I immediately got up from the stone, started to smooth it ... it still looked like a stone, I looked skeptical at Weles. Not that I didn't trust him, but I didn't.
"Your thoughts are hurting my feelings." (Weles)
"Snowflake." (MC)
I tried to pick up that stone ... it was fucking heavy. I had almost my last meal in my pants. After several minutes of wrestling with the glaze, using various branches as a lever, I managed to push it away a bit. I sat down on the ground, gasping for breath.
"You feel?" (Weles)
"Yeah I fell, all my muscles hurt and I'm fucking tired." (MC)
I knew that Weles meant something else, but all I felt was fatigue, pain and a little hunger. After a short rest, I started the second round of the fight with the stone. This time it went quite well, I pushed it away enough to start digging. The shield was not buried deep, it was covered with no more than twenty centimeters of earth.
When I felt something metallic at my hand, I knew I was close.
"Do you know why this shield is here?" (Weles)
"Because she was stolen from the temple." (MC)
"Yes and no, the cleric who stole it was unable to carry it further, with each of his steps, the shield increased its weight. When Jarowit's followers found the Shield, they were unable to take it to the temple, so they buried it here and set a stone to mark this place." (Weles)
When Weles talked about what happened next, I kept digging, I spent almost the same time here as the woman in the shoe store ... In the end, I managed to get the shield out.
"Fascinating... where's my reward?" (MC)
I didn't feel like listening to Weles's story anymore and I was a bit irritated.
"It was too hasty a decision ... Well, a promise is a promise... Beauty, Charm, Strength, Love you can choose? But this time you can only choose one reward." (Weles)
"Last time I could choose two rewards, the company is having problems or are you just stingy? Ok... I'm not joking anymore, the vein on your forehead is pulsating too quickly ... Love does not appeal to me, I am charming from birth, I do not have to be beautiful, I do not take part in the election Miss world ... strength remains. Just maybe explain to me what it's like. I'll be as strong as a guy in blue tights and a red cape or ... " (MC)
"Life is not a fairy tale. You will have the strength of a few men, you can break a tree with a blow ..." (Weles)
"Birch or oak?" (MC)
Weles decided to ignore my quite reasonable question... oak is a damn hard wood.
"... You will have the strength to lift the horse. When you focus, when you are angry or you have a desire to murder, the strength will be greater. A golden glow will appear on your hands, the brighter the greater the strength. (Weles)
Weles explained in a simple way what my new power is and how to use and control it ... although I will have to work on the latter. The glow on my hands will only be visible to me, which is what I was happy about. If I wanted to attack someone at night, I would not want me to shine like those who cleaned up after the Chernobyl explosion.
My strength was far from Superman's, I was more like Pippi Longstocking on steroids ... or another fictional female character Captain America.
Weles, as usual, disappeared without saying goodbye ... I will not say that it bothers me, in the presence of God I felt a bit uncomfortable. Although he gave me a second life, I never believed that there was such a thing as a free lunch, you paid for everything in life. The shield disappeared as well as Weles, having nothing else to do in this area, I returned to my people who had set up a small camp waiting for me ... I was finally able to eat something warm and sleep in almost normal conditions.
After a few hours of rest, I ordered a return to Szczecin, I was going to gather my troops and move deep into the empire... After a few days, we crossed Vorpommern and Mecklenburg and reached the border of Lübeck. Then we moved north towards the Danish lands on the mainland, although they were under the control of the imperial troops, but I can unleash my soldiers so they can play... unfortunately, I still had no plan on how to get to the Danish islands. My eight ships will not challenge Christian IV's fleet, it will be like a fight between David and Goliath, and this time David will lose. It is a pity that I did not have an additional wish, sinking the Danish fleet would be something beautiful, but this time I had to rely only on myself.
We were sitting by the fire, I was thinking about my problem all the time, and the Cossacks accompanying me told stories from the period when they attacked the coast of the Ottoman Empire ... and suddenly it enlightened me. I need a fleet, but they don't have to be galleons, frigates or merchant ships ... they can be ordinary czajki (lapwings cossack boats).
They were easy to build, the time to prepare one boat lasted up to three weeks, forty people worked on it, and the crew consisted of up to seventy people ... I had 3,000 Cossacks and 600 Tatars with me who can also help. Which means that in less than a month I can have 90 boats that will be able to transfer my army to the Danish islands... or better ... they will deploy an army of the empire. The Danish fleet will focus on them, and I will stealthily get to the islands on my ships, which are currently waiting in Gdańsk.
I immediately gave orders to my people and sent a messenger to Gdańsk with new instructions.