Empirica #1

There was enough information gathered to get a clearer view of the island whether it was the people of the island, their culture, their resources outside of the walls and the way they lived their lives.

Alyssia had succeeded in gaining a clearer view of her surroundings and could pinpoint where there were human settlements outside of the walls inhabited by the green cloaks so the people that had been subdued were more helpful to her even if they did not answer her questions.

It would have saved more time to question them and get the answers over taking a break to go over the information making use of the system but they were far too stubborn to give her the answers she needed.

In the end, Alyssia had to settle for taking a break anyways and had looked through as much as she could.

It was clear that the green cloaks were the exiled and expendable citizens of Empirica whose existence was very fragile.

They relied on poisons and attacked silently from far away so it was easy to take opponents off guard.

Their existence relied solely on the fact that they were still needed to reduce the number of dangerous animals outside the walls and to deal with any intruders to the island.

The biggest role for them was to serve as an example to those inside the walls that they should keep their faith in their leader and they should not fall out of line otherwise they could easily become just like the green cloaks.

If they failed their duty and some outsiders got close to the walls or had breached them then it was very likely that they had failed their duties and a team would be sent to wipe them out.

It was not strange for such groups to be targeted once they started to neglect their duties or if they were growing in numbers and strength.

There was a clear division between the people of the island and the green cloaks were at the very bottom.

It was obvious why they had been so fearful to reveal any information and were too stubborn in not answering Alyssia.

If Alyssia and the others were discovered to be walking around so freely and had caused the green cloaks to fail in their duties then the green cloaks would soon face the wrath of the ruler of Empirica.

The ruler was rumoured to be a fearfully strong person who was worshipped by everyone on the island and possessed many strong and loyal warriors which were rumoured to be unbeatable.

The green cloaks had faced off against some guards which ventured out into the forest area in the past and could not defeat them by normal means which showed how fearful those who were much stronger would be.

In order to overcome a tougher opponent or opponents, they turned to poisons and other methods in order to give themselves an advantage over those that harassed and hunted them for fun.

There was a wide variety of dangerous animals and plants to contend with on the island while they discovered many kinds of herbs so they not only had excellent materials to make use of but also excellent targets to practice on.

Even with all their development and practice, the green cloaks were never arrogant enough to believe they could pose a threat to those who held the most power in Empirica.

They both feared and revered their ruler as a holy and great existence which could not be defied.

Nobody was actually crazy enough to dare to think of rising up against their ruler who seemed like an unbeatable existence.

Those that had tried to rebel in the past never got past the main forces of the ruler and were put on show to everyone to serve as an example to the others.

There was one among the people which Alyssia had gained information from which had come from the outer area inside the walls so Alyssia was able to learn a little about the culture inside the walls but it was mostly about the people who lived out their lives as farmers and working on the fields everyday.

Those people seemed to live out their lives producing food for the land and were required to visit the local temples at least once a week to show so they received some form of teachings on the island's ideology and to help them with some basic lessons.

Those with potential would be recruited by the temples while most others would continue to live out their lives working on the fields.

There were many scriptures and talks about the ruler of Empirica within the temples so everyone knew of their ruler as a holy and godly entity whose words were the absolute law of Empirica.

Further in the forest, there was a fortress which was built from the wood from the surroundings.

The walls and gates looked very sturdy but had many marks on them from animal attacks.

There were many people on the walls and near the gates dressed in green cloaks to keep guard and were on lookout duties.

The guards were walking back and forth diligently until the sun went down and a new rotation of guards took their posts.

As it was getting much darker, several figures quickly appeared near the trees a little away from the walls then they quickly leapt up without making a sound.

It happened so quickly and happened in a blind spot so the green cloak guards did not notice anything strange before those nearby were hit from behind.

A little away from the walls near the trees where the figures had came from, there was a small group which guarded some unconscious bodies while more unconscious bodies started appearing near the walls one after another.

Wanda, Milky and Alyssia made perfect use of their Mink physique and quickly entered the fortress.

Those on duty were caught off guard and were dealt with very quickly but suffered no fatal wounds.

Alyssia looked at the people laying at her feet then whispered. "Good job you two. It really was a good idea bringing you too."

Compared to Archie who was bigger and could not perform more agile movements to enter a fortress quickly and stealthily, there was Milky and Wanda who were very light on their feet and both could keep up with Alyssia due to their many years of training and experience in their own groups of Zou.

It was the perfect opportunity to evaluate them and see how they worked with others which left Alyssia very pleased with the results.

Wanda stuck out her tongue playfully. "It is nothing."

Milky blushed a little. "Thanks."

Alyssia raised her head and turned her attention elsewhere. "Stay sharp. More are in the area."