Chapter 44  : Explosive Growth in Quality of Forces

With 5,743 Denars available, Kant had nothing to worry about.

Even back in the game played in his past life, there was no doubt that such an amount of money was a huge sum.

Kant immediately willed it and connected to the system.

“Open up the troop class page.”

A dialog box was seen on his retina.

Kant’s current forces were displayed. All of them had a “+” sign behind the names of their respective troop classes. It meant that he only needed to pay the required amount of Denars to level them up and make them troop classes of higher level and greater combat capacity.

I really am rich now.

He only needed to reorganize his crippled forces standing guard all over the Oasis Lookout.

…

[Upgradable Troop Class: Swadian Peasants x 42]

[Spend 10 Denars each to upgrade to Swadian Recruit]

[Ding… You have surplus experience. Your forces can be upgraded consecutively.]

…

[Upgradable Troop Class: Swadian Recruits x 6]

[Spend 20 Denars each to upgrade to Swadian Militia]

[Ding… You have surplus experience. Your forces can be upgraded consecutively.]

…

[Upgradable Troop Class: Swadian Militias x 19]

[Spend 30 Denars each to upgrade to Swadian Footman/Swadian Skirmisher]

[Ding… You have surplus experience. Your forces can be upgraded consecutively.]

…

[Upgradable Troop Class: Desert Bandits x 17]

[Spend 25 Denars each to upgrade to Elite Desert Bandit]

[Ding… You have surplus experience. Your forces can be upgraded consecutively.]

…

All of them were troop classes available for upgrades to Kant.

The upgrades required payment of 1,367 Denars.

“Upgrade them all!”

Kant nodded affirmatively and with style.

At the moment, the 1,367 Denars was a small sum to him. It was money that needed to be spent anyway, so he did not hesitate.

If his forces were formidable enough, it allowed him to gain as much money as he fancied.

There was no shortage of Jackalans in the Nahrin Desert.

[Troop class upgrading…]

The system was continuing to upgrade his troops.

The 42 Swadian Peasants instantly became 42 Swadian Recruits.

The six Swadian Recruits became six Swadian Militias.

There was something different with the upgrade of the 19 Swadian Militias.

That was where routes for further upgrades split.

[Ding… Optional upgrades are available for Swadian Militias.]

[Swadian Footman/Swadian Skirmisher]

A dialog box was seen in the system.

It was two entirely different routes from then on out. One specialized in melee combat while the other in ranged combat.

Kant had long come to a decision about that. He made his choice without hesitation. “Upgrade all of them to become Swadian Footmen!”

Those troops were ideal for serving as the main infantry units on the battlefield.

The bodies of the units became even stouter and stronger. Their equipment became something else altogether. They were no longer clad in leather-based armor from top to toe. That had been swapped for iron-based armor. It made them look like elite troops.

They were armed with heavy spears, longswords, and thicker heater shields.

They were clad in mail armors and standard infantry iron helmets.

They wore thick leather boots covered in mail armor. It was a standard Swadian-styled armament.

The Swadian Footmen served as one of the main fighting forces on the battlefield. Further upgrades were divided into two different routes as well.

[Swadian Man-at-Arms/Swadian Infantry]

After getting past that stage, the king of land battles of the Kingdom of Swadia would become available. Be it infantry units for garrisoning or laying siege to cities or cavalry units excelling in fighting battles out in the open, the might of the strongest kingdom found on the Continent of Caradia would have been known to all.

However, it was not those troop classes from Swadia that saw the greatest change.

There were still the 17 Desert Bandits.

The bandits, who originated from the Sarrand Sultanate, acquired a huge amount of experience as well. All of them had been successfully upgraded.

They became Elite Desert Bandits.

After the upgrade, the Elite Desert Bandits were still armed with spears, but their close-combat weapon became the heavy flanged mace. It was capable of causing greater blunt trauma damage and sported better armor penetration.

Their hide-covered round shields, which were often seen in desert areas, remained unchanged. Two additional javelins were added to the initial four they carried. All six had become heftier.

Their initial leather armor was changed to scale armor, offering better defensive capacities.

Those top-notch bandits of the Sarrand Desert usually served as leaders or bosses of bandit gangs. Even the regular army of the Sarrand Sultanate was given quite a headache from those bandits, who proved even more ferocious than most.

Combined with the Desert Bandits he would recruit from then on out, Kant would have formed his own elite cavalry force by then.

Those elite forces were no match for the heavy cavalry units of the Kingdom of Swadia or even fourth-level cavalry units like the Sarrandian Horseman, but those Elite Desert Bandits were on par with mercenary riders available for recruiting in taverns. In some cases, the Elite Desert Bandits were an even better choice.

Prompts from the system did not end there.

[Ding… Surplus experience detected. Consecutive upgrades available.]

[Would you like to proceed with further upgrades?]

It was an inquiry from the system.

At that moment, there was no way Kant was about to object to making upgrades. As someone who had just gained riches, he nodded without hesitation and said, “Continue upgrading.”

[Ding… Surplus experience from the system detected, continue upgrading troop class…]

[42 Swadian Recruits can all be upgraded…]

[Six Swadian Militias can all be upgraded…]

However, the following dialog box from the system made Kant frown slightly.

There were only two options for upgrades.

It was the Swadian Recruits or the Swadian Militias.

As for the Swadian Footmen, who were all stronger units, they had no “+” signs behind any of them.

It was a key sign that was linked to their upgrades as heavy cavalry units.

“System, are those two the only ones available for upgrades?”

Kant frowned and asked the system in his mind, “Are the footmen not available for an upgrade?”

“Unavailable.” The system answered crisply as it had always been. “The current amount of experience is only available for upgrading low-level troop classes. Please acquire more experience if you would like to upgrade mid-level troop classes.”

“Alright.” Kant nodded exasperatingly.

The system only told the truth. There was no point arguing with it.

[Upgrade Cost: 540 Denars]

[Would you like to upgrade?]

“Upgrade them to become Swadian Footmen.”

Kant had chosen the route of melee combat for upgrades. He needed to get a sizeable force of footmen ready.

All 25 of his Swadian Footmen were clad in mail armor and wore iron helmets. They were armed with heavy spears and heater shields, as well as wearing longswords at their waists. It made them look like the retainer knights he saw before.

They had begun to look like elite troops.

The 42 Swadian Militia members appeared behind him. All of them were stout, well-armed, and wore a solemn expression.

Swadian Militia was a second-level troop class and a reliable main force among the low-level troop classes.

It was especially so in the case of Kant’s Swadian Militias. Each one of them was armed with hunting crossbows. That meant Kant was able to put aside any considerations of upgrading his troops to become ranged combat units. He only needed to focus on melee combat units for the time being.

After all, firing a round of bolts before charging with their spears made for a formidable assault.

As for the Jackalans, there was no way they were going to be able to withstand attacks from the Swadian Militias, even if both sides were of equal numbers.

It was even more so given that Kant had gained access to Swadian Footmen. It made his forces even more formidable.

Kant’s Denar reserves dropped from 5,743 Denars to 3,836 Denars.

He had spent nearly one-third of his Denar reserves with just those upgrades alone.

The expenditure was worthwhile. It immediately enhanced the quality of Kant’s forces. While he remained utterly incapable of fighting 2,000 Jackalans, it hardly mattered since those Jackalans would not have dared to show up anyway.

It was no longer Kant who was living in fear. It was the Jackalan Tribe.

It was worth noting that the massive force of 2,000 Jackalans was utterly crushed altogether. Even the chieftain had died on the battlefield. With only scarred and terrified remnants remaining, there was no way they were going to come looking for trouble in the Oasis Lookout.

The Jackalan Tribe was probably setting up defenses, speculating in fear of just how many humans there were at the Oasis Lookout.

There was no way a Jackalan force of more than 2,000 units would have been defeated by a small force.

Their brains were incapable of figuring out that Kant, Sir Hobson, and Scholar Hank had managed to win despite being severely outnumbered.

At the very least, the Jackalans were terrified to their cores.

Kant, on the other hand, was pleased with himself.

The Jackalans were now like treasure in his eyes. They were fine commodities to be traded for Denars.

Best of all, it was a trade that required no capital. As long as Kant was able to amass a force sufficiently formidable, he had the ability to capture those beast-like humanoid races and sell them to the system’s trade caravan for Denars.

“System, open up the mall for a prize draw.”

Kant connected to the system in his mind again with a grin on his face.

He currently had two Honors.

[Ding… System Mall is open.]

[One Honor is required for every draw.]

A dialog box from the system was seen.

There was a shut treasure chest on it. It symbolized the countless hidden treasures of the system.