The Steel and Iron Legion 3

A week after the establishment of the crew, trouble started to brew. There were shortage of food and rations. The Steel and Iron Legion had grown to a thousand and there were around three hundreds more who were working for the crew.

The dozen villages under their control had only a population of around a thousand and few hundreds. The reason for the low population was because of the population running away to the castle prior. There were five abandoned settlements but no one, not even the southern refugees were willing to occupy the land. As such, the production of food was low.

There were also not many wildlife to hunt as the land was a moor. Big prey like deers and boars were low due to overhunting by the bandits and villagers.

The building of the hillfort was going smoothly as Kain made sure that the workers did not go hungry. But there was only enough food to last a week more.

Kain was waiting eagerly for the return of Robert. One of the errands he sent included purchase of grains.

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"Two hundredth one, Two hundredth two, Two hundredth three..."

As the Sun rose over the southern Moorland, a thousand people were training inside the half constructed hillfort. Each of them were strapped with a pouches of rocks on their ankles, stomachs, back and shoulders. All of them were shirtless, sweating profusely.

"Straightened your backs, you bloody maggots,"Shout a voice. It was their chief. He was in the same situation. Moreover, he was holding a weight made out of concrete and iron rod on his shoulder with his hand. "Five hundredth."

The Chief was barefoot like them wearing only his pant, his muscles bulging in all their glories. His face was hidden with his red mask, which had been modified to cover only his eyes and forehead, his black eyes glinting underneath it.

With a thud, the weight fell down on the ground. The rest who were doing squats marveled. They have been made to do three hundred sets of push-ups and two hundred weight lifting beforehand. Now, they were going for a three hundred deep squats. Many were on the verge of exhaustion.

Yet their Chief, the fearsome Red Ogre had done double the number of sets in the minimum time and haven't been exhausted at the least.

"Faster," Shout Kain,"is this all you can do?"

*Whack*

He beat the head of a person who had collapse with the broad side of a sword.

"The next time will be the sharpened edge," Shout Kain as the man scrambled to get back in position."Now, get it on. Faster."

The strength training ended after everyone finished their reps, either dead or alive. The next that came was the weapon training. Everyone were made to train with their primary weapons with the weights on.

When the sun was properly up, the whole crew were lying on the ground, puffing and panting excessively. Groans and moans were heard everywhere.

The sound of clanking woke them up from their stupors. It was the call for breakfast.

Everyone clamor to get their bowls and lined up to get their food. Even the bland gruel tasted sweet after such a heavy workout.

Three days had they suffered under the intense training given by their chief but their hard training regimen was not going to end anytime soon.

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"I have gathered you all to make our next attack," Said Kain.

He and the captains of the ten units had gathered in the war tent. A rough map drawn over a large dried skin laid on the table. Marked on the map were the hideout of the bandit crews in the region.

There were five other crew in the South. The Black Tor Crew in the Western tors, the Moorland rider in the South-east region of the moorland, the Crimson blades to the southern moor and the Highlanders and the Notting hounds , who had their hegemony in the Notting hill, beyond the moor.

"The Silver Axes along with 1st Stormtrooper unit and The White hawks will attack the base of the Black Tor," Said Kain,"The Crimson Axes along with the Black Hawks and the 2nd Stormtrooper unit will attack the Moorland riders."

"The team that will attack the Black Tor will be under Davos with other captains as second and the other team will be under Dorlock, the seconds same as the first."

"Any questions?"

"Chief, won't you be participating?" Asked Davos.

"No, its time to see if you, the assigned captains are capable of your role. The strategy and time of commencement will be all be based on your judgement. There will be suitable rewards for the ones who brings the best result. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Chief."

"Any other questions?"

Nobody had any.

"Then you can ready your troops. Lieutenant Surfi will give out the provision." Looking at Surfi, who was on his right."Make sure everything is provided."

"Off course, Chief.''

"One more thing, no civilians must be harmed. Is that clear?''

"Yes, Chief." Came the reply from everyone.

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At dusk, the two armies set out, each numbering three thousand armed bandits after a speech from their chief. A war was brewing in the south, a war for territory.

Outside the Chief's house, fifty people were standing. These were the bandits who had recently awaken their Warrior ranks. They were all young and were distributed between the age of eighteen to twenty. Everyone were rank 1 Earth warrior.

"From today on," Said Kain, who was standing before them,"you are my personal army. I will train you in the way of the warrior. You will be given the best of arms and Warhorses. In return, I ask you absolute loyalty. From today on you are warriors of the Warrior Corp."

"Ha-oh," Shout the warriors,"Ha-oh."

Kain smiled. His training was coming into fruition. He had created the first Warrior Corp in the Kingdom.

"I wonder what the state of the garrison is?"

Kain thought.

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