Val went ahead with the two following along. They saw that the damage done to the gates was more intense than expected.
The inside of the ramparts was a mess. As the town is made with the ramparts having a nearby living quarters for those keeping guard duty, it was re-made to include as many soldiers as possible, along with some supplies and extra weaponry.
Due to the recent attacks, however, the supplies were running out along with the weapons as they constantly broke from overuse. However, Mikella noticed at the side that one of the shelves was filled with very familiar weapons.
It was one of the weapons they took from the knight tower. Compared to the others, their tower-based weapons gleaned from the natural sunlight giving off from the open air. Rather than marvel at her weapon, the sorry sight of the town’s armory was filling her with pity.
But what looked more tiresome and worn out were the soldiers. Upon entering into the large living quarters of the ramparts, the soldiers who wore some worn down leather armor and almost ripped clothing glared at them with intense heat.
They looked at the two outsiders with contempt, greed, and perhaps envy by the looks of it. While they were guarding the town from the entrance, the outsiders that gave them some trouble at the beginning were just relaxing at the lord’s house for an entire month.
That didn’t give Mikella any love lost for these soldiers, They did sign up for this after all. What’s more, now that they’re here, they have no reason to stare at them.
They particularly gave nasty looks at Zeke, who didn’t even look like a fighter at all. When they entered, Mikella already had her sword held in place with Zeke just stayed by her side, his hands fidgeting as though trying to find out what to do.
Of course, they didn’t come with messed up drag like when they first got into the town. They wore official armor and robes signifying the town’s defense. Zeke wore a simplistic brown robe that covered his torso and limbs, but parts of the cloth were tied with tight bands around his forearms and forelegs, allowing him easier movement.
Something that Cloud offered as he too hated the idea of having such loose cloth all the time. However, the reasoning behind the cloth instead of armor was simple.
Wearing any type of armory, whether leather or iron, added interference to the mana casted by the mage. Like an unnecessary filter, it bottles up the mana exuded by the mage, making it harder to pass through. There were skills for crafters that allowed mana to pass through with ease, allowing even mages to be decked with heavy plated armor while casting fireballs like a literal tank.
But unfortunately, their crafters weren’t high level enough, or specialized, to do that for their mages. Right now, dealing magic properly was more important than some added protection. On top of that, armor specialized for magecraft was expensive as hell.
So the mage types are often at the back, having no defense whatsoever, while the fighters are at the frontlines. As for Mikella, she wore the same leather armor as the rest of the soldiers, regardless of gender.
Her leather armor was simple, adorning across her torso and upper arms, keeping her forearms light with some bracers. She also had tightly woven leather boots with pants that felt similar to cargo, the material rough and padded to the touch, but not as hard as the leather which makes it easier to move around in.
She could honestly go with less simplistic brown in her opinion, but who has time for fashion when she’s most likely to be dressed in red soon?
Hopefully only from monsters, Mikella thought.
But despite looking way better than they were at first, the soldiers kept looking at them as though they were barely worth their time. When Val approached the group up front, she called them out. Her usually cheerful self vanished and only the solemn captain of the military force of Eve Glade showed.
“Listen up!” Her voice echoed, getting the soldiers to stiffen up. “We got new fighters joining the fray. These folks were caught unawares and were forced to travel all the way here to our town. In return for our kindness, they offered their services to the defense of the city. I personally saw to it that they are capable of fighting in their own right. But that can only go so far.
“The rest of us will continue to holster our defenses and look out for any potential threats. And this time, do not let your exhaustion get the best of you! I know it’s been a rough time for all of us, but that is why we need to stand firm, now more than ever. Earn those levels and titles, and come back to a much safer town after.”
The soldiers all responded at once, saluting and shouting ‘Yes ma’am!’ at their captain. It was so unified, it was a wonder to see despite the strange atmosphere that was occurring just moments ago.
But soon after Val left to get started on her rounds across the rampart, the two were left with the soldiers standing behind for their own work, now returning back to staring at them.
In the end, nothing much changed. Though it was clear that they needed to follow what Val said earlier that day.
The soldiers were, in the end, fighters who have fought for years now. Fighters tend to rely on those who have earned that trust, and the only way to earn that themselves is through combat. While that won’t be an issue for both Mikella and Zeke, she still didn’t like how they stared at her as though she was useless.
And she didn’t like how most of the melee fighters just stared begrudgingly at Zeke, one of the rare mages that were there. Hell, not even the other mages, all dressed the same way as Zeke, would give him any amicable stares.
It was rather insulting, and something Mikella knew that she can easily fix by showing them her power.
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But there’s no point in causing a fight. In the end, the two stayed restlessly as they followed one of the top soldier’s orders to keep working.
…..
Throughout the time there, hours have passed from early morning to afternoon with nothing much of worth.
The hordes come at random times, but when they come–they come in droves. Sometimes stragglers come along, forcing one of the guards to take it out. Sometimes they even fight each other to take the kill, as having to wait for monsters to come while they are close to a level up can be frustrating for them.
Because there weren't any monsters to fight at the moment, some of the soldiers decided to do some light sparring to keep up with their fitness, often going into brawls if weapons weren’t allowed. The only reason why it wasn’t such a waste of time doing that was because they could increase their stats and skill levels. So if they can somehow manage to increase the skill level before the horde comes, that would only be purely beneficial for the group.
Due to that, Mikella suddenly found herself facing a tall girl with a mean look on her face. Zeke was off with the mages, practically forced to go into planning a decent way of attack, so he wasn’t there to find herself getting confronted with this tall girl the moment she was alone.
The girl looked mean, but it was clear in Mikella’s eyes that she was just as beautiful, if not pretty enough to almost stand equal to a model in their own world. She had auburn colored hair, her skin lightly tanned, constantly under the sun. She wore similar leather armor to herself and carried a spear. She was crossing her arms, standing nearly a head above Mikella as she faced down at her.
“Umm… hello?” Mikella asked, considering what to do the moment the girl appeared like that, and the best she could do was offer greetings.
“So, you’re the one she took under her wing?” The girl suddenly said, her tone not implying any friendly attitude. “I gotta say, I’m a little disappointed at what I’m seeing.”
Mikella could only grimace at that as she frowned at her. “Oh? What makes you say that?”
She knew the instant she answered with that tone of hers. It was a callout, something that she was actually used to back during her gymnast days back in high school. Some of the members would call her out, say that she isn’t that impressive, and try to one up her to get onto the main team.
Of course, she responded with a simple straight up match that ended up with them running with their tail between their legs. If there’s one thing she can call herself, she’s competitive.
“Do I need to say it?” The girl said, nearly scoffing. “You’re only just level 10, and you think you can keep up with the adults?”
“Adults,” Mikella scoffed. “You don’t look any older than I do. What makes you say that?”
The girl was starting to get on her nerves, but she kept calm while challenging her. Losing her cool now would only make her look bad–a byproduct of being a high school girl from America.
“Levels mean more than power,” She responded casually. “That’s why we get ‘experience’. Just because the Captain actually gave you her valuable time training you doesn’t make you any better than anyone else here.”
She was starting to understand why she looked so pissy. So she was a fan of Val, then Mikella and Zeke took most of her time and even got trained under her. Well, mostly Mikella did. Zeke just read books.
Still, it sounded incredibly petty to start a fight over that, but apparently the girl had more to say.
“Even worse, you brought a damn crafter to the ramparts,” The girl frowned deeper, her eyes looking away as though she could see the target of her contempt. “I don’t care how favored he is, that little shrimp can barely–”
The tall girl immediately clammed up when she found herself at the end of Mikella’s sword, right in front of her nose. She didn’t flinch, but she certainly shut up.
Mikella had it with her attitude already, but the moment she decided to not only call her out, but even get Zeke involved–that got her to move without really thinking. And honestly, she was glad for it.
Because even the possibly higher leveled girl couldn’t respond as quickly, only just barely getting her hand to her spear behind her back.
“How about you put your money where your mouth is?” Mikella said. “If you want a fight, just ask for it already. I’m tired of beating around the bush.”
Just like that, Mikella swung her sword aside, facing the now furious girl ready to explode from the insult.
Just like that, the two went out of the rampart’s section, finding themselves in the open area where they usually fight the monster hordes. There was no sign of any danger, and right now, this was a good way to do some decent training.
Even better for Mikella who wanted to get better used to her Kinetic Perception skill. With it, she could feel her handling of her weapon getting better along with Sword Mastery. Added with the Dragon Warrior Class on top of that, she felt like a master.
So even when she identified the girl in front of her and it showed her level, she didn’t get scared in the slightest.
> Warrior, Level 23.
She was a little surprised that the girl in front of her was that high, nearly reaching the end of Apprentice at level 30.
Back then, with the help of Identify, she tried searching Val’s level, but it ended up with just unknown question marks. It was revealed that if someone tried to Identify a person or monster two stages higher, it wouldn’t work. Too high up the system ladder to gain information.
The other soldiers spotted what they were doing, even making some comments here and there which, despite trying to focus, Mikella couldn’t help but listen.
“Ah, crap. There she goes. Looks like Myra did it as we expected.”
“What can you do? Myra looked up to the Captain for years. Now this chick shows up and takes her attention. Myra’s super pissed about it.”
Mikella could only roll her eyes at the absurdity. She already guessed it, but to hear about it only ticked her off further.
Myra was the competitive, jealous type of girl. And she decided to show her worth to Val by proving that she was better than Mikella, a young woman that was more than 10 levels below her. Totally fair and balanced.
She also noticed that Zeke came out to watch, his eyes solely on her. There was a clear look of worry in his eyes, wondering if he needed to step in, she’d thought.
She turned to him, getting him to notice her, and she made sure to shake her head where he could see it. Just by that alone, Zeke could tell that she can handle this.
Though he did show a bit of hesitation, almost frustration at the idea of this happening, he just shrugged and forced himself to just watch. That’s what she liked about him–he just ‘gets’ her sometimes.
Which only made her more pissed off at this Myra chick for insulting him without even meeting the guy. She deserves a bit of an ass whooping if she says so herself.
So she propped her sword up and brandished it about, getting a good feel. Then she pointed the blade right at the girl. Myra, turning back to her opponent after giving herself a fair distance, unsheathed her spear and just pointed it right back at her.
The two faced each other, a fair bit of distance between each other as seconds passed. But Mikella knew that even with this amount of room between them, it could get covered in seconds.
Myra changed her stance when she realized that Mikella wasn't playing around.
So without wasting any more time, the two dashed at each other, their weapons at the ready.