Chapter Eight

"Young Master, here are the things you've ordered." Gaston entered Lark's room and handed him a leather sack. Inside were rations, crystals, ormatane dusts, ink, and parchments. "Are you sure about this? At the very least, please bring Anandra along."

After the lizardmen infiltrated the town, Lark immediately drafted plans to protect his domain. What he needed right now was a bird's eye view of the surrounding regions, particularly the area where the Legion of beastmen would have to pass through. Only after he gathered enough data of the topography could he properly lay out his plans. 

Flying would give him a wide view as he made a detailed map, but it would fail to give him the most minute details inside the forest. Therefore, Lark planned on exploring those areas himself and record the details carefully. It was an arduous task necessary for Blackstone Town's survival. 

"No," said Lark. "I will go alone."

War was coming. It would be unwise to take Anandra with him and halt the training of the soldiers. Furthermore, although that guy was fast, he might not be able to keep up with the speed of Lark. He would just become a hindrance. 

Gaston frowned. He obviously disliked the idea of the Young Master going to the wilderness alone. 

"The ration's enough for only two days," said Gaston. "If you want, I can ask the servants below to cook some more."

"This is enough." Lark strapped the sword on his waist and grabbed the leather sack. "I'll be gone for only a day or two. Three days at most. These should be plenty enough."

He could just hunt in the forest once his rations ran out. 

Gaston was not fully convinced. "And for the production of cement?"

"Ah, that's right." Lark almost forgot this one. "I've asked Silverclaw to create several more kilns last time. The farmers are almost finished with planting the seeds in the northern farmlands. We'll need to finish the irrigation project soon before summer comes."

Although war was looming in, Lark have no intention of halting the conversion of the supposedly non-arable lands in the northern and western regions. He wanted his city to be self-sufficient soon. He did not want his people to experience hunger again during the winter season. 

"Give these to him." Lark fumbled through his cloak and took out a folded parchment. "The designs for some weapons. Tell him to prioritize the ones marked with a cross. I need at least several dozens of them before the week ends."

Gaston curiously looked at the parchment. Yesterday, the Young Master made a speech in the Central Plaza. He vividly recounted the story of the lizardmen they captured. The story of impending war brought forth by the beastmen. 

Although the locals were clearly afraid, the majority of them voiced out their will to protect this place. Most of them were born here, and the mere thought of those lizardmen pillaging and conquering this town pushed them to the peak of anger.

The Young Master told them that it should be possible to block the advance of the beastmen, given enough time. An outrageous claim. Even Gaston refused to believe it. 

Gaston sighed. "Young Master, we still have time. We could go back to the Gryphon City and seek refuge in the Dutchy. I'll convince the Duke somehow."

This was the third time Gaston proposed this. Lark shook his head. "Enough. I'm not abandoning this place." He took out another parchment and handed it to Gaston. "The merchants from Lion City's departing today, right? Give this to them."

"This is?" Gaston looked at the parchment. 

"A letter for Big Mona," said Lark. "Make sure he reads it."

This letter could dictate the outcome of this war. Whether they would receive help or not would depend on how he convinces that fat merchant. 

***

Riding a horse, Lark moved towards the eastern part of Blackstone Town. He passed through the Eastern Border, and instead of going directly to the Mines, he turned left and kept going onward. To his right, the sea of trees in the Endless Forest blurred as he sped up. 

He soon arrived in a plain filled with overgrown weeds. Not bothering to halt his mount, Lark quickly surveyed the surroundings. This place was wide, good enough for large armies to clash against each other. 

"We won't win without using underhanded tricks," he mumbled. The differences in numbers and quality between his soldiers and the beastmen were simply too large. "Traps. Poison. Fire. It doesn't matter. We need to win this war."

In war, no lives were equal. Most men despised underhanded tricks like poisoning the enemy or assassinating the commander of the army, but Lark believed differently. In war, only the winner gets to write the history. The winner was justice. At the end of the day, those who survived would get to tell the tale. If it would enable his people to continue living, he would not hesitate to use these supposedly underhanded tricks. This was war after all. A competition for survival. 

Lark kept going forward. Several hours passed and he arrived at a forest. He tethered his horse to a nearby tree then carved a clay bowl on the ground using magic. He used magic again to fill the bowl with water. 

"Drink. Eat," he said to his mount. As though the horse understood, it stared at Lark for a moment then began drinking. The grasses on the ground should be enough to fill the mount's belly.  

Lark looked beyond the sea of trees. Unlike the ones seen in the Endless Forest, the trees in this place were smaller, their trunks thinner. The rays of the sun seeped through the canopies of leaves, giving Lark ample light to see everything. 

Lark cast his magic and he slowly soared into the sky. His cloak fluttered against the wind as he looked at the forest below. Looking further, it seemed that this forest extends far and wide, reaching until the small hills beyond. It'll probably take Lark several days of travel to reach those hills if he used the mount. 

"I'm glad I never neglected mana training." He inwardly praised himself for being so diligent. With his current mana pool, he could reach those hills by the end of the day, reducing travel time by several days. 

He took out a parchment and recorded the details of this place. Although his real aim was the hills beyond, creating a map of this forest would also prove crucial to the upcoming war. 

Lark leaned towards the direction of the hills, and after a deafening boom, shot his body forward. He whistled through the sky as the sea of trees below blurred. As he flew towards the hills, he carefully surveyed the forest below. 

He finally arrived at his destination. He slowly flew down and landed at the top of the hill. Below him, a small forest was spread out. Beyond that was a plain with a river. 

He looked up. It was already dusk. He opened the leather sack and took out some dried fish and bread. As he ate, he looked around and carefully surveyed the surroundings. 

It was just as he thought. This place would be the most ideal to place those traps. Those things would not annihilate an army, nor would it stop their advance completely, but it should give Lark enough time to prepare for the war. 

But first, what he needed right now were scouts. 

After filling his stomach, he amplified his senses several folds. His remaining mana should be enough for this task. 

"Over there," he mumbled. He kicked the ground and his body shot towards the sky. His speed created a soft whistling sound as he locked on his target. He reached out his hand and grabbed a large bird. It almost got away, but Lark luckily managed to grab hold of its leg. The bird squeaked and pecked the hands of Lark as it desperately tried to escape. 

"Ouch." Lark flinched as blood dripped down his fingers. The bird was around five times the size of a fist. Just the perfect size for reconnaissance. 

Lark gently held it as he flew towards the ground. Upon landing, he opened his leather sack and took out a quill and an ink, along with some ormatane dust. He wrote symbols on the bird's body using a mixture of the two, all the while chanting his spells. The symbols glowed for a split second then disappeared from sight. Lark released the bird and it flew towards the sky, circled around, then flew down and perched on Lark's shoulder. 

"Good." Lark was satisfied with the result. He stroked the head of the bird as he grinned. He took out a crystal and wrote the same symbols on it. After activating the magic, the body of the bird froze as the symbols on the crystal glowed. After the light in the runes vanished, the bird squeaked then flew towards the sky. 

Lark touched the crystal and images started appearing inside. The hills. The sea of trees. The cloudless sky. The plains stretching beyond. 

The crystal now reflected the vision of the bird as it flew around.

Without taking a rest, Lark repeated the process over and over again. By the time he was finished, his mana pool had been wringed dry. He slumped on the ground and heaved a sigh. A contented smile slowly formed on his lips. 

The range of this magic spanned more than a hundred kilometers. Although the crystal would not show images unless someone supplied mana into it, he would be able to fix this problem soon by making the locals take turns in channeling their mana into the core. With this, he would be able to monitor the advances of the beastmen. 

But it was not enough. He needed more. 

He was out of mana. He decided to proceed with the second part of the plan tomorrow morning, at dawn. 

***

Dawn came and Lark immediately proceeded with his plans. He took out several parchments and drew runes and symbols on it using ink, ormatane and gold dust. After the ink had dried, he infused his mana. He repeated this process several times, creating numerous talismans by the time noon arrived. 

The gold dust was a necessary expense. With this, the effect of the talisman should last several weeks.

Lark looked at the forest below the hills. He stretched his limbs, ran down, and entered the sea of trees. He placed the talismans at the trunks of different trees, around several dozens of meters apart. Each talisman was small, half the size of a palm, making it inconspicuous in this forest. 

After consuming over a hundred talismans, he started activating the magic imbued inside. The forest momentarily glowed an azure hue as the runes inside broke into particles of light. The talisman turned into ashes, leaving behind scorched symbols on the trunk of the trees.

The magic imbued in those symbols would slowly consume the life force of the trees, eventually killing it after several weeks. In return, magic poison would slowly form and permeate the air, making this forest particularly dangerous for any living being. 

As the runes sucked the life force of the trees, it slowly converts it into poisonous miasma unseen by naked eyes. These miasmas were not immediately fatal, but when someone was exposed to it for a certain period of time, they would experience symptoms similar to Magic Poisoning. 

Magic Poisoning was relatively easy to treat. But it would be a different story if thousands of warriors were afflicted by it. Surely, it would halt the advance of the beastmen's army. 

The particles of light emanating from the runes vanished entirely. The forest resumed it calm. 

Lark closed his eyes and enjoyed the gentle breeze. Birds chirped as the trees rustled from the wind. After a month or two, this forest would die. A consequence of using this underhanded magic. 

"But I have to do this." Lark sighed. He tightened his cloak and went back to the hills. He would make another surveillance of the surroundings, record it, then go back to Blackstone Town. 

This should give him enough time to execute the next part of his plan. 

Hopefully, the letter he sent to Big Mona in the Lion City would be enough to mobilize the Kingdom's Army.