Chapter 88: Seizing the Initiative!
Kaiden had seen eagles like these back on his second day in this world, and he already knew their details well, so he wasn't surprised, though he was still pleased with their impressive appearance.
His satisfaction grew even more after reading their information window. With four eagles, he could now assign four of his fighters to become their companions through a spirit bond. The bond could only form with both parties' consent, but that wasn't a problem for Kaiden. The eagles were obedient to him, meaning he could easily complete this process.
Even though Common-rank eagle beasts had weak defense, they were still extremely valuable aerial units to him.
As for who would be chosen, Kaiden didn't even need to think about it. Archers with exceptional eyesight were a perfect match for eagle beasts. Right now, he had seven Emerging Heroes of the archer class, so he selected four of them.
Laura wasn't among those chosen — Kaiden preferred to keep her on the ground leading troops. Either way, these were Common-rank beasts, and there would be better opportunities in the future to grant one to his commanders. That was what Kaiden was thinking for now.
...
The selected archers arrived quickly, their eyes brimming with excitement at the sight of the handsome eagle beasts. They knew one of these beasts would become their lifelong companion from now on. But the eagles apparently didn't share the same enthusiasm. As they approached, the eagles spread their wings and screeched at them threateningly, as if to say: "If you dare come any closer, I'll peck your eyes out!"
In the end, the eagle beasts reluctantly agreed to the bond after Kaiden stepped in. Once they agreed, their aggressive nature shifted. Though they remained aloof and cold toward their new companions, they no longer tried to attack them when approached. That was enough for now. Genuine affection would need time to grow.
Kaiden left them to develop their teamwork and returned his attention to Asra. True, he'd completed the quest, but her report wasn't finished yet.
"Sir, as for the human lord... he barely survived the beast wave, and only after paying a steep price."
Asra explained everything she'd seen in detail.
"The defensive walls were breached from several directions. Two of the four archer towers are destroyed, leaving only three still functional. Many of his buildings are wrecked too. When I arrived, there was a crowd of villagers trying to seal the large breaches with stones, under the direction of a chubby young man... I believe he's the lord of that small territory."
Asra knew exactly what the Lord wanted to hear more than anything else, so she chose her next words carefully.
"Sir, that lord has about eighty people total. Most of them are villagers wearing tattered clothes. As for fighters, there are six militia soldiers, four Elite Soldiers, and one Emerging Hero. I'm not sure if there are others, since I couldn't get any closer. But compared to the rest, his armor and weapons were the best of the group."
Kaiden narrowed his eyes at this information. That human lord, who shared his own world's origin, was in a hopeless position. Wrecked walls and defenses, and powerful neighbors nearby. Even Kaiden himself felt a headache just thinking about the goblins, and they were only half an hour's walk from that human lord. His survival up to this point had been sheer luck.
Kaiden didn't think he'd manage to hold out until the end of tomorrow... no, considering the cunning spiders' nocturnal activity, he'd most likely be finished by tomorrow morning. And that was the optimistic scenario, assuming the goblins stayed busy celebrating and remained oblivious to his existence.
In other words, this lord was easy prey with a fate already sealed. The only question was: at whose hands would it end?
Kaiden wasn't an indecisive person. This was an opportunity too good to waste — practically a guaranteed win. He decided to seize the initiative immediately.
He was also aware that Asra didn't know soldiers were now arriving without weapons or armor, so they could no longer be identified by their gear alone. But even doubling that lord's forces in his estimate, they still amounted to nothing against his own.
In truth, there was another reason pushing him to attack. He wanted to keep the goblins or the spiders from seizing this opportunity before him. Setting aside the crown shard and the loot chest, Kaiden had another theory: that the massive numbers of goblins and spiders were directly tied to the availability of prey.
He wasn't guessing blindly. Based on the earlier information — the goblins celebrating around cooking pots, and the fact that the spiders had actively wiped out every beast in the surrounding area to the point of leaving it empty — these were small but telling clues, all pointing him toward an unsettling conclusion. His gut told him the concept of gaining experience and summoning might work differently for them. After all, according to what Asra had described, their building shapes and defensive walls were already noticeably different.
So he shouldn't confine his thinking to purely human concepts, or he'd be the one to suffer for it.
Once he'd made his decision, Kaiden was about to go order the soldiers to assemble. But he noticed Asra still had more information to share, so he held off for the moment and gestured for her to continue.
"Master, I also spotted several other lords' territories farther beyond the ones we've already discussed. Most were smaller than the Master's lands, but a few were roughly the same size." Asra pointed with her claw to where these forces were scattered on the corner of the map.
Kaiden nodded. He knew there was practically an endless number of lords out there, but he still wore a serious expression. It should be noted that despite the significant strength the goblins and spiders were showing, the size of their territories still only matched the Black Iron tier. That made sense — the requirements to reach the Silver tier were extremely demanding. If it weren't for his own powerful talent granting him things in bulk, it would have been difficult for Kaiden to reach Silver tier this quickly.
Kaiden jotted down their locations in the corner of the map along with some quick notes, and left the matter there for now. He needed to deal with the nearby threats first, then think about the farther ones. Either way, everyone was in a similar situation — even those powerful lords had threats of their own lurking nearby. It was a bit too early to worry about that front.
Kaiden turned his focus back to Asra. It has to be said that her next words caught him completely off guard!
End of Chapter 88.