Chapter 324: Heavy Handed
The military encampment of System Cities was located within city limits, overlooked by the City Lord's Tower-a large structure that could, quite frankly, overlook the entire city.
It didn't have the usual beats of an encampment even though it was named as such. The roads weren't dusted and packed with coarse sand, there wasn't the scent of blood and sweat in the air, and all things considered, it felt more like one was walking into a world of bureaucracy than it felt like one was about to conscript their life away.
This encampment was, obviously, well-guarded as this region also doubled as the weapon's treasury of the city as well. The facilities were robust, and with just a glance, Sylas knew that it would be a pipe dream for anyone to hope for a Military Victory against this System City any time soon.
The moment Sylas appeared, the air changed, and there were suddenly a great number of people trying to please him. Without displaying much of anything, most knew who he was. But it didn't take him long to figure out that was because his Noble Title was displayed along with his name.
[Baron Sylas Grimblade]
This was what was displayed any time an official of the city tried to scan him, and they reacted with the fervor that only a Noble Title could deserve.
It didn't take more than an hour before Sylas was processed, handed his standard military gear, and granted a military rank.
The System City army only had one branch. There was no navy or air force equivalent, just land units. This shouldn't be a hard-set rule, but at least for Guiz City's current standing, there were no such surprises.
Sylas was immediately granted the title of Captain, the lowest ranked official with commanding capacity. Above this were Colonels, who commanded 100 men, and Generals who commanded 1,000. Sylas himself only commanded 10, but this was also good enough for him for now.
The army was exceptionally small, only having 10,000 men. So Sylas was actually one of a thousand Captains.
What made this so good was that System Cities, as he had said, were designed specifically for the population of the Summoned World. That meant that Sylas didn't need to wait for Colonels to die or be aged out. So long as he gathered enough Military Points, he would be directly promoted.
The fact that the military of the city was so simple and streamlined made things far easier for him.
[City-Wide Message]
[The Military Hero System has been unlocked. As the first Hero of Guiz City, Baron Sylas Grimblade will be directly given 100 Military Hero Points]
Sylas was less surprised this time and opened up his Military Hero System.
[Military Title: Captain]
[Hero Points: 100]
[Achievements]
[>First to become Captain]
...
[Trade Hub]
...
[>Viscount Promotion - 1,000 Hero Points]
[>Colonel Promotion - 10,000 Hero Points]
The Trade Hub was something that Sylas had known about ahead of time. It could be used to purchase land, erase Demerits, influence legislation, and, obviously, accept Promotion.
With his 100 points, Sylas could already do a great many things such as...
[>One-day Leave of Absence - 10 Hero Points]
[>Purchase Barony Lands - 100 Hero Points]
[>Purchase Common Store Front - 100 Hero Points]
[>Upgrade Standard Issue Armor to Common Grade - 100 Hero Points]
There were quite a lot of other enticing things.
The Standard Issue Armor, though, was obviously entirely useless to Sylas, which was a shame because he had to have it on in order to activate his Captain Title.
The Captain Title provided an even greater boost than his Baron of Guiz Title, a full 50%, in fact. And the best part was that it was attached to the armor and not a certain range. Unfortunately, that didn't matter in the slightest with these Scorned Wraps doing their favorite ankle weight impression.
Still, Sylas had his eyes on several other things. But for now, they didn't matter much to him.
...
Sylas called forth his small squadron of ten. All of them were Level 14 FF+ warriors. He would certainly be able to defeat one of them easily on his own, but if the ten of them worked together, unless he Fused with the Basilisk King, it would be troublesome.
Still, these ten would be the foundation of his quick rise.
He gave himself a time limit of one month to become a General. Only when he became a General would he be within striking distance of taking over the City Lord position.
These ten were under Sylas' direct command, and he likewise had the ability to outfit them, upgrade them, and curate their loyalty as though he was running a city of his own.
However, right now...
[Favorability: 2/10]
It was understandable that their Favorability was so low. This wasn't a video game. Using shortcuts to rise to the rank of Captain so quickly would obviously dissatisfy these hardened warriors. It could be said that they were only standing here because they were strict in following military orders, not because they respected Sylas.
Sylas could feel the oddity in the air even without checking their Favorability. The numbers only confirmed what he already knew, but he didn't say anything about it directly. He only
nodded.
"Come with me."
He turned and instead of walking out of the military encampment, he made his way deeper. "Steward, is the sparring arena open?" Sylas called out casually.
"Ah, Captain Grimblade, yes, yes."
An older man who had his well-dressed appearance somewhat marred by a hunched back stepped forward, eager to serve. He had been the one to help Sylas expedite his military
appointment.
"Good. I'll be sparring with my squad. Outfit them with any weapons and armor they ask for.
They seem to be a bit dissatisfied with their Captain."
The ten men were stunned, not expecting Sylas to be such a tough nut.
"Baron, this is unnecessary." Jean, one of the ten, stepped forward to advise against this.
Sylas gave him a glance and didn't speak immediately. "... It seems I'll have to be a bit more heavy-handed later."