CHAPTER 14
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Parker POV
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I sleep like a log. It was a dreamless sleep. When I woke up, it was already afternoon outside the room. The others except Stella are already awake. The scene was still peaceful. That’s weird, I heard the demons are going to attack this day, why there are almost no preparations?
“Umm, sir. May I know where Sir Richard is?” I asked some random soldiers. I want to discuss my strategy with him. Now that the important faith ritual is already completed, they will use us assertively. But in order not to endanger ourselves, I need to be vigilant about the order from above. I do not want to become puppets that only followed orders. It is already depicted in movies in my world that such behavior is dangerous. Who knows that they might just discard me somewhere and never intend on returning us to our former world. I knew that not everyone here is like the king.
“He is at the guard post. He is training the soldiers to be familiar with the terrain here.” the soldiers answered. So, that’s why there are so few of them here. They are currently training.
“Parker. You awake?” John greeted me.
“Yeah. I am awake. Still dizzy though.”
“Hart also has the same thing. Try to suppress your magic. I heard it should help.”
“Okay.” I tried to regulate my powers. I feel alienated because my warrior talent activated without my knowing. That’s why I feel a little bit disturbed.
“Hey. It seems your eyes changed too huh?” John commented
“Huh?” when I looked closely at John, his eyes also changed to a little brownish.
“Everyone is the same. They are in different colors though. It’s like we are wearing a color contact lens. It’s kind of embarrassing.” John chuckled. ”Richard said that this is just a side effect of the ritual. It’s harmless.”
“Well, if it’s harmless I guess it is fine,” I answered halfheartedly.
“By the way, where are the others?” I asked.
“The girls are having a bath and the boys are on the lookout. They are helping this fort while waiting for their turns. Richard advises us to be more friendly towards them remember?”
“I see.”
“Is Stella not awake yet?” John asked
“No, she is still sleeping. She doesn’t even make any sound and she hardly breathes. It’s like she went into a coma. She isn’t waking anytime soon.” I replied
“She has it the hardest. You too. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, as I said, I am just dizzy. A little fresh air and I am good.” I replied
“Good. The enemy has already camped outside of the forest. They will attack us in the evening at the latest. Richard is looking into it together with his team.”
“I see. So, have you confirmed the increase of power?’ I asked the most important question.
“Yeah. It increased a lot alright. When Richard first saw my powers, he was confused since nothing seemed to change, But Fay attests to it differently. She said that my powers went up by a lot just like the others.” John answered.
“Huh?”
“Well, Fay said that our magical talent increased. It is just that we don’t know any advanced spells. Bane thought that we are just increasing a little in power and incantation speed. I feel that my control over my magic increased a lot. I am just not accustomed to it. I think I can make new spells, but Fay said that spells beyond thunder level are dangerous without practice so she forbid them. She also said that our power hasn’t stabilized yet. So, until at least we are familiar with our own powers, let’s just keep thunder as our highest spells.” John said. It’s a little bit hard to understand. But I rather get it. It’s like a game character where your Intelligence and wisdom are raised a lot but your spell level and rank are still beginner level 1.
“How about warrior talent?”
“Well, there is no problem on that side. The change is pretty visible even from the commoner viewpoint. Bane only reprimanded us as inexperienced or power brutes without techniques.”
“They are harsh as always.” What can you expect from 2 months of training? You are comparing your 20 years of training and our meager and halfhearted training of 2 months!
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“We will have plenty of exercises later, right? There are over 5000 enemies that will come by evening.” I said in a half-joking manner
“Yeah.”
After that, I explored the fort and examined its nook and cranny. We are going to use this fort to defend so, we should familiarize ourselves with the fort. I am a little excited. In the time between examining this fort, Nana and Chloe came outside looking refreshed and we immediately take turns bathing. Even if I am not Japanese, not bathing for 2 days is a little uncomfortable. By the time I finished my bath, Richard finally went back.
“Get ready. Their vanguard approaches us. Gear up in 4 hours. The enemies are monster category” after such an announcement, the fort went into a little chaos. Everyone tried to prepare their gear and check up on everything.
“Heroes, please visit Richard at the command center.” Some random soldiers informed me. Abiding by those orders, we went to meet Richard standing beside the table with the army commander sitting behind it. Ahh, I remember. Gladiators and army commanders are different. So he is the one that commands this army. He is still young. Even though he is still older than the rest of us. Maybe he is below John a little at 25 or 23 years.
“So, everyone has arrived?” Richard as the de facto leader here asked. Everyone except Stella seemed to have gathered.
“Stella is still sleeping,” I answered.
“I am awake. Just now when the announcement came.” Stella said. As she unsteadily walked beside me. She is still drowsy. Her eyes are still unfocused. She seemed like she may fell unconscious at any moment now. Her steps are unstable.
“Are you okay?” Nana asked
“I am fine. Still tired though.” She answered. She has slept over 12 hours by now. I don’t want to comment though as I am just awake 2 hours ago and, to be honest, I am still a little tired.
“I see you are still exhausted. I am here to give out your weapons. After you got yours, do several tests with them and prepared for battle. For the troop’s morale, try to fight. I am sure you can kill one or two enemies right?”
“Yes sir!” I excitedly answered him.
“Alright. Here, we have the finest sword of the kingdom. It is a diamond sword and platinum shield for you. A platinum axe for Hart. For mages, we have silver staff with ruby or sapphire gems. For archers, we have steel bolts with platinum string and oak wood. Its power is comparable to a crossbow. “Richard made several short descriptions of each of these high-tier weapons and he ended his explanation with a quote ‘although weapons and equipment are important, the most important in battles is your own skills.’
“Hmm...” I brandished my new sword. From the outside, it looks splendid. It lacks decorations though. This sword is mass-produced isn’t it?
“Richard, our sword is different from yours isn’t it?” Nana asked. She took a slender light one-handed sword type together with a wand. She is going for a mage swordswomen route, isn’t she?
“Of course! You need to rack achievements first if you want to get swords like ours!” Bane spat out “the sword you currently have is standard for elite knights. Asking anymore when your reputation is still rock bottom isn’t acceptable.”
“Not only that. Your sword is easily obtainable but ours need to be made from scratch. We don’t have enough time and first-class swords already belonged to some nobles. We can’t just take them even though you might use them better than they are. ”Richard gave a more comprehensible answer.
“Well, our equipment is already top-notch within the game. It isn’t unique but we should be happy right?” I said.
“I guess I got my hopes a little too high. Sorry, we will rack achievements first,” said Nana. Hart is wearing full plate armor with a war axe made from platinum. Stella takes the silver staff with gems and gold-coated robes. Together with her silver eyes and hair, her looks are straight out of fantasy. This equipment although mass-produced, they are worn by top elite knights so we should not complain about it.
“Hmm... this party lack tanks...” Will muttered. When I looked back at our party, only Hart and I wore Steel armor. Riki, Riko, and Nana wore leather armor though. They are going for light equipment even though they are vanguards.
“Why are you wearing leather?”
“In games, we are speed types.” The twin answered. They are talking about virtual reality games huh? I am a knight or paladin in those kinds of games, so I wore plated mail like Hart but I don’t wear helmets though. It obstructed my sense talent.
“No. Spare me from getting hit. I am a fragile woman. I am an A rank. I have the lowest rank here.” Nana answered. A rank is still top tier you know and even if you are an A rank, you do not have any weakness. You have talent in both magic and swords after all.
“Hmm... you guys quite have the look with that equipment. Good! Now, go get back your reputation outside!” Richard said while smiling.
“Stella... don’t fall asleep.” I reprimand her as she was about to doze off. She is still very unsteady.
“Go!” we make high five together and gathered at the wooden wall.
ß----à
“I thought 5000 is supposed to be bigger than that,” I muttered. Let’s make an estimation. If a classroom each have 40 students and there are 13 such class in high school, there would be around 520 people in each school. That size should occupy a quarter of the soccer field. So 10 times that would only amount to half a stadium for soccer. From a distance, I could see the enemy marching toward us.
They only amount to 2000 at most. Well, even Stella could make a wrong guess the enemy is smaller than I thought. they stopped exactly before the archers' range. Chloe and other excellent archers could hit them but the standard range for archers is 200 meters and they are over 300 so Und hasn’t made any call to shoot. I could never understand those medieval wars, why the heck do they wait until the enemy got so close when they could hit them from a distance.
GROAAA!!!
The orcs shouted together with their beasts’ army. The enemy is composed of orcs, goblins, and several beasts such as huge wolves and lizards. There are also many disfigured humans which are hard to look at. Overall they are ugly.
“Richard, why are we here?” I asked Richard. We are currently at the corner of the wooden wall. I can do some archery and my talent is okay with it but the armor is a hindrance so don’t expect headshots or perfect accuracy okay.
“Our job is to watch.”
“Huh?” Hart and the others grunted in surprise
*sigh* “Parker, try to explain about gladiators to them.”
“I knew about gladiators. But, what does it have to do with coming out late?” Nana answered
“We talked about unfair circumstances remember? When 2 army clashes, they tend to protect their gladiators which is why they come up late. If we take a closer look from here, if the enemy’s gladiator is warrior-type, we can snipe it using magic. If it is a mage, we can assassinate them with warriors.”
“But, won’t their gladiators come up in parties just like us?” I asked
“Which is why we should look first. The battle is beginning, fay will tell you the rest. I need to search the enemy for their gladiators.” Richard said as he squinted his eyes trying to look at each of the enemies’ capabilities. With a sense talent, it is possible to look this far.
“So, is this strategy effective?” Nana asked. Currently, I am trying to look at the army just like Richard. But unlike him who looked so serious, my attention is still pinned on the conversation behind me
“There is no foolproof strategy. Even we have lost wars before you know. This is the strategy the army commanders came up with. The standard among the standard.”
“I feel like a coward. I don’t like it.” Hart bluntly rejects this strategy.
“I admit this strategy is somewhat cowardly but if we died early, the army will collapse. So, you have to endure it.” Bane said. Despite being hotheaded, his experience isn’t a lie. As an amateur, we should just follow I guess.
“Umm... but... the enemy has a larger number than us, isn’t it?” Nita who was quiet before asked timidly
“Now that you mentioned it.”
“To prevent losses, they would spread out their gladiators early. If they don’t I will be the bait. Bane and Fay will determine the enemy’s gladiator. Is that acceptable?” Richard said while his gaze is still focusing on the army
“Hmm....” so, that’s how it goes. If that is how it goes, I don’t have any choice but to accept it.
“Hey... isn’t that Stella over there?” I said in a fluster. Why is Stella there in front of the gate? Did she get left behind when we grouped? We didn’t say anything and just follow Richard.
“Huh?” Richard quickly looked at our own army. When he turned his back towards our group, Stella is indeed missing from our group.
“Damn it! Bane, Fay, Und, gather at the gate. We will rescue her. You guys follow us! We will assist her! What the heck is she thinking in such an eye-catching place!” Richard drew his sword and with haste, he went towards the wall.