Vyssium. A large country consisted of many counties, duchies, and provinces controlled by large noble houses consisted of many families tied together by oaths. Because of the loose structure of Vyssium governance, many families tend to do their own things. However, a few families were made out of necessities.

To the east of Vyssium was a large rival nation called the Kingdom of Rhankia. Skirmishes and even straight up invasions weren’t uncommon, and three prominent houses had cemented themselves as the Marcher Lords of East Vyssium over the last few decades.

On one hand, the marcher lords were free from the scrutiny of the leadership of Vyssium, namely the Iron King of Vyssium, but on the other hand, they usually tend to receive little support unless they were invaded by a massive force. But still, the eastern marcher lords were free to invade, conquer and subjugate land if they could.

Sea’axfeared was the northernmost marcher house. Together with the marcher houses of Veatfeared and Kentfeared, they protected East Vyssium from the Rhankians.

The head of House Sea’axfeared had called for another campaign against the Rhankians, so Eoforwic’s and Ecgbert’s families had to answer to the call.

“... and so, we want the Varangians to fight for us,” Ecgbert finished his explanation as he downed a cup of ale. After the spar, they moved to a meeting room restricted to the elders of Sea’axfeared.

“Why should we fight for you?” Slayer asked.

“Of course, you’ll be fighting as mercenaries,” Ecgbert assured.

‘Mercenaries?’ Slayer asked as he turned to Red.

‘They are soldiers hired by a foreign nation to fight for them,’ Red answered.

‘But why?’ Slayer asked further.

‘They fight in exchange of material goods, I believe.’ Red tried her best to answer, but she wasn’t exactly omniscient. Although she knew more about human culture than the other drones, her understanding was still limited.

‘Material goods, you say?’ Custodian interjected. The A.I. was always listening in the hivespeak, but it wouldn’t interfere with what the drones were doing unless it really had to. However, if there was profit to be made, Custodian wouldn’t think twice before barging into whatever the drones were involved in.

‘Yes, Master Custodian. Usually the humans tend to fight for pieces of goods such as silk or even blocks of silver,’ Red answered.

‘Interesting. So this is like bartering, but we would be bartering for the dead…’ Custodian was learning more and more about human culture, and it was using the knowledge for the purpose of maximizing its gain.

Since Weaver had better ways with words than Slayer, he turned to Ecgbert and proposed, “Depending on the enemy, the Varangians are willing to fight. However, we have three questions. First, what will we gain? Secondly, are we allowed to keep what we loot? Thirdly, will we be fighting as a separate entity?”

Ecgbert and Eoforwic discussed amongst themselves quietly, then answered, “For the first question, tell us the size of the army you’re willing to lend and we can discuss the price. Secondly, you are allowed to keep what you plunder, but the land will be firmly Sea’axfeared property. Thirdly, we will accompany you, but you are free to do as you wish.”

“Accompany us?” Weaver asked.

“Me, Eoforic, and whoever we want to bring would be joining your army. Just as a… supervision, per se. We don’t want you flying Sea’axfeared flag and doing unholy things or raiding Vyssian villages, you know?” Ecgbert explained.

“Understandable. We, Varangians, are willing to sell you an army of one hundred led by Slayer,” Weaver offered as he shook Slayer’s shoulder, who was sitting next to him.

“One hundred is quite sizeable…” Ecgbert remarked as he nodded his head.

“I heard things from Gerard as well. They might all be professional soldiers instead of the rabbles that we have in our warbands,” Eoforwic whispered.

“Indeed.” Ecgbert nodded once more, then turned to Slayer, “Name your price, and we’ll be able to see how the negotiation tables will look. Any silver? Gold?”

Weaver stamped his foot, then declared, “We want wood.”

Silence ruled over the meeting room until Ecgbert was the first one to break the silence, “Hah?! Did I hear this right? You only want wood?”

Weaver nodded then continued, “We also want a bit of crops. But we mostly want wood.”

“I must say, these people are truly strange. Isn’t Varangia just a mountain and a sea of forests? Wood is the least of their concern, right? They should be worried more about food and other things since Varangia is nothing but a monster-infested hole,” Ecgbert whispered to Eoforwic.

“Why complain? If they want wood, let’s get them wood. Only Humanos would know what they would want with more wood,” Eoforwic replied in a hushed, but pleased tone.

“Very well. Let us negotiate your… terms,” Ecgbert said. In the end, the Varangians agreed to fight for the Sea’axfeared for wood, food, and some other goods.

In truth, wood provided so much biomatter that Custodian prioritizing getting it from all sources, especially since they were still unwilling to expand away from Mount Varangia.

In the meantime, one hundred Varangian warriors were sent to meet up with Slayer at East Vyssium. The warriors were Custodian’s upgraded freeholder combat drones. Draped from head to toe in iron chain, with plate armors protecting the chest, head, and limbs, the Varangian mercenaries looked extremely formidable and intimidating.

Accompanying the warriors was a peculiar floating glass ball. Custodian had been making smaller version of itself all around its dungeon complex, but also figured that the surface forces would need the mini-Custodians in order to support them. After all, the mini-Custodians were capable of dispensing and processing materials.

Since Custodian didn’t want anyone getting funny ideas about stealing a mini-version of itself, it was disguised by putting it inside a fake body, a masked head, and with a large cape covering its body. A few huskarls were assigned to protect it, just to be sure.

Not only that, numerous scout drones were sent all over Vyssium. The latest model of the scouts was a flying drone made from the new Type 2 Peasant Mind. Several of the flying drones followed the mercenaries Custodian sent to Vyssium to act both as Custodian’s eyes as well as Slayer’s.

The only thing keeping the Vyssians from panicking was the fact that the Varangian warriors were flying under the flag of Sea’axfeared. Nevertheless, the villagers were still uncomfortable with an army of mysterious people coming from the north.

At the heart of the main Sea’axfeared family’s eastern demesne was the capital city of Sea’ax. Given that the marcher lords were permanently settled in East Vyssium, the lands they held were named after their houses. For example, Sea’axfeared’s capital duchy was simply named Sea’ax, after the founder of House Sea’axfeared.

Slayer and his entourage entered the city, leaving the Varangian army outside of the city walls. In the middle of the city, the elders, joined by the drones, gathered at the largest building in the city, the Great Hall.

Eoforwic and Ecgbert led the drones in, causing some eyebrows to raise as the mysterious strangers walked into the hall. There were concerned murmurs about the Varangians parked outside of the city, but they quieted down when they saw Slayer and the other drones.

A fire pit, surrounded by long wooden tables, was centered in the Great Hall’s rectangular main assembly room.The elders took their seats, while the drones sat next to Eoforwic and Ecgbert.

The head of House Sea’axfeared, a bald old man wearing a green greatcoat with a great kilt thumped his table with a gold cup, garnering the attention of the noblemen in the hall.

He stood up, then raised his hands. “I have called upon you all to once again attack Rhankia. The time is now ripe as Rhankia’s eastern neighbours are being harassed by their enemies, so we might as well take advantage of their weakness.”

A nobleman raised his hand then asked, “Will the other marcher lords join?”

“Yes, of course. They wouldn’t miss the opportunity to ‘liberate’ land from the Rhankians. Not that we’re no different, of course,” the head replied before the room exploded in laughter.

“But what about the Rhankish knights? I won’t march anywhere with my army just to be slaughtered again like last time!” another nobleman shouted.

“Like I said, the eastern Rhankish borders are being harassed by their rivals. Now is an opportune time to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. I’m also aware that the kind fellows down south wouldn’t mind pillaging Rhankish lands while we do our thing,” the head assured. “Still, we might be facing up to three thousand to six thousand Rhankish soldiers. Let’s begin our army count.”

“Sea’ax Tuun by South, Lord Aefelhad reporting. I have three hundred men with me,” a nobleman replied.

“Heretord by Yal’er, Lord Otto reporting. Five hundred and fifty men are ready to fight for glory,” a large man stood and declared.

The elders of Sea’axfeared began describing their army count, numbering up to five thousand men ready to wreak havoc against the Rhankians. When it was Eoforwic’s and Ecgbert’s turn to report their count, they both stood at the same time.

“Sea’axfeared Manor by Vyssia North and South, Lord Eoforwic and Lord Ecgbert reporting. We have about a hundred men ready,” Eoforwic announced.

“I’m surprised that you two could even get that much men,” Otto remarked.

“We have some mercenaries to help us out. Even if you muster thousands of men, you wouldn’t even be able to match up to the Varangians,” Eoforwic replied.

“Ah. That army standing outside of the city, huh. As long as they could fight as well as they look, they’re welcome. But I don’t expect you to hold anything. You and your men will be raiding along the north-western borders of Rhankia. You can, at the very least, do that, can you?” Otto raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, Lord Otto. In fact, that was what we were hoping,” Eoforwic nodded.

“Now, as for Lord Aefelhad…” the head of the house continued the discussion among the other elders. Slayer and the rest left, seeing as they weren’t even needed nor do they care about what the others were doing. As long as they were able to attack something without repercussions, the drones didn’t care.

Besides, the humans were starting to get giddy about the fact that the drones wouldn’t remove their armor inside the hall.

‘Report,’ Custodian asked Slayer.

‘We will be attacking a nearby human nation,’ Slayer reported.

‘As long as Varangia is not implicated, carry on,’ Custodian ordered.

‘Affirmative. The drones will be on standby. We attack a few weeks later with the other humans,’ Slayer explained.

‘I was hoping the campaign would start sooner. Then again, I can wait,’ Custodian thought as he turned his attention somewhere else. While a third of the drones were busy at the surface, the rest were tasked with other important tasks.

Niner and Exarchi were building the foundations of Varangia itself, creating a fortification at Mount Varangia and a labyrinth underneath the mountain. Custodian’s dungeon was being fortified in order to defend the main core room from attacks. Turrets were placed, sentries were constructed, and artificial dead ends were created as killzones.

Not only that, the ruined city was being rebuilt as a secondary base and an inner fort. Much of the city was being deconstructed for materials to create a more compact fort. Drones didn’t need living spaces so only the essentials were remade, such as storages and fortifications.

While the surface entrance was being secured, Custodian had other concerns, namely the expansion of the iron mine and securing the routes going deep underground. The iron golems made of iron ore and rock were still a concern for Custodian since the worker drones were defenseless against them, but after the addition of mage drones, the mining operation could finally expand without worrying about the monsters lurking around.

The spider farm Weaver had made was becoming large to the point of being self-sustainable. Giant spiders ate not only rat meat, but also each other, so Custodian didn’t need to tend to the spiders that much as long as they didn’t cannibalized themselves to extinction. The new specialized web-collecting drones were also capable of dissuading the spiders from eating each other, should it come to that. Stockpiles of silk were already being built up for equipping drones and perhaps sell them to the outsiders.

A new batch of combat drones was being produced for another purpose other than exterminating the organics aboveground. These were to be led by Apoth, another Daedelus of Custodian, underground.

Accompanying them were the new non-flying scout drones used to explore much of the underground labyrinth since these were much more durable and smarter than the old scout drones. Based off the Type 2 Peasant worker drones, these scouts had a large arachnid-type body, but with cameras and sensors installed on top of its abdomen.

Apoth and his scouting parties were standing at the end of a mining tunnel in the mining base waiting for someone. The Daedelus listened carefully for anything.

Hours had gone by since the scouting parties were assembled, but still, they stood by the entrance in complete silence.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Apoth’s head propped up as he listened on the one that ruined the silence. It couldn’t have been one of the miner drones since they were far from where they are, since the miners were made to only mine close to explored areas.

Looking carefully at the end of the tunnel, he finally found a familiar red glow. Arcturus, formerly Drone 4, emerged from the shadows. Though his upper body was thinner than the other Daedeli, his legs were replaced with beastly hind legs modelled after the rats lurking in Custodian’s dungeon which allowed him to move swiftly and quietly as he trekked underground.

“I’ve confirmed that Drone 11 used this path. From here on, it is no longer friendly territory,” Arcturus warned.

Apoth nodded, then turned to the scout drones. With a shout, he ordered, “All drones. Advance.”

The scouts marched down the underground tunnel, descending further away from chartered territory. After hours of nothing but rock, Apoth sensed something different.

“The air…” Apoth murmured.

“Yes. It is humid. Expect a sudden change in the surroundings,” Arcturus remarked.

True enough, the cavern walls and floor were becoming softer, and plants were clearly growing on them. Vines grew from the ceiling, creeping downwards until it reached the muddy floor.

The combat drones at the front chopped the vines blocking their way with their swords, while the scout drones had to be careful not to be tangled by any stray vines left uncut. Streams of water were heard from the distance, prompting the scouts to turn their direction to the source of noise.

The narrow passages began to make way, until it was so spacious that it seemed as if they were no longer underground. Custodian confirmed that they were still underground, and way below the A.I.’s ground level, so the drones continued.

“It’s almost like a forest…” Apoth commented.

“Correction; a jungle,” Arcturus interjected.

As the scouts approached the underground river, an alert sprang up in the hive.

[Alert. Scout Five-Five-Alpha is destroyed.]

From the shadows and between the vines, one of the scouts got kidnapped. In an instant, the drones all took a stance. They began coordinating information between each other, with Apoth and Arcturus at the center.

‘Freeholder Nine-Eight-Psi, left, 29 degrees counterclockwise; incoming,’ Custodian coordinated.

A humanoid figure leapt at the combat drone, and it got stabbed through the chest with a spear faster than it could react.

‘All drones, converge on the two Daedeli,’ Custodian continued.

The scout drones, with their weaker combat capabilities, moved inside the circle, while the combat drones formed a circle to protect them. However, that wasn’t enough to stop the unknown assailants.

‘From above. Scout Five-Five-...’

[Alert. Scout Five-Five-Epsilon is destroyed.]

Despite Custodian’s capabilities, there were casualties among the drones. Not only did the enemy come from the sides, they also came from above through the vines.

The drones were able to retaliate, but the shadowy figures were relentless. It almost looked like they were about to be decimated until a robed figure who was standing next to Apoth and Arcturus began to move.

Other than the combat and scout drones, there was one mage drone that joined the expedition force for situations that seemed dire. Like now.

Revealing a sword with a crystal-tipped hilt, it turned the sword upside down and raised it. After a flash of light enveloped the crystal, a wave of purple lightning flew in all directions, lighting the place up.

Multiple targets were hit, instantly killing them. Wary about the magic the drones were using, they finally stopped their attacks, but they still surrounded the drones.

The light finally revealed the figures - large toad-like humanoids with slimy leather skins. Their hands were webbed, and had sharp claws capable of tearing through steel. They had bumps and fins on their back, and the monsters varied in colors.

Though they looked vicious and terrifying, Custodian had only one thing in its mind for these monsters.

‘Designating newly discovered organics as Troglodytes. Exterminate. All. Of. Them.’