A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 463 Looking for Gold - Part 8

"Professor," Oliver asked, unable to hold the question back, despite the man being in the middle of an explanation. Professor Wyndon fixed him with a look over the top of his glasses that made his irritation obvious. "Does that mean this is a Blessing that it's possible to grow."

The man narrowed his eyes and waggled his finger. Was it the use of Oliver's word 'Blessing'? The other didn't seem to notice the oddity, and the man made sure to skip over it. "It is a connection," he said. "A connection with a God, a connection with an army, a connection with people.

I am stronger at this, because I have a greater connection with my God, and I have a greater connection to these pieces than Lady Blackthorn. I will not give away more secrets on it than that. The purpose of these Command lessons is for a student to feel what it means to Command, and to lead.

The connection to our preferred God is a mere augmentation of that – a manifestation of a noble's innate ability to lead."

Oliver noted that he gave the explanation to the entire class, not just to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that the professor didn't particularly like him. But that wasn't exactly new. Not many of the professors liked him.

Still, the information was useful. A relative connection to a God, rather than a distinct Blessing. What the hell did that mean? Verdant had hinted at something like that, as had Blackwell, but this was a physical testing of that mechanism, and the power it had.

He'd felt it when he commanded the villagers, that connection to them… Yes, a connection had been a good way of describing it. But surely it was more than that… Surely it had to do with what else was going on inside him as well.

The game played out, and the professor steadily and easily pressed his advantage over Blackthorn. It was less strategy, and more just a sheer show of force. Somehow, it seemed more like a real battle than the game Battle itself.

The number of troops that responded to an order varied across the game. Blackthorn's number that responded ranged between 3 and 5, with 3 being the most common, and 5 arising when she put a particular amount of force in her speech.

For the professor, if he wanted to, it seemed as though he could command more than a row of soldiers at a time. The speed and distance the men travelled was also a factor.

Oliver found out, as he listened, that this was a more sensitive student board, conditioned to respond to smaller levels of commanding power. Generals and high ranking military officers used pieces that were weighted heavier, needing more power to move them, lest the games would be over before they even began.

The professor ended his demonstration by slaying Blackthorn's general, though it had been clear for a while who the victor was likely to be. Oliver couldn't help itching to have a go himself.

"Last lecture I set you the task of increasing your own strength of command. I informed you of the influence that your number of retainers might have on the total amount of command you can muster, I also advised you to pick a God that you might beseech for their strength of command. Today, we will see the results of that work.

We will ensure that each student plays a match before the lesson is over," Professor Wyndon said, speaking his words with pomposity.

Oliver could hardly stand to listen any longer. He wanted to try it. It was hands down the most exciting thing that he'd seen since coming to the Academy. He wanted to see what the power of command held in store for him.

He wasn't doing a very good job at hiding that fact either. Aime actually smiled seeing his restlessness. Perhaps she thought it made him seem a little bit more human, to see that he could get excited just like everyone else.

"Do you want to go first, then Patrick?" She asked. Blackthorn had returned to her seat next to him. He shot a questioning glance, to see whether it would be fine. He assumed there was likely an order to these things, but as he glanced around at the rest of their table, no one else seemed likely to come forth. They were put off by his presence, and avoided meeting his eye.

"Sure, I'll go first then," Oliver said with a grin. The board had already been hefted onto the table, but the pieces still needed setting up. He decided to field purely the melee-based pieces. He wasn't sure how strong the archers would be, when soldiers could cross the board almost instantly, so he went without them, at least just to test, at first.

The dice were, rather anti-climatically, just normal dice. They were wooden blocks, with numbers carved on each side, just like the normal ones would be, and there was no way to use any sort of power to influence the roll.

He tapped his finger on the desk, having already set up his pieces, but still it seemed like no one else was willing to come force. Discover hidden content at empire

After several tense glances between the rest of the students on his table, Aime gave a tense smile, like she was the ambassador to the enemy, and started taking up pieces with a shaky hand, as though she was about to be sacrificed to a kraken. "Well, I suppose—"

"You're letting the commoner go first? He certainly has no manners. Though, I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less," Gargon strolled over. Oliver was under the impression that they were meant to be at their own tables – but a quick glance toward Gargon's revealed that a match was already well underway there. He'd apparently left, deeming it uninteresting. "I'm rather adept at this game, boy.

Would you do me the honour of letting me destroy you?"

He said that with such confidence that no self-respecting man would have dared decline.

"Are you not meant to be at your own table?" Oliver asked, hardly looking at him, making his contempt for the man obvious.

The Professor overheard their conversation. "There are no such rules against it. Healthy challenge amongst classmates is as good a way as any to promote Command potential, so, if anything, I would encourage it."

"Then do what you want, Gargon," Oliver said. "But be quick about it."