Lord: Starting from the Pit-Dwelling Courtyard

Chapter 18: Crossbow

Old Hall could only obediently draw lines on the map, while Mad cooperated throughout, marking all the roads they had discovered during this time.

While Old Hall was setting the route, Ron began tinkering with his own weapon.

He had been trying out a spell he had learned from Old Hall for some time, and today he was finally able to use it to do something practical.

He used the Condensation Technique to condense a piece of hard oak wood, then used the Transformation Technique to create a flat crossbow bed and a straight arrow slot. He also condensed flexible camellia wood and slowly bent it over charcoal fire to make the crossbow arm.

Then, it is tied and secured with layers of rope and animal hide, reinforced with tree sap, and finally twisted into a string with dried cow tendons and stretched taut at both ends.

A hidden groove was carved out at the tail, and a sear made of animal bone and a wooden trigger were inlaid. Thus, a heavy crossbow made entirely of earth, stone and wood was created.

The crossbow body was simple and rough, without any iron material, yet it contained a great deal of power. Ron tried to pull it open by himself, and it was very difficult to do so, but he could not get the string to stay in place.

Fanta, who was standing nearby, immediately came over and said, "Young master, let me help you wind it up."

Ron nodded and handed him the heavy crossbow.

Fanta's expression changed slightly as he exerted force. He hadn't expected the crossbow string to be so strong, with a pulling force of at least 200 jin. What kind of crossbow was this?

Ron took the loaded crossbow, then put on a heavy arrow made of cow bone. "Perfect size!"

Ron raised his crossbow and aimed: "Fanta, put the knight's round shield you've made these past few days here, let me test its power."

Old Hall merely glanced at the young master before continuing his work.

Mad and the others all showed interest in their eyes.

Fanta carefully placed the shield down. It was an ironwood shield that he had Old Hall make using solidification magic. He had personally crafted it, using multiple layers of wood, fully covered in leather, reinforced with iron edges, and meticulously polished into an arched dome. It was a professional infantry round shield.

Ordinary swords and knives would only leave a mark on it at most, which is quite a good shield given the conditions of the wasteland.

call out!

The crossbow bolt struck the round shield with pinpoint accuracy, causing Fanta's brow to twitch.

He had crafted this shield himself, so he was well aware of its defensive capabilities. When a knight slashed at it, the curved dome would deflect the force, making it difficult to damage the shield. Yet, the young master had pierced it with a single arrow.

Fanta picked up the shield and gasped in shock. A third of the crossbow bolt had already pierced through it. Given the bolt's power, if he had normally raised his shield to block, the bolt might have pierced his arm.

Fanta couldn't help but exclaim, "Young master, your crossbow is incredibly powerful!"

Hearing Fanta's exclamation, everyone couldn't help but look at the heavy crossbow in Ron's hand.

Ron closed his eyes and began to form the Mage's Hand.

Although that spell is a top-tier spell, it doesn't require much mental strength and mainly relies on magic power. The higher the magic power, the greater the power of the Mage's Hand.

During this time, Ron tried countless times and found that every point of magic power he increased could increase the strength of his Mage Hand by 10 pounds. Now his magic power has reached 55, which is equivalent to generating 550 pounds of strength, making it easy for him to draw the heavy crossbow.

Reloading the crossbow, Ron fired another arrow, this time hitting the wall directly. The bolt stuck to the wall, making a buzzing sound. He used his mage's hand to draw the string again and estimate the time.

"At my speed, I should be able to fire seven or eight shots per minute, which is already pretty good."

After all, he was using a heavy crossbow, not an ordinary single-soldier crossbow. An ordinary single-soldier crossbow could fire three or four shots per minute, which would be considered a sign of good training.

His speed is really impressive.

"Young Master, the route has been determined." Old Hall pushed over the newly drawn map.

Ron understood the gist with just a glance. "Fanta, go back and gather all the able-bodied men in the territory, especially the criminals. Tell them that as long as we win this battle, I will remove their criminal status and make them citizens of the territory, allowing them to start their lives anew."

In this battle, Ron will definitely take all the criminals away to prevent them from staying and rebelling while the territory's defenses are weak.

"yes!"

Ron pointed to a small hill on the map, the same hill that Mad had climbed during his reconnaissance.

"At that time, we will use this small hill as a starting point to launch our attack."

Old Hall asked, "Young master, do you have some kind of plan?"

Ron nodded and whispered a few words in Old Hall's ear, and Old Hall's eyes lit up immediately.

"If it really succeeds, it's feasible!"

"Alright, then leave this to me. Old Hall, you go and gather the provisions and water."

Old Hall nodded and led his men away. Fanta wanted to speak, but under Old Hall's stern gaze, he obediently followed them out.

Mad stayed behind Fanta the whole time, looking on with longing eyes.

Old Hall naturally understood what the other party was thinking, and patted Mad on the shoulder with a smile: "From now on, you are a resident of the territory and the captain of the territory's hunting team. You can choose the team members yourself, and for now, you can only choose from among the residents."

"Yes! Thank you, Lord Hall." Mad was moved to tears; he had finally escaped his status as a prisoner.

Shedding his prisoner status was not just a change in identity, but also an improvement in treatment. He would no longer have to work 12 hours a day doing the hardest and most tiring work, but he would only receive a little more food than ordinary citizens.

After a week, many prisoners had lost a lot of weight. If this continued, more than half of the seventy-odd prisoners would die of exhaustion in less than two months.

Old Hall chuckled and patted him on the shoulder: "Go back and pack your things, say goodbye to everyone, you'll be living in adobe houses from now on. Adobe house number seven is yours, and the hunting team members will also be temporarily housed in adobe house number seven. Is that alright?"

Mad was a shrewd man and instantly understood what Old Hall meant.

"Understood, I'll go back and pack my things right away."

Packing his things was a pretense; his real purpose was to spread the word to the other prisoners.

The propaganda claimed that as long as one served the lord, in addition to being pardoned as a criminal, one could be entrusted with important tasks and live in an adobe house instead of being crammed into a mud hut with other prisoners.

Old Hall then turned to Fanta and said, "Young Master's tactics don't need to be known by too many people. The fewer people who know, the lower the risk of leakage. You just need to focus on the tasks that the military commander was originally responsible for."

Fanta nodded, turned and left to make the arrangements.

Looking at the cave dwelling that had returned to quiet, Ron crossed his arms and stretched.

"Start working overtime!"

He was preparing new weapons for the war against the goblins, hoping they would play a crucial role.

Fanta began mobilizing his guards, which included himself, totaling nineteen men, along with fifty militiamen. As for mobilizing other able-bodied men, there was no need. They were going to the battlefield, not the more the better. Untrained ordinary people would only cause trouble on the battlefield.

The militia had only been trained for a few days, but according to the lord's formation training, with one guard leading two, it was enough to ensure that the troops would not fall into chaos during the attack. As for mobilizing criminals...

Fanta wouldn't even consider it. They'd notify them again in the evening, and then they'd have to go even if they didn't want to.

He wouldn't mind killing a few people as a sacrifice before setting off.

Mad returned to the dungeon area where the criminals lived and swaggered into his own dungeon. By this time, the criminals had already gotten up and started lining up to get breakfast and water, which was the only benefit of the territory.

Elsewhere, people eat two meals a day, but in Ashwood Territory, they eat three meals a day, with breakfast consisting of only a piece of black bread and a glass of water.

However, for criminals who have to work in the morning, this is a very rare energy boost.

As for the broth, it's only available in the evening, and it usually contains almost no meat. The same goes for lunch; at most, there are only two cups of water.

When Mad saw the line for breakfast, he thought for a moment and went over. But as soon as he got there, he was asked to leave by a guard.

"Captain Mad, this is the area where criminals collect their breakfast. You can collect your breakfast over at the pit courtyard."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding criminals all turned to look at Mad.

Mad was overjoyed; this guard was most likely arranged by Old Hall.