After everybody had received the big news all the civilians departed back to Dalelry and all the clans men from the Condottiere's were busy building last minute defenses such as wooden walls and catapults.
Kajus and Grinda helped with the construction of a watchtower towards the east side of the town where it was guessed that the orcs would come. They moved timber and nailed in planks to add to the building.
3 days went by and a big caravan showed up, it was all the other available clansmen, at the front of the caravan a large troll was seen pulling a horse cart forward.
'I didn't know our clan had a domestic troll... or probably an enslaved troll'
A huge crowd gathered to meet the caravan and help them set up base.
At this point the small town had become slightly bigger with a watchtower made out of wood and a wooden wall covering the entire east and north side, there was also a 1 meter deep fosse surrounding the town to make the enemies advancements a little bit slower.
Kajus sat down to take a break from all the heavy lifting, shortly after Grinda sat herself besides him.
"You know... My heart is hesitating, I no longer look forward to this fight" Grinda chuckled at herself.
".. yes I've barely been able to fall asleep as of late and when i do finally fall asleep i awaken by nightmares" Kajus said in a dejected tone.
"what's your nightmare about?" A voice was heard coming from in front of them.
"Hi Geoff. It's about that grey orc and that eagle, they haunt my dreams"
"Yes I would be shitting myself if I met with that grey orc in front of me" he laughed loudly and put his hand on Kajus shoulder.
"Don't worry, the captain has a plan against the grey orc so you won't be against him in battle." he said in a comforting tone.
"And Grinda, no one is looking forward to this battle, you have to steel your heart, the battle field isn't a place for people who hesitate and doubt themselves"
"Mmm" Grinda responded meekly while looking flustered.
"By the way kid, the caravan brought new merchandise so if you see anything you like don't be hesitant about buying it, there are even magical items!"
Geoff quickly sped towards the caravan after he said this showing a personality of a kid in a candy shop.
Kajus as well jumped up and started running towards the newly arrived caravan.
The caravan that arrived was not only a part of the clan, it was also many traders who heard about the upcoming skirmish and sought out the newly established town for a quick buck.
When Kajus arrived they had already started to establish their tents so he had to wait for a minute before entering.
After the tent got up and the merchandise went onto display Kajus quickly ran inside.
Inside there were many shelves with items and also armor on display, the weapons were in chests while the enchanted items were hidden away from sight so as to not risk someone stealing them. Kajus immediately went to the shelf's that had potions on them. On the shelf's stood about 20 different potions in vials on display they all had different colors and some were even colorless.
Kajus had never really drunk or read about potions but he wanted something that could help him in this upcoming battle.
A store clerk came up to him
"Hello dear customer is there anything i can help you with?"
The store clerk was a man in his fifties and he stunk of sweat, otherwise he was pretty handsome for his age with half grey half black short hair and a goatee.
"Yes I am looking for something that increases my capability in the upcoming battle".
the store clerk put his fingers on his chin and started to inspect Kajus.
"well you seem not to be lacking in physical prowess, you are of knight rank i presume?"
"no i am yet of knight rank so anything bolstering my strength could work just as fine"
'I hope he doesn't pull out something to expensive I've only bought 10 golden coins'
The clerk nodded and pulled out a vial filled with black liquid.
"This potion is a... well... a body enhancing potion it increases your size and your strength!"
'size? strength? is this for real? no way such a miraculous potion could exist'
"yes one of those please! could i please ask for the prize first"
"I knew you would be interested! The price is quite expensive but it's well worth it. It's 1 gold coin!"
"i'll take it!"
The clerk was quite stunned by this. He taught to only introduce the high price so that the customer would start to haggle, of course he was very happy, he just found a walking money dispenser. no one of his products was a scam but they still cost a lot more than what even the richest people could idly spend.
"One body enhancing potion it is then! and how about something that could help with your training to become a knight? I am selling knight potions for 10 silver a piece!"
'Knight potion? knight training?'
"Excuse me what do you mean knight training and knight potion you see I am young and know little about this world"
The clerk, a little surprised, gave him a long speech.
To advance into becoming a knight you needed the right training method which varied depending on culture and city, doing normal exercise was not enough if you wanted to become a knight you needed special tools and preferably someone to guide you it also helped if you had knight potions these potions tempered your body and sped up the process of breaking down and rebuilding muscle, stronger muscle. He also added that becoming a stalwart was incredibly difficult and the ways and means are usually family or clan secrets.
"So i can make you a little starter kit to help you into the knight realm if you want! I will put in 4 knight potions and a manual all for 1 gold!"
"DEAL! Also do you have any good halberds or maybe arrows or bows on sale?"
"Not any halberds sorry but the tent next over is also from our service and they sell only weapons! We do have some enchanted arrows if you are interested"
"Yes please" Kajus responded happily