Aura was the most important trait in Swordmasters, it served as a power source that allowed its users to use stronger and more complex skills.
Aura was normally divided into 3 different categories:
- Blade Aura: This enhanced the power of blades and swords wielded by the aura user.
- Mana: This allowed the user to cast spells and use magical artifacts.
- Ki: This allowed martial artists to enhance their physical attacks and their bodies.
A person who learns three types of Aura gains "Aura" which allows the user to wield all three types at the same time.
Aura naturally gave players the power to surpass their limits, but even that had its own limits, once a player exceeds the limit of his aura, it starts to eat away at his life force also known as HP, that's why an untrained body couldn't wield aura without proper training.
Thaddeus didn't seem to know much about how to manage a territory, most nobles inherited their titles anyways so it's now like they had to learn, he most likely sucked up to Rage because he saw he could benefit from him after he saw his popularity with the players, but on the other hand Cedric seemed to be the one running the village from behind the curtains, despite that he didn't have much experience when it came to organizing troops, so his distribution was mostly based on looks rather than actual skill.
Rage inspected the soldiers present at the training grounds, a lot of horsemen were struggling with controlling their mounts, most footmen didn't know how to handle a spear and the only spell magicians seemed to know was magic missiles.
"This is a poor excuse for a garrison" Rage sighed as he went back to stand in front of the plethora of unorganized mess of a soldiers before him.
He took a deep breath and took the opportunity to see if anyone had potential or not.
With a focused gaze, he began channeling his aura, an extreme force that radiated from his body, creating an almost tangible pressure in the air.
As the aura enveloped the training ground, soldiers - caught off guard - staggered backward, some dropping to their knees under the sheer weight of its pressure.
Even Varon, Hunter, and Jimmy found it challenging to maintain their footing, the few soldiers who managed to withstand the pressure were those who caught Rage's eyes.
Nyx was doing well, although the pressure was visible on his body weighing both his shoulders down, Cedric and the three knights were struggling to maintain their composure but they didn't give up to the pressure and stood their ground.
Rage, momentarily overestimating his own strength, pushed harder, to test his own limits.
The aura emanating from him intensified, creating visible ripples in the air; however, the strain on his body became increasingly apparent.
Unbeknownst to the soldiers, Rage's vision blurred, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but thankfully no one was focused enough to notice.
He gradually controlled his aura pulling it back to his body trying to adjust its strength until it completely vanished.
Some soldiers fainted and others were gasping for breath, most soldiers were struggling to lift their body but most importantly, Rage had a rough idea about the average quality of Oakbrook's garrison.
"VALERION WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?" Cedric yelled as he approached Rage slowly struggling to lift his feet.
"An enemy does not wait for you to prepare, nor attacks you when you're ready" Rage replied, "It was simply a test, and I was disappointed"
"Disappointed?" Cedric questioned.
"Your horsemen don't know how to ride a horse, your footmen can barely use a sword let alone a spear and the mages might end up destroying the town if they can't control their own mana" Rage replied, "Is military work voluntary here Cedric? because it seems like you put together a group of vagabonds and called it a garrison"
"Do not insult my soldier-" Cedric tried to say before he was interrupted.
"And you can't even control your emotions, your anger can lead you to a lot of irrational decisions that may lead to catastrophic outcomes" Rage said locking eyes with Cedric as if demanding an answer for a question he never asked.
Cedric let out a sigh, knowing that Rage's words were true, he has been arguing with his father about improving the quality of the soldier's training and equipment but Thaddeus always used the excuse of lacking funds.
"Would you like to improve the security of this town or not Cedric?" Rage asked.
Cedric paused for a second, knowing the answer but his pride wouldn't let him utter a word.
"I'll take that a yes, I'm not your enemy, but with the arrival of all of these adventurers from my home, your troops will be nothing but training dummies for them in the future" he continued.
Before, Cedric treated him as a prince who knows nothing but sit on his throne and let his subordinates do his work, the same way he would treat the prince of the empire, but now he respected his personality, someone who is comfortable saying what has to be said without having to sugar coat his words, not only that but the power he should could never be gained without dedication and training, which a lot of princes never do.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Cedric questioned sounding a bit annoyed that Rage is right.
"Before deciding on a good training program you have to provide me with some information to work with" Rage replied, "Let's talk inside then?"
Cedric accompanied Rage back to the town hall, Rage asked the rest to stay back and filter those who aren't cut for military work, the soldiers were hesitant at following their orders at first but Cedric gave them full permission to use his authority during the training.
Rage and Cedric entered a small office overlooking the training grounds, Cedric took a seat by the window with Rage just across the desk.
"So, what is the current hierarchy of your garrison" Rage questioned.
"Well, i am the head knight of the Oakrbook garrison, followed by Sir Virgil the old man you saw earlier, Sir Waine and Sir Jarred" Cedric replied.
"And?" Rage questioned, as if waiting for more.
"And what?" Cedric replied with a confused expression.
"That's it? no sergeants? no divisions? squad leaders? drill sergeants? NOTHING?" Rage replied, shocked at the lack of leadership they had, no wonder they lacked proper training if any training at all, all he saw on the training grounds was soldiers swinging their swords aimlessly at training dummies for 10 minutes before taking a break.
Rage facepalmed letting out a sigh of disappointment, with Cedric looking equally distressed, he knew how lacking the security was but they never had to improve it further, most residents of Oakbrook were but mere farmers who didn't like trouble, the forest nearby never experienced any monsters before Fangmaw appeared, that's why they didn't have an adventurers guild, whenever a monster would appear in the forest they would just send out a commission to the nearest adventurers guild in Silvergate to send someone to deal with the problem, Oakbrook was a small and poor border town that never received much attention from the capital anyways, Thaddeus also held the title of Steward which was the lowest noble title in the eastern empire, meaning that before the adventurers arrived, Oakbrook was basically a no-name.
"Alright Cedric let's get started" Rage leaned forward and started to explain the hierarchy of the NPCs in Highthorn, "In my family we have a distinct chain of leadership, a chain of leadership has many pros, including the various leaders with proper training and experience calling out the shots on the battlefield, it's impossible for every single soldier to hear your commands and that's why you have to make use of those who have potential for strategy, our hierarchy is as follows: you have Varon who is the leader of the Highthorn guards, below him are 7 knights who command their own divisions, each division is divided into brigades, each brigade specializes in one form of combat, and keep in mind that each division has their own specialty and tasks, which affects the type of brigades the division consist of, brigades are then divided into regiments, and regiments into squads"
Cedric was paying attention despite not knowing what half of that meant, but Rage saw determination in his eyes, this young man wanted to make his town better and he was ready to take lectures from someone whom he thought was the same age as him.
"So if i am the head knight, that means that i am the head of the Oakbrook garrison, correct?" Cedric questioned.
"Correct"
"And if i divide my soldiers into divisions that means that Sir Virgil, Sir Waine and Sir Jarred will all have their own division?"
"That's right"
"And then these divisions will be divided into Brigades and Brigades into squads?"
"Correcto, although i'd not say that you have enough troops to keep dividing them that much, so let's say that all three knighs will have their own divisions that will be divided into squads" Rage replied.
"You'll return to the academy next month for your final year, so we have to work tirelessly for the entirety of the next month so you don't leave your town in this shape" He continued.
Cedric knew that his father wouldn't pay attention to the garrison or the town, all he cared about were taxes after all and with the arrival of these adventurers, it wasn't going to take long before he loses control over the whole town, after all if Rage wasn't here, that troublesome woman would have already annexed the town with the hundreds of goons she had.
"I can send in a delay notice, the best I can do is delay going back to the academy for three months"
"Isn't that going to cause you any problems?" Rage question came with concern for Cedric.
"Don't worry, Oakbrook is more important"
"Well then let's get started"
Rage and the rest of Highthorn spent the next two weeks filtering out the soldiers who were not cut for military work, additionally they sent out a recruitment notice to the town residents that the town was looking for skilled folks to join the garrison, this time a test was put in place to make sure that a skill threshold has to be met in order to join the garrison, the final count for the town's garrison was:
- 4 Knights including Cedric.
- 75 Horsemen who could properly handle a horse.
- 225 Footmen who could properly handle a spear and a sword.
- 30 Rangers with excellent tracking abilities who could use both a short bow and a dagger or a short sword.
- 45 Archers who could properly handle a longbow.
- The same 10 mages from before.
Additionally, a number of retired adventurers who resided in the town decided to help with training the garrison so they were assigned as instructors.
After Rage reviewed the final document for the garrison, his status window came into view:
SUBQUEST HAS BEEN GENERATED:
DEVELOP OAKBROOK - SECURITY (A+)
REWARDS: +2 OAKBROOK DEVELOPMENT LEVELS.