Chapter 196 - 195

"We're going to need more equipment. Bows and arrows at the points, or siege weapons of some sort so the Doll Warriors can shoot at attackers since they don't have a skill for that. And then furniture, a lot of furniture."

"We can get [Multi Shot] enchanted Hwacha. They shoot fifty arrows at a time and can reach the dunes if you're firing from the wall. You'll just need someone to fill their mana storage." Carlos suggests. 

"The Flame Sisters have mana Totems will that do it?"

"I guess, it won't be a fast rate of fire, but it's something." Carlos shrugs. 

"The idea is to have the defenses automated, left to Maggie as much as possible. So three at each cardinal point, to be manned by the dolls, should do. That's a lot of arrows in one direction. Things will get easier as my level goes up because I'll be able to increase the number of Summons the Lieutenants get."

"You've got one more Lieutenant left to call as well, don't you?" Carlos asks. 

Cain does, but does he want to let the system troll him twice in one day? He's not sure if that's a good idea or if it will just lead to something especially strange. 

[Do it. You know you want to.] The Oath Breaker whispers into his mind. 

"Might as well call it then. Who knows, maybe we'll get something awesome and overpowered." Cain says out loud. 

[Target may only be selected as Lieutenant 1 Time. Randomize Lieutenant?] Y/N

Yes. Like ripping off a bandaid, it's best to get it all over with at once. 

[Please Select A Name to finalize appearance.]

[David] 

[Name Unavailable. Randomized Name Selected] 

He knew it, he just knew it, the system is messing with him. No giant slayer for him today.

[Creating Lieutenant] 

This Lieutenant is much smaller than the last one. Much smaller. It also seems to be getting shorter. Did he Summon a gnome? 

Cain can hear a childish giggle even before it becomes clear what he's Summoned as his final Lieutenant, indicating that whatever this tiny being is, is unlikely to be a serious combatant. As the barrier surrounding the Summon becomes clearer, Cain sees long black hair, black, silky clothes, and matching wings. Big, fluffy, black feathered wings. 

The Lieutenant jumps up, opening her wings to reveal a young girl, perhaps in her early grade school years, in a loosely worn black kimono, her long black hair flying loose around her with bare feet. She flaps her wings and lifts into the air, circling Cain with great interest. 

"I should have kept my mouth shut, you pulled a weird one this time. Can you take a mulligan, get a do-over?" Carlos says, looking at the strange flying child.

"No, wait, it was just a joke. You should have seen your faces when you all thought I was a tiny four-legged creature. I swear, I'm a Proper Tengu, I can help." The petite flying Lieutenant declares. 

[Name] Sora

[Race] Tengu

[Class] Prankster

[Lieutenant] to Cain

"Well Sora, tell me, what skills does a Tengu Prankster have?" Cain asks.

"Other than the Summons for being a Lieutenant, I'm a really good Archer and a skilled illusionist. Nobody in the Tengu Kingdom can create a better illusionary Army than I can." She says proudly. 

She links her skill in a message to Cain. 

[Illusionary Army] create casters level in Summons at level/10 strength. Illusions have access to all of the real version's abilities with reduced effects. 

That's pretty cool actually. They're illusionary combat Puppets. Not strong, but plentiful enough to distract an enemy away from the real threat. 

"How about we go to the wall and you can create your Illusionary Army out in the desert, so we can see how fearsome the enemy will find it?" Carlos suggests, dubious of her claims. 

The little Tengu grabs Cain and flies him to the wall at breakneck speed. "You'll see, it'll be awesome and everyone will congratulate me." She insists and Cain can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Alright, I'm prepared to be impressed."

"Behold, the Army of Heaven!" Sora shouts, and a hundred and forty or so six-winged Seraphim appear in the sky.

They're all at Epic Quality and level 14. That alone is pretty cool, then they start glowing with golden light and a massive number of additional summons appear. The ground forces of the Heavenly Host from the Seraphim dungeon, but level 14. They're in groups of 28, standing around waiting on a command. 

"See, see. Praise me." Sora declares pointing at her illusion. 

Cain has to admit even at level 14, thousands of infantry look very impressive. The huge mass of six-winged holy beings can't be ignored either. They can cast some impressive holy magic, and being hit by it a hundred times is bound to hurt.

Not just that, if you saw this army, in addition to Cain's army, anyone would panic, thinking they were all at the same power level. 

"Okay, Epic Quality Seraphim is pretty impressive, I'm not going to argue that," Carlos says, finally arriving on the wall. 

Sora looks confused at his words and sets Cain down to fly over and poke her summons, looking them over closely. 

"That's weird, they're usually Elite Quality." She mutters and Cain understands what's going on. She doesn't get the benefit of all his skills, being a Lieutenant, but as a Summon, her Quality has increased a Rank, and these particular solidified Illusions are based on her power level. The same will be true of Maggie, her quality will be better, and her stats higher, than the average Lieutenant. 

They're both technically duplicates created by the [Lieutenant] ability after all. They just got randomized. 

"Well, we can release the illusionary army now. I'm convinced that you're fully capable of serving as a Lieutenant, assisting Maggie in base defense, or helping me complete tasks." Cain says and immediately gets smothered in feathers as Sora hugs him.

Once she's done hugging she doesn't let go, but shifts sideways, still hanging off Cain, so he wraps an arm underneath the Tengu and walks down off the wall. 

The rest of the Guild should be awake now, and Cain promised them a dungeon run to help those near level 100 pass the breakpoint. The Sculptors should be hard at work all day though, so he will let everyone sleep a while and see how far they can get in updating the Keep interior.

Inside, many of the small repetitive details are already carved, the Sculptors using their class abilities to move smoothly through the easy parts. They've also done the entryway and major rooms on the first floor, putting statues and wall carvings all through the public areas of the main floor. They've also replaced the throne in the throne room, with a huge stone version that looks like you're sitting in a Seraphim's lap, the six wings forming the bulk of the throne.

It's over the top, but then, it's in a huge white marble keep, nothing in here is subdued and understated. 

The throne room has a double row of pillars running its length, an addition by the Old Dwarf for structural reasons, but they've all been carved to depict angelic sentries.

The wolfkin waves as Cain enters. "I'm almost done in here. I had a whole sketchbook full of angels and I think I got them all in this room and one bedroom upstairs."

"Good job, the place looks amazing." Cain congratulates her and moves on to see the rest of the keep. 

They did have a lot stored up, there are carvings, decorations, and statues everywhere, turning the entire keep into an art museum. Even the bedrooms all have themes, both carved into them and painted on the ceilings. One human artist has been assigned or has chosen to do all the common area stained glass windows, each depicting a different creature. Monsters, animals, people, they're all here somewhere. The windows are narrow and swing open in case you need to attack out in an emergency, but they look amazing. 

[One hour and the keep should be ready to start bringing in furniture.] Cain sends in Guild chat, knowing they've got a lot available, it just needs to be brought here. And paid for by the Guild of course. He doesn't expect anyone to work for free. 

[We'll be ready. The training dummies showed up today too. Do you want them?] Misha sends back. 

[Yeah, bring most of them here, send some to Char. I think our new Lieutenants will enjoy helping the recruits train.]

"Did you call for more friends? Are they nice? Do they fly?" Sora asks, talking so fast she's stumbling over her words. 

"Calm down. They're the Guild members, if the Commander invited them, of course, they're nice. But how many transfers fly?" Maggie reprimands the Tengu, her height advantage making Sora feel tiny, even while she's being carried by Cain.

"Actually, I've got Dragon companions, and so does one of the other members, plus there are Pixies, so you'll have people to fly with soon." Cain smiles, patting the little one's head.. He could get used to that, she's so soft, even her hair feels fluffy like feathers.