Chapter 4: Preparation
Lavant Kingdom Throne Room
The message came in such a haste that King Draken Lavant IV almost thought that something happened to the army, but after reading the letter several times his face transformed into a maniacal grin to a dreadful look from the information contained in the letter if true the plans since the founding of Lavant Kingdom would be pushed forward by several centuries under HIS rule.
After calculating the cost and the reactions of the surrounding kingdoms. King Draken is still torn apart on the decision to increase the attack effort or to slow it down since the Kaladia forces sneaked in and stolen or destroyed supplies.
While sitting in the Throne room King Draken then asked his high ranking nobles for advice, on one hand should they succeed they could get an insurmountable amount of resources from Kaladia and become the most formidable Kingdom in the Continental Isles
A masculine duke named Arman, towering figure above the rest due to his magic and martial might and was the former General of the army said in a loud voice “your highness I must ask you to recoup our losses first before attacking. If the other Kingdoms each sent just even a part of their forces our army could lose more that half and I’m not even talking about the blow to our morale should we suffer even a single setback, rumors already fly around that we don’t have enough food to sustain the Kingdom!”
An old prime minister then replied “hmp! It would seem that age finally has caught up to the famed Arman hehehe”
Duke Arman replied not even angry at the prime minister’s snide “ I have already said my piece I wont be held accountable for any setbacks and failures of this offensive!” he then looked the King straight in the eye before leaving.
As he left some nobles did express their concerns like how do they fight with an empty stomach or how can they maintain their own territories without supplies when the next harvest has already been damaged by Kaladia’s raiding parties.
There have been a huge debate some young and vigorous nobles wanted to take action and show their prowess in battle while others are thinking more long term.
A baron then said “even if we win, the amount of casualties we would sustain would lead us vulnerable from the other Kingdoms attack they may have been scared when they pulled back but once we are weakened they would surely attack again and without food and soldiers to fight wars we would experience a catastrophic defeat!”
But some did not even acknowledge the fact that Lavant Soldiers are equal or weaker than the other armies, they have been fielding Magic Knights that dominated the battlefield. The debate is getting more and more heated that the nobles are about to come to blows when the King spoke.
“enough” the King said calmly but his voice reverberated across the entire throne room silencing the crowd of nobility.
“i have heard enough, though we cant let this opportunity come to pass we also cannot be reckless. Pull back all forces and have them raid less defended cities for supplies do not linger for too long just take supplies and go as fast as you can, then deploy the peasantry and have them fish we will stockpile on dried fish and pickled foods before we attack and take this time to train the levies better.
“yes your highness” the nobles replied in unison and bowed before leaving in a hurry to carry on their task.
And yet King Draken cannot help but feel that feel dreadful about something he couldn’t explain.he stood from the throne and move about his day, the following months would be crucial to the Kingdom of Lavant since its foundation.
Kaladia City State
Sera Hawke busied her self in he Tower studying spell models trying to either improve them or make her own spell model but the results were often disappointing and becoming expensive, she decided to have a break from work before she overworked herself and decided to walk around the city stretching her legs.
As Sera was walking aimlessly around the city she saw a market place in a few moments she was pleasantly surprised that this seemingly common market could provide magical and enchanted items she saw an enchanted feather pen that no longer needed to be dipped in ink “what a waste” she thought as you don’t need magic for a ballpoint pen.
Next she saw a weapons demonstration of a magical repeating crossbow, it then clicked to her that she has been so focused of modern technology that she forgot that she is in a medieval era with magic and the technology she have are scarce at best.as It gave her an inspiration she used her tiara’s holographic interface and took down notes lest she forgets them.
Although many interesting items could be seen being sold in the market most of them are reminiscent of modern technology making her feel a little sad that the modern comforts back on earth would never be seen again, after buying mana stones and control crystals Sera moved on towards the most luxurious restaurant in the City as its the only place that has passable taste in food behind her followed Medusa carrying her purchases while Banshee flew overhead cloaked and ever watching.
After her order, once the waiter was out of earshot a Lady in blue knight armour approach her, in Sera’s defense Medusa’s snake hairs postured threateningly while Banshee broke cloaking and prepared to attack. With the wave of her hand Medusa and Banshee returned to passive mode as if nothing happened.
She moved forward and said “impressive Lady Sera… I am Marianne Vi Kaladia, its a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance.. may I?” she then gestured
With one brow raised Sera asked “Kaladia?”
Marianne sat making her self comfortable “yes… my ancestors founded the City State of Kaladia in hopes to escape power struggles and the madness of war, but as you may already know that is not going exactly what we have hoped for” she said with a smile.
After the food has arrived Sera said “and the mayor? What was that all about?”
“Mayor Dalton is a retainer of House Kaladia its only natural that our retainers do the menial and mundane tasks while we hide in the shadows” she replied as she started eating.
“then why have you come and tell this secret…. this is a secret right?”
“my.. you are indeed direct, fine I came here for business anyway.”
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“and what that might be?” Sera asked curiously
“your creations Sera Hawke, I want only Kaladia to be the only one to buy them” said Marianne in a commanding tone.
“impossible. But I’ll agree to not sell from your enemies”
With some thought Marianne replied “good!’’
When the deal was made the table was awkwardly quiet until Marianne and Sera finished their meal and left their separate ways.
But before Marianne disappeared amongst the crowds she turned sand said “keep everything we talked about a secret” and winked at her.
while Sera continued to take a stroll around the City while thinking the implications of Marianne’s visit.
Sera’s final stop of the day before returning home was the adventurers guild, a formidable organization on its own but strictly maintains a neutral ground in most continents.
She was welcomed by Kaladia branch Guildmaster and asked for a team or two to be contracted mainly for guard duty while she clear and harvest material in a nearby mountains, because of the constant war the old mines were overrun by monsters with soldiers fighting their own battles elsewhere.
One of the contracted adventurers were an amateur group of 10 half are squires and the other were apprentice mages called “inheritors” who were either third in line of succession or bastard children, the second group have solid experience of 5 people with three Dwarves in heavy armour and two mage and archer Elves called “Tempest” that just have too much lifespan to spare and decided to see the world despite its dangers.
The contract were pretty straight forwards. No suicide mission, no dangerous strolls, and no fighting with other kingdoms or factions except for self defence, after hearing their rules she then replied with her own.
“i don’t really mind, but all and every material we gather or harvest belongs to me you can have only as much as you can carry on your person and nothing more” with unanimous agreement they made a schedule on when they would leave.
One week from now they would meet her at the wizard’s tower before leaving for the mines. Sera wasted no time and started programming control crystals to be placed with a dozen of her new mass produced type golems, but unlike Medusa whose more customized these golems are only slightly weaker than average stone golems.
Knight Golems - 2 Meters - 300 kilos
Light Armour - very basic knight design 80% of it is mainly made of Quartz plated with iron, the spell model for the stone golem had to be slightly altered to accommodate for the iron plating nothing much stand out of this model. mainly to be used as rank and file, canon fodder, and other menial task. Even a veteran soldier can go toe to toe with this model the only advantage is that its easily mass produced armed with sword and shield.
Other mages or wizards would feel pain from using control crystals only to be placed in a canon fodder unit. Others would rather place them in big specialized golems to be cost effective.
It’s only been five days but Sera managed to finish 12 Knight Golems, her gauntlets could still control them but not as much when she’s only controlling a few, making her realize why no armies of golems are marching about.
In the remaining days she remodeled the APC to be a command vehicle most chairs removed and repurposed, several laptops are placed in front doing the computing while she programmed several control crystals to function like a basic computer powered by mana stones, the APC itself could now cast magic in a sense. but such system seemed a little too advanced for this era. Instead Sera created a Gatling Rail Gun. It takes time to actually charge and fire but the sheer amount of iron spikes raining down on her enemies more than makes up for it, the rest of the spells were common Haste and Barrier spell models.
The day finally arrived and each team would be carried by the steel wagon while the third steel wagon carries 12 Knight Golems the Jeep holds the supplies, Gemini Doc and Banshee while in the APC are Sera and Medusa.
On the Tempest group's side a discussion has been happening without end since they left the city.
The leader of the group said “so any clues how this thing works…Gramel?”
“yes… but its nothing like I’ve seen before, I mean I saw my grandfather’s old works before when I was a kid and this steel wagon looks similar… maybe better”
The other two Dwarves grumbled “maybe its stolen”
Gramel then replied “nah…. that was about 100 years ago, beside if it was stolen a Dwarven warlord would have a just cause to wage war with how we Dwarves hold our secrets tightly”
“What do you think Tandtra?” Said the other Elf to their team captain
“i think we should just leave it alone Verde, I mean have you seen her golems? Its not exactly strange if a Human manage to outsmart a Dwarf”
“okay I think you just crossed the line grandma!”
“what did you say you little squirt!? huh!?”
Gramel then replied after a swig of ale “shut it Dormo, we have a long way and I don’t like to fill it with bickering and stop your brother Darma… help us maintain peace and quiet”
Darma replied “ aside from the old wizard Humans, nobody is really that good in the Human territories nowadays. Have you seen the clockwork doesn’t it look familiar how can you be so sure that its not Dwarven knowledge?”
Dormo then smiled “yeah! You tell em sis!”
Rubbing his forehead “its because you have not seen Human masters before, most Humans protect their secrets like the Dwarves minus the war but reserve them for nobilities, like the flying fortress during the war 500 years ago that was made by Humans, the very first Golem spell model was also made by a human…….. a sickly human mage not even a wizard, while although Dwarves manage to make airships they still need to land and refuel”
“hmp” Dormo and Droma said maintaining silence
With that, silence continued until dark when they needed to make camp for the night the steel wagons stopped.the Inheritors finally jumped down their vehicles talking excitedly on their new adventure and have been planning to buy their own steel wagon due to its big space comfortable ride and speed as they pitched their own camps.
Gramel then sighed looking envious of the youngsters “damn kids always full of energy”
Verde then took a snide “heh! Why don’t you loose that stupid armour then, its so heavy no wonder you have little energy left! Hehehe”
“and loose my head? No thanks I’ll carry the burden”
While the adventurers are preparing their tents Sera donned in Kevlar jumpsuit ordered the Knight Golems to patrol around the camp while Banshee flew out to scout around while Gemini Doc and Medusa followed Sera like shadows as she prepared food for the camp.
When the deep fried chicken was finished everybody stopped what they were doing and circled the bonfire.
The leader of the Inheritors named Salazar “you shouldn’t have bothered lady Sera, in fact it should be our duty serving you during our contract you didn’t even bring handmaidens”
“no, this is a new type of food that very few can cook.. yet, beside I am not part of the traditional nobles who have others to do simple tasks like this. Now gather up and get your plates dinner is served”
Everyone was looking at a crispy fried chicken heavily breaded unsure of the food. This type of food has yet to exist or at least not yet publicized.
Then Gramel could not wait any longer and started eating every bite creates a resounding crunch.
“mmmmmm!!” without waisting anymore time Gramel stood up and took 5 more pieces of fried chicken berofe running back to their steel wagon
His action stunned everybody watching and the rest also started eating creating multiple crunching sound every bite every chew creates crunching sound.
both Dormo and Darma also stood and took another 3 pieces of fried chicken each before running towards Gramel.
Soon after their first bite their first fried chicken was already finished and before they noticed there are only 1 piece of fried chicken each left for everyone’s share and the extras were already taken by the Dwarves.
Tandtra and Verde couldn’t help but turn an ugly face and curse under their breath “ fucking bastards!”
While some of the inheritors where whimpering cursing their hesitation and tardiness, while others were eating more slowly savoring the food as if it were their last meal.
Sera Hawke can’t help but smile and leave with a chuckle before she returned to the APC to eat before going to sleep early.
Meanwhile Gramel on his fourth fried chicken and had started savoring it after his hunger has been filled.
“i’ll be damned! This shit it good!!”
While Dormo and Darma also agreed while washing down their meal with a pint of ale
Tandtra and Verde could be seen marching towards them clearly fuming with anger
“DAMN IT!! aren’t we supposed to be a team why’d you took so many!” said Verde
While Tandtra were smacking the Dwarves and saying “ you could have at least give us some”
The Dwarves replied in unison “it’s not our fault you grannies are too slow!! HMP!”
And then another set of bickering, smacking and the Elves even tried to take Gramels fifth fried chicken.
The Inheritors on the other hand decided they would take the night shift by pairs changing hourly, confident that they did not need anymore than two just by looking at the Knight Golems who have already killed some snakes and other critters preventing them from entering the perimeter.
The rest of the night were uneventful and so is the breakfast, having only bread, cheese and hot milk. They were only an hour’s drive from the abandoned mines and everyone was preparing to leave.
Sera only needed to remind them of what they can and can’t do during this mission
“alright!, we are very close to the abandoned mines first we would clean up the perimeter I’m talking about both inside and outside the mine must be cleaned of monsters, second we set up a defensive position with all that killing it would be strange if we don’t attract a real predator that would also serve as our base camp, and lastly we would start mining the Knight Golems would be doing the heavy part but if yo could help that would make things a lot easier we only need to set up some traps and guards and make sure we are not ambushed while busy.. any questions?”
Tandtra stepped forward and asked “so. Aside from our service fee we could also take as much as we can carry?” the rest of the adventurers were now looking at Sera expectant of a positive reply.
“yes!… but only In your person that means if you can carry a sack full of control crystals or mana stones or whatever is inside that mine is yours”
With that. both team broke in enthusiastic cheers
While Sera is having her speech. behind them just over the hill are a company of soldiers watching he group.
The company commander the asked to his mages “ is it her? Are you sure its this Sera Hawke?, you have better double check and confirm it. we can only act once otherwise they would be prepared for us and the king would have our heads… understand?”
With the severe warning from the company commander the mages not only double checked but also triple checked until it was beyond a reasonable doubt that their target Sera Hawke is indeed in front of them.
With confirmation “alright, since we are now sure that our target is indeed there we would maintain our distance until they enter the mine trapping them, our sources say that our target intends to clear out an abandoned mine from the mountains nearby. Make sure the horses are well rested and prepare the monster lure, we are going to soften them up first before we strike. kill everyone except for our target Sera Hawke I repeat we NEED her ALIVE!”
The mages who are using long distance viewing spells to observe their target and since the steel wagons do make a cloud of dust in their wake mainly due to their speed and the status of the road the Lavant company of soldiers have an easier time hiding their tracks their horses are slower than the steel wagons but it only helps them maintain a safe distance.