Devourer

Chapter 174: Daily Life in the Empire

Arias groaned as he stretched his aching muscles. The training he had been undergoing the past few months has been extreme, to say the least. An entire magical facility was created for them to train. Although it was tough, it was well worth it. The pay was excellent, with him being paid a gold coin a day, which means he could buy a small villa in a year. If he saved up he might even be able to buy a home in the inner walls of the Capital.

Plus he has noticed his body was changing. They were feeding him alot of supplements, which ranged from potions to this strange paste. At first he was hesitant, but he soon realised what the supplements were for. He used to be rather small and lanky, at least relative to other soldiers. He was fit relative to the average person, but compared to the hulking men who walked around in full plate, he was on the small side.

Yet now, amazingly, he had grown almost ten centimetres and was now broad-shouldered with large, rippling muscles. Arias was past the age where he would grow, so his growing so much in a matter of months was quite alarming. It wasn’t just his frame and muscles his bones seemed to have been toughened as well. He could now kick an iron bar with enough force to bend it.

The last improvement was well… in his pants and something his wife enjoyed very much…

His wife Junie was quite happy with the changes that he had undergone. Yes, she was concerned with the changes and any health implications, but judging by how much she flushed when she ran her hand across Arias’s muscular chest, she was still enjoying the perks.

His nighttime activities with Junie had become a lot more enjoyable for both of them. During their time together, it was difficult at times to remember that Junie was a Priestess.

As Arias groaned he looked over to his side and saw the sleeping form of Junie. The covers were slightly pulled off, revealing her slender exposed back. Arias watched as she stirred and rolled over revealing her modest chest.

“Good morning honey.” Junie said as her eyes wandered over his muscled frame, and he saw her face go slightly pink.

“Hey beautiful.” Arias said as he leaned forward and the two shared a tender kiss. What was tender became passionate, and soon they were at it again. This had become a regular thing every weekend, he spent so much time away that he found his mind on his wife most of the week when he was at the base.

Junie herself had no complaints about the attention, especially since the two of them were trying to have a baby. Eventually, Arias groaned as he deposited his latest attempt at a child in his shuddering wife. Then they both collapsed sweaty and spent onto the bed in a tangle of limbs.

They took a moment to recover before he saw Junie roll over and crawl ontop of him, pressing her sweaty and soft body against his. Arias grabbed her waist and pulled her up slighlty so that their faces were just centimeters apart.

“What do you want to do today?” Arias asked as he ran his hand along Junie’s slender and delicate frame.

“Maybe we could head to the market. I was thinking of getting something to pretty up the house.” Junie said as she ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

“Sure.” Arias said as Junie leaned in and pecked him on the lips.

“What do you have in mind?” Arias asked as soon as they separated, and as Junie shifted ontop of him the sensation of her soft body against his started to excite him again.

“Well, I was thinking of getting a larger bed for starters.” Junie replied coyly as her thigh brushed up against something hard.

“Then we should get started, it’ll take awhile to get the order settled. We could also look around, it’s been awhile since we went on a date.” Arias said, and Junie scooched down his body until he could feel the heat of her privates against his.

“We could go a little later.” Junie said. She let out a shuddering sigh as she took Arias into herself again. Arias groaned as he felt her envelop him and grabbed her hips as she began to grind her hips.

Arias grabbed her hips and started to pull her up and down, much to her delight. “Ahhh, you get better every week…” Junie moaned wetly as she eagerly bounced. With all the sensations he could barely squeeze out a response. Barely…

I guess we can… go later…

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Arias held Junie’s hand as they walked out of the carpenter shop after ordering a larger bed. The two of them decided to take a walk to the speaker’s square to see what was going on in the city. Both Arias and Junie have been rather busy with their respective jobs so they haven’t exactly been up to date on what has been going on.

The war with the Vampires was almost six months ago and from what the criers were shouting a military alliance has been signed with the Mugumman’s and the Naga.

“The strong grow stronger…” Arias mused as he watched the crier announce the news.

“The Empire grows more secure with each passing day. Perhaps the Empire can be the herald of a better world.” Junie commented as they walked past a pair of Vampires who were talking about the new announcement.

“An excellent strategy by her grace, with this, the alliance grows. Now Heaven cannot hope to win a quick victory.” the first vampire said.

“But that has always been true. This alliance also signals a cooperative relationship with that Great Serpent.” the second vampire said.

“Yes, but what surprises me is that Serchax is willing to give up her blood feud with the Seraphim.” the first vampire said.

“The ancients are hard to predict. I am not surprised if she has a plan a few centuries down the road.” the second vampire replied.

Arias moved past them and spotted a pair of dwarves drinking by a road side pub. It was one o’clock in the afternoon but they were already drinking. But as an old dwarven saying goes, “it’s happy hour somewhere in the world”.

“Ah those damned lizards don’t know how to appreciate good workmanship.” the first dwarf said.

“They just came out of a Black Crusade they aren’t exactly rolling in gold.” the second dwarf replied dryly.

“So what they just buy massed produced crap?” the first dwarf spat as he took another hard swig of whatever concoction he was drinking.

“Well yeah, it’s all they can afford.” the second dwarf said patiently.

“Bah, you either buy the good stuff or you don’t buy it at all.” the first dwarf said as he finished his tankard. The bartender was already standing there pitcher in hand. Arias watched as he filled the tankard with a look of amusement on his face.

“You’re just upset that they didn’t buy it from you.” the second dwarf replied, his tankard still untouched on the bar.

“Shut your hole and why aren’t you drinking?” the first dwarf demanded.

“I would actually like to get something done during the rest of the day.” the second dwarf replied dryly.

Arias chuckled as he pulled Junie through the crowded market.

They continued heading through the crowded market and he saw many of the different races mingling and chatting. He even saw a few elves bartering with Zarimans.

It was common knowledge that the Elves loved their food, and Zariman spices were getting really popular all throughout the Empire. There were even some rumours that this may become a problem thanks to the surging prices of spices. If spices were so profitable, farmers might just decide to grow spices instead of food. Which of course would cause problems with the food supply, but knowing the Empress she would probably have something already planned out.

When Arias walked past the spice merchant he overheard the elves arguing about the price but the Zariman just pointed a magic slate that displayed the average of price of spice in the city. There was even the Averlon Trade Ministry stamp on the slate as proof of authenticity.

“They really do account for everything, don’t they?” Junie said as they both looked at the magical slate.

“Yeah, no wonder everything runs so well.” Arias said as he walked past the elf that was begrudgingly taking out the coins.

When they finally got to the Speaker’s Square, he saw two Wardens guarding it. They were wearing the latest Magitech Power Armour. It was this hulking armour filled with magical machinery that enhanced the durability, speed and strength of the wearer. This was a new set of equipment that had been rolled out.

Arias himself would one day find himself in one of these armoured suits. Once he completed his training, he would be placed within special companies of 100 troops. Arias himself had performed well enough in training that he had been placed the honoured 1st Company of the Royal Tactical Marines 1st Cohort.

Strategically they were to be used in all types of terrians in special operations or as heavy shock infantry. Ten companies made a Cohort and there were to be five Cohorts per standing army. Each of the set of five cohorts which comprised of 5000 Tactical Marines would form a legion. So Arias’s unit was to be deployed directly under General Montis. His unit would answer only to General Montis and they would be deployed in the most important of roles in a battle. The other legion would be commanded by General Ordias Derenge who commanded the forces of the west which included Zarima and Necoronas.

From what he has heard the Vampires and Zarimans have a different type of Power Armour to fit their respective physical traits with a slight difference in organisation. He had never seen these new armour types but he was sure he would see one soon.

Apparently at the end of his training he would undergo implantations that would boost his power further. The Wardens have apparently gone through this process which was why they now stood almost three meters tall in full armour.

Each armour was apparently custom made for each individual and each was a master crafted piece of equipment. From the sales pitch the officers were bragging about in the base each armour was apparently made through a collaborative effort that includes Human Istland Enchanters, Dwarven Ironhammer Royal Forge Smiths, Zariman Gold Legion Aritificers and Vampire Blood Knight Signifiers.

Arias remembering when one recruit asked what the Volerians were doing, the officer replied “Who the fuck do you think is training you?” In all fairness, the officers had a point, Volerians were always better in melee combat than Elysians, not counting the Wardens, of course.

But there was one point of concern for Arias, it was that although Junie seemed to be “enjoying” the changes in his body, she was still a rather small and petite woman. At times he was actually worried he would hurt her. Although it was concerning that Junie seemed to be more excited about their nighttime activities, the stronger he got. She was also seeming more possessive, but that was probably because more and more women were giving him looks.

Like even as they walked through the door into the Speaker’s Square he saw a few young women give him looks. Junie, noticing this, switched from holding his hand to latching onto his arm… very firmly…

This didn’t change even when they sat down. So Arias just resigned himself to his wife clutching his arm tightly as they listened to the speaker. He didn’t mind, of course, he loved the feeling of his wife’s touch so this was a win in his books.

The speaker was a member of the Church of Unity. The Speaker’s Square allows speakers to address their concerns and advocate for whatever cause they desire. But the audience can also challenge the speakers. It was a new idea started by the Empress, in her words, “If your idea can’t stand up to scrutiny, it’s not a very good idea.”.

Arias sat as he listened to the speaker from the Church of Unity speak on lending aid to Zarima. Although it has been half a year since Zarima joined the empire they were still easily the poorest region in the empire. The reason was quite simple, the Zarimans were semi-autonomous, but with that right of autonomy, they have been highly resistant to the hive having a presence in their land.

Arias could empathise to an extent, the Zarimans have battled the forces of Armazaftund Hives for millennia. So, the presence of a hive far more potent than the Armazaftund walking thier streets would be naturally unsettling.

Still, their resistance to the Great Beast’s hive was naturally causing problems. Although their lives were getting better, the other parts of the empire were simply outpacing Zarima. Life was fundamentally competition, after all. If you get out competed things do not end well for you.

The speaker from the Church of Unity finished his piece and then came the questions and counterarguments from the crowd.

The first one was the most natural question to be asked.

“Why should we give our hard-earned gold to them? They chose to disallow the hive to aid them. We had to take a leap of faith with no guarantees, they can just take a look at us and see the results.” one member of the audience asked.

“To us, the hives were a distant memory, but to the Zarimans they have battled the Armazaftund for millennia. The old wounds run deep in their culture, they have a saying in the Draconian tongue, Armazaft Restarq. It means, ‘the terror below take you’. It is a phrase that is only used in situations of utmost contempt.” the speaker replied.

“So how exactly would giving them coin resolve this issue?” another member of the audience asked. From what Arias could see this one looked like a merchant.

“It would show them the fruits of our labour. It would show them the prosperity that could be achieved. The Zarimans are an insular culture, they do not take kindly to outsiders. So a show of good faith would be a good first step.” the speaker replied.

“That is indeed true, but the Zarimans are gaining wealth, or at least some of them are. Zariman spices are fetching high prices we predict a wealth disparity in the near future. Some of them have started to be called Spice Lords.” the merchant said as he crossed his fingers.

“A blind donation would only serve to enrich the rich further, the poor would remain largely in the same situation without opportunities that allow for social mobility. Even my own caravans are inundated with offers from Zariman warriors to be guards since the merchant guilds from the capital pay so much more than local guilds.” the merchants said.

To that question, the speaker had no reply, looks like it’s back to the drawing board for this idea. Arias shifted his gaze to the small team of Imperial Scribes furiously taking notes at the side of the square. Arias would bet his left arm the state partly approved this forum to get ideas.

The Empress and the Great Beast always win in the end. A good example of this was that the biggest and most famous red light district entertainment establishment in the Empire belongs to none other than the Royal Family. They call it the Casino Royale, a place of power and chance or a palace of lies and sin, depending on who you ask.

Arias went once, and in all its irony, this place of sin and debauchery was probably the most honest representation of the ideology that governs this resplendent Empire. Anyone can succeed, fate is equal yet the Empress and the Great Beast always wins.

He can still hear their little jingle in his head when he thinks about that place…

Take a chance, and you can win it all

High risk and high reward, but it’s the final call

The wheel of fate starts to spin

But remember the House Always Wins…