The Garrison of Warcraft - Chapter 26

Arcane Missiles.

This was a Guidance-type Spell in which Arcane energy was shaped into concentrated missiles for prolonged attacks on enemies. As long as one had high enough Intelligence and Spirit, the attack would not end.

Compared to Fireball, Arcane Missiles may lack in firepower, but it did not share a lengthy Cast time. Hence, it made a good choice.

Of course, the difficulty of Arcane Missiles was much higher in comparison to Fireball. Nevertheless, perhaps due to his adequate Intelligence and powerful Spirit, Sean was able to go through Arcane Missiles at a hastened rate.

It was all thanks to the female Elven Mage, Selena Springdew.

The female Mage had taught three Spells, Fireball, Frostbolt, and Arcane Missiles to Sean and Meryl while withholding more significant Spells like Arcane Explosion, Flamestrike, and Blizzard.

Hence, Sean had to seek another way if he wished to pursue more Spells.

On the journey from Saldean’s Farm to Goldshire, they had to first cross farmland in the Northmost part of Westfall called The Jansen Stead. Even though they were traveling on a horse carriage, the journey from Saldean’s Farm to The Jansen Stead took at least a day. This meant that Sean, Old Saldean, and the rest would have to spend the night in the wild.

Fortunately, they could take turns keeping watch at night. After an uneventful night, Sean’s group arrived at The Jansen Stead the morning of the next day.

Old Saldean was acquainted with every farmer in Westfall. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Sean enquired if there were any scrapped Harvest Golems available.

As luck would have it, Jason’s Farm happened to have 3 scrapped Harvest Golems.

With 3 Golem Hearts in hand, his Quest was completed, and in turn, Sean received a Small Blueprint for a Golem Factory.

[Golem Factory: Small-scale construction. Possesses a complete Golem production line, able to produce various small- and medium-sized Harvest Golems. For other Golems, certain Garrison Resources are required for research. The period of research and Resource cost will depend on the Golem’s difficulty level.]

[Garrison Resources required for construction: 100 Wood, 100 Stone, 100 Iron]

[Period of construction: 1 day]

Just as Sean thought, it was capable of producing Harvest Golems!

However, he was unable to construct it at the moment. Otherwise, the production of several Harvest Golems to follow alongside him would guarantee his safety.

Due to the delay of Gryan Stoutmantle’s party, Old Saldean and the rest were held back in The Jansen Stead. It was late in the afternoon when Gryan Stoutmantle arrived.

“Haha, great, great!”

Gryan exclaimed in pleasure before greeting Old Saldean.

“What’s great?” Handing Gryan a bowl of water, Old Saldean asked with a smile.

Gryan gulped down the water and replied cheerfully, “The Kobolds and the Murlocs suffered heavy losses and their bodies are scattered along the Gold Coast! Hehe, this is a golden opportunity, a golden opportunity to vanquish the Kobolds and the Murlocs once and for all! However, Old Saldean, I’ll need the help of you farmers. You know, I’m strapped for cash, hehe.”

Gryan rubbed his palms together.

Old Saldean and Jansen exchanged glances. Able to read each other’s minds, they nodded and answered, “Sir Gryan, don’t you worry. We are willing to fork out as much as you need to totally eliminate the Kobolds and the Murlocs!”

With the Kobolds notorious for harassing farms and the Murlocs fond of blocking roads and attacking travellers, it was a huge problem for the farmers of Westfall. Old Saldean resigned himself to pay a limited sum should these two giants be vanquished.

Old Saldean’s affirmative response led Gryan to stick out five of his fingers and chuckle. “Five hundred Gold Coins! Only five hundred Gold Coins from each of you! There’s many farms so you guys can pool the sum of five thousand Gold Coins. I’ll be heading to Goldshire to purchase armor and weapons. Then I’ll be back to lead the troops in vanquishing the Kobolds and the Murlocs!”

Five thousand Gold Coins was not a small sum. Even with the farmers of various farms sharing the cost, it still took a bite out of them.

Old Saldean and Jansen were hesitant.

Gryan then secretively lowered his voice and said, “Old Saldean, Jansen, I’ll let you in on something. Stormwind City lacks control over Westfall, so as long as we get rid of the Kobolds and the Murlocs, the entire North of Westfall will be ours. During this time, the gold in Jangolode Mine will be ours to keep! Treasure collected by Coast’s Murlocs from sunken ships will belong to us! Let me say this, we’ll divide the spoils three to seven. 30% for you, 70% for me…”

Old Saldean paused for a whole five minutes before coming to his senses. He answered in fury, “No way! It should be… 70% for us and 30% for you!”

Gryan. “…”

Jason. “…”

Sean. “…”

The others. “…”

After a two-hour marathon of negotiations, Old Saldean and Jason finally gave in to the sly Gryan and settled on a percentage. Gryan received the biggest share of the pie at 60% while Old Saldean’s and the other farmers took home 40%.

Sean had once asked Old Saldean in secret why he agreed to such an unfair deal. Not only did he have to come up with the funds, he received quite a low percentage.

Old Saldean proceeded to inform him that were it not for Gryan and The People’s Militia he formed in Westfall, all the farms would have been done for. Moreover, Gryan’s request for a substantial amount of money was not for himself. The soldiers under him had been having it hard, living hand to mouth. Their armor and longswords were in such terrible condition that some had to resort to fighting with their bare hands…

The fund raising delayed everyone another two days in The Jansen Stead. Several farmers rushed to The Jansen Stead two days later to hand over their Gold Coins to Old Saldean, the entrusted keeper. The group then set out in departure.

Apart from Old Saldean’s party of five, Gryan brought along a team of soldiers, putting the total to ten. All was quiet throughout their journey and soon, they arrived in Goldshire.

The moment Gryan Stoutmantle set foot into Goldshire, he led his team of soldiers to seek Marshal Dughan. It was obvious that there were matters to discuss.

Old Saldean began to rush off his feet in search of familiar merchants to discuss business.

With a thought in mind, Sean hung onto the Level 4 Rogue, Rick.

“Hi, Sean! Do you need me for something?”

In Sean’s vision was a man with unkempt hair, tattered linen clothes, a cunning smile, and clear squinty eyes that spoke of untold hostility. This middle-aged man in his early thirties was Rick, who claimed to be friendly with some Mage from Elwynn Forest.

This Adventurer from Stormwind City had come across people of various hues more often than any ordinary man. It had not been a few days since his arrival at Saldean’s Farm yet Rick was acquainted with everyone. He was on good terms with everyone, especially Sean. The extraordinary young man left quite an impression on him.

“Brother Rick, remember last time, when you mentioned that you’re familiar with a great Mage and are good friends?” Leaning against a wall with folded arms, Sean asked with a smile.

Rick’s eyes lit up. He took a few astute glances at Sean before replying in a seemingly nonchalant manner. “Yes, I followed the Mage for six whole months! I would have become a Mage if it weren’t for my inability to understand such profound Magic! What’s up, Sean? What do you have in mind?”

“So you’re saying that you’re still the Mage’s follower?”

Sean smirked inwardly. With Appraisal Sight, Sean was able to see through Rick to the core yet he dared to play pretend in front of him?

Though such were his thoughts, Sean chuckled. “About that, Brother Rick. Actually, you know a child like me has impractical dreams. I have always wanted to know a distinguished Mage. I was wondering if Brother Rick could do me a favor by introducing me to him?”