As she closed the book she’d read to rest, she felt her consciousness leave the Nine Heavens and travel back to the body she had always known. At this stage, the two felt no different, but Sera was sure that as she grew stronger in levels, she would be able to feel the difference in her physical bodies. It was mid-afternoon when Sera awoke, her stomach growling. Her dogs lay on the floor in her room. After stretching, they excitedly waited for her to feed them and she happily did so, preparing a large meal for herself as well. The Test had clearly not been affected by real-world time, as it was only 14 hours after she had been first taken by the Enn Stone, whereas she had experienced at three days herself. She wondered if it would always be like that, or if now that she had completed the test, time would even out. Outside, a note hung on her gate that asked her if she was an individual or territory holder, and where she was located. Sera cursed because she’d forgotten to look at bigger maps of the area and find a city, but decided to just write that she had no idea because she’d been too overwhelmed and hadn’t asked. She’d also put that she was an individual and not a territory holder. She’d probably have to back that statement up eventually, but for now, she was fairly positive nobody in the estate would care. She played with her dogs, checked on the garden, then looked through her books for knowledge she could take with her to her Territory. Mostly about building and infrastructure. Proper irrigation for crops would be important too even if the fertility of her territory was so high. She also made a note that when she sent out scouts they should check of materials as well. She was particularly interested in limestone, because if she had that then she could make concrete, which would infinitely improve the living conditions of her people. The dogs barked when a security guard passed by and collected the paper that was taped to the gate. She sincerely hoped she would not have visitors regarding this, that the Hollans could find what they wanted with everyone else. She doubted she would be worth their time in the Nine Heavens when she was locked away here in the world of her birth. By 10pm, Sera decided to attempt the connection with the Enn Stone. She wasn’t tired as she’d only been up 8 hours, but if times were opposing, she wanted to get up earlier than she had the day before. Thankfully, Sera only needed to clasp the stone tightly and close her eyes for her consciousness to be pulled to her alternative body. The light was low as her eyes fluttered open, so Sera determined it was right around sunrise, exactly when she wanted to get up. She went to her bathroom to wash, then glared at the dresses in her dresser before Mimi arrived to help her dress. She then went to her study and snagged a piece of paper and pen before drawing several designs that she handed to Mimi at the breakfast table. “This is?” “An alternative to dresses, any or all of the designs will do, it will allow me greater movement without compromising my more feminine side,” said Sera. Mimi smiled at this, “They are beautiful, my Lady. I see why you would want to wear them instead”. “Order enough for a new wardrobe from the tailor, I’ll give you the coin, get a few for yourself if there is money left over”. “Oh, I couldn’t-” “You can, if you’re accompanying me everywhere, Mimi, you’re going to need it,” Sera insisted, “Now, are the notices I gave you last night pinned up?” “They are, my Lady,” Mimi agreed, “Though we haven’t the numbers for so many jobs”. “We will in the time frames it states, I’ll write another notice stating the pay I will give all of the citizens for one year, and the rent I will charge for the buildings, think of it as a citizen tax. If anyone wishes to speak with me, schedule it for after lunch, I will be in the meeting hall for two hours or for as long as necessary,” said Sera, “Make the after-lunch meeting hall a daily schedule. I’ll also be spending my morning with Captain Joseph and the Guard, training”. “Training, my Lady?” asked Mimi. “Aye, training, terribly difficult in dresses, don’t you agree?” Mimi sighed, “I shall make my trip to the Tailor a priority then”. Sera smiled, “Follow me, I’ll give you the coin”. After Mimi left with 2 gold coins, Sera wrote down every current job that was being done in her territory and assigned a weekly payment to it that would allow them to not only live by, but also to have enough coin in reserve for after the first year had passed so that they could work to buy the buildings and land where they lived and/or worked, and therefore become less reliant on Sera. She also had to calculate an appropriate rent for the buildings. Finally, she had to consider that she would be paying every citizen their wages every week for a year. She would surely need a paper-mill soon so that she could keep accurate records. As the population grew larger she would also need to create some form of identity documents. She needed a Treasurer, and a proper Secretary. Probably more than one. So much to do. For the briefest moment, Sera wished she’d chosen an individual route. But then she couldn’t help but picture her freedom in her own territory, and all the possibilities of what it could become. With a smile, Sera finished writing down several current plans, then she went down to see Captain Joseph. Name: Joseph Title: None Age: 26 Level/Tier: 12/0 Occupation: Captain of ??? Territory’s Lord’s Guard Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat, Swordsmanship, Archery, Spearmanship, Basic Management, Surveillance Potential: 82 (A) As Sera registered the question marks, she realised that she still hadn’t named her territory. She waved the concern away as Joseph bowed to her politely. “Lady Sera, it’s an honour. To what do we owe your visit?” asked Captain Joseph. “Good Morning, Joseph, I hope that from now on I might join you in training. I have had some training myself and not only do I desire to test my strength against you, but also to review the abilities of my guards,” said Sera. Captain Joseph nodded, unable to find fault in her words. “We would be welcome to have you, my Lady”. “Be honest with me, Joseph, do you consider yourself a well-equipped and suitable Captain for the private guard of a Lord?” asked Sera. Joseph paused, then after a moment spoke once more, “I find myself barely capable in terms of the entire Nine Heavens, my Lady, but in terms of those present in your territory, I am adequate”. Sera hummed in acknowledgement, “And your men?” Joseph swept his hand towards them who were all at attention beside them. Joseph indicated for them to give their own answers. Will considered himself the best among them in Archery. Rick was a jack of all trades. After the Captain, Ethan was the best at swordplay, and Leon, with his bulky form, considered himself a hand-to-hand expert. Sera nodded at their answers, then turned to Captain Joseph, “Please don’t find this inappropriate, Captain, but do you have any spare uniforms? I would wager that my dress will be terribly hard to show my own abilities in”. Captain Joseph looked surprised, but Rick hid a laugh behind his hand. Sera smiled at this, and Captain Joseph nodded, “It may be too large, but I’m sure we can make do”. Ten minutes later, Sera was better dressed and suggested that so that they all knew where each other stood, they should have a competition against each other. The men seemed up for it, and after some hesitation, Captain Joseph agreed. Mimi had returned at this point, and so was appointed the judge by default. The first round was hand-to-hand combat. They decided on drawing lots, and the winners of the three bouts would draw lots again, the loser of this fight would challenge the one who didn’t fight, and the winner of that fight would proceed to challenge the winner of the first, unless it was the same two, in which case the first fight’s score would stand. Sera ordered all of them to not hold back, they could call the healer if there were indeed injuries, but otherwise they needed to be well-aware of each-others capabilities. The body she had been given in the Nine Heavens had the same capabilities as the one she had been born with. As such, she had the same muscle tone and ingrained reflexes. The Guard were aware that Sera could fight, the mural on the meeting hall told such a story, but that was simply a story to them. Sera’s movements and training were clearly not the same as what they had been taught, and caught by surprise with her quick, sharp and agile movements, Will was easily defeated by her. Sera was a petite woman, she hadn’t the strength of men. Lance had trained her body to be flexible and agile in considering of her form. She had been taught to use an opponent’s strength against them. “You fight like an elf, my lady,” Captain Joseph commented. “An elf?” asked Sera, somewhat surprised they existed more than the fact that her fighting style was similar. “They are a lithe and agile species, their fighting style is by no means reliant on strength,” Captain Joseph explained, “But they are not to be underestimated”. Sera smiled, clearly this was meant to be a compliment, “I believe you are up next, Captain?” The Captain fought against Rick, their fight was close, but Joseph clearly had more experience, which meant Rick’s loss. Finally, Leon and Ethan fought, another close match, but without a weapon, Ethan was bound to lose to Leon’s brute strength. Drawing lots, Sera was pitted against Leon. To be entirely honest, Leon appeared as if he could snap her spine like a twig. He was very muscular in his arms and upper body. Against opponents such as this, Sera knew she had to be quick. A battle of attrition would not be in her favour. As soon as Mimi called the fight to start, Sera darted forward, using the last seconds to confuse Leon by darting to either side before she jabbed two fingers forward at his eyes. Leon recoiled with a cry of pain, then Sera delivered a swift kick to the man’s groin. The other guards cringed as Leon went down, and Sera stood tall. Mimi hesitantly put a hand up, “Lady Sera’s win?” “That was dirty,” said Will. Sera shrugged, “War is not a gentleman’s bout, Will. Enemies on a battlefield shouldn’t have the room to protest against what is ‘clean’ and what is ‘dirty’. Dead is dead, that’s all that matters in such a place”. “I suppose we should give Leon a few minutes to recover,” said Joseph. “Let it not be said that I was inconsiderate as well as dirty,” Sera jested. When he recovered, Sera fought the Captain. Joseph was a very capable man, and after watching the previous two fights, was more prepared for her movements and tactics. After an extended bout, he won before facing Leon. Leon, with his bulk and anger about losing the previous fight against Sera, won back his dignity before Will proposed that the next bout should be in Archery. Sera was only too happy to comply. Archery was much easier to score even if they were straw targets. The straw was still divided into rings, so Sera gave each ring a point score from the centre outwards, and they were all given five arrows with which to shoot. If there was more than one individual that got the highest score in the end, they would find an alternative to determine the winner. Will went first, gaining a perfect score of 50 with ease. He was smug about his win as he handed the bow to Ethan. Ethan achieved a 42. Captain Joseph went next at 45. Then Rick at 38, and Leon at 30. Finally, Sera took her bow and asked if she could have 1 test shot seeing as she had not used the bow beforehand. The men voted and determined that it was fair that she could have one. Her test shot scored her a four. Then men said nothing though, and with each subsequent shot, Sera scored a perfect 10. “We should get Silas here,” said Will, “See who is better out of the three of us”. Silas was the hunter of the town, and according to Will, quite an accurate bowman. “My Lady, it is approaching the lunch hour,” Mimi softly reminded her. “Shoot, have the food prepared, Mimi, then come back to help me change”. Mimi nodded and left before she and Will stepped back a further ten paces and each shot an arrow once more. When this proved to not be the decider, the targets were moved back another ten paces. At 70 paces, Will’s shot was accurate, as was Sera’s. At 80 paces, it proved to be the decider, with Sera taking the top spot of best archer when Will’s arrow hit just aside from the bullseye. Sera thanked them all for a good game, and promised to finish their bout the following day with sword and spear. As Mimi helped her to change, Sera noticed that her actions in beating the men more highly levelled than herself had let her rise to Level 5. She was exceedingly happy about this as she quickly ate a sandwich Mimi provided and appeared in the meeting hall. Sera was surprised to see the entire population of her territory in the meeting hall awaiting her arrival. They all nodded to her upon her entrance, and Sera smiled back as she took a seat, “Good afternoon all, I come here as your Territory Leader, as I will every day at the same time unless something else requires my immediate attention, to listen to your problems and hopefully help you to find solutions. With all of you gathered here today, I can only assume that you have a problem that concerns you all?” The healer, a lovely old lady named Julianna, stepped forward, “Indeed we do, my Lady, they are twofold. The first is regarding the notices you have posted, we had hoped you might explain them, the second is involving a name for our territory”. Sera nodded, “I see, the name of the territory is indeed an issue, but I do not wish to name it at the drop of a hat. As such, one week from now I will announce the name of the territory, in addition, I am open to suggestions, and should you have one, please inform Mimi at your earliest convenience. If yours is the name I select, I will give a monetary prize of 5 silver coins”. This excited the people, who murmured among themselves before Sera held her hand up and silence settled over them, “Now, regarding the notices, is the primary reason you ask because you are illiterate?” “Many of us are, but those who can read have passed on the message, we simply wish to understand your plans, my Lady,” Healer Julianna stated. “I see,” said Sera, “Well, for the following six months, we will be receiving a great influx of new individuals into our territory. However, we only have so many buildings, and we cannot cope with what will no doubt be the demand for housing. This is the primary reason for the most immediate jobs that I require to be filled, other, less immediate jobs would involve better aiding me to run the territory, better defence of the territory, and further knowledge of the land that immediately surrounds us. Assessing land which is a threat and that which we can use for opportunity or development will be a priority. As quaint and lovely as this territory and its people are in this moment, the reality is that it cannot remain this way forever. We must develop it, and we must develop as a people, if only to prove our strength and unity. In addition, I have another announcement to make”. Sera held her hand out to Mimi who passed her the paper she had made that morning regarding pay of her citizens. “Every citizen in the territory will be paid by the Territory Lord for their work. In return, they must pay the Lord a rental fee for using any buildings owned by the lord. Payment to Citizens will be made every week, with every citizen expected to collect their pay from here at the Meeting Hall on Wednesday – which means your first pay will be tomorrow. Rent will be paid on a monthly basis, and an annual tax will also need to be given at 2% of your annual earnings,” Sera stated, “Homes will require a 60 bronze payment per month. Businesses of a 1 storey small size will also require 60 bronze payment per month, businesses of 2 storey small size will be 80 bronze per month. Businesses of 1 storey medium size will be 1 silver per month. 2 storey medium size will be 1 silver 20 bronze per month. 1 storey large businesses will be 1 silver 50 bronze per month. 2 storey large businesses will be 2 silver per month. If more than one individual is in residence of a home, the rental price may be split evenly between the residents. Business owners must solely pay the rent of their building, apprentices or employees do not hold the same responsibility”. Her people were already looking weary. Silver was a very large amount for them. The Innkeeper in particular looked a little pale. “For wages, Farmers, Maids, Serving Staff and grounds staff will earn 40 bronze coins a week. Stable Staff, Butchers and Bakers will earn 50 bronze a week. Hunters, Tailors and Cobblers will earn 60 bronze a week, Cooks, Healers and Blacksmiths will earn 70 bronze a week. Innkeepers will earn 80 bronze a week. Apprentices will earn a wage equal to half of their master’s wage. Finally, Private Guards will earn 1 silver per week, with an increase of 1 silver per rank. For business owners, you are obligated to pay back 5% of your business earnings to the Lord’s Manor in return for your stable wages, as for the remainder of your earnings, you are free to keep it,” Sera finished, “This arrangement will be kept for a year in order to drive the economy and flow of money in the territory. After one year, a period of time will be determined where we will transition to a more independent approach, with only those under the direct employ of the Lord’s Manor being paid wages by the Lord, and business owners becoming responsible for the pay of their employees and apprentices. I am aware this system is not a perfect one, but I would hope that you will allow me to try it. If any glaring problems are found, I will work to correct them immediately. Are there any further concerns?” The villagers all looked at her with expressions of surprise before the hunter, Silas, finally plucked up the courage to speak, “You are so generous, my Lady? We are but a new and poor territory, to sustain such a payment for a year even with the rent and taxes”. Sera just smiled, “Don’t worry, I have calculated it, the Lord’s Manor is quite capable of affording it, even with the population increase”. This reassurance seemed to perk up the citizens, who all insisted they had no further problems and Sera wished them all well for the day. She stayed another ten minutes, talking with Mimi before she retired to her office.