Farmer Soldiers
Step, retreat, jump...
Slash, thrust, defend...
Alan held the Cross Sword, training meticulously. It didn't take long before he was panting heavily, large beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Huff... This great sword is powerful, but if I go all out, it exhausts my strength within minutes... On the battlefield, this is something to be mindful of..."
In mortal combat, nothing drains one's energy more.
As some say, if a duel between two people exceeds five minutes, it's just a performance.
Alan deeply understood this point and knew that the initial clash on the battlefield is often the most brutal, with soldiers' stamina depleting rapidly.
"As long as I survive the initial dangerous moments and avoid stray arrows, survival shouldn't be a big problem..."
He thought to himself, seeing Colin not far away, excitedly trying on a set of Full Armor.
This was a gift from the lord, a set of finely crafted Full Armor valued as much as a knight's estate, providing astonishing defense on the battlefield and greatly increasing survival chances!
As for Alan, he only had a set of Leather Armor...
Perhaps, only when he left the territory would he get a set of Full Armor and become a wandering knight. That would depend on Colin's generosity.
However, Alan didn't feel much jealousy and silently returned to the castle.
After lunch, he instructed the maid not to disturb him and immediately took a nap.
During the day, one can also enter dreams.
...
Boom.
The same darkness, the same sensation of falling and twitching.
Alan was already familiar with it. He opened his eyes and saw a dark sea.
Countless blood and scales were still floating on the sea surface, seemingly recounting the horrors of the previous battle.
He looked up and saw a night sky like a pitch-black velvet curtain, and... a crimson moon!
"Damn... The original moon wasn't this color. But the moon, or rather, a satellite at night, relies on reflecting the star's light, so it turned scarlet as well?"
Although this world might not strictly follow the rules of his previous life, this was the most reasonable explanation Alan could come up with.
"I'm sorry... I really didn't do it on purpose."
Alan Sothos apologized to the air and then began to feel himself.
In this world, he was a pure observer from beyond multiple dimensions. Besides changing the sun last time, he couldn't really do anything.
But tonight, the situation seemed a bit different.
"I... can move?"
Alan adjusted his perspective to confirm that he had moved a short distance, almost crying with joy.
God bless!
Since he started dreaming as an infant, he had been stuck at this coordinate, almost sick of the fixed scenery!
And now, he could finally move his perspective!
"It seems that all changes started with changing the sun..."
Alan carefully recalled the subtle differences.
"Could it be as I guessed, that sixteen years of accumulation has finally undergone a qualitative change... Though I used all my sixteen years of power to change the sun, my essence also changed in some way, so after today's dream entry, accumulating another unit of energy, I can move?"
Alan named the slight enhancement he gained each day from Dream Entry as a unit of energy.
And his recent movement had consumed this energy. Since it was only a day's accumulation in the real world, he moved a short distance.
"Being able to do this, it seems my life in the dream world will finally be less mundane..."
Alan let out a long breath.
To be honest, when he changed the sun before, he had to admit the madness surging in his heart, containing some of his dark and crazy thoughts, even the notion of world destruction.
After all, for a person stuck here, imprisoned for sixteen years, it's a wonder he didn't go mad.
"But, what will this mutated world look like?"
Alan had some expectations and began to move in a direction, relying on the moon and stars in the sky.
"Hope there's a continent at the end of the ocean... though... it's unclear what state it is in now..."
...
The Sothos Family occupies the Green Forest, forming a settlement around Sothos Fort of a small town scale, home to tens of thousands.
Additionally, they have gradually cleared ten or so villages in the forest, and some wild tribes follow their command.
The castle constantly maintains a hundred guards, which is already a certain limit of the feudal era.
Of course, if a real war breaks out, they can conscript farmers into soldiers, but they lack discipline and combat power. In Alan's view, they just make noise.
At this moment, Alan was looking at a team that had just been pulled from the fields, mostly in rags and equipped with simple weapons like pitchforks, frowning.
'These guys, even if they go to the battlefield, are just cannon fodder…'
'A cannon-fodder leader leading a cannon-fodder camp, that fits.'
Alan looked at the disorderly, crookedly lined-up militiamen, showing no expression on his face, and said loudly: "I am Alan of the Sothos Family! Alan Sothos, your captain! From today on, you must follow my orders! Now, split into teams of ten and select your squad leaders!"
He watched the farmer soldiers instantly descend into chaos, deep in thought.
In the feudal era, wars between noble classes were quite polite.
For instance, in the Spring and Autumn period, warfare was very ceremonial, with no capturing of enemy monarchs and treating enemy nobles with courtesy, waiting for ransom.
In Fusang and medieval Europe, the situation was similar, and even displaced noble descendants received wide sympathy.
The so-called 'prince's revenge story' kept replaying because of this notion.
'But this is a different world, and the situation differs; this isn't just for a wild boar.'
Two lords rallying hundreds of fighters over prey might just be a medieval lordly pastime.
But this time was different!
Alan could feel Theodore's ambition in his heart. The Green Forest was too small to accommodate two lords!
And the upstream Davis Family seemed to share the same idea.
This war would be unprecedented and the last thing Alan wanted to see.
"Perhaps, after this battle, one family in the Green Forest will be completely wiped out..."
(Chapter End)