Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Alaric left the baron’s study after getting his approval. Following behind him were Henry and Warrick who were persuading him to let them join the reinforcement team.

“My lord, please allow me to go with you.”

“Please take me with you, my lord! I have to be there to lead those stubborn warriors.”

Alaric already planned to bring them so he agreed with a nod. “Of course. Besides you two, I will also bring Galanar, Arthur, and Fredrinn.”

The orc invasion was a major event that had almost destroyed Vale in his past life.

He wasn’t certain if the number of orcs heading to Alverton was on the same scale as it was in his past life so he wanted to bring as many Elite Knights as possible.

The two were stunned upon hearing his words.

“Wouldn’t it be too much to bring five Elite Knights, my lord?” Warrick remarked with a baffled look.

Orcs might be powerful, but they were reckless and relied too much on their brute strength so with the right tactics, an army of warriors could take them down.

“No.”

Alaric shook his head.

“Don’t you find it strange? Why would Alverton ask for reinforcements? Although they don’t have a proper army, they can still defeat a small tribe of orcs on their own.”

Warrick was the first one to realize what he was trying to say and a look of realization dawned on him. “You mean the number of orcs is too high for them to handle on their own?”

Alaric stopped in his tracks and muttered in a grave tone.

“If my guess is right, there could be hundreds if not thousands of orcs outside of Alverton.”

“What?!” Henry and Warrick were shocked upon hearing this.

They couldn’t believe his words.

In a single orc tribe, there could be over twenty to fifty orcs, but their number never exceeded a hundred. There was no such precedent so they thought that it was impossible.

However, when they saw Alaric’s unusually grim face, they felt that it might be true and the thought of it made them tremble.

A small tribe of orcs could decimate a village and a strong orc tribe could even ruin a town. Now, what would happen if there were hundreds of orcs?

It would be a disaster!

“Shouldn’t we report this to the baron?” Warrick hesitantly spoke.

“No. This is just my speculation so we don’t need to alert the baron. We would only end up wasting his time if I’m wrong.” Alaric shook his head.

Truthfully, he was already 100% sure that there were a thousand orcs and the reason why he didn’t want to tell this to the patriarch was because of the new mission that appeared in front of him.

___

Mission: Defeat the Orcs!

Mission Difficulty: Hard

An army of more than a thousand orcs are heading towards Alverton. Defeat them and prevent the destruction of the town without the help of a Transcendent Knight.

Rewards: Random Trait Upgrade Card x1, 100 Stat Points, 1000 Battle Points, C-rank Trait Card x1

Penalty for failure: – 2000 Battle Points, – 200 EXP

___

It was his first ‘hard’ mission. All the missions he had received were mostly ‘easy’ and ‘normal’. Although this mission carried serious risks, he didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity.

Upon stepping out of the mansion, they saw that the warriors of the household had already gathered. They formed neat rows and columns, displaying their strict order and discipline.

The warriors immediately straightened their backs when they saw the three coming out of the mansion.

Alaric scanned the over two hundred warriors with a stern gaze before he turned his head to Warrick and Henry.

“How many of them can we bring to Alverton?” He asked.

“A third of these warriors are still trainees so we can’t bring them with us. We need to leave about thirty veterans to defend North Pine Town so that leaves us with slightly over a hundred warriors.” Warrick replied after some thought.

Because of Alaric’s aggressive expansion of their military, the household’s forces had almost doubled.

“A hundred warriors? That should be enough.” Alaric nodded.

He then looked at the warriors and said in a booming voice.

“Warriors of House Silversword, an army of orcs are currently headed to Alverton!”

“It’s only a small town so they don’t have enough manpower to defend against a large-scale orc attack!”

“They are calling for help and if we don’t respond to their calls, the town might be destroyed by those monsters!”

“If those orcs are to be left alone, they might attack our town next! We must stop them before it comes to that!”

Alaric paused and observed everyone’s reaction.

The warriors were agitated by his words.

Seeing that he had achieved his desired effect, he continued. “I will bring half of you to provide reinforcements to Alverton! If you don’t wish to participate, please raise your hand!”

He scanned the crowd, but everyone remained unmoved.

No one raised their hand. Even the trainees wished to partake in the mission.

“Good! I will now select the people who will participate in this mission! If your name is called, please go to that side and wait for further instructions!”

In the next moment, Alaric carefully selected the warriors that they would bring. He couldn’t bring all the Knights since North Pine Town also needed protection.

After almost thirty minutes, he had finally selected over a hundred warriors.

“To the people who aren’t chosen, please stay here and ensure the safety of the town while we’re gone!”

“Yes, my lord!”

“To those who are chosen, I will give you half an hour to bid farewell to your families!”

“Yes, my lord!”

While everyone was making preparations, Alaric headed to the household treasury hidden within the main mansion.

He planned to bring a special item with him for this trip. He already had the Rare Steel Sword, but he felt that it was necessary to have an extra layer of defense for this mission.

***