"Indeed, it is to forge the supreme mountain alliance of Golia. From now on, Gaven City Lord shall be our Mountain Tribe’s most honored friend. His call will supersede all others, and during his stay in Mesnoel, we shall fight for him," declared the Chieftain of the Fearless Boulder, seizing the moment to issue his command, "Does anyone object?"
"No." This time, the response was much more synchronized.
After all, most adult Golia had witnessed Gaven’s bravery firsthand and had charged into battle alongside him, so their impression of him couldn’t be higher.
Even those who hadn’t seen him personally had heard about him, and their say in the Mountain Tribe was relatively weak. Even if there were objections, in such a situation, they wouldn’t dare to speak out.
The Chieftain of the Fearless Boulder turned to Gaven and asked, "City Lord, do you have anything you want to say to them?"
Gaven shook his head, "No, let’s distribute the equipment."
The Mountain Tribe wasn’t his own lieges, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to try and win hearts with a speech. All he needed was to maintain good relations with the tribe’s leaders, to wield this force for his own purposes.
The Chieftain of the Fearless Boulder didn’t press the issue and, with a broad gesture, commanded, "Then let us follow the old customs of our Mountain Tribe, starting with the most robust warrior of the Hunting War Team, the Fearless One."
"I’ve already got a weapon I’m comfortable with, I pass. Gell, your turn," the Fearless One said, patting the weapon on his back and shaking his head in refusal.
Most of the Golia from the Hunting War Team passed, because according to the customs of the Mountain Tribe, those with the best equipment would be equipped first.
The equipment brought by Gaven was mainly about quantity. Most of them were of fine quality, and among the few magic items, the lowest-level +1 equipment was included.
This was a characteristic of the items Gaven had seized from the Santarin Association, there weren’t many powerful magic items in the whole batch.
The few that were there weren’t personal items but rather bulky Enchantment War Apparatus.
Such small but highly valuable magic items were not something ordinary merchants would transport via standard routes, let alone the wealthy Santarin Association.
For the elite of the Mountain Tribe, this batch of goods was of minimal help. It mainly raised the overall equipment level of the tribe, ensuring at least one decent iron weapon per person, along with a spare one, and slightly increased their Armor-wearing rate.
Compared to weapons, these Golia were not very enthusiastic about Armor. At least no one touched those three sets of full plate Armor.
Not just because they were a high-altitude race for whom bulky Armor was a hindrance to Climbing mountains.
But also because they didn’t like their body patterns to be excessively concealed.
When wearing Armor, they preferred one-pieces, most of which were not for Enhancement of defense but for Enhancement of Attack.
Like the one wearing a shoulder guard on his left shoulder, he loved to give his enemy a Cordial wild charge.
The one who chose the knee pads excelled at kneeing people.
The one who chose heavy combat boots was adept at Trampling the enemy with his feet during a Jump Attack.
The Mountain Tribe distributed the goods by taking turns based on the order of precedence, going for a second round if the first didn’t finish, and so on until all goods were allocated.
By the end, not a single item was left, not only were the three sets of full plate Armor taken, but even five heavy trucks were hauled away.
It was the tent-mothers who took them. The former could be used for training the young Golia, and the latter were quite useful in a city like Mesnoel with proper roads.
Gaven watched all this with a smile, not intervening.
This frugal scene made him feel a sense of kinship, as he too had come from such a background.
To them, five heavy trucks were a precious resource, while for the current Gaven, they were just a word away.
Natural races possess an enviable advantage over others in this regard.
After arming the Golia, Gaven convened the first Mesnoel strategic meeting in the war room on the sixtieth floor of the Tower of Dominion.
The choice of this level as the war room was not arbitrary; it was already the Elves’ own war room.
Unlike other places, it was filled with tables and chairs, all grown directly from the Tower of Dominion as crystal furnishings.
It adopted the classic round table layout, which doesn’t hierarchically distinguish attendees—all are peers.
This governance philosophy is admired in most Elf cities.
However, philosophy is always just that, and it doesn’t always translate to reality.
Indeed, the round table itself doesn’t indicate any hierarchy, but as soon as someone takes a seat, the primary and secondary roles naturally emerge.
For every meeting is centred around the person sitting in the middle.
Unquestionably, Gaven was the leader of this meeting. The complexity of attendees was such that even Gaven was a bit surprised when everyone introduced themselves, and merely introductions took some effort.
To his left, in the first position was Stelina, a Yaling General from the Fairy Wilderness. Although she currently commanded only a twelve-member squad, they were all elite, being Brolan of the Autumnbreeze and Yaling Nobility that resonated with the Fairy Wilderness. Only Transcendents and above could qualify.
To his left, in the second position was Susie, a Dragonized Gnoll, one of Gaven’s bases in the Dragon Oak Territory. She led a small team of Gnoll Trap Makers, who were transported ahead of time. Their Magic Traps were highly useful in forest combat.
To his left, in the third position was Daphne, representing the Shadow Force of Weizemay Manor. This power, initially inconspicuous since the Shadows’ steps were limited to the manor, was now, under the Tower of Dominion’s influence, a very unconventional force to be utilized.