Chapter 43: The Holy Sword Legion (II)

Although not large, this tent appeared extremely luxurious and stood out among all the other camps. The recruiter explained that this was a tent specially arranged by the legion commander to receive important guests. As a low-ranking recruiter, he didn’t have the authority to assign a mage position and could only bring Donald here.

Upon entering the tent, Donald didn’t see the legion commander; instead, there were two senior officers in charge of recruiting special-class professionals and a mage. However, this was expected—generally, the commander’s tent shouldn’t be separate and stand out so much, as it would serve as a clear target. The commander also wouldn’t leave the protection of his subordinates lightly, out of safety concerns. Otherwise, if the commander were assassinated, it could greatly undermine the morale of the entire army. Moreover, as a commander facing war, he would be extremely busy and wouldn’t have time to meet with every applicant individually.

The three people in the tent certainly wouldn’t make the same mistake as the recruiter outside and treat applicants lightly. After all, those who made it this far were no ordinary people.

“Mage Donald, the Holy Sword Legion welcomes you. This is Perry, our legion’s accompanying mage, who will handle all the necessary procedures for you!”
The officer introduced him before giving his seat to the accompanying mage behind him.

“Hello, Mage Perry. I’m Donald Merlina from the Northern County Mage Guild. Here are my badge and letter of introduction!”

This mage named Perry was responsible for verifying the qualifications of those applying to become spellcasters. He was only at a high level in the Black Iron tier. Upon seeing Donald’s demeanor and hearing of Donald’s reputation as the top mage in Northern County, he became much more enthusiastic.

After receiving the letter of introduction from his mentor Merlina and conducting a brief verification, Donald’s details were successfully recorded in the official recruitment roster, placing him among the top candidates.

According to this Dark Iron mage affiliated with the Holy Sword Legion, aside from Donald, there were three freelance mages who came to enlist in the battle—all below the Bronze rank, with the highest being only at the upper Dark Iron level. A few warriors and assassins, however, had surpassed the Dark Iron rank and reached the Bronze level. As for those at the Silver rank, they usually had already secured their own power and status long ago, so they naturally wouldn’t compete with newcomers for such opportunities. The few Silver-ranked individuals who roamed outside any faction were generally averse to power struggles, so they were even less likely to appear among the enlistees.

Thus, the professionals who came to fight were all generally below the Bronze rank. Even if there were any Silver-ranked warriors, Donald wouldn’t care about them.

No matter how high a melee professional’s rank or personal strength might be, their combat effectiveness was limited to small-scale battles. Without reaching the Gold rank, their ability to inflict heavy damage on the battlefield was far inferior to that of casters of the same or lower ranks—those people couldn’t compete with him for military merits.

Even with just these professionals, not much glory could be taken away. What Donald was more concerned about were other noble factions and the Ansel family, who were landowners.

Some noble private armies also had mages and other professionals supported by them. The quality of those mages was higher than that of the low-level freelance mages—almost none were below the upper Dark Iron level, with most being at the Bronze rank and two at the upper Bronze rank. Once these mages worked together with the nobles’ armies, they would exert tremendous power, making them the strongest force in this beast-slaying army.

Therefore, Donald knew that if he wanted to achieve the greatest military merits, he couldn’t follow the crowd but had to find other ways to earn enough achievements so that others would have no argument.

It was said that besides powerful warriors, Marquis Ansel also had Silver-ranked mages under his command, but outsiders had never seen them. Perhaps in this largest orc war in decades, that powerful Silver-ranked mage might make an appearance.

However, based on Donald’s earlier calculations, the increasingly powerful Ansel family might not invest much strength in competing with other nobles for military honors this time. After all, their family already had too many advantages—adding a few more wouldn’t make much difference, only drawing extra attention from the royal family.

Excessive power that threatens those in authority has always been a source of fear for them. When you gain strength that they cannot control or counter, you must be careful, as such a conflict cannot be resolved by any relationship—unless one party gives up their position and power.

Donald, who had learned about the general situation of the troops involved in this campaign from military strategists, was informed that there would be a reception banquet that evening attended by nobles and powerful professionals. He was then escorted by two soldiers to several separate tents on the right side of the camp to rest.

After Donald left, one of the two officers in charge of reception and record-keeping immediately left the tent and rode toward the nearby fortress.

A summoner, even if just a black-iron summoner, is more valuable than a bronze mage. After all, a summoner can summon creatures beyond their own rank, though at a cost. Moreover, the creatures summoned by a summoner can fight continuously for a long time as long as they don’t die, which is equivalent to countless spell attacks—far more effective than low-level mages whose spells have short durations and deplete their mana after just a few uses.

The appearance of such talent must be reported to higher authorities.

Soon, in the office of the fortress’s military headquarters, the highest commander of the human forces— the third commander of the Holy Sword Legion, a young general—received a report. It contained the information Donald had just reported, along with descriptions from other informed sources.

“A noble mage?”
After reading the report, the young general asked his officers, “What do you think?”

One of the officers immediately analyzed, “Since this mage was recognized by the top mage of the North County and taken as an apprentice, and rose to full mage status just one month after becoming an apprentice, then advanced to black-iron rank in less than three months, his strength and talent must be quite good. We should assign him important tasks on the battlefield!”

The young general nodded. “The orcs are numerous, dozens of times our number. Fortunately, the kingdom issued a call for volunteers, bringing in many troops, but they still can’t match the orcs’ numbers. Our only advantage is that we can hold our ground in the fortress.”

He then turned to another young officer who was writing at the desk and asked, “What’s the situation outside the fortress?”

The young officer replied without even looking up, “Most of the mountain dwellers in the areas surrounding the fortress have fled into the territory. Those areas have now been cleared, and many traps have been set. But that won’t hold back the barbaric orcs for long. If we allow them to sneak into the territory from the surrounding mountains, the civilians there will suffer heavy losses!”
The young general didn’t care about his subordinate’s attitude and nodded, saying, “My mother will arrive tomorrow. With her silver-level strength, even if ten thousand orcs attack, the fortress will remain secure. As for the remaining three hundred swordsmen from the Third Battalion of our Holy Sword Legion and three thousand soldiers from the auxiliary forces, they can easily take control of the situation. Although the recruits vary in strength, there are several strong individuals among them—using them to assassinate the enemy’s elite could be a good strategy!”
An older officer showed a hint of joy upon hearing this.
“That’s truly good news. With Your Highness here to oversee things, our fortress’s safety is assured. But still, how to repel those ten thousand orcs remains a challenge.”
“Don’t be too happy just yet. My mother is only coming to prevent excessive losses among the civilians in the territory and our soldiers from the Third Battalion. Due to the royal family’s stance, she won’t intervene unless it’s a critical moment. So, we can only rely on ourselves!”
The last officer, who had remained silent until then, also offered his opinion, saying, “My lord, don’t forget those private armies of the nobles. Though their discipline and strength can’t compare to ours, their total number is still five or six thousand. At the very least, they can hold off the orcs who aren’t the main force! If we can eliminate part of the orcs’ main force, they’ll realize our fortress is a tough nut to crack and might choose to retreat!”
“Let’s arrange things like this for now. Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen. If those bronze-level strongmen are used well, they might bring some surprises!”
After saying that, the young general gazed deeply out the window, his thoughts seemingly drifting to another world.