The next day, I had another meeting with the team to get an understanding of our current progress.


    “How bad is it?” I asked.


    “Celeste and I finished surveying the enemy forces along the border,” Shao spoke up. “It’s not as bad as we originally feared. Only eight tribes are currently alongside King Roth, only I still estimated close to 9000 troops.”


    “This makes sense.” ya nodded. “It’s very difficult to mobilize all of the tribes. Some will always resist.”


    “Which tribes?” I asked.


    “Catkin, Wolfkin, Bearkin, Apekin, Birdkin, Beastkin, Hoovedkin, and Squirrelkin.” Shao dered.


    Twelve tribes made up the Dioshin. Tribes didn’t necessarily mean a single species, although types certainly congregated together. Some tribes only had variants, like the Catkin, while other tribes like the Beastkin were made up of rare species, like Elephantkin and Crockin and such.


    The ones that didn’te along were the Murinekin and the Rabbitkin. They had been at odds with them prior. It looked like they hadn’t convinced them to join. Perhaps, it was merely a cease-fire. I didn’t know anything about the dragonkin, but just by the name I’d guess they were loners. As for the foxkin, their absence was obvious. I had only taken one vige of the foxkin, but in general, their tribe were outcasts and their numbers were small thanks to their inability to handle their spiritual curse.


    “So, the Wolfkin are against us?” I sighed.


    “Not necessarily.” Shao gave an uncertain look. “The wolfkin were being kept close to the catkin, and I didn’t see any wolfkin leadership out and about. It wouldn’t be surprising if they were under some coercion of King Roth at the moment.”


    “Is there any chance we could convince the Rabbitkin and Murinekin to join our side?” I asked.


    “They have a great deal of animosity toward the predator ss animalkin, but they also have a great deal of fear.” It was ya this time who spoke. “As we discussed, I sent envoys, but we have yet to receive answers. I believe they are waiting to see the results of our battle.”


    “Have we managed to gather any more forces recruiting?”


    “We’ve managed to gather another 500, however, these are mostly volunteer militia, and are barely better than filler,” Xin exined. “They will only serve to make our forces lookrger on sight.”


    I nodded. “I understand. We’ll keep them anyway.”


    Xin wasn’t the type of woman to mince words. If she said they weren’t qualified, it was because they weren’t qualified. However, we had to take everyone we could at this point. That only brought us to 4500 soldiers. Even if the Osterian could fight two to one, that still put us at 2500 less than the opposing forces.


    “What about armor?”


    “Production has begun,” Lapis answered. “We’ve experienced problems.”


    “What problems?”


    “Few of the men are a high enough level to handle our equipment. Our equipment is turning out to be too good for the majority to handle. The cksmiths have started depending on their apprentices to make lower-tier gear. This has stifled production. I can only promiseplete fittings for five hundred by the time they arrive. I apologize.”


    “No…” I shook my head. “To produce sets of armor and weapons for five hundred soldiers in a week, that output is miraculous. Xin, see that they are fitted and awarded to the best soldiers.”


    “Yes, Master.”


    I lifted my hands and rubbed my eyes. This had been an extremely long week filled with fretting all day and fighting all night. The end was almost near, but what I wouldn’t give to put that end off a little longer.


    “Master, how is you work in Alerith going?” Miki asked curiously.


    “I’ll tell you after tonight.”


    Tonight was myst chance to change the course of this uing battle.