Free Will

Third-Person PoV

Kingdom of Silvestria, Royal Palace

"Your majesty, the Auverians claim to preach for peace between our 2 nations, yet they continue to build up forces on our border. They might invade us soon, there's no doubt about it. They speak ill of us behind our backs and throw dirt upon the elfish race and your name, we must mobilise for war!" exclaimed one of the advisers of Queen Albina the Second, monarch of the Silvestrian kingdom. With her father and uncles dead from the previous war against the Auverians, Albina rose to the throne at the young age of 17 while gaining a deep hatred for humans. Now at age 18, she must lead her country through yet another war with the Auverians.

"Has our champion gotten accustomed to our world yet? We will need his magic to help us in our fight against the humans," she asked, calmly. "Yes, your majesty. The Champion has awakened her abilities and has begun to demonstrate some of his power. Her summoned knights have demonstrated their magical weapons, known as the 'Arquebus', a ranged magical weapon that has been shown to be more effective than our conventional bows. It seems to not rely on any runes or spells to fire its projectile, so it is most likely a Black Powder weapon." said the Grand Mage, the Silvestrian counterpart of the Auverian Grand Sorceress.

"Black Powder?" asked Albina, confused "I thought it was shown that it was long declared useless on the battlefield with Magic?" "I was confused as well, your majesty. The 'Arquebus' is inaccurate, and the black powder creates much heat and smoke. Furthermore, it takes a long time before it can be fired again. The Champion has explained that it can be fired in 'Volleys' to make it more effective. Nevertheless, I believe magic would be more effective than this magicless 'Musket'. Some of our best mages are studying it to see if magic can be applied to make it a much better weapon."

"Very well, how big of an army has the hero been able to summon?" she asked. "About 1,500 men. From available records, that's about average for a Champion after a month of magical training. The hero says that she will be able to summon 'Wyvern Bombers' soon. Apparently, her world has Wyverns that can carry explosives to drop on enemy cities and armies." replied the Grand Mage.

Queen Albina smiled. "Excellent, we can use them to destroy those disgusting human scum."

Jackson's PoV

South of the Auverian-Silvestrian Border

From what the scouts reported, we seemed to be located on a peninsula. There was no sign of civilisation for kilometres, but they reported sightings of humanoid creatures which could only be found in fantasy literature: Goblins. From what I knew from RPG games, Goblins were 'Bad Guy' creatures. But since the nearest Goblin settlement was more than 10 Kilometres away, I dismissed it as an immediate concern.

In the meantime, my summoned soldiers managed to set up a campsite in a clearing within the forest. With my 'Champion System', I summoned 3 tents, 1 'Officers Quarters' for me and the Lieutenant, another tent for the other 4 soldiers, and one more tent to put supplies and ammunition. I also managed to get a uniform for myself to change out of my old clothes, which were torn and dirty.

It was getting late so I decided to rest in the tent while Elina instructed the troops on guard duty shifts. In the tent were 2 folding beds and a wooden table which cost a mere 1 SP, I removed my holster and Webley Revolver and military cap and placed them on the table, then immediately lay down and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

A while after, I was awoken by the sound of someone entering the tent. Then I heard a female voice "Shit... I got mud on my damn uniform." I got up and rubbed my eyes "Lieutenant Becker? Is that you?"

I opened my eyes and found Elina halfway unbuttoning her uniform. We froze and stared at each other. I could see her blushing, but for some reason, she made no effort to cover herself up. "I-I'm sorry for stopping sir. I thought you were asleep. I-I'll continue," she said and she continued to unbutton her shirt.

"Wait! Wait! Hold the fuck up!" I exclaimed as I turned the other way before I got a glimpse of anything. "Sir?" she asked, confused. "Put your damn clothes on, then we'll talk!" I said, still facing the other way.

"Um... Yes sir." she buttoned up her shirt and put her cap back on. Then I turned back to face her. "First of all, sorry about looking. And second of all, what was that all about?" I asked. "You are my creator sir, you can do as you wish with me and the others, and we will not resist nor question you, sir." she replied, still confused "Did I do something wrong, sir?"

"Wait... you thought I was going to try and take advantage of you? What the hell? I'm not some kind of god! You guys are still living, sentient, human beings! Frankly, I'm quite surprised and shocked why you guys just blindly do what I ask you to without question."

"I don't understand sir. You have the power to do anything you wish to us. You can order us to commit suicide, and we will comply." she replied, even more confused.

"Look. I believe that all men are created equal. Just because you came from some 'System' doesn't make you my slave, or some prostitute. You have free will, you can have dreams and aspirations. Heck, if you said that you wanted to leave, I would let you. You're not just worth 10 SP, you're a human being for god's sake."

Elina just stared at me, stunned. I don't blame her. Her impression of her reason for existence was to serve some 'Champion' as an obedient, unquestioning slave. I sighed. "Look, just don't do anything like that next time, al-"

Bang Bang

I heard gunshots. Elina and I turned towards the entrance to the tent. I quickly grabbed my Webley Revolver from the table and stuffed a few extra rounds into my pocket and Lieutenant Becker drew her M1911 pistol and pointed it towards the entrance.

The female British Private named Matilda Sharpe rushed into the tent with her M1903 Springfield in her hands and saluted us. "Sir! Those goblins Corporal McAllister found from before are attacking the camp!" I quickly summoned an American Winchester Model 1912 Shotgun, also known as the infamous Trench Gun (Aka the War crime Stick), for myself and a German MP 18 Submachine gun for Lieutenant Becker. I had a hunch that it was going to be a CQC fight.

I led the 2 of them out of the tent to find the other 2 firing off roads into the woods, with about 8 dead Goblins lying on the ground with bullet holes in their foreheads and torsos. "Jesus Christ!" I couldn't help but yell "How many of them are there?" I ask the Corporal, who was loading another clip into his rifle. "There must be more than 30 of them sir!" he replied, firing off a round.

Suddenly, I heard a cackle and someone yell "They're in the trees!". I looked up and saw a goblin leaping towards me with a dagger in hand. Calming my nerves, I turned and cocked my Trench Gun and blasted the Goblin, his brains and guts spilling all over the place. My first kill.

"Mr Hawkins, sir! Are you alright?" asked Private Matilda. "God damn! Son of a bitch almost got me!" I exclaim. Seeing this, Lieutenant Becker fired her fully-automatic submachine gun into the trees, but since it was night, few of the shots hit anything as it was pitch dark.

We were getting overwhelmed. My troop's bolt actions couldn't hit much in this dark environment, no matter how effective they were. Two of the tents had already been overrun by the goblins. The 6 of us formed a defensive perimeter around the supply tent. I had to do something. I opened up the interface and saw my SP counter, more than 90. Firing off a burst from my Trench Gun I summoned reinforcements and some weaponry which if a modern general would know to be against the Geneva Convention if they were to see how I was using it. I summoned 7 more soldiers, including a combat medic. All armed with M1903 Springfields, but I got one thing that would be useful against our friends hiding in the trees: The Kleinflammenwerfer.

7 glowing silhouettes appeared and after a quick salute, got to work immediately, supporting the previously summoned troops. The density of the firing from our weapons intensified and the goblins were forced back. Once at a safe distance, the infantryman with the Flame Thrower prepared his weapon. What came next was absolute chaos. While we did kill off many of them and sent them on the run, we also created a little forest fire, which after the fight against the goblins, we now had to fight the fires. Luckily the lake was just nearby so I could summon a few buckets and a water pump. After 3 hours, everything was finally over.

The Next Day

I awoke in the supply tent lying on a foldable bed. I turned and saw Elina sleeping on another foldable bed on the other side of the tent, and another two soldiers sleeping on the ground. I opened the interface. The night before, after the battle, I got a notification from Viv, the Champion System, that I had reached Level 15 after my troops and I killed 45 goblins.

< Name: [Jackson Hawkins]

Age: 21

Level: 15 | SP Gain +15% | SP Capacity: 500

Champion Modifiers:

- [Student of History] (Research Speed +15%)

- [Military Affairs Expert] (Summoning Capacity +10%)

- [Magicless Earth] (0% Magic)

Champion Statistics:

Strength: 5/10 (Average)

Stamina: 4/10 (Below Average)

Leadership: 5.5/10 (Slightly Above Average | Spawn Capacity +10%)

Intelligence: 7.5/10 (Over Average | Research Speed +20% )

Magic: 0/10 (None | SP Gain +0% | SP Capacity +0% | Magic Permanently Locked)

Prestige: 0/10 (None | 0% Prestige boost)

Summoned Individuals:

12/270 (Summoning Capacity: Base 225 (Lvl 15), +10% (Leadership), +10% (Modifier))

Summoning points:

500/500 (SP Gain: 17/h | Base 15 | +15% (Lvl 15)) >

I was glad that I could summon more people and have more SP, but I was concerned about how slowly I was gaining SP. "Hey Viv, according to the window, I'm only gaining 17 SP an hour. Even if I don't summon anything for a whole day, I still won't be able to fully recover my SP."

< Usually, SP capacity and gain rely on your magical ability. However, since you do not have any magical ability at all, this puts you at a disadvantage behind other Champions. >

"Well is there anything I can do?"

< Well... There is one thing you could do. You can convert mana crystals into SP using the system. 500 Grams of mana crystals convert to 50 SP. >

"That much? Well, how can I find mana crystals?"

< Mana crystals are like other ores in the ground. There may be some untapped mana crystal deposits in the area since it seems largely untouched by civilisation. >

"I guess I should set up some infrastructure for now first... Then I can get some mining stuff."

I got out of bed and put on my cap and holster. I grabbed a loaf of bread and a can of coffee from one of the supply crates and walked out of the tent. It was still 5 AM, so there were only a few guards out on duty while the others slept. The fire from last night had created a larger open area, large enough for some buildings.

I took a sip of coffee and check the interface and navigated to the summoning tab. Under the 'Buildings' section, I chose to summon an HQ building, which had a barracks, so that my troops had somewhere to sleep. The HQ had a modern design instead of one from the Great War and was constructed with modern materials instead of wood. Inside the barracks were living quarters, a lounge for leisure activities, a small gym, and a few offices for officers. In addition, there was a tactical planning room, a supply room, an armoury, a bomb shelter, a few private living quarters, and other stuff.

The building surprisingly only cost about 90 SP to summon, so since I had 410 SP left, I decided to summon some more personnel.

I summoned 20 more infantrymen, including one with an M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and an M2 Browning Heavy Machinegun. Both weapons had a long service history within the American Armed forces.

I also spent 10 SP to summon a civilian Scientific Researcher. You see, in order to summon things like Tanks, Planes, and more advanced and complex stuff. It needs to be unlocked on the 'Research' tab. In order to do so, I needed some people to help me research it. I did have some buffs to help me unlock new technologies faster. I also realised that I can summon raw materials and parts, which would be cheaper in making vehicles and stuff compared to summoning them.

Once the 20 infantrymen were summoned, I had a team position the M2 on a machinegun post on the HQ building that overlooked the Eastern side. The rest of the troops I ordered to move supplies into the new building.

"Hi, I'm Researcher Davis Enrich. I am prepared to serve you in any way you need sir." said the researcher. "C'mon that just sounds wrong man. I appreciate your dedication to your job, but you're no slave and I'm no slave owner. Anyways, I need your help in researching this..."

Awhile Later

Kingdom of Auveria, Throne Room

The Grand Sorceress burst into the room. "Your majesty! I was able to receive the summoning relic early! This one is promising!" said Arianna. The King chucked "Excellent, excellent. Show him in then."

A blonde man of about age 19 was escorted into the room. Anyone, even if they did not have magic, could tell that he was a strong lightning magic user. He walked to the middle of the room and looked up at the king and spoke. "I, Theodorus Marsallas, am eternally grateful for this great opportunity."

The Auverians have a champion.

< Champion System Activated. >