The sight of five Echo Lancers standing in perfect, silent formation was a power trip unlike anything Kaelen had ever imagined. The air in his ruined hall was thick with their cold, spectral presence, a silent promise of the force he now commanded.
The fear that had been a constant, gnawing rat in his gut was finally gone, replaced by a cold, sharp-edged ambition. He was done surviving. It was time to build an empire.
"Alright, team," Kaelen said, a grin touching his lips. It felt absurd to talk to them, but it also felt right. "New plan. You two," he pointed at the first two Lancers, "are on monster patrol. Kill anything that moves out there. You three are with me. We're going into the construction business."
The Lancers dipped their heads in perfect synchrony and moved to obey. His new construction crew formed a protective triangle around him as he turned his attention to his Lord's Hall.
His first priority was the [Phalanx Wall]. After a brief but intense emotional backlash from extracting an [Echo of a Soldier's Will] from a skeleton, he now had all the necessary components. He laid out the translucent blue blueprints for the first ten sections of the wall.
He assigned his three construction Lancers to the project, and the effect was instantaneous. The scattered rocks and rubble nearby flew into place as if yanked by invisible strings, the wall sections taking shape at a speed that would have taken him weeks to accomplish alone.
[Spectral unit assigned to construction. Construction speed +500%!]
"Five hundred percent..." Kaelen laughed, a giddy, slightly unhinged sound. "Of course. Why use your hands when you have ghosts?"
As the wall began to rise, a new System notification pinged, an invitation he'd been seeing but had so far ignored.
[System Alert: You have established the foundations of your territory! You now have full access to your regional network.]
[Please choose a Nickname to be displayed in the Regional Chat. This name will represent you to other Lords in your region and cannot be changed.]
[Nickname: ______________ ]
Kaelen thought for a moment. He could use his own name, but anonymity seemed wise. He looked at his glowing, translucent soldiers, then at the ghostly energy he was pulling from the very bones of the land. The choice was obvious.
He typed in his new identity: Spectral_Lord.
[Nickname 'Spectral_Lord' confirmed. Welcome, Lord Spectral_Lord.]
With his new moniker, he opened the chat log for the first time.
[Regional Chat - The Ashen Ring (Region 7)]
[Lords in Region: 10,000]
[Lords Active: 9,882]
Kaelen's eyes widened at the numbers. Over a hundred people in his region were already dead. Just two days in. The number 9,882 flickered, dropping to 9,881 right before his eyes. Another one gone. The reality of their situation was a cold, brutal slap.
The regional chat was buzzing with a nervous energy.
Stonemason_Dave: "Did anyone see what happened to 'Sunfire_King'?"
GreenThumb_Lila: "His name is greyed out. Just like 'BladeDancer'."
User-C4E1A: "No way! He was the A-Rank guy, right? He was just bragging an hour ago about how he was going to clear the monsters near his mountain."
Stonemason_Dave: "Yeah, him. Said his [Sunfire Blade] could one-shot anything. Guess he was wrong. He stepped outside his barrier and then... poof. Grey name."
GreenThumb_Lila: "This is terrifying. BladeDancer was the same. Said his Agility was so high nothing could touch him. He lasted maybe five minutes."
Kaelen felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. Arrogance was a death sentence here. These were Lords with powerful, high-rank talents, yet they were dead. They had underestimated the dangers outside their newbie bubbles. It was a sobering lesson. His own cautious, methodical approach wasn't cowardice; it was survival.
He refocused on his work, his new identity as the silent 'Spectral_Lord' a comfortable mask to wear while he built his power.
He walked the battlefield, his Lancer guards in tow, harvesting the echoes of will and weapons. It was during this grim work that he found something new. A particularly large skeleton, clearly a man of great stature in life, was clutching a small, tarnished silver cylinder.
The System pinged with a unique notification.
[System Alert: An unusually powerful Echo of Command has been detected!]
[This Echo is too strong to be a standard [Echo of a Soldier's Will].]
[You have discovered a unique material: [Echo of a Centurion's Command]!]
A centurion. An officer. This was a game-changer. His eyes darted to the scroll case clutched in the skeleton's hand. He carefully picked it up.
[System Alert: Unique Talent [Echoes of the Progenitor] has been triggered!]
[Resonating with 'Echo of the Commander's Last Order'...]
The tarnished silver flared with a brilliant light, restoring itself to a pristine, polished state, covered in intricate carvings of legionary eagles.
[The item [Tarnished Scroll Case] has been restored to its peak state: [Legionary Command Case]!]
[The Legionary Command Case has opened!]
[You have obtained [Tattered Battle Plans] x1!]
With trembling hands, Kaelen looked at the rolled-up leather parchment in his inventory. He focused his talent on it one more time.
[Resonating with 'Echo of a Forgotten Strategy'...]
[You have learned a new Lord Skill: [Formation: Testudo]!]
[Lord Skill: Formation: Testudo]
Effect: Order your shield-bearing infantry units to form an impenetrable, mobile fortress. Greatly increases resistance to all forms of ranged attack. Requires a designated Command unit to lead.
Kaelen stared at the screen, his mind buzzing. A Lord Skill. A legendary Roman formation. But it required a 'Command unit'. He looked from the skill description back to the skeleton of the Centurion, then to the unique [Echo of a Centurion's Command] material he had yet to claim.
It all clicked into place. He wasn't just building an army. He was rediscovering a lost legion, piece by piece.
A new message popped up in the regional chat, pulling him from his thoughts.
BeastSovereign: "The weak fall. It is the way of things. Sunfire_King was an arrogant fool. Those who wish to survive in region 7 join me. I have tamed a Manticore. None can stand against me."
Kaelen snorted at the arrogance. A Manticore sounded dangerous, but BeastSovereign's open declaration was the kind of hubris that got Lords like Sunfire_King killed. He filed the name away. A future rival, no doubt.
Closing the chat panel, He once again focused on his territory. he had work to do after all