The next morning came far too soon for the exhausted people, but there was much work to do before the gaunts arrived. Lanek had been given the list of training weapons that Garik would need for the trainees. No combat classes had been unlocked quite yet, but the warriors with the highest levels in the group had managed to split everyone into groups based on their preferred weapon types, the class type they hoped to unlock, and their attributes.
While Lanek was unable to get the trainees real weapons, he was more than capable of swiftly fashioning training weapons through the use of [Greater Shaping]. After asking Liv to bring him wood from the trees she had cut down the previous day, Lanek focused mana in his fingers and began the shaping process. Over the course of the next hour, Lanek formed a pile of crude pieces that bore the general shape of swords, axes, and clubs. Of those, only the clubs would be combat effective, but Lanek was hopeful that the System would recognize the shape of the swords and axes enough to give the people credit for their training efforts.
In addition to the makeshift equipment, the trainees had access to spears, knives, and shields that had been taken from the dead trolls. The hunters had taken two of the trainees, an orc and a dwarf under their tutelage and were training them in the field as all of the bows were needed for hunting. That left 24 individuals left in camp that needed training consisting of eleven humans, nine dwarves, and four orcs.
As it turned out, the largest group when it came to finding compatible weapons came from the group of fishers. All ten of the fishers in their party had an affinity for the spear. Seeing Lanek’s surprise, Garik had explained that it was extremely common for people with the fisher class to be able to adapt to the spear due to the class often becoming quite proficient with harpoons at higher levels. Of the remaining trainees, six showed promise with axes and swords, four had a talent with daggers, and the final four showed an affinity for bludgeoning weapons.
It pained him that everyone would still have to use a spear or knife regardless of their affinity, but he couldn’t provide them weapons from the Mark without making them members of his order. Unfortunately, his order was still full and he had yet to find a way to increase its size. If we survive this, I’ll need to make it a priority to find some place to scavenge equipment.
After delivering the crude training weapons to Garik, Lanek approached the river crossing. He didn’t have a lot to do on the wall, but he did want to add a few finishing touches. Lanek focused on the seeds he had scattered across the opening in the wall, forcing a barricade into place that reached to his waist. This would allow their hunters to come and go while also providing a position for the defenders to fight from when the gaunts hopefully charged at the obvious weak spot in the fortifications.
The next part of his plan was to put something akin to a firing step in place for his hunters to fire from and for the sentries to keep watch. While he wanted to grow a platform or walkway out of the wall itself as he had done in Caelis, these walls were not thick enough to support the weight. However, as he stared across the southern branch of the river, he smiled as an idea struck him. Let’s try to kill two birds with one stone.
Lanek took a running start at the river crossing, startling his bodyguards who scrambled to keep up with him. As he reached the barrier he had erected, he leapt over it with all of his strength, truly testing his boosted stats for the first time. Lanek, fully expecting to land in the river, was shocked when he flew through the air and landed on the far shore. Holy shit, I didn’t think I could still move like that without the whip or my Shinobi class. What the hell…
Lanek waited on the shore for his self-appointed bodyguards to join him as he scrolled through his status screen looking for answers. His eyes fell on his [Pathfinder] skill as he remembered that this skill promised to boost his movement options and mobility, but ever since he lost his Shinobi class, its effects had been greatly subdued. As he read through the skill, he found the reason for his regained mobility.
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[Pathfinder] [Rare].
Your movement options have increased and the cost of those options on your body has decreased, allowing you to take advantage of the terrain to increase your mobility and greatly decrease your chances of being slowed or tripped up by rough terrain. Scales with DEX and PER.
There it is. My dexterity and perception both received a massive boost over the past few months, but I’ve been relying on Max for mobility, so I never really used this skill. Man, I’ve missed being able to do this.
Lanek grinned as the orcs joined him on the shore, gesturing for them to follow him toward the treeline. “Sorry about that, guys. I needed to test something.”
“Of course, my Khan.” One of the orcs replied.
“Perhaps we should return to the camp?” The other orc asked as he stared into the forest with some concern.
“Not quite yet. I need some materials for the camp and we need to clear some ground to expand our sight lines. I’m going to start cutting down the trees and you two are going to carry them back across the river. Will that be a problem?”
“No, my Khan. That shouldn’t be a problem at all, especially with them joining us.” One of the orcs said, gesturing across the river as the rest of Lanek’s bodyguard, save Garik, were beginning to cross over.
Lanek nodded and approached the first tree, summoning his sword into his hand. It felt odd using the sword on a tree, but he knew that the blade would not have a problem cutting through the tree nor would it break. The only question remaining was if his strength was sufficient for the task ahead.
The sword whistled through the air as he swung, the blade impacting the tree and passing all the way through with very little resistance. Stepping forward, Lanek quickly shoved the tree away from him with his free hand. Lanek smiled broadly, reveling in the fact that his strength had increased so much as the tree crashed to the ground.
He had no doubt that a few of the orcs in his bodyguard could likely perform the same feat, but only if they had a tool or weapon with the same durability and sharpness enchantments that he had placed on the sword. By the time Lanek had moved on to the next tree, the orcs had already begun moving the last one toward the river. Trusting them to handle the task he had given them, Lanek focused on cutting trees.
The day passed quickly as he cleared away the trees. As he cut, he thought about how he would replace these trees. It didn’t feel right to leave the land scarred this way, so he planned on buying a skill to regrow them once the battle was over. [Nature’s Rampart] wouldn’t regrow the trees unless they were part of a larger structure, but Lanek had spotted numerous skills in the Chosen shop that were intended to nurture and accelerate growth. He didn’t have the reward stones to afford it now, but he was sure that problem would resolve itself after the fight.
He leapt back across the river after the last of the fallen trees had been transported and was surprised to see that people had taken the initiative to strip the branches from the trees and stack the logs neatly. Duristor stepped away from the stacks of logs and approached him.
“So, what are your plans for all this lumber?” Duristor asked curiously.
“I want to make firing platforms for the hunters and the trees needed to be cut down anyway to deprive the gaunts of cover. I doubt I’ll need all of it, so once the platforms are complete, feel free to let everyone use it for whatever they like. But, first, could you find me someone with a high building skill?”
Duristor laughed. “Easily done, that would be me. My subclass is Engineer after all. What do you need?”
“Well, that was easy! So, I can build things with my [Nature’s Rampart] skill, but I have no real experience when it comes to building without it. I would like you to build an elevated position for our archers and sentries. I don’t care if it is a single structure or multiple, it just needs to provide good sight lines and cover for the archers. Can you do it?”
Duristor snorted in amusement. “Oh, aye. I can get it done, just you watch.”