Artifact - Ring of Glory

Roland, having dealt with the underwater observers, returned to Flowing City. As he gnawed on a piece of hardtack, the thought of the ruined fishing nets and smashed galleon left by the observers soured his mood. The already unappetizing bread became even harder to swallow...

"This is too much..." Roland wearily complained about the damned winter. He then casually opened the territory page in his system.

Flowing City floated alone on the page. When Roland projected his consciousness towards it, he immediately received information about the current state of Flowing City.

Flowing City:

Area: One square kilometer.

Building Units: Ruined Lord's Castle *1, Rickety Residential Buildings *82, Unstable Residential Buildings *18, Dilapidated Stone Wall (under repair), Stone Well, Blacksmith's Shop.

Troops: 303

Population: 104 (Trainable Civilians: 31)

Evaluation: A solitary king leads his surviving subjects back to their homeland. This ruin, barely capable of sheltering them from the elements, offers them a sliver of comfort. Darkness still threatens the nascent king. Aside from fishing, the town possesses no other production capabilities. Its formidable military strength may be its only redeeming quality. Note: The town has no war potential; a single devastating defeat in battle could spell its demise.

Abilities: 1. As the sole territory of the Lagrange Kingdom in Middle-earth, it will attract the surviving people of Lagrange. The system will guide a wave of wandering Lagrange civilians daily; the lord is expected to settle them appropriately.

2. Allows for the recruitment of civilians from this location to train Swift River Infantry.

"Unbelievable!" Roland waved away the system's interface. After all this effort, he only had a population of 104, with just 31 eligible male citizens for service. Most outrageously, there were no production capabilities beyond fishing...

Roland was in a quandary. The town had no production capacity; besides fishing, the only other activity was blacksmithing... Although he had a Lava Forge, without an alchemist, it was truly just for blacksmithing. And speaking of blacksmithing, weren't the dwarves in Lonely Mountain far more skilled than his own amateur blacksmiths?

It was currently winter, and Roland couldn't possibly send his people out to clear land or hunt, fearing encounters with Orcs... He was essentially feeding over a hundred mouths for free. Their only use was to help the soldiers with construction...

Passing by the blacksmith's shop, Roland saw Ren Xiaoqiang tinkering by the magic forging furnace. Soon, a fine steel longsword was reforged. This brought Roland some comfort, as his soldiers' equipment indeed needed repair. The iron armor was manageable, but the leather under-armor was impossible to replenish. As a result, most Knights with three layers of armor were left with only two layers of steel. Besides the outermost plate armor and the inner chainmail, the inner leather lining had been worn down to the point of losing its original effectiveness.

Roland could only lament that this was nothing like a game... In games, equipment durability could be restored by paying gold for repairs, but in reality—they had to be replaced! Roland finally understood why Knight Orders were so prestigious but had so few members; they were simply too expensive to maintain! After a high-intensity battle at Lonely Mountain, Roland's Knights were faring worse by the day. The inability to replenish the extensive equipment wear and tear had severely weakened the Knight Order, and this didn't even account for the wear and tear on the warhorses' equipment.

"Heaven, just give me infantry... I'll behave! I won't play Knights anymore..." Roland said with a sense of utter defeat.

"The leather workshop must be built first..." Roland began planning in his mind. After all, leather armor was a strategic material that required a complete leather workshop for mass production. While leather tanned by ordinary families could be made into leather armor, the efficiency was too low.

"Let's browse the shop. Maybe I'll find something useful," Roland thought, deciding to try his luck.

"Hmm, Lagrange City Guards? Not needed!"

"Lagrange Knight... Get lost! Can't afford it."

"High-level Fire Staff? What good would that do me?"

"What the heck! A divine artifact! The Ring of Glory!" Roland suddenly rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The Ring of Glory was a mythical item in the Ring System game, ranking higher than legendary items. As the first of the Nine Holy Rings of the Knights, it possessed the unique ability to enhance a Knight's initial skill (Glory), making it comparable to Gandalf's Ring of Fire.

The Nine Holy Rings were counterparts to the Nine Demon Rings worn by the nine Ringwraith-level Black Knights. The nine Holy Rings corresponded to nine different Knight skills, representing the Knights' noblest aspects. They were: the first, the Ring of Glory, which could enhance a Knight's skill (Glory), making their led Knight Order even stronger.

The second, the Ring of Mercy: its ability was to enhance a Knight's skill (Mercy). Knights who possessed the Ring of Mercy would take half damage when using Mercy.

The third, the Ring of Justice: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Justice). Knights wearing this ring would deal double damage to evil creatures after using Justice.

The fourth, the Ring of Loyalty: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Loyalty). Knights wearing this ring would be immune to any mental attacks when using Loyalty.

The fifth, the Ring of Philanthropy: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Philanthropy). Knights wearing this ring would double the defensive buffs for those within the Philanthropy skill's range.

The sixth, the Ring of Protection: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Protection). When a Knight wearing this ring used Protection, the target would be invincible while the effect was active.

The seventh, the Ring of Bravery: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Bravery). Knights wearing this ring would ignore any crowd control effects when using Bravery.

The eighth, the Ring of Humility: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Humility). Knights wearing this ring would double any beneficial effects received when using Humility.

The ninth, the Ring of Sacrifice: it could enhance a Knight's skill (Sacrifice). When a Knight wearing this ring died after using Sacrifice, they could be resurrected, with a one-year cooldown on the resurrection effect.

Among these, the Ring of Sacrifice was the most powerful. After all, Sacrifice was a Knight's ultimate move, trading life and soul for exponentially increased power. It could be said that a Knight could only use Sacrifice once in their lifetime. When the light of Sacrifice bloomed, it was both the Knight's most brilliant moment and their demise. The Ring of Sacrifice, however, granted a Knight the ability to use Sacrifice dozens of times in their lifetime, making it an incredibly potent divine artifact. For the Knight class, no other profession could defeat a Knight during their novice stage, as Novice Knights had an unfathomably deep skill slot. Have you ever seen a profession awaken with nine skills? Knights were that ruthless. Besides granting them the Glory skill that combined them into a Knight Order, the other eight skills were various status and support skills, solidifying the Knights' position as the main force on the battlefield. These nine skills were not just Knight skills; they represented the Knight's spirit, akin to the creed of an assassin.

"500,000 Wealth Points? So cheap?" Roland excitedly saw the price tag behind it, finding it unbelievable.

"Uh... that's right... after all, the Ring of Glory is about that much..." Roland's face fell as he sighed. The Ring of Glory was probably the least valuable among them... Its individual bonus wasn't as good as other rings, and its group bonus wasn't as good as the Ring of Philanthropy. Besides increasing the overall strength of the Knight Order, it served little other purpose, and its bonus wasn't particularly powerful. It was considered a divine artifact because it could enhance an unlimited number of Knights. As long as they were under the ring owner's command and used the Glory skill together, they would receive all-around enhancements. Imagine what would happen if you had 100,000 Knights using this item... Even Dragon Knight legions would be reduced to ashes.

"Wuwuwu... back to square one. I'll buy it." Roland reluctantly paid 500,000 Wealth Points for the Ring of Glory. Ah! It hurt! He had scoured Thorin and accumulated a million Wealth Points, only to buy a few items, and now more than half of it was gone... He then forcefully slipped the ring onto his right index finger.

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