Night Battle

As the increasingly close clamor reached them, several Eagle Soldiers on guard quickly woke the other soldiers resting in the tents and Amuda. They had all slept in their clothes, their leather armor still on, so they were quickly ready, holding their weapons and nervously staring in the direction of the noise.

As Ronan charged out at the forefront, the Savages chasing him also appeared before the Eagle Soldiers. Recognizing Ronan as their target and seeing the swarm of imposing Savages behind him, the Eagle Soldiers mistakenly believed Ronan had persuaded them to attack together.

With no time to think, they raised their longbows and unleashed a volley of arrows. Ronan, prepared, rolled forward to evade the incoming projectiles, but the Savages behind him were not so lucky, with several falling to the arrows.

A beautiful misunderstanding thus occurred. The Eagle Soldiers thought the Savages were brought by Ronan to attack them, while the Savages believed Ronan had come here to find his companions.

Seeing their comrades fall, the Savages roared in anger and increased their speed. As the distance closed, the Eagle Soldiers dropped their longbows, drew their scimitars, and engaged the Savages in a fierce melee. Meanwhile, Ronan, using the darkness, had quietly crept to the edge of the fray and was now using his longbow to fire off cold arrows.

Only the weak glow of the bonfires set up by the Eagle Soldiers illuminated the pitch-black forest. The poorly equipped Savages were no match for the well-equipped and disciplined Eagle Soldiers. Their numerical advantage dwindled, and as more of their kin fell, many Savages began to feel fear.

Besides the four killed by Ronan's cold arrows, only two Eagle Soldiers had fallen to the Savages. One warrior, in particular, who was protecting Amuda, wore chainmail unlike the other soldiers and wielded a scimitar in each hand, having already felled nearly five Savages around him in mere minutes.

Seeing the Savages on the verge of collapse, many turned and fled. After shooting down another Eagle Soldier with a cold arrow, Ronan stealthily moved behind that warrior, intending to eliminate the most dangerous opponent first, and then kill the Eagle person who looked familiar, like a leader.

Closing in behind his target, Ronan quickened his pace and launched a swift iaijutsu strike at the warrior. However, the warrior was incredibly agile. Sensing the danger from behind, he lunged forward. Though he couldn't completely dodge Ronan's attack, he only sustained a shallow cut on his lower back.

Failing to land a decisive blow, Ronan quickly stepped forward and struck at the Eagle Warrior again. The warrior swiftly rolled over, blocking Ronan's descending longsword with the scimitar in his right hand, then swept upward with his left-hand scimitar. Ronan was forced to step back to evade. Seizing the opportunity, the warrior quickly got to his feet, hunched slightly, and faced Ronan with a scimitar in each hand.

Ronan also planted his feet firmly in a horse stance, gripping his swords with both hands at his center, the tips angled slightly downward towards his opponent. To avoid being surrounded after the Savages were routed, Ronan struck first, slashing downwards at his opponent.

The warrior attempted the same tactic, blocking with his right-hand scimitar, then aiming to slash at Ronan's abdomen with his left. But Ronan hadn't put his full strength into this strike. He pressed down hard on his blade, then shifted his left foot to the right, rotating his body. While dodging the Eagle Warrior's left-hand scimitar, he swiped his longsword towards the unarmored back of the Eagle Warrior's right knee.

"Ah!" With a yelp of pain, the warrior's hamstring was severed by Ronan's blade. His right leg buckled, and he fell to one knee. Ronan then took advantage of his injured leg preventing a turn, spun his body again, and swung his sword at the back of the Eagle Warrior's neck. The Eagle Warrior crossed the scimitars in his hands behind his neck to block the blow, but in his disadvantageous position, he was driven to the ground by the impact.

Ronan then plunged the tip of his sword down through the gap between the warrior's crossed blades, piercing his throat. "Gurgle..." With his throat pierced and unable to breathe, he coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam. After struggling for a few seconds, his body finally went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Wiping the blood from his blade on the Eagle Warrior's clothing, Ronan glanced at his rage and immediately activated his Avatar of Fear skill.

At this moment, in the eyes of the two remaining Eagle Soldiers, who had just finished off the last Savage, and Amuda hiding behind them, Ronan suddenly appeared terrifying. Black energy continuously emanated from him, and the mask on his face seemed to transform into a hideous鬼面 (ghost face).

Watching Ronan advance towards them, sword in hand, they involuntarily retreated in fear. Ronan took a step forward, and they retreated a step. Until one soldier's back hit a thick tree trunk. Seemingly having lost all courage, he shouted and charged. The other soldier, seemingly emboldened by him, also drew his sword and charged.

Facing the two soldiers charging from front and back, Ronan felt no disturbance in his heart. He sidestepped the incoming scimitar, simultaneously slicing across the abdomen of the charging soldier with both swords. Instantly, his belly burst open, spilling his entrails. The soldier's scimitar dropped, and he knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach, slowly toppling forward as he died.

Casually blocking the other soldier's incoming scimitar with both his swords, Ronan kicked him in the groin. As the soldier bent over in pain, Ronan grabbed his collar and forcefully yanked him forward. As the soldier stumbled forward, Ronan swung his sword and severed his head, the body and head hitting the ground simultaneously, but separated.

From a distance, Amuda witnessed this scene and immediately sat down on the ground. As Ronan continued to walk towards him, he scrambled backward on all fours, continuously begging for mercy:

"Don't kill me! I am a member of the Azure Wolf Family of the Eagle Kingdom. If you don't kill me, I can give you a lot of money, or whatever you want, urgh—"

Before he could finish, Ronan lunged forward and thrust his longsword into his mouth. Pulling the sword out, the corpse lost its support and fell backward. After wiping his blade on Amuda's clothes, Ronan sheathed his sword. He then searched the corpse and the Eagle pursuit team's tents, found a tree root, and sat down to study the newly unlocked Recruitment System.

This Recruitment System's function was very powerful, allowing Ronan to summon soldiers from various factions in the Mount & Blade game, including many MOD troop types. However, the number was influenced by Ronan's Charm attribute, Leadership skill, and reputation. The calculation was Charm value multiplied by two, plus the Leadership skill bonus. Ronan's current cap was thirty.

The Recruitment System refreshed five troop types daily for Ronan to summon. Each troop type had a daily recruitment limit of five. Recruited troops could gain experience through combat and be upgraded to higher-tier units. Recruited troops would occupy a unit slot until they died, so they could not be recruited carelessly, as there was a chance of encountering powerful troop types that could not be recruited.

Recruiting troops required nothing else but money. The cost varied for different tiers and nations. Recruiting troops also required a weekly salary. Failure to pay the weekly salary would result in debt, after which all mission earnings would be converted proportionally to pay off the debt. Excessive debt would result in the permanent closure of the Recruitment System.