A/N: I do not own Overlord series, I only own my original characters and designs.
Chapter 02
Thomas was walking down the hillside while his feet ached. The rocky ground wasn't making the descent easy, and the path seemed to twist and turn to avoid quick drops over a cliffside. It would have been an exaggeration to say the castle he had appeared in was resting on a mountain, but the hill it rested on made sure that when the towers would be back in shape they would have a good look at their surroundings. Unfortunately it also made the place stick out from the distance.
Walking down the hillside he could see the rolling terrain to the distance, the eastern lands evening out somewhat to plains in the distance, a bit of woods visible in the distance as well. The few hills between the plains and his castle's hill seemed a little less hostile, with green grass along them, and occasional trees, where as the one the castle rested upon had a more rocky ground, and harsh drops here and there. He saw some grass along the way, but not a single tree grew anywhere close at least, not on the eastern side of the hill.
Tired, hungry and feeling the weight of the gauntlet around his left arm, Thomas walked along until the path finally reached the base of the hill. The path he had followed continued on for a little way until it split into two new paths near the side of another hill, a worn signpost standing there. The road seemed to lead from the south to curve somewhat to the north-east in the distance, at least as far as he could see from the hills. Seeing as the signpost was his first clue to his whereabouts he moved to take a look at it then.
"Castle Highwatch, Town of Riverwood, and Town of Havenport." Reading the signs pointing west, north-east and south in that order, he hummed slightly to himself and crossed his arms. The south had a port, so it was reasonable to suspect that there was a shoreline there, perhaps even an ocean, but perhaps just a large enough river to make trade worthwhile. Riverwood sounded a bit more rural, but he wasn't sure if he was estimating things correctly.
"Odd names though, nothing familiar about them. At least they're in good old English." He smirked to himself while shrugging, then rummaging his pocket. His wallet was gone, as was his cellphone. Great, no wallet meant no money, and though he didn't expect his money had any value here he might have flipped a coin to decide which way to go. He had that little information to go by so far that either seemed like a good option.
Thinking it over for a moment Thomas finally looked at the signs again to try and see if there was any indication of how far the places were, but seeing nothing that even lightly hinted at the distance he finally drew a deep breath and sighed, starting to walk north-east. He hadn't seen a shoreline to the south, so he had a feeling the walk to the Havenport might take a while. Perhaps a couple of days even. Riverwood might just be a little closer, or so he hoped at least.
The path tried to follow a bit shaded area, with some trees along the hills giving some shelter to the old sand road, the wagonwheels having left some tracks in it along time it seemed, but it at least seemed like it had seen a fair share of use. Following the path for a while, Thomas cast a brief look at his clothes. A black t-shirt and black jeans, white socks and black sneakers were definitely a bad choice for extended walks in the sun. The metal bracer at least didn't seem to heat up despite the sunlight, holding to his arm firmly.
"Well well boys, what do we have here? I would say its a client!" There was a short laugh as a slim man walked onto the road from behind a few trees further ahead, aiming a crossbow directly at his stomach. "Yeah, you better pay the toll on this road or we might have to rough you up you know?" As the second voice spoke up, Thomas blinked twice finding himself looking at a crook-nosed fellow that looked a whole head shorter than the first guy. He had an axe in his hand though and Thomas wasn't sure he wanted to know if the spots on it were from rust or blood.
"Uhuh, you ain't going nowhere now, unless you pay first!" The third voice behind him belonged to a fat guy who looked like he ate enough for two, or three people. The three of them all wore some blue uniform of sorts, but it looked dirty and stained, far from a respectable outfit it might have once been. Runaway soldiers or something, he briefly wondered, but he didn't see any sort of armor on them.
"I hate to disappoint you all but I'm not exactly wealthy. I actually don't have a single coin on me." Smiling a little as he said this despite feeling nervous, Thomas kept watch at them. The fat guy didn't have a weapon and he was pretty sure he could get past him without too much trouble to flee the way he came, but he wasn't sure he could dodge the bolt before that anyway.
"Oh, what a shame. How about you undress and leave us your weird clothes then, traveller? Maybe we will spare your life then, heheh hehhee." The short guy laughed with a nasal voice that made Thomas grit his teeth together. These guys were irritating, and he definitely didn't want to lose his clothes, he had little enough to begin with.
"Sire, the moment you took the gauntlet your body began to change for one more suitable for an Overlord. Without an impressive armor and the time for your body to adapt yet however it would be wisest to resolve this by the use of magic. This gauntlet contains a spell that might help you out of this situation. Its called Evil Presence." The gauntlet's voice spoke to him as he watched the bandits, who seemed to take his silence as fear and snickered to one another, the slim guy waving the crossbow slightly. "Hurry up and get it off then!"
Thomas tried to calm his breathing slightly and reached to touch his gauntlet, the gemstone in it suddenly flashing bright light that caused the bandits to cover their eyes. The whistling sound of a bolt flying forth alarmed him but the next instant it stuck the ground before him, the bandit's aim lost when he was blinded. The crackle of lightning covered his right hand now, flowing along his left towards his shoulder to then appear in his right hand. Gesturing at the axe-holding short guy first, he focused his will into it.
"Uwaaah!" The bandit shrieked, shaking his head trying to turn to run, but just like that, Thomas could feel the continued lightning start to break through the wall of his mind, and slip within forcefully. It was so easy it actually frightened him. The bandit kneeled fearfully, still holding his axe. Thomas lifted the gesture then turning to point at the slim man that was rubbing his eyes, the magic flowing forth again like a stream of lightning, assaulting the man's body and causing him to see another mental wall, this one sturdier than the last, only to see cracks already forming, before the spell broke through. Another one down.
"You some sorta mage-thing!" The fat guy bellowed angrily, and Thomas felt his left arm grasped by the guy before he got kicked in the back with force. For a fat guy he was strong, and damn fast. Thomas felt his body complaining, but watched in surprise as the two 'converted' thugs charged their fat friend who looked confused more than anything, allowing Thomas a chance to pull free again.
"Don't kill him just hold him!" He shouted to the other two, then focusing his lightning once more. This mind was ridiculously weak, it was like he had first fought to break through a rotten wood wall and then a proper wood wall with a battering ram, and was suddenly sent to use the same force against a bale of hay. He had to stop short quickly just not to fry the simple guy's mind.
All three bandits looked at him with a vacant, dizzy expression, making Thomas wonder about things. He wasn't really eager to use some simple thugs as his henchmen, he wanted true minions. Still, these guys were bandits, so perhaps there was something they would be good for. "Show me to your camp." He told them grimly, then following along.
The bandits camp was a small cave at a hillside with enough room for a firepit and three bedrolls, as well as a chest that seemed to be stuffed with stolen goods, as well as some lengths of rope. Making up his mind, Thomas finally nod and gestured at the fat guy. "You, lift the chest along, and you two, turn your backs to me and present me with your wrists." With swift pace, Thomas tied the two guys hands behind their backs, using the axe to chop the rope for these bindings. Satisfied, Thomas then gestured them to follow as he headed on towards Riverwood.
It took another hour for them to finally reach the town. The hilly terrain fell behind and they reached plains, only to see the woods to the east bordering a town, a small river between the forest's edge and the town's easternmost border, the road seeming to lead curving north past the town, but with a path forking from it to lead to the town itself. With a nod of his head, Thomas walked the three bandits to the town's gates, looking at the wooden palisade built to protect the place.
"Hey you there! What's your business here, and what are you doing marching folks ahead in bindings like that!?" One of the guards shouted from atop the watchtower next to the gates. "Hey, don't those three look like the bandits that the merchants have been complaining about?" This caused the first guy to do a double-take. "Hey, you're right! They do, they do look like those bandits we got complaints about! Alright the lot of you, you are all under arrest!"
Thomas wanted to slap himself on the face on account of the idiotic behaviour the two guards in the watchtower were showing, but decided to shout back in turn. "I captured these three and brought them here to face justice, now open the gates so I can hand them over to your boss!" His voice was more than a little aggravated, but he watched the guards warily.
"What do you think huh?" The first guard asked looking at the second who shrugged. "I don't think he looks strong enough, but the three of them are following him like little mousies. Maybe he did. You know, I don't get paid enough to care. Just let them in but lets watch them!" The first guy nodded and grinned. "Oh alright that sounds smart!"
Thomas really, really hoped these two were the local town idiots that were put on the wall just because it was the place they could do the least harm, and might end up killed if something actually dangerous ever happened to come by. If the rest of the folks were as 'smart' as those folks then he would have a royal headache trying to get things set up anytime soon.
"Open the gates!" The two shouted, and a moment later the wooden gates began to creak and open a way to the town, showing two-story wooden buildings, with cobblestones on the road inside the place instead of just sand. The place looked a bit dirty but not that bad, and a few signs along the road marked different businesses set up in this place.
As Thomas marched the three bandits in he looked around for a captain of the guard, soon enough spotting a somewhat taller man in a finely polished metal armor approaching, a breastplate that seemed finely made, and a fine longsword at his side too. Thomas felt fairly confident this man was either the one in charge of the guard or at least this group of guards.
"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise. Well done young man, I don't know who you are but we have been looking for these three." The man nod his head casting a look at the three, as Thomas gestured for the fat fellow to step ahead and lay down the chest. "They are all yours then, I am going to assume there is some sort of reward for their capture, and the return of at least some of the stolen goods." He had considered taking what the bandits chest had for himself, but what lay inside was mostly goods that he couldn't even begin to guess what their right price would be, and a bit of honesty might get him a good reward and a good impression here.
"Indeed, I can give you fifty gold per man, and I am sure I can squeeze the merchants to pay you for their returned goods, and what isn't claimed is yours to keep or sell." He nod his head seriously, before waving the guards that had pulled the gates open to move in and begin to escort the two bound prisoners away, before moving to shackle the fat guy himself.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to take them along like this?" The man asked curiously, to which Thomas simply smiled. "I have my ways." He had talked with the gauntlet before, on the way, and made sure that unless he willed it the evil presence was a temporary effect on these thugs. Once it wore out they'd have a killer headache but nothing worse. It'd take almost a day though, and when it did, they'd probably be confused as hell why they had ended up in jail in that time.
"Right, guess you're an adventurer? Perhaps some sort of a mage? Or one of them desert fight-dancers?" The man in armor continued to guess, but Thomas didn't feel annoyed by that. If anything it told him that magic wasn't entirely unheard of in this place, and adventuring folks were around. Good thing to know, he might have to deal with some in time as well.
"Are adventurers and mages a common occurence then?" Thomas asked in a chuckling manner, earning a sigh from the armored man. "There's a fair bit of heroes but most of them are selfish bastards these days that don't care for the little people too much. There's exceptions but not many. As for mages, eh I've heard that there are folks that can use magic but I haven't met any." He shrugged and smiled at Thomas again. "Right, come with me then and we'll get you that reward." He shouted one last command for one of the guys from the watchtower to come down to sit on the chest and not dare to get up before he'd be back.
Easier than getting the guy to understand nobody was allowed to ransack through the chest before they returned, no doubt. Less fear of some silver-tongued fellow fast-talking his way into getting to open the chest just for a look inside, too. Feeling that the day was turning a little better, Thomas walked with the guard captain for a little while, until they arrived to a small stone keep in the town that seemed to serve as the headquarters for the guard, and based on the way two more fellows took the fat-guy downstairs through a narrow corridor, quite an achievement he noted quietly, the dungeons also rested beneath it.
"Fifty, hundred, and a hundred and fifty gold." The guard captain counted him the payment he had been promised, smiling proudly and nodding his head to Thomas as the young man took up the three coin pouches. Standing still a moment Thomas wondered how to go about things, the pouches were a bit too big to push into his pants pockets comfortably, and he didn't have a backpack to stash them into. Just then the gauntlet gave a small shine.
"If you wish to store gold, you can bring it before the gauntlet's light and it will be immediately added to your castle's vault. You can likewise retrieve gold by thinking of the amount while holding your hand over the gemstone. Its quiet a handy function, and means you wont have to carry any of it with you." Thomas would admit that actually was handy. Moving the pouches one at a time before the shining light he watched them disappear, earning a quite curious look from the guard captain. He had neither denied or claimed to be a mage so far, but this little stunt probably convinced the guard he actually was one.
"Ohhoo! I knew you were something special lad." The guard captain nod his head confidently and smiling proudly. "You know, I will shake the merchants to get the gold for the goods you brought back, but it may take a bit. You should relax at our tavern freely in the meanwhile, or if that isn't to your tastes, we've been having a bit of a wolf problem recently. Its been attacking the homesteads a bit further north. If you head that way, they have put together a reward of fifty gold for whoever can either kill the wolves or drive them away."
Capturing the bandits had gotten him a fair reward already Thomas had a feeling he would need a whole lot more in time. Sitting down in a tavern for a little while to eat and drink before he set off didn't seem like a bad idea, but he was also interested in the wolf problem. Particularily because he still hadn't received any life-force, and he needed some to shape his minions. Perhaps wolves would do, though he might need to get an actual weapon besides his magic for that.
"Wolves are fierce warriors and fight well in a pack. Minions born from such life-force could inherit some of it, though it will be up to Sire's shaping jus what traits they may pick." Thomas briefly wondered about the original minions he had witnessed in the games, and then briefly let his mind wonder if he would be able to shape them in a way he chose or if they'd be short gremlin-like beasts nevertheless. Something he would have to ask later. The thought of more human-like minions appealed to him, but with some obvious wild traits might be good. Perhaps some form of 'werewolf' minions to serve as his fighters? They could look rather intimidating and working together well in a pack sounded like a bonus too.
"I think I'll take your advice and visit the tavern for a short while first, but then I'll head north to see about those homesteads. I'll return later for the rest of the reward, so please keep that safe for me alright?" He smiled, bowing his head to the guard captain politely and then getting up. "Of course, its good to see a hero with a good heart for a chance." The man shook his hand firmly, seeming to mean it too. Which made Thomas feel a little constriction around his own heart actually. He was far from Good, he was going to have to be evil, and take over this place eventually, to dominate it and rule over these people. Then again, in doing so he would protect them against any threats that might try and prey on them.
"Thanks." He managed to say only that, smiling a little before bowing his head and heading out. He wanted to get some distance between himself and any people before he'd voice any questions on his mind to the gauntlet, making his way towards the tavern as he had said before. The music playing inside caught his attention for a moment, a swift violin playing on the stage, plaid by a slender fellow with dagger-like ears and a green vest on him, a bow and a quarrel of arrows resting against the stage wall as the fellow played.
Medieval world, check, and fantasy realm with magic and elves, check. Humming to himself briefly as he stepped inside Thomas cast a look at the folks dancing and clapping. They seemed to be enjoying the fast theme and dancing in a pattern that to him actually seemed kind of nice. It felt like it brought some unity to the place, and despite a bit of dirty looks the place didn't seem so unhappy after all when he heard the music play while making his way to the bar.
"Hey, can I get a glass of ale and the latest rumors?" Thomas smiled with a friendly expression while taking a seat at the end of the bar. The fellow behind the counter cast him a look and scoffed slightly, smirking. "Aren't you a tad young to be drinking that lass? You need some hair on your chin and your chest you know. I can pour you some cider if you like but you need some hair before you touch beer." The man seemed to be joking though, not overly concerned.
"Ohh I have plenty of hair where it counts, and I said an ale not cider, I need to relax a bit after being on the road." The bartender let out a short laugh but nod his head, pouring a full mug of ale from the keg behind the counter before smirking and setting it down. "There you go then sonny. One cold ale, just a crown."
Thomas brushed his fingers on the gemstone on his gauntlet thinking one, and as a coin slipped to his fingers he handed it to the bartender who looked at him a little curious but after biting the coin once to make sure it was good he grinned and nod. "Alright, let me know if you want more." He headed to fill another patron's mug as Thomas took his first sips from the mug, and immediately felt a tremor run through him.
He had drank some domestic and imported beer in the past, his parents had been pretty cool about it as long as he drank with responsible adult that made sure he never got more than a taste. It worked though, he had never had the need to try and sneak around to get beer with his buddies and get wasted. Still, none of it had prepared him to this, the medieval beer had quiet a kick to it.
There was a bit of laughter around him as the folks saw him quickly swallow, but none of it seemed overly mocking, mostly amused. "Whoa, this town has good beer!" Thomas bellowed earning a new round of laughter as he gulped on his mug, a few people cheering on the stranger's praise. Smirking to himself he tried to limit himself to slower sips, enjoying the frosty drink for a bit, while looking around.
The music paused and the elf lad seemed to gather his bow and arrows to return towards the bar with a hat holding some coins. "Here's for the tab, and a bit more if you can find another bottle for me?" The elf's smile was met with a hearty laugh. "You sir are an elf that could outdrink a dwarf!" There was a new collective roar of laughter going on, and Thomas began to feel his wittiness earlier wasn't really that good, these folks were just that drunk they would laugh for any reason that tickled their fancy a little bit.
"Eh well, I gotta enjoy life when I can, because tomorrow I might die." The elf grinned and continued. "I think I might take up the wolf-hunting job actually, I could use the coin and I think a little practice with my bow would do me good too." This caught Thomas' interest.
He wanted the same reward, but it was a bit secondary compared to the life-force. Besides, if the elf was any good that would lessen the risk to Thomas notably. Of course, it also meant that Thomas would have to get the elf to agree to share the reward, or perhaps mask it with a wager that whoever killed more got the reward. Even if he failed, he'd still get a fair bit of life-force, he thought to himself while sipping on his drink, thinking things through.
OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
Alright, this tale feels like it can become fairly interesting, I'm still a bit on the fence on a few issues though. I am considering whether or not involve a OCxHarem situation in this, I've seen a lot of -bad- harem fics in the past but again I enjoy the good ones from time to time. Even if I recognise a lot of them are simple wish-fullfillment works. As for the lemon-lime matter, I figure this is not going to end up a lemon at least, I might bring up adult themes and write some lime.
Beyond those, Thomas' minions, and his "Overlord Name" are still a bit on the open, and so far his actions don't really seem all that evil perhaps, but who knows when time advances where he and his behaviour will drift off to?
Regardless, this has been a fun chapter to write and I'm glad that people have reviewed this tale a bit on just its first chapter. Its always encouraging me to write more.