November 2, 2022
Day 13
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Daniel flexed his arms as he spoke, “These health potions work like magic. All your bones and joints are in good shape too now I hope? “
Everyone nodded their agreement, before he continued.
“Okay, the cellar door will break any moment now. Let’s go over the plan one last time, and then we’ll start.”
“First, I have enabled the most basic castle defense shield available to us. It will not harm, deter or attack the birds in any way, but it will render their mental attacks useless as long as we are within the castle’s walls. It's not much, but at least we won’t stand unmoving and defenseless against them anymore. Still, we don’t have the numbers to put up any kind of a fight against them. Unless...“
Ivan completed the sentence.
“Unless the birds attack us a few at a time, funneling slowly through the cellar door.”
Daniel agreed.
“If they do so, we will grind them for levels as long as we can. But something tells me the birds will be smarter than the frogs, and will stop entering the cellar after some time. Sooner or later, we will have to fight in the hall, so let’s plan for that.“
Everyone nodded, and Daniel continued.
“To that end, I plan to summon 100 infantry sentinels - half pikemen and half spearmen. The first 10 I will summon immediately, to help us in the initial cellar fight. The remaining 90 I will summon once the fighting reaches the hall. I will take control of the summoned units, while the rest of you will engage in melee alongside them. As we all agreed, fighting on the roof will be to our enemies advantage, with their pick and drop tactics, so we won't go there. On the other hand, fighting indoors will nullify their flight advantage, and their wings might even prove to be a hindrance in tight quarters“
Daniel paused and asked if anyone had anything to add. Then he continued.
“If the fight does not go our way, and we are overwhelmed by their number, we retreat to the cellar and recover. In that case, if the situation allows, we can use our fireballs and arrows, but err on the side of caution. If there is even a remote possibility of friendly fire, stick to melee. “
“Finally, if we manage to gain a strong enough advantage, only then will we push out of the hall and into the courtyard. We will retake the courtyard and fight there. In case the tides turn, we will rush back into the castle hall. “
“In case the birds start retreating, we will go to the outer walls, and pepper them with arrows. The outer walls are only half as tall as the roof, and I believe a fall from that height will not be lethal to us with our enhanced strength and vitality. Still, if the birds stop their retreat and start a counter attack, we will retreat back to the courtyard. These birds have already displayed a lot more intelligence and tactics compared to the frogs. If it seems like they are trying to lure us out, don’t take the bait. “
“To summarize, until and unless we are sure that the birds are actually getting pushed back, and not feigning retreat, we stick to the hall. Are we all on the same page?”
Everyone nodded, and Daniel began the counter attack by summoning 5 spearmen and 5 pikemen. That was as many as it was possible to fit in the cellar. The summoned sentinels slowly rose out of the ground, seeming incorporeal at first, then taking on solid form as soon as their feet finally emerged from the floor.
The pikemen wore sturdy looking plate armor and had a long pike which they held with both their hands. The spearmen had lighter armor but held a large rectangular shield in one arm. In their other arm, they held a spear. The spear was long compared to a regular sword, but noticeably shorter than the pike.
Daniel ordered them into formation. The 5 spearmen stood shoulder to shoulder, their knees bent so that they stood a bit lower, and their shields locking together to form a shield wall. Their spears reached out from the sides, making use of small gaps in the shield wall, ready to stab any enemy that drew close. However, in that formation, the range of their spears was restricted and could not reach the birds which would no doubt attack at a height.
That’s where the pikemen came in. They stood right behind the spearmen, and their pikes emerged from above the spearman's head, poised to attack any approaching birds.
Satisfied with the formation, Daniel gave them one last command. He ordered the spearmen to raise their shields over their heads. Correspondingly, he ordered the pikemen to raise their pikes so that they were pointed vertically up. When the cellar door breaks, the birds will drop in vertically from the ceiling of the cellar. This configuration of the shields would serve them better.
“Ready?” Daniel asked.
As if on cue, the cellar door burst open, not giving anyone a chance to respond. 3 sleek hawks swooped in close succession, their forms covering enough of the ceiling space around that door that no more could enter.
Within moments, they were pierced by multiple pikes, and fell to their deaths.
Dozens more followed, but only 2 to 3 could squeeze in at a time. The pikemen made quick work of all the hawks, as the spearmen held the shield wall, and the humans watched from the sidelines.
Rahul watched as Daniel's control of the sentinels grew more and more refined with every wave of the attacking hawks. At first, Daniel was on guard and ensured that the hawks were not a threat in this confined space, and could only enter a few at a time. Once he was certain of that, he experimented with his control over the sentinels. By now, he was able to deftly maneuvered the sentinels, and commanded them to only harass the hawks, and not kill.
The hawks still kept attacking the sentinels for a while, and received only glancing blows in return. However, they weren't able to break the sentinel's impenetrable defense either, and got tired on the stalemate.
So, they went for the seemingly softer targets, the humans.
And got slaughtered immediately.
Rahul and his team, Daniel included, took turns killing the stream of exhausted hawks that were coming their way after testing their mettle against the sentinels and failing. But as Daniel had predicted, that didn’t go on for long. Between the 8 of them, they had killed about 30 hawks, before the attacks stopped. The hawks started hovering and flying over the ceiling door, screeching at them, but not descending. Rahul looked at his windfall of experience.
You have killed a Level 11 Hawaiian Hawk. 110 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 12 Hawaiian Hawk. 120 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 12 Hawaiian Hawk. 120 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 10 Hawaiian Hawk. 100 experience earned.
4360/20000 experience to the next level.
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450 experience after a few minutes of fighting. Not bad, but not enough, Rahul thought to himself, impatient to get to the hall and get to level 9 and 10.
He didn't have to wait long, as Daniel immediately commanded the sentinels to climb out of the cellar, with the spearman raising their shields and going first.
The moment the first spearmen set foot in the hall, he started getting attacked by hawks from all directions. He was taking a lot of damage every second, but soon more spearmen joined. They all stood holding up their shields and standing back to back, protecting each other’s flanks. But the birds were attacking from every direction, and the shields couldn't protect them against every attack. So, by the time the first pikemen went up and started attacking, two spearmen had already been destroyed.
The two destroyed sentinels dissolved back into the ground, but they had brought enough time and space for the pikemen to come out, and behind them came Rahul and all the others. As they fought the hawks and cleared out the space around the cellar door, Daniel stayed in the cellar below. He kept summoning more and more sentinels, and they kept pouring out of the cellar door.
Daniel would have preferred to summon the sentinels directly in the hall, but they were highly unstable when they were in their incorporeal form. Even a glancing blow would be enough to disperse them, and the settlement points that were spent to recruit the sentinels would be wasted.
Eventually, a hundred sentinels stood in formation inside the castle hall, Daniel having replaced the two dead spearmen as well.
A line of spearmen stood with their shields up, blocking any lethal attacks from the hawks, while taking the weak blows on their armor. Behind them stood the pikemen, slaughtering the hawks with their superior tactics and weapon reach. Behind the pikemen was the castle wall, ensuring that they couldn’t be attacked from behind.
Rahul and his friends divided themselves in 2 groups, positioned on the left and right flanks of the line. These were the most vulnerable parts of the formation, where most hawks were attacking, and where maximum experience could be earned.
And boy was there experience to be earned.
You have killed a Level 10 Hawaiian Hawk. 100 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 10 Hawaiian Hawk. 100 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 12 Hawaiian Hawk. 120 experience earned.
.
.
You have killed a Level 11 Hawaiian Hawk. 110 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 10 Hawaiian Hawk. 100 experience earned.
16330/20000 experience to the next level.
Rahul was close to level 9, and those in his team who had not made it to level 8 in the frog attack had done so now. Rahul would level up soon, and the rest will follow.
A part of Rahul was happy to earn the free experience. But a bigger part was deeply unsatisfied.
A hawk rushed at Rahul, swooping down from his right with its claws pointed towards Rahul’s face.
Rahul ducked out of its way at the last second, but instead of just evading the blow, he stretched his left hand and grabbed the hawk by the wings. Strong as the hawk may be, Rahul still weighed 10 times more than it, and the hawk’s flight came to an abrupt end.
Whatever had helped the Hawks lift their paralyzed victims and throw them off the roof did not make them stronger than a human in raw strength. With one hand, Rahul tugged at the hawk's wings and pulled it closer to him. With his other hand, he stabbed through the hawk's chest.
You have killed a Level 11 Hawaiian Hawk. 110 experience earned.
Rahul wasn't happy when he saw that notification. He was frustrated.
Another hawk dove straight for Rahul from above, and he sidestepped its attack. As the hawk missed its mark, it flapped its wings hard in an attempt to slow down, but it had too much momentum. It crashed on the floor with a thud, and Rahul bent down and killed it with a single stab.
You have killed a Level 10 Hawaiian Hawk. 100 experience earned.
Rahul still wasn't happy. He was frustrated.
More birds came and threw themselves at his blade. With every bird that Rahul killed, tears fell down his eyes.
You have killed a Level 11 Hawaiian Hawk. 110 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 13 Hawaiian Hawk. 130 experience earned.
You have killed a Level 12 Hawaiian Hawk. 120 experience earned.
.
.
Rahul wasn't jubilant. He was devastated.
Every bird he killed, the gut wrenching feeling got worse.
These weak, disorganized and incompetent birds had killed everyone he had come to know so well over the past few weeks. These weaklings had killed his friends and mentors. If he had not woken up, they would have killed all his closest friends, his entire team would have been wiped out.
He would have been killed.
The weak shits!
The hawks were crumbling like a sand castle.
The albatrosses were worse. They were cowards that only attacked defenseless foes. Faced with an enemy that could fight back, they were staying in the sidelines and watching.
This bunch of weaklings had almost wiped out his entire settlement.
All because Mark deemed it unnecessary to protect the settlement with even a basic defensive shield.
All because Mark kept them in the dark.
All because Mark lied to them all and played them like a fiddle.
Rahul was furious.
He looked towards Daniel, and said one word. A request.
“Attack?”
He did not need to say anything more. He did not need to hide his teary eyes. Daniel would understand. They all would.
Daniel nodded, then shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.
“All our planning and strategy is wasted on these pathetic insects. We will meet them head on and drive them off our island. Not a single one of these pieces of shit should live to see another day!“
All 7 of them responded to Daniel's proclamation with a roar, mirroring Rahul's own pent up frustration.
Then they tore into the birds.