Whispers of a Dead Empire

I looked the violin over once more to make sure that it was alright. It wasn’t the best-looking one ever created. But once I get better material in, I would create a far superior version of it. I slid my fingers across the bowstrings and felt a strange substance across the steel wires. I think that may come from the resin that coats the wires to help make the sound. At least that’s what my memory was telling me.

I picked up the violin bow and ran my hand across its smooth wooden surface. It looked good as well. Hopefully, the resin on the violin holds for a while. Maybe if I were lucky, it would be some magical stuff and last close to forever. The bow for the violin seemed to be alright too. Nothing inherently fancy, but it would get the job done. I grabbed the instrument and spun around, tucking it behind my back. “Oh, Kharon, I have a gift for you.” I chirped out.

The moats of light finished spawning, leaving my skeletal companion clad in a long, flowing black cloak that stopped right at his ankles. “Oh? What would that be, mistress?”

“Well, you said you were a maestro and used music as your medium, right?” I clenched the neck of the violin as I spoke, and a twinge of anxiety coiled around my heart.

“I did; I was just in the process of finding an instrument to use for the class."

“I know, so I made one for you.” I pulled the violin and bow out and presented it to my companion. “It’s an instrument from my world called a violin.”

Kharon stepped forward and gingerly took the items from my hands. His red eyes pulsated with colors as he stared at it. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Calixa, for this gift.” His voice quivered slightly, and it overwhelmed me with happiness that he liked it. “Though the question I have is how do I use it?”

Mentally, I was ecstatic. I got to teach my companion how to do something for once, other than it being the other way around! I grinned and nodded my head and hid the fact that I didn’t actually know how to use it. “Okay, so you rest your cheek against the black piece on the bottom. You place one hand on the neck and touch your fingers to the string. With your other hand, you use the bow and slide it across the strings near the middle of the instrument.”

Kharon nodded his head and placed the item on his cheek, and did as I instructed. He slid the bow across the strings, and a shrill filled the room. It was a sound that grated on my nerves and really bothered me, though I did my best not to snap at him. “What a hideous sound.” He said nonchalantly as he studied the instrument for a moment.

“You did it wrong, but don’t worry. On Earth, it takes people years to play that instrument to its full potential. Trust me; once you master it, it's such a beautiful thing.”

“I see. I thank you for the gift. I will master this violin. If you excuse me, I am going to go practice for a while. Good luck on your endeavors.” I was happy for him, though I was slightly miffed at being left on my own after asking for help.

“Good luck, Kharon!” He nodded his head and vanished in a display of light, and I sat back into my chair. He was right when he told me I needed to patchwork my amour. I couldn’t afford to outfit every single undead in my domain with armor. Really, the only ones that I could were the ones that mattered the most, like Kharon, Alessia, and even my honor guard since they wouldn’t be fighting as much.

Was this what it was like to run a country? I couldn’t even imagine how it would be if I had to worry about things like money, morale, or housing. Hell, I didn’t even know how to do city planning. I grabbed my pen and clicked the top of it rapidly as I thought over everything before setting it back down and pinching my nose. I was thinking too far ahead. I needed to do right now was worry about making sure my domain was good enough for adventurers to visit.

I opened my map and looked at the area. The stronghold looked to be almost, and dozens of undead patrolled the wall like ants. The bosses were in the courtyard vigorously training each other and the various other undead, which was good. I felt really far behind, and I didn’t want to get steamrolled by adventures.

I scrolled around the map and saw that the ghast took residence in the northern forest. The trees around its home were turning grey and slowly dying, and a few corpses of zombies that got too close lay scattered across its territory. I was surprised to see that another ghast was born, and the two seem to get along. As long as they stayed there and obeyed my commands, I had no quarrel with them and whatever they did up there.

I found Alessia a short distance away, running the surrounding undead through drills. She lined them all up in a large square formation and walked around them, observing each one, and corrected them where they needed it. It even looked like she brought over the ghost squires from the stronghold over for training.

Watching them made me wonder how they talked. I mean, all of them but Kharon were mindless husks. The only thing I could think of is forcing your will on them. I strummed my fingers across my desk and looked over at my future honor guard. I counted twenty-seven of them. Seven being from the stronghold, and the rest from where ever Alessia pulled them from. The rest were a healthy mix of skeletons and zombies. I could have sworn there were more, but I might have imagined it.

I sadly couldn’t afford to outfit them all, so I’ll create a small group of outfitted protectors, while the rest can use the scraps until further notice. Let’s start with a shield design for now. It’s a small start, but it should set the foundation for everything else.

Should I do a large shield, as Greek hoplites did? After thinking it over, I realized it wouldn’t be cost-efficient right now. It was too large and heavy and would consume a lot of my material reserves. I could do a shield like the Romans used. I grabbed my pen and a notebook and doodled out some designs while thinking it over.

I set my pen down and looked at my unskilled drawings of shield designs. I settled on three at the moment. The first was a buckler. It was a solid little shield that could hold its own but wouldn’t be able to block arrows if the user wasn’t fast enough. The next shield that I created was a blend between the kite shield and the heater shield. I gave it a flat top to see over it while extending the bottom half for protection.

All the designs were small and would hopefully be relatively inexpensive to make and maintain. I glanced at my resource reserves and saw that wood made up a vast portion of what I had, followed by steel and the stone. I didn’t have any leather, which would inhibit a lot of what I would want to do, and hopefully, that would be rectified once adventurers explored my domain.

So, I guess I would use wood as the base and reinforce the front and edges with a thin layer of steel. I didn’t know how well it would stand up to the adventures considering that they have stuff like magic and would probably be super-powered compared to the people on earth. But I would build accordingly once I got a feel for everything.

I looked at all the designs I had drawn and decided on using the knight shield and the oval one. The buckler was too small, and I wanted my undead to have some protection. With my choice made, I started on the oval shield. I imagined the shape being composed of wood, with two metal handles that extended from the back. Once I tweaked the design a little, I added a thin layer of steel across the front and reinforced the edges to be harder to cut through. Once I was satisfied, I confirmed my choice, and a notification appeared in my vision.

A new template has been created:

Lesser quality oval shield

Well, I mean, that name works; I was hoping for something a little more grandiose. Whoever named some of this stuff is boring. I was also partially hoping to be the first to create this type of shield cause that would mean more essence for me. I can’t always have it my way, I suppose.

While I waited for the shield to form, and I thought about weapons. From what Kharon said, the class system was made to be completely customizable, which I would use to my advantage with weapons. If I created enough, I could have, in theory, limitless classes.

I already had a sword made, so I may tweak the design a little to make it my own. Mostly because I didn’t know who this template belonged to before me, and I had no intention of painting myself in a poor light if I could help it.

I brought a copy of the sword template up and looked over it carefully. It was a sword that looked like they made it for slashing more than thrusting, which wasn’t a bad thing against unarmoured foes. But the design seemed a little harsh. Like the people that made it were efficient and did not need to add flare. But alas, it is not me.

I worked on the template to try to make something unique. But what would make it so? It was times like this that I wished I had my phone or internet. I could sit on google for hours and find so many examples of weaponry and use it. But here, I am forced to sit and use my imagination. I swear I will find a blacksmith and let him create stuff for me, so all I would have to do is use the templates.

I took the sword, added a bit more steel to the blade, lengthened it, and added a slight curve. One that was almost imperceivable, but definitely there. Once I was happy with it, I worked on the handle a bit. I created two pieces of metal that had a slight lift to them and extended outwards from the hilt to act as cross guards. The handle its self was fine, and the last piece I wanted to alter was the pommel. I balled up some of the metal on the end and gave it a small rivet of steel to be used with blunt force if needed.

Once I was finished, I sat back in my chair and dusted my hands. There we go, the first sword for Asteria. I confirmed my choice, and a notification appeared.

You have created an unknown template. Would you like to name it?

Of course, I would like to name it. I quickly typed in ‘Asterian Pattern infantry sword’ and confirmed it.

Congratulations. Due to the quality of the previous template, your weapon will maintain it. You have been awarded three hundred essences as a reward for contributing to the system’s index.

Yay, more money for this girl! I did a small shimmy in my seat and sat back. Now all I had to do was consume all the swords and use the resources to create the new batch of weapons. With that thought passed, I glanced towards the shield and saw that it was finished. Nice, let’s give this baby a test run and then create more gear and equipment.