Asher examined the jet black horses that had long manes and feathers before their hooves. The horses had small bone-like spikes protruding from their thick, muscle packed foreleg and more on their hind legs. The bone spikes at their legs were situated at their joints, making them more lethal!
The one Adam rode on had four protrusions on its head. It was situated from its nose and ended close to the eyes.
Unlike other horses they had knife-like fangs for normal teeths and dark blue eyes that were almost hidden under the leather armour used to protect their heads.
These horses were no doubt, apex grade horses and those nobles in the high plains would not know what hit them when their cavalry would go head on against a heavy cavalry that had centraks as warmounts.
"Lady Katarina." Adam's voice was so thick and heavy that Asher's ears trembled softly.
"Chief." Katarina bowed her head, but it became a minor problem when neither Asher nor Adam bowed to each other.
Adam furrowed his brows while Asher raised a brow.
"Who is the outlander?"
"This is Lord Asher, descendant of the great white wolf, lord of a domain beyond the mountains, and the man who saved me and the villagers."
Adam raised both brows. He did not expect Asher to own this sort of introduction, but what caught his attention was the utterance of the great white wolf.
"This lad is a descendant of the great wolf?" Adam cocked his head.
"I am." Asher replied while wearing a small smile.
"He's here to trade with you, Chief."
"A trade? I'm happy to trade as much exotic beast fur as you want, but I'll exchange for proper weapons."
"Let's speak inside."
In the camp, while Asher, Katarina and Adam were inside the chief's tent, the barbarian warriors gathered round to gaze at the eye-catching tall men clad with metal from head to toe. Their right hands were on the hilt of their swords and their left hand did not leave their shields.
Their exquisite armour and imposing aura made them seem like warriors from the sky before the eyes of the barbarians, all of whom wore leather and beat fur clothing. Only a few had some parts of plate armour.
When a barbarian tried to take a step forward, a shura vanguard shot him a look. Although the vanguard's helmet hid his face, the silver-ranked barbarian warrior who was one of the captains of Adam's forces froze.
He could feel the vanguard's piercing gaze.
Meanwhile inside the tent, Adam couldn't believe what Katarina just said.
"We don't trade the centraks, you know this, Lady Katarina."
What amazed Asher was the level of control Adam had over his emotions. When he was shocked, solemn, angry or neutral, his tone remained the same.
It made him perplexed and something inside of him told him this should be related to Adam's talent.
And talents that gave such restrictions had to be a supreme grade one!
This meant Adam was to be taken more seriously. Even if he was a gold-ranked warrior, he could pose a threat or even kill a diamond-ranked knight depending on how dangerous his talent is.
"We shall give you two steel swords and a steel shield in exchange for one centrak." Eritrea who had been silent all this while finally spoke.
Adam turned toward her. He had been scrutinising this beautiful young woman who remained calm all this while. From the results, he ascertained that she was an incredible sharpshooter.
"Well forged steel swords?" His eyes revealed a gleam.
"Of course. Go get one." Asher said to Eritrea.
After she left, he turned to Adam. "I heard you are currently at war against another chief and you have a disadvantage in numbers and weapons. I can supply you weapons and great food that would greatly strengthen your men."
"Food?" Adam raised an eyebrow while wearing a baffled expression.
"I have an egg that can make your men gain 300 catties worth of strength permanently. They don't have to lift stones, they don't have to train for weeks, all they have to do is eat and grow stronger."
"Is this a joke?" Adam laughed softly as he turned to face Katarina.
"He speaks the truth, Chief."
Adam wiped off his amused expression and got to his feet. "Do you have this egg?"
Right at that moment, Eritrea walked in with a barbarian carrying some things behind her. Since no shura vanguard would be allowed in, a barbarian servant had to do it.
Eritrea presented the fine steel sword before Adam but he was more interested in the magical egg Asher talked about.
Asher brought out a wooden box from the leather sack, and as he opened it, ten hexakad eggs, glimmering softly as their splendour overwhelmed the room, were revealed.
"These are the eggs of a diamond-ranked chicken. It can not only increase your strength but it can also lengthen your lifespan."
Adam took one. He looked at the delicate egg that had a uniquely designed shell.
Without warning, he opened it and gulped the glistening, viscous liquid inside. As it flowed down his oesophagus, a warm sensation spread throughout his muscles, bones, and organs. It was like his internal system was dancing!
There were changes in his muscles and he felt lighter.
He walked out of the tent, straight to the training ground and slammed his fist against a boulder. Boom! His fist was a few inches deep. It also left cracks.
Adam could tell his strength had definitely increased!
"I'll take two centraks for one egg."
One must know that one hexakad egg costs 10 gold coins, while one centrak in the market would cost 50 gold coins! It did not mean the hexakad was less than the centrak, but the demand made things different.
Horses had continuous use and were warmounts but the eggs could be consumed immediately, and the effect didn't die after eating one.
If it were so, the price of a hexakad egg would have increased by several folds.
However, if it came to auctioning, the egg would sell for a much higher price than the centrak.
It all depended on the market, and right now, it was all to Asher's advantage.
"We have 100 eggs available for trade. Should we trade it all here or trade half?"
Eritrea whispered into Asher's ears.
"Where do you think we shall find such an opportunity after now?"
Asher averted his attention from her.
"I have 100 hexkad eggs."
Adam led them to a field where there were almost a thousand centraks littered about. Some were running, some sleeping, some looking at the ground, and others did much more.
As the barbarians brought out the centraks, Asher would select the one he wanted and reject those that weren't appealing. When the selection was done, he looked at his 200 mighty centraks, all waiting for their riders with an excited expression.
Time to create a more formidable cavalry. A terror to all land forces!