Chapter 35: The Call to Arms (II)

Despite such a high cost, the forces behind those spies only reached this conclusion, which disappointed them but made them pay even more attention to the Moonlight Wine produced by Darknight Manor. After all, this miraculous wine had no side effects like those of ordinary alchemical potions. Ordinary people, not just warriors or mages, could drink it regularly, and it also had excellent nourishing effects on the body. Especially for those who were old, weak, and lacked energy, its benefits were even more pronounced.

Thus, not only professionals but also the general public became fascinated with Moonlight Wine within just a month, and its fame spread throughout the upper classes of the Celt Kingdom. Nowadays, if a noble attended a banquet or salon hosted by another noble and claimed to have never heard of Moonlight Wine, no matter how high his rank, he would likely be secretly ridiculed.

It is said that even the king of Celt was highly impressed after receiving a bottle of Moonlight Wine as a gift, becoming addicted to it and even sending people to learn more about its creator. Upon learning that the owner of Moonlight Wine was not only a hereditary noble and a full-fledged mage but also a rare summoner among mages, plus an expert in alchemy, the king was overjoyed. He even planned to send envoys to reward the wine’s creator.

However, before Donald could wait for the royal envoy’s arrival, he received news of the orc invasion and the kingdom’s call to arms. The messenger was Sir Jesse from the Stone City Noble Council.

At Darknight Manor, after a tentative battle the previous day, much of the facility’s upper half had been destroyed, and many areas needed to be rebuilt. Thanks to the sorcerer’s dark magic, the servants and farmers had fallen into a deep sleep, unaware of what was happening. When they woke up, Donald simply explained that the structures had collapsed due to poor construction and dismissed their concerns.

Otherwise, the sudden appearance of demons attacking the manor would have caused panic among these ordinary people, some of whom might even have fled out of fear.

But given the urgency of the situation, construction at the manor had to be suspended for now. On the day the attack ended, he ordered Cord to take all the funds available at the manor and go to Stone City with Clinton and George to seek help from his teacher and purchase elemental crystals as quickly as possible.

After the butler left, Donald remained in the farm, communicating mentally with the Tree of Life in the forest behind the manor to prevent the sorcerer from launching another attack.

It was only then that he remembered the gains from examining the Book of Truth. His original reserve of Soul Power was still over a hundred units, but it had now increased to 980 units. A single battle had cost the manor so much, making those 800 units of Soul Power his greatest reward. “I never expected the souls of demonic creatures to be so powerful. A bronze-tier demon is equivalent to dozens of lower-level undead creatures,” Donald mused, developing a great interest in those demons from the Abyssal Plane. Although demons were extremely strong and much harder to deal with than creatures from the main material world, killing one of them allowed him to gain at least several permanent subordinates—a temptation he could hardly resist. Moreover, demons were mostly faithless chaotic beings; even if they had faith, it was out of fear of the god-like strength of those Abyssal lords and demon overlords. And those powerful evil beings hardly cared about their followers, making the slaughter of demons the best source of Soul Power material for permanent summons. As for enemies with faith, like the assassins who had tried to kill him before, their souls couldn’t even be touched by the Book of Truth after death, for fear of attracting the attention of the world’s deities. “It seems I need to pay more attention to news about magical disasters. If I remember correctly, there was a small Abyssal rift in the mountainous area of my family’s former territory. Once I’m done with my current tasks, I must take the time to check it out!” Suddenly, Donald frowned and muttered impatiently, “Another one? These spies are too bold. They dare to infiltrate during the day. After seeing what happened to those guys before, don’t they learn from it?” In the spiritual vision of the Tree of Life, a faint red dot was entering the manor’s territory, quietly approaching the herb garden. If not for his ability to sense it through his mental power, even if an ordinary person looked directly at where the person was, they wouldn’t see any sign. This was the stealth ability practiced by thieves and assassins in this world. Most relied solely on hiding behind references, a few with natural talent could use some supernatural spell abilities, and others combined both. Generally, even a black-iron tier mage wouldn’t detect these hidden beings unless they got within ten feet of the target.

Especially the assassins known as mage killers—once they got within ten feet of the mages, given their rapid attack speed and the mages’ fragile physical defenses, it was an extremely dangerous situation.
The spy, relying on his skills to hide in the shadows and approach stealthily, naturally had no idea that he had already been completely exposed the moment he stepped into the estate’s bounds; on the contrary, he appeared full of confidence.
Suddenly, the grass beneath the spy’s feet swelled violently, and the surrounding branches and vines attacked like pythons, rolling up the helpless man and throwing him hard to the ground, leaving him unconscious.
“These guys really won’t cry until they see the coffin!” Donald shook his head and laughed. He ordered William to take two servants to throw the life-drained spy out of the estate. This was a small trick Donald had figured out over the past couple of days—the Tree of Life could temporarily endow plants with natural power through its natural barriers to awaken them, though the effect lasted only briefly before the plants returned to normal.
Before long, William returned and reported, “My lord, Sir Jesse has arrived!”
He had taken two servants to deal with the man in black who had collapsed on the grass. Upon leaving, they happened to meet Sir Jesse arriving on horseback.
“Oh? I’ll go see him right away!”
Before his words faded, Sir Jesse’s voice came from ahead.
“Donald, I bring good news this time!”
Seeing Sir Jesse arrive, dusty and riding fast to deliver news, Donald felt satisfied with his wise decision to make friends with this nobleman.
“Jesse, you’ve worked hard. Come in and rest for a while! There’s no rush to share the news. Once you’ve rested and caught your breath, we can sit down and talk.”
Donald warmly welcomed him into the estate.
He instructed the butler to take Sir Jesse to a room for a quick wash and tidy up, then prepared tea and snacks in the guest room for a detailed discussion.
Soon, refreshed Sir Jesse reappeared before Donald.
Since he was already here, Donald wasn’t in a hurry to hear the news from him. He gestured for him to have some black tea first, then they would talk.
“Truly worthy of being a mage’s drink!” Sir Jesse gratefully picked up his teacup and drank this mage beverage, which he had only tasted twice but already loved.
“Thank you for the hospitality. It’s Donald who’s so thoughtful!”
After setting down his teacup, Sir Jesse sighed and then got to the point.

“Donald, this is a great opportunity for you to get promoted! The King’s call to arms has just reached the North Counties. In response to this orc invasion, the kingdom has decided to enlist nobles and common adventurers from all over to fight, with rewards even more generous than in previous years!”
After three years, another orc invasion was no longer a secret in the Kingdom of Celt. Aside from the residents living along the borders who faced direct threats, ordinary people in other areas were not particularly surprised or worried by the news.
After all, orcs had invaded human territories to plunder food and supplies far too often. Even Celt, which did not share a border with them, experienced such invasions every few years. Over centuries, their ancestors had grown accustomed to it.
After hearing the detailed information from Sir Jesse, Donald finally understood the situation.
It turned out that the small groups of orcs that appeared at the northwest border had gradually increased in number. After numerous investigations by elite scouts from the border troops, it was confirmed that they were part of a coalition formed by multiple tribes.
Previously, only a single tribe, numbering a few hundred to a thousand orcs, would cross the mountainous terrain between the northwest wastelands and Celt’s borders to invade their lands.
With natural barriers like hills and valleys, even the poorest orc tribes were reluctant to travel long distances through the mountains to reach Celt’s borders. Instead, they preferred the fertile human territories connected to the northwest wastelands in the central part of the continent. However, raiding human territories was a lucrative activity for orcs, as the vast fertile plains yielded abundant rewards. Some smaller tribes could not compete with the stronger ones, which is why Celt faced an orc threat.
But this time, thousands of orcs from multiple tribes somehow abandoned the idea of plundering the fertile plains in the central region and instead targeted Celt, deploying all their strongest warriors. As a result, the situation along Celt’s borders became extremely dangerous.
Within just ten days, the kingdom’s urgent call to arms reached every corner. All citizens of Celt, whether nobles or commoners, adventurers or professionals, who went to Marquis Ansel’s territory to resist the orc invasion and achieved merits would receive corresponding rewards.
“According to the tradition of the nations of the continent uniting to fight against orcs, anyone who dares to go to battle and kill enemies will be rewarded. Our Celt royal family divides these rewards into five levels based on the merits achieved.”

“The fifth-tier reward is the lowest. Killing one adult orc warrior earns three gold thalers, and ordinary civilians also gain the right to join the kingdom’s army. Of course, such rewards are insignificant for nobles. At the fourth tier, killing a hundred orc soldiers grants the title of Kingdom Warrior, along with five hundred gold thalers as a reward.”

“What’s the use of the Kingdom Warrior title? Is it worth the risk for those civilians?”

In response to Donald’s question, Sir Jesse explained, “The holder of the Kingdom Warrior title has a status equivalent to that of a mid-level officer, on par with lords like me or lower-ranking nobles such as local gentry. They can also join the kingdom’s army as officers at any time. For civilian adventurers, although such honors are difficult to achieve, they undoubtedly represent a good path for advancement.”

Donald nodded in understanding, and Sir Jesse continued, “At the third tier, the rewards become quite generous, and this is also the tier where you, Donald, have the best chance of achieving significant merits. Civilians who kill a thousand orcs can be granted the title of knight, immediately obtaining noble status. If the merit-seeker is already a noble, the royal family usually rewards them with an estate as a token of appreciation.”

Donald understood this highest-tier reward well. Although it was only a lifetime knighthood, it represented rising from a civilian to a noble, with a significant change in status. And that estate represented tangible benefits. Even if it wasn’t hereditary, the recipient could transfer the estate to the royal family or another noble before death, leaving a substantial fortune for future generations.

“What about the last two tiers? I don’t care about estates. You know what I want—is to gain my own territory and restore the glory of our Merlin family!”

Sir Jesse said understandingly, “Because orc shamans hold a very special status and play a powerful role in battles, they must be eliminated. That’s why the royal family has designated the last two reward tiers specifically for them. For the second-tier reward, anyone who kills a black-iron rank orc shaman priest or ten thousand orc soldiers will receive a personal reward from His Majesty the King, including the title of hereditary knight and an estate. Those who are already nobles will be granted a knightly domain.”

“Killing a bronze-rank orc shaman priest will earn one the title of hereditary knight and a corresponding domain, making them true landed nobles. Those who are already nobles will be awarded a barony.”

“The rewards for these last two levels are extremely difficult to obtain, especially the first reward. Since it was announced, only a few people have managed to complete it, with the most recent one being accomplished by a powerful knight from a hundred years ago. Orc shamans hold a high status among orcs; even black-iron shamans are protected at every step they take, while bronze-tier shamans rarely leave orc territory. Unless one has a powerful noble faction with thousands of troops or several strong professionals under their command, it’s merely wishful thinking to hope for these rewards. Of course, if you, Donald, can bring in a few mages to assist, there’s a good chance of completing one of them.”
Donald nodded after hearing this, already setting his sights on the last two levels. He asked, “So it stops at the hereditary knight class and baronial titles? Are there no higher rewards?”