Upgrade and Promotion

As the hunters stepped forward, the villagers' cheers grew even louder—after all, some of them were their husbands or sons. Nord gestured for the hunters to distribute the fragrant roasted meat to the villagers, then stepped aside.

Colin at that moment came over to Nord with a large piece of roasted horse leg. The meat from a horse's leg, due to constant movement during running, was exceptionally chewy, and after being roasted by Abel, it was especially fragrant.

"Lord Nord, please taste it first. The villagers don't understand proper etiquette, so please don't be angry."

"It's fine, I don't mind. Seeing them happy makes me happy too—joy is contagious."

Nord watched the villagers' cheerful expressions as they ate the roasted horse meat, chatting animatedly with each other, while children chased and played among the crowd. This simple bonfire party brought them great joy; these villagers were so easily satisfied.

"Tomorrow, we'll start building the manor. Choose the site on the mountain slope north of the village. You'll organize the manpower tomorrow and follow Steward Abel's arrangements for the specific tasks."

"Rest assured, Lord Nord. I'll make sure they work well for you."

"Discuss the specifics of grain and wages with Steward Abel. Go join the villagers in celebrating now; I want some quiet time alone."

"Then I'll take my leave, Lord Nord. I won't disturb you."

With that, Colin turned and went back into the crowd. Nord took a bite of the horse leg meat. He had to admit Abel's skill was decent—the outside was charred and the inside tender. The only flaw was a slight sourness inherent to horse meat, but it was masked by the smoky char from the flames. If you didn't savor it carefully, you wouldn't notice. Overall, it was pretty good—the first decent meal Nord had eaten since arriving in this world. If he'd known Abel had such skill, he wouldn't have had to endure those medieval Dark Cuisine dishes along the way.

Nord smiled, eating the roasted horse meat while checking the System Panel. He hadn't had a chance to look at it after the battle, and he wondered if anyone had leveled up from the distributed experience.

[Name: Nord Isaac]

[Class: Lord LV2 (600/1000)]

Unsurprisingly, he himself hadn't leveled up, but he had received 600 experience. It was probably due to the Lord's bonus; otherwise, based on his own performance, he wouldn't have gotten this much. He continued to look at the others' panels.

[Name: Ryman]

[Class: Amon Hunter LV3 (200/300)]

[Attributes: Strength 14 Agility 9 (12) Intelligence 9 Charisma 8]

[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 110 Two-Handed Weapons 98 Archery 140]

Nord noticed that after leveling up, Ryman's attributes had all improved. Not only had his weapon proficiency increased, but he also had a new proficiency in two-handed weapons. Had that developed from using an axe? Then why wasn't there a throwing proficiency? Nord was a bit puzzled and continued reading, hoping to make a comparison.

[Name: Marco]

[Class: Amon Hunter LV2 (100/200)]

[Attributes: Strength 10 Agility 10 (12) Intelligence 8 Charisma 7]

[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 104 Archery 123]

Compared to Ryman, Marco's improvement was much smaller. His archery proficiency hadn't increased at all, while his one-handed weapon skill had gone up a bit. This made Nord more certain that regular training and combat could increase weapon proficiency. Marco had stayed close to Nord during the battle and hadn't had a chance to use his bow, so his archery proficiency hadn't increased. He just didn't know if daily training could increase attribute points. For now, it seemed that aside from Nord himself, who could freely allocate attribute points, everyone else only gained them passively through leveling up. But these were things he could verify slowly later. Next up.

[Name: Mor]

[Class: Amon Hunter LV3 (600/300)]

[Attributes: Strength 8 (10) Agility 9 (12) Intelligence 9 Charisma 6]

[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 112 Archery 160]

[Promotable Class: Amon Veteran Hunter Amon Warrior]

Old Mor's panel was a pleasant surprise for Nord. He hadn't expected that Ryman, for all his strength, would end up with less gain than Old Mor, who had quietly achieved more. Nord shook his head with a smile. But Old Mor's archery skill was indeed impressive; he'd probably killed quite a few bandits himself. The promotion path was obvious.

It had to be Amon Veteran Hunter. Old Mor was getting on in years and clearly wasn't suited for a class like Amon Warrior, which sounded like a melee brawler. Ryman could consider that for his next promotion. But for the time being, Nord planned to lie low and develop cautiously. There might not be many chances for battle soon, and who knew when the next promotion would come.

Moreover, Old Mor was especially suited for the Amon Veteran Hunter class. Not only did he have superb archery skills, but his decades of experience in the mountains also met the class's standards. Nord confirmed the promotion. There were no special requirements—just meeting the experience threshold, unlike in games where gold coins were needed.

But at this moment, Nord almost wished the system would take gold coins. Just thinking about the full set of equipment that came with a promotion in games made Nord's mouth water, not to mention the significant boost in troop type after promotion.

After promoting Old Mor, Nord kept watching him in the crowd. He noticed that Old Mor didn't show any physical reaction from gaining attribute points like Nord did. He just kept eating and laughing, as if he were making a joke of the system. Puzzled, Nord opened Old Mor's personal panel again.

[Name: Mor]

[Class: Amon Veteran Hunter LV1 (300/1000)]

[Attributes: Strength 8 (14) Agility 9 (16) Intelligence 9 (12) Charisma 6 (8)]

[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 112 (140) Archery 160 (200)]

After seeing the panel, Nord realized that personal attributes didn't increase immediately upon promotion. He felt a bit frustrated—this promotion was too much of a letdown. No wonder it didn't cost anything. He checked the troop type information.

[Troop Type: Amon Veteran Hunter]

[Troop Info: A troop type promoted from Amon Hunter. Experienced Amon Veteran Hunters never miss their shots. Prey targeted by an Amon Veteran Hunter finds it hard to escape their pursuit. Entering the mountains feels like coming home to them.]

[Troop Equipment: Light Leather Armor Climbing Boots Machete Amon Longbow]

[Troop Attributes: Strength 14 Agility 16 Intelligence 12 Charisma 8]

[Weapon Proficiency: One-Handed Weapons 140 Archery 200]

Aside from the lack of immediate attribute gain upon promotion and the equipment issue, Nord was quite satisfied with everything else. Especially since he planned to gradually explore the deeper areas next, Old Mor, as an Amon Veteran Hunter, would be crucial.

Then there was the equipment problem. Nord still hadn't seen the full standard gear for the troop type. His guard's equipment was cobbled together from various sources, and some of it was even brought by the hunters themselves. It was a sorry state of affairs. Everything was in ruins and in short supply. He clearly needed to plan carefully and figure out the best way to develop.