Troubles

Most creatures that could be tamed as mounts were docile herbivores. No matter how large they were, they lacked any instinct to attack. After being knocked over, the giant beast had obediently remained prone. Even when Richard sat on its back, it merely glanced back once before calming down.

"From now on, I'll call you Windchaser."

And so, it became Richard's mount.

On the journey back, the lord of High Mountain Keep sat upright on its back and began reading the Battle Aura Manual seized from the Goblin tribe.

Who knew how many owners this manual had passed through? Its corners and binding were worn and frayed, and the entire book was nearly falling apart. Even so, its pages remained clean and clear without so much as a crease. It had clearly been carefully maintained all this time.

Richard held it cautiously, afraid that one slight tremor would reduce it to scraps of paper on the ground. He opened the cover and read two pages word by word, then suddenly gave a bitter smile, closed it, and casually tossed it onto the roadside as if it were trash.

It was not Richard's first time reading a Battle Aura Manual. He had seen quite a few in the Southern Province and possessed basic appraisal skills. It truly deserved to be battle aura that had ended up in the hands of wilderness savages—so ordinary it had reached an extraordinary level. Only Goblins would treat something like this as treasure.

With the exceptional attributes and exquisite Martial Arts granted by the Mounted Warfare System, Richard had beaten a group of swordfighters and knights specializing in battle aura until they wailed for their fathers and mothers in the Southern Province's fighting arenas, enjoying a period of unmatched glory. But as his level rose higher and higher, the experience required to level up gradually became enormous, and the growth of his strength entered a bottleneck.

Naturally, Richard had tried to find another path and strengthen himself through this world's existing power system. He had no talent for magic, so he turned his attention to battle aura. Yet a new problem arose. With his current strength, his transcendent body and Martial Arts had long formed a stable combination. How could he possibly force a third party into it so easily?

A single candle might illuminate a straw hut, but before a magnificent palace, it could only stand helpless.

Ordinary, commonplace battle aura was utterly useless. Rather than waste time cultivating that trash, he would be better off catching a few more fish by the river.

Excellence was a scarce quality in any field. The few Battle Aura Manuals he had acquired by chance had all ultimately followed their owner into the latrine.

Bored out of his mind, Richard suddenly remembered that the System Shop had opened yesterday, so he brought up the light screen and began browsing.

As a Pioneering Noble, he focused mainly on weapons and equipment. The shop's selection was dazzling. Besides all manner of loose items with varying quality, it also sold sets such as the "Barbarian Warrior Full Standard Equipment Set."

The quantity and variety were abundant, but the prices were not cheap. The refined steel longsword included in the Barbarian Warrior set cost five thousand Denar, equivalent to five gold coins in Pompeii currency.

Richard had spent plenty of time in weapon shops while in the Southern Province, so he knew the market well. A longsword of the same grade generally cost between five gold coins and five silver coins to six gold coins.

The System's prices were slightly below retail market prices, but they were certainly far higher than the cost of organizing craftsmen to forge the equipment themselves.

For a lord seeking to build an army, this price had no advantage. Its convenience lay in being able to obtain supplies whenever one had money. After all, in this godforsaken wilderness, it was common to clutch a pile of gold coins and still have nowhere to spend them.

Richard exchanged the small chest of coins seized from the Goblin tribe for Denar. The mixed gold, silver, and copper coins vanished from the wooden chest out of thin air, while the balance on the shop panel rapidly rose from zero to eighteen hundred Denar.

After browsing through the product categories, his empty wallet left him with no choice. He could only tap lightly on a "Worn Knight's Lance."

His balance instantly dropped by seventeen hundred and fifty. As though some invisible magic had gradually worn off, a lance slowly "emerged" from the air.

First came a faint, translucent outline. Then its colors gradually appeared, until the details finally filled in. The massive four-meter weapon appeared atop the giant beast's previously empty back.

Its overall workmanship was fairly good, though it did indeed look extremely worn. The spearhead was covered in a faint layer of dark red rust, and the wooden shaft bore many scratches. Still, a charging weapon like this did not care whether it was sharp or not. As long as it was sturdy enough, it could kill.

"Boss, you actually have spatial equipment!" Gunther rubbed every crevice of his hands with sand as if possessed, his eyes full of envy as he watched the lance suddenly appear from nowhere.

Richard answered with an inscrutable smile. Without saying a word, he pointed at the other Barbarians, who had noticed nothing, and made a gesture for silence.

Gunther immediately nodded in understanding and casually returned to the group.

The interruption broke Richard's train of thought. After closing the panel, he vaguely felt that an idea was about to surface in his mind. After giving it a moment's thought, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. A chill sank into his bones, and he could barely breathe—

Every time system soldiers advanced, their equipment had to be upgraded for them to display their full combat strength. Reality did not have the game's wonderful benefit of granting equipment with each promotion, so he had to pay out of his own pocket to arm every soldier!

A full set of Barbarian Warrior equipment cost forty-five thousand Denar, equivalent to forty-five gold coins. Fifty Barbarians would cost two thousand two hundred and fifty gold coins.

And this was only the first advancement, to "Barbarian Warrior." Later there would be the second advancement, "Barbarian Great Axe Warrior"! Then the third advancement, "Berserker"! And the higher the tier of soldier, the finer their equipment would be and the more expensive it would become...

Drawing on his past memories, he immediately understood just how crushing a burden this would be.

The wilderness could provide meat through hunting, and crops could certainly be cultivated. Timber and stone were scarce, but there would always be solutions. This vast land could supply most of the materials humanity needed.

Except gold and silver currency.

Unless he got absurdly lucky and found a gold mine, he could think of no source for it. Trade might be a good solution, but for a newly established territory to build stable trade routes and earn profits required long-term management. That was at least ten years away.

Richard opened his pig-bladder money pouch and took a look. Inside lay only two promissory notes worth sixteen hundred gold coins each. There was not even a single copper coin besides them.

He slumped back. The scales on Windchaser's back had been warmed slightly by the sun, and the comfort left his mind blank, unwilling to think about anything...

"Boss, it looks like people nearby are fighting."

Just as he began to drift off, he suddenly heard a scout in the group report in a low voice.

Richard sat up and discreetly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. Seeing that the Barbarians had all stopped, he listened carefully for a moment. Sure enough, he heard faint shouts of battle and the clash of weapons.