Two more days passed with William doing more training and took lessons on leadership from Wallace. He had learned a lot in those two days. His second sword-form was on the cusp of revealing it’s true nature to William. It was at the point where an almost intuitive sense told him that he was near the threshold. His lessons with Wallace had also began to bear fruit. He had discovered the importance of many leadership aspects, such as ensuring that the people are not overworked and are shown appreciation for their work. There were even some snippets on delegation that brought some extra clarity to William on how Wallace had directed operations since his “inauguration”. Wallace voiced rather contentedly that he was not smart enough to understand all the nitty gritty of each line of production or construction, but instead left it to the people who knew the roles best. All Wallace needed to do was meet with them and get a simplified explanation of the progress being made and Wallace could adjust plans from there on.
William began to firmly appreciate a more hands off leadership approach, letting the people do what they are best at whilst giving them a direction to work. William also got to enjoy a lot of nocturnal activities with his girls and he still struggled to stifle his incredulity at waking up with two beautiful women in his arms. He started to get suspicious at the system. A lot of good had happened in that time and he knew something had to change. There was no chance in hell that this world would let him relax this way for long.
Then it happened, as if prompted by his thoughts. A prompt appeared before him as he was mid kata.
{Ascension_Protocol}
{Region Event Update – Message to all individuals in region.}
Recent actions have caused the local bandit presence to take particular interest in the settlement named Greenwell. The bandits muster their forces and consolidate their resources for the Final Assault.
{Duration}
1 Week.
[Notice – Final assault will commence on the last day of event.]
{End}
“Fuck you GAEA. You did that deliberately,” William grumbled, walking into the settlement center as he expected everyone would also be gathering there. This was confirmed as he saw everyone, even the Duncans meet up by the well. The sun was high and the breeze was gentle, a caressing of mother nature with every gust. In moments, everyone was present. William’s family were all together and stood at his side. He felt awkward as it seemed that things were improving with his family. This was good, but he didn’t quite know how to feel, given the past years. In the end there was no use in crying over the past. They had to consider their future, particularly in that moment.
Wallace naturally took center stage as the old veteran looked around. William wondered how the older man would keep morale high after the sudden news.
“I assume we’re all here because of the event update?” Wallace said, not really seeming to expect anything other than agreement.
This was confirmed by a few people saying, “Yeah.” and others simply nodding.
“This is unpleasant news, but our defenses are nearly completed, and we knew that this final battle was coming. I personally prefer it this way. The sooner this event is past us, the better. I would rather get it out the way sooner rather than later. Fortunately, myself and William as my combat advisor have plans in place for this event and have already discussed a few aspects of such a sudden change occurring.”
“When the fuck did we do that?” William questioned internally, then he realized that the old man was probably trying to alleviate fear in the others. A knowing glance from the man in William’s direction indicated a future, private discussion regarding the change.
William was impressed at how easily most of the people present relaxed on hearing Wallace’s proclamation. The Duncans looked particularly troubled however, which normally wouldn’t stand out much, but the concern on the faces of the three seemed particularly intense. He got some bad vibes from it, but he guessed that they were probably just regretting not working as hard as everyone else and still being expected to defend their home. Over the past few weeks, the average level of individuals was about level nine, excluding the non-combatants.
The level increase was primarily gained from continuous combat with the Lynxes who had started getting more aggressive as the logging operations continued in earnest. William almost found it humorous how in just over a month of being in the world, humanity, particularly the earthen strain was already responsible for deforestation and genocide. They would be able to stop once defenses were completed, and later, better accommodation.
The rest of the gathering was brief with Wallace fielding some questions from some of the others, and gracefully answered with obscurity and eluding to precautions and preparations already being formed. William could only summarize it as trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal. William had fought the bandits proper, and his party had caught a brief snippet, but only he had extensive combat experience against them. They were seemingly the GAEA equivalent of trash mobs to William at this point, though he had no illusions that there were some higher level ones in the bandits’ main group, not to mention a most likely far higher level leader.
William was both nervous, and excited for the final battle. He could get a taste of a strong foe and see how far he had truly come as from what he had experienced against bandits over the past weeks was disappointment. He did however still occasionally wrestle with his mind at attributing living beings that he struck down as inadequate or a waste of his Mana. It only ever came as a passing thought, however, as he was getting ruthlessly accustomed to killing.
With no more questions or fielded concerns, Wallace ended the meeting and everyone returned to what they were doing. William noticed his family looking toward him and he turned to them, spotting some concern.
“It’ll be fine. This ends in one week. I will destroy them all. I need you three to assist where you can in whatever capacity from a point of safety. If you don’t wanna fight, help with provisions during the siege or the like and in your case Jane, heal where needed. You can all help without dealing with the bandits directly. I won’t fail you.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
His family all looked at him with relief and what William could hope was some respect. Even his mother seemed resigned to letting him follow his path that would take him to the peak of a corpse mountain.
William smiled warmly at the three and added, “I need to discuss things with Wallace, I think carrying on as normal is best for now. Don’t let this change bog you down.”
William turned then and went to meet Wallace who was near one area of the palisade that had been finished ahead of schedule. The older man eyed Wallace with a look of urgency and William quickened his pace at seeing that. His walk turned into a quick power walk, as he didn’t want to draw attention by running.
Moments later, the two were a couple of feet apart as Wallace turned around to face the palisade and indicated William to do the same.
“Lad, This changes a lot. We might have the defenses done on time, but we need to hamper the enemy’s capabilities, just in case. I think it’s important to go ahead with sabotaging that cabin we found, a day before the expected assault preferably.”
William considered the suggestion, and couldn’t find fault in it. There was another question on William’s mind however, “I agree. Regarding the plans to have flanking teams outside the walls is too risky now they don’t have time to grind levels out. I think it’d be better to have everyone inside, defending Greenwell. If that bandit I...gained info from those few weeks ago was telling the truth of the headcount, roughly thirty or so bandits remain. Even odds in numbers, and we are defending. I don’t like the text on the event update though. There is a good chance of the bandits gathering more of their ilk in some way.”
Wallace smiled at William’s words and nodded in appreciation as he replied, “Good lad, that’s similar to my own thinking. Magic in this world concerns me however, as we don’t know what capabilities the bandit Mages might have.
Our Mages know [Fire-bolt], [Mana-ward], and a couple, John included, have [Fire-wall]. These aren’t the most convenient spells for defending a wooden fortification. We would need to rely on our people to use [Mana-ward] to deflect or block the enemy magic attacks.”
“[Fire-bolt] will be fine as its a projectile we can fire outward. There’s also a lot of value in [Fire-wall] in the event of a breach as we can seal with it. If the wood adjacent catches fire, that’s not too bad as even bandits probably prefer not working through burning wood to get inside.”
“That’s true, Lad. Okay, We’ll go ahead with that plan. The specific details of positions will be worked on by myself and the other defenders. I’ll show you the results of that and if you think there’s anything we miss or could add, then that’d be great.”
William gave him a stoic nod and stretched. Standing around without much movement would do that to a person.
“I have more training to do. I’ll also be taking a walk to the woodland, maybe see if I can grind to Human level twenty.”
“Ah, that’s right, you ain't far off now are you Lad?” Wallace said, some excitement present in his tone.
“I feel like I’m on the cusp of another fighter level, I’m hoping a few Lynxes or Fell-Kin are around. That should hopefully get me over the line to level nineteen,” William replied, hope rolling off in abundance.
“Don’t let me keep you then Lad,” Wallace finished, walking off, leaving William alone beside the palisade.
William loitered there for a few minutes, examining the palisade. He pushed with all his strength on the support beam to test the defense. His logic was that if it broke from a push, it wasn’t going to help when under siege. He was pleased when the palisade didn’t budge an inch. He knew that the support beams would help, but not to the extent he had just seen. The inner supports were on track to be finished in just over a week. This was fine until the recent change of plans. Now, most of it would be done, but there would most likely be a gap somewhere. He would need to linger around such an area, just in case. He had no ranged options other than burning through his Vortex skills and limited number of daggers, so he would primarily focus on defending any week point.
William was possibly being over cautious, given that the bandits wouldn’t know where the weak point would be, yet it would be sod’s law that they found it accidentally. He thought more on how best to operate in the time it took for him to enter the hut where his family normally slept. He needed to get his coat back off of his mother. The hut was empty but he noticed the coat neatly folded tot he side of a bedroll, which he guessed belonged to his mother. Neatly folded clothing was very much something his mother liked having done. It brought a small smile to his face as he put the item on. It was time to go for a stroll in the woods.
It was early afternoon when William reached the woodland. He ventured in as far as the previous excursion, finding no threats on the way. This was peculiar. Had the others killed all the Lynxes in the area? That seemed unlikely. “Something’s fucky,” He said aloud, getting a sense of foreboding. He stepped over a log into a natural bowl in the land around ten meters in diameter.
The air was stale, and the soil black, putting even tar to envy in it’s depth. The air was stagnant and still, and even the sunlight and its heat leaking through the canopy felt subdued. The worse part was the unbridled silence. No scurrying insects, no chirping of birds, no creaking of branches, nor swishing of leaves. It was as if he was in a frozen point of time where ancient and sinister powers loomed. He felt eyes abound, in the trees, in the ground, even the air itself seemed to judge him. To weigh his soul. His very being. Three black felines appeared around the rim of the bowl, eyes locked upon William in a deathly gaze, their yellow eyes glaring deep enough to pierce his very soul.
“Panthers? No...panthers don’t have four eyes, or horns.” William thought, feeling an inevitable battle looming over him and the land around him. He decided to cast identify:
{Ascension_Protocol}
Beast – Fell Horned Lynx – Level 10
Beast – Fell Horned Lynx – Level 9
Beast – Fell Horned Lynx – Level 11
{End}
William felt some relief, and elation. The mobs were not deadly threats as he had feared upon spotting them, and he could finally put his Fell The Mighty title to good use. It was a little concerning that these beasts had become Fell-Kin. It was a future him problem however. He smiled as he summoned his first sword that he had named, Sharpie. It wasn’t the best name, but he couldn’t be bothered to spend too much time dwelling on a good name. With Sharpie in hand, he smiled as he said, “Time to leave a permanent mark!”
William was graced with an applause of pure silence, except the growls. Lots of growls, abyssal and eldritch in sound and feel as the growls sent out reverberations that William could physically feel in his feet from the thrumming ground. The three beasts slowly descended into the bowl, stalking towards him.
“Not a fan of the joke, eh?” He said, nonchalantly tilting his blade into a forward thrusting motion.
More growls followed as he added, somewhat shamefully, “Yeeah, not my best, I get it.”
The beasts were only five meters away, and with a synchronized leap, the three fell beasts began their assault.