Operation: Snatch The Core

Stalking through the tall grass, Enzo, Shaz, Yori (Shadow Phoenix), Fingal (Water Dragon), and Dape (Water Phoenix) got ever closer to the capital city of Garfield.

The plan was simple. Diversion.

Gardof, the King of Garfield, was currently on his way to Garfort to fight for the Fort's Core.

While the King wouldn't usually be able to capture the Fort, Enzo had received different information.

Not only had Enzo sent Kobolds to the capital city, where he learned about the King's announcement.

He also sent Kobolds to the Fort, where he learned that not only was the guardian injured, the so-called "rebels leader" was none other than Urim, the commander of Garfort.

Urim had made a show by hiring Trolls to attack the fort to keep his identity a secret.

The plan had miserably backfired, which caused the guardian to get injured.

The guardian's injury allowed for an unexpected opportunity for the King to gain back momentum.

But this left the Core vulnerable.

Enzo was a greedy man; while he could have just waited for the King to leave his Castle and take all his troops to capture the Castle Core, he wanted the Fort's Core as well.

When capturing a Core of any kind, there are three ways to do it.

Defeat the force occupying the Core entirely, gain the loyalty of the Core's owner, or steal it.

To Enzo, the first two options were too slow and tedious right now.

He would have to build up a force vastly greater than the Boars, which would take at least two weeks.

With every day being valuable, as only 361 days were left until the Trial of the Gods, it wasn't worth waiting.

Enzo took the risk to send Tormu and Kai to Garfort for the Fort's Core. If he could capture the Fort's Core it would count as a Level 5 building, which would help him with his requirements for upgrading his Castle to Duke-Tier.

Enzo would have liked to capture all the forts; unfortunately, all the other forts were below rare ranked, which made them next to useless to Enzo.

If his plan succeeded, he would not only have his Duke-Tier Castle Core courtesy of the Dark Boars, but he would also have a Rare ranked Level 5 Fort!

The first sight of the capital made Enzo inexplicably excited.

It was an impressive sight. The city was bustling with activity, as people went about their day-to-day lives.

A massive wall surrounded the city, and multiple towers were dotting the perimeter.

A large drawbridge led into the city, and Enzo could see guards posted at various intervals.

The closer they got, the more details Enzo noticed.

There were all sorts of houses and buildings, and Enzo even saw a couple of churches.

He saw people selling goods in the streets, children playing games, and guards patrolling the city.

He saw not only Boars but also Goblins, Kobolds, Dwarfs, and even Trolls.

He thought that the number of Trolls was rather large, but he didn't have time to think about it now. He had to act fast if he was to both locate and obtain the Castle Core.

Although he knew it was possible to steal a Core, he didn't particularly know how.

As they got closer to the city, Enzo could see that there were multiple layers to the wall.

The first layer was molded out of wood, and the second layer appeared to be made of stone.

A third layer looked to be reinforced with metal, and Enzo could see spikes protruding from the top.

This was the first proper settlement he had seen in this world, Castle Lords and tribes didn't have the same appeal as a true Kingdom!

Shaz, Yori, Fingal, and Dape stayed back as although anyone was let in through the gates, as it was a kingdom, it would be a lot of explaining as to why 4 sky-scraping flying beasts were showing up at their doorstep. Beasts that could potentially rival their king in power.

Entering the short line to get into the city, Enzo tried to put on his best businessman attitude he had excluded on earth.

"Halt! Let me see your identification!" Just like everyone else, the guard said the same line to Enzo.

"Hello venerable warrior, this is my first time visiting your great capital."

Perking up at the unexpected compliment, the guard glanced at the traveler.

He had on odd clothes, but traveling merchants often had exotic tastes.

"You look like a merchant. What business do you have here?" the guard asked, eyeing Enzo's big purse so eloquently displayed on his belt.

"I am here to buy the finest meat and the best quality Port wine for my King!" Enzo confidently said.

Grinning, the guard stoutly replied, "Well, we do love our meat and wine!"

"Especially our King…" Muttered the guard under his breath.

Thanking the guard, Enzo was allowed entry after the guard entered his name and reason for visiting into a crystal located on his chest.

These crystals could be linked to the Castle Core to send information back and forth like a cellphone, with the Core being the server hosting all the data.

Walking into the city, Enzo saw that the streets were naturally sloped. This was for obvious reasons, the capital was in a mountainous region, which meant the sewerage of the city was automatically drained.

The streets were lined with stores selling all sorts of goodies on either side.

There was a butcher, a general store, a blacksmith, and even a sweet store.

Enzo also noticed a small building with a sign that stated "Information", which meant it was a message center.

People were selling various goods, selling multiple services, and even selling diverse information.

Enzo decided to visit an information store and see if they had any news about the location of the Core.