That was really bad… In the best-case scenario, they had four hundred people who could fight in the village, but only half of them were warriors with experience in fighting monsters and humans.
If the village was a bit like a fortress, perhaps they would have a good chance, but that wasn't the case. So, the village, which had been in a good mood for the last two years, was facing another crisis, and everyone was down.
"I can't use Herac to convince the lord to help. It will be too suspicious," Gaius thought. "Not like an army would have enough time to reach this place in time to help… I guess my only option is to use some guerrilla tactics with my monsters and then decrease their numbers while causing damage to their equipment. They shouldn't have brought a lot of food since they want this territory for that reason, and they probably think that conquering the village will be easy."
The situation was difficult, but Gaius had to find a way to solve it… He couldn't afford to let even a single person in the village die. Otherwise, he would blame himself for it.
"Did everyone reach a consensus?" Kaira asked. "We can't just wait for help."
"... Everyone wants to fight since we already had to compromise once, and that almost caused our downfall," Zairus said, then massaged his neck. "However, I think fighting now will be our downfall. Retreating now and leaving the village in order to return with some help is our best option. It will also force Lord Ekirenton to play his hand. If we try to be stubborn, even if we don't lose now, we will lose in the long run if our forces decrease."
As someone who had lost a lot and seen a lot of death, Zairus' mentality was understandable… He didn't mind losing his home. What he didn't want to lose were his wife and son. The others were tired of losing and running away. They didn't want to let their kids grow up, only showing them that.
"Some enemies are planning to attack the village, and we sent a message to your lord," Gaius thought while trying to communicate with Herac. "What are the chances of him sending help?"
"If the enemy is too close already, the chances are too small since all of his soldiers are busy and will take a while to assemble," Herac explained after he went to a place where no one could see him on the streets. "He imagined that such a thing might happen since the movements of one of his enemies have been suspicious recently."
"Do you think that is a bait to force him to make a mistake or split his forces?" Gaius asked while frowning. "The enemy is in the south, and they have real reasons to aim for our lands."
"I am aware. They are allies of the most troublesome enemy of Lord Ekirenton," Herac explained. "They were probably incited to do that since losing that territory would make us lose some resources and soldiers. If we don't lose, the enemy will have the chance to attack either of the forces."
It looked like Gaius' actions weren't the sole reason for the whole situation. Things were escalating way too quickly, but he couldn't let that affect his mind. After taking a deep breath, Gaius calmed down and once again confirmed that he was the only one who could do something…
After thinking for a while, Gaius realized that he didn't have time to destroy the enemies from the inside by killing their leader and summoning them. His best option was to scare them with something they had never seen…
The people of the village began to prepare for combat the next morning. That being said, there was only so much that they could do. Fletching arrows was the main thing that most people were doing… Not like they would have much time to use those. Regardless, Kaira was also helping.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"I am going to talk with the others and decide how we are going to proceed," Zairus said and then looked at Gaius. "I can tell that you want to help, and while your training showed some results, it is too early for you to fight with a real weapon. Your duty will be to be with your mother and protect her until I return."
Gaius just blinked. He was going to help anyway, and he didn't ask because he knew that his father wouldn't let him help directly.
Zairus left the house, and Kaira focused on her job… There wasn't much for Gaius to do in that situation, so he decided to sneak around.
"Don't go too far, Gaius," Kaira warned him.
Gaius nodded. Even though he didn't have much time until his mother started to worry, he still decided to leave the village after mounting on the hawk and moving away from the village a bit.
It didn't take long for him to find the Desert Wolf in that area since he had given the order at night. Still, he couldn't tell the creature to attack before he could see the situation with his eyes.
After finding the Desert Wolf, Gaius also found some scouts of the village who wanted to make sure to warn the people if the enemies suddenly approached.
Gaius had to fly for ten kilometers before he could find the enemy's camp… It was quite big. At least five hundred soldiers were there, trying to keep tabs on the village. Half of the people there were in the tents, and the other half were preparing for the fight.
Orein Lv 28
Health: 300/300
Mana: 100/100
Stamina: 200/200
Strength: 32
Endurance: 28
Adaptability: 25
Magic: 05
Resistance: 15
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 18
Perception: 22
Luck: 10
Free points: 00
Most of the people there had the same level of strength. So, they weren't that strong… Still, while their overall strength was lower than that of the guards of the village, they could use strategy and their numbers in their favor.
Taking down the leader was Gaius' goal, but even after flying around several times, he didn't find them. Gaius clicked his tongue in annoyance… He didn't have time to waste, so he decided to scare the crap out of them with some big attacks.
"I guess I will have to postpone increasing my strength for a while…" Gaius thought and used all of his free points in magic.
Gaius Lv 46 (13,000/46,000) - Limitless Summoner
Health: 205/205
Mana: 660/660
Stamina: 170/170
Strength: 06 + 18
Endurance: 01 + 15
Adaptability: 01 + 11
Magic: 131
Resistance: 01
Wisdom: 96 + 15
Dexterity: 01 + 11
Perception: 01 + 25
Luck: 01 + 18
Free points: 00
Summoning List:
Ant Lv 12 (Perception)
Gray Spider Lv 10 (Dexterity)
Worm Lv 11 (Perception)
Lizard Lv 10 (Adaptability)
Bird Lv 13 (Wisdom)
Hawk Lv 17 (Luck)
Poisonous Snake Lv 13 (Poison Bullet)
Horse Lv 14 (Endurance)
Slime Lv 22 (Observe)
Desert Wolf Lv 35 (Wind Sphere)
Goblin Lv 23 (Blunt Weapon Mastery)
Rein Lv 12 (Sword Mastery)
Herac Lv 17 (Strength)
Gaius' magic increased by eighty points so that he felt a lot more powerful than before. To the point that he could fire four of his former stronger attacks…
The spinning magic arrows flew toward four tents and completely annihilated the targets and everything inside… Gaius felt like he had thrown some grenades.
The human Clovis was added to your summoning list.
The human Anelis was added to your summoning list.
The human Herea was added to your summoning list.
…
Eight people died, and then the soldiers around panicked since they assumed that the enemies had attacked. Still, they didn't find anyone, and when they looked at the sky, Gaius had left a long time ago.
"Hmm… It isn't like I didn't kill people before, but the feeling this time is different," Gaius furrowed his eyebrows. "Come to think of it, I didn't think too much when I killed Herac and Rein. Did I always have a screw loose somewhere?"
While it was convenient that he wasn't dwelling that much on the fact itself, Gaius couldn't help but frown a bit… Regardless, he wasn't the one who wanted to start a battle that would kill hundreds, so he didn't have a reason to hesitate.
In any case, from that group, Gaius only got two skills. The others granted him more parameters in magic, wisdom, perception, and luck.
Fire Resistance: Passively decreases the effects of fire-related attacks by one point per level.
Dash: Passively increases your running speed by five percent per level.
"Hmm, this isn't half bad… Anyway, I am starting to think that this class would really suit a murder hobo," Gaius rubbed his chin thoughtfully once he returned to the village.
The attack will probably put those guys on alert, and that will probably delay their attacks a bit. Gaius could use that chance to attack a few times more… but he truly wanted to use the guys that he just got to scare the crap out of the others. The only problem was that he still didn't know how to use them effectively in battle.