Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 104 The Strongest Swordsman Training Ground
When Kuraki Town was fully armed and preparing for war, the war did not immediately arrive.

As it turned out, the Isidore vanguard's target was never the small marquessland. By capturing Longlet Castle, they could use the new county town as a springboard to continue their advance toward the capital.

There were naturally high-level earth elementalists in the capital, but the biggest problem was the lack of sufficient troops and the unexpected risk of the enemy venturing so deep into Elton's territory.

So the kingdom's archmage used the earth spirit to cast a high-level spell, sealing off teleportation to all cities in the region.

Maggie perused the ancient texts in the magic tower and explained, "It's a level 4 special magic boundary marker prohibition."

[Boundary Marker Prohibition (Level 4 Special Magic): Prohibits the use of time portals, one-way/two-way entrance markers, and dimensional portals within the area. Duration is affected by the earth spirit and hero's spell power; it can only be cast once within a certain timeframe.]

"The kingdom is definitely going to mobilize a large army to attack Isabel!"

Deep into enemy territory and sustain war through warfare is not something everyone can do.

Anyone who dares to use the portal to enter enemy territory must be prepared to never return. Now, the kingdom is preparing to trap them like turtles in a jar.

"Where will the troops come from? Can Congress assemble enough legions?"

"Knight Commander Conrad has returned to the capital; this time, he should be leading the troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy."

Even ordinary people leading several times the size of an army would be no match for a hero like Isabel. Only Conrad could barely hold his own, and the outcome would depend on the commanders on the battlefield.

Su Mu was somewhat pessimistic about the Kingdom Legion: "The boundary marker ban seems more like a last resort, as it makes it impossible for the capital to send messages to its territories."

Conrad was appointed to the position in a time of crisis, but he may not be able to defeat Isabel.

The logic is actually quite simple. If the capital had any chance of victory, it would have sent people to join forces with the Valley to besiege Isildur's vanguard long ago. Why would it wait until the enemy killed the little stag, occupied Longlet Castle, and caused chaos?

"We still have to rely on ourselves to win this battle."

Despite saying this, Su Mu has not made any moves in the past few days, only sending his men to inspect various places.

If it were someone else, they might think Su Mu had regretted his decision. Maggie, however, knew that most of Kuraki's buildings were in the wild, and the real reason was that he was waiting for the new week's reinforcements.

Besides, Su Mu was actually waiting for the core members of the castle.

When the two arrived at the military area, a huge square building had been completed. Bluestone surrounded a huge training ground, where various heavy armors and broadswords were placed, as well as magical puppets practicing slashing and thrusting.

Hundreds of people trained on the drill ground, sweating profusely under the scorching sun. Even the most physically fit warriors could hardly stand after a few rounds of sword swings and had to be "asked" to leave the field.

This is naturally the training method of the builders. Under the influence of the curse, they cannot break through the threshold of the swordsman and will eventually be eliminated.

In the final moments, only a dozen or so people remained, donning heavy steel armor and wielding massive swords several meters long, their movements creating a whirlwind.

【Crusader (Castle Tier 4, Tier 2 Unit): Attack 12, Defense 12, Damage 7-10, Health 35, Speed ​​6, Size Medium】

Element: None.

Combo Slash: Allows the user to unleash two attacks with their greatsword in a short period of time.

Since the mountain fortress can only upgrade units to levels 1-3, Forrest spent more resources building advanced barracks and applying special effects.

[Advanced Barracks Special Effect: Allows the construction of a higher-level auxiliary reinforcement building. Additional resource consumption: 10000 gold, 40 primal stones, and 20 crystals.]

Available options: 1. Altar of Light and Blessing, 2. Flesh and Blood Transformation Arena, 3. Training Grounds for the Strongest Swordsman

Su Mu never expected that a level 4 barracks could produce such a special effect; it was beyond everyone's imagination. It seems that Forrest is not far from mastering advanced civil engineering.

In fact, many high-level elemental baptism troops are often family private troops. Such troops are not upgraded from mountain fortresses. The key lies in the auxiliary buildings of the barracks.

After constructing the council, the lord can choose a special type of recruitment building and spend a lot of resources to upgrade it.

The Burning Crusaders of House Angry Bear, the Flood Swordsmen of House Suliman, and the Frost Griffins of House Cox all constructed auxiliary buildings. However, these were extremely costly, and could not be accomplished simply by spending money; rather, they required a certain level of overall strength in the town and the approval of the Boundary Stone Earth Spirits.

Kuraki Town is currently at most an internal affairs office, not even meeting the prerequisite of a council. If there's anything unique about it, it's that Forrest has built a bunch of special buildings, and the town's heritage is comparable to that of some centuries-old cities.

"My lord, it's time to put your strengths to good use again!" Forrest can build and even know the final effect of branch selection, but when it comes to foresight and strategic planning, he is definitely not as good as Su Mu.

The Blessing of Light is undoubtedly a special elemental baptism, somewhat similar to the Holy Shield Griffin, which is a special unit of the Garfield family. When Maggie saw this option, she almost shouted it out, but since Su Mu next to her didn't speak, she remained silent.

The Crusaders baptized by light primarily offer bonuses to all aspects of attack, defense, and damage, and also increase speed and magic resistance, making them a relatively balanced and durable force after baptism.

Troops that have undergone a special baptism of flesh and blood will have increased health, resilience, and natural regeneration, making them very suitable for Ivan Argyle to lead. Combined with his intermediate defense skills, they can truly become an invincible army on the battlefield.

If these were the only two options available, even a hero with extensive knowledge would find it difficult to choose.

However, a third option appeared that ordinary heroes would not recognize at all, because it is not in the castle sequence. It is an additional type that can only be found in field barracks buildings, which is the legendary hidden neutral building.

Its unique trait is growth!

【Pious Swordsman (Level 4, Tier 2 Special Unit): Attack 12, Defense 12, Damage 7-10, Health 35 (40), Speed ​​6, Medium to Strong build.

Element: None.

Sword of Piety for Cultivators: The training grounds contain the beginner swords of all swordsmen. When you achieve victory in battle, you can transmit your insights and techniques back to the building, raising the level of building training.

Combo Slash: Allows the user to unleash two attacks with their greatsword in a short period of time.

"Let's choose the Strongest Swordsman Training Center!"

There's not much to say; to win this war, it must be a protracted one.

Forrest picked up his axe and began constructing a special building on the training ground. In about a day, he had completed the training facility.

This was of course inseparable from Maggie's support. As the de facto lord of the Marquisate, she controlled enormous wealth, which was kept in a secret resource barrier.

Such a resource-intensive building as a training center was beyond the capacity of Cangmu Town, so Su Mu had no choice but to ask Maggie for help. He even confidently stated that he would repay her in the future once Cangmu had developed.

【Strongest Swordsman Training Grounds (Advanced Barracks Auxiliary Building, Tier 2): Increases the health of devout swordsmen and expands their size and armor.

Next Tier: Attack and defense increased, gain greatsword swing effect. [Additional building costs 10 Primogems and 10 Crystals]

With this building completed, all that's left is to fight, which is something Su Mu has been looking forward to.

Griffin Cliff was successfully built after the Advanced Barracks was completed, and its special effect remains the Astrological Moon Growth property.

In the current month, there's no reason to choose any other effect.

As for the cumulative effect, it still applies to the Archer Tower, since the most powerful weapon in Kuraki Town right now is the Earth Bow. But since the monthly quota has been exhausted, there's not much to say about it.

As a result, Kuraki's troop production efficiency was greatly improved as the new week began.

【仓木领土兵营类建筑：岗楼2座（特殊1），射手塔楼2座（特殊1），狮鹫崖3座（特殊2），高级兵营1座，高山堡垒1座。

Town and Wilderness Common Weekly Troop Acquisition Rates: Shieldbearer +91, Earthbowman +41, Wild Griffin +74, Devout Swordsman +12

To be honest, the speed at which they are producing troops has already surpassed that of county towns.

The biggest problem was: where would the money come from?
But after the richest woman in the Marquisate invested, at least for the time being, there was no need to worry. The only thing left was to sacrifice Isildur's head.

Just then, news arrived.

"What? Kyle is leading a human rebel army to seize my Griffin Cliff (granted by Longlet Castle, located in the eastern part of the county town)?"

"Isildur's army has not made any move yet, they are just resting?"

"I'll catch this guy, chop off his head, and send it to Isabel!"

"Let's go!"

(End of this chapter)