[Name: Ark White
Age: 54
Rank: Bronze
Talent: Hands of Steel (C)
Job: Blacksmith
Loyalty: 100]
[Talent description: Hands of steel is an active talent that transforms the bones and flesh of the individual into pure steel.].
‘Bronze?! This man has to be hardworking to have been able to push himself to become a bronze-ranked blacksmith.’
The image of Ark rose in Asher’s mind.
“Ark White, it’s a pleasure to meet the man who has been handling the affairs of my town without pay. I’m deeply honored.”
He smiled softly.
“It’s no honor, my lord; it’s the duty of a patriotic citizen. Besides, the pay I receive from mining is enough.”
Asher raised both eyebrows.
“You also mine?”
“Oh no. My sons do.”
“Ah! And you forged all this equipment I see everyone with.” Asher said, looking at the mining tools almost all miners had. They were brand new, and he could see the silver-intricate meridians pulsing, although many didn’t notice it.
“You flatter me.”
“My Lord, I found the mounts of those greedy fellows.”
A castle guard brought ten black and muscular horses, which were neighing aggressively. Other castle guards had to help the first man hold their reigns.
Grr!
Sirius unleashed a low growl, and instantly the horses became quiet.
[Would the host like to upgrade these 10 iron-ranked horses to become 10 bronze-ranked horses? Yes or No.]
‘Yes.’
Swoosh!
When the light died down, 10 slightly larger horses appeared.
“Fuse them.”
Asher said, and a light slammed all of them together, causing a brilliant glow that almost blinded everyone’s eyes.
Asher opened his eyes and saw a tall black horse clad in silver armor. It looked regal and had a proud bearing, which made Asher scoff lightly.
[Black Horse King: A powerful horse able to trump over other mounts in and out of a battlefield. It is a loyal companion and a lifetime friend of a great knight. Hard to tame.]
“Alex, that’s your special mount… if you can tame it.”
A competitive light blazed in Alex’s eyes, and he approached the horse with deep, precise steps. Such an impressive mount was the pride of a knight, and with it, he would one day be known in the entire wasteland.
With great dreams, Alex swiftly closed the gap, but the horse evaded him.
Mary, who was just entering the town, giggled at the sight.
She was asked to stay back when Asher and Alex noticed something was off.
“That’s Mary Ashbourne, my sister.”
Asher introduced causing gasps. Mary froze on her horse, but it kept moving until she arrived beside Asher.
Hu~~
She exhaled.
“Let’s go in, Your Lordship.”
“Lordship, huh?” Mary smirked at Asher.
Before they came, she was the one educating everyone in the castle that Asher had to be addressed as ‘Your Lordship’ from now on because, according to her understanding, he was a Lord himself and not the same as the Lord of servants. Merchants could also be addressed as ‘My Lord’, but a true lord must be addressed as ‘Your Lordship.’
“You did good.”
Asher gave her the praise she sought, and they dismounted.
Thud!
The sound of Alex slamming the ground hard fell into their ears along with the jesting of the castle guards.
“You’ll kill him.”
Mary said to Asher.
“He’s resilient enough. If he wants a special horse, he has to earn it.”
“But you can make it easily obey him.”
Asher shrugged and walked into the forge.
Mary glanced at Alex in pity before she also went in.
…..
After a while, Asher stood at the same place he once stood after battling the orcs and watched miners move in and out of the mine.
Beside him was a dishevelled Alex who had a victorious smile.
“What did you name your mount?”
Asher turned his head toward him.
“Night.”
“Night,” Asher muttered softly.
He shrugged and walked through the mines. According to Ark, what he saw was just the entrance of the mine; the tall hill some distance away was filled with iron ore!
And Ark knew about this because his talent also allows him to sense ores.
With Ark’s special talent, he could go around trying to find more mines, but Asher didn’t want to be an abusive lord.
Right now, he needed a way to trade these ores for money. His system had already prepared armor for all troops, special, unique, or normal. Special-tier troops were undoubtedly stronger than normal troops, but normal troops had greater numbers.
As for unique, it was still in the dark, but the system had informed him about it.
While walking, Ashher and Alex left the mines and explored the silver leaf forest.
“Alex. I plan to send Mary to the Sacred Flame Academy to study. I want her away from here because we would soon face oppositions both from the beast tide and nobles who would be greedy for what we have.”
Alex simply nodded.
Asher puffed out and looked at the skies. “Mary will be able to learn a good occupation there.”
…
When the sun went down, Asher sat under the trees with Mary. She dutifully sang lullabies that slithered into Asher’s ears, soothing his heart, which was filled with many things. They both leaned on Sirius, who had been subjected to being their couch.
The wolf didn’t seem to care as it closed its eyes, seemingly fast asleep.
Just as Asher was about to shut his eyes, he discovered the strange fog that enveloped the place.
“Mary, stop singing.”
His eyes sharpened.
He held his sword hilt and began to walk forward. His boot sank into the snow-covered ground, leaving a deep trail behind him.
After a while, Asher squatted and squinted at the footprint of a beast. It was a really small footprint.
Frowning, he traced his steps back.
All of a sudden, Asher paused and looked at his right. He saw the forelimb of a giant beast. A true giant beast!
He lifted his head in that same shocked state and saw a massive head looking at him from above. A pair of blue eyes stared right back at him. Apart from the head and the forelimbs, the other part of the beast seemed to be made of wood and grass, and he couldn’t see past its waist due to the thick fog.
Whoosh!
The mighty beast vanished along with the sudden fog.
Asher saw a small, furry creature walking toward Mary and Sirius.
“Is that a polar wolf pup?!”