The First Victory Of Many.

"It all started many years ago."

"6 months after coming of age, our lord led us from the front for the first time."

"Duelled a man to death for the first time."

"It was his first great victory, killing 200 men with 50."

"And it would not be his last."

Jordis Mantelon, successor to the Grandmaster of Loyalty and 4th wing of Athurus.

….

To understand why Railius won the duel, you have to understand how the player base as a whole had developed in its initial stages.

Over the last 6 months in the game and 1 month in real life, the DO players have fallen into a few categories. 

The first are those players who take up more combat-orientated roles. These players are brave enough to face the crucible of the bloody battlefield and join the military of one nation or another. It also includes the more independent ones who want to stay neutral, becoming mercenaries or hunters and risking life and limb every day.

The players who survived these harsh conditions and were tempered by the cruel medieval world, except those few who started off as landed nobles, would become influential people in the future. They would hold vast military strength in their hands, with some able to change the fate of nations.

They would also all have personal strength that did not lose out to the very best soldiers of the world.

But there was a difference between mercenaries and those who joined an army, and it had to do with their experience in combat.

Professionals would train someone who has joined the army; however, their experience in a life-and-death situation would be low, while a mercenary would have far more practical combat experience and, like Demarcus, able to link their skills together to great effect, being able to practice on bandits, pirates and other ruffians but would have little formal training or discipline like a soldier would.

Demarcus was included in the group, gaining practical experience, joining the Grand Duchy of Ubernoss under one of its powerful jarls as a leader of a raiding party as a way to gain wealth, power and influence; however, unlike Railius, whose character had a firm foundation, his did not, as he was not a fallen noble with over 1000 elite soldiers serving under him even if some had retired over the years.

Demarcus also had not been taught by a master fighter for months, and it was the difference in training partners that truly made the difference in this case. Unlike the raider, who was used to his skills working flawlessly and catching people off guard, much to his own embarrassment and despair, Railius did not have this luxury.

Every idea he came up with, and no matter how well he calculated things against a prodigy like Jordis and a master fighter like Aldorus, he was helpless with nothing working, especially against Aldorus, who had years of experience roaming the brutal battlefields of the Chavarian Wars of unification and the many rebellions and invasions of Nathia that followed surviving them all so there was almost nothing that Railius could attempt that the old Pelican Guard commander had not seen before.

It was also a perfect blend of professional training and practical experience fighting bandits that allowed Railius to win, not having to decide on one or the other as many other players did, and his specialised sword skills.

A specialised combat skill is not something to be looked down upon.

It represents a powerful combat style that perfectly matches the person's personality; however, they also have distinct weaknesses.

No wars had been fought yet between any of the AI nations to allow the people who decided to join an army a chance to fight where they will find out truly just how dangerous their occupation was as millions of hopeful players would find their hopes dashed as they died and dealt with the terrible consequences of failure in the medieval world.

Which is usually death when war is concerned.

And death in the early stages of DO for a player playing a young character in the early stages of the game is no different from the destruction of a dynasty.

This is because you would be playing as a child, unable to gain much power unless you were a noble, and even then, you would need to worry about unruly ministers and vassals.

As a child, it would take years in the game before Demarcus could properly retake action or go on expeditions as he had before, roaming around the world raiding, looting, pillaging, and enhancing his reputation within Ubernoss.

And if he decided to abandon his dynasty, he would have to start a new one with fewer resources than he had now, as only people who made their characters before the servers opened got an extra 10% off everything, essentially giving them 20 more points to create their characters with than anyone else.

To put it simply, Demarcus was royally screwed over by Railius and cried in indignation just like many others would in the future as the harshness of reality brutally crushed their dreams. 

The second set of players are those who prefer to farm and take up peaceful occupations like farmers, blacksmiths, and merchants, hoping to avoid the death, destruction, and scheming inherent in politics and war. However, they will never be able to escape the fires of war bred from the corrupting greed of the powerful.

The third main set of players were the various players with noble titles who were interested in influencing a particular nation's politics and overall situation.

There were also those who chose a weird, different path like Railius, but they were few and far between.

Demarcus, his lifeforce rapidly dwindling, gazed in disbelief at Railius' retreating figure, his eyes fixed on the system notifications that materialised at the periphery of his sight.

[You have received 22 damage]

[You have an open wound that bleeds out until treated and deals 1 damage every 10 minutes.

[You have received 28 damage]

[You have suffered a catastrophic blow]

Within seconds, all of Demarcus' health disappeared, showing just how terrifying a good weapon was. To be able to deal so much damage to him despite the armour he was wearing, the weapon in his opponent's hands must have a base damage of at least 40.

It was the one thing that he overlooked as apart from his weapon, Railius' equipment is no better than that of a high-class rookie mercenary as the low-class ones who did not inherit something or have a 50 odd gold for a complete set of gear would all have leather armour and iron swords not even able to properly equip themselves with light mail as while 25 gold may be a pittance for a rich or noble family for the average person it is a fortune that can change their entire life and that of there loved ones.

If Demarcus had looked carefully, he would have found this anomaly, realised he was fighting someone from a less-than-ordinary background, and been on guard. Instead, he just got angry at the young captain's arrogance and, in his desire to teach him a lesson, found himself bleeding out instead.

After another 2 seconds, he got a notification that all players, even the best, would eventually come across as no one can escape the ravages of time and no character lives forever.

[You have died]

[Dynasty Inheritance System has been activated.]

[You have an heir, Klarbark Flintcut, who will become the next head of the dynasty.]

[There is no disputing claim.]

[Klarbark Flincut had successfully become the next head of House Flincut

[As a penalty for dying, you will be temporarily forcefully logged out for 1 in-game day.]

Seeing the notifications, the player Smuggler Sabre cursed at his opponent. It was the only thing that he could do, as he didn't even know the identity of his killer for him to take vengeance on as his character entered the cold embrace of death and was ejected from the game, his heart unwilling but forced to accept the cruel judgement of the system.

The raiders looked at the current situation in shock.

Their captain and vice-captain had died to this mysterious force.

What was once a terrifying force of 200 raiders had within one hour been slaughtered down to merely 50 men.

Should they fight back?

Could they fight back?

Would they even live if they surrendered?

Such questions began to circulate in the minds of the raiders as they considered their next move in confusion, having no obvious leadership.

'We should probably finish this up quickly. That corrupt Baron will probably make a move soon, which will likely cause problems.'

Railius thought, well aware of the danger that the noble represented and his thought process.

Looking at his enemy's demoralised state, Railius guessed that he had just made a corpse out of their last remaining leader. While they would be in chaos for a bit if they were pushed too far, it would also be troublesome, as nothing is worse than an opponent fighting to the death.

'They will all need to die anyway, as it is the only way that I will be able to explain the situation to that baron, but they don't need to know that.'

Railius finished his contemplation, deciding that while his men could clean these guys up, he would rather avoid casualties if he could. As soldiers as loyal as he, these homegrown Pelican Guards were truly too rare for them to be wasted fighting against a shield wall full of people unable to retreat.

After all, there would always be another battle and someone else that he could use to train his men, but the number of homegrown Pelican Guard recruits who had been brought up to be loyal soldiers since childhood was far too low.

Whether it was their combat skills or physical foundation, each young man accompanying Railius had an extremely high potential as they received a military education usually reserved for the rich and powerful.

Especially Jordis, Norfaelor and Vegrif, his 3 friends, were the most talented out of the new generation of Pelican Guards, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, but all were fanatically loyal to House Aurellion.

All had become intermediate and adept fighters before they were 18, something very rare for someone not of noble birth, an opportunity they had managed to obtain thanks to the support of House Aurellion and the way it treats its people.

"You have two choices."

"You can die by our swords."

"Or you can surrender, and I promise I won't kill you."

Railius said coldly, always choosing his words carefully so he would not make a promise that he could not keep, as an implied promise is not one set in stone.

Giving the raiders the illusion of choice when, in reality, they had no choice at all.

Only death awaited them.

They who are willing to pillage, loot and enslave to get ahead in the world.

From a certain point of view, the modern point of view….

It could be called justice.

Some raiders decided to throw down their weapons, happy to be able to save their lives, while others were not beginning to charge towards the young captain who stood stoutly in the centre. The Pelican Guard rushed forward to engage the 30-odd raiders who chose death over capture and humiliation of the few veterans, allowing the recruits to take centre stage while they looked on and intervened to save their lives if necessary after all the elites had already been exterminated or scattered so the chances of there being any more expert fighters were low.

This meant that these young raiders were perfect for training them up, as, unlike in some games, players would have to train their soldiers up from scratch. Though nobles would usually have officers to do this, it still took a lot of time and resources to create an elite army, which is why there were few nobles with a truly elite force and even fewer with one like the Pelican Guards that could go toe to toe with the guardians of kings and emperors.

Railius parried the attack of a raider using combat concentration to quickly use his free hand to grab the man's axe as he thrust his customised sharp sword through the raider's chest, piercing his heart only for a blow to strike him right on the head, his helmet taking the brunt of the blow as it was knocked off his head and clattered to the ground.

It showed to Railius once again that on the battlefield, your life could end at any moment, as his health was halved in an instant.

In only one single blow.

It was lucky that Railius's enemy did not have a sword as powerful or as well made as his; otherwise, he would have taken even more damage. After all, there was a reason why master fighters could cut through even plated knights with one swing of their deadly weapon of choice.

[5 mana had been lost]

[You have taken 25 damage]

Railius felt dizzy after being knocked on the head but felt an imminent danger. Rolling and dodging the follow-up strike aimed at his head, coming back to his senses, he saw a spear pierced into the chest of his attacker, who was quickly sent flying with a kick. Standing over the lord of Aurellion's kneeling form was Vegrif, who kept in a tight formation with the other Pelican Guards while Jordis and Norfaelor went on a rampage.

"My lord, for a person with such a strong strategic vision, you really need to learn to be more perceptive on the battlefield. You can lose your life in an instant, you know…."

 Vegrif scolded as a Pelican Guard next to him blocked a strike for him as they worked together with the others to keep each other safe.

"Thanks, Elen!"

Vegrif said to the man to his left, who had saved his life more than once today, that the two were becoming a good team. 

"See, my lord! Thanks to Elen here, I don't need to worry about my back or a surprise attack that I don't see coming."

"Oh, watch out, mate!"

Vegrif called out calmly, his spear incepting a strike that was aimed at Elen's throat, knocking a sword to the side. While the raiders were not the most experienced warriors in the world, they at least knew how to aim for someone's vitals.

In Dynasties Online, you could die from having one of your vitals destroyed or injured, even if you still had health, thanks to the game's realistic nature, making combat far different and more complicated than in an MMO or game where only health matters.

Out of all of Railius's 3 friends, it was Vegrif who had picked up the young lord's casual and calm mannerisms the most, as the other two could be rather impulsive at times.

The two sides clashed, and it did not take long for a victor to emerge. Within a few minutes, all the raiders were dead or unable to fight; the others that had surrendered were quickly cut down as the cries of death and pain could be heard for miles around.

The Pelican Guards trained like professional soldiers since they were young and, after many months of hunting bandits, worked together to ensure no one died as they slaughtered these young, passionate raiders from the icy east using all the experience they had gained over the last 6 months to survive and systematically slaughter their opponents.

As the battle finished, the ground began to shake, and the rumbling sound of iron-shod hooves washed through the looted village like a tide.

Armoured knights appeared, with a red dragon emblazoned on their surcoats and banners, as they rode towards the village. At their head was a middle-aged man in his mid-thirties. His sharp Violet eyes were relieved when he saw that his ships were fine but turned ruthless when he saw the dead raiders and the so-called caravan guards that had saved the villagers managed to dispose of 200 raiders without any casualties at all.

'So he has arrived, huh.'

Railius thought, looking at the middle-aged noble who rode down to the village centre.

'That corrupt baron….'

'So desperate to ensure he has no connection with these brigands.'