White light covered his men, chasing away the darkness for a short while before it died down. Before Asher stood a troop of 170 bronze-ranked soldiers garbed in leather armor, fur cloaks, and larger frames.
Their combined auras were inspiring, a stark contrast to their former selves. Their waning strength came back and even doubled, causing their muscles to bulge, but not crazily. Their old, ordinary weapons became newly forged bronze-ranked weapons!
Although the shields were still wooden, they were capable of withstanding a fully grown orc's full strike without slight damage.
A smile crawled up on Asher's face as he gazed at his upgraded forces.
The soldiers were stunned. "Did Lord Asher do this?"
Their shock wasn't surprising to Asher. He beckoned for his captains and left for the cave mines, with Sirius following him like a loyal beast bodyguard. They stopped at the edge and looked at the valley, which was brimming with iron ores.
"They've been mining all these years!" Alex gaped. He thought these orcs were brainless and the lowest of the lowest in the strength ranking of abyss creatures, but it seemed he was fooled.
"We have two; what about the other one?" Asher asked solemnly.
"It's been mined dry." Alec responded heavily.
Asher sighed. He rubbed his thumb against his index finger with closed eyes.
He squatted and picked up an ore. "We can combine this ore with stronger and rarer ores to create powerful alloys." If we sell it, we can surely deal with our debt."
He got to his feet and turned to his captains. "Do we have miners in the barony, or have they also fled?"
"Most of the men in the barony are miners, and they haven't fled, My Lord." Alex replied softly. He was treading carefully since Asher's expression wasn't pleasant.
Asher's expression lightened. "That's good news."
A swordsman who had been scouting the area ran over.
Asher turned his head to the soldier, his right eyebrow raised in a questioning fashion.
"The abyss creatures filled the caves with ores!"
Upon hearing this, Asher, his captains, and his pet beast made their way to the caves and saw that they were filled with iron ores. Only one of them had a few ores littered about, meaning the cave was recently cleared.
"So they weren't worshipping a deity; they were transporting ores to wherever their base is. No wonder there are no young orcs here."
Alec was shocked, yet his facial expression remained serious, as if it didn't function according to his emotions.
Since each upgrade would increase the ranks and looks of his troops equipment, Asher didn't see any use for the ores concerning the military, but right now it would be really useful to start a trade with other nobles.
He needed money to pay debts and import goods because his citizens were complaining of hunger and the land was also bad.
The wastlands didn't just get the name randomly. Despite being an enormous region that could sustain an empire, it was deserted.
The main reason was the corrupt force known as the Abyss Force that came from the depths of the wastelands, sweeping through the entire continent of Tenaria. This corrupt force had sucked life out of the land and also affected the once prestigious mages who ruled over Tenaria as overlords.
Their reign had lasted for thousands of years, and they were the ones who created the first Battle Force user. However, after the appearance of Abyss Force, the natural Magi Force became corrupted, causing countless supreme mages to become insane, and like that, their number dwindled, allowing Battle Force users to reign in their stead.
Due to this, mages, who were once as populous as the sand, became rare sightings.
After a day's journey, Asher and his troop came back to Ash Town with the corpses of some orcs as proof to the people. Seeing them marching gallantly with the heads of the ferocious orcs, a huge crowd gathered, but they kept their distance because of the giant wolf their lord sat on.
"Is that our new lord?" a woman asked a man.
The man nodded heavily with gleaming eyes. He knew the next thing coming was a notice for miners, meaning he would soon get a job and be able to afford a three-square meal!
While the citizens were calming around the troop with several questions in their eyes, Asher took a good look at his town. The wooden houses weren't something to write home about, as most of them had leaking roofs and some used planks as doors.
Most of the people looked thin, and others were sick. Only a mere few looked healthy but still thin.
The walls were made from mud and wood and had lots of cracks and damages, which they tried to fix with mud, but Alex knew that against the walls stood no chance against the beasts that would come during winter.
He sent the soldiers to rest in their camp and also slept in his small stone castle until the next day. As he opened his eyes, the first person that appeared was Mary, his personal maid. She was cleaning the mural, and it was then that Asher discovered no one had cleaned this mural for ages because he could now see a familiarity between that wolf and Sirius.
Still, Sirius was much smaller.
"Lord Asher. You're awake!" Mary gasped.
"I am." Asher responded with a nod as he walked past her and studied the mural. With the dirt and dust gone, he could now see a name.
"Lord Zenas Ashbourne. The two-faced Shura. Duke of the North. Rider of the Saintly Lionwolf!"
After reading the titles, Asher found himself faced with several questions, like: how in the world was this man a duke and he was a baron, the lowest noble in the ranking?
And that word 'Saintly caught his attention because it meant this wolf was no mere pet beast; it was a terrifying Saint-Ranked beast!
"Were the Ashbournes this great in the past?"