“We’ll split into two teams. One will pick up the Sumbar elder, the other will take the village elder. Our target would be the patch where I and Charlotte fell through. It’s here, at the exact midpoint of the route,” Anton opened up his map and put a marking.
“Keep our guard up against all foes. We don’t know what would happen if they died. This may be the only time you have a chance to get this quest, so let’s not waste it.”
“Should we swap weapons?” Kayla asked.
“What weapons did you all wield?” he asked. The rest of the group, excluding Charlotte, brought their weapons out. He examined them one by one.
Daisy and Michal wielded modern weapons, with Daisy carrying a pistol and Michal wielding a submachine gun. Lucy and Lea both had magic weapons, although in different forms. Lucy’s magic spear balanced magic and physical power, while Lea had a magic staff.
Sophie and Kayla both had physical weapons. Sophie wielded her scythe, while Kayla used a dagger Anton gave her.
“Lucy, Lea, do you know how to use Steel Strike?”
Lucy and Lea looked at each other before shaking their heads. AI companions followed the player in terms of leveling. For skills, they could be asked to train their magic separately from the player, but it would take time.
“What is Steel Strike?” Michal asked.
“It’s a spell that turns a magic weapon into a physical one. It sacrificed magical stats for increased physical stats.”
“So… does that mean the rest of us are useless?” Daisy asked.
“Not necessarily, but the Sumbar’s armor, and I assumed whoever our foe is, had physical-based armor. They’re only weak against physical attack.”
Physical armor had special properties. When a player had armor that matched their weapon element, they would receive a boost depending on the match. Players that used both a physical weapon and armor would receive an increase in defense against both magic and modern weapons, to balance out the range disadvantage.
When facing such foes, a magic and modern weapon wielder needed to keep their distance and use it to their advantage. The protection boost would be lost if they didn’t use a physical weapon, however, so disarming their weapons became a well-known trick.
Most players that used the physical build would have backup weapons, but the same couldn’t be said for NPCs.
“If we can disarm them, then we can negate the armor’s advantage.”
But doing that would be tough. It meant putting a tremendous weight on the physical wielders in the group. Even then, Anton wasn’t a dedicated physical wielder. He only had the spell. The staff still counts as a magic weapon, just as hard as steel. Going back to Norbva would take some time, and it would need some more to get used to wielding such weapons. The group was already a group of newbies, getting them to use things that they weren’t used to wouldn’t give them much of an advantage, Anton thought.
“We’ll divide into two groups, each group has two physical wielders in their team,” Anton then turned toward Kayla. Kayla nodded.
Anton then turned toward Charlotte. Charlotte didn’t have the confidence to speak with the elders yet, but she did have the talent for wielding swords. The Sumbar elder looked to be more willing to talk and discuss, so he should be able to take her on. The human elder, on the other hand, looked to need some more convincing.
“Alright, I’ll go with Charlotte, while Kayla will go with Sophie. Daisy and Lucy will go with me, while Michal and Lea will go with Kayla. Any objections?” the group stayed silent.
“Alright, let’s move.”
“Should we huddle? No, let’s all huddle!” Daisy said while extending her hand to the middle of the cramped space.
The rest of the girls put their hands in the middle, forcing Anton to do it as well. Anton then noticed one hand missing from the circle.
“Charlotte?” he called.
“Ah, yes… sorry” Charlotte answered, putting her hand in the middle.
“Alright! One, two, three! Peace Operations is a go!”
“Woo!”
With that out of the way, Anton and the rest left the vehicle. Anton took his team and made his way toward the tunnel. Charlotte, Daisy, and Lucy followed behind them. They brought their weapons out as they entered the tunnel.
“Campfire!” Anton declared. With his words, a ball of fire lit up in his palms. He went down the staircase, entering the tunnel. The staircase made a round turn before arriving at the bottom. Once they arrived at the bottom of the staircase, the tunnel expanded, becoming larger. It differs little from the section below the forest, only with fewer roots showing on the roof.
“Come on, let’s go,” Anton said and started running. The game didn’t simulate pain, and fatigue from running counts as pain, so in theory, they had unlimited sprint. Anton needed to get to the Sumbar elder as fast as possible.
He kept his hand up, lighting up his surroundings. No obstacle, not even a twig, blocked their path, allowing them to get there faster compared to the forest route. The trip didn’t take long. Within a few minutes, they found themselves at the entrance to the village. Many villagers looked toward them after they appeared from the tunnel, looking worried like before. Anton made his way through the village, under the stares of countless Sumbars. A Sumbar soldier made his way toward them and escorted them to the elder.
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“Humans, you are back,” the Sumbar elder said after seeing them.
“Yes. We have an answer from the human elder.”
“Let’s hear it,” the elder said before letting them enter her house. They went inside and sat around the round table. Anton then explained everything, the Sumbar elder paying attention to all of his words.
“We would like you to meet the human elder. We will escort you and make sure you return safely-” Anton hadn’t finished talking when a Sumbar soldier that guarded the house's door cut his words.
“We won’t let you take our elder!” he declared, pointing his weapon toward the group. Anton stared him back in the eyes.
“Marko! Stay out of this!” the elder said.
“But madam-”
“Very well. If this could end the conflict between us, I would be willing to talk with him,” the elder ignored the soldier and addressed Anton.
“As you mentioned, you expect a third party to come, right?”
“Yes. That’s why we’re meeting here.”
Anton borrowed a pencil and paper and drew a rough layout of the map. He copied the forest path onto it. He included the patch of dirt that connected it to the tunnel.
“This…”
“This is a shaft that connects the forest route to a tunnel that connects the human settlement and the Sumbar’s village,” Anton explained. The elder stared at it.
“You are the first humans to use that tunnel in a long while. I thought it was blocked?” the elder asked, confirming Anton’s suspicion that the third party never attacked through the tunnel.
“No. That is not the case. We took the path here all the way from the human settlement. The tunnel is wide open.”
“So why… never mind. Please lead me. I hope you don’t mind me taking my troops?”
“That is alright, but if possible, put some markings on your troops, to differentiate them from the third party.”
“Very well,” the elder then called Marko and explained to him the situation. Marko’s expression changed as he heard the words. Once the elder finished, he nodded. He looked toward Anton and the group before heading back out.
“It will be a while before we are ready. Please wait a moment,” the elder said. Anton then contacted Kayla, asking how her side was progressing. It didn’t take long for her to reply. They were still trying to convince the human elder to go with them, although little by little, it seemed that he started being swayed by it.
“We’re ready,” the soldier said. Anton noticed that they now had a symbol of a dark green tree on their chest.
‘He finally agreed to go with us,’ Kayla said through the message. Anton then looked at the elder and nodded. The group then stood up and made their way out of the village. A ring of Sumbar soldiers formed a ring around the elder.
The first layer had eight soldiers walking with almost perfect coordination, while the second layer had a group of ten soldiers.
“We will adjust our formation when the road becomes narrower. For now, we will use this formation,” Marko explained to Anton.
“Alright. Charlotte, you’re the best of us. Take the front,” Anton ordered.
“Me…?” she asked, full of doubt. She pointed toward herself, as if not believing Anton’s words. Anton and the rest of the group nodded.
“Of course, you’ll keep us safe, right?” Daisy asked.
“Of… of course! Trust me!” she said while pumping the air. She then went toward the front of the escorts.
“Lucy, you will go behind Charlotte to balance out our magic, Daisy, you guard the rear with me.”
“Roger roger!”
The group assumed position. Charlotte looked backward, and Anton gave him the thumbs up.
“Le- No, let’s go!” she took the first step, and the entire force moved forward into the forest. Anton watched his surroundings as they made their way through the forest. Anton sharpened his senses. The birds chirping, the sound of the soldier’s march, the soft wind blowing through the winds, the sound of critters running through the forest.
Every detail counts, every little thing.
‘We’re moving,’ Kayla said through the chat.
‘Prepare to fight,’ Anton typed in through the chat. He purposely turned them off, fearing that the enemy NPCs could hear him and react to it.
As the road became narrower, the formation became tighter. Charlotte made her way deeper into the forest before stopping, allowing the guards to reform their formation. With how narrow the road was at the meeting point, moving around would be a challenge.
Before they continued moving, Anton checked his inventory. He opened up a notebook stored inside the game. It listed all the spells that he had learned to use. Most spells required the player to learn it by memorizing its name and shouting it when they wanted to use it. Some require a specific pose before it could be activated, while others needed him to reach a specific level.
Anton looked through the list and memorized everything that might prove useful.
Float, a spell that could be used to slow down the target’s movements. To use this, he needed to shout the spell while pointing his hands with open palms toward the target. He would then need to slowly clench his fists. He needed to be careful, as an abrupt clench would stop the target mid-air, while clenching it too slowly may result in the target slamming into the ground.
Speed Enhance, a spell that allowed him to move faster in a short amount of time. He only needed to shout its name to activate it.
And finally, Leap, a spell that allowed him to jump farther. A unique spell in a way, as unlike other spells, it didn’t need the user to yell its name. A whisper would be enough to activate it, although it did have other drawbacks. It required the player to put extra force on their jump for it to activate. It also lasts longer than Speed Enhance, so he could activate it before Speed Enhance.
He looked through the list, searching for any other useful spells, but nothing else stood out to him. After he finished reading, he stored the notebook back into his inventory. The group had readjusted to a new position, with two soldiers on each side of the elder. The rest escorted her either on the front or the back, making a long line of people marching across the forest. Anton checked his map again, looking at the distance between him and the target location.
He kept the distance in his mind. He closed the map and once again returned his attention to his surroundings. After a while, he noticed a group of people coming from the other side. Charlotte and Lucy moved to the left side, stepping off the road. The rest of the soldiers, except for the two escorting the elder, stepped aside as well.
Anton continued observing the elders as both sides met in the middle, right in front of the dirt patch, the hole leading down now visible.
Anton stepped toward the dirt patch standing beside it. Charlotte and Lucy stood across from him. The two elders stared at each other before letting out their voices.
“It has been a while, Arco.”
“You haven’t changed, Wei.”