A Faction of my Own

When I finally recovered enough to move again, A blue notification screen appeared in front of me.

[Your Path has finally opened, The Path of the Faction Leader.]

Everything hurt, with adrenaline no longer fueling me I couldn't keep my consciousness for much longer. With such good news how could I not force myself to continue?

[As per your path the following commands are now available: Unit List, Spawn Unit, Planned Building.]

What I needed was a companion of some kind, someone that could help me close of my wounds. A potion would also be useful but I was too poor to even buy one of those.

[Spawn Unit]

[Recognized. The following basic unit types are available: Worker, Scout and Infantry.]

None of them had anything involving healing. Though the three of them have variants, the Workers can have one of three things, a pickaxe, a shovel and an axe. The scouts can have one of two ranged options, a crossbow or a bow. While the Infantry had the most variants, Polearms, the Sword and Shield combo, maces and battleaxes.

"[Unit List] "

[Hero Unit]

Currently [0/1]

[Commander Unit]

Currently 0. Limit: [0/3]

[Basic Unit]

Currently 0. Limit: [0/15]

It's a report on how many of each class of unit I can have, based on the numbers one could guess that a commander unit should go with at least five basic units. Sort of like a hunting party. This is an assumption but it's a reasonable one.

"I'm still near the town so I need to prioritize getting out of here, Spawn Unit." I used the command word now, with a purpose.

I clicked on the icon for infantry this time around and a new screen welcomed me.

[Costs for summoning, At least three magic crystals required!]

A rare drop by the common monsters that I used to hunt, but with the body of ten demons nearby it was almost a guaranteed drop. Upon gutting a few of the corpses I found only seven magic crystals. My luck has always been a bit bad.

"That's enough for two of them, then a single unit would do for now."

I ended up summoning an infantry unit, he carried a mace and a round shield with him. With his help we managed to get out of that area without much trouble. We patched up my left arm but I was too injured to fight.

"Let's head east, we can live off of the river for a while."

The river was half a day away from the town of Rikport. I had four magic crystals to use and I still hadn't checked my third command due to how tired and beaten my body was.

But I had to check before nightfall so that I could at least strategize. "[Planned Building]"

[Recognized, the following structures are available: Small Headquarters, Training Facility, Barracks.]

[Small Headquarters]

Provides two additional basic unit slots, a building with two floors that can house up to five units. This structure also produces one basic unit every month. This building is a requirement to gain the [Spawn Hero] command.

Building Cost: 150 Lumber, 150 Stone

Build Time: Five Weeks ( one worker ) , Three Weeks ( Three Workers ) , One Week (Five or more workers)

[Training Facility]

Provides a training structure to upgrade your basic units into their tier 2 equivalents. Giving benefits such as internal energy usage and equipment upgrades.

Building Cost: 100 Lumber, 50 Stone

Build Time: Three Weeks (One Worker), One Week (Three Workers)

[Barracks]

Provides five additional basic unit slots, a building that can house up to fifteen units.

Building Cost: 75 Lumber, 75 Stone

Build Time: Three Weeks (One Worker), One Week (Three Workers)

[Note: Worker units are required in order to build these structures.]

" If we can hunt those hellhounds again then getting to three or four workers should be doable. Making just one worker now will make me wait at least three weeks for one of these and I don't think I need these buildings yet seeing as the current basic unit limit is fifteen." I told the macebearer.

"If that is your decision, then who am I to question it? My liege." 

'Man being treated like an important person is quite pleasant, if he's gonna act like I'm a king of some kind then why shouldn't I play the character?' I thought to myself before replying. "Indeed, then another combatant is needed, we will rest for tonight. Tomorrow we hunt."

---

Fighting on my own was a simple but hard ordeal, I hit and ran with the crossbow hoping to out maneuver them using the trees as my cover. The moment they get close I either rush in with a hatchet or wait until I can strike a fatal blow. That was how I survived as a hunter, but with the macebearer, Hidalgo as my shield-bashing tank. In theory I could use my crossbow with ease.

But with no crossbow bolts to my name anymore, I chose to instead go for a more hands-on sort of fighting style. The next unit that I spawned off of the unit list is another infantry unit, a halberd wielding individual named Klaye. With my hatchet and shield and the chainmail that they wore, we looked like a group of mercenaries. While my left arm was still barely functional, I could still use it to put up a shield.

We went right back to the area with the dead hounds, surrounding the clearing were a bunch of their kin. Pack-members looking for revenge, while I was still unfit for a long battle I could still hold my own.

Our formation was simple, Hidalgo and I used our shields and kept the hounds off of us while Klaye poked through their bodies with his halberd. While our formation and techniques weren't perfect it was still enough to push them back.

And I have to say that without a doubt, having allies by my side is a whole lot easier than hunting alone. I liked fighting head on.

Of course we took care not to gain attention from the more powerful demons within the town but the three of us were enough to hunt down a total of twenty-two hellhounds. Of which 17 magic crystals dropped, with the crystal that I had left it all adds up to eighteen crystals.

At the cost of three crystals for each unit, I could make a total of six units. This much was enough, Enough for me to start building my faction.