Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading

Chapter 65. Dispatch(4)

The first thing Roden did to strengthen the Special Task Force Company's combat power was enchanting.

Currently, all the shields used by the Infantry Platoon's soldiers had been enchanted.

This meant that it was possible to use defensive magic once in a crisis to deflect an enemy's attack.

However, this was only possible for the Infantry Platoon.

For that reason, Roden decided to additionally enchant shields with defensive magic.

However, in the case of the Light Cavalry Platoon, they used shields along with short spears, but the Archery Platoon did not.

They did not carry shields.

In the first place, all they carried were their bows and shortswords as secondary weapons.

If they were not armed in this way, their bodies would be too heavy, and the efficiency of marching and other activities would be too low.

For that reason, the Archery Platoon needed a different kind of combat power enhancement method.

And so, Roden came up with a way to strengthen the Archery Platoon with enchantment magic.

‘The best way would be to enchant their bows, right?’

Originally, he had considered enchanting the helmets or armor used by the Archery Platoon.

However, as mentioned before, if he enchanted a helmet or armor, the effect would be too low.

It was needless to say for the helmet, and in the case of the armor, he had to enchant all the parts individually.

In conclusion, it was realistically difficult for the Archery Platoon to increase their combat power by strengthening their armor.

It was better to maximize their attack power instead.

This was the reason why Roden had decided to enchant their bows.

‘Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense.’

And so, Roden decided to cast enchantment magic on the bows used by the archers.

For reference, the bows mainly used by the Allied Forces were shortbows.

Of course, the Allied Forces were not unaware that longbows were more powerful.

In fact, there were some longbowmen within the Allied Forces.

However, it was very difficult to train longbowmen.

One could barely train a single longbowman by consistently training them from a young age until they became an adult.

For that reason, the Archery Platoons of the Allied Forces were mostly composed of shortbowmen, whose training period was much shorter.

This was also the case for the Special Task Force Company.

‘That's why we could only fire two or three times when fighting the Imperial Army cavalry.

And the number of enemies we killed that way was also too small.’

Roden intended to solve this problem by enchanting the shortbows with magic.

The method was simple.

It was to enchant a magic that would momentarily increase the archer's strength needed to draw the bowstring.

‘Fortunately, even though Strength Enhancement magic is also 3rd Circle, its magic formula is simpler than defensive magic.’

And so, Roden began to carve the magic formula onto the limb of the shortbow in earnest.

Perhaps because the magic formula was not complicated, the enchanting time was not very long.

The enchanting was all finished in about three hours.

Considering that it took five hours to enchant defensive magic, it was a rather short time.

‘Hmm… Did I increase the strength by three times, allowing the bowstring to be drawn 1.73 times faster?’

Of course, just because the strength was tripled did not mean that the bowstring could also be drawn three times faster.

This was because the speed of drawing the bowstring was determined by the interaction between the archer's strength and the elastic properties of the bow.

For that reason, when he calculated it by substituting these values, he got the answer of 1.73 times.

In conclusion, an archer using a Strength Enhancement shortbow could shoot five arrows in the time it took to shoot three.

‘This result isn't bad. Then shall I continue enchanting?’

And so, Roden performed enchanting twice a day.

Once, he carved defensive magic on a shield, and the other time, he carved Strength Enhancement magic on a shortbow.

***

What's more, Roden was not satisfied with just enchanting like this.

He took additional measures to strengthen the combat power of the Special Task Force Company.

"From tomorrow, I will personally cook the meals for the soldiers of the Special Task Force Company."

At Roden's sudden declaration, Chevalier was taken aback.

It wasn't just Chevalier.

Olinto and Liviano also looked very surprised.

"Why would you...?"

In the end, Olinto couldn't hold back and asked, and Roden answered.

"Actually, I succeeded in making food that helps with training a few days ago."

"Food that helps with training?"

"Yes. If you eat this, the effect of the training will be much better than before."

Olinto and Liviano had expressions that showed they didn't understand Roden's words at all.

But Chevalier was different.

He nodded as if he knew what Roden was talking about.

"I've been seeing you consistently making a round, ball-shaped food recently. So that was it."

"That's right. It's called an elixir. Do you remember when I received a Superior Swordsmanship manual as a reward from the Transport Battalion Commander? The secret method of aura enhancement written there was exactly that."

Hearing Roden's story, Olinto and Liviano were aghast.

They were so surprised that their jaws seemed to drop and their eyes seemed to pop out.

And for good reason, as they never thought that Roden would share the secret method of aura enhancement in this way.

It was completely out of common sense.

‘He's just sharing something that precious like this?’

‘If it's a Superior Swordsmanship manual, there would be a flood of people willing to buy it for money.’

But Chevalier calmly accepted even this action of Roden's.

It was only natural, as Chevalier had already been shared the <Broom Swordsmanship Manual>.

For that reason, Chevalier did not waste time being surprised and was able to continue the conversation. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fiɾe·net

"From what I hear, it seems that the elixir is only effective if you make it yourself, Company Commander."

"To be precise, it's only effective if a person who can sing an Aurasong makes it themselves. The key is to imbue aura into the food while making it."

"Ah. In that case, I will also help you prepare the soldiers' meals, Company Commander. Since I can also sing an Aurasong."

"Will you? Then it will certainly be much easier to make the elixir."

On the other hand, Olinto and Liviano could not follow the conversation between the two.

They didn't understand what an Aurasong was or what it meant to have to imbue aura.

But they instinctively realized that this was an opportunity.

An opportunity to indirectly learn the secret method of aura enhancement.

"I'll help too!"

"Me too!"

Roden looked at Olinto and Liviano for a moment and pondered.

Then he opened his mouth.

"How long will it take for the two of you to learn the Aurasong? It will probably take at least half a month, right? Since it was the same for the Infantry Platoon Leader?"

"Probably. Unless my learning speed is slow."

"In that case, is it right to waste half a month teaching the Aurasong?"

At Roden's words, Olinto and Liviano felt their hearts drop.

They thought they might miss the opportunity if they were not careful.

But fortunately, Chevalier came to their rescue.

"Rather, it would be more difficult and wasteful for the two of us, you and I, to make all the elixirs for a whole month. It would be better to teach the two of them the Aurasong now so that we can have an efficient shift system after half a month."

"I didn't plan on making the elixirs with just the two of us, but the Infantry Platoon Leader's words have a point. Alright. Then let's do that."

And so, Roden began to make elixirs for the soldiers of the Special Task Force Company in earnest.

While Roden and Chevalier ground the meat while singing an Aurasong, Olinto and Liviano, along with the unit in charge of meals for that week, rolled it into round meatball shapes.

What's more, it wasn't just for one lunch meal.

Elixirs were also supplied for dinner, and as a result, the aura absorption rate of the soldiers of the Special Task Force Company who ate them increased significantly.

‘Perhaps because I didn't personally knead the elixirs, the efficiency is a bit lower.’

Originally, the elixir increased the aura absorption rate by 4% per elixir by Roden's standards.

However, the elixir made for supply only increased the aura absorption rate by 3%.

‘It's a bit of a disappointing figure, but it can't be helped. It takes half a day just to make the elixirs like this.’

Even though they were dividing the labor, they had to make meatballs with almost no time for morning and afternoon training.

It was unavoidable, as Roden and Chevalier had to grind the meat for over 100 servings of meatballs twice a day with all their strength.

At least after half a month.

Olinto and Liviano, who had all learned the Aurasong, were able to lend a hand, and they were able to finish preparing the meals during the morning training, but it was still the same that they had no time.

This was because they had to do enchanting in the evening.

In conclusion, Roden hardly did any personal training while strengthening the combat power of the Special Task Force Company.

But this was something Roden had intended on purpose.

‘It's not like my survival rate in the rear disturbance operation will increase just because I become stronger by myself.’

The entire Special Task Force Company had to become stronger to increase their survival rate.

For that reason, he was pouring his time into enchanting and making elixirs.

And so, on the day that a month had passed.

Roden was finally able to get results.

First, he obtained an additional thirty shields carved with defensive magic and thirty shortbows carved with Strength Enhancement magic.

In addition, following Nedhab, some of the soldiers of the Special Task Force Company were newly reborn as 1-star knights.

***

The combat power of the Special Task Force Company was now sufficiently strong.

It was a level where they could highly count on victory even if they faced any enemy head-on.

But that did not mean they should be careless.

Because no matter how strong a unit was, if it was outmatched in strategy and tactics, it could be greatly defeated.

And Roden, who knew this fact better than anyone, had already thought of a military strategy for the rear disturbance operation.

‘It'll work, right?’

Roden's gaze turned toward the soldiers of the Special Task Force Company, who were moving while disguised as Imperial soldiers.

In just a few more days, they would set foot in the territory of the Imperial Army.