Thus, due to the hunting the strength of the knights had risen quite dramatically and after two whole months of hunting they army looked like this:
2 Squires
4 Peak Man-at-arms
7 Late Man-at-arms
15 Middle Man-at-arms
7 Early Man-at-arms
Essentially everyone had advanced to a knight, well everyone except Eldric, of course he had gotten a few rewards as they had advanced but that should be talked about later. The reason why some had only risen to Early stage was because most of the time this group was unlucky and didn't catch much prey.
It must be said that it was Galen and Solen who had advanced to Squire and thus the House had finally had 2 Squires. During the two months when they advanced and the House kept getting more and more knights, the system sounded a few times and gave him superficial rewards, compared to before. Yet the rewards were and would be quite useful in the future.
The system had given Eldric these rewards when they had gotten 20 Tier 1 knights and 30 Tier 1 knights altogether the rewards was:
+3 Personal strength
30 Civilians
2 weapon blueprints
1 construction blueprint
1 Coal mine
1 Salt mine
There was nothing to say about the personal strength increase and civilians but the two blueprints for a high-grade rank 1 axe [Icebreaker] and a mid-grade rank 1 longbow [Winter's Breath]. Caspian said it could be forged but after a later date only, he was busy with the armor and other weapons. He would only forge the bow and axe after he was done with the armor and swords. Which he had not begun forging even now. Eldric could only sigh at his stubbornness to complete the armor first and finally it was yesterday that Eldric finished all that he wanted and then would begin with the new weapons.
The other blueprint was for a livestock barn, which could house a huge number of animals without them being mixed together and the barn would have specific enclosure spaces and feeding areas- essentially it was a huge house for animals during winter. When Eldric saw it for the first time, he was disappointed by the reward, but it was indeed still useful. The group had started to build the barn area about two days back, so it was still unfinished and could not be used at the moment.
And finally, to two mines, the coal mine was a good find especially for the workshop as they could now use the coal instead of wood, which could increase the forge's efficiency. When Caspian had heard we had found a coal mine he was the first to stop his work and started ordering and pushing people to mine the coal for his use. At the time Eldric only stood on the sidelines and laughed as he found their pitiful expressions quite funny.
The salt mine was another big find, for it could increase the flavor of the food. When the others learned of the mine, they had dropped everything and without anyone ordering them they started to mine the salt while muttering to themselves with tears, "Salt, finally salt" Eldric also thought it was funny, but he too thought it was about time and joined them in their bitter conquest to mine the salt.
The salt had its advantages, escpecially in this world. Most of the common people would only be able to buy salt on special occasions as it is too expensive. So, it could be used as a trade resource in the future. Then it was finally the big reward, the system had rewarded him when Galen advanced to Tier 2 – Squire.
+4 Personal strength
Core 50% healed
A herd of swaybacked horses
It may not have been a huge increase in overall strength but for Eldric it was of huge help. His personal strength increased to Tier 0 level 10. And the 50% healing meant that his damaged core could be fixed, and he would still be able to cultivate in this lifetime.
Back to the present. Eldric and Galen and Solen were discussing what they would do next. During the two months they kept hunting bears and deer which led to them having a few scuffles and injuries. Galen and Solen had investigated the two beasts' groups strength, and it was even simpler than they had thought.
Both groups were at low tier Dire Novices. The only reason that the groups were evenly matched, and one did not overpower the other was because two of the three deer were at their peak but the other one was in its last stages of life and its strength kept falling. The deer had tried to attack the bears and draw the leader's attention to kill it, but the bear remained hiding waiting for the elderly deer to pass. The deer did fight the bears, but the problem was although the deer were greater in number their strength overall waned in comparison.
Thus, Galen and Solen were sure that they, with a surprise attack, could defeat both groups and then the basin would be theirs. Thus, they had decided what they wanted to do; they would first go for the deer because the deer was in their opinion the stronger out of the two in top strength. If the deer could be dealt with they would be able to deal with the bears more efficiently. Because if Galen and Solen could defeat the leader they would be able to sweep the bears clean.
The group then set off, they divided themselves into two teams, one led by Solen and the other led by Galen. They would pincer attack the deer, the teams consisted of 2 peaks, and roughly each group had 3 late stage and 7 middle stages as well as 3 early-stage knights. So, the groups were more or less evenly matched.