Chapter 2: The Assessment and The Skeptic
The castle was silent save for the scraping sound of Elara testing the tensile strength of a loose cobblestone with the toe of her boot.
"Six days, Baron," she repeated, her voice a low, mechanical hum that held no fear. "The Marauder convergence is not a patrol. It is a full company. They will use the river valley, approach in the pre-dawn mist, and burn the structures while you sleep."
Valerius stood in the skeletal courtyard, the Shadow System's interface hovering just at the periphery of his vision. The timer, visible only to him, pulsed a sickly crimson: T-Minus 6 Days, 11 Hours.
"The siege is intended to be bloodless for them," Valerius observed, adjusting the ruined collar of his tunic. "Theron wants me gone, but he wants the cleanup to be quick and quiet. Our resources are insufficient for a conventional defense."
Elara didn't look up. "Our resources are insufficient for any defense. We have seven non-combatants, a crumbling wall with three feasible breaches, and zero standardized weaponry. I have mapped the tactical weakness of the keep. Without immediate material investment, the fight is over before it begins."
Valerius nodded, satisfied. Elara was perfectly suited for his needs: cold, focused, and utterly lacking in the debilitating sentiment that had doomed his plans in his last life. Her assessment was a dry summary of numbers and geometry, not morale.
He accessed the Shadow System. He had spent his single Shadow Seed on the Advanced Crop Rotation Schematic. He needed to generate at least 20 System Points (SP) to afford the next two critical items: the Basic Fortification Design and the Alchemically Enhanced Munitions (AEM) Formula.
The System helpfully highlighted the current local materials on its Tier 1 Resource List:
• Common Material: Old Wood, Chipped Stone, Rusty Iron (low yield, slow collection).
• Shadow Material: Shadow-Touched Soil (medium yield, volatile, linked to the cursed border).
The choice was clear. Slow collection would see him killed. He needed the volatile, high-value Shadow-Touched Soil. This forced him to leave the keep immediately, a calculated risk.
But first, he had to address the current population.
He gathered the seven terrified inhabitants—six adults and the small child—in the courtyard. Torvin, the Peasant Elder, stood slightly apart, his face a mask of mistrust and spiritual exhaustion.
"The first enemy we fight is the land itself," Valerius stated, his voice carrying the authority of his former rank, if not his current one. "Famine will kill us before the Marauders do."
Torvin finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Baron, the land is cursed. We have prayed, we have bled for it. Only the Mother's mercy—"
"The Mother's mercy requires effort, Torvin. I did not purchase a prayer scroll in the capital. I acquired knowledge." Valerius opened the Advanced Crop Rotation Schematic in his mind, then projected the key images of specialized soil mixing and calculated planting patterns onto the surface of a nearby broken stone slab using a minute flicker of his System energy.
Torvin peered at the diagrams—complex, almost mystical patterns that utilized certain local weeds for soil enrichment. His jaw slowly dropped.
"This… this is faster than the spring planting," Torvin stammered. "It uses the soil's natural poison to feed the roots. This is heresy!"
"It is survival," Valerius countered, letting the accusation of heresy hang in the air. This was the friction he needed. He was forcing the Tech Uplift into a world bound by tradition. [2] "You are in charge of its implementation. You will clear the scrubland immediately, starting with the old garden plot. Failure to prove its success in the next three days means we starve, and the Marauders claim a desolate land."
Valerius gave him a small, carved wooden tool—a necessary instrument for precise measurements in the schematic—to cement his authority. He had given the Elder a purpose, a challenge, and a strategic distraction.
With the peasants reluctantly set to work, Valerius turned back to Elara. "The crop is a mid-term solution. The Marauders are the short-term reality. We need SP for the AEM."
Elara immediately unfurled a crude parchment map of the Barony's surrounding territory—she had drawn it by sight, proving her tactical eye. She pointed to a jagged ravine five kilometers north, nestled close to the border markers.
"The largest concentration of Shadow-Touched Soil is here, Baron," she stated, tapping the map. "The area is unstable. The raw material is volatile before conversion. It is protected by residual curse energy—at minimum, three Grade D Shadow Beasts. It is a high-risk extraction."
"Then we shall execute a high-risk extraction," Valerius confirmed, his eyes glinting with ruthless excitement. He saw a system challenge, not a monster fight. "The Shadow Seed acquisition must be completed before dawn tomorrow. Elara, prepare yourself. We move in one hour. We will take nothing that suggests our true strength, and we will leave no witness."
Valerius walked toward his study, leaving the desperate preparations of his Barony behind. He had delegated the long-term survival (food) to the Elder and the short-term defense (war) to Elara. Now, he had to secure the currency that fueled them both.
He quickly reviewed the System: Shadow-Touched Soil: Conversion Yield 15–20 SP. Warning: Volatile.
One hour. The fate of the Barony rides on the volatility of cursed dirt.