Boom!
The ice exploded outward, hurtling ice shards everywhere. Asher's eyes narrowed as he watched a steaming man walk out with a ferocious glint in his eyes.
"Boy, I'll roast both you and your beast!"
He roared.
Asher saw him inhale, causing his chest to inflate, and all of a sudden, a fiery light shone from the middle of his chest to his inflated cheeks.
In the next moment, a torrent of flames poured out of the man's mouth. His mouth was like a flame thrower, and the flames seemed to increase as it got closer to him.
Sirius intercepted the flames with its ice mist breath. Both elements collided, causing an explosion and a thick cloud of mist that hampered Lugard's vision.
When he almost came to the conclusion that Asher was dead, he saw a shadow emerging from the thick white fog with a weapon resembling a sword in his right hand.
Lugard brandished his mace and watched as the man ran toward him with an excited smirk. He could visualize himself smashing Asher to pieces.
When the gap between them closed, Asher went on his knees and slid under his horizontal strike. Grunting, Lugard turned, and at that moment, a wolf emerged from the fog and bit down. Its massive teeth and claws tore Lugard apart.
Without gold-ranked armor, he was defenseless against Sirius' weapons, which were his teeth and claws.
"Good boy."
Asher got to his feet. He hung his sword on his shoulder and watched his men cut down the cannibalistic barbarians. He noticed a bladebreaker soldier was giving others to others, making them work as a strong unit.
This made Asher squint.
[Name: Lambert
Age: 41
Rank: Silver
Talent: Physique Enhancement (B)
Job: Bladebreaker soldier
Loyalty: 100]
[Talent description: Physique Enhancement is an active skill that increases the individual's overall capability by two folds in a duration of 10 minutes.]
'A B-grade talent has been with me all this while!'
He gasped. A B-grade talent, though not as noteworthy as an A-grade talent, was still crucial to the growth of his elite army. B-grade talent could grow to become a commander of a thousand strong men of war, while an A-grade talent would eventually lead ten thousand strong if his army ever grew to that size.
All these were still far away from him, but Asher was excited to find Lambert, a hidden talent!
He quickly checked the panels of others, but none of them even had a C-grade talent.
...…
After some time, Lambert rode toward him with two other Bladebreakers, and they dismounted and kneeled.
"Lord Asher, we've conquered the tribe and have taken no male prisoners."
"Arise. What is the total number of women and children?"
Lambert stood up when Asher gestured for him to rise.
"There are 200 women and 130 children; most of them are below ten."
"Just that?"
"We discovered they sacrificed most of their children for feasts. Their bones are piled up in the valley down there." Lambert pointed behind him.
In the depths of his tone lurked rage and scorching fury toward the Raging Bear tribe.
"Keep some men to lead them back. The rest of us will return to the wolf tribe."
"Understood, My Lord."
After that, Asher and 20 Bladebreakers rode back to the wolf tribe, where Asher ordered Sirius to stop anyone from entering his tent and went to sleep. He was exhausted after a day of riding and fighting, yet there were matters that needed his attention, but he wasn't in the right state to deal with them.
He had to fight, mediate, order, listen, advice...
His work was seemingly endless, and his territory was still in the infant stage. Before he slept, a face came into his mind. It was Kelvin's face.
'I just hope he's able to handle all the cases in the fortress.'
...….
The next morning, Asher faced Alec and Eritrea, who were both looking refreshed after the upgrade, but he had bags under his eyes. He did not have the privilege of an upgrade that would wash away exhaustion.
"My Lord, the total report of the battle is out." Eritrea paused and looked at his face, waiting for his go-ahead signal.
"Go on."
"We took 300 captives who surrendered, and we recorded our losses to be 500, reducing our forces from 1800 to 1300."
"I see. How much did I upgrade then?"
"500, My Lord."
"Remove the rest from the army. Those that are not eligible should be taken to the working sector."
Asher turned to Alec.
"Inform Kelvin to handle them."
Alec nodded.
"Is there anything else?"
"Ehm!"
Alec cleared his throat.
"There's nothing else."
"Then you can leave."
They turned and left.
On their way through the tents, Eritrea turned her head to Alec.
"Lord Asher should be in his twenties, but he had no wife or concubine."
"He had a bad past with a woman. Apparently they called off a betrothal after he was deemed useless."
Eritrea's eyes twinkled.
"That was a good thing, in my opinion. They would have chained our Lord, killing his talent to become a great lord before it even showcased itself."
Alec glanced at the female marksman and shrugged.
"The woman in question is an elf. Men clamor for elves."
"An elf!" Eritrea was shocked.
"Elves still exist?! My father said, "Though many thought my mother was an elf, she was just a half-elf, but with a purer heritage than me."
"Will, they still do, but they are rare. I heard Count Williams find her in the wilderness, living a peaceful life."
"You're busy talking about elves when we're all discussing Lord Asher's dreadful state. Did you see those white eyes? It was as if your soul was laid bare before him."
Alec and Eritrea turned and saw a bonestrike ranger. It was Eritrea's close friend and the same woman who was eager to know more about Asher.
Eritrea turned to Alec.
"That should be his talent."
"But he mysteriously increased our strength and size and made us much more powerful in an instant. Isn't that his talent?" The ranger asked with an innocent blink.
"Perhaps-"
Alec's words were stuck in his throat as he touched the white flake on the ranger's head and looked up. Snowflakes were falling from the skies.
Winter had arrived!
************
End of Volume One.
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