Judging from Joe"s shocked reaction and how much importance Musashi placed on the Aronian steel, Caesar had long figured that the steel was special in some way or another, alas, his knowledge of the world was lacking so he was not entirely sure what was exceptional about it.
"Where did you find this?" Joe abruptly asked, and broke Caesar from his thoughts.
Instead of answering him, Caesar just gestured towards Musashi, he didn"t want to take the credit for finding something so rare, when in actuality, it came from Musashi"s storage room.
Joe"s eyes followed Caesar"s hand gesture and gazed upon Musashi with realization in his eyes, "ah, right, Caesar did say something about asking you for the mana augmentable steel" His words paused for a moment as he took a closer look at the ingot in Caesar"s hand, "I"m surprised your clan is in possession of Aronian steel, although it"s not the most durable, it is indeed, very rare"
Musashi, who was still surrounded by a group of gnomes, scratched the back of his head, "when your clan lives long enough, some things just naturally pile up, even the rarest of treasures" he replied humbly.
Joe nodded his head and didn"t dwell too long on the topic, instead, he s.n.a.t.c.hed the ingot from Caesar"s hand and inspected it even closer, nearly forgetting his past grievances for fixing the hole in the outer gates.
Seeing that Joe was deeply interested in the steel, Caesar simply smiled and turned away, there was no reason for him to remain here. Although he was intrigued by the concept of magic accessories, he doubted Joe was going to craft them right at this moment, as his needles still need to be prepared by Magni.
Thinking to here, Caesar quickened his pace towards the farm located in the fox-kin stronghold, according to his knowledge, Faust should have long completed the drainage system that Caesar had asked of him, thus, he wanted to see it for himself.
Caesar"s abrupt disappearance from Joe, Musashi, and the gnomes, didn"t go entirely unnoticed, Musashi was gnashing his teeth in anger as he placated the gnomes, "that b.a.s.t.a.r.d left me here alone with these talkative midgets!" he thought angrily.
Caesar, of course, wouldn"t know of Musashi"s complaints, and after a few long moments, he could finally see the relatively large and colorful farm. Its colors were as vibrant as ever, and it appeared that they added another squarish box that was filled with soil.
He walked a bit closer and could see a few ten centimeters wide and five centimeters tall, cylindrical tunnels that lead through small holes within the outer walls, presumably leading to the large ditch Faust and the others created.
Seeing this, Caesar nodded in approval and decided to inspect the new addition to the farm, he could see a surplus of small sprouts coming from the rich soil, alongside the already large a.s.sortment of vegetables and fruits, this would certainly help the fox-kin with their food problem in the distant future.
Once Caesar made sure everything was as desired, he quickly left the area, he didn"t want to stay long enough and be spotted by that strange head-farmer, though he seemed nice, Caesar couldn"t help but shiver around him.
Caesar walked towards the outer walls and climbed up the nearby stairs, he calculated the walls to be about 10 meters tall as he walked, and once he reached the top, he surveyed the surroundings. The fox-kin stronghold was in dire need of defenses, which made Caesar slightly regretful he didn"t bring a few engineers from Rahvin kingdom. If he had his ballistae and crossbows, the battle would pose to be much easier.
He walked atop the tall and wide walls whilst inspecting each detail in preparation of an attack, he suspected that once the trolls realized they were recruiting nearby clans, they wouldn"t hesitate to attack. This would mean they could potentially be attacked tomorrow or in a few weeks, thus, Caesar decided to prepare early, not to mention, the tournament started tomorrow.
Although Caesar has, indeed, fought off a large number of troops with a meager amount, such as back in Ravhin kingdom, he didn"t have his crossbows, ballistae, trebuchets, nor enough time to recreate such a grand victory, in fact, one of the reasons why it was so easy, was because the opponents themselves were hardly united, as the elves betrayed the humans in the end.
Unfortunately, even though Caesar speculated that the trolls were being backed by others, he doubted these people hiding in the shadows would help the trolls in a frontal a.s.sault, meaning it was just one enemy they had to face off against. The only hope Caesar had of winning was using superior tactics, leadership, and coordination.
This, however, would only be possible if Caesar gained control over the fox-kin, which would pose to be difficult if it weren"t for the upcoming tournament, though Musashi and Faust had their plans, Caesar, of course, had his own as well.
Caesar planned to win and take everything, though Musashi added the option of taking Ahri"s hand in marriage as one of the rewards you could choose if you were to win, that was not Caesar"s plan, Ahri"s hand was already his, so Caesar planned to challenge Musashi…
Caesar knew that his chances of winning were low, however, with every training session he and Musashi took part in, he could feel his personal strength progress, not to mention his control over mana, alas, if he didn"t win, there was nothing to lose.
While thinking about these troublesome matters, Caesar nearly walked around half of the outer walls, the nearby guards looked at him curiously but their reaction was relatively normal. Without paying the guards much heed, he inspected the ditch that Faust and the others created, which surprisingly was within his expectations, it wasn"t too grand nor disappointing.
Caesar suddenly took a large whiff of the air and couldn"t help but notice the moisture in the air, he looked left and right and could see a large number of clouds forming in the east, they looked as though they would pa.s.s through the fox-kin stronghold in a few days.
Seeing this, Caesar let out a small chuckle, "ah, what perfect timing…" he muttered under his breath and headed down from the walls, he walled down the stairs made of what looked to be some kind of stone and soon arrived back at the ground.
Caesar looked around and noticed there was no one nearby so he took out the long scythe from his spatial ring, the scythes snath was a bit longer than his body and was dark in color, the curved blade was adorned with a strange and almost demonic pattern engraved into it. The details of the weapon seemed to gain more life the more Caesar used it.
He closed his eyes and inserted his mana into the scythe, creating a bluish mist that escaped from the weapon. Caesar felt more connected with the scythe whenever he inputted his mana inside, similar to a limb, he had more control over it.
Instead of swinging down with the scythe, he rotated the scythe like a propeller and flung it toward the wall, it moved at extraordinary speeds, however, just when it was about to collide with the outer walls, Caesar lifted his right hand and gestured with his index finger, and suddenly, the scythe abruptly stopped spinning and fell to the ground.
Caesar gasped for breath and a few beads of sweat trailed down his face. He couldn"t comprehend how Musashi controlled his chains with such ease, however, Caesar wouldn"t give up easily, he once again raised his index finger and used the remaining mana in the scythe to make it retract.
As Caesar wanted, the scythe had a reaction and slowly started retracting back to Caesar"s hands, as if it were alive. This was the progress he had achieved from practicing with Musashi, and of course, by himself.
Caesar continued this practice for a few hours until finally, he collapsed on the ground, he gazed upon the starry sky whilst gasping for breath. The precipitation on his body soaked his clothes, and Caesar was exhausted. Utilizing all of your mana was a different kind of physical exertment than just training your body.
As Caesar was drifting to sleep, a sound suddenly echoed inside his head.
[Vampiric physique evolution progress: 22%]
Caesar could feel his exhausted body being revitalized, his sore muscles become lax and the mana within his body being restored, albeit slowly. He could feel even the skin on his body slightly strengthen.
Caesar"s lips curled as he slowly stood up from the ground, he was very satisfied. This was, after all, the first time he had gained some progress with his physique since he last had that battle with Joe.
He stretched his arms and headed towards the mansion, he wanted to get a good night of rest before the tournament tomorrow, as he could not take it lightly because if he were to fail, all of his plans until now would be for naught.