Chapter 67: Short-Handed Army

"Already done?" Rynar stared in surprise at the imposing stone temple before him. 

Radir had accomplished this in record time, completing the nearly thousand-square-meter archery temple in just a day.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, I took a few shortcuts. The city guards helped a lot," Radir chuckled, stroking his beard. 

This archery temple was not built like the city walls; Radir didn't use magic rune stone bricks for the main structure. 

Instead, he employed building materials inscribed with magical runes only in key areas. 

The rest of the structure was cobbled together with regular bricks—something Radir could easily conjure in bulk. 

Essentially, the temple was almost built by the Zaltarion city guards, with Radir providing only the necessary materials and crucial components.

"Does this archery temple now have its intended effects?" Rynar glanced at the sparsely decorated temple, which was even simpler than the initial awakening temple in the game.

"Oh? Of course! Though it may look a bit shabby, it doesn't detract from its effectiveness," Radir explained, sensing Rynar's doubt.

"Order all the Battanian archers to assemble!" Rynar commanded the knight beside him.

"At once, Your Majesty!" A knight responded, thumping his chest and departing.

---

"Presenting ourselves, Your Majesty!" A group of Battanian archers bowed in unison.

"Stand at ease. This is the Archery Temple. I hope you can quickly master the inheritance skills; it's vital for the survival of Riverguard," Rynar said, looking at the Battanian archers with a calm expression.

"Go inside," he gestured.

The Battanian archers exchanged glances, finally stepping forward, ready to enter the modest archery temple and receive their inheritance.

"Wait! Only six can enter at a time; you can't all awaken together," Radir stopped the archers who were about to swarm in.

"Hmm? Is there a limit on numbers?" Rynar recalled that in most heritage temples, players could enter in numbers equal to their ranks—as long as they had the coin…

"Of course, Your Majesty. This temple was thrown together in a hurry. A proper temple requires many precious materials to build… 

This one only has six focal points for the hexagram formation under the inheritance statue where you can accept the inheritance. It's far too crude…" Radir explained.

Rynar immediately understood. A hastily built structure like this was lucky to be legal; aside from the inheritance statue and the hexagram formation beneath it, everything else inside was ordinary stone materials. 

There were no magical materials to facilitate the flow of battle aura, no magical arrays to help focus energy, and even the number of individuals receiving the inheritance was restricted.

"And we have no professional inheritance mentors…" Radir revealed the most critical issue with a bitter expression, meaning there would be no guide to assist these archers in their skills' inheritance—all would need to be self-taught.

"Ugh… that's a bit troublesome," Rynar scratched his head. The presence of mentors in a temple was indispensable. 

Each heritage temple typically had at least one professional who had mastered its skills, allowing them to assist those receiving the inheritance in quickly grasping it. 

This was a significant deficiency for Rynar.

Watching the six Battanian archers sitting cross-legged on the hexagram, channeling their battle aura into the formation beneath them, the height of the archery inheritance statue glowed with a soft light. 

Circles of aura swirled inside the temple, but since the temple itself was subpar, it offered almost no help for the inheritors, and the aura dissipated into faint sparks after barely reaching the edges of the hexagram.

Half an hour later…

"You all stay here; once they finish their inheritance, let them come find me. Radir, shall we go rest for a bit?" 

Rynar glanced at the six archers still motionless in the temple and couldn't help but twitch his lips. 

Indeed, without a mentor for the inheritance, things felt unreliable; the time elapsed was a bit absurd.

"At your command, Your Majesty," the archers replied respectfully.

"Lord!" Caslow called out from a distance.

Rynar's heart sank as he looked at the hurriedly approaching Caslow. Please don't tell me it's the orcs again. The orcs from the north and south had already set off several days ago.

"What's wrong?" Rynar held onto a glimmer of hope, wishing the orcs wouldn't launch an attack just yet while the Battanian archers were still learning their new skills.

"The northern orcs have suddenly accelerated their march southward, bypassing Lonely Mountain to assault Erebor. 

The dwarven ram riders have already begun intercepting their vanguard," Caslow said, his face full of bitterness; the orcs simply refused to wait until spring.

"Fine, let's go to war then. If we can resolve this in winter, our people can farm in peace come spring! 

Prepare the soldiers; we need to be ready for battle at any moment!" Rynar's face hardened with determination.

---

"The orc army is coming?" Vanervi lounged comfortably in a chair, cradling a warm cup of coffee.

"Yes! You're a noble elf; could you at least maintain your image…" Rynar felt a wave of embarrassment as he looked at the slouching elf king. 

This was a complete departure from his perception of elves as noble, elegant, and mysterious! He could easily mistake this fellow for a retired old man.

"What do you plan to do?" Vanervi asked nonchalantly, clearly more interested in how Rynar would face the half-orcs, given that the lives of the prairie elves were now tied to Riverguard.

"Defend the city! Riverguard is our greatest stronghold! I wouldn't abandon the walls to fight orcs in the open unless absolutely necessary!" Rynar replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Hmm, while it's a good idea when everyone else can hold their lines, the knight's battlefield isn't on the walls!" Vanervi subtly implied. 

When other lords can safeguard their castles, holding the city is a top-notch choice, but Vanervi doubted their ability to withstand it. 

After all, the walls of Dale and Loshanier City didn't offer the same level of security as those of Riverguard and Erebor.

"We have no choice; our ranged troops are far too few. Even with your elven rangers and archers included, it's still not enough. The knights will have to patch up the gaps on the walls," Rynar sighed.

"There are still 135 elven soldiers left; we lost some in the last battle," Vanervi replied, his expression grim.

"Then this time, you must protect yourselves. Our ranged troops are scarce, and each loss creates a gap in our defenses!" 

Rynar recalled that there were originally 149 elven rangers; although most losses were among the recruited light infantry during the Great Plains battle, some elves were still killed by the orcs breaking through their lines.

"I will inform them to prioritize their safety," Vanervi understood the gravity of the situation. 

Upon reflection, he realized that the only effective long-range killing force in Riverguard was those 100 Battanian archers. 

Other soldiers could shoot, but without the bonus from shooting skills, their ranged damage was terribly lacking.

"It seems we need to find ways to increase the number and variety of ranged troops in the future," Rynar pondered. 

Although Riverguard had many soldiers, the actual ability to inflict long-range damage on enemies was still too low. Most were close-combat fighters, which inevitably meant casualties.

"Damn it! I'm truly short-handed!" After some contemplation, Rynar felt a wave of frustration wash over him.

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