4 months have passed, winter is now over and spring has begun
It was during the Early winter that Cliff finally finished his Mountain Saint Class after which he changed into Weaponsmith. Strangely enough he discovered that the Weaponsmith and Tool smith harmonized with each other, Axes and knives became sturdier and retained sharpness better.
Since there has been no combat with the seirei the weapons made by the other weaponsmith have seen no use, so they have only been gathering dust in the armouries. So, with Cliff making more, yes, they had a better quality due to Cliffs other classes synergizing such as Smelter-Tool smith-Weaponsmith. But that still meant nothing when they were just rotting away. Thankfully to preserve the weapons, the Gni had a special runic box from their old world that could halve the aging of the contents.
Grateful for the Idea, huge crates were made not only for the weapons but the lumber and food also.
After Finishing the Weaponsmith he promptly entered the Armour smith, since what good was a strong weapon if you died before using it. Now Armour smithing was a time when Rein began to join him in his crafting. With her Class of Scribe and Acolyte merging she became a Mana Scribe; this was basically a watered-down version of a Runescribe.
Using her abillities on the armour they were able to decrease weight, ass fire resistance and so much more. It was during one of the hundred projects that Rein and Cliff began to get closer to each other, though both were too shy and swamped with work to acknowledge their feelings.
--
2 days pass nighttime
Today was a tiring day, much effort was put into making personal armour for himself and Phynn. So, to relax Cliff was sitting on the Entrance wall enjoying some ale while looking at the Starry sky.
Groaning and stretching the kinks out of his back Cliff prepared to go to bed since it was well past midnight. But just as he made to walk down the steps, he heard a Clink of metal.
Freezing he listened closely and heard the noise was closer now.
Rushing back to the palisade he looked over and saw a large group of Humanoids approaching under the dim moonlight. Each were armed and he could only assume that they were seirei.
Rushing to the Gong he began banging it in a panic. After the Warning was conveyed, grabbing a bag of compressed earth balls from a cubby in the wall, he then returned to the ledge and used Earth Manipulation to begin firing the balls at the attackers.
With their surprise discovered they abandoned any pretence of stealth and immediately the sky was lit by a fire ball headed for the gate which was quickly followed by many more. A hair-raising crash resounded through the night signifying the gates failure after 7 fireballs. Manipulating an earthen wall around the gate, Cliff then Jumped from the wall into the midst of the attackers, manipulating an exosuit like armour of earth around himself He began beating up the night attackers.
Just as he fought fiercely so too did the enemy, chunks of earth went flying along with blood and flesh. At some point Cliff was joined by Phynn and all of the Bruge. After what seemed like hours due to the rising sun, Cliff could not tell if he was screaming in pain or anger. A handful of Gni corpses were strewn over the walls, Phynn was missing an ear, Cliff himself was suffering from many cuts and a gut wound.
it was as the Sun hit its highest in the sky that the fighting ended. The Seirei seeing their losses retreated promptly but Cliff was not stupid enough to believe they were done.
The sight of the Battlefield disgusted him, there were hundreds of corpses littering the field, why! Why was the Gant so precious that these people were willing to cause such a Massacre.
Hours pass of Healing and sorting the dead. It was very surprising the Mountain people must have been elites, since out of the battlefield 10 of theirs, 6 gni and 4 humans were dead while the Seirei had a loss of 400 human and seirei mixed.
Cliff could not get that number out of his head 400! How the hell did they survive!
Calling a meeting of Phynn, Rein, Maij, Ram and Rygn the Gni. It was discussed that everyone would wear Armour and be armed, everyone would also be supplied with a pouch of first aid pills such as Pain killers and blood clotting since they were fairly cheap to make and could keep someone alive long enough for an actual healer to get to.
It was as the mountain people scavenged from their fallen foes that it was discovered why this defense was easier than it should have been. The truth was the enemy had no armour and the weapons were crude. Rygn the Gni stated that this was a common Seirei tactic if they had overpopulation, to send in the weaker members with shitty armaments to wear down the enemy before they sent in the actual army.
This worried Cliff, but the only thing to do was prepare, this was his home and he was not going to give it up!
--
For 2 weeks the Mountain faced Constant night raids
For 2 weeks Cliff and the others have only gotten a couple hours of sleep.
The walls are still holding firm, the gate has been replaced 5 times, each improvement fairing better against the on-slaught.
Even with all the attacks, the mountains morale is high, by staying behind the walls and not leaving into the field like the very first time, out of the 800 slain seirei the mountain has only lost 2.
But unfortunately, today the first day of the 3rd week was different.
There were only 100 attackers today costing the defenders 5 lives. This was due to the fact that these seirei were better armed and they also seemed to have more stat points.
It was as Cliff was admiring the strength of his people that Marn the first Weaponsmith came up to him.
“Sir, you may have noticed my absence from defending the wall for the past week, my reason is I found a new class that may aid us in the war that I have been experimenting with.” Said Marin
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“Shit! I did not even notice we were missing anybody! Now that sounds hope raising, what is the class you mention?”
“So after choosing Weaponsmith I also completed the classes Mason-Stonecarver. It was after finishing Stonecarver that I attained Golem Maker currently the level only allows for weaker earth Golems to be made, but I am hoping to increase it so I can make Stone and Metal golems.”
Cliff could feel the stress fall form his shoulders “that is great news! I want you to make each one to the best of your ability, do not rush! I want quality over quantity. After you have made 5, Bring them to the wall for Defense, continue to make batches of 5 before sending them over. Also don’t forget to experiment with the shapes, bipedal, animal like see which ones work best.”
Marin nodded quickly in understanding before rushing off.
With the aid of those Golems, Cliff had his eyes on a bright future. Yes, those Earth golems might be weak originally but with experience and time they would change the course of the war!
2 more days pass of night raids, Before the attacks just stop.
The Mountain took the break for what it was worth.
Fields were tended with caution, people got lots of rest, all while guards rotated every two hours to stay fresh. Cliff repaired armour, and even began making weapons and armour big enough for the new golems to use
--
3 weeks passed and Mid morning while Cliff was eating lunch the warning Gong went off. Double checking his armour, he grabbed a Halberd before rushing off to the Gates.
Getting there he stood with the Other Mountain Inhabitants looking at the Horizon.
Nothing could be seen but the noises that were heard wreaked havoc with their imaginations. Clanging of Metal, rumbling and Shouting. They could only assume that the Seireis actual army finally came.
After minutes of standing ready, they saw dozens of Carts pulled by Horses and People exiting from the forest.
There looked to be close to a thousand people.
Those with ranged abilities were ready to fire when Phynn yelled at everyone to stop
“Look at that! Fost is alive!! It been a year and a half and he finally returns! That bastard has good timing!”
Looking at where Phynn was looking Cliff broke into a smile. That was indeed Fost.
Approaching Rein, Cliff had her and some other Scribes grab Sheathes of paper so that they could record the influx of people.
After getting everything organized Fost approached them
“Well Cliff, those tools were great, gave me a nice nest egg which allowed me to start a small trading caravan. The closest town is a month south and after that other towns were closer about a week’s difference to each.”
Taking a Breather Fost continued “after seeing the wealth of my caravan many asked where we were from and after finding that it was a mountain city with very few inhabitants, many Jumped at the opportunity! I have tailors, warriors, smiths, farmers and many others! Anyway, what’s been happening with you?”
For a short while Phynn and Cliff gave an overview of the last little while, and thanked him that they now had more man power to defend from the Seirei.
After some more Chatting, Fost then gave them an overview of the Caravans contents which was surprisingly large
The caravan had 24 carts and 48 horses, and in those carts there were Fruits seeds such as Raspberry, mulberries, Apricots, Gushe, Pianit. Various Vegetable and Grains. Different ores and finished products of both weapons and tools for study, Fabrics and they even brought some Live Chickens and Pillins which were a Raanid pig species.
The Horses, Pillins and Chickens had to be kept inside an apartment until a better building was made. And the other many resources were brought to the Storage floor.
While that was being done Fost was amazed at the new city, when he left it was just a series of tunnels but now! Now it was a impenetrable Fortress City.
Fost introduced them to his Now pregnant wife who was also Anan. ” So, over the year I have learnt much about trading and have chosen various Merchant classes. I would like to Continue Being a travelling merchant if that is alright with you Cliff. Also, since most of the original investment was from your tools I will give you 80% of the Current Gold we have, and Half the Goods will go to the city, the rest I will sell here.”
“That is very generous of you, and those splits sound good to me, talk about inside trade to Rein, but I think that it was decided that there will be a tax of 13% for the future, this will all go to the city itself and be used for improvements.”
Fost nodded in agreement before Cliff continued “Also I don’t mind you doing more travelling but maybe wait a few months for us to figure out how to handle the Seirei.”
“I and my wife will stay here until the baby is born should be another 3 months. But I want to keep our caravan in the forefront of everyone’s minds, so Tam and Kirn will be in charge of the next Caravan, which will leave in 2 months time. So a year after that I will go back on the road”
--
2 Months continue on without disturbance from the Seirei.
The New Citizens of the Mountain began to fit in easily.
The Humans were pleased that it was another human ruling the city but were pissed that Cliff did not give any benefits to his fellow earther. Marin the Golem maker has also taken on 4 apprentices, starting 2 as masons-2 as weaponsmiths before rotating and finally having all 4 become stone carvers. Though the apprentices were still a good 45 levels from becoming a Golemmaker. Marin Respectively has also improved from golem maker to Golem Sculpture this decreased mana needed and resources used per golem along with advancing from Earth to Stone.
The Healers also received an uptick of members, there were now 3 Pill healers, 2 Flesh weavers and 6 Battle medics.
The Smithy also now contained 7 new weaponsmiths, 2 armour smiths, and 1 toolsmith, Though unfortunately there were only 2 miners and 1 smelter currently.
Rein has also Started classes along with Maij to teach Scribes, acolytes and future teachers so that when children were born, they would have the academy fully prepared.
After much discussion Cliff decided with the help of Rein and Phynn that Children could only take 1 class before the age of 10 and after they reach that age, they could choose classes at will. This was in hopes to give children a time to be young and not to be pressured in being talented or strong in multiple classes.
Cliff himself has finished the Armour smith and has gone into a fairly complicated class called alloysmith this class not only gave him the skills to make alloys out of metals, but it also improved pre existing skills such as Identify Purity which before would not allow the identification of Alloys but now it could.
Going through experiments he could now recreate Steel using Coke and Iron which was a huge improvement to their armoury. The Bronze that was created was 10X better now with an actual alloying skill, the tools and armour now seemed balance and had proper strength to the metal, Various other alloys were made that had no use like Brass. Ican+Puron allowed the Purification and Heating of water at the same time, so hopefully Cliff could get Indoor plumbing for showers working. Salan+Iron+Myth created an alloy that was strong like Salan but stopped the Mana corrosion, though it was unable to channel mana to use runes.
Many other Alloys were made and tested. Some of the Gni even started creating a minted coin out of Myth and Gold which would be called High Mythril. In total there were three types of mithril Low (Copper +Myth) Medium (Silver + Myth) and High (Gold + Myth) all three types would be used for trading inside the mountain since they were also very valuable for enchanting and runescribing/smithing both for metal work, stonework, tailoring and potentially much more.
Fost explained during a discussion of money that the outside world used Gold,silver and copper which was precious. But since they slept over vast veins of such ores it was decided that the Mythril coins were to be used internally and the regular metal to be used externally. A Gni who wanted to run a Bank was incharge of Exchange rate, loans and storing people’s wealth. Currently exchange rates were 3 gold to 1 High Mythril. Cliff after thinking of his old life also made it so the Gni Banker was running a credit union, so that people who stored money could still earn a profit instead of just paying fees. This was in hopes that people would not just bury their savings.
Now with everything currently being calm, Tam and Kirn the Merchants were taking 22 of the 24 carts filled with Grains, weapons, armours, tools, furs, clothes and miscellaneous goods like lumber and alloyed ingots to trade with the towns down south.
Thankfully the guards escorting them out of the area did not see a single Seirei