Over the next day and a half, I was able to gain another two levels. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough wounded people in Eldenvale for me to heal. Never thought I'd be sad that there aren't any more wounded but here we are. We don't have time to try anything else though, with my newfound height I can see over the trees and I kind of wish I couldn't. The good news is that reinforcements from the capital are expected to arrive before the orc army. Though based on what I can see it's going to be close.
With nothing else to do at the moment I check my stats one more time.
Name Thomas Race Living Hill Size 200m Level 19 103/200 Health 40,000/40,000 Attack 85 defense 103 speed 84 Skills Active; Water Manipulation level 2(0/10), Earth Manipulation level 2(9/10), Mirror Shield level 6(0/10) Passive; Regeneration level 4(0/10), Healing Aura level 7 (0/10) Talents Copper Shell, Improved Mental Fortitude, Last Stand, Telepathy, Inspiring Physique
I have to admit I was tempted to upgrade healing aura more. It can already heal one health per minute so what would happen if it was upgraded. Considering the situation though I decided to upgrade Mirror shield instead. It now reflects 60% of the attack back at my enemy. I'm honestly a little curious what will happen if it gets to level 10, or if it even can get to level 10. Truthfully, I need to get a few more skills but at this point choosing the skill roulette means giving up so many skill points for a random skill.
One thing that definitely piques my interest, besides the fact that I'm no longer listed as a turtle anymore, is the new talent I got. I figured out a long time ago that the talents aren't as random as they seem, so I was intrigued when I read the description. Inspiring physique those around you are less susceptible to fatigue and will put twice the effort into whatever they are doing. It intrigues me because while I'm sure it does effect combat It doesn't specifically say that it only applies to combat. In fact, it seems to hint that I will soon be surrounded by non-combatants.
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Well, maybe not surrounded. At my size I can't imagine anything successfully surrounding me. Already I'm afraid to take a step because the people are starting to look more like little ants. On the plus side skills affected by my size are much more potent now. This includes both water and earth manipulation. While my actual manipulation could use some improvement, I can now grab water from any open source up to 100 meters away from the edge of my shell. True it's less impressive when you realize it's half my size, but 100 meters is still 100 meters.
Over the next several hours I begin build a trench around Eldenvale using my earth manipulation. It doesn't seem that big to me but according to Yuna it's like a giant chasm suddenly opened up in front of them so I'm happy. Orcs don't seem to have any ranged fighters. Which makes sense seeing how much they trust their regeneration. That's also the problem, I'm not sure the ranged units on our side can actually do enough damage.
Everything is as ready as it can be. Mages are all lined up facing the direction the orcs are coming from. Archers stand behind them since they have greater range apparently. There is also a bunch of Knights out front with their shields ready just in case. The local adventurers are also helping out as best they can. Although adventuring teams are reluctant to split up. The civilians from what I can gather have all been moved to a secret bunker under the guild hall near the center of town. All that's left to do is wait. Fortunately, we don't have to wait long. The orc army finally arrives just before sunset. How cliché can you get.
As expected, the orcs don't have any ranged units. The battle is understandably one sided, at least at first. What nobody expected however was for the orcs to start literally throwing each other across the gap. I use my earth mana to kill as many as I can before they can make it across but even, I can't be everywhere. Especially since I don't want to accidentally step on an ally.
Despite my best efforts enough of them eventually make it across to start seriously disrupting the battle lines. serious injury and death are unavoidable at this point. Seeing this a create a set of dirt stairs so they can bring the wounded to lay on my shell. This severely limits my movement but will also hopefully limit the number of deaths. The experience points I get aren't bad either. At the same time reinforcements arrive from the capital and start putting serious pressure on the orcs left and right flank. Eldenvale's guards are able to fight the orcs if only just barely.
The capitals guards are in a whole other league. Easily able to go one on one sometimes even two on one against the orcs. It really puts into perspective how weak I still am despite my absolutely massive size. All the more evidence that however orchestrated all this does not intend for me to be a warrior turtle. Although if that's not why I was brought here then what is my purpose. Based on all the stories I read back when I was still human, I should be way overpowered by now.
Life isn't exactly a fantasy novel though. Even if my circumstances are a lot more fantastical than they used to be. As I watch the battle wind down to its now inevitable conclusion, I can't help but ponder how completely useless I was. Looking at my skill and talents, and truly seeing them as a whole instead of just seeing the individual abilities. It occurs to me that only three of them, namely mirror shield, copper shell, and last stand are specifically combat oriented. You could make a case for regeneration being combat oriented, I guess. I tend to think of it more as a between combats thing though.
Either way I think it's past time I left this little corner of the world I was spawned in and try to figure out why I was brought here.