After the camps were prepared, plans to handle the beast tide began.
Throughout the first day they arrived at the bastide, a tower was under construction at the peak of the nearest mountain, which was a few hundred feet above the ground.
The ash mountains weren’t known for their height, but the length is what made them more recognized.
It was a natural wall sealing away the other part of the world.
Also, according to Ark White, there was a huge chance they would find more mines in this mountain.
The next day, the tower was completed, and two Bonestrike Rangers were stationed there as lookouts. Their job was to light up a fire to inform the others before the beast tide arrived at the bastide. If they were taken unawares, there would be lots of damages, and Asher didn’t want to lose even one elite soldier over lack of foresight and adequate planning.
At this moment, Asher was with Alex, Eritrea and Lambert in a tent.
“Your Lordship, the bladebreakers are prepared. Our horses are fed, and the men are ready to fight at any moment.”
Lambert reported. He held his helmet in his right hand while his red cloak gently caressed his steel boots.
Asher nodded.
Lambert looked at the knights in the tent with flames burning within his eyes. One day, if he trained his men well enough, they would be blessed by their lord and would rise to become knights also!
Then, they would also look impressive.
The blue loincloth, design, and plume contrasted with the red that the Bladebreakers had. Their armor color was dark silver and not as bright as that of the Vanguards. Although both forces looked impressive, Lambert knew one Shura Vanguard could wipe the floor with him and five of his men!
While Lambert had ambitions, Eritrea wore a calm expression.
“Your Lordship, my troops are also prepared to fight at your command.”
“Good. The snow had heaped so much that I believe the cavalry can’t perform at their best if we are attacked now. Because of that, I plan for the cavalry to be deployed at a closer range to save their strength.”
“I understand.” Lambert nodded.
While they were planning for the beast tide, something else was going on far away from Asher’s territory.
……
A white-haired man garbed in a thick coat over his white tunic and brown pants rode a horse beside a huge man clad in mail armor. The horse Alec rode was like a monster compared to the flame-steed Kelvin rode.
Flamesteeds were horses that were used for transportation because of their stamina. They were also capable of being used for war, but they weren’t the ideal war horses for a cavalry. Kelvin purchased these kinds of steeds from Hebron Town.
Behind him were carts and aiding the horses to push them.
Kelvin looked at the vast field with few crops and workers littered about. Turning, he saw a manor with walls around it. At the gates were guards with tall spears and leather armor.
They rode through the snow-cleared path toward the gate.
“Halt. Who are you?” A guard asked while shooting extra glances at Alec, whose face was hidden by his helmet.
“I’m Mr. Morrison, and I came to supply the 10 bags of Golden Fragrant corn your master asked for.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Morrison, you can go in.”
The gates were opened, and Kelvin was allowed in.
As they went in, Alec turned his head toward him.
“I feel he knows who you are.”
“He does.”
Alec grunted in displeasure.
“I see.”
Inside the walls, they saw several female and male servants, but most of them were females moving about, doing one thing or another. It was winter; the time of planting had come to an end, and their harvest was being stored.
This was Jordan Zebulun’s manor. Jordan was one of the wealthiest farmers in the Flameheart barony, and most of the food requirements of the barony were provided by him. Kelvin got to be connected to him because of the silver-ranked items he traded at Hebron Town.
Obviously, the man had plans of planting the Golden Fragrant maize seeds, unaware of its steep requirements. A mana-veined field or a mana-clouded field.
Asher was close to the Ash Mountains, where mana was still pure, and with the constant upgrades, his fields were now mana veined so they could grow gold-ranked corns that did more than the silver-ranked ones, but those corns were not for sale.
Apart from farming, Jordan Zebulun also did animal husbandry and had lots of cattle, which Kelvin knew his Lord needed to increase the population of Moonlit Starhorn cattle; however, there were some dangers involved.
Leading anyone directly or indirectly toward the stronghold wasn’t a good idea until they had established a robust foundation.
“Lord Jordan, Mister Morrison is here!”
A rotund man came out of his manor with quick steps.
“Mister Morrison, I was worried for your safety. I’m glad you’re here. You know the wastelands can be a dangerous place for such exotic goods you carry.”
Jordan said with a face full of smiles as he saw the maize seeds being offloaded.
“Indeed.”
Kelvin dismounted.
He led Jordan to a cart and opened a box that had lots of iron ore. Jordan swiftly recognized the silver meridians and gasped.
“Silver intricate ores!”
Kelvin smiled.
“Your men still wear leather armor. With these ores, you could entice blacksmiths to work for you to increase their expertise while also taking advantage to produce good armor for your men.”
“A wonderful idea!”
Jordan laughed boisterously.
“How many boxes do you have?”
“20 boxes.”
Jordan’s eyes grew wide.
“Also…”
Kelvin led him to a different cart and showed him Hexakad eggs. Upon seeing the eggs, Jordan couldn’t close his mouth for a long time. His eyes twinkled several times.
“Mister Morrison, you must be from a very powerful merchant guild.”
Kelvin laughed it off.
“One Hexakad egg is 10 gold coins. I have 100 here; are you able to buy them all?”
“Calculate everything. Nothing is leaving this place!” Jordan declared.
He wasn’t boasting, as everyone in the barony knew Jordan was rich enough to be a baron, and some rumors even said he had sent a letter to the imperial family in order to be given the title of viscount!
