Welcome to Hero of Rome, a litRPG historical fantasy set in Ancient Rome. If you’re new here, start the story in Chapter 1.
Enjoy the chapter!
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The cult of Emperor Elagabalus gains traction in the streets of Constantinople, with citizens and slaves strongly encouraged to worship him at temples dedicated to his rule and his new celestial patron, me, your enigmatic System. Attendance isn't mandatory, but it's highly recommended if you wish not to drown in the Tiber River.
I was glad it took us twenty days to reach the port city of Brundisium, just at the heel of Italy’s boot. The almost month-long journey, which was due to avoiding the main roads to not be detected, rugged terrain, resupplying at farmhouses, and almost running into several patrols, along with the two days it took for us to secure a crew and ship for our final mission once we arrived, gave me twenty two days to heal, prepare, and grow in power.
The night that we escaped the garrison, I decided to finally explore the Wisdom skill tree since I had finally gained another skill point. The Intelligence tree was more for battle on land and sea, more geared for commanding armies. I felt like an idiot for not investing in it sooner, especially Philosopher's Gain.
Art of Philosophy Tree: Wisdom
Stoic Resolve: lvl 1.
Reduces the impact of stress and chaos on decision-making by 10%, ensuring clearer judgment under pressure.
Universal Reasoning: lvl 1.
Boosts negotiation and persuasion effectiveness by 10%.
Philosopher's Gain: lvl 1.
Boosts glory gained from experiences by 1.5x, and always receive glory from any achievement (randomized glory removed).
lvl 2. Boosts glory gained from experiences by 2x.
Aurelian Discipline: lvl 1.
Increases your stamina and health regeneration by 1.5x (Every 6.6 seconds, regain 1 point for each).
It was an easy choice, especially since we were about to face two legendary monsters. While I wouldn’t increase my skills faster per se, it would make achieving more powerful skills easier by leveling up quicker. The more prepared the better.
Most of our time on the road consisted of horseback, but I was able to devote at least three hours a day to training, one in the morning, and two in the evening, giving me sixty-six hours to increase my power. Given my health was still low and my gear was pretty banged up from both the hideout’s desolation and the rescue of the garrison, I devoted a good amount of time to repairing my weapons and armor. For the other two-thirds of my time was split evenly between dueling practice and Titus’s favorite: stone runs.
Health (+220): lvl 7 (10/80)
Health now 110/110
Stamina (+230): lvl 10 (10/110)
Stamina now 140/140
Strength (+70): lvl 6 (50/70)
My rapid growth was only shadowed by my inability to progress my Historical Insight. It was frustrating being stuck at thirty-two seconds. Even thinking about it made me wince at the memory of Marcus being bashed to death.
It only fueled me to train harder to avenge him.
In all, I had increased in power considerably and was more confident than ever to challenge the monsters standing in the way of my masculinity. I almost couldn’t believe how much glory I had gained, along with my level in this world.
Level (+6): 17 (110/190)
Skill Points (+6): 6
Glory (+990): 1,780
Wealth (+1,210): 42,273 Denarii
It also gave me more time with Bulla and his eighteen surviving crew. Our near long month's travel together towards the coast gave me time to see Bulla and his bandits in a new light. After the night that Camilla shot Horatius for his attempted rape, I lost a serious amount of respect for Bulla and the bandits for their moral blight. It was and still remained inexcusable.
But now, after seeing and sharing the trauma we’ve been through together, along with many campfires hearing of their past lives, hopes, and dreams, I realized they were all deeply flawed, yet, deeply human, as every man and woman in history was. When I thought of my last normal night before Antiquitus, in which I satiated my own lusts but via a screen, I couldn’t find myself morally better than them at all.
In these revelations, I couldn’t help but ponder the meaning of one of Marcus’s quotes from his book Meditations.
“All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.”
Whatever he meant, I could feel that my mind was on the very cusp of understanding, but my present quest of restoring my masculinity crowded out and deeper reflections.
Once inside the bustling city of Brundisium, we found a ship and crew after what felt like endless searching. Almost everyone turned us down when they asked where we wanted to go. Even when I showed them I was willing to pay a premium, they were all afraid.
All except one.
The merchant Felix must have been desperate. His sea-blue eyes matching the colors of his ship’s sails were ringed red with stress. If I had to guess, he probably owed a lot of money to someone.
“And the horses,” he said, pointing to the nine steeds we captured.
“Fine,” I said, having already seen that he would agree.
The pepper-haired captain cursed before shaking my hand to the deal, motioning me and the rest of the bandits to follow as I informed the bandits to hand over the horses.
Charisma (+10): lvl 2 (0/30)
Glory (+30): 1,810
“It’ll take five days across the sea,” he said, mumbling something dark under his breath about dying. “We will drop you off at the island, but we won’t go to shore. We won’t wait long either. Pirates infest those waters.”
Wealth (-30,000): 12,273 Denarii
It hurt to watch my hard earned money disappear in a flash. My eyes flickered over to Bulla’s briefly, whose expression was wide with surprise at the large amount of denarii I had. Guilt panged my heart at having stolen from him.
But I saved his life, I thought, trying to suppress the feelings. After Camilla, I despised being betrayed. It felt healing to know that Bulla and I were even.
Felix snapped his fingers at his fifteen men, jostling them to their feet to get everything ready. When he told the crew where we were going, they paled, halting their preparations before he barked at them to not be cowards.
“You’ll get your pay, you fools,” he said, motioning us onto the ship. “Make sure the javelins are ready! Sextus, get these men some food, they looked bony.”
Once on the ship, Felix whipped out commands to get the ball rolling for the expedition. Supplies were loaded and in very little time the ship was departing from the crowded docks and sailing towards the Mediterranean Sea.
True to his word, Felix’s cook gave us all puls in bowls. I almost gagged on the somewhat fatty porridge. It tasted disgusting but it was all we were going to get for now. Bulla chuckled as he drained his, some of it catching in his beard.
“So, one drop of paralysis?” he said, licking his bowl clean.
“Unfortunately,” I said, putting my half-eaten bowl down and staring at the sea. I could hardly stomach the food despite its taste because of the growing fear I had in seeing Cetus burst from the waters to consume us. “But, how bad can it be? She can only turn us to stone, right? We can just close our eyes.”
Bulla grinned, shaking his head at my attempted humor to ease my stress. “Just don’t let her get to your head. She’s known to have seduced many with her honeyed tongue.”
All I could think of was the nest of snakes on her head. Not very seducing to me. “I’ll keep my eye out,” I said, grinning.
The rest of the five day trip across the Mediterranean was nerve wracking. The entire time I felt like I was being watched from the sea, regardless of whether the sun was out. This state of tension kept me too nervous to train or do anything else. What occupied my mind was the complexity of how to spend my skill points, of which I had six. On the fifth morning of our travel, as a storm gathered in the near distance, I had spent all of it, feeling mostly ready for the final battles ahead.
Aurelian Discipline: lvl 1.
Increases your stamina and health regeneration by 1.5x (Every 6.6 seconds, regain 1 point for each).
Evasion (+2): lvl 2. Increases running speed by an additional 10% (total 20%, to 9.6 mph). Running now depletes stamina by 0.9 points per second.
Sword (+1): lvl 3. Deal 30% more damage with any sword.
Pilum (+2): lvl 3.
Accuracy: 74%
Damage: 60 + base weapon damage
Range: 34 meters
Wealth (+275): 12,548 Denarii
A sudden shout disrupted my thoughts. One of the crew was pointing to something out in the waters. Everyone, myself included, rushed to the edge of the ship to glimpse the rather large island that emerged in the misty dawn.
Location Discovered: Medusa’s Lair
I took a deep, shaking breath. The end of my quest had begun.
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