Chapter 80: A Meeting!
Kaiden set aside the rest of the treasure chest's contents for the moment and pulled the ruins key from his storage.
A strange, elongated key materialized in his palm. He studied it closely — it was entirely silver, with odd teeth shaped like the letter K. Yet despite its metallic color, he felt no cold touch or even any weight in his hand. That was strange, since even treasure chests carried a metallic weight and texture. The key looked more like something forged from frozen light than an actual piece of silver.
But the key's appearance wasn't what mattered to him right now — its function was. Kaiden opened the description window to read its details.
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Name: Forgotten Ruins Key (Silver)
Type: Equipment with special functions
Description: Most forgotten ruins are sealed and require a key matching the ruins' tier to open. This key is suited for opening Silver-tier forgotten ruins.
Uses remaining: 3/3
Note: Please remember that each ruin has different requirements regarding the number and rank of those who may enter, and how long they may remain inside per visit.
---
After reading the description, Kaiden could only raise his eyebrows and let out a surprised "Oh..." He'd heard ruins mentioned before, but he hadn't expected them to be sealed with different tiers, or that they'd require specific keys to access. This opened up an entirely new realm of possibilities in his mind.
Kaiden admired the strange key for a moment, then put it back in his storage. Either way, he hadn't found any forgotten ruins yet, let alone a Silver-tier one. Until then, the key would just have to gather dust in a dark corner of his inventory.
Unlike the mysterious key, which offered nothing tangible for the time being, the horse breed was a completely different story. It was one of the most important things he needed for the stage ahead. Kaiden turned his attention to the horse package and opened its description.
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Name: Appaloosa Horse Breed Package (Rare)
Type: Livestock/Mount
Description: Contains a group of eight adult Appaloosa horses (two males and four females). The Appaloosa horse breed is a Common-rank beast that has been domesticated, with its ferocity reduced to a bare minimum. Known for its great speed and exceptional endurance, it's one of the best Common-rank mount options available.
Note: The maximum rank for Appaloosa horses is Common rank upon reaching adulthood only. If an Appaloosa Horse King exists, it would be of Rare rank.
---
"Eight... a good number," Kaiden nodded, satisfied. Eight horses were barely enough to form the core of a small cavalry unit. But the idea of putting them into combat right now was completely out of the question. The number was still far too small, and Kaiden preferred not to risk them until they'd bred and reached a reasonable population that would secure their continuity. His mind had already begun sketching out future plans for how best to make use of this breed.
Kaiden postponed opening the horse package until after breakfast, due to the meeting.
At that moment, the leaders began filing into the Lord's Hall. Upon arriving, they noticed the Lord was occupied, so they simply gave a respectful, silent nod and took their designated seats around the long table, waiting quietly for the meeting to begin.
Kaiden returned the greeting with a quick nod, then went back to what he'd been doing. He navigated quickly through the menus and selected the option to generate daily quests.
Generating daily quests...
6 Territory quests generated.
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1 - Explorer of Change:
Details: Discover at least 3 changes related to the end of the Novice Lord Support Program.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×1 Black Iron Treasure Chest.
2 - Mine Owner:
Details: Discover at least one ore vein of any type and any rank.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×1 Geology Expert.
3 - News From the Neighbors:
Details: Scout the current situation of at least three of your neighboring lords.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×4 Tamed Plains Eagle (Common).
4 - Adventure Lover:
Details: Discover the location of at least one ruin site of any rank.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×1 Ruins Information Booklet.
5 - Three Strong Squads:
Details: Bring the number of Emerging Heroes under the Lord's authority to 30 Emerging Heroes.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×3 Emerging Heroes.
6 - Sound Urban Planning:
Details: Establish a clear plan to end unregulated construction.
Time Limit: 24 hours.
Reward: ×3 Administrative Officials.
---
Today's quests were as useful and practical as ever. Kaiden read through them quickly, mentally analyzing which ones needed special attention and which carried hidden difficulties or unclear details. He soon closed the quest interface to return to the present.
Kaiden raised his head to find everyone had arrived and taken their usual seats. He laced his fingers together, rested them on the wooden table, then got straight to the point without any preamble.
"I've called everyone here for a morning meeting to review yesterday's battle in terms of our combat strategy. It's clear we had a number of slip-ups and mistakes." He swept a comprehensive glance over those present before continuing. "On top of that, after such an intense battle, I imagine all of you have picked up ideas and experience from the battlefield. This meeting is mainly to discuss and hear everyone's thoughts, and to develop our combat strategy further."
Everyone had experience from the previous meeting, along with the knowledge that the Lord encouraged them to think and voice their opinions. The first to speak this time was Josh, which caught Kaiden somewhat off guard. In the previous meeting, this big man had mostly stayed quiet.
"My lord, I think we need to work on countermeasures specifically for restricting fast enemies." Josh began in a gruff voice, scratching his head as he tried to find the right words. Expressing his thoughts was especially difficult for him, but he did his best to make his meaning clear, using his hands in choppy gestures.
"My lord, in the last battle, when I faced the Wolf King... I felt helpless and frustrated the whole time. Not because its defense was strong, but simply because it had incredible speed. We couldn't catch up to it, and the archer on my team couldn't hit it either. This dragged the fight out way too long, and it cost us lives."
Josh took a deep breath, then continued, stumbling over his words: "My lord... I mean, if there was some way, or some weapon, that could deal with an enemy's speed... we wouldn't end up in a helpless spot like that again."
Kaiden and the rest of the leaders listened with deep attention. Josh's words carried the weight of a bitter experience.
"What you're describing is definitely a real problem, but even once we've identified it, solving it won't be easy," Laura replied, twirling the end of her hair thoughtfully. She had a sense of the wolf beast's speed from what the others who'd fought alongside Josh had said. Putting herself in the archer's position, she found it would have been extremely hard to land a hit. That beast had used wind energy to accelerate itself to superhuman limits, and its reactions had been terrifyingly fast. Catching it off guard would have been just as difficult. Had it not been for Josh's skill, which pushed him into a berserk state at the cost of severe wounds, wearing the beast down completely, he never would have managed to kill it.
In truth, if that beast had wanted to retreat, no one could have stopped it. But, as was the case with every beast in the tide, none of them ever retreated.
Silence settled over the hall for a moment, as everyone turned the problem over in their minds. This was the first time they'd faced an enemy this superior in speed, and it was clear their current tactics weren't enough.
At that moment, while everyone was still lost in thought, they heard the Lord's clear voice.
End of Chapter 80.
Hi everyone, I want to let you know that the offer to add extra chapters for every Patreon subscriber has come to an end... To be honest, I’m scared of becoming famous overnight and having subscribers flood in by the dozen – at which point, even if I wanted to cry, I wouldn’t have any tears left! So from now on, guys, no more extra chapters, OK?... As you can see, your author is so poor that he’s deliberately ignoring the milestone of reaching over 200 followers so as not to have to send out a free chapter! (It’s not that I don’t want to offer extra chapters to show my gratitude, but I’m so poor I can barely keep up with my daily writing.)