Chris looked at the serious expressions on his soldiers' faces. They were fighting hard to protect Brine City and their future. This was proof he was doing good. "Everyone keep at it!" He shouted, but he soon felt a little embarrassed. [Somehow... I feel like a cheerleader?]

The soldiers were still fighting savagely. Luckily the first waves of arrows had reduced the Gnolls numbers by quite a bit. At least one hundred were dead or seriously injured, a few dozens lightly injured Gnolls had started to flee and were picked off by the archers.

But the fight was still fierce, the Gnolls would climb on top of their brothers' bodies and thrust their wooden spears, some would even bite the arms of the soldiers.

The battle finally reached its apex.

***************

Back at the village, in the masons' workshop.

A man was checking on the day's results. His name was Aden he was one of the 7 masons from Five Cave Village and he was currently in charge of the Mortar Committee.

Their current job was to mix sand, calcined clay, lime and volcanic ashes in different concentrations and to find the one giving the best results.

He was currently checking experiment #26. [This is one of the best yet. It's Gabin's.]

"Gabin! Number 26 is excellent what changes did you make in the formula?"

"For this one I used a lot more sand. I increased the sand concentrations in experiments #23 to #29. It seems that 6 parts of sand for one part of lime, one part of calcined clay and one part volcanic ashes gives the best results." He said while hurrying over.

Aden was pleased "Great job! I will request a few workers from miss Mia and send you the needed materials. I want a medium scale wall prototype ready as soon as possible."

"Shouldn't we wait a bit? This might all be for naught... Did you not hear? Gnolls in the north, undeads in the south and Kunalls in the easts. We might receive the order to pack up any time now. Like always."

As he said that most of the other masons looked at him, some were anxious and others had a light smile.

Aden noticed it.

"Ah! You guys are only worried because you were not there back then." He said proudly.

"Then?" Gabin was curious.

"I am talking about when our king came to this world! He literally fell from the sky and crashed loudly on the ground! He avoided any damage by using a mighty roll! There was not even a grain of dust on his clothes. Do you know how strong someone must be to survive a fall from that height? He must be an expert martial artist, if anything goes wrong, he'll just step in!" Chris' entrance clearly had a strong impact on the people from Five Cave Village."Now stop saying stupid things and go to work! We might need to seal the undead cave."

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Chris might have been a little embarrassed if he heard this exchange. He clearly had no martial prowess, that "mighty roll" was merely the goddess' misunderstanding and part of the entrance she prepared for him. Aden's adulation might not be deserved, but anyone that knew him would not be surprised if he said "I'll take it!"

***************

Cid and his soldiers finally had room to breath. The cave's entrance was collapsed, and the undeads were blocked inside.

It was time to take care of the wounded. Luckily the soldiers only had light injuries as the skeletons had no intelligence, and the danger they posed came from their numbers. A few soldiers with shields were enough to block their way in a tight corridor.

The collapsed entrance was not a long-term solution, however. Cid could still hear the undeads clacking against the rocks. There was no telling when would the rock wall go down. But they should still be safe for a few days.

Cid pointed at a group of soldiers and said "The ten of you guard the entrance! Send a scout if anything happens and block the way out until reinforcements arrive!" He then turned to the forty remaining soldiers."The rest of you come with me. Brine City is currently defenceless. Let's go!"

The first thing Cid did after sending his soldiers to patrol was to make a report. His king was not here so he reported to Mia instead.

"The cave is closed, but it is only temporary. We will need a more permanent solution." Said Cid

"Did you find out the source of the undead?" Asked Mia.

"Those skeletons were summoned" Cid took out a handful of grey crystals as he said that. "To find out more we will need to go further in the cave."

Mia took one of the crystals and said "Grey magic crystals... A necromancer."

"Yes, but I believe he is no longer in that cave." Continued Cid.

"Please elaborate."

"The skeletons attacked only when the prospectors entered their lair, they reacted automatically and they only rushed blindly at us when we were blocking the cave entrance. Blocking them would have been trickier with a necromancer ordering them. I think they are only part of an automated defence system."

Cid continued with a little smile: "This is the kind of strange thing our Lord really enjoys. He would be really happy if you personally sent him a report."

Mia turned her gaze north "There is no need. The battle should be ending right now. Let's wait for him."

***************

Mia was right, the battle was ending. Cat and her soldiers were cutting down the last surviving gnolls, and Berg had eliminated most of those fleeing.

This was a bitter battle for him. Gnolls had nothing of interest, they didn't have rare resources, iron tools, even their food was not appropriate for humans as they prefered slighlty rotted meat. He was even happy ignoring them as long as they were not a danger for his people... But now he had to make sure this would never happen again, which meant eliminating the whole tribe.

But this was for another day.

"Berg, give me your battle report!"

"No injuries or death amongst the hunters and archers! We are currently collecting back all the arrows and arrow heads." Answered Berg.

"What about you Cat?"

"We suffered three deaths, 5 serious injuries that will need immediate attention, and 32 light injuries."

Chris sighed, there it was, this was his first day with a death toll, and he had lost 7 people so far.

"Send the seriously injured back right away, we are only fifteen minutes away from the city, let's hope they can survive long enough. Don't forget our fallen soldiers either. They deserve a proper burial." He paused looking at the Gnolls bodies "Call for horses and carts from the city, pick up those bodies and throw them in the nearby forest. We are too close to the city, we don't need diseases to spread or to attract anymore predators."

"Bergy, Cat, let's go back!"