Though the side project for Nau Xiaolin was something I completed with all my skill and power as I wanted to get my thumb on one of these dragon-blooded clans to have some manner of social power.
I still was most focused on making sure the small army of dwemer automatons were completed for the most important person near me currently in Miao Ying. And it was time for my efforts to prove their value.
So, for now I had kept things simple and 'safe' in regards to my automatons as I knew that Miao Ying needed her generals to be able to control them. So for the twenty-five Centurions, they were each made with a control rod in mind for a general to control.
The dwemer spheres came in squads of ten, and the spiders came in squads of twenty-five five so that should a general or squad leader go rogue/corrupt. They wouldn't have so much in the way of control over too large of a force.
And the procession from my workshop and it's underground fortified exit definitely drew... A great amount of eye's that looked on in great interest as Great Cathay didn't have 'smaller' automatons or magical constructs.
They liked to go hard in fifty-plus-foot-tall giant terracotta warriors that were animated and controlled by mages at a great distance. Or the Jade/Jet lions that could amplify or suppress the winds of magic around them, depending on their type.
Still my procession that was escorted by four of those very animated jade lions and directed by several dozen soldiers soon passed through the giant walls that surrounded the city of Na Gau.
And I looked upon the punitive army that was following Miao Ying to slaughter the group of green skins that had been causing issues.
'Hmm, a good five thousand strong base army, a couple hundred ogres, like thirty or forty jade lions but no terracotta warriors... Also there is some artillery over there. This is going to be a proper battle I see.' I thought as I took in Miao Ying's army composition.
A dragon-blooded man but with thin blood then brought me to Miao Ying who was inspecting one of my centurions, as I came over. She, without meeting my gaz,e asked rather bluntly as she dragged down a nail that sparked against the dwemer metal.
"So Kharn of Clan Barruk. Tell me how this Centurion is best used in open battle as we push into a large horde of Greenskins."
Knowing she just wanted the hard facts of my tools of war, I said bluntly. "These are best used a siege breakers. Run all twenty-five in a formation, and they will crush and burn all but a shield line of Ogres or Greater Demons."
"Otherwise, if it's a more open battlefield. Allow them to charge down the core of the army in a line two thick. So long as their cores aren't broken, they can fight with no end of stamina... And even orcs can't smash through several inches of refined metal so easily."
Miao Ying nodded in understanding and then she said thoughtfully, even as she didn't look at me once. "Good, mechanical soldiers that do not tire is already a part of Grand Cathay's core tools of war. We shall see how well they do then, now Zhou you take Kharn to the officer's line."
Knowing a dismissal when I heard one, I followed the Dragon-Blooded adjutant who clearly was serving Miao Ying in military means and as we moved away, he said quietly. "Young dwarf, I have seen your kind before during trade deals with the motherland... Why are you on the battlefield when you don't even have a beard yet?"
I was silent for a long moment before I said rather flatly. "I am without my clan yes, my clan is dead. But my blood debt will be paid in the debt of my clan's killers. I am on the battlefield because it is where I belong."
He had no answer, and all the while we moved to the officer's line, our group was moving out from the very heavily patrolled area around the Grand Bastion and further north into the badlands.
I myself rode my own beloved war goat Azulbak, near the officer line which was part of the procession near the front and in the middle which normally would be the most dangerous.
But Miao Ying and several other mages made it so that any surprise arrow barrages and magical surprise attacks should be kept to their lowest point. Along with the Jet Lion's made from Jet that would weaken the magic that neared them.
Still, the ride was rather boring, though that boredom was quickly silenced as I watched the ogres being their boisterous selves and loudly cheering at the thought of eating off the green skins to come.
Finally a good thirty minutes march from the walls of the Grand Bastion, I could feel Azulbak's coat stiffening as it let out a rattle of a growl at the scent of green skins hitting its very well-trained senses.
As Azulbak had grown up with the rest of my clan's war goats and had long been trained to pick up the scent of the green skins even in windless caves.
We crested over a hill, and there the Greenskins were... A fucking massive expanse of skin tents, ramshackle buildings made from shit, mud, and bones. It was the pinnacle of orc building of course.
And even more apparent was how the orcs were expecting us as they flew their war tribes sigil above the wide open front gates in the distance, with a hoarse screaming out as lesser goblins and wretches that were outside the camp noticed us quickly.
'I am surprised Miao Ying is even letting me fight here... Or maybe she doesn't find my automatons extraordinarily valuable as their crafter. Still I need the exp from killing these orcs and such to grow.' I thought before I had another idle thought.
I still had no idea if automatons that I had created would count towards earning me levels... Well, I was going to find out real quick, though, as I tensed in preparation as my Centurions charged towards the line of happily roaring bigger green skins.