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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nKant had naturally made the right choice.

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nAs a transported one, he knew that the cheat was the only power that he was truly able to rely on.

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nHe gently lowered his head to look at the package in his hand. Bits of data streams were seen spreading all over the broken staff, seemingly encroaching and taking the powers within. The black gemstone at the top of the staff gradually dimmed and looked washed out.

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nThis was the staff that had once belonged to the Jackalan shaman.

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nSince he had seen that shaman before, Kant had some impression of that spellcaster.

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n“He was killed by the javelins.”

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nAs he saw Kant continue looking at the broken staff, Firentis began to explain. “We have the boys from Sarrand to thank for that.”

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nHe was talking about the Desert Bandits. However, as someone who had a distaste of the likes of bandits, Firentis did not like calling them by their troop class name. He turned around and added, “I have to admit, the Sarrandians’ javelins are possibly the most powerful weapon to be found in the desert.”

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n“You’re right. I think so myself.” Kant nodded in agreement.

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nWhen it came to throwing weapons, the Sarrandians were every bit on par with the Nords, who were adept at throwing axes. The Sarrandians relied on nothing but their trusted javelins to do so.

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nIt was especially so in the case of the Elite Desert Bandits, who were ferocious criminals who had reigned supreme in the vast deserts of Sarrand. The speed at which they rode their warhorses lent inertia to the javelins they expertly threw. Killing a target within a 64-foot radius was considered a piece of cake for them.

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nDespite being called supreme beings, mages did not actually have as much defense against cold weapons as heavily armed infantry units covered in metal from top to toe.

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nKant had looked into the matter when he was in college.

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nIn many of the books that detailed epic battles, the mages, who wielded either supernatural powers or supernatural items, were illustrated in glorious light, yet the records also exposed their weaknesses.

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nThey were of mortal flesh.

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nThey feared blades. They feared horses and spears. They also feared bows and arrows.

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nKant was able to get useful information out of the books.

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nThe best way to deal with the mages was to simply gather a group of archers, rain arrows over the area, and shatter their mystical defenses. That enabled one to make short work of those wielders of mystical powers, who were unable to resist such onslaughts of conventional weapons from over 320 feet away.

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nBesides, no mystical powers were able to attack something that was more than 320 meters away.

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nNo wielders of such powers were able to resist having their bodies being pierced by cold weapons.

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nThat provided Kant confidence while arranging for the Elite Desert Bandits to take out that shaman. First, he relied on their fearlessness. Second, he relied on their eerie accuracy with the javelins.

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nThe color of the gem in his hand greatly dimmed.

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nThe data streams that covered the item rapidly grew.

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nThe system was quickly absorbing the gem’s power.

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nThose mystical powers were probably magic as told in the legends he had read about.

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nIt was a pity that he had no mastery of the arts of the mages. In his perspective, letting the system take the loot was a way to bestow some value to those items.

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n“But this book…”

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nKant frowned slightly. The old, brown book still caught his attention.

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nThe book made him feel as if he was holding onto one of the oldest books there was to be found in the college’s library, which were precious items accessible only by high ranking scholars. Every book was hundreds. Some were even more than a thousand years old.

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nSince the system was still not absorbing they book, Kant continued to look at it.

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nThe cover was very dirty and stained by dust and all manners of other dirty things, which gave it a brown color.

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nIf he paid close enough attention to it, he could vaguely make out lines.

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nThere seemed to have been something written on the cover.

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nHe threw away the staff with the gemstone, which was about to have its contents wrung dry. He opened to the book and began to flip through it.

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nThat curiosity he had developed back in college compelled him to do so.

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nThe book was not very heavy. It felt more like a thin notebook that would have been used back on Earth in his past life.

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nHe found the inside of it to be just as dirty as the cover. While he was able to somewhat make out the symbols on the page, they were simply too dirty to be read.

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nThe Jackalan shaman had intelligence comparable to a human grown-up, but the same could not have been said about his hygiene habits.

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nHe flipped the page in a rather displeased manner.

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nAs he expected it, the next page was just as dirty.

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n“What a damn waste.”

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nKant was unable to help but coldly snort.

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nAs he was about to continue flipping the pages, he was surprised to find that the old book contained only two pages.

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nHe scanned the page closely and found it to be something that resembled papyrus.

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nThe leather cover of the old book took up most of the book’s thickness. The pages were simply stuffed within for safekeeping.

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n“What a pity.” Kant shook his head.

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nIf the system had determined the book to have mystical powers, it would have been of greater value than it appeared to be.

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nKant was quickly reminded of Scholar Hank.

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nIf his college teacher were present, that old man would have possibly been able to tell what that book had actually been.

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nThen again, when he thought about it, if the scholar had been present, he would not have agreed to let Kant allow the system to absorb the book. Kant would not have even been able to reveal that he was capable of upgrading his forces with seemingly nothing. That was his cheat and the only thing that he was able to truly trust.

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nHe knew that it would have been a sin just being able to use such a cheat.

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nThe system’s data streams quickly wrapped around the book, absorbing it in no time.

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nThe gemstone on the ground was now nowhere to be seen. Only the empty cavity on the staff that used to house the gemstone remained. It was obvious that the gemstone had been completely absorbed by the system.

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nA dialog box from the system suddenly appeared on Kant’s retina.

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nDing… Your arduous effort allowed the system to fully absorb the mystical powers of those two items.

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nSide Quest: Help from the System is complete.

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nReward: Upgrade the village

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nIntroduction: You have helped the system absorb mystical powers and have earned a mystical reward. Your village can now be upgraded. Please choose your route of upgrades wisely.

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nA golden card appeared at the bottom of the dialog box.

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nKant was able to instantly tell that he was able to upgrade his village if he used that card.

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nHowever, he saw fit to do so only when he returned to the village.

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nAt the moment, Kant needed to focus on upgrading his troops, who had all gained tremendous experience and were ready to be upgraded.

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n“Open the troop-class page.”

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nKant willed the system in his mind and confidently said, “Upgrade all of them.”

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nHe had just completed a main quest, which instantly gave him 10,000 Denars. He had quite suddenly become very rich.

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nDing… System Prompt

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nCurrent upgrades and further upgrades will cost 2,300 Denars.

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nDo you wish to upgrade?

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nKant replied without hesitation, “Yes, upgrade them all.”

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nThere was nothing he had to hesitate about.

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nThat was especially so since after Kant finished the system’s main quest, it left more than 10,000 Denars in his balance. Upgrading all of them made a minimal dent to his balance.

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nFor him, the 2,300 Denars were nothing worth mentioning.

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nDing… Please select your troop class for upgrade.

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nSwadian Militias x 46 available upgrade: Swadian Skirmishers

/Swadian Footmen

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nThose were further upgrades available after the Swadian Recruits were upgraded.

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nKant had nothing to hesitate about. He currently did not need ranged combatants, so he made his choice and said, “Swadian Footmen.”

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nFor now, he needed warriors able to serve his main force on the battlefield.

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nThe system provided another dialog box.

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nDing… Please select your troop class for upgrade.

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nSwadian Footmen x 41 available upgrade: Swadian Infantry

/Swadian Men-at-Arms

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nKant slightly shuddered when he saw that.

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nThe time had finally come.

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nHe was about to get Swadian Men-at-Arms.

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nThey were the strongest fourth-level troop class and the only one at a fourth level capable of wearing armor all over. Furthermore, their warhorses were clad in armor, which made them true heavy cavalry units. That allowed them to serve as kings running over enemies on the battlefield.

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nThey were also the greatest troop class of the Swadian fighting forces. They were just one level below Swadian Knights.

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nHaving those Swadian Men-at-Arms meant that he had the capacity for riders clad in armor to run over low-level troop classes at his fancy on the flatlands. That gave him a powerful force capable of mopping up many enemy forces with ease.

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n“Upgrade them to become Swadian Men-at-Arms!”

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nKant was almost rushing into the decision.

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nWith 41 Swadian Footmen leveling up to become Swadian Men-at-Arms, his forces were about to experience a leap like that of upgrading a peashooter to a cannon.

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nBoth were Swadian troops and clad in metal armor.

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nHowever, the mobility afforded by the horses of the Men-at-Arms made them all the more precious.

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nIn other words, those kinds of heavy cavalry units served as heavy infantry units after dismounting, yet a class like Swadian Footmen was unable to serve as cavalry units due to a lack of riding training.

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nScrruuuffff

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nThe dialog box on Kant’s retina instantly disappeared. The sounds of noisy warhorses were suddenly heard all over the place.

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nHe grinned as he turned his head around to see the change.

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nThe 41 Swadian Men-at-Arms were seen on their horses. Both entities were clad in armor. They were scanning around the place while holding their lances high. They all looked on with coldness in their eyes behind their helmets at the roaring flames burning before them.

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nThe 46 Swadian Footmen, who were wearing mail armor, stood right behind the Men-at-Arms.

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nThe Footmen served as the main force in maintaining the frontlines while the Men-at-Arms served as battering rams out to crush their enemies’ psychological defenses. The fact that they were stationed in the desert and had to ride their horses through soft sand did not change how invincible and powerful they were.

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nKant turned around to look at the five Elite Desert Bandits who had become Sarrandian Horsemen.

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nAll of them wore iron armor and held fine sabers. However, the desert horses they rode, which were unarmored, slightly paled in comparison to that of the Swadian Men-at-Arms, which were also a fourth-level troop class.

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nHowever, he knew that those five Sarrandian Horsemen were able to continue leveling up, which have made them the most fearsome troop class.

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nIt was a fifth-level troop class that was even more suited to battles in the desert—the Mamlukes.

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