Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

He just has to weigh the pros and cons to reach the conclusion that with one victory, he could gain so much. 

And if Arial could take this victory, he could win a vassal and take a state of one of the nine states of the Vernium kingdom without having to sacrifice even one of his soldiers.

There has never been such a huge benefit. Arial knows of course that this is a bait. But this bait is really tempting.

And he is sure that he could win this. he had a dragon heart, a powerful internal energy and he could even control the element of thunder and water. 

He had magic and inner energy. It would be weird if he is not confident. Not to mention, there is also a Goddess that is watching over him. 

He strides through the muddy road of the central square of the outer city now, heading toward the gate

All the while, his soldiers behind him felt worried for their Emperor.

But unlike the soldiers of the Human Continent, the soldiers of the tribes that had been recruited did not understood the worries of the soldiers from the Human Continent

To them, the Emperor is their equivalent of a Great Warchief. 

They did not have the term Emperor in their culture

Kings itself is a concept that is foreign for the people of the Thirteen Tribes. 

Before they interacted with other continent, most of the people of the Thirteen Tribe is ruled by Warchief. 

But the rule is not like the rule in the same veins like the nobles rules the peasant

There is something called the Thing. 

In the past, the great warriors and the elders and the Pancadongeng would assemble in a place that is accessible by travel and there they would discuss the laws of the tribes, presided over the conflict and solve the matters of the tribes.

It is presided by the Priest of the Gods. 

So, the concept of an Emperor to them is merely a Great Warchief. A great Warchief is the Chief of the Warchief. 

And it is only logical and honorable for a Great Warchief to answer the call of a duel.

If Arial wins, it would win them great honors in the eyes of the Gods. 

If Arial loses and die in the battle, the Gods would still honor such a great warrior who is brave enough to fight in a duel of life and death.

After all, while duel itself is common in the culture of the Thirteen Tribes, life and death battle is rarely invoked. This is because the tribe values children for they are the bearer of the fate of the tribes

Children die a lot when they were young. 

And as they watched how Arial rides his horse eager to fight and win honor, the soldiers that comes from the tribes their heart well up with pride. 

To them, a Great Warchief that fight alongside his people is a great man worthy to be respected and worthy to follow. 

Arial finally enter the main square of the outer city. The people of the outer city dares not show their faces and all went to their huts. Some that were brave peek out from their window

Most of these people that has taken lands inside the outer city is not the inhabitant of the inner city. Some of them are not even Vernium kingdom citizen

The outer city of the inner city of Balhae. 

Arial nodded to himself as he looks at this small city. It is small compared to the Balhae city.

Of course when comparing Balhae to the city of Acro, the city of Balhae would pale in comparison. 

This is a tribal city, and lacks the stone walls of the many cities in the Human Continent

The outer city is formed by the refuges that had followed Arial after his victory.

Of course, since then a lot more refuges have come and not all of them are the refuges that fought with Arial

Most of them are tribespeople that come from the New World passing through the Wall of Repentance

It is because of that the construction of the outer city has never stopped as it keeps expanding

Arial had seen the wooden wall. 

In the beginning it was constructed by the army but then as more and more refuges keep coming in, the supervisor that is tasked to oversee the security and the internal management of this small city of refuges had ordered the refugee to help build the wooden wall.

There is a road from the outer city to the inner city. It is around five kilometer stretch of road. 

Alongside the roads are post station for the army to check anyone that is suspicious. 

The outer city creation could hold off any attacks of the people coming from the Wall of Repentance. The city of Balhae is very close to the forest and there is still forest tribe that is not accounted for.

Arial did not object to more security for the city. 

The wooden wall stands proudly. 

It is built around front area of the Balhae and as for the other sides of the city, some of them is partially completed while some others had been finished. 

But before Arial had come, there is no outer city wall. 

It is simply a quick measure so that if someone wanted to take Balhae from him, he at least has some kind of defense that could hold out before the main force could arrive. 

As the Imperial Army is very adept in creating fortification before attacking an enemy, the wooden wall is quickly created. 

The outer city is just another upgraded tribal settlement. At least it looks that way to his eyes.

But to the tribal people, it is truly an advancement. Most villages of the tribe are not as planned or as fortified as this.

Other than the large cities that the Three Kingdoms have, most of the tribes lives in tribal settlements

To some tribes that have long been living in the territory of the Three Kingdoms, even this is an improvement.

Outer city is not heavily defended in the Three Kingdoms. 

In Human Continent outer cities also have some kind of measure of defense which is completely different from the Three Kingdoms which always prioritize the city itself. 

That is why Arial believes that it would be very easy to conquer the Three Kingdoms yet at the same time also hard.

The reason it is easy is because, Arial just have to capture the main city. The main city is basically the capital of that state. 

The moment he takes over the area, and capture the ruler of that particular state he basically in name had managed to conquer that state. 

And the other small rulers in the area would either try to unseat him from that seat of authority or they would swear fealty to him. 

If this was in the Human Continent, it would not be that easy. 

Because the fall of one castle did not mean the fall of the entire region. 

For example, when Arial was conquering Vangua, he had capture a few castles and cities but as long as King Harald sits in his throne and had the power to retaliate, Arial hold on the region is extremely shaky.

And there is a concept of loyalty to the kingdom and the royal family. That is also something that the three kingdoms failed to emulate.

Most of the tribe people in the Three Kingdoms fought under the banner of the Three Kingdoms under certain condition.

They fought for the Three Kingdoms because there is no other choice. To fight against the Darkspawn they have to be united

But that did not mean they like it and the discrimination of the other tribes and other ethnic groups in the Three Kingdoms is prevalent with most of the Three Great Tribes holding the important power.

To them, only the high lords of the kingdoms is loyal to the kingdom and even then it I not necessarily they are loyal to the kingdoms itself but to their tribe who sat on the highest seat

A tribal kingdom that disguises itself as a feudal kingdom. That is the assessment that Arial gave to the Three Kingdoms. 

But the hard part of conquering the Three Kingdoms, to conquer the Shadowlands is the fact that the Three Great tribes are full with soldiers who have all kinds of abilities. 

Arial shakes his head.

He will cross that bridge when he gets to it. 

Arial keep looking at the buildings and the structure that had been erected and he nodded his head, like he was satisfied with the progress.

Arial with his large army could easily build a building in just a few days. He looks at a large building on the center of this outer city. 

There is a gathering halls which is a connected longhouses and there is palisades and walls and ditches

There is even a large War Camps to gather levies from the outer city. Most of the higher position had been filled by officers from Eden but they also recruited a lot of new soldiers from the refugees.

Arial decided to integrate the tribes with his people. He also wanted to contrast himself with the rule of the Three Kingdoms

It would be fine if there is no contrast but once there is, people could not stop comparing. 

He also wanted to put some of the tribespeople in higher position.  But the prerequisite of such an elevation of status and power had to be deserved.

As such, he wanted his officer to train these tribespeople and grow them into a qualified officer.

The Empire is based on meritocracy. He could not just give them titles and expect them to fulfill the duties when they did not even know what to do.

Arial is used to using such tactics to gain the support of the people. 

Most of the Twelve Great Generals he had chosen is not simply chosen because of their ability in waging war but also because of the benefit such bestowal could give to him

Wang Mu appointment to the Great general tittle wins him the support of the Eastian people. 

Zhu Ming wins him the love of the common people of Vern. 

It is not the first time he uses such tricks. 

But of course even though there are political considerations behind the appointment of the Great General it is very important that they must also have the ability.

If not, such appointment would only reflect poorly on him and his decision making and the positive effect of trying to win the heart of the people using a representative figure of that particular group might backfire on him. 

He thought of this as he passes the War Camps. 

This place would be developed further if he had the time, he thought to himself 

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