Potential enemies

News in the Elderwood Alliance Settlement spread like fire.

"Have you heard about it?", a soldier said while eating a mouthful of porridge, the standard military food available in the camp

"Yes, I did...Two intermediate-rank acolytes from Everlasting City attempted to assassinate our commander and lost pitifully even after using an amazing artefact"

"The knights who fought said that it was a horrifying monster that could defeat even advanced-rank knights", the soldier continued, his eyes filled with admiration towards the commander, "The Falister knights did somehow manage to contain it thanks to Sir Noah Gim, but the commander managed to take both acolytes on without much trouble. Although he was injured, the healers said that he was recovering fast"

"Yes, I don't think he will stop his daily attacks on Everlasting City, though he has taken twice as many knights as before this time around. To think that he would continue to step on the battlefield even after being injured...If he can do that much, we ought to work hard as well!"

Arthur, who possessed heightened hearing senses, could hear them all and chuckled proudly. Feeling people's admiration was quite the novel feeling. It was not something he had experienced in the Ivory Tower. In order to control his subordinates, he used fear and rewards.

Here, his achievements and strategies were enough to earn the respect and admiration of all soldiers, knights included. Even the four lords, some of them being old men who had gone through a lot of battles, were subconsciously treating him as a superior in this battle. His title of [Commander] had nothing to do with it. Sure, it gave him prestige, but the deep respect they felt came from his achievements.

Returning to his tent, Arthur sighed and drank a mouthful of [Frozen Leaf Tea]

[You have drank a nutritious drink]

[Your physical attributes rise slightly...Your perk [Ice Physique] is strengthened slightly...]

Although the progress was small, continuous consumption of magical ingredients would show high returns on the long run. After having a nutritious meal, he started to meditate.

[You have successfully practiced a revolution of the incomplete [High-grade Black Widow Brotherhood Meditation Technique]. You have earned 160 EXP]

[As a result of intense meditation with a high density of Ice elemental particles, your [Ice Physique] slightly improves...]

Thanks to the [Ice Elemental Meditation Matrix], he could earn as much as 440 EXP from his daily meditation, although the method was very costly.

After he finished, Arthur started to look at the map and notes he received from Aurora Blackhope.

'She is concealing something...', Arthur thought as he could not find any golden information from her

Surely, there was valuable information: plans of the city, construction plans of the walls, reports of how it was built, the various reinforcements that were made over the years as well as a lot of data on the army, including names and strength of the most outstanding individuals.

The result was a bit shocking: there were 36 beginner-rank knights, 3 intermediate-rank knights, 17 Lark Beginner rank acolytes, 5 beginner-rank wandering acolytes, 2 remaining intermediate-rank wandering acolytes and 265 trained soldiers.

Seeing the daily casualties, Baron Lark had reacted promptly by decreasing the amount of soldiers on the walls, yet he could not abandon them altogether, or else Arthur would jump at the opportunity and invade the city.

Still, a signficant number of Everlasting City residents had begun training with weapons so as to join the militia. Their number reached 500 not too long ago, but against trained soldiers, they would not amount to much in a battle.

Most soldiers had received training over years. Even geniuses would find it hard to cross the gap in a year, not to mention a couple of months. Everlasting City efforts to defend against them was praiseworthy. However, it was not effective.

Arthur opened a small door below his tent, and emitting a bit of mana into the [Light Stone], a small glow illuminated the room. This underground area was completely frozen. Unless one possessed high mastery of ice elemental particles, it would be difficult to enter the room. It was possible to break through it with sheer force or elemental spells, but the prisonners inside could do nothing. Their hands and legs were locked with metal chains weighing dozens of kilograms. Their face was covered in a bag that made it hard to breath, and their mouth was filled with gags, making them unable to speak.

Treating them with care would be reckless. Most of them were knights, but the one who interested Arthur was the witch. Her beautiful appearance could no longer be seen. Her face had aged considerably, and her body even more. It seemed like she needed to absorb life force from living beings on a daily basis to maintain her youth. Her blazing brown hair had turned white, and her skin had wrinkled. Her voluptuous body had turned skinny, even though only a few days passed.

They only had one meal a day, which was poorly nutritious.

Knights could support this kind of fasting thanks to their high vitality, but a weak and old acolyte like Aurora was reaching the limits of her sanity.

Had it been before, Arthur would have treated prisoners with care.

However, in his time in the [Ivory Tower], he had read a few books on wars and battles, most of which had helped him create those incredible strategies. If these books taught him anything, it was that lenient treatment of prisoners would only lead to imminent danger.

Hence, Arthur mercilessly isolated them from the settlement, and bound their movements completely.

Aurora no longer exuded the dignity of an intermediate-rank acolyte. As soon as Arthur freed her face and mouth, she started to beg: "Please...Please...I will do anything...I will be your slave if that is what you want from me...I can swear a mana oath to serve your every order...But please...Please free me from this room"

Arthur was pitying her inwardly. She was humiliated. Defeated and powerless, she could only resort to enslave herself to escape this hell. He had not harmed her at all. In fact, his treatment in times of war could be considered almost too good. The knights inside the room knew about it and this is why they obeyed his orders to some extent and revealed what they knew.

They were fed on a daily basis, and they were not tortured.

Aurora, who lived a life of luxury, however, could not handle the treatment. The worse part about it was not the hunger, but the wait. Whenever Arthur departed, an eerie silence would grow in the dark room. After a few hours, the prisoners would lose notion of time, and their thoughts would begin to wander.

Arthur advised them to count in their head, so as to keep their sanity. That's what the knights did in their heads, but Aurora could not do it. It was not a matter of strength. It was a matter of willpower, and a bewitching woman like her who always lived in extravagant mansions, even as a criminal, could not accept her fate.

'A mana oath?', Arthur thought

Mana oaths could not be broken. It was a promise made with the Plane Consciousness, and breaking it would mean losing every single bit of your cultivation. To acolytes, there was nothing worse than breaking a mana oath. Even death could be considered better.

Hence, the fact that Aurora was willing to disregard her freedom for escaping this hell made it very enticing.

Still, Arthur did not need her. The battle was going as he wished, and the newest pieces of information he had gathered allowed him to predict that the Elderwood Alliance would end up victorious in no less than two months. The final battle was not even going to be very bloody, since they possessed such an overwhelming advantage.

"Sure...Swear the oath right now", Arthur spoke

"...", Aurora stopped at once

She had never expected Arthur to agree so fast. Swearing an oath to become someone's slave was not an easy thing to do.

However, three days in this hellish room made her understand that any additional second in here would make her crazy.

"I swear, upon my name Aurora Belford and my magic heart, that I will serve Arthur Landragon, third heir of the Landragon Household and known as the [Ice Demon], as his slave for the rest of my days. I will obey his every words, his every command, and never bring harm to him", she spoke

A mystic wave of mana bounded her. Any mana oath was a burden on an acolyte's mind. There were many records of acolytes accidently dying by mistakenly breaking their mana oaths.

Arthur smiled and ordered: "Tell me what you have been hiding"

Aurora gritted her teeth, but obeyed nonetheless: "Baron Lark possesses noble allies: the Nalestone Baron Household and the Raveneer Viscount Household have made an alliance. However, when Count Elderwood revealed his army, they broke the alliance and left Baron Lark to fend for himself. Ever since, Baron Lark has been promising those two households mountains of wealth, land and even some of his daughters to the households. It is unknown whether these letters were answered with positive answers"

Arthur frowned.

He never expected the Nalestone household to be a potential ally of Baron Lark. There were 7 noble fiefs in the Southern Gate Region: Halefire Barony, Landragon Viscounty, Palford Viscounty, Elderwood County, Galeheard Barony, Lark Barony and the Raveneer Viscounty. The Raveneer had been humiliated when Count Elderwood's daughter Emma broke the engagement with the Raveneer heir to engage herself with John Landragon. Naturally, the Raveneer household would not participate in Count Elderwood's ambition plans of conquest after this humiliation.

However, the Nalestone Household was from the Golden Plains of the Porfield Kingdom, located at the centre of the realm. Although it was the closest Viscounty to the Southern Gate Region, it was quite far away from the Lark Barony, and travelling there and creating a supply route for the army would take considerable amount of investments just for the logistic.

"This was insightful...But if it's just those two households, I am confident in winning. They lost their opportunity to strike. Now that the traps are set up and our settlement finished, they would be crushed if they decided to attack us...As for striking us while we are away, this is definitely a possibility"

Arthur looked at Aurora in the eyes. She was almost crying, and her skin showed goosebumps from the cold temperature.

"Begin counting to 10 000", Arthur spoke.

"You...You said that you were going to free me!", Aurora spoke

Arthur shook his head: "You offered to become my slave. Now I am going to save you from going insane...That's all"

Mana oaths might be very powerful, but loopholes did exist. Since the slavery oath would end as soon as he died, he was pretty sure she had her ways of dealing with him in secret. Even if she couldn't, this was a possibility. Arthur had other important matters at hands.

"One...Two...Three", the witch started to count, feeling her heart tighten from her oath

Arthur then put food in plates and freed the other knights' faces: "Eat to your heart's content...There are remains from the army food. We don't want it to be wasted, so eat. It might be your only nutritious meal in a while. Feed her too, if she refuses to"

Fifteen minutes later, Arthur climbed back upstairs and sealed the underground room with a [Frozen Seal] cast.

Writing orders in scrolls, he called Victor inside: "Victor! Come in!"

Victor, who had been waiting for hours, finally entered with a tired face: "Brother...We have returned from the raids in the Lark Barony..."

Arthur titled his head: "So...Any good outcome?"

Victor sighed: "We were ambushed by mountain bandits twice...And we killed them all"

"Any casualties?"

"A dozen injured men, but no deaths, thankfully"

"What is it then?"

"We killed hundreds in less than a month...Brother John and the others are okay with it but I...Recently, I thought I was going to become a hero. But I am haunted by the screams and smell of the battlefield"

'Weak...', Arthur analysed, 'But human'

"Rest easy...Every man you killed is dozens of innocents saved. We are not killing for the sake of it. It is a war. Victors survive and prosper. Defeated end up as slaves", Arthur spoke, "I forbid you from thinking about useless morals anymore. When I say to fight, you fight. If I say you have to kill, you kill. If anyone is responsible for their deaths, it's me, who gives the orders"

Victor's eyes shined: "Yes, commander!"

Arthur knew that Victor's mind would not rest easy, even if he took responsibility for his actions. Thus, he decided to give him work: "From now on, I want you to train with other knights rather than me. I have too many things to take care of. Sparring with people of your level will also be beneficial to your growth and willpower. By the end of the month, I want you to gather fifteen letters of knights who acknowledge their defeats against you"

Victor nodded: "Will it allow me to reach the intermediate knight realm?"

Arthur smiled: "Your brother, who was acknoweldged as a genius, did not manage to do so at your age"

Victor's smile faded away

But Arthur looked at him in the eyes: "But from what I can see, you possess more dedication to your martial training than he ever did. Nobody said that you were not a genius. If I am your trainer, then anything is possible. Just obey me. You can tell you have become stronger already, right?"

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