As he walked into his main hall, Asher's eyes locked on Sapphira's. She stood at the forefront of those present to receive him. Her smile alone made him feel at home.
Naturally, such a contagious smile made him smile. When the gap between them was gone, he gently held her cheeks and their foreheads met.
"You shall find out tonight, won't you?"
Sapphira's brows went up.
Laughing softly, Asher let go of her and turned to the others who had long fallen on their knees.
Right behind Sapphira was Mia, the high priestess of crimson temple, Aquila, the mage commander and James, the grand apothecary.
These three held positions that allowed him to see them constantly. The others behind them were only knew about their lord from afar.
"You may rise." Asher gestured.
As they walked through the hallway, heading for the dining hall, Sapphira spoke.
"I believe the safety of your dominion is assured with 300 imperial-ranked loyal soldiers."
Asher glanced at her. "Not entirely. The power of an army lies in the numbers and strategies. The Adeptus Paladins will no doubt bring down whoever is in their path but they were few and are meant to only be beside me."
"Then it would be fabulous news to let you know that we are at the completion stage of creating 200 angels of death. Once the warp ores are forged into their blades and their armor be made, they shall be ready."
Asher halted and turned to Aquila. He smiled. "Excellent."
"The regent has sent the total number of citizens in the dominion." Sapphira said softly.
"How many are there?"
"120,000 in Goshen, 150,000 in Tiberias, 60,000 in Nineveh, 100,000 in Ashkelon, 5,000 in Nimrim. Paradise on the other hand is a mixed population. It has 80,000 humans, 70,000 beastmen, and the new addition of 30,000 half-giants, making it a total of 170,000 in paradise."
She turned to him. "605,000 excluding the 30,000 slaves bought from Everad."
"605,000." Asher muttered, a bit stunned at the current population. Coupled with the 200,000 slaves that would be brought over from Everad, he wasn't too far from achieving his goal of 1,000,000 Ashbourne citizens.
"We have also noticed due to your concentration on battles, we do not have garrison troops in these cities. Most of our troops are meant to face external threats, meaning they can be deployed at any time leaving the city defenceless both to external and internal conflicts."
"I see. Every city lord should recruit city guards for their cities. 5000 city guards should garrison at every city and their duties would be to handle the internal affairs of the city."
The doors to the dinning hall opened. A well prepared table featuring several meals prepared by the best chiefs in the dominion with the best farm products appeared before their eyes.
When they all sat, Asher picked up a silver fork and a knife.
While munching on a piece of hexakad chicken meat, Asher thought of something.
"Has the Galvia Empire made any progress in Nightfire?"
"Unfortunately, they have. Four large cities have been burned to the ground." Sapphira responded.
"According to the information spread by Sacred Flame newspapers. Galvia sent a fleet of forbidden alchemy experiments called the Death Knights. They shall all who come in contact with them contact an untreatable plague and die."
"So much for an empire that detests mages. Dabbling in forbidden alchemy makes them greater than any evil out there." James ground his teeth.
The Sacred Flame Empire was more advanced than the other dominions due to their Modern approach. It was an interesting addition the developers called it back then.
Due to their willingness to teach through academies, Sacred Flame had risen to become one of the most powerful dominions in Tenaria. Others thought it was foolish to teach their secrets so they sent their people to learn but they never knew as Sacred Flame taught, they grew better and also gained the loyalty of those sent there.
In the end, many that learnt chose to become allies, allowing Sacred Flame's merchants to do business within their lands, thus increasing the empire's wealth.
Although they weren't exactly known for their military strength, no one would want to challenge an empire that could hire a million mercenaries to fight on their behalf and pay them better than full fledged knights!
"What are the neighbouring lords doing? Have they chosen to ally with Galvia or Nightfire?"
"None has chosen a side. But it is obvious Nightfire will fall out without external help."
Sapphira replied softly.
Asher remained silent. 'Aniketos, my brother. You have already taken the first step.'
Time went by and the moons replaced the sun. Candle lights lit up in almost every part of paradise, making it look like a beautiful painting to Sapphira who sat in the lord's chambers looking through the window.
All of a sudden, she felt a presence behind him.
Before she knew what was happening, Asher lifted her and went straight for the bed. In the next moment, Sapphira landed on the soft, bouncy mattress with Asher hovering above her.
Those were the last words she heard before descending into a wondrous night.
Asher found himself standing on a mountain top with the starry skies above his head and a vast endless land below the mountain.
The vast endless land was set ablaze. Not in flames but in a brutal battle between an elite army clad in full body armour against an innumerable number of orcs!
These 7-8 foot tall monsters with massive muscles came like a tide against the elite army that had set up a human wall.
In a single clash the wall was broken. Flesh and blood splattered. Dozens fell in a blink of an eye.
The brutality was beyond anything Asher had witnessed.
"Those are the orcs of the dark age."
A gray haired man with piercing golden eyes appeared beside Asher. His hand clasped behind him.
Asher lowered his head.
"It's been a while since we spoke. You have grown a lot since we last met but danger lies at your doorstep. A grave one."