Chapter 176. Epic grade Bearkins

Chapter 176: 176. Epic grade Bearkins

Garr followed Carlos to the Bearkin Guardian Hall, looking at the stone in his hand more than the building.

The doorway still had marks along its lower frame where the Guardians had carried their hammers through. Carlos stopped beside one of them and opened the upgrade record.

This building had helped him survive when he barely had a kitchen. Now he finally had something good enough to make it better.

--

[Bearkin Guardian Hall]

[Grade: Rare]

[Epic Troop Building Upgrade Stone: Compatible]

[Upgrade requirements]

[Epic Troop Building Upgrade Stone x1]

[Wood x200]

[Stone x400]

[Iron x200]

[Mana Crystal x5]

--

Carlos read the materials and smiled. The conquest had given him the wood, more stone than this, and enough Mana Crystals.

He had iron in storage too. For once, he could finish something without asking Cosmic to find three different sellers first.

He opened the result beneath it.

--

Bearkin Guardian Hall

Epic Grade

Daily Summon: 2 Bearkin Guardians

Summoned Guardian Grade: Epic

Summoned Guardian Starting Level: 4

Daily Food Consumption: 5 Basic Cooked Meals per Guardian

Building Effect:

Bearkin Guardians training together within the Hall develop coordinated defensive movements more effectively.

Existing Guardians retain their current grade, level and individual abilities.

--

"Level four from the start?" Carlos spoke out loud. He looked at Garr, who was still reading the panel. "Brann just reached that after fighting the huge thing."

"Brann fought," Garr said. "New one has not."

Carlos understood what he meant. He had watched Brann catch his coat while a creature larger than the Lord’s Hut tried to crush both of them. A number did not show how well someone would react to that.

Still, an Epic Guardian starting at Level 4 was something he wanted very much.

"And you can train here too," he said, showing Garr the lower lines. "I wanted something that helped all of you."

Garr touched the frame beside them. His thick fingers covered the old scratches completely.

"Our Hall," he said, then looked at Carlos. "Better."

Carlos was going to accept immediately when he remembered the people inside. He made Garr call everyone out first.

The newer Guardian came with a bowl he had been washing, and Carlos waited until the doorway was empty before checking the stored materials.

The required amounts were transferred from storage. Five Mana Crystals appeared around the upgrade stone in the panel, their light gathering into its bright mark.

"Upgrade."

The stone disappeared from his palm. Light went through the old walls and the roof rose above them, making the Guardian beside Garr step back with his bowl held close.

The Hall grew broader within the checked preview. Its wooden supports became dark beams with pale metal fitted around the joints. The doorway widened, and two thick doors formed where there had only been an open entrance. Carlos could see training posts along the inner wall before the light finished settling.

Garr went inside before Carlos did. He walked between the posts, tested one with his palm, then struck it with the flat side of his hammer. The sound brought Kaia from the nearby yard.

"You completed it?" she asked.

Carlos showed her the new record. She read the starting level, then looked through the doorway at the space where Garr was standing.

"We can practice holding a narrow entrance here," she said. "With the training book I have, there are so many types of training we can make them do to improve formation, my lord."

"Use it. But let Brann finish his treatment first."

"Ada already told him that. He is listening to her for now."

Carlos felt relieved hearing it. Brann had earned a better building today, but Carlos wanted him alive to enjoy it.

Mira came after Kaia, stopping when she saw the altered roof. Carlos held the food line toward her before she could ask whether he intended to summon everything at once.

"One today," he said. "If we have room."

She checked the board she carried, then read the requirement again.

"If it’s 5 meals, we are very comfortable with summoning one more, Carlos. Don’t worry."

He looked at the available summon record. Neither of the Hall’s slots had been used that day. The conquest preparations had taken their morning, and they had left the summons alone.

Carlos selected one.

The dark inside of the doorway brightened. A Bearkin stepped through carrying a broad shield and a hammer with a shorter handle than Garr’s. Deep brown fur covered its shoulders, with a pale strip running beneath its throat. Its armour had metal pieces fitted over the leather, and the shield’s upper edge reached Carlos’s chest when the Guardian rested it on the ground.

--

[Bearkin Guardian summoned]

[Epic Grade]

[Level: 4]

--

Carlos looked at it for a few seconds. He could already imagine this shield at the front of a conquest party.

"Welcome to Ironroot," he said. "Garr will show you where you live. Kaia here commands the defence, and you will train with the others. The fields are important so keep the hammer out of them."

The Guardian placed its fist over its chest.

"Understood, my lord."

Garr stood beside it and looked serious but in such a good way that Carlos smiled too.

Mira called a Hearthkeeper over to prepare its first meal, while Kaia began asking how it had been taught to hold the shield.

Carlos left them together after hearing the answer. He wanted to tell Brann what had changed, but his Lord panel opened before he reached the treatment table.

--

[Cosmic Merchant]- Are you back? I want to come over. Tell me when you have a little time, bro. We need to speak in person.

[Carlos Goldwin]- We are back. Sixth one is done. Come now, I will grant access.

--

Cosmic arrived after a little time, alone, after Carlos authorised his visit. He stopped inside the entrance, looking from the wider Hall to the cultivated ground beyond the houses.

His gaze stayed on the dark soil for a moment. Then he looked at the new Troll near the yard and the empty strip where the wagons had once stood.

"You have been busy," he said.

"You helped with most of it."

"I helped with the trades. Seeing it together is different."

They walked past the kitchen. Mira greeted Cosmic from the doorway, and he congratulated her himself this time.

He asked about Brann after noticing the treatment table, listening while Carlos told him about the wound and the level-up.

Rowan passed them with Sela carrying a seed tray. Cosmic turned completely around to look at him.

"That is Rowan?"

Carlos nodded, enjoying his friend’s expression. "I have a lot to tell you. He evolved."

"I can see that."

Cosmic watched the white cloth move around the Dryad’s shoulders, then looked over Ironroot again.

There was something settled in his face now. Carlos recognised the look from when Cosmic had decided on a price and was waiting for the other person to stop talking.

"What?" Carlos asked. "You came for something, so say it."

Cosmic faced him.

"I want to put my territory under yours, Carlos. Permanently. I want to become your subordinate Lord."