The Death of the veteran had jolted Max awake to reality. This was a battlefield, and the Grim Reaper wasn’t particularly picky with his meals. His shots became less frequent and his cover more careful.
You have killed a seedling enemy soldier. +10 XP
The soldier must have finally bled out. It wasn’t much but it was something. What the hell was wrong with his XP requirement? 10 Billion? Was it another effect of being a Progenitor candidate or of the Chaos Seed that had its Description redacted? Filing it away for later thinking He refocused on the battle.
His aim was still really bad but in the chaos of the battle he still picked off two more soldiers. He had just found a rhythm again of load-shoot and hide. A worry had slowly crept into his mind - At this rate how the hell was he gonna complete those damn missions? He needed to take risks. But how? And where? He was surveying the current situation when there was a loud crash and a large boat rushed downstream.
The boat was full of imperial soldiers and they were all standing in a formation on its deck. ‘Are they idiots? Why are they standing without cover?’ As he finished loading his musket he spotted a translucent blue shield covering the whole boat. Every once in a while it would sharply spark here and there as a bullet made contact.
An imperial soldier in a violet uniform emerged from the still-perfect ranks of soldiers with a ball of fire in his hands. “MAGE! Get down!” someone screamed as the ball of fire raced from his hands and collided with a rebel boat. The rebels on it were jumping off it when the whole boat exploded throwing men and what was left of their comrades into the air. The mage started concentrating again while distant screams of “Mage!” were being heard by the scouts to the rear.
The method of communication seemed to be men screaming a message for a relay scout to hear it and scream again. Seeing the mage the imperials became confident and started taking bold actions while a few rebels broke ranks and fled. A few explosions were seen on the shield from rebel-thrown dynamites, but at most it would just crack a little after 3-4 explosions. Following this another mage emerged and waved his hands over the shield. A bluish-white mist emerged from his hands an rectified the cracks.
Max focused his shots on the other side of the shore where in boldness soldiers were leaving themselves open. He knew they needed to take the mages out but he had no way to do so. For a while, the river had gained a tinge of red which was washed away with the flowing current, In a few minutes, most of the boats were sunk and the rebels on the opposite bank had scrambled to take cover as they lost a good chunk of their number. But the circumstances were still dire as the rebels on the other side were still sandwiched between the imperials on the boat and the shore.
In the midst of all this, a few rebels were struggling to push two horse carts to the bank. Their cargo was covered with a greenish-brown cloth. It was proving difficult to maneuver them through the trees but the rebels were still fighting tooth and nail to move them along. Suddenly, one of the wheels of the second cart got stuck. Max knew there must be something important under the covers for the rebels hadn’t sounded a retreat. Besides this was the risk he was thinking about a few minutes prior.
He jumped up and an towards the carts. He put a hand on it and started pushing with the others. The man overseeing this looked up, his expression had faltered seeing Max run this way but as soon as he saw what Max was doing his grip on his musket relaxed.
They reached the bank when the first cart removed its cover to show a huge black canon loaded on the cart. “To the left!” ordered the overseer and they all started steering the cart. The horse was shot and its absence was making it more difficult to get the second cart into position. They had just reached the position when the overseer was shot down. A man near the first cannon shouted “Fire!” and an explosion followed. A mass of fire and metal erupted out of it and exploded on the mage’s shield. The cracks formed were the largest Max had seen so far. This also drew the attention of the mages and soldiers who were till now solely focused on annihilating the rebels on the other side.
A bullet took off the head of the Torchbearer’s head but everyone around him was just standing there. Seeing the lost expression on the faces of everyone around, Max realized the problem of commands. He screamed “Aim!” the rebels burst into action and started adjusting the aim of the cannon. Max picked up the torch and put it on the wick jutting out, Sparks alighted, and BAM. The cart shuddered as the canon fired a bomb into the cracks and right into the face of the mage who had just released a bolt of lightning towards the canons.
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Max ducked as the lightning hit somewhere just behind him. The lightning and the bomb exploded simultaneously. Max was hurled through the air and fell into the river. A swed ‘Ding’ sounded in his ears as an intense shock on his back was replaced by a cool wet chill as he struggled to breathe and was swept away by the currents.
He didn’t know how to swim so he was just thrashing around. It had only been a minute but he felt like he had been struggling for an eternity. The current hadn’t looked so fast from above but it felt like a Tsunami in the middle. Suddenly he crashed into something and his arm ached. Instinctively he caught on to the fallen tree he had crashed into and used it to steady his bearing. His body felt numb and his wet hands struggled to find purchase as he used the trunk to reach the shore. Slowly he crawled to the bank and heaved himself on top of it. He just lay there as his whole body started aching. The warm sun rays provided relief to the cold he was feeling.
A few minutes passed. Max pushed himself to stand up. He was relatively without cover. He was far from the boats but still, an enemy could be running around here. He had lost his musket in the struggle, the only weapon he had on him was a knife. He held it in his hand and made a few swings in the air when a metallic clink sounded.
But instead of the following blast of a bullet being fired, nothing happened. Max looked up to see an imperial soldier holding a musket to his face less than 3 meters away. He froze and his heart skipped a beat ‘Is this it?’
He instinctively closed his eyes. Another clink sounded in the forest but still, the musket remained silent and the pain he braced for never came. He looked to see the perplexed soldier looking at the gun in confusion. A drop of water dripped down from the muzzle. One would think that a trained soldier won’t make such a rookie mistake like not accounting for the powder being wet after getting thrown into a river. But such is the nature of battle.
And today it seemed that lady luck had favored Max. He immediately charged before the dripping soldier could react. The soldier changed his hold on the musket using it to aim for Max’s chin. Max just ducked and slammed into the soldier. The soldier stumbled and partially crashed his back into a tree and they both fell to the ground. Still reeling from the impact Max rose to his knees to see the soldier still reeling from the impact. He dove knife first towards him but the soldier raised his hands in defence.
Due to bad technique, the knife just slashed his hand instead of doing lasting damage. Then a struggle began between them both. The soldier caught his knife hand and began twisting it. Max felt the knife slip from his fingers. Abruptly he left the knife and instead used his hands as support by placing them on the ground. The soldier had just gripped the knife that had fallen on his shoulder when Max rammed him knee into his Groin.
Cowardly but effective. His hands immediately covered his family jewels while Max grabbed the knife. Wasting no time he haphazardly drew it into the soldier’s throat. The soldier still struggled and gurgled, so for good measure, Max stabbed and scratched his throat until the man stopped moving and a notification sounded out. Max just panted and tried to catch his breath as he realized that his top half was messily covered in warm blood. He pushed himself off of the man and rolled over. He tried to stand but his hands gave out. His shoulder ached as the fatigue of shooting the musket caught up to him and his back ached from the bolt’s shockwave. Between his tired broken breathes, he drifted off to sleep.
-----
Unsteady steps sounded among the trees. A figure coated in dried blood was plodded slowly with a musket in his hand and a small bag on his back. He was chewing on the beef jerky he had found on the soldier. Max was going in the general direction of where he assumed his main camp was according to the rear guard camps he had noticed while fighting on the river bank. The soldier he had looted after killing did not have much except the basic water and food. No gold or anything. Well, it made sense not to bring valuables to the battlefield unless necessary
Surprisingly, soldier on the bank had been a captain. Max had made a lot of progress in his gamble with the canons. He had even gotten a commander. Although the experience didn’t make a lot of difference to the black hole that was his Experience requirement. But still it felt good see there was progress in his quests.
You have killed a seedling enemy soldier. +10 XP
You have killed a seedling enemy soldier. +10 XP
You have killed a seedling enemy soldier. +10 XP
You have killed a Noviciate Seeker Lightening Mage. (Commander) +100*2*10=2000 XP
His canon blast must have taken out 3 other soldiers. He briefly wondered about what Noviciate Seeker means as his reward for this trial was to become an Initiate Seeker. As he walked he couldn’t help but be happy to see the fulfillment of B Rating Criteria. He knew he had to do them all, but it was one less mission to worry about.
MISSIONS
BABY protocol
Trial 1/3: Combat
Phase 1/7
(Squad size reduced from 10 to 1)
(All aiding and information tools of the system except the Status window are switched off for the duration of the trials.)
(All trials need to be completed with an X rating or an extra penalty will be dealt)
(Your path is one that influences the path of Humanity. Thus you may only use race-specific skills during the trials. All other skills are banned.)
Time Left : 59 Hours 40 minutes 12 seconds
E - Mission 000 : Survive the battle and kill 10 soldiers.(8/10)
D - Mission 001 : Kill 4 captains. (1/4)
C - Mission 002 : Kill 100 soldiers. (8/100)
B - Mission 003 : Kill an Enemy Commander. (1/1)
A - Mission 004 : Kill all 4 Enemy Commanders. (1/4)
S - Mission 005 : Kill the Enemy General. (0/1)
X- Mission 006 : Lead and win the battle of Panawan Woods(0/1)
Rewards: Promotion to Initiate Seeker.
Penalty: Rewards withheld. No healing administered. Rating is F for the Origin Evaluation
Extra Penalty: Death
A few hours later he heard a sound “Halt” Max stopped immediately and started looking around. Slowly a few rebels emerged from behind the trees “State your allegiance!”. “Wait, don’t shoot. He is one of mine!” Another voice rang out. A man emerged from behind the trees. He was a black-haired 5’11 guy with the air of a grizzled veteran about him. “Welcome back Private Cosby! I guess now I should say Captain Cosby. Good job on blowing up a commander!