Chapter 264 - Gathering the Forces (Part 3)

Zander and Gustof were still discussing something with Zekiah when Wolstan's party reached the camp. Zander was surprised to see so many men accompanying his aide.

"What's the meaning of this?" Zander glared at the man.

"My apologies, Commander, but they insist to tag along."

"Good day Commander Zander. I was the one who told this good man to take us to you. We have a way to travel fast to Tissuria. In fact, you can be there in a blink of an eye – literally," Wolsatn winked at Zander.

"What kind of sorcery are you talking about, grandpa?"

Zander already knew that Wolstan was a former King of Tissuria and Vaughn's great-grandfather.

"Not sorcery but dark magic," Wolstan gave Zander a meaningful smile.

"Is there any difference?"

Wolstan could not say anything anymore.

'Come to think of it, there's really no difference. I guess the people of Ishelon prefer to call it sorcery, and we from Tissuria are used to calling it dark magic.'

"Well, I guess there's not much difference. But sorcery commonly uses mind manipulation instead of actual magic."

"So, how can we travel there in a blink of an eye?"

"Commander, allow us to demonstrate," Jorick interrupted and nodded at Duke Gordon.

They chose to teleport the horse, which was resting underneath the tree, to the doorway of the camp. Zander was apprehensive at first, but he still agreed in the end.

Duke Gordon began calculating for the right angle and spot for Jorick to concentrate his magic. After three minutes, he guided Jorick in performing the process of teleportation. It was a success!

Zander could not believe what just happened and requested another demonstration. Duke Gordon chose a remote distance. Zander suggested using the same horse to teleport. He tried computing for the distance without leaving his spot. That way, he would be able to calculate the distance from Ishelon to Tissuria. Or, he could always consult a map.

Because it was his first time to calculate such a distance to teleport, he chose to use a chair for the test. He wanted to know if a miscalculation could lead to irreparable damage.

He tried using the wrong angle and told Jorick about it. He explained to everyone that he wanted to know what would happen in case they failed to get the correct angle to direct Jorick's magic. Jorick nodded his head and began.

Nothing happened to the chair, and it just stayed in its original spot. However, no one could move the chair. It appeared to be stuck in its place. Duke Gordon told everyone to wait for a while before trying to move the chair once more. To their amazement, Zander was able to lift the chair after half an hour of waiting.

Duke Gordon wondered if Azer and his men were stuck somewhere when the opening of the portal suddenly closed. He had no idea whether Azer had first created a dimensional array and then proceeded to teleportation. Because his attempt to teleport directly to the target destination had failed so many times, according to Richaem, Azer resorted to trying other means. He did not realize that he simply made a miscalculation.

The chair did not break down or shattered into smithereens. That was good news for Duke Gordon. At least, no one would perish in case he made a mistake in his calculations. The worst that could happen was staying in the same spot, without the ability to move, for at least half an hour.

"Now, can we proceed to the actual test? If that's the only setback, we can take it as long as nothing major would happen to us."

"Commander, let me do a couple of trials using different angles." Duke Gordon did not want to encounter any mishap during the actual long-distance teleportation of humans and animals.

Zander nodded his head and observed. After adjusting the angle, Duke Gordon told Jorick to try once more. They got the same result as the first one. The last trial also gave them the same result.

Duke Gordon heaved a sigh of relief. They prepared the same horse to be teleported. Duke Gordon gave the correct angle to Jorick, and they began the process. The horse was teleported to the target destination – unharmed.

"Can you teleport it to the King's palace?"

Duke Gordon felt cold all over. What would the King of Ishelon think when he learned that a horse appeared from nowhere? Zander shook his head and read the Young Duke's mind.

"Don't worry. You will teleport it to the King's stable. My men are guarding the palace anyway and would naturally notify me first when they found something odd."

"About that… I am not familiar with Ishelon. I might not be able to come up with the correct distance."

"Relax. I have a map of the entire Ishelon complete with the distance that we need to travel from here."

Zander signaled Higgs to get the map. They unfurled the gigantic map and posted it against the wall. Duke Gordon was amazed. He could easily calculate the distance and angle without fail.

After some time, they prepared the horse on its journey. With Duke Gordon's guidance, Jorick was able to teleport the horse to the King's stable. After a few minutes, they received a message that a horse that looked like the one in the camp suddenly appeared in the King's stable. The sender was asking Zander for the instruction regarding the horse.

"Ha-ha-ha, it's a success! We can teleport to Tissuria in no time."

Duke Gordon hesitated. He forgot to take into consideration the number of people and horses to teleport.

'What if a mishap suddenly occurs? We need to do another test.'

"Is it possible to teleport a huge crowd?" Jorick suddenly asked.

Zander and the rest suddenly fell silent and looked at the Young Duke.

"I suggest we do another test using ten horses."

"Make it a hundred," Zander suggested.

Duke Gordon, Jorick, Wolstan, and the rest of the people that Zenia brought to Ishelon were surprised at Zander's statement. He talked about a hundred horses as if the number was small.

A hundred horses were gathered immediately. According to the Young Duke's calculations, the number should not be a problem.

"Commander, where do you want to teleport the horses?"

"In the King's stable," Zander answered without batting an eyelid and turned his head to Higgs and ordered, "Send a message to the King's stable and tell them to get ready to receive a hundred horses."

"Right away, Commander."

Duke Gordon and Jorick began to teleport the horses upon Zander's signal. They hoped that everything would turn out fine.

* * * * *

The deadline to finish the crossbows had finally come. Vaughn and Zenia went out early to visit the Master Weaponsmith. Zenia couldn't wait to test the crossbows one by one.

"You look so happy even though we are going to go on a battle soon," Vaughn teased his wife.

"Why wouldn't I? This new weapon might bring me a lot of money."

"Are you planning to sell it?"

"That depends. I'm really not sure what kind of business to open in Tissuria."

"Whatever it is you can tell me once you have decided. I can give you a good place to put up the business that you intend to start."

"Hmm," Zenia leaned to Vaughn and gave him a kiss on his cheek and added, "I know I can depend on you."

He was taken by surprise when his wife suddenly kissed him, but it was not enough. He wanted more. He pulled Zenia close to him and was about to kiss her deeply when…

"Crown Prince, Crown Princess we are here."

The coachman stopped the carriage in front of the shop of the Master Weaponsmith. Zenia turned crimson immediately while Vaughn…well, he wanted to strangle the coachman for interrupting.

They got down after a few minutes. Zenia tried to compose herself while Vaughn was thinking of kicking the coachman. Mr. Smith welcomed them and showed the finished crossbows. Zenia checked them one by one.

"Is there a place where we can these crossbows?"

"This way please."

Mr. Smith led the couple to a spacious yard where a customer could test the weapon. They already prepared a target. Zenia's eyes gleamed when she saw the testing area. There were different kinds of targets – small, big, wide, skinny, and irregular shapes.

Zenia handed Vaughn one of the crossbows, "Come, you can try these weapons with me."

Zenia taught Vaughn how to operate the crossbow, and they began testing each crossbow. Vaughn couldn't believe how powerful it was. The best part was he could shoot the arrows in succession.

"When we use these, only ten men will shoot the arrows while the other ten men will reload the arrows so each shooter will just keep shooting at random spots to make it look like there are many shooters. But, each shooter must make sure that each arrow will hit a target."

Vaughn smirked, "It will damage the morale of the enemies. They will think that we have so many men on our side."

"Precisely," Zenia gave her husband a mischievous smile.

Mr. Smith and his staff had no idea what the couple was discussing, but they shuddered when they saw the smiles on the couple's lips.

After testing the crossbows, Zenia was extremely satisfied. There was no need to revise anything. They left the Master Weaponsmith's shop after paying him the agreed amount plus some bonus.

"What should we do next?"

"We need to train the men on the proper way of using the crossbows."

When they reached the Royale Palace Inn, Mathilda greeted them at the entrance bearing bad news.

"Your Highness, we got a message that the Left Minister had decided to ask for an audience tomorrow."

"What?!" Vaughn and Zenia asked simultaneously and looked at each other in the eyes.