Chapter 72: Unexpected gift.
During the rest of the day more and more units from different fortresses continued to arrive, and when the last one of tired, but proud and excited underage warriors camped for the night, Lee guessed there were close to two thousand of them.
It the future these kids were meant to become the overwhelming force the scourge displayed when stomping all over the Sunwell's army, although it was hard to believe there will be enough fire and earth sparks to provide for all of them. Obviously, there was no wildlife in this place, and it meant that all the sparks were plundered from the worlds the scourge raided.
The next morning, after the prayer, the actual soldiers of the vanguard arrived. They were followed by groups of nosy and bored spectators who, contrary to the warriors, were mostly dressed in ragged clothing. Some proudly wore a piece of armor – breastplate, helmet or boots, but to Lee it more seemed like a gathering of bums.
From the looks of it they were the citizens of Ashland, and the current event was the only entertainment available in the region.
After the first session of exercises when the groups from different fortresses were taught to form one large battalion, Lee realized the bums in all worlds were actually the same.
They came here for free food!
When first vanguard and then the kids had their lunch, the rest of the food was generously distributed between the spectators. Surprisingly, they formed rows and patiently waited for their turn without a single incident occurring.
"This is the best example of the God's love to all of his children." Roganax said to the nearby trainees, sitting around him and slurping the stew.
Everyone enjoyed the brief moment of rest before the practice started again, but the cyclops walked around and preached nonsense. Normally in the fortress the contents of his speech would be about the actual training and increasing the combat prowess, but the closer to Ashland they got, the preachier he became.
Lee's guess was that even instructors could climb in their carrier, maybe becoming one of those purple cloaked guys.
"The regular treasure hunters can also have their full even though they don't have to work as hard as you do." Roganax continued, "But they will never experience the respect and the glory the vanguard forces have!"