A month had passed since Yeren and his vice-commander fell in battle. Out of the almost 200 people who fought during that day, a little over 40 had actually survived.
Of course, this was not common or normal. The count himself thanked the survivors and requested massive reinforcements.
1000 dwarven soldiers, 300 archers, and 200 mages were dispatched from the middle front.
There was no more room for mercenaries in the south, so Finn and Luca’s teams were sent to the northern front along with the survivors. What remained of Yeren’s team left beforehand to break the news to their loved ones back home.
Fortunately, the northern front was much calmer than the south. Rarely did monsters drop from the ceiling and the most they had to fight was a two headed snake.
But, it was far too late for anyone to relax. For the entire following month, the teens fought during the day and trained with the other mercenaries at night. With just four hours of sleep per day, everyone was weary, but they were steadily getting stronger.
“You cannot feel the life force, but you should still take it into account,” Luca explained while aiming his bow. “A light breeze, nearby buildings and currents, the arrow’s life force, or as you call it, mana, all of these can extend your shot tremendously or stunt it mid-path.”
Finn knew all of this, but seeing it was different. The arrows shot by Luca were more accurate than bullets. The more he watched and copied him the more his own aim improved.
“Last but not least, your bow is garbage,” Luca snorted. “Humans can’t carve for shit. If you see an elf die, though I doubt it, I advise you take his bow and don’t look back.”
They continued practicing for several more hours, until it was finally time to return to the barracks. Once again, the two groups were put together inside the same brick tent.
Fortunately, they had carpets to sleep on this time around. The teens had placed them to the side, and right in the middle they scribbled a map of the battlefield in the sand.
Everyone was sitting and eating in silence, so the latest arrivals grabbed some fish out of a basket and joined them.
“Tommy,” Finn gave his friend a nod. The boy stood up and pulled out his sword.
"I’ve finished speaking to the other mercenaries and some of the higher ups.” Tommy made three large Xs in the sand drawing for the middle, the southern, and the northern front. He then tapped the giant rock in the middle of the circle which represented the city. “You may know some of this, but...”
“Start from the beginning,” Finn encouraged him, and the boy took a breath.
“Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
The giant black crystal is three hundred years old, man-made and one of a kind. It collects mana from its surroundings at a frightening pace and has two functions: maintain the barrier and shoot down enemies.”
“It’s also completely God damn useless.” Michael crossed his arms and Natalie punched him in the shoulder. “Continue.”
“The higher ups won’t say anything, but from personal observations and from what the mercenaries are saying, the crystal activates if:
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1. Monsters swim beyond the halfway point above or to the sides of the city.
1. Monsters try to enter the bubble from anywhere beyond the wall, basically from anywhere within the city’s range. There may be an exception at the landing deck at which we arrived, but there’s no way of knowing.”
“How does that help us?” asked Luca. He was thankful that the teen went out of his way to gather information, but it needed to be practical to have any worth.
“It tells us what the monsters are trying to achieve.” Tommy drew multiple tiny circles in front of the three Xs which signified the battle fronts.
“We already know that.” Trent, one of Luca’s archers, talked with his mouth full. “They want to enter the city and conquer it from within, maybe take down the crystal while they’re at it.”
“They can’t!” Annie stood up. “That mana... It’s dangerous.”
“It’s volatile and ready to explode,” added Finn, making Trent almost choke on his food. Annie nodded and sat back down.
“You can’t be too surprised,” Natalie shrugged. “Just look at it. What part of that thing feels safe?”
The black crystal was harder to see from outside the city. However, from the barracks, and especially when they passed through Trident on foot, the ball of crystalized mana looked like it was on fire. Countless tendrils of energy moved and twisted around as if it were a miniature black sun. Every once in a while, a tiny piece would blow up causing something similar to a solar flare.
“We can’t do anything about the ball of death,” Luca crossed his arms. “What about the monsters?”
“They’re focusing more and more troops in the south,” said Tommy. “Which leaves us with two scenarios:
1. They’ll keep attacking the south until our month is over and we leave.
1. They’re attacking the south in order to weaken the north.”
“You’re talking as if they have brains,” Branson, one of Luca’s warriors interjected.
“Yes.” Tommy nodded without a change in expression. Trent once again choked on his food.
“The creatures in the middle and now those in the south attack en masse without rhyme or reason. They trample and eat each other more often than they fight our soldiers. But, that was not the case on that day.”
Silence fell on the room. People stopped chewing and Michael clenched his fists. Tommy looked at Finn and the two switched places.
“I don’t know much about tactics,” Finn gazed at the ceiling while Natalie rolled her eyes, “but the attacks on that day were coordinated. Few monsters bumped into each other, and the fish did a better job at organizing themselves than any of us did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Finn looked Branson in the eyes and continued. “Once the clams dropped to the ground, none of them changed locations. Their tongues attacked anything near them, but they didn’t use these tongues to move around.”
“So?” the warrior averted his eyes.
“So, who the fuck dropped them on us!?” Michael stood up, fuming. “Yeren is dead! You can’t possibly tell me that shit was random.”
The meeting was adjourned soon after that. The time to go into battle was near. Although only a month had passed and the monsters in the north were few and weak, everyone had evolved, including Dominic Junior.
Gone was the skinny boy with shiny armor and medals. His armor was now simple and worn out from the weeks of combat, and his muscles finally resembled a dwarf’s. He got rid of the golden staff and now held the crystal alone in his left hand. Normally, this was ill advised due to the risk of burning yourself while casting attacks, but the boy became so skilled with his magic that this was no longer a problem.
His father had transferred him here for his own safety, but as he walked in front of the troops only with the blonde officer by his side, he started looking like an actual leader.
“Stick together and leave no room for mistakes,” he commanded. “The injured should retreat immediately and if anything unexpected happens, then call for my help.”
It wasn’t exactly a modest speech, but there were definite improvements. The mercenaries formed groups of twenty and proceeded in an organized fashion towards the ocean.
‘Congrats on growing up.’ Finn smiled as he marched behind him, next to his comrades. ‘I hope we’ll all live long enough to enjoy it.’