After catching his breath, Ashveil began examining the rewards scattered beside the kobold corpses.
Although the fight had nearly cost him his life, the system had been surprisingly generous. Thirty Gold Coins, several pieces of equipment, a Source Stone, and most importantly, a Tier 1 Troop Recruitment Voucher.
Ashveil picked up one of the iron blades and inspected it.
[Coarse Iron Blade | Grade: F]
[Type: Weapon | Condition: Worn]
[Evaluation: A cheap weapon suitable for ordinary soldiers.]
He then examined a piece of leather armor.
[Old Leather Armor | Grade: F]
[Type: Armor | Condition: Damaged]
[Evaluation: Provides basic protection against weak attacks.]
"Not bad. At least we finally have some proper weapons."
The equipment wasn’t particularly impressive, but it was considerably better than the farming tools his villagers had been using.
Ashveil kept one of the iron blades for himself before handing another to Rowan. He then instructed Rowan to distribute the remaining equipment among the villagers.
Meanwhile, Ria picked up a small crystal from the pile of rewards.
"Well, this is unexpected."
"What is it?"
"A Source Stone. It’s quite valuable."
Ashveil approached her and examined the crystal. Its surface was rough and translucent, with a faint light circulating inside.
"More valuable than gold?"
"Much more. Source Stones contain concentrated magical energy and are commonly used for advanced construction, magical equipment, and other purposes. Ordinary gold coins cannot compare to them."
"Then we should probably save it."
"A wise decision. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to use it once your territory develops."
Ria tossed the crystal toward him, and Ashveil quickly caught it before placing it inside his inventory.
He then turned his attention toward the last surviving kobold.
The creature had been tied to a wooden post near the Lord’s Hall. Although it had stopped struggling, it continued glaring at the villagers whenever they approached.
"Now, what should we do with this guy?"
Rowan immediately stepped forward.
"My lord, we should kill it before it escapes!"
The other villagers nodded in agreement. After witnessing the kobolds attack their settlement, none of them were particularly enthusiastic about keeping one alive.
However, Ashveil had another idea.
"Ria, didn’t you mention that the Forgotten Dominion possessed its own methods of recruiting soldiers?"
"Indeed. Why do you ask?"
"Can we recruit monsters?"
Ria smiled. "Naturally. The Forgotten Dominion was never restricted to a single race. As long as a creature possesses a living body, there are ways to bring it under our command."
Ashveil’s eyes brightened.
"Then let’s try it."
Ria approached the bound kobold and raised her hand. A dark purple symbol appeared above her palm, causing the creature to panic and struggle against its restraints.
[Forgotten Recruitment Available!]
[Target: Kobold | Tier 1]
[Conversion Cost: Forgotten Essence × 5]
Ashveil examined the notification with interest.
Forgotten Recruitment was one of the abilities he had obtained through his contract with Ria.
Unlike ordinary military recruitment, which required buildings and Gold Coins, this method allowed him to convert captured monsters into loyal soldiers.
However, it required a special resource known as Forgotten Essence.
Forgotten Essence was automatically collected whenever monsters were killed within his territory. Unlike ordinary loot, it was stored separately through the Forgotten Dominion’s system.
Each ordinary Tier 1 kobold had provided two Forgotten Essence, while the Elite chieftain had provided four. However, the kobold killed by its own leader hadn’t counted toward Ashveil’s rewards.
Ashveil checked his available balance.
[Forgotten Essence: 8]
"Eight? So killing those kobolds actually gave us something useful."
He selected the confirmation option.
[Forgotten Essence: 8 → 3]
[Forgotten Recruitment Initiated!]
Purple light enveloped the kobold’s body. The creature struggled violently for several seconds before gradually becoming still.
A strange symbol appeared on its forehead, and the purple light slowly disappeared.
[Conversion Successful! Forgotten Kobold × 1 Recruited!]
Ashveil immediately inspected his new subordinate.
[Forgotten Kobold | Tier 1 | Level 1]
[Grade: F | Type: Production/Combat Unit]
[Loyalty: Absolute | Food Consumption: 1/Day]
[Status: Healthy]
The kobold lowered its head as soon as Ashveil approached.
"Well, that’s convenient."
Rowan stared at the creature in disbelief.
"M-My lord? What happened to it?"
"It’s one of ours now."
"One of ours?! But it was trying to kill us earlier!"
"And now it won’t. Isn’t that great?"
Rowan appeared unconvinced, especially when Ashveil personally untied the creature’s restraints.
However, the kobold made no attempt to attack anyone. Instead, it obediently remained beside Ashveil, waiting for instructions.
Ria seemed rather amused by the villagers’ reactions.
"Forgotten Recruitment binds a creature’s allegiance directly to you. Unlike ordinary soldiers, whose loyalty can change, converted creatures cannot deliberately betray their lord."
"So I can use this to build an army of monsters?"
"Provided you have enough Forgotten Essence. The creature must also be subdued, and I cannot convert enemies significantly stronger than myself. At my current strength, I can only maintain a small number of converted units."
Ashveil nodded thoughtfully.
Although the ability possessed several restrictions, its potential was enormous. If he could capture powerful monsters in the future, he wouldn’t necessarily need to kill them.
He could simply recruit them instead.
"Not bad. This might actually be more useful than ordinary recruitment."
"Naturally. Did you think the inheritance of the Forgotten Sovereign would be ordinary?"
"Well, you did try to steal my entire territory when we first met."
Ria laughed. "And yet you still accepted my help."
"Because I negotiated a better contract."
"How shameless."
Their conversation was interrupted when another notification appeared.
[New Unit Type Acquired: Forgotten Kobold!]
[Forgotten Dominion Construction Options Updated!]
"Huh?"
Ashveil immediately opened the construction interface.
Among the familiar human buildings, a new option had appeared.
[Forgotten Kobold Den | Level 1]
[Construction Cost: Wood × 20]
[Function: Provides housing for Forgotten Kobolds and supports their settlement activities.]
"A kobold building?"
Ashveil hadn’t expected recruiting a monster to unlock an entirely new construction option.
He examined the information more carefully and discovered that the Forgotten Dominion possessed a special development system.
By recruiting creatures from different races, he could gradually gain access to structures and functions associated with those races.
This meant that his territory wasn’t necessarily limited to human buildings.
If he recruited enough monsters, he could eventually develop an entire settlement containing multiple races.
"Ria, does this mean I can build structures belonging to other monsters too?"
"Of course. The Forgotten Dominion once commanded many different races. Their knowledge and construction methods are part of its inheritance."
Ashveil grinned.
"Now that’s interesting."
Unfortunately, the new building wasn’t free. Although twenty wood was considerably cheaper than most of the human structures, he still needed to consider his limited resources.
Furthermore, the Forgotten Kobold Den wouldn’t solve his most urgent problem.
He needed soldiers.
Ashveil opened his inventory and selected the Tier 1 Troop Recruitment Voucher.
[Tier 1 Troop Recruitment Voucher]
[Effect: Instantly recruits 10 Tier 1 soldiers of one selected type.]
[Available Units: Militia, Swordsmen, Spearmen, Archers]
He had been waiting for this opportunity ever since discovering the recruitment system.
Ten soldiers might not sound like much, but for a territory that had started with four villagers and no military strength, they would represent an enormous improvement.
"Ria, which soldiers should I choose?"
"That depends on what you intend to do with them."
"Survive until the Monster Tide arrives."
"Then choose soldiers who can defend your settlement without requiring expensive equipment or specialized facilities."
Ashveil considered the available options.
Militia were inexpensive to maintain, but their fighting ability was limited. Swordsmen were more effective in close combat, while Archers could attack enemies from a distance.
However, Ashen Hollow had no defensive walls, and its villagers were especially vulnerable to monsters charging directly into the settlement.
Spearmen seemed like the most practical choice.
Their weapons provided additional reach, and a group of disciplined spearmen could form a defensive line against charging enemies.
"Alright. Spearmen it is."
Ashveil selected the option.
[Recruitment Confirmed: Tier 1 Spearmen × 10!]
A large summoning circle appeared in the open space outside the Lord’s Hall. Pale light spread across the ground as ten figures gradually materialized within it.
A few moments later, ten men wearing simple armor and carrying long spears stood before Ashveil.
All ten immediately knelt.
"We greet our Lord!"
Ashveil stared at them with undisguised satisfaction.
Finally!
After spending his entire first day struggling with resource shortages, monster attacks, and an unreasonable ancient sovereign, he finally possessed a proper military force.
He immediately inspected one of the soldiers.
[Spearman | Grade: F | Tier 1 | Level 1]
[Type: Military Unit | Loyalty: 100]
[Equipment: Iron Spear, Basic Leather Armor]
Although their individual strength wasn’t particularly impressive, ten trained soldiers were considerably more useful than a handful of villagers armed with farming tools.
More importantly, they could defend the settlement while his workers gathered resources.
"Rise. From now on, your duty is to protect Ashen Hollow and its inhabitants."
"Yes, my lord!"
The soldiers stood in unison.
Rowan and the other villagers watched the scene with excitement. For the first time since arriving in Eryndor, Ashen Hollow actually resembled a functioning territory.
Even Ria seemed pleased.
"Congratulations, little lord. You finally have an army."
"Ten soldiers hardly counts as an army."
"Everyone has to start somewhere."
Ashveil smiled before examining his updated territory information.
[Territory: Ashen Hollow | Grade: F]
[Population: 15 | Military Units: 10]
[Special Units: Forgotten Kobold × 1]
[Territory Evaluation: Basic Defensive Capabilities]
His population had increased from four to fifteen in a single day.
However, the sight of another notification immediately wiped the smile from his face.
[Warning! Daily Food Consumption: 25 Units]
[Food Supplies Insufficient!]
Ashveil stared at the message.
He had just recruited ten soldiers, which meant he now had ten additional mouths to feed.
And his territory was already running short on food. Fortunately, Ria didn’t require ordinary food to sustain herself. Her body relied on magical energy instead.
"...Fuck."
Ria glanced at him. "What’s wrong?"
"We have an army now, but we might all starve before the Monster Tide arrives."
Ria burst into laughter.
"Then I suppose your next task is to feed your army, little lord."