"Before the Brandals and Cavalry Knights arrived in the southern region of Coatl, this village was known to be the most prominent village in the whole area."
Veinard pointed across the entire scenery.
"Everything you see before you flourished. The fishes were plenty and the harvest was always abundant. All the other villages envied Verbrannt. Regrettably, this was also the reason why it was razed to the ground. The Brandals of the southern legion, wanted to make a bold statement to the whole area."
Sierra raised her eyebrow as she wondered what exactly the Brandal scoundrels did.
"In broad daylight, all 5,000 bandits of the southern legion, pillaged, plundered, murdered, and raped the residents of Verbrannt. Then, they chopped up the body of Lord Faible to pieces. They attached a piece of the lord's body to a black ctenosaur. Then they had the six foot long lizard carry the severed piece along with a note."
Here is a body part of Faible, Lord of Verbrannt.
The residents suffered a fate worse than their lord.
Pay us our demands or suffer more than the Verbrannts!
King of the Brandals,
~ Ultimo Maire
|
"Other villages laughed and ignored the warning. Most of us thought it was just some stupid prank. It wasn't until more villages burnt down before we realized that the Brandals' threat was real."
Veinard looked up to the sky. He touched his forehead with his right hand and raised it upward. It was how Cuezaltzinians performed a short prayer to their god.
"I think it's very fitting that you chose this place to rally the troubled people, scattered in the southern region."
Sierra awkwardly replied.
"Really? We only chose this place because of its geographical advantage against invasions."
"Regardless of whatever reason. I think this tower will be a beacon of hope to everyone in the area."
Sierra nodded. She smiled as she thought that they were giving peace to the long troubled people in the region.
* * * * * *
The Huntress Vijaya felt useless. Her twin sister Sharanga blossomed into an invaluable member of Smoke's private army. Sharanga's traps and other inventions were very useful in all their operations.
The WoodElf secluded herself in a clearing, deep within Otaczac forest. She had been secretly training for the past weeks. She thought she would be most useful if she could obtain Thyrsus' ability 'Falcon Vision'.
Her twin falcons could cover more area to spy on. She also envied Thyrsus, because even without his 'Falcon Vision' ability he was one of the tacticians in their military operations.
She tried closing her eyes, but she couldn't see what her falcons were seeing. She felt that she had no chance of gaining Thyrsus' ability.
Vijaya regretted that she relied on her falcons for attack power. She wasn't able to give out any massive damage like Ichaival's 'Phantom Arrows', which had improved from firing four arrows to six.
The young Huntress started to imitate Ichaival's training in Madam Dawny's farm. Vijaya held three arrows in one hand, and started to fire as fast as she could. Yet, that also felt awkward to the WoodElf.
Vijaya was frustrated and didn't know what to do. She heard a branch crack behind her. She quickly had her bow and arrow aimed on the source of the sound.
The one who stepped on the branch was a one-armed man.
"Vijaya, calm down. Sorry if I startled you. I was just out doing some recon. Since most of the recruits are rebuilding the castle."
"Adder! What the heck? Couldn't you have called out my name or something?"
"Sorry, I thought that would've broken your concentration."
"Concentration? Are you making fun of me? I must've looked really pathetic, huh?"
Adder shook his in disagreement.
"No, on the contrary I think you're on the right path. Let me tell you something Darius told me, when I lost my arm."
Vijaya tilted her head. She was curious as to what Master Darius said.
"It is only when we hit rock bottom that we can build a stronger foundation of our improved selves."
Adder saw that Vijaya was confused.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll come to you."
After he shared Darius' advise, the one-armed Condortlian briskly disappeared into the forest.
Vijaya was slumped on the ground. She started to wail out her frustrations. She felt insignificant and inadequate. Her twin falcons, Vij and Aya, came down and perched on her shoulders.
Her falcons tried their best to console her. They started to shriek and chitter.
Kekkek kekk kekeeeekk kekk
"What do you mean I've been talking to you? Of course I can talk to you. I'm a Hunter, remember? All Hunters can talk with their falcons."
Kekkkekk keeek kkeekk kekeke
"Correct, Aya. Like that's something special. I see Sharanga talking with her falcon all the time. What's so special with how I talk to you guys?"
Keeekk keekekek kekekeke.
"Huh? Sharanga's falcon doesn't understand what she's saying, not like how you two understand me?"
Kekke kekek kkeeek.
"Yeah, of course I remember the time when an arrow struck your wing, Vij."
Kekekk ekekek ekkekk.
"You mean I gained an ability from that time?"
Vijaya checked her ability list and was astonished to see a new ability she had never seen before, 'Falcon Tongue'.
Keke keekekeeeek kekekekekek.
"I think you're right, Aya. I was too absorbed mending Vij's wound that I didn't notice my new ability. It says that with this I could talk to all falcons and they could completely understand me."
Vijaya thought that she could use her 'Falcon Tongue' for scouting. She tried having Vij fly 200 meters ahead of her and Aya 200 meters behind her.
She called out to them and asked them what they saw. They shrieked back their answers, and Vijaya understood them perfectly.
She thought to herself that she could go to a Hunter Shop, and get more falcons. The condition of calling out the falcons name wasn't a problem for her any longer.
Her scouting range was shorter than Thyrsus, but that could easily be solved if she had more falcons.
* * * * * *
Sierra was on the grounds of Verbrannt Castle when she heard the lookout on one of the twelve towers screaming that a cloud of dust was coming towards them.
She looked at the familiar cloud of dust and she knew that they were from Laernea and Gandiva's blindingly fast stag moose.
The Lioumereans were punctual as usual, and arrived right on the dot of their promised time.
"Gandiva, Laernea. You guys are finally here."
The red werebear opened her arms and gave the two Lioumereans a bear hug.
"Thanks for coming to greet us. Where are the others?"
Gandiva hugged Sierra back with all her might, while Laernea lightly gave her a quick pat on the back.
"I'm glad you asked. They're all at the dirus wolves pen."
Laernea and Gandiva both looked at each other.
"Since when do you have dirus wolves?"
"Oh, its from the time I slaughtered Sagen and his men. After their bodies disappeared, we managed to capture ten dirus wolves. The other nineteen wolves fought to the death, rather than being captured. I think those captured wolves mustn't have bonded with their riders yet."
Laernea nodded as they were being led into the dirus wolves holding pen.
"I see, and what are you planning to do with them?"
"Actually, that's the reason why everybody's excited to see you two."
"Huh? What do we have to do with the dirus wolves?"
"Sharur mentioned that you could teach them the Basic Riding ability."
"So, this was the task that you had us rush over for?"
Sierra laughed as she saw the exasperated faces of Gandiva and Laernea.
When they got to the dirus wolves pen, the Lioumereans were swarmed by Sharur, Jinggu, Ichaival, Thyrsus, Sharanga, and Vijaya.
Adder remained near the dirus wolves' fence, and lightly nodded at the Lioumereans.
Gandiva and Laernea's eyebrows met at the center of their faces. They scowled and pushed all of them back.
Laernea crossed her arms when they had enough room from their excited friends.
"Cut it out. We both know why you're all excited to see us."
Gandiva snarled at them, and in a cranky voice spoke to their eager students.
"Let me just inform you that the 'Basic Riding' ability gives you no enhancements whatsoever. It just allows you to ride mountable monsters. Do you understand?"
Laernea added in their conditions for teaching them the ability to ride mounts.
"Remember, all of you must obey all our instructions all the time. You should call us Master. If you disobey us even once, you will be banned from our lessons. Is that understood?"
The six persons in front of the two Lioumereans nodded enthusiastically.
"Fine! Let's proceed with our first lesson. If all goes well, we should be done in a couple of hours."
* * * * * *
In the real world, Smoke made Sierra study the ranks and formations of modern day military. He also asked her to apply them to their gathered villagers.
From her studies, Sierra learned that an organized group of weak individuals had a chance to defeat stronger opponents in disarray.
Together with Adder, Sierra decided that this was how their militia could operate. The plan was to grow the militia to the point where each member of Smoke's private army could lead one battalion. As leaders of a battalion, they were given the title of Commander.
One battalion had two platoons. One platoon was made out of six to eight squads. One squad was made out of five to seven individuals.
Sierra's formed militia followed this chain of command. A platoon leader was given the title Lieutenant. He was directly in charge of the squad leaders.
While a squad leader had the title of Sergeant. At the very least, each squad was comprised of 3 Farmers and 2 Fishermen. This was Sierra's chosen formation to give their militia a defensive edge.
The Farmers had high HPs and decent defense, but they had low attack power. Whereas the Fishermen had high attack but low HPs and defense.
Sierra was on foot as she set off for the nearest rundown village of Nasunugan. She wasn't able to learn the 'Basic Riding' ability because no dirus wolf could hold the weight of her werebear form.
Sierra brought one platoon along with her to the village. Her werebear curse made it impossible for her to give a good first impression, so she chose one of the villagers to be her representative.
The red werebear made Veinard Gars into a Lieutenant. He was the forty year old man who spoke passionately about Verbrannt Village. She thought his zealousness could convince the residents of the ruined villages.
When they reached Nasunugan Village. Veinard made the people remember how the Brandals ravaged not only their village, but how the bandits laid waste to Verbrannt.
The villagers recalled the horrendous incident, and felt that if they didn't leave their home they could become the next Verbrannt.
Veinard was honest and sincere. The village leaders and their residents knew that what he spoke was the truth. All the residents of Nasunugan joined them.
As the last citizens of Nasunugan left their ruined village, Sierra wondered how the rest of the private army were doing.
Sharur, Jinggu, Thyrsus, and Ichaival were out on a similar quest. They traveled to the remote villages with their own platoon of volunteers. They proudly rode on the backs of their new dirus wolves.
When Sharanga received a message from Darius, she asked Gandiva to take her back home to Nanahuatl, the WoodElf needed to return home as soon as possible.
Adder and Laernea stayed behind Verbrannt Castle to continue training the Farmers and Fishermen. They needed all the training they could get against mounted enemies.
After Nasunugan Village, Sierra went to Verderben Village. There, she had Veinard repeat his magic. She had him convince the crowd to join their cause.
When Sierra returned to Verbrannt Castle, She gathered a total of 383 refugees from the two villages. She asked Adder to help with the new arrivals. She had those willing to fight be sorted into squads.
