บท 78: Upgrading the Stronghold
Awooo~~! A great howl fell into Asher's ears as he broke the hug. He turned and saw Sirius running toward the gate at its best speed.
Seeing the mighty beast, 17,000 barbarians scattered, running helter-skelter, so much that even the soldiers couldn't stop them.
"It's the great wolf!"
They screamed.
Asher lifted his hand, and when Sirius was before him, it lowered its head so his hand could rest on its head.
"How have you been?"
He muttered as he caressed Sirius. Before the fearful eyes of the barbarians, the giant wolf went to lay down and close its eyes. It made soft sounds.
While caressing Sirius, Asher's smile grew wider and his expression got brighter. His commanders knew it had been a while since Asher showed such sincere happiness, and they felt quite warm seeing their lord looking happy.
Kelvin, who wanted to bring up the topic about the state of the wastelands, kept silent.
All of sudden, Asher felt something was wrong with the crowd, and when he looked, he saw the barbarians all on their knees.
"It's a great rider."
"It's him."
"The great rider is still alive."
"He's reborn."
They kept speaking with low tones; their expressions held disbelief and great doubt, but those expressions were breaking away from the reality before them.
Without being told, Asher knew his territory loyalty would not reduce because of the new population but increase!...
After the 17,000 were settled, Asher walked into the sacred hall with high expectations.
[Ding! Population has exceeded limits. Criteria for another upgrade have been fulfilled.]
[Host, would you like to upgrade your stronghold to become an Epic City stronghold? Yes or No?]
Asher raised an eyebrow.
'Epic City Stronghold?'
'Go ahead.'
Boom!
It was as if the foundations of the stronghold were shaken, causing everything and everyone in the stronghold to tremble. Some people fell, some were scared silly, some even picked up weapons, while some fled for their homes.
Asher held a wall to support himself, but the wall seemed like it was falling at the same time it wasn't. A white glow burst out of the wall, then the floor, and then the ceiling.
The blinding white light blinded Asher with pure whiteness. When he regained his sight, he found out he was on his knees, and he stared at a polished marble floor.
The sacred hall did not increase much in size, but it increased by several folds in quality. His throne had a better structure, and the platform around it was pure white. It was whiter than the walls of the hall, which had long black flags.
Looking at his stone throne, which befitted a high-ranking lord, Asher could not help but smile. On the walls behind the throne was a giant sculpture of a wolf's head, and below were symbols of elements.
It was the four elements that were the foundation of Boundless: fire, water, earth, and air.
Blood came from water, metal came from earth, and lightning could be found along with fire.
There were ceiling to floor windows on the right side of the sacred hall and from there sunlight peeked into the hall. These windows were covered by black flags, and this made the white wolf head more distinct.
[Epic City Stronghold's Name: Nineveh
Epic City Stronghold's Tier: Tier One
Population: 25,000/50,000
Security: 85/100
Loyalty: 98/100]
Gladdened by the status of the newly upgraded stronghold, he looked out the window and was shocked at the height of the castle. It had grown to a five-story building, and this was when the tallest building in the stronghold was a two-story building.
Not only that, the castle was not made of stones but bricks made by masons. It now had a magnificent structure with the Ashbourne flag running down from the top to the middle parts of the castle. It was slowly resembling a palace.
The stronghold looked magnificent. All the streets were paved, and all the buildings had proper roof tiles. The most amazing part was that it had shifted the fields inside the walls, and the walls received an upgrade that made Asher's lips part.
It was now 25 meters tall, and the alure was wide enough for ten war horses to run side by side, and it could accommodate troops of thousands. At some intervals, there were massive round pillars that held the wall in place, and at the top of these pillars, the alure, there were massive war machines.
Catapults!
These catapults were bigger than the movable ones and were mounted on the walls. Asher could count five catapults!
This was a stronghold that would stand against any imposing force that wanted to penetrate into the desolatelands, and seeing its current state, Asher's confidence grew.
With more upgrades, this stronghold would become impregnable!
He left the window for the hall's exit.
Walking through the hallway, which looked three times bigger than before, Asher began to look and marvel like he was a stranger.
He couldn't imagine what Mary's expression would be when she returned and saw that the mere stronghold she left was now a pseudo-palace.
The walls were so polished that it was almost reflecting like a mirror!
His maids kept greeting him until he left the castle doors into the courtyard. The moment he came out, he saw the walls of the Shura Vanguard barrack and went toward it.
To his shock, he found his men on Centraks, standing in a neat formation before Alex.
Their heavy armor had a bright silver color that was complimented by their dark blue cloaks and long plumes. Yet Asher noticed a difference.
There was now a crest on the helmets that curved forward and backward in a fan shape, and a large amount of horsehair was inserted into that crest, making the plumes heavier than usual.
From their backs, it looked like the mane of a lion!
Their shields were discarded for twin swords that hung at their backs. Both them and their mounts were heavily protected by plate armor.
The lower part of their helmet had straight metal lines like the bars of a burglary gate. It protected their faces but also allowed proper breathing.
Over a hundred of them, best of the best, stood there, their eyes like sharp swords.
[Ding! Hidden Quest completed.]
[For upgrading your first territory to become an Epic City Stronghold before the duration of a year was exhausted, your personal troop stele has been upgraded.]
[New Troop: King Swordsmen. A Guardian-grade troop! Each and every King Swordsman has all awakened talents that would make them the greatest forces under your command: Ambidextrous Fighter.]
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