Chapter 40 Conflict.

The past fours days were lost to me. I had been out cold. But I realize a few things now. One, this place can go on without me being here, I just need to delegate more, in fact I need to fill the slots of the Barony staff quickly. Second I am out of my element, I am better in the field. I need to go out again and third, I still have a lot to learn about my skills and abilities, I am faster and stronger than ever before and have not even tried to use that yet. I have been wasting my time here, trying to micro-manage everything.

I am in the Cafeteria observing everyone, Cindy and Julie are with me eating breakfast, there is peace and quiet in my head, as I eat my breakfast, I am quite hungry. I did not really realize at first how noisy the girls had been and how it affected me and my decision making. I am my own man again, now that I can think clearly. I love them dearly, but privacy is needed sometimes.

Back in the room, I had examined the head piece I wore, it was a simple piece as I had envisioned it. It had 3 red gems and 4 blue gems in a row alternating, and two turquoise above the rest of them, The crown itself was gold in color, but lightweight and easy to wear. I had examined it closely to see the stats:

ITEM!Crown of the Awakened

Benefits:

Ability to read and block out minds

Able to understand and speak all languages

Mana Shield 1 mana /61 damage

+61% Defense (cumulative with all)

+61% resistance all magic

Detection of others or creatures up to 61 meters

Move objects up to 6.1 meters away

Mana storage 61000/61000

+61 to all Stats.

This was truly a blessing, but how did I get it? I see I have an unread notice and read it.

SKILL AWARDED: Reality Manipulation!Congratulations! For performing the Skill Reality Manipulation

You have been awarded the Skill Reality Manipulation

Benefits: Able to create items with your mind, change reality.

New Stat added Focus

New Stat Added Willpower

Skill level 1

+25 Int +25 Wis +10% Focus

Note: Use of this skill may cause severe mana drain and cause

blackouts or even death due to backlash.

Woah Reality Manipulation....is it what it really means? I can make stuff up!?? It is a skill so it can get better, but it can cause death, I need to be careful here. Since it is a low level skill, I might not want to overdo it right away. That also means I can train the skill and get better!

What is this Focus and Willpower? What is that? Ability to focus on my thoughts better maybe? And Willpowers? The strength of my thoughts or will? Hmm maybe I should ask Cindy and Julie.

Hey Cindy, Julie? I got two new stats, Focu....

Scott I really hate that new thing you are wearing, it blocks us out!

You know Tiger if you really wanted some peace and quiet you only had to ask, going so far as to almost kill yourself by creating that thing is really going too far!

And this is why I made it.......I can not even finish a sentence before you are back in my head sigh.

So...sorry, I just can not stop my mind from thinking at times

I get it Scott, and understand, Julie and I have been talking a lot lately since we got this ability. It is just so convenient and we have so much to talk about.

It is not an issue any more Honey, and Kitten it is ok now, with this I can have my privacy and you two can keep on talking about whatever, know I still love you both, but I need this to focus on what needs to be done now.

So what were you going to ask about?

We discussed the Focus and Willpower and also went over the fact I had the skill Reality Manipulation.

It surprised them both greatly and we also decided to keep it under wraps for now, only the three of us knowing about it.

We surmised that Focus and Willpower were abilities to focus and maintain a thought, that could be stressful to maintain during creation of an item and Willpower was my will to see it as reality or something near that. We also discussed my mana depletion and how mana potions had no effect on me, the stress of item creation seemed to have brought me near death and that rest, was the only solution. That meant, in the future I really need to be careful and not over do it, unless I want to be asleep again for four days at time or more, or even dead.

Alexander came to give me his reports “Alexander I think unless it is a critical issue, you do not need to report to me every morning or day, you can handle it and I trust you. If I need anything I will call you for it.” I say to him “however if you just want to hang out, have a drink or two, you are welcome anytime, get the difference?”

He smiles, nods and Salutes “ Yes Scott, I shall take care things!” and leaves.

“So who do we have that we can fill the remaining Staff positions with?” I ask of Julie and Cindy, I had turned off the mind communication. As I speak Rick is walking towards us.

“Ah Scott I see you are finally awake, you scared the hell out of us there.”, he says observing me with a smile.

“Yes sorry about that, but all is ok now, and I feel refreshed, I probably needed the sleep” I say truthfully as I did need the sleep to recover.

“So what is that thing on your head? We could not get the damn thing off.” he asks curiously

“It is a bonded item much like the Elites Swords, it grows with me and gives me enhancements, plus I now have some peace and quiet in my head hehe,” I chuckle as I eye the girls.

Both look back at me sheepishly with an apologetic expression.

“Well that is good to hear, so the past four days have been pretty uneventful. I sent the Elite out to the surrounding areas, up to 5 km out and we found nothing so far, a few Worgs or Orcs, but they all were eliminated. We also found the path Bre'Tirgan and his people took, they ransacked everything, even hit a few banks along the way and cleaned them out too.” Rick says with a disgusted expression.

“Must be where they got all the money from, which he gave to us, so it all goes to a good cause in the end” I smile, then ask “ did you find any more survivors?”

“No, nothing and we have not ventured further out, staying within the 5 km zone, removing creatures as we see them, to keep the zone safe.” Rick says shaking his head.”Some folks were asking to be allowed to go their homes, who are within the 5km range, So I let them and sent a few Elite with them for protection, they gathered their belongings and came back, no incidents”.

“I see well it may be a good time to expand our search and see what is out there, plus we need to now focus on leveling and skill development, how goes the training program?”, I then ask

“It is going well, there are some signs of improvements with the Elite training with the Regular, which brings up the next thing, Bre'Tirgan wants to speak to you as soon as you are up and about,” He says to me.

“Very well, I will go to him and see what he needs after we discuss something important.” I say to Rick.” we need to fill the remainder of the staff of the Barony, I need to delegate more, seeing that I lost four days and the Barony is still running, I have come to realize, by delegating it may run even more smoothly.”

“Yes, you are right, you can not do everything yourself, even admitted as much a week ago when you asked for our help hehe,” Rick answers.

“You know there is that Gentleman, let me get the list out and see....” Julie says fiddling with some papers, “ here it is, Ryan Holster, he was an Embassy worker. Maybe you can use him for the Chief of Foreign Affairs, right now he is just a handy man.”

“That is a good choice, he has more experience than all the rest for that it seems, ok sign him up and if anything right now I just want to fill in the blanks and let things go OJT (1), we all are learning.” I say.

In the end we set up the following:

Chief of Foreign Affairs: Ryan Holster

Chief of Commerce: Derrik Adams, he was head of maintenance, supplies and repairs, but as a successful business owner we thought he was better suited here

Chief of Agriculture: Larry Benally, He was a Native American Navajo, who was a farmer, and ran a successful farm nearby on the outskirts of town with his family, his wife and two kids survived, but his mom and dad did not

Chief of Education: Lisa Roberts, since she was already running the day care and overseeing the teenagers education we decided to bump her up.

The rest, remained a blank, so we adjourned with that. Julie and Cindy went to discuss the position with each person, while Rick and I headed to see Bre'Tirgan. We arrived and saw Ki'Diera with him.

“It is good to see you are awake again Scott” Bre'Tirgan says to me.

Ki'Diera is staring at me.

He looks well, seems he recovered, I wonder what caused his condition.

Hah I can read her thoughts, this is good!

“Thank you, I am doing much better, it seems I needed the rest to recover from the stress” I say to him.

Hmm a half truth, he is hiding something.

Better fix that

“I seemed to have gained a new skill that I do not fully understand yet, that caused my stress, I hope in time it can aid us greatly and once I know more I can explain it to everyone.” I say to Bre'Tirgan while listening to Ki'Diera's thoughts.

There is the truth, but still hiding something it seems, will not dwell on that for now. She then looks at her father and smiles with a slight nod.

Bre'Tirgan catches the nod,” good to hear Scott, so I have the 100 warriors ready to put into your service” he says and then nods to one of is private guards, who runs off.

With this and my daughters hand in marriage this should secure our peoples safety and future. She will make a fine wife and bear strong offsping, this Scott seems very strong, his grip hurts each time we shake hands, no male has ever hurt my hand like that before. I listen to Bre'Tirgans thoughts.

Shortly after, 100 warriors and the private guard returns. “Here they are Scott as promised”, Bre'Tirgan waves in a grand gesture.

“Thank you Bre'Tirgan, have them all drop to one knee and take the oath to enter service as my guards.” I say to him.

He nods to the private guard who in turn speaks in their native tongue (All drop to one knee, you will swear an oath to Lord Scott Smith and take this oath to heart, you will be doing this for our people! For the glory of the Ny'Har'en!)

Good I can understand them! Now lets surprise them.

(Do you swear allegiance to me and to protect these lands and all of its people from all harm, foreign and domestic so help you god)I say to them in their language.

Startled, Bre'Tirgan lets out a gasp, “how do you come to speak our lanuguage so suddenly”

What is this? He has learned our language seemingly overnight. He said only a few days ago he could not understand and that meant they had no magics to supprt them in this? How is this possible? He is even more fascinating, hmmm I can get to like this Scott male. Ki'Diera smiles

“(If you are wondering why I can speak the language now)”, I tap my crown, “(it is because of this)” I smile.

I turn to the 100 Warriors kneeling, then repeat the oath and they as one say yes.

“(Then by the power granted me as the Barons of these lands, I bestow upon you the title, Personal Guard, you may rise!)” I say to them, I had to use the word title instead of profession as they were not initiated like us, but instead already were warriors, so giving them the title made sense, plus I wanted to avoid limiting their movement within the keep area only and allow them free reign thru out the territory as needed.

A slight glow covers all of them briefly and dissipates, then all look at each other in wonder, but quickly recover. Now how to fix the language barrier

“If I may impose on you, but can you get your shaman to cast the language spell on Rick and a few of his men? I ask Bre'Tirgan

“Of course! Have them meet me at my tent” Bre'Tirgan smiles, and nods to Rick.

I look to the new guards and in a commanding voice, “(in 15 minutes meet at your Kings tent and await further orders, General Rick Hanson and his men will divide you up into groups and you will follow their order from there on.)”

“Alright then I will go get the men” Rick says about to walk off.

“I told the new guards to meet you for further instructions in 15 min at Bre'Tirgan's tent.” I call to him and he nods. I then turn to Ki'Diera

“So Ki'Diera shall we start over? We lost four days and have a lot of catching up to do”, I say to her.

With that we walk around the compound talk. We talked about a lot of things, I told her about my life in the military, my true age and the events that lead up to this, reading her mind, I was able to anticipate any issues and lead the conversation. When she started to think about having her servants get her something, such as a drink,” Ah, we have been talking so much how I about I get us both something to drink”, I would offer instead beating her to the punch and several times she began to wonder how I was anticipating her, so slackened off on it a bit.

She opened up to me about her life in her tribe. The hardships they had endured, and what she remembered of her mother. A tear formed as she spoke of her mother, it was a painful memory, but she acted brave none the less.

Must not show weakness in front of Lord Scott, Ki'Diera!, Must remain strong for your peoples sake.

She quickly changed the subject to her exploits and her battles against the Were-beast. She killed dozens of them and was very good with the sword and her body re-enforcement magic. Not only could she read people with her gift, but she could enhance her strength and agility,as well as her skin for battle at will. But it all came at price, mana. Which seems to be the common theme to all races who posses magics, which we humans lacked before the event. Maybe the initiation is for that? To give us mana capabilities?

We parted ways after having to talked for hours, It was past noon, she and her servants went to gather her things to move into my room, as I have now awakened from my four day slumber. We also agreed to postpone the wedding a full seven days to get to know one another as originally planned.

I went back to my room, to do some thinking and experimenting. I had not had a chance in the past 2 weeks to do that since Cindy and Julie were always in my head. This crown is nice!

Julie and Cindy were still busy talking to people it seemed.probably going over details and agreements.

Now lets try this Reality Manipulation. Lets see item creation, going to start off slow here.

I envision a bullet, a .22 round, I begin to feel the strain on my mana, and after a moment it is in my hand. The bullet is normal looking. Nothing special, I look at my mana and see it unchanged. But I felt the pull. I recheck my mana and then notice it. It was taken from my original mana, not the shared. It took a lot of my original mana over 5000. That was a lot for me, almost half for a small simple bullet. Then if i created this crown I must have drained Julie as well. I will ask her about that.

Hey kitten got a second? I think to her.

Sure Sweetheart what is it? She replies

On that night, did I use up your mana?

You have no idea, i was getting scared I felt my mana being sucked out by a tremendous force, but then it stopped, When I looked almost 90% was gone and you were passed out.

What is it Scott? Cindy asks in my mind

It seems I use my individual mana pool creating items, but of I over extend, it then draws from Julie. I will be running some test so please do not panic if I begin to draw on your mana, ok kitten?

Sure Scott but do not over do it please, I do not want you to be unconscious for four days again

Scott do you think that is wise?

How am I going to learn if I do not experiment? I will be carful I promise, I will not do anything to endanger you two or myself now knowing what I know.

Ok sweetheart but please be careful!

Thank you I will, Scott out!

I turn off the mental connection, then look at my mana pool, it is recovering. Seems it will take a few hours to get full again. Maybe something smaller? More simple? If I can train the skill up, it should improve right?

I envision a paper clip. Small metallic, no colors just plain. It came easier than the bullet, but I still felt the strain on my mana. It appeared in the palm of my hand costing 800 mana.

Hmm I wonder... I think holding the paper clip and focus on it and try and duplicate it. It works almost instantaneous. I look and see only 8 mana used, but my mana recovered and it was almost like nothing changed.

Only 8 mana to duplicate it? Hmmm

I then take the bullet I made and duplicate and feel the strain, It also works, but the mana cost is 300 for a bullet. Size wise there is not much diference between a bullet and a paperclip. I look and I still have 4170 mana left. Lets try a metal fork. I envision a fork and feel the strain once again, it takes a moment and it appears, costing 810 mana. I then duplicate the fork and it costs only 9 mana .What is this? The fork is bigger than the bullet and costs less? Hmm maybe it is due to the complexity of the item? The fork is a single piece of metel, while the bullet has 3 parts, round and hollow filled with gunpowder.

So if I create from nothing there is massive mana costs, and if I duplicate something while holding it the costs is a fraction. Hmmmm paperclips only cost 8 mana let me try making 10 of them at once, I think holding onto the paperclip and envision 10 of them at once. I am hit by a huge strain, I feel myself blacking out, I let myself sink into the couch. I slowly recover and see my mana is gone to 0, over 4000 mana was used up, then I look and see I used up 4000 mana from Julie as well.

NOTICE!Congratulations! Skill Reality Manipulation

has increased

Skill level 2 reached

That did not go well, but the skill went up, as I begin to look around the room thinking. While I had been asleep the girls took the time to furnish and decorate it. I was sitting on the couch and chair set with two big standing lamps on each side of the couch from Julie's place, which was up against the windows side of the room. Across from it was the dining set from Cindy's place her china cabinet was against the wall with various dishes in it on display. The bed was still in place, but night stands were in place on each side of the bed with lamps sitting on them.

Across from the bed side by side were two different looking vanities with stools. On either side were dressers and against the wall to the right were two Armoires. Side tables and lamps were next to each with lamps on them. Various pictures and paintings of nature scenery and animals were hung on the walls. It looked very comfortable in here, almost like a home. And then there were my boxes stacked up in a corner, .....sigh.

I focus back on my task and see my mana is completely depleted. I look into my inventory, and see I still have 8 advanced mana potions, I pull four out and am about to down one when there is a knock at the door.

Placing the mana potions on the table in front of me, I get up, go to and open the door, there stands KI'Diera with her two servants.

It is Lord Scott I must be brave, be brave Ki'Diera for you people!

I smile to her, “Come in Ki'Diera, make youself at home.”

She and her servants enter and look around the room, “it has certainly changed in here from the last time I entered.”

“Yeah well, Julie and Cindy thought it would probably make it more like a home and decorated the place up while I was sleeping.” I say smiling to her.

Her mind is blank as she looks from painting and picture, opens a few dresser drawers and an Armoire. Then she turns to me,” and where is room for my things?” I was not included in this decorating he calls it, those females are trying to make me look bad since I do not posses such furnishings. Her face darkens, a slight anger creeps up.

“I am sure Julie and Cindy have something in mind for you, they were probably waiting for me to wake up and discuss the details, they were most likely unsure of what was happening to me and did not want to get ahead of themselves before knowing what will happen with you and me”. I say to her quickly.

Hmm that is true he was unconscious for four days and could have died, I will be patient and see then. She smiles to me,” but of course Scott. “

I look at my watch it is past 6 pm, I killed a lot of time thinking and evaluating my new skill then trying to create the items. “You took a while to get here, did you have to pack a lot?” I say while thinking she took a long to move to here.

I can not let him know I am sca.....no I am not scared! uncertain yes but I will not admit fear. I must remain strong!

“Yes, I had many last minute details to attend to, and spoke with my father at great length about them, now that that is done I will be in your care from here on, I also told him the betrothal ceremony would be pushed back to seven days from now. He agreed.” she says her face betraying her thoughts.

“Then let me go grab some dinner, and bring it back here so we can talk and get to know one another better, ok princess?“ I say to her.

She smiles” Thank you for your kindness Scott I appreciate that.”

I leave the room and head for the Cafeteria, and see Julie and Cindy walking towards me with meals in had including one for me. “Ahh I was just about to grab dinner for myself and Ki'Diera as well.”

Julie face takes on a sour mood, “So she showed up huh? I guess it had to happen.”

Cindy laughs and says “That is fine lets go back and grab a plate for her too, we do not want to make it look like we did not think of her, she may get moody again”.

We head quickly to the Cafeteria and I grab a plate for Ki'Diera and we head back to the room. We enter to see Ki'Diera has one of the Armoire open and clothes were on the ground, she was placing her clothes inside, they were Cindy's clothes on the ground.

Cindy's face darkens, but quickly recovers to a smile.”I see you are making yourself at home Ki'Diera”

“Yes I decided not to wait and am just about finished putting my clothes away.” She says quickly with a pleasant smile. In truth she did not have much in the way of clothing, she really did not need to throw Cindy's clothes on the ground at all, maybe just being spiteful afterall? Or is she trying to sabotage the relationship with the wives?

There that Cindy one is now getting angry, good, If I can get those two to leave, then I will not have to worry about my position as wife among my people.

Oh boy this is going to be hard.

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(1) OJT = On the Job Training