my first Warlord feat, Charge! All friendly units in the vicinity got a 20% increase to base movement and a temporary 5 hit point increase.

As for the skills, since I knew I would learn fast from practice, I would simply put one point in each to unlock them. With 15 skill points to assign, I could get all but five. My exact choices, however, could wait.

Closing my character sheet, I had a look at the state of Greyland’s army on the military menu:

Military

Light infantry: 26*

Heavy infantry: 11*

Archers: 34*

Light cavalry: 18*

Heavy cavalry: 4*

Ballista: 1

(*veterans)

Hospital: 18

Military upkeep cost: 43 gold, 6 silver

Currently training:

Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1

Currently building: tower machicolations, 23 hours

Not at all bad. In fact, considering my original plan, which would have been costly in terms of archers and probably infantry, it was a fantastic result. Greyland’s army was small, but it was still intact, a viable force with which to face the other half of the army of our enemies, should they dare advance. If anything, we were actually stronger than when the day had begun, since a new veteran tag had appeared over most of the troops.

There were rooms in the larger tower and although I struggled to get up the wooden stairs, which creaked loudly beneath me, I found a bench on the first level that could accommodate my bulk. The cleric stood uncertainly by the door.

‘Take a seat.’

She obeyed me.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Anthea Greyford, sire.’

‘Anthea, you know I have menus for the running of this realm?’

‘Yes sire.’

‘Well, you aren’t…’ I struggled for the words that she might understand. ‘You are listed under the church menu but you aren’t a special person. You can’t level up, or can you?’

‘Apologies, sire. I don’t really know. If you were to upgrade the church perhaps?’

‘I was reading about the various levels of church earlier and while it’s not a priority …’ I held back from expressing my concern about the food supply, ‘that upgrade will happen. But it wasn’t clear if you would gain a level. I learned only that the town would gain a second cleric and those attending the church would be able to obtain cures for moderate wounds and the delay of poisons and disease.’

‘I think it likely I would become second level sire, since those prayers are available to those who have reached it.’

‘Let’s hope so. And let’s hope you can join me progressing. Because we are going to need a strong healer, both to level me up as fast as possible and for future battles.’

It was hard to see her response: in her full chainmail armour the coif put most of her face in shade. Her mouth looked determined enough though and she gave a nod.

Footsteps from below announced the arrival of the chancellor, bearing the very welcome load of two bottles of wine and four tin goblets. Behind him, a soldier had a basket with bread rolls and apples.

‘Well done Chancellor.’

‘Thank you sire.’

One of the joys of a high Dexterity, it seemed, was the ability to draw a cork from a bottle with just a narrow blade from his scout’s tool kit and it was only a moment’s work before the comforting gurgle of wine being poured was heard.

‘To Greyland!’ I offered the toast and my two companions responded.

I asked Parrin about his sneak attack on the shaman and was listening to his account – it reminded me that the scout had an extremely important Ring of Silent Movement – when Carlena joined us, a look of quiet pleasure on her face that made me hopeful. That and the finely made rapier she carried.

‘Four magic items sire.’ She emptied a bag onto the bare wooden floor with a satisfying clatter from the three items that fell out. ‘I’ve used the rest of my mana for the day casting Insight to discover their properties, but I thought you’d want to know.’

I nodded.

‘Their shaman had a scroll of Hold Animal and an amulet with the spell Hide from Animals stored in it; one of their officers had Bracers of Archery; and the other had this: a plus-two rapier.’

‘Excellent, what do the bracers do?’

‘Give you five skill points in your wield skill for all bows; a slightly faster rate of fire; and fifty-percent increase in all ranges.’

‘Very nice. I’ll keep them and the rapier. Can you use the scroll and the amulet?’

‘The pity is that I can’t add them to my spell book, with their being shaman spells not those of a sorceress, but as a once off, I can cast those spells.’

‘Very good, they are yours. Sorry Chancellor, nothing for you it seems, though you deserved it.’

Parrin smiled and spread his hands. ‘What’s good for us all is good for me.’

We were well into the second bottle of wine and nothing but crumbs and apple cores remained in the basket when Lord Arval bounded up the stairs and into the room. A glance, then he stepped over to me, knelt and clasped my hands in his.

‘By Miya! What a day. What a day. When I rose this morning, I could not dare hope for such an outcome.’

‘Nor I Lord Arval, now take a seat and a drink.’ I freed my hands from the warrior, picked up my goblet and passed it to him. ‘I’m only sorry we ate all the bread.’

Our general was clearly exhausted, his face was wan and he sat with obvious relief. Yet his eyes were darting to check we all shared his happiness. And watching him, I had another thought. Perhaps the PCs had levelled too? I raised my arm. Carlena and Parrin were both still level 9. But Lord Arval had reached level 8.

Lord Arval: Paladin Level 8

HP 79

AC 18

XP 30,124 (64,200)

Str 17 (18), Dex 12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 9.

Shield of Defence +1, Trueblade +2, Ring of Strength +1, Potion of Healing.

‘Another toast!’ I declared, though I no longer had a goblet and had to raise just my hand. ‘To Lord Arval, our level eight Paladin!’

‘Congratulations!’

‘To Lord Arval!’

Our general acknowledged the goodwill in the room with a cheerful wave. Then Carlena told him about the magic items we had gained and he told us about the rout of the enemy, whom he pursued for miles down the valley. After that we fell into a comfortable silence, the silence of those who had been through battle together and who were reflecting on the day's events.

At least, that’s what I thought they were doing. Lord Arval, however, looked over at the cleric and spoke: 'Can you leave us some privacy, please.'

'Of course.' She got up at once and descended the stairs.

I looked at Lord Arval and no doubt my expression was curious.

He smiled. 'It's nothing urgent. But I wanted to know: how did this day compare to the battles you experienced in your world? You must have had other victories like this?’

How, I wondered, should I reply to that question? I could hardly say that the only battles I had fought in had been games.