A Guide to Kingdom Building

"They shouldn't have lied to you…" Oyue sighed. "That was really uncalled for."

"W-what do you…mean?" 132-X stood up and approached the goddess, "What do you mean by that? Who lied to me?!" He stomped his feet in frustration.

Oyue looked up and met his eyes filled with questions and confusion. "The High Council."

132-X felt sick just by hearing it. His heart dropped to his stomach as a goddess from an unchartered world knew about the council. 132-X grabbed Oyue by the shoulder and shook her hard as he could.

"How did you know about the Council?! Tell me!" 132-X hands became cold and clammy. "H-How did you know about that? Who are you?!"

Oyue grabbed his hands gently and laid them on the side of his hips. She stood up and looked at the blue sky.

"When you came to this world of Calamatis, part of your consciousness and power got snagged by the ley lines that was stitched across the sealed gate." Oyue looked back at him. "I control the ley lines of Calamatis, that's why I knew everything about you."

"Liar!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "I won't be lied to! I am—" 132-X paused in a sudden realization.

"Y-you mean those web-like things entangled to me during my jump were…" 132-X recalled how he got entangled with the lines.

"Ley lines." The goddess connected.

132-X sat down contemplating on the current situation was in. He wanted to wrap his head around everything that was unravelling in front of him. At the same time, there was still a hint of doubt left in him.

"I want to believe you…" he sighed. "I truly do, but this is just—I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders.

"You can't convince a bull to jump into the fire, unless you hit it hard enough that it gets startled." Oyue said.

132-X looked at her with widened eyes, "Stop doing that!"

The proverb the Moon goddess just spoke was a direct reference to his mentor Durg' ahkvan. A hulking warrior from his 8th incarnation who trained him in hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting. He wasn't the best of mentors 132-X knew at that point, but his wisdom was second to none.

The quote was something his mentor whipped up during his final exam. 132-X needed to slay a Bonnacon and he was hesitant about the entire ordeal. 132-X thought he still wasn't ready, but his master thought otherwise.

Oyue interrupted his train of thought and grabbed his arm, "Stand up, it's almost time."

"Time for what?" He asked.

"Just follow me." She insisted.

The town where 132-X formerly lived was a small yet bustling town. Small straw huts clustered together, and bamboo fences were a common site in that community. Oyue and 132-X walked past the busy streets where merchants and farmers towing their horses and water buffalos. Carts of rice, barrels of wine and chests of gold are dragged by the beasts in droves from the mountainous north to the seabound south.

The streets were congested with people seemingly flowing to and fro, walking from one side of town to the other. Luckily for the both of them, they wouldn't have to squeeze their way into the sweaty crowd. They passed their way through, avoiding the blistering heat and humidity of a jam-packed street.

They made their way into the busy main square, a wide-open area with merchant stalls scattered all over the place. The products they sell were of a huge variety, from textiles of the mountain tribes to the pearls and fishes of the seafolk. The items sold were from far and wide, with merchants ready to heckle their way to get an extra trade-off or two.

Beyond the noisy market square was the huge hall of the Datu. The huge engineering marvel was made from the same reeds and wood native to the area. The structure itself is a feat of its time. The wide and high roof was an impossible feat that few of the tribes tried to pull-off.

The infrastructure was gilded and was ornated with color patterns of flowers and crocodiles, a sign of power to the royal family.

"That���s where I lived!" He pointed.

"Come on, let's go inside." Oyue walked past the guards and entered massive infrastructure.

"I have never seen anything of such beauty!" The goddess exclaimed. "So primitive, yet so intricate!"

132-X thumped his chest, "Our craftsmen were ahead of its time! This is our masterpiece!"

As gorgeous and awe-inspiring the sight was, Oyue went back to her stoic persona. She walked around the vast bamboo floor and sat in the middle of the hall.

"W-what are you doing?" 132-X asked.

"Sitting." Oyue answered sparingly. "I suggest you do as well."

132-X sat down and waited in awkward silence.

A few moments later, 132-X's mimic appeared in the hall with a kamagong stick on one hand, and a wooden shield in the other. The sight of it excited him. 132-X looked longingly at the mimic as it bowed at the empty hall.

"Kaitas-ang Lihok Kalis Usa: Tang-a (Advanced Move Number 1: Scorpion)" 132-X whispered.

The mimic raised the shield on his left arm while thrusting the stick forward to a stab. The mimic swerved in the air as if an opponent was attacking him. He attempted to move forward only to shift backward at the last moment and raised the shield to this chest while performing an overhand stabbing motion.

132-X smiled in content as he saw how his mimic perfectly executed the move.

He smugly smiled to Oyue, "That was a complicated move."

Oyue just looked at him nodding.

"Adlaw-on? Adlaw-on?" a sweet and jolly voice filled the hallway.

"What is it, Pahiy-um?" The mimic sighed. "I told you to call me, Young Master!" He chastised the timid little girl.

"I-I…am sorry, Y-youn' 'Aster" The scared girl struggled to pronounce his title. "I-I…was looking for my Lolo."

132-X saw his mimic smirked.

"I saw your Lolo." The mimic twirled the stick. "I am about to tell my father, the Datu, about him disrespecting the heir! Like you, he didn't greet me properly so he must be punished.���

Oyue looked at 132-X intently.

132-X sat stiffly on the floor, unmoving and refusing to look at the goddess. Deep down he genuinely wanted to smack some sense into his mimic. He wanted to put some sense into his former self. The teachings he learned during his world travels would have been especially useful for his old self now.

"A hero huh?" Oyue rolled her eyes.

"W-well, every child can be foolish and…" he stammered. "…y-you know…c-childish!" he blushed.

Oyue never reacted nor answered his last statement. She went back to the scene and watched silently.

The poor girl balled her eyes out as she begged for the mimic to reconsider his complaint to his father. It was an established rule that the Maharlika should be treated with utter respect and any citizen showing disrespectful conduct towards them would be punished with their life.

132-X wanted to look away from such an uncomfortable scene. It made it more uncomfortable when suddenly the same memory came flashing through his mind. His mouth was ajar as his body shook in disbelief.

He put his head down and tried his best to ignore her pleads and cries.

The sobbing little girl grabbed his arm as she knelt and beg. The mimic tried to get away from the grip yanking his arm hard. Unfortunately, the girl's fingers got snagged with the pearl bracelet gifted to him by his mother. The bracelet snapped and the pearls scattered across the floor.

"Y-youn' M-mas—" Pahiyum's voice trembled as she saw the mimic's face contorted in anger.

Before she could pick-up the pearls, the mimic kicked her in the gut. The powerful kick echoed across the hall as her voice was silenced by the force of the kick.

A moment passed and the mimic kicked her again, this time on her back. The small girl whimpered in pain as he continued for some more. The mimic raised the stick and tried to strike the battered girl.

Seeing this, 132-X ran towards them and tried to tackle the mimic away from the girl, unfortunately he simply passed through him. As the stick was about to hit the poor Pahiyum, her brother, Bagyon was just at the nick of time to parry the weapon away from her.

"BAGYON?! What are you doing here?!" the seething mimic pointed the stick at him. "Y-you dare defend your sister?!"

"Young Master," he said calmly, "My sister has had enough. Punish me instead, please."

The memories began rushing into 132-X once more, he remembered the next scenario vividly.

"I would ask him to fight me." He whispered to himself.

After another round of conversation and pleading by Bagyon, the mimic finally decided on what he wanted to do.

"Very well, Bagyon." His mimic sighed. "I shall forgive your Lolo and sister, if you can defeat me in Kali!"

The mimic was confident, and 132-X knew that. He mastered the first advanced move of their fighting art and knew better than anyone that he could truly outmatch Bagyon.

Bagyon however, was not fazed. He nodded at him and even knelt for a proper respectful gesture towards the mimic. 132-X's mimic took a rattan stick and flung it towards him.

"Use that." He pointed at the rattan rolling towards Bagyon's feet. "Let's see if your skill truly is worth the fame I heard so much."

Bagyon picked up the stick and began their brutal dance. Each boy was able to evade the obvious blows they threw at each other. The mimic at the advantage due to the shield he carried that gave him extra protection from the blows. But Bagyon never lost a step as well, swerving left and right becoming more illusive and agile as they continued.

Unfortunately for the mimic, it made one wrong move after the other as his frustration grew from Bagyon's shear skill. Desperate to land a strike on his opponent, 132-X's mimic tried to perform the first Tang-a move set only to be parried and countered by the agile fighter.

Bagyon lunged swiftly to his left side leaving a huge gap of space for him to move and perform his counter. In one single motion, Bagyon encircled around the mimic and as he was about to face him, he landed a wide spinning slash that hit the mimic right on the temple.

The sound of the stick hitting his temple echoed around the hall. The mimic dropped horribly to the bamboo floor, and just like that the mimic was no longer moving.

132-X's heart fell to his stomach. He knew what that motionless body meant. His eyes widened in awe and fear at the same time.

Not a moment past Pangan-ud entered the hall to his shock. Bagyon stood in front of the motionless body of his young master with a bloody rattan stick on hand.

The old man frantically checked for the mimic's pulse. Pangan-ud's face paled in terror as he soon realized his master was no longer alive.

He grabbed the stick from his grandson's hand and pushed him away so hard he fell to the floor.

"Never speak of this! Tell them it was me who did it!" Pangan-ud said as he heard footsteps running towards them.

"I am sorry, Young Master." The old man whispered as he hit him with the stick once more.

132-X was horrified upon seeing the scene unfold. He looked at Oyue and saw her stand up from the middle of the hall and walked towards him.

"You died a child, Adlaw-on."

"T-that can't be!" 132-X panicked. "I-I was a warrior when I—"

Suddenly a ray of golden light came flashing from the heavens and they saw the mimic's soul ascend.

Oyue stepped into the golden light, "This is our ride. Come."