"That's right, giants can't live without their alcohol. Brewing it is even more troublesome than raising cattle. Fatty Bull has always wanted to learn how to brew the dwarven fine wine," Fatty Bull pointed at the wooden mug in his hand. "It's a bit different from the giants' brew."
"Dwarven alcohol is brewed through secret techniques," Splitting Blade remarked. "But weren't you planning to raise wild bison? I've heard there's a way to make alcohol from milk on the plains..."
"Making alcohol from milk? Milk wine, you say? That sounds good…" Fatty Bull tossed another chunk of meat from his helmet into his mouth. "With the Giant Strength Soup, it should be super delicious, right… Boss?"
"Haha, Fatty Bull, if you say so, then it must be," Kent laughed. "But speaking of brewing, I can teach you after winter."
"You promise, boss?" Fatty Bull's eyes lit up. "Don't forget, there's a hundred recipes!"
"Recipes? What recipes, Fatty?" Crow asked.
"Boss said he'd teach me a hundred magical recipes for cooking," Fatty Bull grinned.
"Seriously?" Crow turned to look at Kent. "Boss, you can't be playing favorites. Teach us something too."
These guards had been following Kent for years, and seeing a newcomer giant so quickly become Kent's apprentice made them envious.
Even if it was just culinary apprenticeship, it signified a closer relationship!
"Alright, what do you want to learn? Architecture or mining? Or maybe forging coal furnaces!" Kent nodded.
The members of the guard squad burst into laughter.
For this trip to the Bison Meadow to meet the Red Tiger family, Kent had refused Splitting Blade's suggestion of bringing more guards and only brought along the original squad.
With magical armor on each of them, the team had already reached the level of a Tier 10 Elite Guard Squad, complete with multiple team-enhancing abilities. In terms of small-scale skirmishes, even elite scout squads from the Alliance would not stand a chance against them.
And of course, there was the unknown level of Water Stream who was always nearby.
Lark had not stayed by Kent's side but was instead sent back to the Blood Rose secret camp by Water Stream to summon all the members of the Blood Rose to return, preparing for a mass migration to the Hunting Spear Territory.
"Boss, can't you teach something else…" Crow scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm not really interested in craftsman skills. Being a guard is good enough for me."
"Something else, huh..." Kent's mind began to stir.
In the past month or so, the system had accumulated millions of satisfaction points, most of which had been poured into the production system.
The production system had now unlocked four sub-projects: architecture, rune forging, weapon forging, and armor forging. In addition to the three original Tier 1 rune blueprints and the construction techniques for foundations, houses, and kilns, new weapon blueprints like the Swift Crossbow and Razor Great Axe, along with armor forging blueprints for heavy shields, had been unlocked to meet the needs of cave-dwelling crossbowmen and shield-axe barbarians.
As the core technology of the territory, rune forging had also unlocked Tier 2 forging techniques.
Tier 2 rune forging included six different Tier 2 rune recipes, of which only "Iron Wall Defense" and "Intermediate Strength" had been unlocked so far. These new recipes required advanced materials and had high standards for armor equipment installation, so they were still in the testing phase and could not yet be mass-produced.
Opening these projects alone had already consumed nearly a million satisfaction points.
Now, when Crow made his request, Kent thought of the Level 2 team system.
Having already unlocked the primary team systems of coordinated combat, frenzy battle, and phalanx defense, the Level 2 team system was now available, offering six additional team support skills.
To unlock the first skill of the Level 2 system required 50,000 satisfaction points, with the cost increasing incrementally. To fully unlock the system, a total of 3.15 million satisfaction points were required.
Currently, Kent only had 100,000 satisfaction points, enough to unlock just one Level 2 team ability.
But Kent had already planned ahead.
Among the abilities in the Level 2 team system, one stood out as it could be used as both a team attack skill and an individual enhancement ability.
That was "Phalanx Impact."
Phalanx Impact worked in conjunction with Phalanx Defense during team operations, instantly boosting each member's attack by 20% and allowing the team to break through gaps with synchronized attacks.
As an individual skill, it simply enhanced personal combat strength, making it highly useful for every member of the squad.
"I could use magic to give you all an ability that boosts your combat strength," Kent said, confirming his decision.
Suddenly, the surroundings went silent.
The only sound was the sizzling fat dripping from the meat into the campfire, popping and crackling.
The guards around Kent all stopped what they were doing, even Water Stream, hidden in the shadows, opened its eyes.
Crow's casual remark had seemed like a mere joke or complaint. But having been in the Hunting Spear Valley for several months, each member of the guard had gone through the same process and witnessed firsthand the astounding changes in the illegitimate son.
As a royal bastard of the Wilderness Tribe, rumors had circulated that his bloodline carried the inheritance of the Magic Throne. Kent's successful awakening of rune-heavy armor and the gradual emergence of his prayer and fireball spells made these rumors seem increasingly plausible to the guards.
A powerful mage, in any alliance or tribe, was an incredibly respected figure.
In the songs sung by the bards, the magical world was full of endless wonders, from battle-boosting spells for the team, to devastating area-of-effect magic that could scatter enemies' souls, even curses from the dark. All of these made the non-magical highlanders view the magical world with awe.
With such pre-existing beliefs, Kent's boundless imagination and inventions—runes, cement, brickmaking, strange buildings, large cooking pots, and more—had found a natural explanation: all of it came from the inheritance of the Magic Throne.
Only bloodline inheritance could explain how a seemingly insignificant illegitimate son suddenly gained such inexplicable and extraordinary powers.
Following this logic, the resistance and suppression from other royal heirs made perfect sense.
In just a few months, the mindset of the guard squad had completely shifted from despairing over the lost territory to believing in the rise of the royal bastard. They were now convinced that Kent, or rather, their boss, would eventually lead them to the peak of the continent.
And now, it seemed their boss was about to surprise them again…