Transmigrated as a Ghost

With Roxene collected from her recent forest home, Marcus took to the air and began flying towards the main rebel base.

'Level twenty-one is pretty good. You must have worked pretty hard over these last couple months.' Marcus said, while making idle conversation with Roxene.

He had not had very much opportunity to talk with others in the last few weeks, and he was quite happy to have someone to converse with while flying.

After doing this for months on end, it had gotten supremely boring to be flying everywhere all the time, and even the beautiful views had begun to lose their luster.

He had tried calling Mrazivý and talking to her more often, but she was apparently exploring the deepest and most dangerous parts of the swamp and was unable to talk for long periods of time.

Still, she always made sure to keep their normal schedule of once every three days, and she made sure to get updates about the rebellion and Marcus' condition.

'Yeah, there were a few rough patches where I was on the back foot, but the beasts and monster of that forest underestimated me, and I turned the tables on them all. Though I must admit the level six magic skills you have shared with me were quite helpful.' Roxene said responding to Marcus.

The two of them then continued to talk in order to pass the time until they arrived back at the rebel's main base.

Once they entered inside the maze of tunnels that used to be the home of gargantuan rats, Marcus immediately noticed that things were livelier than ever.

Hundreds of people were moving with purpose through the large tunnel system, in droves far greater than Marcus had ever seen.

'Something big really must be happening.'

Seeing that things were quite serious, Marcus quickly made his way to the mithril tower that served as the meeting place for the rebellion's leadership.

On the way he made sure to contact Lyra, and she told him to hurry up since the meeting had already started around fifteen minutes ago.

"Stop there! The leaders are having a closed meeting right now and we have been instructed not to let anyone inside. If you have some business in the tower or with any of the captains, you will have to wait." One of the guards standing outside the tower said to Marcus as he approached.

Looking over the guards standing in front of the tower Marcus did not recognize any of them, and he assumed they also did not recognize him.

While he had gained quite a bit of notoriety at first, now that he had been spending copious amounts of time delivering supplies and the rebellion had grown exponentially, less people recognized his face.

Still, he simply pulled out he token that identified him as a captain of the rebel army, which had been awarded to him after the successful prison break.

Seeing this the four guards went looked a bit shocked, since they thought that all of the leaders were already inside.

"We are sorry captain Jed. You are free to enter." The lead guards said as he opened up the tower door for Marcus to enter.

Walking inside, Marcus saw that the normally bustling first floor was completely empty, not a single soul to be seen.

But he did hear voices coming from above, and quickly made his way to the top floor where the other rebel leaders had gathered.

When he entered the room, he noticed that there were twenty-six people gathered around the normal meeting table, which was far more than usual.

"I am saying that it is too rash for us to make this move right now. We would be risking millions of lives. What good is it to gain a victory if those we were hoping to help just end up dead." 

"No, I agree now is the time to stake our claim. We have built ourselves up and are able to challenge the kingdom now. If we delay, it could make things more challenging in the future."

As he moved to take his seat next to Lyra, a heated argument was already underway about what the rebel army's next move should be.

'Mind giving me a quick update?' Marcus asked to Lyra over telepathy.

He had no idea what the current argument was about, though it was obviously quite important.

'Sure. Right now, we are discussing whether it is time to stake our claim on some of the kingdom's territory and openly oppose them. Truthfully, I am not sure if it is a bad or a good idea. It has both its merits and its demerits. Also, they are currently trying to figure out which part of the kingdom would be most strategic to take over.' Lyra said apprising Marcus of the situation.

And just a few moments after he had arrived, Argus, who was now the second in command of the rebel army after gathering numerous achievements, starting with his successful raid of one the kingdom's adamantine mines, stood up to speak.

He had taken this position when Tesia stepped down and became more reserved, no longer wishing to be an active leader of the rebellion.

At least though she was still a member and would do her duty when asked to, but she was much more withdrawn now, far from how she used to be.

"I understand that some of you have concerns about facing the kingdom head on at this point, but now is the time Our forces are stronger than ever, and our men and women are ready to fight. The people suffer everyday that the king and the nobles that follow behind him like sheep rule. If we wait too long, the king may begin taking drastic action such as culling entire cities where civil unrest is prevalent. We need to make sure his attention is always on us, so this does not happen. That is why I purpose we make our new public base the Duchy of Augustyn."

Once Argus had finished announcing his plan he looked towards Lyra, as did many of the other rebel leaders.

This was because the region that Argus wanted the rebel army to claim was where her parents used to rule.

So, if Lyra came forward, she could claim her birthright and become the Duchess of her parents' former territory.

Of course, they would have to usurp the current ruler that had been put in charge by the royal family who was her cousin, but with the full backing of the rebel army this would be an easy feat.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Lyra stood up and said, "I would very much wish to take back my parent's legacy, but I do not wish to risk the lives of the citizens. There is no doubt in my mind that the kingdom will send a retaliatory force led by my master the moment we take over. If we were to engage in a full-blown war in the Augustyn Dutchy, it could be razed to the ground."

However, even after Lyra's objection, Argus was not willing to give up and said, "Would you rather allow your people to continue to suffer. They have been hit especially hard since your parents' deaths. It is also quite likely that the king in the not so near future may even use them as an example of what happens to dissenters, since the region is full of people that oppose the current king's rule. We should make the first move before the king does it for us.. You, Jadzia Augustyn, should take your rightful place not only the people of your dutchy, but the entire kingdom."