Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 9: Next move (2)

1004 AF

It has been four years since that miracle.

Arial has grown to become a kid. He no longer sleeps in the crib. And no longer a toddler.

At four years old, Arial began helping his father on the farm.

He had also started practicing his swordsmanship using sticks, although his cooing parents believed him to be playing make-believe.

What little boy didn't dream of being a brave knight, after all?

His mother sometimes playfully blamed his father for telling him stories of great heroes every winter.

Danoba is situated far from all the other cities in the Dukedom, but its fertile farmlands and massive forest meant there were always many animals to hunt.

Travelers often flocked to Dagur Hill near the village, to see the place where Alan Gerhardt was born.

There is also a beautiful stream of water near the village where some girls would bathe and some naughty kids would try to peek before being beaten by their parents for peeking.

If this was the past, Arial would join them. And in truth, in the past he did precisely this.

But not this time.

Arial had become a popular child in the small village, and often played with the other young ones, pretending to be soldiers and ordering them into battle.

One of the people who followed him the most is Kyle and Lisa who is the neighbor of the Vermont's

The children loved it when they ruin across the creek and slash each other with wooden sword, laughing in joy as they recreate the battel of heroes past, but Arial had a secret motive.

The children would grow to become tomorrow's soldiers, and there was no better time to teach them about fighting and defending than when they were still young enough to soak it up.

He had grown close to Kyle and Lisa, the children who lived beside the farm, and decided to begin teaching them how to cultivate internal energy in secret.

They would be raised like the children of nobles, groomed and prepared for battle.

Arial felt a sense of accomplishment and pride as he watched them wielding their pretend spears just as he had shown them.

He trained them, in the use of arms, the bow and arrow, the javelin, the sword, the spear, and accustomed them to wear heavy clothing to exercise with.

The fake weapons had all been made by Arial's hand, carved from sticks.

His father always praised him for his exceptional carving abilities, but, of course, they would be exceptional.

He had learned to carve during his years in the library and occasionally carved birds and trees, but most of the time he had carved his parents, for fear he would forget their faces.

Arial however did not dislike the compliment.

Using the knowledge, he had glimpsed of the other worlds during his passing over, Arial introduced to his father a new way to farm.

He explained the four-step method where his father would plant in a rotation, telling him how it would help to keep the soil fertile for longer, save time, and keep the livestock from dying of starvation during the harsh winters.

The resulting harvest was astounding.

His father was soon encouraging the other farmers in the village to follow the new method, and before long most of the villagers found they had enough food to last them through the winter.

And they truly felt grateful to his father.

His father also becomes respected in the village. Since the Lords rarely check villages and the village is far away from their tall castles they rarely come here.

Not to mention House of Alan controls many cities and town.

A place like Danoba which has no great importance is rarely checked upon.

Now we need to sell it. My father brought the grain to the miller to sold in a market.

Probably the grain will be sold in The Bleeding Rock or the Bleeding Eye by the merchants

Josh Miller, renowned for his fair approach to business, had been grinding the farm's grain into flour for many years.

His eyes widened at the masses of grain Arial's father delivered to him that year, and when his work was done the family's cart groaned under the weight of so much flour.

His father brought forty bushel of grain, many potatoes and clover, there is even five basket of turnips on the back of the ox carriage that his father bought last year with the money he got from selling the bountiful harvest.

Josh mills the grain and my father cart off the produced flour.

It is possible to grind grain at home without a mill and a miller, but this produces a lesser quality flour and requires an incredible amount of work.

Most farmers and their families would rather use their time in other pursuits and allow the miller to grind their grains into flour.

Grinding wheat grain into flour causes some loss in the weight of the grain as certain portions of the grain are not to be included in the flour.

Though a skilled miller can get more flour out of the grain than an unskilled miller but Arial guess they should be thankful with what they have.

Arial suggested to his mother that she open a bakery, rather than their small family eating nothing but bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Delighted with the idea, she agreed, and his father set about building her stall.

Arial had always believed his mother's cooking was the best in the village, and it turned out he wasn't the only one to think so villagers flocked every day to buy his mother's bread, not only because it was delicious, but also because of its low price.

There is an interesting story of how his mother learn to bake.

His mother learned from other housewife when she ran away with his father.

Actually his mother was from a noble family but she loved Arial father which comes from a farmer family.

His mother ran from her family and she never speaks of them again. And Arial rarely ask and his father also seems to regret it sometimes.

His mother could make bread rolls, muffin, griddle cakes, and many other various dishes from flour.

With the extra money from the bakery, Arial's father bought more land and hired energetic young men to work for him.

With the abundant harvest due to Arial's efficient farming method, malnutrition and starvation dropped throughout the village.

His father had become a greatly respected man.

Wheat flour makes white bread. It is a luxury items so his father sell it to the noble houses

Much of their bread had been sold to the noble houses, using a middleman to collect and deliver; it was better not to deal with them directly.

Arial knew about nobility.

One day you make them happy, the other you will make them angry, he mused. Staying close with them is like staying with a lion.

Who are we but peasants, how dare we presume the hearts of High Lords and their noble houses?

High Lords, Low Lords, what does it matter to peasants who can do nothing when they order us?

Arial had no good feelings about nobles.

Arial decided he would enter a tournament at the age of seven, and be proclaimed a knight.

He would then find a lord to align himself with. He already knew who his ally would be. He would serve Adrian Alan, son of Hadrian and younger brother of Lord Alderam.

They are both from the House of Alan. The story was one of the most remembered stories in the Saga of Alan.

Alan was a sworn brother of Levitia and was most famously known for his loyalty to Levitia.

Upon his death, Alan asked the First Emperor Alexander Montblanc, since known as Alexander the Diligent, to grant him lands opposite the Blessed Lands, so the famous quote went, as Alan told Emperor Alexander

"Darkness shall not lay its feet here, in the land that my brother spread his peace."

Being a sworn brother of Levitia himself, Alexander had agreed, and so he constructed the Bleeding Wall in the Dukedom.

It had been named for Levitia tears, for it was said that it was in that land where he had mourned the deaths of his parents, who had perished at the hands of the Demon Race.

So deep was his sorrow and the feeling of loss, the stories said that he would cry blood in the land that separated humans and the Dark Sea.

The Bleeding Wall was one of the most time-consuming constructions the Empire ever carried out, taking ninety years to complete, during which time both the First Emperor and Alan Gerhardt passed away.

The descendant of Alan was left with the noble task of guarding their lands from the Dark Lands, and since the wall had been constructed not one Dark Lands soldier had ever succeeded in breaking its defense.

It was considered impenetrable, but Arial knew better.

They would come. The dark forces of the Dark Lands would come

They wouldn't even need to destroy the whole wall to gain access.

From what he heard in the guards of the Tower Castle were bribed to let some of the Demon Race pass in, and Azrael was among them.

He and his men then murdered the guards and began their invasion of the Human Continent.

Arial thought back to the reason he would serve Adrian, instead of his older brother.

From his now irrelevant history he knew that Adrian would challenge his brother, calling that their father had granted him the right to rule in the Dukedom.

Alderam would not believe him, and their battle would commence.

Adrian would be killed by his brother at the Battle of Liona Hill.

Alderam would then force the Low Lords that had once been loyal to his brother to swear allegiance to him.

He would unite the nobles, and in time would declare himself king.

For five years after he would wage war against Dostov before conquering it, but would come to realize that many of his supplies had been used up during the war.

Alderam would then begin trying to stabilize the kingdom, but the Dark Lands would soon invade two years after that, and the weakened kingdom easily fall to the Dark Lands hands.

The youngest brother is known to be generous and kind-hearted.

Perhaps if he ruled, the kingdom would not suffer, and they would be prepared for the invasion when the time came.

If Arial could gain his trust, his influence would surely rise greatly. With influence he could become the Captain of the Guard, and would not be swayed by petty bribes.

He could even guard the Bleeding Wall himself if the situation arises. But a guard could not stop a full blown invasion.

He need more power and influence.

Pennies, coppers, and gold. Suddenly, he remembered the words of his friend.

"What makes nobility noble? Pennies, coppers, and gold."

Yes, pennies, coppers, and gold. He thought to himself.

And with it Arial could send his parents to Renasia, the last kingdom to fall if history were to repeat itself. Arial would have to wait until he was grown.

For now, he plans.

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