The Runesmith Chapter 311: Tier 3 Trial Part 7

“Shields up, don’t let the enemy archers hit you!”

“Protect the battering ram with your life, it has to arrive at the enemy walls.”

“Archers, fire!”

A plethora of sowhat generic-sounding voices echoed through a large battlefield. The source was a varied group of puppet soldiers that were wearing more intricate armor than the regular foot soldiers. The forr were bunched up in various formations performing the acts that these captains and commanders were ordering.

‘Hm… it looks like I can watch for now, the golems should be enough…’

Their leader was right in the back and the only person on horseback. His body was clad in full body armor that was covered in runic symbols. So of them were glowing in a pale blue light which easily illuminated the darkness of the night. This was a stark contrast to the wooden animal he was sitting on, just like all the wooden n around it was not made up of flesh and bones but lumber instead.

From behind him around four chanical contraptions erged that took on the form of spiders. They were made out of pure tal and were quite eye-catching in this field of battle. Their legs continued to speed through the grassy plain with their cannons pointed upward. Just like their creator, they possessed a plethora of runic symbols on their tallic bodies. Each ti they activated their cannons that were attached to their abdons they would glow in a similar pale blue hue.

These cannons were constantly firing concentrated orbs of mana toward the rocky ramparts of this fort. The archers that were stationed them were unable to do much about it due to being outranged by the chanical contraptions. Even when an arrow collided with the tallic body it was bounced back by a thin layer of mana that was protecting the golem’s body. There were only four of those spider contraptions on the battlefield but the magical attacks they were capable of were a real ga changer.

‘I should be able to get more deep steel to make more spider drones after I capture this fortress. It’s good that I was able to bring my own technology into this place…’

While the siege continued Roland, who was sitting on the strange-looking wooden horse, thought back to the ti he drove the Lumberlings back. These were the sa ones he was sieging now after he was able to recreate the spider drones that he had grown accustod to. It took so ti but he was able to recreate which might have been the most important component of winning this trial.

…

A month earlier.

“It’s all fine and dandy that I have decided to put more resources into conquering but how will I get an edge against the enemy encampnts? Can I really win against soone that was put in a location with a strategic advantage over just with lousy war tactics?”

A sowhat annoyed Roland was sitting on his throne while looking through all the various window screens. On one he could see his new encampnt that had been conquered by his forces. Even though he had gained a new one it ca at the price of a few soldiers and the need of leaving a small force behind for its protection.

Currently with himself in this fort he didn’t really need protection for it but in the future this would change. His next point of interest was gaining a new safer location to spread his influence on. This main base that was given to him as his first headquarters was probably a dead end. It was open to attacks from all sides, when concentrating on defensive asures it was possible to counter this placent. However, with his past knowledge in his head it was obviously the wrong tactic.

“My lord, the scouts have co back from their mission.”

“Good.”

His aid was waiting outside and would shout out to him from ti to ti. The information he relayed would then be presented to him in one of the windows as an update. Normally in real life, a scout would need to give this information to so kind of administrator. They would then either draw up a map with the information or directly give it to the lord. Here on the other hand the process was pushed onto the world map in the system to which he had access.

‘This actually looks promising, from all the other forts this one looks the best.’

It had been a few days since he was able to defeat the Lumberlings. The soldiers that had been placed in the dungeon were about to go through the process of conversion which would bolster his forces. This didn’t an that he wasn’t turning so of his villagers into new soldiers either. His army was steadily growing each day as he just needed to create new residential buildings to increase the population limit.

His scouting unit had increased and he was able to discover two other forts in the area. Their population wasn’t large but not all of them seed to be as aggressive as the Lumberlings were. Roland theorized that this was part of the test. It simulated different factions with varied abilities and characteristics. Ones would bunker up just like he did before while others would continue to attack until either they were dead or their enemies were.

This had to be taken into consideration as he would know where to allocate his resources to. If for instance the fort that had appeared in the west was prid for defense it could actually act as a buffer zone. Anyone arriving from that side would have to go through them first before arriving in his lands. It might have actually been even better to leave such a faction alone as they would not attack him without a reason.

‘I wonder if the winning conditions really need to conquer everything I see, or if it’s sothing vaguer… Would it be enough if the people in the lands think of as their lord even if they aren’t necessarily part of my faction?’

Roland had not tried it yet but perhaps there was an option of a diplomatic resolution. What if it was possible to create trade routes with other forts and get better deals on things? In real life not every kingdom was the enemy, so even ford pacts to combat dangerous empires that started threatening others on a larger scale. What if this would be his fate if he was too aggressive?

‘If that is the case, then if I start threatening everyone they might attack together… but that won’t be a problem if my forces are just stronger or if I could get them to be a vassal.’

Creating vassal states might have been a possibility. There were many types and it depended on the one in power on the exact rules. Most of the ti a vassal in this sense would offer so kind of tribute in the form of so resources. For that, they would be exempt from getting raided by the ones in power and even helped by them if they were being attacked by an outside kingdom. There were pros and cons to these relationships but they could be positive for both sides in so cases.

‘Hm… should I sacrifice a scout to figure it out?’

This was still in the beginning stages of the trial and he didn’t have all the information. The hole in his mory had expanded as he had no idea what had happened before. In his mind, he could only see a few blurs and then the last enemy boss smacking his head with a giant mace. If it was trouly possible to do business and ally himself with other factions then he needed to give it a try.

“Aid.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“The small settlent to the southwest, have one of the scouts go there and offer them a treaty.”

“A treaty? What will the details of the treaty entail?”

“The details? Hm… They were around a lot of pastures… have them donate their grain to us and also at.”

The wooden aid started nodding his head while Roland listed down so terms of the accord. If he could get a settlent with fertile land to take care of the food side then he would be able to develop his armies more. It was normal in a kingdom to shift production to better-suited regions. If he were to conquer these lands and beco their king, then that area would be part of his kingdom and run by another noble. They would supply them with food and he would give them so soldiers which would allow him to specialize more in warfare.

‘Good, now I need to think about the runesmith part of this test, what can I create to give my troops an edge?’

Roland was still mostly a crafter, even if this new class would give him so better warfare and leading options he still wasn’t there. Getting political with other forts would not be possible if he didn’t have any leverage. It wouldn’t be strange if there was so kind of hidden notoriety value hidden sowhere. If he continued to capture settlents and win battles others might surrender to him without the need for him to lose more forces.

To get a better grasp on the situation he headed outside. Sitting on the cramped throne with nothing but a large empty space around him wasn’t good for his mind. Roland had grown accustod to working but this didn’t an that getting a breath of fresh air wouldn’t help him get a good idea. When outside in the distance he could see a windmill being assembled by the wooden puppets.

It was very reminiscent of old video gas as the wooden craftsn would not perform all the actions of their human counterparts. Instead, they would hamr away at the walls that for so reason started expanding up. From ti to ti they would stop to grab so materials from the side and then continue while the pile of resources vanished into thin air.

While this phenonon was interesting he wasn’t really looking at it. Instead, he was focusing on the large blades ant to be pushed by wind. The main source of food in this place was grain that was made into flour and then bread. To make flour people needed to grind the grain and that was done by large windmills. The models that he was using were wind ones but it was also possible to create them next to running water and use that to turn the wheel.

‘Huh, why didn’t I think of that yet? I must have been too busy thinking about the tactics.’

Wind power was his bread and butter but for so reason, this left his mind as he was focused on battle tactics and expanding his fort. Now that he had so ti it was obvious to him what he should build next. What he was missing was the energy required to run his creations. Normally other craftsn would need to use mana fluid as fuel. This was a resource also found in this world but for that, he would either need to get lucky, spend a lot of money to import it, or capture a place that had it as a resource.

Roland didn’t really need that, everything that was here would be enough to generate power. It wouldn’t be hard to create a generator inside of the windmill that was only using its huge wings to grind down grains for flour. It was also possible to use them to pump water or even cut wood after probably advancing further with his progression tree.

‘I need to make a generator and runic batteries, with those around I’ll be able to power golems.’

This old hack that he created still didn’t truly make sense to him. For so reason this world identified electricity as a higher type of mana with the lightning attribute. It was sothing that only people of tier 2 and up could produce. With a full blown wind turbine it had enough charge to support multiple defensive turrets. The excess could also be stored in batteries that were cheap to manufacture.

‘Did the trial block out this idea because I used it in the old defensive strategy? Or was I too focused on the army side of things this ti?’

Roland asked himself this question as he found it hard to believe that he would forget about his wind generators. They had helped him through most of his struggles and were probably sothing he would reach to for help. It wouldn’t be strange that during his first trial attempt, he created the generators to power all the runic torrents. It was also possible that the trial imposed amnesia had interfered in so way.

‘Could this be a side effect of rembering so other parts? Maybe it balances out the test by making people forget so things when they focus on others?’

This was a nice theory but he didn’t have ti to confirm any of this. Instead, he needed to head to the already-created windmills to get so asurents. In short, a windmill’s blades pushed sothing similar to a large cog-wheel that then transferred the rotation force to more moving parts. He would just need to produce sothing to catch all that force with a gearbox and then let it move the generator.

‘A bit loud in here…’

When he got inside and climbed up he could see a large cog wheel turning and transferring power to a vertical axis in the middle of the mill. When looking at this huge spinning log in the middle he knew that attaching another large wooden wheel to power a generator would be possible without interrupting the flour-making process. Generating electricity would be more of a side effect that he could use to protect this city from invaders.

‘Now will I have to make these separately each ti or is there a way to create a modified building instead?’

Making even one generator and then magical turrets would take so ti. This trial was still a war against ti, the more he focused on one thing too much the more likely he would be deficient in another. First, he needed to try, if so luck was on his side then he would be able to automate so of the processes. After going back to an older generator design he had everything ready. Attaching it to the windmill went smoothly and to his joy there was a possibility of modifying the whole building setup.

‘It can copy the schematic but it still can’t copy the runes, either I need to upgrade the blacksmith building into a runesmith’s building or the trial wants to make everything that concerns runes myself.’

Perhaps just like it went with classes there were so hidden options when it ca to research. The mont he created the generator at the smithy it was possible for the wooden blacksmith there to create it himself. Then he was able to create an updated version of the windmill with the generator in it.

After bumbling around so more he realized that he could introduce schematics into the system where buildings were concerned. What he needed to do was to have his aid bring him the original plan that he could then copy and add changes to. This was not sothing that was specific to his class but after working with Bernir on his house he had taken so lessons related to carpentry and architecture.

‘Is this really sothing that a Lord should do?’

He wasn’t sure if becoming an Overlord had anything to do with being a good architect but it probably didn’t hurt for the leader to be aware of the stronghold's layout. To him, it might have been a shortcut to victory as he only needed to inscribe runes on the runic generators while his wooden puppets created the parts for him instead. Just like before making the original was the only thing he needed to worry about.

Thus after allocating so ti to the runic generators he was able to create so batteries. These made their way into four new golemic units that would later be used for siege purposes. They ca equipped with the usual runic cannons and focused on only ranged spells.

While his plans to take over the Lumberling territory were being created he also made sure to prepare so defensive turrets. With the windmill generators in his main city, they would bolster his defensive capabilities by quite a bit. This would give him so wiggle room with the troops that needed to stay at his main base during his first major attack that ca after preparing.

Within a month's ti, he had a small force of around hundred and fifty n at his disposal. Together with them, they had managed to scrunch for so siege machines like the large battering ram that was with them. To his surprise, the Lumberling fortress was not in possession of a moat, instead, all they did was focus on maintaining a larger army and soldier production. This would allow them to push in even through the side walls where the defenses were thin and the archers were far away.

“Everyone, move out.”

“Yes, my lord!”

After giving his order his first major battle would be underway. Even though this was just a test with sothing that looked like crash test dummies on his side, it was still nerve-racking. This was all not in his comfort zone, usually defense and running away were his main two tactics. Going for the first strike where he wasn’t sure if any traps awaited him wasn’t his thing but he needed to push through this part of himself if he ever hoped to beco a Lord that towered over the other Lords.