125 Chapter 125: Progression (1/2)
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 snatched 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 bastard 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 assortment 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 assault, 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.