"My liege lord Duke Eirdun Muthrad is an enigma to most."
"Ostentatious yet devastatingly competent in his day."
"A skilled warrior and leader of men, he is best known for his close relationship with Raniar Lantier and his disdain for the court's conflicts and factional strife."
"Many said that his sharpness left him with age, that it had turned him senile, for he sat in his castle, hosting tourneys and feasts as Nathia descended into chaos around him and to the precipice of a war that would define it for decades to come."
"Oh, how wrong they were."
Harrison Palmer, the Australian player, The Sword Of The Morning, and head of House Palmyrion.
…..
Viscount Titus Palmyrion rode through the southern gate of Nartook fortress, taking in the ancient stone fortress for the first time in his life, accompanying his liege lord, Duke Eirdun Muthrad of Croxx, whose banner of a black leopard on a field of green, as he rode his pitch-black destrier at the front of the procession with the other vassal lords who decided to accompany the old duke in his bid to defend the realm.
The lords of Croxx had mustered 50,000 men for the defence of the realm and the coming storm of swords, all well-equipped either in plate or mail armour and each bearing a tabard with the heraldry of the noble house they served, a full muster with not a single noble house daring not to heed the call or withhold their troops due to the duchy lying on the fastest trade route between the northwest and northeast of the kingdom.
They were joined by 15,000 men sent from the Marquisate of Vardin and 5000 men from the County of Qinzeli, who had met up with Eridun's host as they made their way down the main kingsroad that linked the border fortress to the royal capital of Narthonia, having also contributed their full strength to this war as they brought the best their fiefdoms had to offer, with all being professional soldiers.
The three great nobles whose territories lay closest to Nartook Fortress and would suffer the most if it fell had come out in force, bringing 70,000 men to reinforce the Nathian forces, well aware that defeat in the coming siege would lead to their lands being raided at best and taken at worst, as no one thought that the Chavarians would be content with only Nartook Fortress.
No, as soon as the crucial border fortress fell, it would not be long before they found their own cities besieged or sacked, so these nobles, seeing the writing on the wall, were the most fervent in responding to the king's call to arms of the nobility.
But right now, Titus' mind was not on the reinforcement army that he was part of, but on the ancient Nathian Stronghold itself, and there was only one word that came to mind as he scanned and analysed its defences.
Impregnable.
Absolutely impregnable.
Never before had Tiber ever seen or imagined that stone walls could be so tall or thick and understood at a glance why the Chavarians had not conquered it despite sending huge armies south to besiege it.
It also made him feel a chill down his spine as he remembered that it only took 1 grandmaster strategist to make such a stronghold nearly collapse, as everyone had heard about the year-long siege led by Lucius Aurellion that nearly blew the Nathian defences right open.
And now they were facing 2 grandmaster strategists, not one.
What was worse was that, according to a few higher-ranking and talented Chavarian players, Amulius Lunaris was anything but an incompetent commander who, even after nearly 40 years of absence from the battlefield, had never had his edge dulled, only sheathed.
It made Titus wonder whether they had any hope of victory at all.
But there was no choice for Titus nor for many of the other Nathian players.
They had to fight, and they had to win. Otherwise, the powerful player organisations that even those backed by powerful corporations like Towering Tree and Boundless Beauty feared would descend on Nathia, leaving little room for them to survive.
It was the main reason, apart from the players' lust for power, that led to them gathering together to help the Nathian army keep the Chavarians out, as many players were still too weak even to bring the large empire to the negotiating table, for none of them was powerful or influential enough to warrant such treatment.
If they were old Nathian noble families with a long-storied history, or dukes who could bring peace to a large portion of the land, it would be different, but they were not, as most of these player organisations struggled to secure even a landless noble title, let alone a landed one.
Land was a precious commodity that only the most meritorious got granted.
And it was only through participating in wars like these that one had a chance of gaining such a prize.
As they entered the deepest part of the fortress, the central keep, standing at the centre of the stronghold, looked like 4 castles meshed together. A white-haired, wrinkled man stood surrounded by his subordinates, all veterans older than thirty with grim countenances dressed in plate armour.
It didn't take a genius to realise that they were to be met by the great general of Nathia himself, Ranier Lantier, the Grand Duke of Bundo, and arguably the man who holds the most military power in the entire kingdom.
He was the one who would hold the wall against the coming storm of war.
Titus dismounted a second after his liege lord and watched how his usually taciturn and cold man's eyes seemed to fill with mirth the moment they locked with Ranier's.
"Ranier, you old bastard, how long has it been…. what five years since I last saw you when you went down south to marry your daughter to his highness the crown prince."
Duke Eridun Muthrad said jovially, happy to see his old friends again, as the two had fought together in every war on the border for the last 30 years, making them old comrades with a deep bond of trust.
"Something like that, I see your belly has bulged a bit since the last war. Can you still wield a sword as you used to, or have you become nothing more than a big fat banner to rally around since the last time you fought on these walls?"
Ranier replied as he nodded down to the old Duke of Croxx's slightly bulging belly, though as Titius himself had personally witnessed, it had not impeded his martial prowess in any way.
And he had no doubt that he would witness it again in the masters competition, as the man was a quasi-grandmaster, not having the talent or luck to break through the bottleneck yet, but it did not make him any less deadly to all but the best fighters in the world.
It once again hammered home just how hard it was to become a grandmaster in Dynasties Online when a man who Titus could barely follow when he fights can't become one of the best in the world.
His goal is still a long way off.
"It's muscle, Ranier muscle, not fat!"
Duke Eridun waved away Ranier's comment while the Nathian great general merely raised an eyebrow, not believing his old friend in the slightest.
"Fine, maybe I let myself go a bit, but I promise you I'm still as formidable as ever."
Duke Eridun said sheepishly upon seeing Ranier's reaction.
"Anyway, that's not important at the moment. Tell me, are we in time for the Grand Melee?"
This was a question that Titus wanted to know too, as he was no ordinary NPC viscount; he was a player with the name The Sword Of The Morning, the strongest player in Nathia, and he wanted to earn that title by winning the grand melee, as he had a trump card that few knew about.
….
Starlight Swordmanship (expert specialised skill):
Description: A unique swordmanship based on the Nathian style, which can be as fast and varied as the shooting stars, relying primarily on speed to defeat enemies.
Effect: increase damage with swords by 60%.
Attack speed increased by 10%.
Enables Starlight Swordmanship active skills.
….
This was his trump card and the source of his confidence in winning the Grand Melee.
A specialised swordmanship skill.
Because Titus had never met any other player who was an expert fighter, he did not know how much better this skill was than regular expert-level swordsmanship, but from what he had heard from the few adepts that he had run into and comparing it to what his skill looked like when at the adept level, allowed him to know that his Starlight Swordsmanship at least increased damage by 5% more than his regular counterpart and considering that the attack speed increase rose by 5% between the levels of adept and expert this gap is only likily to widen.
Titus did not know the full extent of the differences between specialised and non-specialised skills; the only thing he knew was that it was likely that as the level of a skill rose, so too would the gap between them widen.
This did not surprise Titus as he had spent a lot of energy during the Dynasty History System fighting in battles personally to slowly increase not only his combat experience and power, but also inadvertently allowed him to create his own unique sword style, even having a manual to help others learn it if he let them.
Not that he would allow many others to learn this specialised skill, as it gave him a decisive advantage against his peers, with the only exceptions being NPCs that he knew were 100% loyal to him.
Due to this specialised skill and potential he had gained, the appreciation of his liege lord allowed him to rise through the Dynasty History System to the rank of Viscount, which he later found out was one level higher than most noble titles players could start with.
As a member of The Grand Nathian Alliance, he had been told by Protector Florant, their main contact within the Nathian court, that nearly 2 years ago, 5 nobles had lost their land and titles to the crown due to a multitude of crimes and to this day that land is still in the hands of the royal family and will likely be used as rewards if Nathia ended up winning this war.
This had even been subtly confirmed by King Luther, who used the seized land to dangle it before the Nathian nobility, hoping they would compete among themselves to contribute to the war in hopes of securing it.
This is because almost all the land that could be safely granted by the royal court was already granted to various noble houses so the only way now for people to become anything more than a landed knight or baron sworn to the royal family was for some nobles to have their land stripped from them for some reason or for Nathia to expand and grant the newly conquered land and then have this land given out as a reward for various deeds.
After all, if this war should fail, it would only take a few years for Chavaria to destroy Nathia, so this land would essentially be useless to them, because while powerful and old noble families may survive, newly established ones would almost certainly be replaced by those more loyal to the Chavarians.
"You are it will be starting in an hour, I take it, you have some young talents that want to test themselves against the best that the Nathian army has to offer."
Ranier said as he scanned the vassal lords and knights that Eirdun had brought with him.
This was no idle boast either, as everyone knew that the army that Ranier trained was the best in the whole kingdom due to the man's unrelenting training methods.
Let it never be said that army life under Ranier is comfortable.
"I do, Viscount Titus Palmyrion is 22 years old and though young, already has a unique, deadly, fast style. He intends to test himself in the Melee."
Duke Eridun said, gesturing towards Titus with pride on his face and in his voice.
"Oohh?"
Ranier raised an interested eyebrow as possessing a unique or specialised swordmanship was rare for someone so young, and indicated that he had lots of potential as his gaze settled on Titus, making him stiffen slightly as the Nathian great general seemed to analyse the young viscount, looking him up and down.
"I look forward to his performance. Shall we take this to my solar?"
Ranier said, giving a gesture of invitation to Eridun.
"No need, maybe once the Melee starts, I would prefer to watch some of your boys train, always good to know what kind of men I am going to be fighting alongside."
Eridun said as he made his way back towards the training ground, accompanied by his retinue, standing on a wall to get a better view and scanning the huge courtyard below where men sparred.
Titus joined him as he imagined that many of his future opponents would be down there, and he scanned every fight, trying to find those who could be a threat in the coming Grand Melee.
He was disappointed until he saw what appeared to be four friends sparring watched over by a much older man who was likely approaching 50.
Compared to the others he had seen, these four would be a threat.
Because they each showed a fighting style that was different from those that he had experienced so far, and at least two likely had specialised skills of their own.
One seemed to be a prodigy, his reflexes faster than any he had seen before, while another seemed to watch his opponents closely, always able to predict their next move.
Around them were a splattering of other fights, which were just as ferocious and skilled, though none of them possessed a specialised style of fighting, merely one that was different from any that he had seen before.
One that was stronger than the swordmanship taught in the Nathian army.
It made Titus wonder who had taught them, since this was no technique a master fighter would teach, as Titus had seen enough of them to know one.
No, this was at a higher level and so could only be taught by a grandmaster, meaning that those soldiers had a background and likely a powerful one at that, as not everyone has the capabilities to be taught by such a powerful existence.
It seemed there was going to be good sport in this Grand Melee after all.
…..
Eridun and Ranier stood alone on a balcony overlooking the grounds of the Grand Melee, which was connected to Ranier's personal chambers near the top of the imposing keep that stood at the centre of Nartook Fortress.
Though considering there were 100,000 entrants instead of one big clash of steel, there were several smaller clashes, with the sole survivor advancing to the next round.
Round 1 had each match feature 100 combatants, with the winner going to the next round.
Round 2 had 50 combatants per match, with the winner advancing to the next round.
Round 3 had the last 20 combatants fight each other in duels; each combatant would fight once, with a win granting 3 points, a draw 1, and a defeat 0.
"That's 5 in a row now."
Ranier said as he watched Titus beat down yet another opponent, able to see through every move and intention the young Viscount made.
"Yes, he's doing as well as expected."
Eridun replied with a smile, watching his vassals' matches with pride.
"Do you intend to remain neutral?"
Ranier asked as he watched a man known as Adrian press a halbard to his opponent's neck, forcing him to yield.
"Of course not, even I wanted to take the position of my duchy won't allow me to wait out the coming storm."
Eridun replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and didn't bother him in the slightest.
"Oh, so who are you going to support?"
Ranier asked, intrigued. They were alone on the balcony, the nearest man far outside earshot, allowing the two powerful lords to converse in privacy.
"Whoever you support, of course, unlike the others, I am not stupid enough to bet against the legendary 'King's Sword', though you will never see me shouting my loyalty to the heavens, let them think I can still be won over makes my life easier."
"Not that it won't stop me from fleecing the second prince for all his worth; better his coin comes my way instead of in the pocket of some arrogant twat who wouldn't spend a single gold on his people."
Eridun said with a slight smirk, drinking the last bit of wine from a goblet in his hand before he began spinning it in his hand.
"You always were one of the smarter lords."
Raniar complimented sincerely, as few could toe the line quite as adeptly as the Duke of Croxx.
"Still not smart enough to run away from this war and use my position to bargain with Chavaria, though."
Eridun chuckled self-deprecatingly as he tried to make light of their current terrible situation.
"As if that will stop the Chavarian emperor from framing you for one crime or another and taking your lands with how strategically positioned they are."
Ranier said with a sneer.
"I suppose that's true. When do you think Archtorius' vanguard will be here?"
Eridun asked, suddenly turning serious.
"Two days, three at most."
Ranier replied succinctly
"Do you think we have a chance?"
Eridun said with a sigh.
"We do Nartook Fortress is not so easily broken, and if all else fails, apparently a particularly talented young man has prepared a Hail Mary."