The Runecrafter

"Expand the army by five thousand?"

Blacksmith Bastos gaped in astonishment. Had he not known that this chieftain often acted in ways that were hard to fathom, he would have thought Corvinus was joking. After all, the entire tribe didn't even have five thousand werewolves. To expand the army by five thousand, at least fifteen thousand werewolves would be needed for support.

Wait a minute!

That would mean...

Bastos paused, as he realized something. If there weren't enough tribespeople, then the only way was to make it enough, and there was only one way to do that—war. Engaging in annexation-style wars with nearby tribes!

Looking at Corvinus's smile, he felt he had guessed correctly, because the previous war to annex the four tribes had been the same. Although it was the four tribes that had initially planned to invade the Silver Mane Tribe, the main reason was that the tribe's labor force was insufficient. That was why the chieftain had taken the initiative to attack.

In other words, even if the four tribes hadn't united, this young chieftain would not have let them go.

However, for Bastos, this was an exciting prospect. He wasn't fond of war, but as a blacksmith, war was where his value truly shone.

"I understand what the chieftain means. I'll do my best to increase production," Bastos said.

"But if we had enough manpower, I would ask the chieftain to allocate another batch of strong and able-bodied tribespeople. Otherwise, it won't be possible to increase production in the short term. It would take at least half a year to forge equipment and weapons for an army of five thousand," Bastos added.

Seeing that the old man understood, Corvinus didn't waste any more words and simply nodded. "I'll find a way to address the issue of supplementing your workforce."

"Also, there's no need to rush with equipment manufacturing. Just steadily train craftsmen. If we can't keep up with the army expansion, I'll purchase from outside sources," Corvinus continued.

"Yes, sir!"

Bastos nodded again. However, a barely perceptible wry smile flickered across his aged face. The chieftain's words were not wrong, but in Bastos's view, if the equipment was purchased from outside, what use would the tribe have for him, a blacksmith? Would he go back to forging farming tools like in the old days? Bastos had had enough of those times. Had he not been old and with few years left to live, he would have left the Silver Mane Tribe many years ago to find a place where he could truly realize his value.

...

The workshop!

"Greetings, Chieftain!"

Inside the workshop, more than twenty werewolves, led by a middle-aged werewolf, respectfully saluted Corvinus.

"Quinn, no need for formalities. I was just passing by and thought I'd drop in," Corvinus said with a smile.

"Yes, sir!"

The middle-aged werewolf nodded and waved for the remaining craftsmen to return to their posts.

"Uncle Quinn, you're truly remarkable. The ballista was made so quickly," Corvinus complimented.

"Your praise is too kind, Chieftain. The blueprints for the ballista, its structure, and principles, are all very clear. Anyone with some manufacturing skills could replicate it," Quinn, a mid-level craftsman, modestly shook his head.

"Uncle Quinn is being too humble."

"Is this the complete version of the ballista?" Corvinus asked, noticing a weapon similar to a ballista placed in the distance.

"Yes, and it's currently being improved," Quinn replied.

"Improved?"

Corvinus was taken aback and walked over. It was a ballista, but only with the basic structure.

"Improving on the original design?" Corvinus inquired.

"Yes. Currently, the ballista is just a replica based on the blueprints, but it's too large and has a range of only five to six hundred meters. If used in large-scale warfare, it wouldn't be very practical. Its true place should be mounted on city walls as a defensive weapon," Quinn explained.

Hearing this, Corvinus nodded in agreement. Indeed, a craftsman could spot the shortcomings of the ballista at a glance.

"So I'm now trying to reduce the size of the ballista," Quinn continued.

"I see!" Corvinus nodded.

"Actually, Chieftain, it would be great if we could recruit a runecrafter," Quinn sighed.

"Runecrafter?"

"Does Uncle Quinn know any runecrafters?" Corvinus asked.

"There are some, but they're all humans. They would never serve orcs," Quinn shook his head.

Why even bring it up then!

Corvinus inwardly rolled his eyes in frustration.

Runecrafters were known as the soul painters of weapons. Any piece of equipment that had runes inscribed on it, becoming a runic item, would instantly increase in value tenfold or even a hundredfold. However, this type of lifestyle profession was even rarer than blacksmiths and craftsmen. Although craftsmen and runecrafters were known as the golden duo, there were many craftsmen, but runecrafters were as rare as rare animals.

Although Quinn claimed to know many runecrafters, the fact that they were humans was absurd. All races knew that it was common to see other races serving humans, but never the other way around. Even if there were, it wouldn't last long because humans were known for their treacherous nature, always ready to stab their allies in the back.

So on the battlefield, it was common to see humans recruiting other races, but once other races captured humans, if there was no value in ransoming them, they were almost always killed.

Of course, you might think humans have principles.

But in reality, it was an arrogance even more domineering than that of elves. They looked down on all races other than their own, even more so than elves. The difference between them and elves was that elves openly looked down on other races, while humans were insidious, still pretending to be polite on the surface.

So even if a human runecrafter was willing, Corvinus would have to cut off their head if he brought them in. However, despite his complaints, lacking a runecrafter, Corvinus was considering whether to start building a temple for lifestyle professions.

But thinking about the current labor force of the tribe, Corvinus knew that even if he wanted to build one, it wouldn't happen anytime soon. At the very least, he needed to increase the population first.

"Uncle Quinn, I'll figure something out about the runecrafter. When I go to Casros Canyon next time, I'll see if there's one there," Corvinus said.

"For now, that's the best we can do."

"By the way, Uncle Quinn, do you know about gunpowder?" Corvinus asked Quinn.

Gunpowder!

The source of power in modern warfare, everything could be said to have started with gunpowder.

He didn't know if this world had gunpowder, but he knew Quinn's background. In his youth, Quinn had wandered in the human world for nearly twenty years.

Quinn might know about it.

In fact, even without the system, he knew the formula for gunpowder: one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal.

Charcoal was easy to come by, but he didn't know if this world had saltpeter and sulfur.

But if this world had gunpowder, that would be very clear.

The reason Corvinus thought of gunpowder was because he thought of cannons.

Based on his understanding, modern firearms still had some lethality against warriors below the sixth tier, but they couldn't harm warriors above the sixth tier.

However, the killing power of cannonballs was still considerable.

"Gunpowder?"

"I know about it!" Quinn nodded.

But he was also curious why Corvinus suddenly brought it up.