Crimson Sun Guard (Part 2)

Recruiting mages? The moment Shane revealed a little of his plan, Sylvanas mocked him. A backwater like the Red Sun White Tower? Only oddballs would come here.

"Hawkins Firehawk enjoys pleasure, but he has principles. Solarian only knows how to bury herself in study. Halduron Brightwing looks like an opportunist, but both his drive and character are trustworthy. And you don't fit in with most elves either."

Sylvanas had figured out the personalities of the team members in no time. Should I praise her for a job well done? Shane thought, unsure where she had seen integrity in a smuggler, though he agreed with her assessment.

It was impossible to attract those pleasure-seekers from Silvermoon City, but there was still a chance of drawing talent from other backwater places. Sylvanas's advice was to build their reputation.

"Making magical accessories is also a way to build a reputation. You thought of that long ago, didn't you?" Shane said to the female elf, studying her expression closely.

Sylvanas sat in a reclining chair, one long leg crossed high over the other, smiling without answering.

The second batch of magical items had received good feedback from customers. The magical combination designs were thoughtful and easy to use, and people were already looking forward to the third batch. But the council's mission had forced him to stop, making him feel outnumbered once again.

"You can announce that the Red Sun White Tower will release a new collection every three months," Sylvanas suggested to Shane. "But if you want to raise your standing among elves, nothing works better than fighting trolls."

The implication was that this mission was the best possible opportunity.

"But I doubt you'll get the chance. You'd better go check on the rangers under your command." The female elf smiled mischievously, wearing the expression she only showed when someone else was about to suffer misfortune.

The sixty rangers under Halduron Brightwing had no patrol duties. Every day, they trained on the open ground outside the outpost, and everyone was looking forward to this mission. The council had assigned this ranger unit to Shane's command, with Halduron Brightwing as its commander. When he saw Shane appear outside the training field, he went over to greet him.

"Everyone, sharpen up. Lord Shane is here!" Halduron Brightwing shouted into the training field. A mage who owned a mage tower belonged to the upper ruling class. Shane's arrival subdued quite a few people, and they trained even harder.

They were no different from ordinary rangers. Their basic training consisted of riding and archery. Their tactics involved riding hawkstriders in swift hit-and-run attacks, sweeping back and forth along the enemy's flanks to wear them down before finding an opportunity to charge in and kill.

"How do they compare to Sylvanas's men?"

"Lord Shane, I must say that is a sad question." Halduron Brightwing made a helpless expression. There was no need for further explanation; Shane already knew the answer.

Clearly, they could not match the Windrunner elites in ranger skills. To increase their combat strength, they needed to find another path. The quickest way was to change their method of fighting.

Shane's solution was to have them fight in coordination with constructs.

Back at the mage tower, he drew modification plans. Each guardian construct would have a passenger platform installed on its back. It could carry three rangers standing up and supplies for ten men.

"Eye of Truth, will these modifications affect its center of balance?" Shane asked.

"They will not affect balance, but the transmission damping system will require modification."

Shane designed a shock-absorbing device for the transmission as well. The modifications were simple enough. Refitting ten constructs was not much work, and even with Taigo's upgraded modifications, it would take far less time than building a new construct.

Taigo had suffered minor damage in the last battle, exposing how inadequate its performance was in intense spell combat. Shane had been considering modifications ever since, and the council mission gave him the perfect chance to make the request.

The moment the advanced construct core was removed from its sealed box, it displayed its extraordinary nature. It was shaped like a crystal sphere, and the air around it warped with scorching heat, making it look like a mirage. Yet it truly existed.

"Eye of Truth, scan it," Shane ordered.

"Understood. Beginning scan. Target surface temperature: 170 degrees. Cause: energy dissipating outward in the form of heat. Scanning internal structure: multidimensional crystal structure, non-natural material. Determined to have formed under the Sunwell's high-energy radiation. Estimated output is four times that of Taigo's quad-core power system."

It was precisely the component needed for Taigo's modification.

When Shane had built the mage tower, he had installed an armor-forging apparatus in the construct workshop. He ordered Taigo to teleport through the teleportation array to the second basement level, then removed the armor plate on its chest, exposing the five cores within, including its intelligence core.

"Shut down completely. Enter sleep mode."

Taigo's single eye flashed three times. The buzzing of its operating cores immediately vanished, and the arcane circuits across its skeleton gradually returned to a silvery white without an energy supply. The joints throughout its body loosened as it sank to its knees and entered shutdown.

Replacing the four power cores was not difficult. After making slight changes to the original mounts, the high-energy cores were installed.

"Core surface temperature is dropping. Dissipation distortion is weakening. Energy is transferring into the arcane circuits. Estimated core temperature will drop to thirty degrees in twenty minutes," Eye of Truth reported as it monitored the process.

With its power upgraded, the original weapon system was no longer suitable. Shane had a spell-storage crystal on hand, acquired during the previous sweep of the valley trolls. He took it from his magic pocket. The hex originally stored inside had mostly faded from lack of maintenance. Holding it in his hand, Shane prepared to inscribe a third-circle spell within it: Scorching Ray.

Arcane energy erupted from his hand and surged into the crystal, sweeping away the remnants of the hex. Shane focused and inscribed the spell. With his experience inscribing the five spell-stabilizing crystals in the mage tower, it did not take much effort to finish. He then used the spell-storage crystal to replace the device in Taigo's single eye that had previously only been able to emit light.

The final step was to add a new behavioral mode to the power core and coat it with an anti-magic plating.

Once everything was complete, Shane lightly tapped the energy-gathering array with an arcane orb, and the construct activated again. Its arcane circuits instantly blazed white. Clang— Taigo rose to its feet, metal striking between its armor plates as its single eye blinked at Shane.

"Taigo, use a ray attack." Shane pointed at the floor.

Its single eye flashed, and a ray shot out without a sound. It struck the floor with a sizzling hiss. As its head turned slightly, it carved a scorched line across the ground. Scan depth: 20 mm. Width: 10 mm. Aside from lacking the imagined laser-shooting sound effect of bui~~ bui~~, everything else was excellent. Still, more testing had to be done outdoors before he could decide whether it was truly useful.

"Taigo will train with you first. Ten more constructs will join you later." Shane handed Taigo and the training outline over to Halduron Brightwing. "I added secondary authorization permissions to its intelligent behavior system. You can use it without worry."

The rangers were startled by Taigo's massive frame, but the training outline quickly drew their attention. No one knew what effect such bold changes would have, but they certainly would not be bad.

One by one, the ten constructs were delivered to the ranger unit, and their training began to take shape. The constructs relied on their armor to charge directly into the enemy, while rangers riding hawkstriders covered their rear and flanks. Their main offensive method was still archery, but the new approach felt completely different. When the rangers described the difference, they said, "It's like the difference between a tough guy and a sissy."

When Shane arrived at the training field, he saw Taigo sweeping several wooden targets with its ray. The intense heat cut them all apart.

"Big guy, do it again. Aim at that shield."

The rangers were resting, and they looked much darker and thinner than before. Halduron Brightwing handed Shane a set of data. The ray's maximum armor penetration was 50 mm per shot. It could ignite wood at around 110 meters, and its accuracy was high.

For the current stage, that was not bad. Shane put away the data.

"During actual training, what else do you feel is lacking?"

"My lord, I think the rangers riding the constructs need heavier scale armor and longbows. The constructs should also be fitted with battering rams to attack troll camps, just like Taigo."

Shane allocated funds to meet their demands. The unit was taking shape in the direction he wanted. Rangers were flexible and versatile in combat, rarely engaging in frontal clashes, while his own force would become heavily armored vanguards.