Everlasting City Siege (7)

[You have successfully cast [Ice Arrow]. You have dealt 39 points of damage]

[You have dealt 39 points of damage]

[You have dealt 39 points of damage]

[The [Watchtower] you have targeted has reached its limits of durability]

*CRASH*

Over the past few days, Arthur had been killing knights and soldiers who were standing guard in the various watchtowers, causing the morale of the Lark Army to crumble. After all, being sent to 'surveil' the enemy army was the same as a death sentence. Every day, Arthur would cast a dozen ice arrows, each killing two or even three soldiers each.

Although it was not very optimal, it was the only long-range spell Arthur knew that could hit enemies without exposing himself. As strong as his ice shield and vitality were, he knew that if a dozen intermediate-rank knights with enough proficiency in [Archery] could prove lethal, not to mention the three ballistae on Everlasting City walls. [Ice Arrow] had a range of 330 meters. From this distance, he could easily avoid arrows shot by intermediate rank knights, and even if they were intermediate archers, they would not be able to restrict his movements, considering that he had 6 points of agility.

Hence, using [Ice Arrow] in a war of attrition proved to be the most efficient way to slowly destroy the enemy forces, taking down dozens of men on a daily basis. Thanks to his incomplete high-grade meditation technique, he only required a couple hours to regenerate all of his mana.

However, what the enemy army failed to observe was the fact that Arthur always targeted the very same Northern Watchtower guards. His true intent was not the killing of soldiers, but rather, the killing of the [Watchtower].

*CRUMBLE*

The huge building foundations having been slowly destroyed by ice elemental particles, it crumbled on the walls, causing a small breach to form. It was a major blow for the Everlasting City residents. After all, even twenty years ago, against the Dalian Kingdom Invaders, Everlasting City had never been breached.

The huge blocks of rocks fell into the city, causing the border habitations to be devastated. Unfortunately, Baron Lark had not issued his inhabitants to take refuge in the central castle. It was a tough decision, since allowing refuge in the castle would result in Everlasting City's blooming economy to come to a stop, causing a loss of dozens of thousand of gold coins if the siege lasted for more than a year.

However, not allowing them to take refuge caused the death of dozens of innocent lives to be lost.

The 30 scouts, the guard captain, an intermediate-rank knight and the niece of Baron Lark, a beginner-rank acolyte, all died in the huge building crash. Even a knight with nearly 100 HP could not escape death in a sudden fall of a dozen meters.

Arthur's eyes flashed with greed as he received the following notifications

[You have killed [Level 2 Soldier]. You have earned 10 EXP]

[You have killed [Level 3 Soldier]. You have earned 20EXP]

[You have killed [Level 2 Soldier]. You have earned 10 EXP]

[You have killed [Level 5 Beginner Acolyte - Vanessa Lark]. You have earned 80 EXP]

[You have killed [Level 3 Soldier]. You have earned 20 EXP]

[You have killed [Level 2 Soldier]. You have earned 10 EXP]

[You have killed [Level 9 Intermediate Knight Carlsen Poid]. You have earned 310 EXP]

His quest also got updated

[Lark Household Fall - Mission

You have set the goal to kill Baron Lark and destroy his heritage.

Task - Kill all the Lark-affiliated Acolytes (1 / 19)

Rewards - 5 000 EXP, Southern Gate Region Reputation Gain, Elderwood Household Reputation Gain, Landragon Household Reputation Gain, Halefire Household Reputation Gain, Palford Household Reputation Gain, 20 Spell Proficiency Points, 10 Skill Points

Optional Task - Slaughter Everlasting City Inhabitants and soldiers (94 / 5 000)

Rewards - 10 000 EXP, 10 Spell Proficiency Points, 10 Skill Points]

'One week passed, and I already destroyed one watchtower...The engineer predicted that the siege weapons would be ready in three weeks. Until then, I must continue my [Ice Arrow] grind and distract them. Eventually, they will probably try to assassinate me. Unfortunately for them, I have assigned dozens of scouts from each Elderwood Party's household to watch the city walls day and night, and notify me of any movement. If anyone gets out of the city, I will be the first to know about it', Arthur grinned at his devilish plan

Not only this method provided him with a steady income of EXP, his time was completely allocated to the perfection of [Ice Arrow]. Each cast was a new process altogether, as he would use magical theory books to improve the spell matrix structure, optimize it to some extent and apply the understanding he had gotten from ice elemental research with [Frozen Warriors].

His goal completed, Arthur returned to the Elderwood Army Settlement.

Entering the biggest tent, known as the commander tent, Arthur was greeted respectfully

"How is the battle going?", Baron Halefire asked with interest

Arthur smiled proudly: "I destroyed a watchtower and breached the walls, but it's not big enough to allow our army to pass. They will expose more soldiers as they try to repair the breach, which will allow me to cause more casualties. Rather than that, I managed to kill Baron Lark's niece, Vanessa Lark. She was a beginner rank acolyte, and died along with the watchtower's destruction"

Viscount Palford laughed: "Hahaha! I wish I could see the face of the old Baron Lark! The man has always praised his family acolytes as the strongest in the region. I guess they are nothing in comparison to the Landragon Head Wizard"

Count Elderwood smiled as well. The odds of victory were slowly rising. Even though he would have to give up on the [Starlight Ore Mine], he never truly understood its true value. After all, unless you knew some wandering acolytes with funds to use it, or expert-rank blacksmiths capable of refining it into alloy, then the mine was not very useful.

Still, he knew that the wealth that it contained could be counted in millions of gold coins or thousands of magic crystals, which made his heart ache...

'Should I attack the Landragon Household and go back on my words after the battle ends?', Count Elderwood thought suddenly before shaking these thoughts off, 'I guess the young Landragon Heir truly has enormous potential. Perhaps giving up the mine's rights and building a deep friendship with him will allow my territory to prosper as well'

Still, Count Elderwood knew better than taking the victory for granted. Although the Lark Army seemed helpless against the threat that Arthur Landragon posed, the battle could change on a moment's notice, especially when acolytes were involved.

"What about the trap progress?", Arthur asked

The Chief Engineer [Terry Smith] immediately bowed with immense respect, before speaking: "Sir, using half of the Elderwood Army provided us with more than 300 men. We have laid basic spear traps, as well as huge holes all around Everlasting City. We have marked the areas on several maps, so our men won't march to their death in case of a frontal charge too. However, we have still two thirds of the traps to lay"

Arthur nodded: "That's good enough for now. Continue to work hard, and use rotations so that the army doesn't get fatigued by the heavy labour. Always keep dozens of engineers to manage the soldiers. Most are farmers, rather than formed engineers. If you don't guide them, the traps will not be lethal"

Terry nodded, before bowing and returning to his seat. His view of Arthur was the same as the rest of the army. The young boy radiated the image of a complete general.

[Congratulations. Your skill [Strategy] has risen by 2 points of proficiency]

Commanding such a huge army gave Arthur the opportunity to increase his [Strategy] skill by leaps and bounds.

[Strategy (58) - Common Skill

This skill allows the user to give more efficient commands and brilliant tactics in battles and management alike.

Proficiency Bonus - Giving orders inspire trust from those who receive it. It increases the morale of subordinates by [Proficiency] %]

Although a 58% increase in morale seemed small, Arthur saw immense change in the way people around him followed his orders. From redundantly obeying him, they now followed his every command with utmost focus and respect. He didn't even have to use [Fear] in order to convince the knights. They were all in awe in front of his understanding of a siege battlefield.

Surely enough, his personal strength played a role, but even soldiers who were unaware of the extent of his strength worked until complete exhaustion in order to lay traps. Scouts were extremely focused on their jobs. To some soldiers, Arthur was even more reliable than their lord, which was rarely seen in battles of such scale.

Increased morale also greatly limited the internal conflicts. Usually, soldiers would boast about their lord's superiority. However, Arthur gave them enough work to prevent any dispute of the sort. Having great morale about the siege's progress also made them quite happy. After all, they all knew their fate if they lost this battle. Baron Lark would grow more influential, and demand huge sums of money from the losing parties, causing famines and decreased pay for soldiers like them. To them, winning this war meant prosperous time ahead of them. Losing it would seal a gruesome fate.

Arthur then spoke: "I have sent John to plunder the various villages in the Lark Barony with the [Dragon Army]. Supply routes from each one of our Households have been established already, so we just have to keep them from being raided by resistants. My brothers' patrols will allow bandits to be purged, and dissuade normal citizens from raising their weapons against us. Have you anything to add to this meeting? I have a few experiments to complete in my laboratory"

Baron Galeheard stroke his grey beard and muttered: "I actually have an issue to report"

Arthur titled his head in confusion, but let the middle-aged man speak