Conquest of the Dark Lord

Chapter 6: Elise's Training Begins (Part 1)

It was just before the dawn of a new day when Andromedis awoke from his slumber and sat up in his bed. As he looked out his window at the dark silhouettes of giant trees outside, he couldn't help but reflect on the past day's events. How he started out in his own world sitting on his throne, then meeting the gods, getting sent here, and finally, the bandits. He sighed, looking at his hands.

"I lost a significant amount of power when I got sent to this world," he thought. "I will have to work my hardest to rebuild it fully." He clenched and unclenched his fists. "My estimates of the power I lost, place it at a 50% decrease, but it could very well be more."

He pushed his covers off himself and got up. He took a few steps towards the window and leaned against it, wearing nothing but pants and undergarments.

"I sure do wonder though...," he said wistfully. "How well my army is faring without me." He smiled, looking up at the night sky. "Well... they earned their rest after my decade long conquest. They're probably sipping Piña coladas on Schenza Beach."

He pushed open the window and let the cool night air blow in, calming himself. He stood there, motionless for a couple of minutes, and after realizing how long he had been standing there, he backed up and sat on his bed while several thoughts whirled around in his brain.

"I need more information on this world I'm in- I need to rebuild my power- will I ever get to go back to my original world?- I wonder how strong this Riptiscule is at full power- I wonder if the gods will try anything while I'm as weak as I am now." Then an idea struck him, and he held out his hand which caused the corpses of the twin bandits from the previous night to appear.

"If I'm going to rebuild my power," he said, standing up. "I might as well start now." He grasped the twin's arms streaks of blue light which had streaks of icy blue and yellow within it traveled up his outstretched arms.

After this scene persisted for around 6 seconds, the streaks of light dissipated, and the two corpses turned to dust. Andromedis rose up to full height and began to stretch.

"Oh boy," he said. "I haven't felt this refreshed from draining someone's magic since hero #15." He glanced at his hands and said, "Maybe I lost more magic than I originally thought." He rolled his shoulders. "My shoulders feel heavier though. I wonder why." He shrugged. "Maybe it's because I haven't seen my chiropractor in quite a while. Rodrigo was good at what he did."

He glanced out the window at the sun peeking through the tree line and noted, "I doubt I'll be able to get back to sleep, so I might as well see if Elise has any books lying around that provide information about this world." He opened the door and stepped into the dark hallway.

"And while I'm at it," he noted. "I should do some renovation." And with that, he walked down the stairs to hopefully find some intel.

***

Elise awoke to daylight streaming through her window, Illuminating her room. She sat up in bed and yawned, stretching her arms.

It was then that she noticed a delicious smell which she assumed was coming from the kitchen and groggily got up. Her stomach rumbled as she shambled towards the door. Once she was in the hallway, se headed in the direction of the kitchen. Per Andromedis's suggestion, the door leading from the kitchen to the main stairwell was removed and Elise saw inside the kitchen before she had truly entered it.

Andromedis was standing in front of the fire, stirring a large pot of stew while he wore a black apron and a silver headband that matched his hair. Behind him on the table was a fine set of cutleries which looked much more lavish than the wooden spoons, forks and knives Elise was accustomed to. Also on the table was plenty of food, most of which Elise had never seen before. In the brick stove in the corner, a fire was blazing with 6 loaves of bread baking within.