Some time had passed since I established the Dominia Empire. After going through the logistics of managing this new empire of mine and how we will grow and maintain it, I announced the new name I had come up for it. I had cheers for it, most of which came from Mordred and the orcs.

  After going through the most important part of establishing a new empire, the next steps were for the more boring but necessary stuff. Setting up the border lines, rebuilding the foundations of the citizen’s daily lives and improving them. There was little time for me to rest, but boy was I having fun with it!

  My new minions of course needed time to adjust to the new changes as well as having a kobold as their ruler. I’m quite sure they started to grow into the idea. Though I suspect that I had my title to thank for that…. tch…. [Tiny Tyrant] ….

  As much as I hate the name for the that damn title, it was too helpful for me not to use. I desperately needed to gain the approval of my new followers after all…. but did it really have to get them to see me as that moniker? I still find myself cringing whenever one of my citizens would call me that…. Got to learn to suck it up, I guess…

  That’s what I tell myself at least a I sighed in my head….

  Besides that, things have been progressing well for my empire. I did have a few problems to resolve like the left-over nobles that disagreed with my rule as well as managing my resources... It was a good thing I had my ability to determine who was a follower. I was able to pick them out rather easily because of it.

  Just a quick confrontation with them was all it took to snuff off any potential rebellion. They either properly accepted me as their ruler, or they left to parts unknown.

  I’m sure that those who left would try to exact their revenge in the future. Whether or not they succeed, I’m sure I could handle it. ~

  As for how I was going to handle our resources. I began encouraging more farming to help to increase our own food supply. I did make sure to continue regular hunts for those who are more carnivorous in diet. The hard part really was trying to keep my monster minions from over hunting them, both to keep the species from dwindling too quickly as well as allowing my human followers opportunities to hunt themselves.

  The next issue was about our financial situation. Sure, we had the large income stored in the pig king’s treasury. But we needed to be mindful in our use of it while we are still fresh, less we go bankrupt. To solve that issue, I allowed the humans access to my caverns that were rich with the regenerative supply of ores. We could use it to supply ourselves and potentially sell to others for them to use to craft either weapons or what else you would use metal for.

  And I still am working on building my monster/human relationship. I mean, there is honestly no need for me to do that considering I only need to worry if they listen to my orders or not. But my empire would shine stronger if my minions could cooperate better. It’s a good thing that after my conquest over the Mivtic kingdom and my ugh… [Tiny Tyrant] title… they are starting to get along.

  I would find the more battle-hardened monsters having friendly bouts with the soldiers, I of course made sure to remind the orcs not to go too far with their fights since all the other races can’t regenerate like they could. Many of the smaller fellow monsters have been taken to productive means through mining the infinite ores deposits as well as learning proper crafting skills from the humans in town. The blacksmith has a lot to teach them and hopefully it’ll lead to a growth in production.

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  Finally, the border expansion has been going smoothly. Most of my focus has been on creating as many of the key foundations we would need to hold up the border walls until my Mana ran out for the day. Opting to use stone as opposed to the wooden walls I used at my town; I’ll need to upgrade that once I finish with the outer walls. Funny enough, I only now learned the town’s name after the war with Mivtic kingdom ended. It turns out they’re called Greyston, relating to their neutral nature. I figured I wouldn’t need to rename that town.

  Besides my empire’s formation, on my off days I would continue my adventurer work as Dimir. I thought it would be a good idea to keep an adventurer persona to help keep tabs on the civilians up close as well as making some extra coin on my personal stash. So far, the only other people to find out my identity are my monster followers, Damian, the blacksmith, and the guild master.

  I was shocked when he just brought me over one day as Dimir and flat out told me he knew who I was. I didn’t know how he figured it out, but he did promise to keep my identity a secret. I suspect he did it mainly because he could benefit from having the ruler as one of his adventurers, which I’m fine with. If he wants to use me, I could use him too.

  I took the opportunity to kindly request that he personally train me; I still remember the intimidating nature he presented back then that makes it difficult for me to resist my instincts to flee. I tried once to Identify him only to get a bunch of question marks instead. Either something prevented me from properly using my ability on him or he was a much higher power than I anticipated! Either way I made a note not to piss him off in the future. I was glad that he was willing to take up my request to train me at least.

  “It is one of my duties as guild master to develop the growth of adventurers under my watch. Do you understand that ‘Dimir’?”

  I practically fled when he asked me that, his message was clear. He was only going to train ‘Dimir’ and not Vladimir. I didn’t try to push the matter further, feeling like I got more than enough with this arrangement. Since then whenever I finished my adventurer’s quest I would sneak into training with Otis. I didn’t want the other adventurers to know about it since it would arouse suspicion.

  Training with Otis was…. Well, it’s not like I’m any stranger in pushing my limits so I don’t have any complaints. I was just surprised over his Mastery of the sword; it made me wish I could peak into his [Abilities] and see how high his [Sword Mastery] rank is. Thanks to the training my own ranking to [Sword Mastery] had recently ranked up to D+.

  “If you worked really hard at it, you may find that your skills with the blade would forge into your own unique [Weapon Style].” Otis mentioned during one of the training sessions.

  “[Weapon Style]? What is that?” I asked curiously while I practiced my swings.

  He had us stop as he explained. “A [Weapon Style] is something an individual develops after their proficiency with a weapon has reached a certain point. They’re highly specialized and tend to suit the individual’s preferred way to fight. There are usually certain schools that focus on the development of certain styles, but others learned to create their own as well. Some take longer than others and even if you do reach that point it doesn’t guarantee you will gain one. For example, Damian is highly skilled with unharmed combat. Yet he hasn’t developed his own style. Though he has the potential of creating one. I can feel it”

  Intrigued, I placed a gloved finger close to my mask in thought. Damian is already strong as he is. Just imagine how strong he would be when does develop a [Weapon Style]. But what kind of style would [Unarmed Mastery] create exactly? I started to think back on my old worlds many martial arts style. Granted I never did give them enough research as I should have, just a few things I looked up on the internet.

  Not only that, but I also had to consider my own creation of a style. Would there even be a [Weapon Style] fit for a kobold like me? And if that is the case would my other fellow kobolds or even the rest of my monster followers develop one as well. This is something I’ll have to discuss with Damian to incorporate his training.

  “Veehahahahaha, the possibilities are endless. ~” I blurted out loud.

  Otis quickly picked up on that. “I see you’re in a good mood after hearing [Weapon Style]. Well let’s get back to your training now. I’m sure ‘Lord Vladimir’ has lots of work to do after all.”

  Veehahahahaha he’s right, there’s no rest for world conquerors. ~

  I’d find out soon enough, because not long afterwards I was greeted by a new group that were looking into the rumors of a monster ruling over humans.

  The faithful followers of the goddess of purity, Astrea.