It didn't take long for Ezra to realize his assumptions were off-mark.
Mastering the fundamentals of a staff helped, but not as much as he thought it would.
He fished out a combat manual on scythes and looked through.
This training session would be longer than the last one, but he couldn't abandon the advancement of his vassals for that long.
So…
'One month. I'll understand the changes in my body in one month'
While he trained, so did his mother.
The count brought her a new instructor, one whose loyalty had been tested and tried several times.
—---------------
Elsewhere.
"Where were you working before?
"I worked in Traxford as a merchant. Why?"
Fredrick sat across Mirahan, questioning him as Nathan was in Traxford.
"How long did you work there?"
"It's been three years"
"How much did you make?"
"About…"
"How.Much.Did.You.Make?"
"Twenty to thirty gold on average. forty on better days, sixty on the best days"
"Hmm, how much of that was yours?"
"Ah…half of my earnings"
"What did you do before that?"
"Hehe" he scratched his beard.
"I worked as an adventurer before I concluded I wasn't cut out for it"
Fredrick nodded slowly.
"What do you know about Nathan?"
"Well, I know he's a jewelry merchant"
"How long have you known him?"
"Not long, about six months"
Fredrick was intrigued.
"Six months?"
"Yes. As far as I know, he's a relatively new merchant"
'Wow. I put a greenhorn merchant in charge of a million platinum'
He exhaled aloud.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just to know more about the person I'm working with is all"
Mirahan nodded as it seemed reasonable enough.
Fredrick left, many things on his mind.
If nothing else…
'I need to find a better merchant'
But it wasn't going to be easy.
Fredrick had his work cut out for him.
—-----------------
The war continued as casualties swelled on all sides, and in no time, a month passed.
Ezra called in Ashton for his advancement after confirming with Theron the positive effects of the cultivation method.
Ezra did for Ashton what he did for Theron, albeit with improvements.
Rather than throwing a mana stone in his mouth, he wraps it on his palm, covering it, then he draws in mana from his hand into his body, then out the other into Ashton's body.
History repeated itself as impurities washed out the body of both boys, followed by blood, though little of it.
After this, Ezra realized that the effect of this form of cultivation was waning, simply because his body was getting used to it.
Meaning that the amount of impurities cleared out was less than the first, but much thicker.
Nevertheless, the impurities in his body were not that much anymore, and by the fifth time - since he would help the rest of his vassals' advancement - he would've cleansed himself entirely of impurities.
Alas, that might take longer than expected.
One, because understanding of the change in his body took longer, and two, because his meridians needed rest after cultivation, and each session lengthened that time.
Cultivation was an exercise of the meridians, so using them recklessly could lead to death or disability.
This time, he took two months to recuperate.
Meanwhile, Fredrick was setting up chains of operations in Irondale, Pierland and Qunchester with the help of the three D-rank groups, learning of their economies and the slums, and how best to make use of them.
The royal advisor refused to pay ten times the initial price to acquire a quarter of Kingsmere's businesses, instead paying six times the price after a lot of tussle.
At this time, Mirahan's worth became apparent, as his experience helped Fredrick in ways Nathan hadn't.
He took him as a candidate to replace Nathan, and had Williams come learn under him.
Cabrera oversaw the ongoing reinstatement of the Traxford slums, while Nathan found himself managing less and less funds - Fredrick's doing.
The completion of Kinsgmere's slum transformation came after. Black Jaws got a new and improved guild hall, erected at the center of the slum as a two-story building, taking the shape of a slanting rectangle.
Fredrick sweeps away useless guild members by locking them in isolated chambers within the underground compartment of the new guild hall while fully armored to go against a trained beast matching them in rank.
The test took a span of thirty-five days because of the many participants.
To no surprise, a bit more than half of them are annihilated, numbering more than eight hundred.
The survivors were ranked according to how fast they finished the test, then presented with a gallery of labeled artifacts and herbs to choose from.
Thereafter, they were appointed ranks 1-100, denoting the strongest hundred of each rank, which came with added privileges.
Shortly after, they are tossed into the wilds to hunt beasts once more.
This was Ezra's doing.
Like society, such a system would spark competition to newer heights, allowing the strong to grow stronger while the weak grew weaker or perished, but there was a catch.
As one grew stronger, their reliance on their guild would increase.
Items of Dark Gold-rank and beyond were tagged with astronomical prices in the market.
From food, to herbs, to potions, to armor, there were too many things one needed money for.
As one grew stronger, the requirements to advance staggered and the prices skyrocketed to a point where it was near impossible to come up with such an amount on one's lonesome.
This was why Experts in any field were respected, and those beyond were exalted.
But for Black Jaws, the one thing they had in abundance was money!
With it, they could buy quality items, providing them to their members at a lesser price or replace the fee with something else.
The strong ones would have to complete guild missions - in short, do as they were told - to receive it!
With them rushing to grow stronger, they would be trapping themselves to serve the guild indirectly.
It seemed ingenious, but it wasn't much different from how other guilds operated.
For others, the guild master would suppress the members covertly to protect his position while amassing wealth from the efforts of the same members to grow his strength.
So, it should not be surprising that more than 80% of guilds don't last five years before disbanding, only for the members to join another guild or create their own.
All in all, Ezra created a system that would continue to produce strong combatants, amassing an army.
Half a month later, Ezra did the same procedure for Roxanne, who'd grown a foot taller.
The next session would happen in three months.
While his cultivation paused, his weapon mastery grew in leaps and bounds, and his bracers were exchanged for heavier ones.
Another two months passed, Fredrick welcomed - hired - formation experts to the (new) guild hall.
With their expertise, formations were set up within all cultivation chambers in the span of a month, signaling its completion.
Many of them offered to join the guild, but few accepted when presented with a contract.
Now in the third month, Cabrera got scarlet horns - an F-rank guild residing in Qunchester that he was connected to - to join Black Jaws, becoming their subsidiary guild in Qunchester.
He replaced their guild master with Carl - one of his boys.
Things didn't work out so easily in Irondale and Pierland, as external forces had begun guarding against their approach.
They had grown in fame, though not too much, but the ongoing projects of transforming Traxford slums had caught the eye of the poor and the powerful.
Buffered, Black Jaws could not be outrightly harmed or challenged, so they sought shrewder means.
They isolated them.
Black Jaws members were denied sittings in any hotel and were discriminated against in taverns and other gatherings.
The guild members could not attack, as they had not been physically harmed, so they suffered silently.
But do not worry, Mr. Money came to their aid.
Deploying one of man's most lethal weaknesses, Black Jaws turned people against each other, buying businesses at an astronomical price to provide their members with comfort.
During the past three months, Black Jaws exploded in members, adding an additional thousand to their ranks.
These numbers were then spread across Pierland, Qunchester and Irondale to increase the speed of expansion.
Many - as Ezra learnt - weren't fit for battle.
So, instead of killing those weak, they were given positions in businesses Black Jaw's acquired, to have them slave away for the guild.
A loyal member - one stronger than the workers - headed the operation to avoid mishaps.
This allowed for a drastic increase in efficiency, which translated into revenue.
All things being equal, the downside was Bolton being against their actions.
He could not buy them all back, so he opted to take a large share of their profits, thereby taxing their businesses at double the normal rate.
At this juncture, something crucial came into play.
Black Jaw's tax exemption, which Cabrera bargained for from the sentinel.
Actually, it was always in play, Bolton just hadn't noticed until now.
When he did notice, he was outraged, imagining himself ripping Kogar's head off.
Meanwhile, Ezra helped Johan advance, proceeding to laugh his head off once Fredrick told him about Bolton's failed ploy.
He postpones Velora's advancement another three months, making her the weakest of the five.
In no time at all, another three months passed.
Nine months had flashed by.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter