proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

Bloodnightkishi: A school? You serious?

Gamelover43: Ya dude. In the village of Draklake.

Dragonrider: Entrance fee is 1 gold. Pretty expensive for newbies like me.

Windmage4u: But still a school for learning skills? Isn’t it great if you can learn a skill like blacksmith for 1 gold.

Warriorlover: Right! We can learn masonry, tailoring. For now the school teaches five skills. I heard a rumor that the number of skills taught will increase in the future.

Iceprincess: I am already at Draklake. This is epic. If you have no restrictions then you can get a skill in five days. The shops won’t buy anything from you though.

Wolfguyvin: The food’s great too. And the rice fields are a sight to see. For those who want to mine, there is a stone mine nearby too.

Merchantboyme: I already set up a shop here. I have to pay a rent of 1 silver per day but business is booming.

And so the comments in the official Dragon Lore site were booming. Millions of players talked about the new school system. Within a couple of days a little more than a hundred players came to the village. The reconstruction had made the village look more elegant than before. Shiv had made the stone masons to decorate the village with a few dragon sculptures. New shops were set up and people flocked around the school to get admission into the school.

Forty students in each class was the setup for the school. Since there were six skills being taught, that made the total students that could be accepted in the school to be 240. 240 gold was the revenue the school created within 5 days.

When the flow of people to the village increased, the 240 seats got filled up in days. But those who came after were not sent back empty handed. Shiv knew that the school would be an instant hit and so he made pre-booking possible at a sum of just 10 silvers. This would ensure that the person who pre-booked would attend the lessons, if he did not then the school would gain 10 silvers and the empty seat would be given to the first person in the pre-booked list. Pre-booking was available for the next two batches. After that the admission were put on hold. Those who could not even pre-book decided to stay at the village, even though there were no taverns or houses. They did not mind sleeping outside for a few days to earn the skills they wanted. A week after the school admission started the admission closed due to the seats and pre-booking slots being filled up. In 5 days, the school generated 288 gold. Once there was revenue being generated, Shiv then began with phase two of the village reconstruction.

The training ground had many practicing different weapons, but most of them were the village NPC’s. Training halls were common to most of the villages and so it did not attract much attention. Shiv was the instructor for those in the training hall. He taught them the martial arts he had practiced for years at his home. Once the first batch of the school were about to graduate, Shiv called for Ames.

“Ames!”

“Yes chief.”

“Let us use those new students for some errands”

“Errands?”

“Yes. The mason students will have to build a tavern and 10 more houses. The mining students will go gather the necessary stones. The blacksmith students will set up a shop to repair the weapons of those who need at 4 bronze per repair. 1 bronze will be taken as tax, the rest will go to them. The herbalist students will gather the necessary herb and make different potions. They will be allowed to have one potion of their choice free of cost. The tailoring students should be using the skins my training hall students brings them from the hunt. The cooking students will use the meat the hunters bring and serve it to the villagers. That way it will help us a lot and they will get a chance to use the skills they learned.”

“Very well chief”

“Ames. Do ask the respective mentors to accompany them. And I want you to supervise the building process. The tavern must be pretty big, with rooms for twenty or so, maybe a three storied building? I will leave it you to decide. Don’t forget the dragon carving. ”

Ames nodded and retired. Shiv then looked around the place. The once deserted and lifeless place was now booming with tons of people. He wanted to build more buildings like a church, library a barracks and so on. But right now he wanted money, money was the most important for the village to evolve into a town.

‘It is going to take a while for the village to become a major educational center’

“Open village affairs tab”

Village modePopulation: 841(778+63)Happiness: 84/100Culture:11/100Technology:5/100Sanitation:81/100Crime:2/100Economy:8/100Military:1/100[/td2]

‘As I thought. Not at all good. The only good thing now is the sanitation level. The crime level is low. Hmm? What is that hundred? Maybe the values should reach hundred for the village to become a town? I should search the forums for more information. The population is 841 huh. 63 NPC and 778 players. The population is too low so I can’t ask for taxes either.

The culture and technology is low. Well the culture will increase with more sculptures or other art forms. But technology? Should I built a library? Is there any other way to increase technology? Building advanced buildings? I have no information. Must gather more information somehow. Maybe when I go to the capital. As for military, I can train some in the training ground once the population increases. But for that to increase I have to make the village attractive. And for that I again need money. So no matter what, I will have to wait till the economy builds up. Maybe I should let more shops be opened. Build another tavern? A restaurant? Commission a bard to sing? Too much problems to think. I need someone to share the problems. If Kiro-san were here he would have helped’

Shiv was troubled with a lot of things. His brain was now running wild with the problems in front.

“Brother? Are you alright?” with an angelic voice, Bella asked, her face full of concern.

“Ah Bella. It’s nothing. Just was caught up with something. Tell me Bella.”

“Be sure to take a rest brother. Ah, I almost forgot. There some people that wants to see you. They are waiting at the

gate for you?”

‘People? Waiting for me?’

“I will go at once. Meanwhile Bella, cook me something to eat. I miss your cooking” Shiv said with a smile.

Bella blushed and walked away saying nothing. Shiv then proceeded towards the gate to meet the visitors. When he was

at the gate, he saw a pretty big crowd. ‘What the?’

“I am the chief of this village? Who are you people?”

“Ah! I am Doval and these are my people. We come from the kingdom of Hwan.

“Hwan? Why have you come here?”

“I beg you! Please provide refuge to us.”

‘Refuge?’ Shiv then looked at the people who were behind Duval. All of them appeared tired, some seemed injured too.

“Kindly explain the reason for this migration”

“The kingdom of Hwan was attacked by the neighboring orc kingdom of Fernork”

“By the orcs? Are you telling me that the entire country was attacked?”

“No, the orcs attacked some of the villages to the west of the kingdom. We were told that there would be an attack by

the capital.”

“Hwan capital? They warned you but did not help you? Is that what you are trying to say?”

“Yes, the capital gave us the weapons and other provisions and then asked us to defend the village by ourselves. We tried to defend but the orcs were so strong that we could not even kill a single one”

“Hm I see. Very well. Wait here for a minute. I will be back”

Shiv then returned to the village and sought for Bella.

“What is it brother?”

“Ask Ames to gather all the high level players. Tell him to get to the front gate through the gate behind the village, undetected. And get me Kate and the hunter team now”

“Why brother? Is there something wrong?”

“There is. Once you notify Ames, go inside the house and don’t come out unless I call for you. Is that understood?”

“Yes brother”

A couple of minutes after Bella left, Kate and the hunter group met with Shiv.

“What’s wrong? Why did you call for me?” Kate asked, she could feel the tensed atmosphere around Shiv.

“We are under attack”

“Attack? Are you kidding me? Why attack us?”

“It is not an attack yet, but there is a chance that an attack might occur. So I need you to come with me”

“Fine. I will come

“Thanks Kate” Shiv patted her head with a smile making the girl to blush. “You guys, stay behind me, attack only if I tell

you to. Agon you are in charge of them”

“I understand big brother” Agon replied, his voice full of respect for the big brother in front of him.

“Then let us go” and Shiv began walking to the front gate to meet the refugees.

---***---

“Mother? Are you there?” Shiv used the chat option to talk to his mother.

“Ryu? I guess I should call you Shiv here.”

“It is fine mother. I have a request”

“Request? That’s rare. Are you in some sort of trouble?”

“I am mother. I just became the chief of a village. It’s killing me.”

“Oh my! A village”

“Mother! Please come here. I want you to manage the village. Please”

“Manage? Me?” Miyuki was flustered.

“Yes mother. You are capable of managing things in the company. A village of this size will not be that much a problem.

There are things I need to do. Please mother”

“Sigh. Wakata! I will come there as soon as possible, with your sister. Try your best till I reach the village”

“I will be waiting for you mother. I miss you and Mia”

“We miss you too Ryu” Miyuki said with a sad voice.

“I have to go mother. I will contact you soon”

With the chat terminated Shiv then approached Doval. “Doval! You said your villagers escaped and ran here, right?”

“Yes, we were lucky enough to escape”

“Oh! How long did it take you to reach here?”

“It took us 2 weeks. We have been walking for days in search of a place to shelter and were walking without an aim when

one of us heard some travelers talking about this village. So we asked them the way and they led us here. We do not ask you to provide us refuge for free, we have a little money with us so in exchange for the money grants us some food and water”

“Is that so? How many of you are here?”

“We are 43 in number. There were 76 in the beginning but some of them went missing on the way”

“Missing eh? Kate, do it. Ames get ready” Shiv used dragon’s roar.

[table]

You have used dragon’s roar

60 second paralysis. Defense decreases by 10%

5min increase in morale of allies

[/td4]

The people outside the gate including Doval was paralyzed. Using the moment, Kate began chanting the spell for lightfall. Doval’s eyes had fear in them, those eyes were cursing Shiv.

The moment the paralysis wore off, some from the refugees sprang forward to attack Kate with daggers in their hands. The moment they moved, the hunter team had already released the arrows. The ones who tried to attack were shot down instantly. Everyone including Kate and Doval were surprised.

“Hunter team! That was perfect” Shiv praised them. The hunter team did not even wait for Shiv’s order. Their priority was already set, safety of the chief and those of the village. When they saw the people with daggers, their body moved on their own, each one of them aiming for the head of the enemy.

“I am sorry Doval. This was the only way. There were assassins among you. The missing people are most probably their doing too”

Doval fell to his knees, not even in his wildest dreams had he thought about assassins hiding among them. He had lost almost half of the escapees due to those men. Tears rolled down from his eyes.

“Doval and the rest of you! Pledge loyalty to me! If you do, I will grant you permission to enter. I will grant you a place to call home! I will grant you life!”

Once again everybody around Shiv were shocked. ‘Accepting people without even asking anything in return, is he an idiot?’ were what most players were thinking.

‘Ah! Our big brother is such a kind man’ was what the hunter group was thinking.

‘What is he up to now?’ was what Kate was thinking. Kate knew that Shiv did things which were thoroughly thought out.

She waited for the time when she could ask him directly, there were already many things she wanted to ask him.

On the other hand, the refugees were the most shocked. They had come to the village hoping to buy some food and to get some rest, never did they think that they would be allowed to live there.

“I Doval, as the head of these people, now pledge my life to you” he bowed to Shiv, crying tears of joy.

“Welcome to the village of Draklake! The village of hope!” Shiv said. The original Draklake was called village of hope or despair. But Shiv wanted everyone that came to the village to feel only hope.

“Bella. Give them what they need. Food, water, rest. Let them have it all. Ames. Build those houses as soon as possible, stop the work on everything else. Focus on the houses. Hunter group, we need meat. Herbalist team give them some potions. The rest of you will help these people in whatever way possible. Today we celebrate. Prepare a feast. Sing dance eat and drink” Shiv roared. The word celebrate and feast caused an uproar instantly. Not only the players, even the NPC’s overjoyed. They all began running here and there to prepare the things for the party.

"Hey Shiv! Why did you let them in?" it was Kate who asked.

"I want the village to be a symbol of hope to all those in need of help. So I let them in. Also they might be useful later"

"Then how did you know that there were assassins hidden among them?" Kate asked, she knew that asking anymore about letting the men in would be futile.

"I was not sure myself. It was just a trap. I wanted you to use light fall to confirm two things. One was to check if there were any satyrs or other beasts. The second to find out what they would do if we attacked them."

"The entire refugees could have attacked?"

"No they would not have attacked. They ran away from a war with the orcs fearing for their lives. They are not fighters and they do not know how to fight. Hence they ran. NPC who are able to fight do not run away, that is how it is set. So i was sure they would not attack. And when Doval was paralyzed, there were no killing intent from him, just the regret that he was going to cause the death of all the refugees because of his decision. Well I had placed Ames behind them to flank them in case the worst happened."

"The worst?"

"Yeah! the worst case scenario! What if all of them were satyrs?" asking a question Shiv walked away.

Kate's body shuddered of the thought about a group of satyr attacking, She shook her head and ran towards Bella, trying to forget the conversation she just had.

---**---

Shiv sat on the walls of the fountain, looking at all those people moving around, smiling and laughing. The very scene of everyone having fun made him happy. ‘Ojii sama, this was what a party should be like. People with no facade, enjoying their lives with all their might.’ Shiv thought to himself.

“Why are you smiling like that?” the sudden voice caught Shiv’s attention.

“Kate? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with Bella?”

“I just came out for some fresh air. She sure is energetic, that girl.”

“Is it not wonderful? This atmosphere and these people. Their smiles and laughter, their gestures and actions, their

desire to be free. Ah I envy them?”

“Haven’t you ever had a party with your friends before?”

“Nope. I have not. I don’t have any friends” Shiv said, looking at Kate, the always smiling and cute was now sad, even

though there was a smile, those eyes felt like crying, there was loneliness in those eyes. Kate could see those emotions clearly.

“You are my only friend Kate, my first friend ever since I came to Japan”

“Are you not Japanese? Where were you before?” Kate asked, trying to change the topic so that Shiv would cheer up. Not knowing that the topic she chose was another land mine too.

“India. My father’s place.” Shiv said looking at the artificial sky.

“Father? So you are half Indian half Japanese? It is my first time seeing one. Give him my greetings” Kate said, smiling.

“Have you heard about the first nuclear war Kate?”

“I have! The war between China and In…” her voice trailed off. Something told her that she had asked the wrong

question, that she had reopened a wound in the boy’s heart.

“My father was killed by the Chinese soldiers in that war” Shiv replied, still having a smile, his eyes were still looking at

the sky, as if it they were searching for something in that night starry sky. Kate was silent. She clenched her fists, shivering, cursing herself for being so stupid.

“Kate! Have you heard the name Yasahiro?”

“I have. Why?” Kate asked, slightly confused, slightly relieved.

“What do you know about them?

“I know that they are the most powerful family in Japan. I heard their influence spreads across the entire globe.”

“What if I told you that my name is Ryu Yasahiro?”

“Ryu Yasahiro?” Kate’s brain did not process the name. ‘Where have I heard that name before? Ryu, Ryu, Ryu Yasahiro, so

familiar’.

Kate then suddenly looked at the boy, with trembling knees, she fell to the ground, her body going numb. In front of her was Ryu Yasahiro, the prince of Japan, the heir to the Yasahiro Industries, world’s most powerful seventeen year old boy.

“Are you going to stop being my friend Kate? Just because I am Ryu Yasahiro?” The boy’s voice was calm, sad, scared. Kate felt the emotions in the boy’s mind through his voice. She looked at those brown eyes, and there she saw just a lonely boy who wanted a friend who he could trust. The realization caused a change in Kate, she could not feel fear towards the boy.

‘That’s right, he is just a boy, a normal boy’ Kate smiled. “Like hell! You big idiot” and with that shout she knocked Shiv’s on the head laughing. The boy laughed too. The laughter of a boy who just got his first true friend.

“By the way Kate! Wanna come with me for a trip?”

“A trip? Where to? Bredon? Hwan?” Kate asked, tilting her head.

“London” Shiv replied, his eyes regaining the liveliness.

“London? Why?”

“Oh! Just to repay a friend for his kindness! Shall we pay Allen Perez a visit my friend. Ufufufufu!”

‘Eh?’ Kate froze. The boy who was moments ago on the verge of breaking was now having an evil smile, leaking a black aura.

‘A demon! I became friends with a demon’

---***---

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