บท 67: Dwarven Ore
By the time the battle concluded, the setting sun cast a bright orange on the sky. Just below it were the ever-floating white clouds, which seemed to be growing darker.
The orange light caused long shadows, round about the white tents pitched at the main gates of Bashan city.
Soldiers clad in armor sat in circles, eating and chatting while some patrolled the outskirts of the city to make sure no one was able to leave.
Even the farmlands had been abandoned for fear of being killed by the Ashbourne soldiers.
Only a few soldiers in the Silver Wolf Infantry and Desolate Slayers Infantry lost their lives, while many of them were wounded.
Because of the Desolate Slayers, the pressure on the Silver Wolf Infantry was reduced, cutting down the army's losses.
In turn, since the Silver Wolf Infantry had shields, they protected the Desolate Slayers.
In the lord's tent, Asher sat down with Beowulf's twin great axes on his table, Gath's mountain cleaver and the crimson lance of the chief of Gad.
With him were Katarina, Eritrea, and Lambert. The others were resting after being attended to by the physician.
"Beowulf's axes are diamond-ranked weapons. They're too exquisite to be forged by barbarian blacksmiths."
Eritrea ran her fingers through one axe's handle and lifted up her head. "They're dwarven forged."
Katarina smiled.
"Dwarven forged?" Asher raised an eyebrow. He lifted up one axe and examined the design more thoroughly.
Indeed, they weren't forged by humans; no wonder they could stand a chance against Alex and Alec's sacred-ranked weapons and only have chipped parts.
Normally, such an intense battle should have broken the axe or at least destroyed the blades.
"She's right. Those axes are from the old dwarven ruins found by the big clans centuries ago, the same for the armor. They're not made from steel but dwarven ore."
Upon hearing that, Asher took his sword and swung it down on the axe.
Clang!
His sword had a chip!
Seeing this, he knew what Katarina saw in her dream was the truth. He would have been a corpse if he fought against Beowulf with his sword.
Turning, he attacked the armor, and the sounds made him frown.
"It's not made entirely out of dwarven ore like the axe."
"You can send it to the blacksmiths to forge you great armor. I believe the amount of dwarven ore smelted to forge these axes should be enough to forge all parts of your armor." Eritrea looked into Asher's eyes.
She could already imagine her lord looking more valiant in a knight suit of armor.
"One of these great axes weighs over 1500 kg; it should be enough dwarven ore to forge a full suit of armor and a better sword."
Katarina suggested.
All while they encouraged Asher to forge armor, Lambert studied the 8 and a half-foot long lance.
The main part was dark scarlet and it had a black handle.
"It's for you. I shall award you this great weapon for your achievements in leading your men with the aid of Eritrea and her troops to annihilate those beastsmen. First, give me your lance."
Asher quickly merged both lances and it became a 9-foot-long lance with two sharp edges. One at the end of the handle and the other at the tip of the lance.
It also became a diamond-ranked weapon right before the eyes of others.
"Who shall we give the cleaver?" Asher moved on while Lambert was still agape at the treasured weapon in his hands.
"I suggest we give it to a captain of General Adam's group."
Eritrea said and Katarina nodded.
"I'll keep it to reward a great deed. As for now, the Desolate Slayers just increased in rank and that's enough for the time being."
Asher rejected their proposal.
.....
The next morning, "Your Lordship! News from Bashan elders!"
Asher walked out of the tent with knit brows and a hurried pace.
The sun had hid itself from the world, and the moons hid behind the clouds, encasing the world in darkness.
He expected to see the messenger but what he saw was the captains of Beowulf's army with flame torches and their households paying obeisance to him.
"We surrender."
Had Asher rushed in with his men, they would have fought to their last breath with the hope of winning but instead Asher surrounded them, cut off means of transport, cut off their access to their farms and livestock and kept everyone in fear.
After hours, the elders succumbed to pressure and decided to come and surrender to Asher. After all, he did kill their chief.
[Conquer all the Bashan clans in seven days. (1/1)]
[Reward unlocked.]
[Host, you can fuse all the clans and villages together to become a great city.]
[Ding! Would the host like to upgrade the Bashan clans to become Ashkelon, the great city of Centraks! Yes or No?]
After a brief talk, Asher went to the head chief's tent and a notification popped up in his retina.
[Host, shall I begin?]
Asher chuckled. He could sense excitement lurking under the system's voice. It was definitely happy that he was expanding.
'Proceed.'
Right at that moment, the earth shook, causing him to stagger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bright light burst out of the ground.
It was the troop steles!
They all hovered above him, emanating different colored lights.
[From this day, Ashkelon, great city of Centraks, shall be the home of the fearsome Bladebreaker troop stele. A terror-grade troop! All soldiers are granted B-grade talents: Blade Cavalier!]
[From this day, the ruined White wolf tribe shall be resurrected to be the home of the elite Stormbringer troop stele. A terror-grade troop! All soldiers are granted B-grade talents: Storm Cavalier!]
[From this day, Nineveh, the great stronghold shall be the home of the resilient Silver Wolf troop stele. A special grade troop! All soldiers are granted C-grade talents: Silver Footman.]
[From this day, Nineveh, the great stronghold shall be the home of the monstrous Desolate Slayer troop stele. A special grade troop! All soldiers are granted C-grade talents: Desolate Footman.]
[From this day, Nineveh, the great stronghold shall be the home of the unbeatable Shura Vanguard troop stele. The strongest terror-grade troop in your possession! All soldiers are granted B-grade talents: Royal Guard.]
Swoosh!!
All the steles except the Bladebreakers' flew towards their destinations and the city's construction began.
Rumble!
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