Lord's Mansion Training Camp.
At this moment, Ryan could be seen on the training ground inside his mansion, he was holding his silver sword in both hands, while keeping his eyes closed.
The training ground was absolutely silent, in front of him was a training dummy made of wood reinforced with iron armor. His sword pointed at the puppet, but his body showed no movement.
Slowly, Ryan's aura began to rise in his arms and spread towards the sword. The aura gradually covered the sword and became more and more concentrated, until Ryan suddenly opened his eyes, displaying a sharp gleam in his gaze.
With one swift movement, he slashed with his now fully aura-covered sword, in the puppet's direction.
The attack happened in an instant, and the sword pierced the puppet as if it didn't even exist.
After a second, half of the doll slid into a diagonal cut, causing Ryan to smirk.
*clap hands*
Behind Ryan, a clap of hands broke the silence inside the training ground.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, my lord," Dylan said with a smile of genuine congratulations.
"Thank you my friend. At last, I have advanced to the level of an aura Warrior." Ryan replied.
"My uncle would be proud, my Lord." Dylan spoke truthfully. "My father told me that Uncle Andreas didn't reach the level of an aura warrior until he was thirty."
Listening to his friend, Ryan remembered his father.
Despite never having a great relationship with his father, caused by his absence for most of his growing up, Andreas was a good father, never letting Ryan lack anything.
Nodding, Ryan let the memories of his father bury themselves in his mind. What he must look to now is his future, the future of the Stark stronghold and its people.
"Come on, that's not what I called you for." Ryan laughed, walking toward a crate.
Opening the crate, Ryan took out an elongated object wrapped in a cloth.
"Take it." He handed it to Dylan, who opened the cloth curiously.
After unwrapping the object, Dylan can see what it looks like. It had an elongated black barrel, mounted on a smooth wooden frame.
Watching, Dylan quickly figured out what the object was. Despite differing in appearance, the black barrel is easily recognizable.
"That is?!"
"It's called a sniper rifle," Ryan replied. "It's not like mine, but it's much better suited to your style."
"He shoots one shot at a time, the cartridge holds ten rounds. Each shot has a more powerful destructive capacity than my weapon, as well as a longer range." Ryan continued explaining.
Dylan worked on Ryan's project long enough to understand most of the information Ryan wanted to convey.
After the mine attack, Ryan felt his sense of urgency increase. He ordered a larger batch of gunpowder ingredients to be collected, and began work on a more effective design for his soldiers.
Although powerful, an assault rifle has one fatal weakness.
It is powerful from a distance, but the moment a powerful beast approaches the sniper, it becomes useless. The time between pulling the trigger and hitting the target is enough for the crossbow to kill the user.
"You were always better than me with a bow, this weapon suits you perfectly." Ryan smiled, before pointing to a dummy at a distance of about eighty feet.
"Come on, try." He said. "Hold the gun with both arms, rest the stock on your shoulder, use the handle on the barrel to aim and pull the trigger," Ryan explained.
Hearing the instructions, Dylan took aim and put his finger on the trigger.
Aiming at the target's chest, he squeezed the trigger.
*bang*
A hole appeared in the dummy, letting the bullet pass through the dummy and lodge in the stone wall of the training ground.
Dylan watched, surprised by the weapon's destructive power. Able to easily pass through the armor protecting the puppet.
"If the stronghold soldiers have a weapon like that, we won't have to worry about level 2 beasts anymore," Dylan said seriously, looking at Ryan.
"That's what I hope. Unfortunately, building such a weapon takes a long time with my current capabilities." Ryan sighed.
Looking seriously at his friend, he continued, "Do you remember the last time we had so many beasts in fortress territory?"
"Yes sir." Dylan nodded, I understand what your friend meant.
"It was just before a wave of beasts attacked the fortress."
"But, there is one fact that worries me more." Ryan said. "We didn't see a rank 2 beast until the day of the attack. But in that short span of a few weeks, we had two incidents with rank 2 beasts."
"Something's wrong, Dylan," he stated.
Dylan nodded, thinking about what his lord had said. Indeed the situation seems to be becoming more and more dangerous.
A rank 2 beast is already dangerous, if more than one joins a wave of beasts, the result would be disastrous for the stronghold.
"I will assemble a team of trusted blacksmiths to build as many weapons as I can." Ryan said. "Also, I will ask Uncle Alfred to select some soldiers to gather as many materials as possible for the ammunition."
"In the meantime, I want you to assemble a group of soldiers with the best bow skills."
"They will be part of a special squad under your command and will be armed with these weapons." Ryan explained. "No conflicts to come, you will be essential my friend." He ended up putting his hand on Dylan's shoulder.
"I will not disappoint you, my Lord." Dylan responded with a determined look.