Construction was going well. The city of Onigas was still in the process of building their defenses, but they were already well underway. At this point, most of the population were under the employ of the military. In one way or another. Constant patrols marched through the city, keeping order, keeping morale high, and training discipline.

The soldiers were always doing something. Whether it was training, marching, building, or hunting. Even their rest was regulated and controlled to provide the desired effect in the least amount of time.

Only the more skilled were allowed out hunting with the Scouts. But all the Soldiers periodically hunted. Training movements and skills could only go far. Hunting Monsters was required. There were a few that didn’t make it back, but those that did were much stronger.

The Mages were all taught how to spread out their Spells, both over a lengthy battle, and over a wide area. Even if the Spell didn’t manage much damage, several hundred such Spells would, and would have a higher chance of hitting at least something.

The Engineers were hard at work building Siege Weapons and their ammo. Alchemists were requesting Wind Mages to blow fresh air through their labs as they worked overtime to brew enough potions. Blacksmiths were sending out carts full of weapons and armor. Farmers were working to gather the most amount of food, as well as expand the underground Hydroponics.

The secondary wall, currently being built, was currently three quarters done. But the City Lord was not calmed by that. The entire city was working together to prepare for a war that they didn’t know would even come for them. The report the Lord read confirmed it. War was erupting throughout the lands, and now, it was coming for them.

According to the report from his spies in Taria, the Kingdom, in its desire to fortify their lands, were conquering and building numerous fortresses. And now, they saw the Independent City of Onigas as their next stop. The report stated that the attacking army would begin in the Tarian City of Milem, and march towards Onigas, stopping at every city and village on the way to pick up additional troops. In short, the spy had no idea how large the army would be when it reached Onigas.

The City Lord put down the report and leaned back, closing his eyes, and sighed. He had hoped that the mere preparation for war would be enough to discourage the other Nations from attacking. Now, instead of a deterrent, the preparations had only made it a greater target for the Tarians. He could only hope that the construction would be completed before the Tarian army arrived, and that it would be enough.

In the training grounds of the City Lord, two people were sparring. Both clad in heavy armor. One tall man wielding a large claymore, and the other a young woman using a large shield and arming sword. The woman gave a good fight, but it was clear the man had the advantage. Even using a much heavier weapon, he was capable of striking both faster and harder.

After only a few minutes, the young woman, unable to deflect, received a heavy swing directly to her shield. The metal shield crumpled against the blow and was thrown from her grasp. She was thrown, landing heavily on her back. Before she could recover, the man was over her, holding his sword over her throat.

“Nicely done, your highness. You managed to last four seconds longer than the last time.” The man teased, lowering his sword and offering his hand up.

Iris, eldest daughter of the City Lord, took the offered hand and stood up. She grunted in pain as her wrist complained, but she ignored it. Soon, it would be just another one of her countless bruises. Her high constitution saw to that. While her level was only a little higher than average for her age, her CON, was much higher than any other Novice, and many Adepts.

Stats could be raised through simple training, not requiring Levels, but it was hard work. Iris had been sparring against her trainer for months now. Every day, she pushed herself harder. She couldn’t remember the last time she woke up without her body bruised. She could have called for a healer. They would have gotten rid of the bruises and pain quickly. But she didn’t. There weren’t that many Healers in the city, and each one was always busy to heal those returning from hunting.

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Unknown to her, that was one of the larger reasons for her high Constitution. Though, her trainer noticed. He was a High Adept, almost Expert. He was one of the strongest in the City, though he certainly wouldn’t call himself one of the top ten. And yet, this Novice, through pure skill and perseverance, was capable of receiving several blows from him. Granted, he only ever put a fraction of his power behind them, nor did he use any Abilities. But if he did the same to any other Novice, they would be knocked unconscious from just a single blow.

Had the situation been calmer, he would have taken her out hunting. She was currently brushing below the very limit of what she could do at her level. As anyone would, she would grow much stronger after she reached Adept. Perhaps then, she would manage to last more than five minutes against him, at least in his weakened state.

Regardless, it was simply too risky to allow the City Lord’s daughter out of the city. There were no doubt spies and assassins nearby that would gladly take advantage. Nonetheless, Iris checked her wrist’s movement, and finding it capable, she picked up her broken shield and walked over to the weapon’s rack against the wall.

She dropped the shield onto a small pile of similarly broken shields and grabbed another off the rack. They had been sparring since dawn. The sun had beat down on her all day, and it was no beginning to lower. It would still be a few hours before dusk. Until that moment, she belonged to her trainer, the source of all her bruises.

The City Lord occasionally checked on his daughter when he caught a small moment of peace. He didn’t like to see her push herself so hard, but he was proud of her. She was the most powerful Novice in the city. And while Novices were fairly useless in a war, he hoped that her training would allow her to protect herself, should the worst happen and the city be breached.

Everyone was doing their best to ensure it wasn’t, but as the City Lord, it was his duty to prepare for it. Every Guard garrison within the city had been restocked, resupplied, and most had even been rebuilt. He hoped that if the walls proved insufficient, the garrisons, the small forts that they were, would be able to hold on even longer.

Within the City, the enemy wouldn’t be able to use Siege Weapons or Siege Magic, at least not without being looked down upon by the rest of the world when news spread. The garrisons would allow the defenders to keep fighting, and if the walls held long enough, then it was possible that the attackers would be forced to retreat. After all, while the Tarian army was at Onigas, they wouldn’t be able to defend their own land.

Taurus was dealing with its own Orc Invasion, but their border patrols had still had skirmishes with the other Nations. Taria had all but open war against Celarn, but they were fortifying their western border, Onigas was just the latest of their efforts.

Zedora and Hason were having constant skirmishes between themselves. According his the City Lord’s reports, Hason had been sending their worker slaves into Zedora lands to cut down their bamboo forests. Zedora eliminated the slaves and warned Hason not to let it happen again. Only a few weeks later, another group of slave workers crossed the border with axes, except this time, they were protected by soldiers. It is too small a matter to involve the full force of either military, but regardless, neither side is backing down. And each skirmish is just getting larger and larger.

But what really surprised the Lord, was that the Gilaen Empire was pressuring the Lissurians. Apparently, they believed the trade agreements between the two were in favor of the Lissurians. However, instead of allowing the agreements to expire to create new ones, they were pushing to draft new agreements immediately. Which, naturally, the Lissurians were refusing. The City Lord didn’t understand why the Empire was pushing so hard. They controlled such a vast swath of land, that the vast majority of their military was tied up keeping it out of the hands of Monsters.

There was so much international contention, and the City Lord didn’t understand why. Wars were fairly common, it was usually isolated to just two nations. What was causing all the Nations to encounter such drastic issues. Even Athera, a nation that preferred isolation, had completely cut off all contact. The last time they did that was when the S Rank Dungeon emerged, wiping out the ancient Empire of Naon.

If there was one thing the City Lord was certain about, whether Onigas survived the Tarian attack or not, the conflicts were just beginning.