CHAPTER 268: WATCH THE SELECTION

Dominic motioned toward a bench near the town’s central fountain.

"I will sit and watch for a while if you’re going to be doing any training. If not, I will be available for questions and concerns." He offered.

The General nodded. "No training today, but we will pass out the weapons, just in case. An afternoon every week is what most forces train, but for the first few weeks we will do every other afternoon.

I know that takes you all away from your duties, but if the training goes well it can be shortened."

A few of the gathered men chuckled. Almost everyone who had volunteered had either military training or a recent position as a city guard, and very few did not have any combat experience.

Especially the huntsmen. They had been doing their jobs in their last home all their lives.

So, the training was mostly just to make them work together, and to get to know their new teams.

But the General knew that, and what he started on as Dominic took his seat were the basic Wavemates military signals, so everyone would know if a suspected intruder was actually a local.

Those signals weren’t a secret, just unused for a decade. But now that Cygnia had taken over, and the region was under a Cygnia appointed Duke, nobody would be expecting them to be using the old signals for the town guard.

That would be much more certain as a way to tell than using the Cygnia military signals that everyone would naturally assume were in use.

He would teach them all the Cygnia signals as well, once he learned them himself. But the General wasn’t in a hurry. Even if Dagos contested the loss of this region, there wouldn’t be a reason to use Cygnia signals for some time.

Dominic took out his spellbook and worked on improving it as the teams practiced their basic signals, whistling the signal bursts to each other and laughing at the inability of many of the men to whistle without using the device.

The day was sunny, and the training went on for four hours before releasing everyone with directions to meet back in three days for the next group meeting.

They were also given instructions to practice their sword work if they weren’t already skilled, as the next training would involve a bit of combat practice.

The militia men waved to Dominic as they parted ways, while General Alator came to sit beside Dominic on the bench.

"Not a bad plan, your Grace. The continual use of magic gave them confidence that someone with power would come to help them out if they sounded the signal, and they’re already building a decent community spirit.

That was what I worried about most.

Everyone came from different regions, and we can’t afford to have factions infighting in the town guard this early.

How is your magitech artifact coming along? I noticed that you’ve put a lot of work into improving it, whatever you were doing." The General asked.

Dominic finally looked down at the book and smiled. "It’s coming along very well. Give me another week or two, and I think that I will have it all ready."

The Sorcerer’s Spellbook was already at level eleven, and the energy level that it was giving off suggested that it would reach level twelve soon.

That might not be incredibly impressive, but it would put him above the average guardsman. After that, it was just a matter of time before he would be able to use all his spells at a level that would impress anyone.

He was even getting close to the point where using Clay to Steel would make quality tools or gun steel.

That was the most urgent need, Dominic thought.

A short walk to the river would bring him as much good grey clay as he wanted to gather. So, the ability to turn it into quality weapons that he could enchant would be the most important asset in his upcoming attempts to establish the Duchy as a destination to be proud of, not just a backwater village.

But there was one other thing that they were going to need if they were going to be recognized as more than a backwater.

Infrastructure.

They had good cobblestone roads in the village, all the basic amenities of a small town, including a good cook at the Inn. But they didn’t even have a decent road in or out.

They didn’t even have one to the inhabited Baronies nearby.

That was something that Dominic could start on the next day. It would be a slow walk, but he could make a road to the closer of the two before dark.

The new road would start at the edge of the old cobblestone, but when Dominic reached the desired spot, he realized there were two issues.

One, the more efficient of his spells just turned the dirt to stone. But the road was already heavily rutted. Two, if he did it that way, then he would have to texture the surface to keep it from becoming slippery in the rain.

So, doing the work today was going to take some additional hands.

Fortunately, they already had just the right equipment for the job. All he needed was a tractor, a grader blade and a padfoot roller. Both of those tools were in the yard behind the smithy, and that was where Dominic was already planning to go.

The farmers might still have work left to do tonight, but with a promise of ale and a late dinner, Pops could be convinced to stay out late and give him a hand improving roads late into the evening.

With the two of them working together, there was no reason they couldn’t do at least one of the connecting roads tonight, and perhaps both.

That should be a pleasant surprise for the next merchant caravan that came along, and with a bit of work, Dominic thought that he might actually be able to make a device that would activate the spell behind the road work tractor, so that a team of less capable magic users could do the work.

If it proved functional, he was absolutely certain that the King would pay good money to get his hands on it.

Too many of the roads in Cygnia were still unimproved.