The Gamer's System

Four days. That is the exact length of time which Zeke's party has used within the realm of the goddess. At this span of time, a lot of things have already transpired. The creation of new weapons for the elves, the evolution of Sylvia, the upgrade of Zeke's conjures and, the non-stopping rush of experience points and skill improvement.

With this, one would think that they would be prepared for whatever they would face in the capital. However, Gallio didn't sit idly on the throne like some kings. He continued moving, strengthening the military might of Elysium. And, this spells trouble for their return of Zeke and his p[arty members.

The length of time which passed in Yaeger's realm means that, a month already passed in Elysium. During this time, no servant of the Windsprite household has been held captive. There are three reasons for this. One is that, they are still hidden from the men of Gallio. This didn't mean that Gallio's troops are incompetent.

In fact, they were actually able to find some of the savants. And this is the second reason why no captives are ever taken. The servants of the Windsprite household are actually trained in battle. This is a tradition created and maintained by the Windsprites, making it the only nobility to have elites as butlers and maids. Hence, upon encountering troops sent by Gallio, they'd fight their way out of the situation and go back into hiding. However, if they cannot win the fight, then there is another option which they took.

The third reason why no captives have ever been taken is because, these servants would simply kill themselves on the spot if there is no chance of escape. These servants are also loyal followers. Even before Sylvia took headship of the house, the servants have always been loyal due to the kindness and care shown by the previous heads to those under them. Hence, they would always choose death over getting captured. Fearing that, the form of interrogation may take some information out of them.

This rose Gallio's anger of course. A month has already passed and yet, there is still no sign of any Windsprite. He feared that the sisters may have passed through to another continent. And, if this is the case, there is not much that he can do. In fact, he has already done much and, even more. In order to find Sylvia, Gallio used every means he could think of. Yet, not even a strand of hair nor any shadow of the Windsprite seem to be left in Elysium.

"Aren't you a clever human." Glade thought to himself as all of this went on. To him, Zeke is still a human who is shrouded in a lot of mysteries but, he couldn't care less as long as interventions to Gallio's plans are continually being made.

However, there is no other setback aside from this. Within the month that passed, everyone in Elysium noticed the same change everywhere and, in a constant daily basis. That is, the heavy militarization of the continent. This came in a number of ways.

The first among these is Gallio's gathering of every able-bodied male within the continent. Be it human elf, or any other race that has slipped their way inside Elysium; Gallio took all the able-bodied male into the ranks of his army. Then, what came next is how he forced his soldiers to take a drop of Gallio's blood mixed inside a strange red wine - colored drink.

This turned all the soldiers into lesser [Blood] creatures. The drink forces an evolution into any creature who takes it. This, however, is not on the same level of Gallio's own evolution. They are inferior beings and yet, they could feel a huge amount of power burning inside their body.

Of course, the blood of Gallio in itself cannot cause this. The forced evolution is not an ability learned by Gallio but rather, something he developed through the hundreds of years he spent researching how to strengthen his own body. Furthermore, Gallio developed this formula which he needed in order to execute the larger scaled plan of his.

The drink also had other practical uses. One which Gallio used in order to raise his popularity with the masses. You see, the blood can also cure diseases and illnesses. Under normal circumstances, the drink would strengthen a person. However, if the person is not healthy, then the drink would work on destroying all the things that causes the abnormal state of the body. This turns the person back to normal, however, no further strengthening can be done.

After making all the soldiers drink his blood, Gallio proceeded to presenting something which made the soldiers his loyal subjects.

"This can only be drank once. Otherwise this will happen to you." Gallio said, taking out a noble who was forced to take the drink once. Gallio forced the liquid into the noble's mouth.

"What my formula does is force your bodies into a kind of power spike. As such, this puts a lot of strain into your body even if you cannot feel it." Gallio continued as the noble began screaming in pain, getting more and more swollen.

"With another cup of the same liquid, your muscles will start expanding beyond the normal amount. This will continue until…" The noble popped like a balloon, leaving the entrails and other organs scattered around the area.

"…that happens to you." Gallio finished.

Gallio then took another noble in front. The elf is tied to a wooden column, trying to say something but is hindered by the same rope which is tied to his mouth. Gallio then patted the head of the noble before snapping his fingers.

"All of you have that same liquid running through your veins." He said, making some men scream at first. This is completely understandable because, they aren't all soldiers. Some of them are normal citizens who are forced into this situation. Nevertheless, Gallio snapped his fingers again, blowing up someone from the crowd.

"I don't like getting interrupted when I speak. Another scream and I'll blow another person up." He said, silencing the crowd with some new recruits biting their lips.

"Good." He commented, continuing with his presentation.

"I didn't strengthen you without putting a preventive measure. For all I know, some of you might try to revolt against me and I can't let that happen." Gallio continued, pacing about.

"The drink has a toxin which is connected to me. By just thinking of it, I can blow all of you up. I don't even need to snap my fingers actually, I just thought that it would add some effect for the presentation." He said, smiling menacingly.

"Anyway, with that in your blood, I'm guessing you won't kill me. After all, you'd all die if my heart stops beating." He finished.

Glade watched the whole presentation. He himself was forced to drink Gallio's blood. This is the reason why he was able to fight Erio head on even though the other elf was more experienced with both blade and combat. What Gallio doesn't not know hover is that, Glade already invented a cure to the toxin. Gallio does not know of this of course as his descendant made sure to keep every detail of this experiment a secret.

Unfortunately, the soldiers doesn't have that same cure. This trapped the soldiers in their situation. There is no escaping from Gallio's clutches. After all, this elf planned everything for a really long time.

Aside from the forced evolution of the military, Gallio also began taking monsters from various areas. The forest is already empty and, Glade explained that the Wood Scouts were able to wipe out every threat in the forest. This is a lie of course. Glade wanted to prevent any mention of Zeke as Gallio might ask where the human's corpse has been dumped.

The monsters are all bound by chains and immobilized in every way possible. With the number of strengthened soldiers which Gallio has, taking the monsters came in a breeze. Plus, this also served as the first form of training for most of his soldiers who came from non - combat professions. The public didn't like this of course and thus, some people decided to raise their voices on the days that followed.

This didn't happen for long. With the strengthened military might of Gallio, he immediately dispatched his men to various towns within Elysium. An order given to these soldiers is to decapitate the heads of all those who oppose the government. No trial will be made, no listening to the voices of these individuals. Their heads roll on the ground where their bodies lay bloodied and, these heads are taken to the center of any community…impaled on a spear in order to show everyone what happens to those opposing Gallio.

Hence, silence and obedience born of fear came. Nobody wanted to oppose Gallio anymore, no matter how unfair or unjust the treatment seemed to be. The soldiers themselves are the biggest victim to this fact, knowing tat their lives are literally one thought away from ending.

Right after this, what came next is the focusing of all resources in military might. The economy focused on creating armors, weapons, and items which would be used for the war that is coming. Everybody knew that this is the inevitable. With the pacing of Gallio, they knew that war is coming soon.

With this being done, everyone is provided the same amount off food rations to eat the whole day through. As such, the citizens have only enough to eat. This made the upper-class citizens complain while, the poorer ones escaped the grumbling of their stomachs. There is just enough for everyone. And, this actually made the lower class citizens happy, knowing that those in the upper - class are limited to the same treatment as they are.

There are no festivities. No banquets. No vanity of any sort. Gallio ordered the creation of more military training and research facilities. Of course, there is not enough space in the capital to do this. Hence, he ordered the demolishing of all establishments that served the vanity of the people. Restaurants, fashion shops, prostitution areas, gambling houses, and everything else. The same men which he took from their families were tasked to accomplish this in three days.

Gallio gave this order in order to improve the physique of his men even further. After the monster hunt, he needed to make sure that they still continued being on the move. Hence, he gave this with not much time being given for them to complete it. This ensured that the soldiers will not have any rest until the sun falls each and every day.

The days came with the loud sound of rocks falling down and wooden planks breaking. There is the sound of shattering glass and, wheels of carriages continually going on the move. Men continued hammering down the walls, digging out the rubble, and doing every other work required of them. These same men would be given more than the rations provided to every other citizen.

Gallio continued providing them with monster meat as their stable food. Using another ancient trick which he learned, Gallio was able to transform inedible meat into something which can be eaten by everyone. The greater reason for this act is because, monster meat provides more nutrients than normal meat. And, the torn muscles of these men which continued working the whole day through would have their muscles repaired thicker than ever.

Hence, in the span of three days, Gallio was able to bulk up these men who continued finishing the task assigned to them. They had no choice after all. If they failed in completing this, their family and loved ones will be killed by the king on the spot. As soon as they finished this, Gallio gave the next orders to them. That is, to build the training and research facilities required.

Time is of the essence to the King. He wants to advance his plans as soon as he could because, the more time he wastes, the more preparations the other continents could perform. They aren't even the main opponents which the King wishes to face. In fact, Gallio just needs enough force to have an upper hand once he deploys his men to all the continent because, as soon as he does this, he plans to go and do what he really intends. That is, to enter the Ruined City.

As far as the King knows, he is the only one aware of the existence of the Ruined City. Records of the place have been destroyed and, the ones who knew of its existence are long dead. However, the King does not want to take his chances because, as soon as he opens the gates that connects Mythos to the Ruined City, that same portal will appear on all four continents.

This is the reason why he needs his army. This is the reason why he placed his blood on all his subjects which would go to war. He wants to enter the Ruined City alone and, he wants nobody else interfering with this plan.

The gates to that place will open soon. While everyone is still fixed on the idea that Gallio is a war mongering barbarian; the King continued plotting how he can enter the only place on Mythos which could turn him into a God.

The list of things which he needs to accomplish still goes on. There are also a lot of experiments that are still conducted up to the present date. And, assisting him in all of this is Glade. This leads us to the present date – one month passed.

As all of this went on, Glade couldn't help but think of his companion. The human has not contacted him ever since the day they killed the General. It doesn't help that he can't even find any clue as to where Zeke is. Though he knows that Zeke cannot betray him. Although, he'd still rest easier upon getting updates from the human.

"I hope you're not thinking of just barging into the capital as you did last time. Things are different now. The soldiers are stronger than before and, we have creatures that are as hideous as the amount of strength they possess." Glade thought to himself. Noticing his bracelet change color; making the elf leave his room in a hurry.

He entered a secret passage that leads deeper underground. Only he and Gallio knows of this area and, it is where most of the experiments take place. The areas is also filled with traps, ensuring that nobody else benefits from the fruits of Gallio's research.

As soon as he arrived. Glade immediately saw the king who sat on what seems to be an operating table. Gallio is half naked and, on his arm are things which looked a lot like needles. Gallio sweated profusely indicating that he's been working on the experiment for hours now.

"That's an early start." Glade commented.

"I don't have time to waste." The king replied with a serious expression.

"Hand me the me the next batch of needles." He continued, pointing Glade to the tray that sat on a table near his.

Glade immediately did as he is told. The needles are actually the counterpart of syringes on earth. These are extracted from plants and, can store any liquid substance inside them. There is also no chance of spilling.

One would squeeze the tail of the needle. Depending on the pressure applied, there could be a gush of liquid, a normal stream, or drops of liquid coming out. Using Hark's body, the king continued sticking these into his flesh.

The needles contained various samples of monster DNA, liquified crystals, and liquids from other creatures. He has mixed these things in various ways ever since the day he lost his original body. That body of his which could only be described as a gift from the gods, was able to contain such a massive amount of raw power.

He realized how inferior other bodies are as, they would always limit his abilities. Of course, this is also because he gets stronger with every host transfer. But, Gallio would like it if he could actually find a host which could take down all these limits.

The closest to his ideals is this body of Hark. However, as it is a human body, there are certain limits and fragilities which cannot be avoided. Hence, he continued testing things out with it and, one of the few successes which he achieved is the merging of the Erio's genes with Hark's

At the moment, Glade couldn't do anything to hinder Gallio's advance. All he could do is to continue gaining the king's trust as he handed Gallio another needle.