Walls rose up from the ground, around 30,000 kilometres square! The 18-meter-tall walls had a smooth exterior and round watchtowers at critical junctions that offered an archer the ability to spot those approaching the city from all angles.
After the walls rose up, buildings began to change. From tents and wooden houses to standard stone buildings, but the road was unpaved.
Ashkelon had three gates: the main gate, the east gate, and the west gate. On the pillars of each gate were black flags with the white image of a wolf head.
The wolf opened its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth.
The design of the city was the opposite of the stronghold; lots of residential buildings were everywhere.
The head chief’s tent collapsed and a manor rose up in its place. The manor was called the lord’s manor and Asher found himself in the meeting hall, where he would attend to the affairs of Ashkelon.
The hall had square pillars and there were three stairs before the stone throne. At the armrests of the stone throne were sculptures of wolf heads.
His flags were hung on both sides of the hall. Candlesticks attached to their stands, which were screwed to the wall, illuminated the dark-themed hall.
[Ding! You have extended your domain into the Bashan basin by creating your first city.]
[Hidden quest completed.]
[Reward: Commander Lambert is available for an upgrade.]
Asher blinked. Lambert had always looked like an average soldier, mainly because of how he first started.
He didn’t stand out like the other commanders but had great leadership skills. This was the reason he was able to make the Bladebreakers a cohesive force.
As he walked out of the hall, he looked at the appealing courtyard that lacked the military theme Nineveh had.
Unfortunately, he had no time to explore this manor as his army was before him, all neatly lined up.
To his utmost left were the Desolate Slayer Infantry numbering 999; they lost one man. After the Silver Wolf Infantry numbering 850, they lost 50. Not because they were weaker but because they were the ones that broke the barbarian momentum.
It was normal to have casualties.
After the Silver Wolf were the Bladebreaker cavaliers and their warmounts, all 80 of them alive and all were knights!
The troop was in need of expansion to show their true might.
The next were the Stormbringers and there were 60 of them. All appealing markswomen on equally attractive mounts.
Silver Wolves had white plumes, Desolate Slayers also had somewhat white plumes, but it leaned towards being gray. Bladebreakers had red and long plumes, while the Stormbringers had none.
In total his force has increased to 1,189 elite soldiers!
Their commanders, Alex, Alec, Lambert, and Eritrea were ahead of their troops while his sole general, Adam stood ahead of them.
All of them half knelt with their heads lowered.
“Congratulations to Ashkelon, your lordship!!”
As usual, they had more knowledge about the city than him. He had to explore but they were given knowledge freely.
“Arise.”
“You fought well. We shall all have a feast tonight! Prepare to have your stomachs filled with Ovok meat!”
“Yes!!”
There was an uproar, which made Asher chuckle.
……..
Some time later, he entered the barrack created by the awakening stele and saw a few Bladebreakers riding on the grassless field. They wore no armour and were just racing.
Asher went straight to a stone building that stood taller than all other buildings.
When he arrived, he saw a line of people standing before Lambert and some Bladebreakers, fully clad in their heavy armour.
“His Lordship has arrived!”
“We greet His Lordship!!” Everyone, civilian and soldier, all half-knelt.
Asher waved his hand. “Arise.”
He climbed the short stairs and faced the crowd.
“It’s time to reward you fully, Sir Lambert of Ashkelon. Get your warmount.”
Stunned, Lambert got his mount and came before Asher once again.
[Should I proceed with the upgrade? Yes or No?]
‘Yes!’
Swoosh!
When the light died down, what appeared was an imposing cavalier clad in golden armour. The armour seemed like it would be made for adornment but it was much stronger than refined steel.
On both sides of the helmet were red wings and the image of the Ashbourne sigil was on his bulky pauldrons. Finally, his height and size experienced an increase as he could now match Alex in height.
Beside him, his mount was also clad in a red garment with golden plate armour above it. It also had red wings bigger than the one on Lambert’s helmet on the metal plate that covered the steed’s chest. His plume became bigger and gained a darker tint, making it seem like horsehair dipped in blood.
A fearsome aura billowed off Lambert. He was now a diamond-ranked knight!
“I’m forever grateful to you, My Lord!” Both he and his mount bowed.
Asher chuckled.
There was an uproar in the crowd as everyone had watched the transformation. Even other Bladebreakers were envious.
The barbarians who were now clothed in linen like people from the other side of the Ash mountains gasped.
The upgrade made houses for them and in those houses were the basic amenities, clothing included. Seeing the neatly sewn tunics, pants and boots, the barbarians swiftly dumped their fur clothings.
“How many came to join the cavalry?” He asked Lambert.
“I selected 420, out of 1000. All of them are at least bronze-ranked and few are of the silver rank.”
“I see.”
All those gathered were once Centrak riders but after seeing the magnificent city appear before their eyes, they scrambled to serve under this mysteriously powerful outlander.
“Begin.”
“Begin!” Lambert bellowed.
First, one barbarian walked into the building and Asher received a notification.
[Ding! Would you like to make the Ashkelon civilian a Bladebreaker Cavalier? Cost 10 gold coins! Yes or No?]
Asher became frigid.
10 gold coins!
It seems like he would have to make lots of money or there would be a great problem.
It was time to focus on starting a trade with the nobles on the high plains of Tenaria and the big clans in the depths of Bashan.
