The territory was a symphony of soft chaos. Undead laborers moved with mechanical precision, hauling and stacking the piles of tripled resources.
Luna stood nearby, looking remarkably composed. Unlike her previous exhaustion, the surge in her rank allowed her to remain steady and light on her feet even after activating her talent. She approached Leo with a contemplative expression.
''Even with the multiplier, our initial reserves were too thin. We should have exercised patience until our stores were full," she noted.
"We don't have time. Forget about new projects; we should focus on strengthening our defense. I need these materials to upgrade the archer towers and arcane towers." He marched toward a broad clearing designated for his military expansion.
The existing structures for the undead and common soldiers stood nearby, but Leo's focus was on the system interface shimmering before his eyes.
[House of the Scarlet Crown]
Construction Requirements:
Stronghold Rank (Lv 4)
Bloodline Authority
500 Crimson Obsidian
120 Nightsteel Ingot
50 Blood Essence Crystals
10 Elite Beast Bone Pillars
50,000 Gold (Insufficient)
Required Laborers: 50x Common workers
Construction Time: 18 hours
Leo checked his balance: 41,000 gold. With a sharp exhale, he sold his entire reserve of F-grade aether cores. The conversion was instant, and the gold requirement flashed a triumphant green.
'This commits eighty percent of my workforce and won't be completed until the zero hour. Is the gamble worth it?' Leo hesitated for only a heartbeat. The prospect of an Epic-grade barracks was a game-changer, regardless of the mystery surrounding its units.
He pressed the confirmation. The atmosphere grew heavy, the ground groaning under the weight of the spell. A thick, crimson blood veil erupted from the earth, shrouding the clearing and dragging the fifty laborers into its swirling depths.
"I can already tell this is going to look terrifying," Luna murmured, her eyes reflecting the red glow.
Leo turned to River, his command brief and absolute. "Halt all external harvest for now. Every hand on deck for construction. The resources within the shield are depleted, and the external yields are too small to justify the time. We build with what we have."
They ascended the stone ramparts. Leo walked the walkway between the integrated watch towers, his shadow lengthened by the midday sun. Luna and Frost trailed him like silent sentinels.
"A few days ago, this was just an empty field and a single temple," Leo remarked, looking over his burgeoning kingdom.
Luna remained silent, offering a soft smile that acknowledged his progress. Leo currently had four towers anchored at the corners of the wall, but his strategic vision demanded six Arcane Towers to act as a magical deterrent. He pulled up the blueprint for it.
[Arcane Tower (Rare)]
Grade: Rare
Type: Automated Spell Turret
Function: Magic Missile Barrage + Mana Detection
Construction Requirements: 2,500 Stone Blocks, 40 Lesser Arcane Crystals, 200 Iron Brackets, 1 Basic Arcane Core.
Conditions: Master Builder, 16 hours.
Leo sighed heavily as he looked at the sun reaching its zenith. Unlike before, every construction project now has complicated requirements. He didn't have the gold or SE, and his aether core reserve was low. Even if he gathered the materials, he didn't have a Master Builder.
'There is no use lamenting what we lack. We optimize the existing assets,' Leo decided. He signaled Luna. "Focus your efforts on upgrading the current watch towers to level four. We'll delay the arcane towers until we have the right specialists."
He vaulted from the wall, landing softly as Frost mirrored his descent. "Vesper, have Malphas assemble every soldier we have in ten minutes."
Leo knew that hunting today was a risk, but it was a necessary one. He needed Sanguinary Essence to fuel the next stage of his evolution. He strode toward the undead barracks. Thanks to Luna's talent, he had managed to triple the massive haul from the crypt stalkers during the trial. With the cost of uncommon units being so low, it was time to scale.
"Begin the recruitment," Leo commanded.
[-3000 x Bone fragments, - 300 x death essence]
Thirty Spectral Archers and thirty Death Knights materialized within the barracks.
The gates groaned as they swung wide. A wave of spectral blue light spilled across the courtyard as sixty elite undead marched out in terrifying unison. Their eyes burned with cerulean hellfire, their movements devoid of hesitation.
'Now, we have a proper vanguard,' Leo thought. Behind the recruits, the heavy thud of Malphas's boots announced his arrival. The final tally was impressive: Ninety elite undead, Grakul's twenty ogres, and the Goblin Captain with his massive slab of a sword.
Malphas knelt, his helm tilting upward. "My Lord, we are ready for your orders."
Leo's personal army had finally eclipsed the hundred-unit threshold. He tossed a storage ring to his general. "Scour the wilds. Before the night rage descends, I want a mountain of corpses and a forest cleared of threats."
Malphas gave a curt nod and led the grim procession out beyond the shield. Frost watched them depart, her expression unreadable. On the wall, Luna paused her work, her eyes lingering on the departing soldiers.
'His growth doesn't just accelerate; it defies every law of this world,' she mused, her gaze shifting back to the man standing in the center of the courtyard.
Leo checked his interface. After recruiting thirty additional undead laborers to expedite the fortifications, his population stood at 233/300. He then turned his attention to the Archive's second mystery: Authority II.
Sovereign's Mandate sat atop the standard recruitment window. Usually, a lord was limited to basic laborers or the occasional wandering warrior. The barracks offered slightly better human units, but Leo had always found the undead to be more reliable. However, the new authority changed the math entirely.
He entered the barracks, which had been converted into a rugged training ground. As he stepped through the doors, a faint, pained whimper caught his ear. He looked down to see the Blood Hound from the trial, its leg still mangled from their previous encounter.
'I let my focus slip,' Leo thought, a pang of guilt hitting him. He knelt beside the beast. "Easy, buddy. I haven't forgotten you."
The hound's eyes remained fiercely loyal despite the pain. Leo produced a Blood Essence stone and offered it. The creature lunged at the stone, consuming it with a primal hunger that reminded Leo of the unit's violent nature. Almost instantly, the bone reset and the flesh knit together. Leo stroked its head. "If you're hurt, you find me immediately next time. Understood?"
The hound gave a short bark and bounded off to join its brother.
Leo sighed, realizing that as his domain grew, the details were becoming harder to manage. 'I'll need to delegate more to Verdict soon.' He turned back to the recruitment screen.
[Recruitment Tab] [Human Swordsman (Uncommon) - 50 Gold] [Human Archer (Uncommon) - 60 Gold]
[Authority II: Sovereign's Mandate Active]
[Mutate recruitment to an Exotic Race - 1000 SE Required - YES | NO]
'So I can overwrite the very nature of my recruits,' Leo observed. 'I'm short on essence now, but once Malphas returns, we'll see what kind of monsters I can truly bring into this world.' He closed the tab and stepped back out into the sun-drenched courtyard.