Moyo watched, arms folded as the thundercloud settled above the fields of sun valley. It was descending slowly to reveal what he could describe as a ship. Made of metal that gleamed, it resembled an old British naval warship, except it was big enough to rival a modern warship, it had a bronze coating with what looked like a crest on it, a mountain with a shield in its middle along with what looked like a katana running down its middle. He walked closer to the ship,

“Annika, what’s this?” he asked, rapping his knuckles on its body as it echoed faintly,

“That is a transporter. Mrs. Martha said it’s one of the transport devices available for sale in the warehouse, quite expensive though, cost about five thousand gold coins, but makes a statement, don’t you think?” she replied as William choked,

“Five thousand gold coins?” he whispered, the value staggering for him, Moyo just gave a faint smile,

“Why would we want to make a statement?” Moyo asked, one eyebrow raised,

“Because I grow tired of bands of initiates and fledglings trying to shake us off thinking were weak, plus Mrs. Martha sent it yesternight as a transport to help evacuate those needed” Annika explained,

Moyo gave a noncommittal grunt as he turned to William,

“so, tying sun valley to my domain, sure you want that sort of attention?, you never can say what will happen down the line, allegiances are just being created, and the world isn’t what we once knew any longer,” Moyo said,

“All the more reason to do so, as far as I can tell, you’re the only one to control an entire sector, that’s as big as a state if I’m not wrong” William started,

“Plus, the fact that one of your soldiers can take on an entire squad if not the whole army we had here before,” he said,

“Speaking of an army, we saw many people running into the woods, who were they?” Annika asked,

“a couple of low lives, couldn’t stand the new management, they should be fine” Moyo replied offhandedly,

“What we need to do now, is sort those who want to stay in sun valley and those who want to move to Bastion, lots of space needs filling,” Moyo said as he seemed to teleport to the top of the walls from Williams’s view,

“So, Bastion uh? you guys really are strong?” William said to Annika who smiled and disappeared in a clap of thunder, appearing next to Moyo on the walls of sun valley,

“Yh, they are strong,” William said to himself as he began jogging towards his stronghold.

(*)

Moyo stood on the walls of sun valley, staring down at the hundreds of people that filled the entire grounds of sun valley. Grimacing as they jostled between one another for the newly created cottages, total chaos around, he felt a pang of pity for William, he wasn’t about to have an easy transition period. Thunder clapped in the skies above as Annika appeared by his side and got the attention of everyone below them, slowly the crowd became quiet as they all stared above them at Moyo,

“You have their attention boss,” Annika said with a smile as Moyo rolled his eyes,

“Citizens and refugees of sun valley? I’m Moyo titan blade. Some of you may know me as I appeared in a video broadcast over strongholds, I am here with a proposition for you all.” He started,

“This stronghold has been liberated from its oppressive ruler and now under the command of the one you may have known as commander William, now lord William,” he said as a cheer rose from them,

“However, William may not have the resources to care for all of you, you’re more than a thousand by my estimate, close to two thousand if you add the residents of the former stronghold to that. Seeing as William has sworn allegiance to my domain, I can handle a bit of the burden, a lot actually, seeing as Bastion needs people. Farmers, cooks, blacksmiths, tailors, we need as many hands as we can get, there are enough lands to start a new life, you will be protected and in return, you contribute to the society of Bastion. If you’re interested in this offer, meet me outside on that ship.” He finished as he jumped down to where a waving William stood,

Seeing jasmine and a bunch of other people he knew from watching William and the rebel group, he waved at them as they stared at him like fishes out of water, Moyo sighed and faced William,

“thank you lo-“

“Moyo, just Moyo, don’t start with the lord thing,” Moyo said interrupting William,

William smiled and nodded,

“very well, Moyo it is. I, we, wanted to say a big thank you for all you’ve done for us here. Sun valley will have a bright future starting on fresh legs” William said,

“About that, your levels are low, ridiculously low, it won’t help you for what’s coming in a few weeks’ time,” Moyo said,

“You mean the aliens?” a man beside William said,

“Yeah, the aliens, so do me a favor, go rewatch the video I transmitted above strongholds, your stronghold should have it seeing as it’s situated right where the former stronghold was, learn how I explained people could create paths. Once you’re done with that and your warriors have paths, we need to walk on their training in the yellow zone through Bastion, that and raiding every dungeon around your territory” Moyo stated,

“We would love to work with you on that, if not for anything, to prevent any outside invasion” William replied,

“Doubt it, then again the entire green zone saw that notification so I’m guessing you might have a lot of new faces soon,” Moyo said,

Moyo dipped his hands into his pockets,

“guess this is goodbye for now?, have to get those willing to move to Bastion over there as soon as possible” Moyo said before Annika appeared beside him, jumping down from the side of the wall they stood at,

“About that,” she said,

“seems like a lot of the population wanted to move to our domain, ship can’t take them all, you might need to come up with a solution” she finished,

“How many are we looking at?” he asked,

“From my estimate? over a thousand, the sentinels are loading up women and children first as a safety precaution, but we are close to capacity” she replied,

Moyo glanced at the throng of people walking out of the gates of sun valley towards the ship,

“Give me a minute,” he said as he turned and walked a few steps away, bringing up his HUD and sending a call to Mrs. Martha,

At once a holographic image of her appeared in front of him,

“Lord, I must admit I’m surprised you called, is there a problem too big and strong for the titan to beat?” she said with a smile on her lips,

“Very funny, we need help, the ship’s too small to take the number of refugees we have, what can you scrounge up for us?” he asked,

“Well, I recently just came across a telepad in the warehouse, we could place one in…sun valley, congratulations on your first allied stronghold by the way” she replied,

“thanks, a telepad?, you mean we can teleport them all the way to Bastion?, from what I heard, jumping through space could have devastating effects on the human body, sort of like folding like a tin-can effect,” Moyo said,

“From the description, it seems safe for you, costs a hundred gold coins per telepad with the cost of a thousand gold coins to set up the main telepad here at Bastion, sort of like the pad all other pads we own would be connected to, also it costs ten silver coins per jump, might be small for us seeing as we’ve been farming dungeons up and down the whole sector and getting a fortune in coins through it” she explained,

Moyo let that sink in as he whistled at the cost,

“Every damn thing in the archailect is absurdly expensive,” he said,

“Telepads aren’t for new civilizations joining the archailect, it’s a testament to our accomplishments that we can even afford them,” Mrs. Martha said,

“That aside, are you sure we can trust the citizens of sun valley?” she asked,

“Having a telepad can constitute a security risk later down the line. It not only serves as a portal straight into our domain but as a point of an invasion” she explained,

“True, all risks we can manage, for now, we’ll table the issue later, there are weak and frail people who need it for now,” Moyo said,

“As you wish, we have medical teams and rations on standby, cottages are being erected in their hundreds in the plains around Bastion itself,” she said,

“Since when do we have enough people to act as medical personnel?” Moyo asked,

“you’ve been gone for two weeks or thereabout, the original generation of healers have taken in a few of the new refugees turn citizens of Bastion. Some joined the healers, most joined the sentinels and storm bringers, the rest took up vocations, we have fields of crops and domesticated animals” she explained,

“Well color me surprised, you really are good at this domain running business,” he said with a smile,

“You keep beating back any enemies we have, I’ll keep your domain running, plus we have an economy now, when are you returning?” she asked,

“I’m coming back with the refugees, need a break to step back and look at the bigger picture,” Moyo said,

“Oh really? how soon?” she asked,

Moyo narrowed his eyes,

“As soon as you get the telepads up and running, oh, and no festivities,” he said as he stared at his steward,

“Taking the fun out of my job as always, clear some space at the stronghold, I’ll use your location to create the stronghold,” she said,

“Understood,” Moyo said cutting off the call,

Walking back William as he grinned,

“So, could you clear me some space in the middle of your stronghold? got a surprise incoming,” he said,

In a few minutes the crowd had been cleared off the middle of the stronghold, creating a large circle around Moyo who sent a message to Mrs. Martha, he got a reply immediately stating noted. The ground around him began to vibrate as something materialized out of thin air, it began as a circular structure made out of stone and metal, gleaming in the air. From the ground rose a platform on which the circular structure rested with a loud thud, then a white light shone from inside the circular structure, Moyo stared at it as its info came up,

Telepad

Structure designed for moving people and things through it for a certain cost, this structure is tied to the main hub only

He felt William walk up to him,

“And you wonder why we swore allegiance to Bastion, you guys are like a bag that keeps giving,” William said with wide eyes,

“This portal leads directly to Bastion, it will be under your care and supervision, and costs ten silver coins per person, so you might need to take stock of your treasury” Moyo replied,

“With that amount, it’ll be a while before anyone passes through,” William said wincing,

“I’m covering the costs of the refugees, anything after that is on your account,” Moyo said as he slid a bunch of gold coins into a slot on the platform as the portal hummed to life,

He saw Annika walking towards him as he waved,

“what’s this shiny thing?” she asked,

“Telepad, portal straight to Bastion, transfer all the refugees through it, it’ll be faster that way” he stated,

Annika stared for a few seconds before she nodded and in a clap of thunder disappeared to appear near the ship, soon enough the refugees were streaming through the portal with wary glances on their faces. Moyo watched as the procession became faster and faster till less than a hundred of them were left, moving leisurely into the portal. He sighed and turned back to where William was directing his people, watching quietly till a young man tapped his shoulder to drag his attention to Moyo,

“I guess this is goodbye?” William asked as he came close,

“For now, I intend to drop back soon, going round this continent we’re in, need to know the lay of the land before the aliens arrive” Moyo replied,

“you’re welcome anytime Moyo” William stated as they shook,

Moyo turned and with one step activating his path of the titan, he appeared close to the ship where the sentinels stood at attention upon his appearance, Moyo waved at them to carry on with whatever tasks they were doing. Annika appeared from inside the ship,

“Leaving us to go on your grand adventure?” she asked,

“Nah, we’re heading back to Bastion for a quick retreat” Moyo replied as the side of the ship opened up and a metal ramp descended,

“wouldn’t passing through the portal be faster? or moving through space as you usually do work?” she asked,

“Nah, figured I’d enjoy the journey, take in the sights with this ship” he replied,

“it’s called the strormbearer, I have decided to be its commander” she stated smugly,

“isn’t it supposed to be a property of Bastion and by extension me?” he asked with a grin,

He dropped the issue as he saw the look of seriousness on her face. Moyo watched her shout orders at the sentinels as a man in blue robes appeared from what Moyo learned was the engine room, hurriedly bowed to Moyo, and went towards the navigation bridge. Annika appeared from the bridge,

“Come, I’ll show you to your quarters, Mrs. Martha specifically said it was for you, couldn’t open the door, had half a mind to blow it off its hinges,” she said with a huff,

“Is that jealousy I hear from the leader of the storm bringer corps?’ Moyo said wryly,

“Merely trying to maintain the security of my ship lord Moyo” she retorted as Moyo chuckled, she made it too easy

They got to his quarters with a giant crest on the door, the same crest as the one on the ship,

“I’ve been meaning to ask, this crest, what does it signify?” he asked,

“Well, everyone minus you that is seeing as you’d probably protest against it, created a crest as a sort of sigil indicating our growing clan” Annika stated,

“Clan? what do you mean?” he asked,

“Nope, can’t do this, when you get to Bastion, let Mrs. Martha explain to you,” she said,

Moyo just sighed, already used to their shenanigans, it seemed they were adamant about building a society around him. She pointed to the door,

“She said you were to place your hand on the door and say open sesame!” Annika said with straight face,

Moyo stared at her with an eyebrow raised, placing a hand on the door as he felt it vibrate to his touch before opening up,

“Was worth a try getting you to say it,” she said as Moyo chuckled,

They both entered to see a sprawled out room made of glistening brown wood, a large glass pane that showed the clear skies outside the ship, a large foam chair along with a table and desk, flowers in vases lined the shelf near the large glass pane and at the far corner of the room was what seemed to like a meditation and practice zone with racks of wooden katanas and a training mat, a wardrobe with the clothes bearing the same marking Ajax gave him hung inside, Mrs. Martha had probably duplicated them. Annika whistled in surprise,

“well, say what you will but Mrs. Martha sure does makes emphasis on this lord of a thing” she said as she walked in with Moyo behind her,

“what’s your room like?” he asked,

“same size, less like a relaxation spot and more like a training ground” she replied,

Moyo walked to the glass pane, staring at the clouds as they drifted by,

“we’ll be at Bastion in less than three hours, you get settled in, need to go check on Julius, dude’s as loyal as they can get but bad at navigation” Annika said as she left,

As the door clicked shut behind her, Moyo heaved a sigh, still staring at the clouds. When he left the dungeon as an acolyte, his path had been straightforward. Grow stronger, fight the aliens that would land soon to oppress his world and protect his people. Now he was the leader of an entire sector and from what he was beginning to suspect, some sort of clan that had been formed without his knowledge. He supposed he understood why, people flocked to the powerful, and in this new world they had found themselves, power was everything and he was still true to his mission, he was still protecting the people under him, just not as fast enough as he hoped he could do it.

Walking over to the mat, he sat as he crossed his legs lotus style, taking a deep breathe and allowing his intent to flow through his body. he was Moyosore titan blade on the path of the crushing blade, he was a draconic slayer and the bane of the rucar, the lord of Bastion and all its domains. Opening his eyes, he called up his HUD, as the map of the continent he was in surfaced, it barely looked like any continent he knew and to be frank, till date it still shook him how the archailect had torn their world apart.

It was like a great hand scooped up all the continents, tore them apart and pieced them back together in a wrong jigsaw puzzle. The green zone took up fifty percent of his continent that had no name for now, something about the strongest power with half the continent in their hands having the right to name the continent and to be frank, Moyo just didn’t have the time to go on some grand conquest, he just wanted humanity safe by the time the aliens arrived. Which brought him to the startling realization that he would indeed need to hold the entirety of the continent if in fact he wanted to protect it against the aliens, serve as the fall back point for humanity, but from what he’d seen and heard, he was pretty sure some of humanity would side with the aliens for power.

Rubbing his skull at the thought that seemed too stressful, he looked at the yellow and red zone, the yellow zone took thirty percent of the landmass and the red zone took twenty percent of the map. Moyo smiled at the red zone, Mrs. Martha had informed him that the red zone had an abundance of rare dungeons and materials for elixirs and the likes, she had suggested moving the whole of Bastion to the red zone, moyos’ eyebrows had rose had she said it. They had faced enough just taking a portion of the yellow zone and now she wanted the red zone?, with its level one hundred and fifty monsters that roamed around their domain with no oversight, he had said they would revisit the issueon his return and to be honest?, he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Those issues would be faced later, now he had to prepare for what was going to be the most fast paced and hectic weeks of his life. With that thought he laid down on the mat and drifted asleep. A light knock on his door woke him up hours later as he sat up groggily, he didn’t need the sleep as he could go hours on end without it, but Moyo realized that whenever he did sleep, his body usually felt refreshed and ready to go. Getting up and walking to the door, he opened it to see Annika staring at him,

“we’re approaching Bastion, you should come see something” she said with a twinkle in her eyes

Moyo as confused as ever walked with her as they got to the navigation deck where a yellow haired man with glasses hastily bowed to him. He had a trimmed goatee and blue eyes, lean muscles and with two short spears on his back that were made of some glowing iron metal. Moyo guessed that was Julius as he waved at the man who stood straight, a level seventy acolyte storm bringer,

“Advocate Annika, lord Moyo, we’re almost home” he said formerly,

Moyo glanced outside the glass in front of the navigation board to see sprawling fields filled with crops from flour to wheat to barley and rice, his expert and mantle infused eyes allowing him to take everything in that instant as they flew over them,

“So many fields, how did we do it so fast?” he asked in awe,

“An initiate has the strength of ten men in one, when you employ over a hundred of them on an acre plus of land, well, this is what you get” Annika explained,

As the ship got closer to the crystal walls, Moyo began to see people in different colors arranged in front of Ife, blue colors with a flag of a dark cloud above a mountain, the people in silver showed an eye above a mountain, those in red showed a bow and arrow above a mountain. Moyo was about to ask what it was when Annika smiled at him widely,

“Oh no she didn’t” he said horrified,

“Oh, she did” Annika replied, enjoying his embarrassment,

As the ship landed and its ramp extended, Moyo descended to see line of people bowing from his left and right,

“We welcome the lord of Bastion!” they chorused,

Moyo just stared in confusion,

“what?”..…….