CHAPTER 43: GENEROUS AMOUNT OF FUSION POINTS

Kaelor looked at the wardens and their meticulously shaped longbows. The wardens themselves stood like carved effigies of war, tall and broad-shouldered, their bodies a strange blend of lean elegance and brutal potential. Aside from their intimidating forms, Kaelor could sense something deeper, an invisible thread that connected them to him. Not loyalty, not duty... something older, instinctive. As if they were extensions of his own will.

He turned to a tree, one of the few left standing amid the clearing.

The lumberers had worked with deliberate spacing, cutting in wide arcs to open up the land, but a handful of stubborn trunks still dotted the terrain. This particular tree stood two hundred and fifty metres away, its dark-barked frame rising straight and tall like a lonely sentinel.

Around it, three other trees hovered close enough to confuse the eye. To a casual observer, it would’ve been maddening, nearly impossible, to know which one Kaelor’s gaze had fixed on.

’Shoot it.’ He said inwardly, his voice like a silent breeze inside the bond. Then he turned, slowly, to a warden standing on the ramparts just above him. Their eyes met.

Immediately, the warden pulled an arrow from its quiver, notched it to the string, and drew. The movement was fluid, disciplined, neither rushed nor hesitant. When the bowstring snapped forward, the very air around the weapon shimmered.

A wave-like ripple spread from the release point, as if the shot had momentarily torn through the fabric of stillness.

In the next heartbeat, a dull thunk echoed across the clearing. The arrow had flown true, burying itself halfway into the exact tree Kaelor had chosen.

Kaelor squinted, eyes narrowing with quiet astonishment. It wasn’t merely the eerie precision that struck him but the sheer, brutal force behind it. To drive an arrow that deep into such a mature tree at that kind of distance? That was the work of a peak-level Adept Bowman. And even among them, few could replicate it shot after shot.

But these wardens... Kaelor looked at their muscled frames, the stillness in their breathing, the latent fire in their eyes. They might be able to do it, not once, but over and over again, without falter.

"We did it!"

A soft breath tickled Kaelor’s ears, light as a feather’s touch. He chuckled, head tilting gently to the right toward Vi, who had somehow crept to his side while he was enraptured by the grand spectacle of the fusion. Her eyes sparkled with awe, her lips curled into a soft smile.

After a moment of holding her gaze, Kaelor looked past her, towards the sea of slaves below, their heads lifted, eyes wide, all staring at the towering wall with expressions carved from pure wonder.

His gaze sharpened as he found the gate. With unhurried steps, he made his way up the ramparts, his form calm, resolute, regal. The slaves saw him emerge among the Wardens, and gasps rippled like wind across tall grass. Their eyes grew wider still.

"We shall have a feast to celebrate tonight!" Kaelor declared, voice rising like a clarion bell. "With rice! Everyone shall have rice, served with rich stew!"

A stunned silence followed, then, "My Lord... are you joking?" Damien’s voice trembled, caught between disbelief and desperate hope.

Kaelor turned, eyes calm as still waters. He shook his head once. "I am not. From this moment onward, you are no longer slaves. You are my subjects, free citizens under my domain. I shall welcome others too, those still in chains, and offer them what I offer you now. But tonight..." he paused, his voice gentle and proud, "we celebrate your freedom with food once meant for noble blood."

He smiled faintly, just enough to light a spark.

Vi gasped. Below, a tidal wave of emotion swept through the crowd. Hundreds dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the earth in a unified act of reverence. Others clung to each other, laughing and crying. Some stood frozen, hollow-eyed, as though waking from a dream they dared not trust.

For in this world, once marked as a slave, one was condemned forever, not just in life, but in bloodline. Generations were born into bondage, died in chains.

A rare, merciful lord might free a single slave for extraordinary service, but to liberate over a thousand at once and feed them a noble’s feast?

Unheard of.

And yet, the Dreadclaws moved among them, the clinking of broken chains echoing like liberation hymns in the twilight. One by one, the shackles fell, and with each clatter, reality struck deeper into their hearts.

This was no dream.

[Your kind act has won the hearts of the slaves. Congratulations on making Redwood Town truly a fortified town with 1,890 subjects who are completely loyal to you. You have gained 5,000 FP!]

[Vi the Lost and Vulcanus the Great are both mesmerized by your leadership traits and the joy you bring to your people. Their loyalty has risen to 65%.]

[Hound and the Dreadclaws are deeply touched by your acts. Their loyalty has exceeded the limit of 100%. Devotion estimate: 20%!]

[You have gained 5,000 FP!]

[Total FP: 10,000!]

Kaelor froze. With a swift turn, he faced the rice field. The Starlight Rice were ripe for harvest but the rest weren’t. For now, there were still just 160 Starlight Rice in the field. It was time for that to change.

If he could make Redwood a rice town, it would be no different from a gold mine, because of this, he was happy, the town’s two walls were powerful in their own right.

"System, I want a thousand Starlight Rice."

[Cost: 5000 FP!]

"Do it."

As he watched the blue flames consume the field, all Kaelor could see was a great and boundless future unfolding before him. The fire danced like spirits of renewal, not destruction, purging the old so the new might flourish. This fusion would mark the turning point, after today, there would be no further need for repeated planting, no more desperate hunts for growth. The rice would gain the ability to multiply, to spread its numbers like stars across the soil. A month from now, this plot might hold over five thousand Starlight Rice, each stalk a gleaming treasure.

And then it happened. After the blue fire died down, a thousand more Starlight Rice shimmered into existence, rising gently from the earth like a dream made real. Their translucent veins pulsed with light, glimmering as the golden sun poured over them. They swayed in unison to the whisper of the wind.

Kaelor’s breath caught in his throat. Judging by their height and development, the system calculated the time they had already ’lived’ and it was clear: they would reach full maturity in just two weeks.

His heart swelled. He almost cried.

Once he established a stable trade with the Golden Scales Merchant Guild, one of the largest and most influential guilds across the continent, silver and gold would pour into his coffers like rain.

From the corner of his eye, Kaelor noticed Vulcanus standing silently at the far end of the rice field, arms folded across his broad chest, his expression unreadable. For a moment, their eyes locked. Vulcanus gave a slight nod, a quiet, wordless show of approval, before turning and walking back toward the town.