The next campaign to conquer the remaining seven tribes turned out to be even easier than the recent raids. Most of the able-bodied warriors in those tribes had either been killed or captured. Barnett divided his troops into seven columns and launched a blitzkrieg against the surrounding tribes. Disorganized and fragmented, these tribes couldn't mount any meaningful resistance. After witnessing a few of their warriors fall in the initial skirmishes, they chose to surrender. From deployment to complete subjugation, the campaign took just one day.
Over the following two days, the Viking warriors escorted large numbers of prisoners, livestock, and spoils back to Barnett's town of Biard. With this, Barnett completed his first system-assigned objective: conquering twelve neighboring Viking tribes. His troops, hardened by constant combat, had all gained experience and were now officially Level 1 veterans. Each surviving Viking warrior received a slight boost to morale, attack strength, and basic teamwork skills.
At the same time, another goal was met: increasing the town's population to 20,000. The twelve conquered tribes had contributed over 18,000 captives. Women and children were distributed as spoils of war, while the few surviving young men were sent to nearby villages as serfs. Older captives with skills were assigned to city workshops; the unskilled were also sent to work in rural areas.
Thus, Biard's urban population exceeded 5,500, while the agricultural population grew past 15,000. The system requirement for a total population of 20,000 was achieved. The threshold for upgrading from a town to a city—5,000 urban inhabitants—was also met.
A real city was about to rise.
"So, what exactly defines a real city?" Barnett asked.
"That's a multifaceted question," replied the system sprite. "First and foremost, population. Five thousand residents is the baseline."
"And besides that?"
"A complete administrative system. That includes a mayor, a treasurer, an agricultural officer, a public security chief, a judge, and a construction officer. Each of these officials must also have a deputy, making for at least twelve positions. That's the minimum structure required."
"Hm… I can just recruit them, right?"
"Of course. For example, recruiting a mayor costs 100 gold coins, while a deputy mayor costs 50. All primary roles cost 100 each, deputies cost 50. Primary officials start with three-star attributes, deputies with two stars. Enhancing their abilities further will cost more."
"No problem, I've struck it rich recently. I can afford that," Barnett said smugly.
"In addition, you'll need key buildings—a lord's manor, a large town center, and a surrounding stone wall," the sprite added.
"A stone wall? Like a castle?" Barnett asked.
"Well, if you want to build a castle, that's also an option."
"A castle, huh... Let's put that on hold. It's probably expensive, and we don't really need one just yet."
"A wise decision. It's still too early for that," the sprite agreed.
"Still, I'd love to visit Constantinople someday. So many grand structures… How did a powerful empire like Byzantium eventually fall?" Barnett wondered aloud.
"That's a complex issue. It involves many factors. You'll understand once you run your own empire."
"Alright, back to the matter at hand. How much for the buildings you mentioned?" Barnett asked again.
"The lord's manor will cost 3,000 gold, the large town center 2,000, and the stone wall 4,000—totaling 9,000 gold," the sprite said, quoting a rather steep price.
Barnett winced at the expense but gritted his teeth and agreed.
"Very well. Please wait one month for completion," said the sprite, then vanished.
A pale light enveloped the town of Biard. Outside its borders, the crooked wooden fences were flattened by unseen hands. Blocks of long stone appeared out of thin air, adhered together with mortar made of sticky lime, slowly forming a modest stone wall.
Inside the town, the central square glowed softly as old buildings crumbled and were replaced by timber, stone, and blue bricks—materials that seemed to emerge from nowhere.
Next to the new town center, a gothic-style manor began to take shape. It featured high spires, oval stained-glass windows, and stone carvings depicting scenes of battle. This would be Barnett's future residence—and it looked quite impressive.
"One whole month?! Am I supposed to sleep on the street until then?" Barnett grumbled.
Noticing he still had over 5,000 gold in reserve, he decided to invest more. His earlier chat with the sprite had sparked an interest in maritime trade. So he ordered the construction of a shipyard and a commercial dock. After hiring shipbuilders and merchants, another 4,000 gold vanished. Once again, Barnett was broke. Fortunately, construction of farms, mills, and animal pens outside the town was nearing completion. With a sizable serf population, agricultural tax revenue would soon reach 1,000 gold, and the poll tax alone would bring in 1,300—enough to cover military salaries.
But to advance further, new revenue streams were essential.
Like seaborne trade.
Biard, now upgraded to a small city, officially held the power of a county, according to the system. Even if invaded, most coalitions of neighboring counties wouldn't match Biard's military strength. After all, Barnett had prioritized his army from the start, and they had already been battle-tested many times. His troops were far stronger than those of other counties at the same level.
Still, compared to major powers, Biard was weak.
As the saying goes: "Those who fall behind get crushed."
Just look at Denmark, Sweden, and England—any of them could easily field tens of thousands of troops and crush Barnett like an ant.
So it was better to stay under the radar for now. Quietly grow, avoid attracting attention. As luck would have it, the Grand Duke of Norway had just died. The country was in chaos, which could be Barnett's opportunity—maybe even to unify Norway. Once crowned king, he'd finally have the strength to face those great powers head-on.
"But why the heck does my shipyard only let me build dragon-headed longships?! Are you serious?!" Barnett cried in frustration after checking the recruitment menu.
"What's wrong with dragon-headed ships? They're great! Vikings are meant to wield axes, sail the seas, and raid in dragonships—that's the Viking way!" the sprite replied cheerfully.
"I'm not even asking for steam-powered ironclads. But give me a decent-sized sailboat at least!"
"I'd love to, but the current tech just doesn't allow it."
"What tech do I need?" Barnett asked.
"Haven't you looked at your system interface? The task menu, map, building templates, city list, military list, officer roster, tech tree, diplomacy tab… don't tell me you've ignored all that?"
"I looked at some… heh heh…"
"Unbelievable. Open it now and take a proper look," the sprite snapped.
Barnett opened the system interface and spotted numerous buttons. Sure enough, there was a tech tree.
It was divided into military and civilian branches.
He clicked "military."
Then "navy."
...
The categories were surprisingly detailed.
There it was—navy. As Barnett walked toward the barracks, he studied the display. With twenty elite bodyguards surrounding him, he wasn't too worried about an ambush. His guard had leveled up again after several battles, thanks to Barnett selfishly using two system-granted upgrade opportunities on them. Now, each had three experience points, boosted morale, and increased attack and defense stats.
Under the navy section, the system showed he could currently build dragon-headed warships and small transport ships for military purposes, as well as small fishing and merchant boats. But all of them had nearly zero ranged attack capability.
The shipyard, however, was top-tier—among the finest in Europe.
Scrolling further, the ship types were categorized as large, medium, and small.
He clicked on "large ships."
A ten-thousand-ton treasure ship.
…Way out of budget.
Next, a super first-rate ship—four decks, 100+ cannons, 6,000-ton displacement, triple masts. A true fortress at sea.
…Also unaffordable.
First-rate, second-rate, third-rate ships. Roman galleys. Paddle-and-sail hybrids. Heavy crossbow ships. Massive Ming warships. Chinese tower ships. No dice.
Fine, let's check the medium ships.
Fourth-rate ships with two decks and 54 light cannons. Crew of over 200. These had once terrified the Qing dynasty by sailing into Chinese waters.
…Still out of reach.
Barnett suddenly lost the will to keep scrolling.
Fifth-rate. Then sturgeon-class ships.
Hmm... that one looked promising.
He took note of it. But the construction requirements listed timber, sails, rigging, shipbuilding tech level 5, and mechanical engineering level 5.
Basic prerequisites: shipbuilding tech level 1, mechanical engineering level 2.
Okay… okay...
He kept browsing.
Hawker gunboats. Arab dhows. Tower ships. Turtle ships...
Finally—small warships!
Sixth-rate.
No cannons…
Barnett sighed. It felt like seeing a goddess and not being allowed to touch.
Mortar boats?
Unavailable.
Rocket boats?
Nope.
Even a Chinese dragon boat.
…Aesthetic cousin of the Viking longship. But that was clearly for rivers. Didn't China still hold dragon boat races on inland waterways each year? No point building this for open seas.
Greek fire ships—Byzantine light warships equipped with the legendary Greek fire. Kings of the medieval Mediterranean! But locked behind a special tech unlock.
…Definitely not happening.
After browsing through everything, he realized there wasn't a single ship he could actually build right now. It was all tantalizing but out of reach.
In the end, Barnett finally found one practical option: the light ballista warship.
He slapped his thigh. "This is it! But what's this 'scorpion ballista' it's equipped with?"
"Check the army tech tree yourself!" the sprite replied irritably.