“Winter! Good to have you here! You are early. Can’t wait to attack a castle eh?”
Summer greeted Winter with a hug and pats on his back. Tolan shook his hand. The pretty receptionist kept her distance from winter. Well, it was Winter who was doing the distance keeping, since he did not want Adria to know the image of flirtatious him. Winter and Adria just walked into town and found the Golden Goose. A good portion of the members were around for the evening, trading jokes and frivolities, when they walked in.
The males’ attention were riveted on the girl beside Winter. Even the normally depressed Orval looked cheerful, with the loopy grin on his face. Tolan shook Winter’s hand, but his eyes were not looking at him, instead, his neck craned to stare at Adria.
“Who is this pretty lady you have with you, Winter? You are making me jealous here!”
Murmurs of agreement were voiced along the men’s side of the table. Winter somehow felt that the room’s temperature rose a little. Could it be only his imagination?
“This is Adria, a daughter of a dear friend of mine. Her father owns a spellshop in Cosare. You would know Summer, since you once shot my head over there.”
Summer winced at the accusation. Blank looks were plastered all over the faces of Summer’s subordinate. Seemed like Daniel never told them of his bumbling attempt to show off.
’Score! Get a taste of that, you dumb archer!’
Winter’s mouth was twisted in a feral grin that only Summer could see, since he was so close. Tolan would see it too, if he bothered to turn his head aside. He was frozen on the spot, still staring at the form of Adria,that was casually observing the inside of the establishment. He disengaged the hand that still moved up and down a little, despite probably having no connection with the frontal lobe at the moment. It was swinging a little on the side, when Winter elbowed Tolan, who then jolted up straight.
“I am Tolan, level 115 Mage! Nice to meet you!” Yelled Tolan.
’Damn, kid. At least do it properly!’
Winter already half warned everyone. But it seemed like one did not get the clue.
“Nice to meet you Tolan. I am Adria. I am born and raised in Cosare. I specialize in earth magic.”
If someone ever saw first love die, it was really heartbreaking and would look exactly like what showed on Tolan’s face. A regression of emotion played across his face; from initial joy and love, that shrunk to shock, then moved to despondency and stopped dead at abject despair.
He was slumped when Summer discreetly shuffled him over to the side amongst the dead silence of the men that had probably had just seen their chances plummet and turn to comet dust. Adria had just announced herself as an NPC, what Winter already did earlier, when he introduced her.
’Tell me about it later,’ spoke Summer with his eyes.
Winter nodded “Got it”.
It was the female players that came to save the night, inviting Adria over for dinner and drinks. The pretty receptionist who herded Adria away might have shot the men a mixed look of pity and pure amusement.
After dinner, Winter rented the room upstairs and logged out. He left his purse with Adria for shopping whatever she wished for, promising to be back when he felt refreshed. With a cheerful nod, the young girl kissed Winter on the cheek and closed the door. It surprised Winter,though it should not, because Adria had been giving him the same treatment for a while now. Winter thought he was probably not used to the height difference now, since he need not kneel to have his parting kiss.
Lying flat on the pretty hard bed, Winter logged out to catch up on the sleep he had shorted his body of recently.
Ronald woke up refreshed, after a solid ten hour sleep. His body had caught up with his fatigue. He ate his late breakfast quickly and logged in. Julianne had left him a few messages. The first one was telling him she has arrived, and second one was from Daniel, telling him to log in quickly. The second message was sent two minutes ago when he was in the shower. For Daniel to resort to text message must mean that the man was so busy he could not spare the time to call.
xXx
Julianne had never been happier than the moment they arrived at Golden Goose. She was close to the city since a few days ago, but decided to logout and sleep, then proceed to the city after a good rest. She was not elated due to the sleep. It was being spared from the constant bite of Aloine’s barbed comments, that she had endured as good-naturedly as possible. She found that the best strategy she had was to ignore her.
The men, being rather simple at times, fawned over Aloine, not forgetting the rest of her school friends that were decently attractive-looking in real life and improved upon their appearance in-game. Odette herself received the usual friendly greeting. She knew most of the players, since they were employed by her father, who was conspicuously absent at that moment, gathering the rest of his employees.
’Uncle Ronald is absent too. And here I am, rushing here to meet him and Dad.’
A girl around her age walked in. Odette noticed her due to the attention the men paid her when she passed. All heads were turned to her. Even those that fawned over Aloine. No surprise. This girl was prettier by degrees. She walked gracefully, and had a naturally bright, enticing smile. Not to mention her eyes, a beautiful pair of green, combined with jet black hair. Aloine seemed like a cheap product compared to this character. She already turned her gaze down in mute defeat. Though Odette knew she would not compare to this beauty, she felt no such sense of defeat like Aloine. The girl had a friendly curve on her mouth, as if she never had interest to comparing her beauty to someone else, an almost child-like attitude.
“Yo, Adria, you are back! How was the shopping!”
“It was good, Orval. Thank you.”
’Wait a second. Orval?’
Julianne turned her head to track the source of the hailing. It was indeed Orval. Except he did not look depressed. He was smiling brightly, basking in the short moment of exchange the girl Adria showered on him, before she ascended the stairs to the second floor of the Bar, that also doubled as an Inn. Beside Orval was the slumped figure of dejected Tolan, who was usually a match for her father in cheer.
“That is love for you, daughter. It is illogical and unreasonable. And painful.”
Julianne jolted in shock. Her knees knocked over the table she sat on, flipping half turn in the air, before crashing down on its side. With a murmur of apology to the screaming bartender, she righted the table in one smooth move with her large hands, and sat down. She ordered a round of drinks to soothe the NPC’s anger.
“Father! You surprised me!”
’In more than one ways!’ Spoke Julianne’s inner voice to herself.
“Sorry, daughter. I did not mean to do that.”
Somehow, Odette doubted it. Her father always had a wicked edge to his humor, despite the funny and kind nature of his core.
“So, what is that about?” Her large armored finger pointed to the pair of Orval and Tolan, that somehow reversed their role.
“Just a case of failed love and love gained,” replied Summer casually, dismissing the case entirely.
“I can see that. But I need more explanation!”
Julianne tried not to slam the table in annoyance. Last time she did that, she broke the table to pieces. Human race’s furniture were rather fragile compared to the thick barbarian style, that could be used as shields and improvised weapons in a pinch. Rough tavern brawl was a barbarian culture. There would be at least a brawl every night. No exception. Odette was well- practiced at telling the brewing sign of a fight, ducking it, or when the moon struck, participating in it.
“Well, you see...” and Summer filled her in.
“Really? An NPC?” Odette spoke in a tone of almost disbelief. Summer nodded to reaffirm his tale.
“And she came with Uncle Ronald... “
Odette was still pondering, when the man himself descended the stairs.
“Winter! Introduce her to me, please!”
“Me too!”
“You lot! Do it yourself!” Winter shouted back.
Believe it or not, this came from Orval, the group’s most depressed player. Somehow, the man remained cheerful despite knowing that Adria was an NPC. The rest of the men were admiring her from a distance, and only made a half-hearted attempt at befriending her. Tolan was simply crushed that his first love turned out to be an unattainable NPC. Aloine? She was back to her usual self when she found out her supposed competition was an NPC.
“What he said!” Spoke Ronald while crossing the empty spaces to plop himself down at Winter’s table.
“Good, you are here. Just nice timing. We have to depart early.”
Odette had heard the news. But Winter had not. So they filled him in.
“The information on the siege was leaked. So Ranbell Castle called for help. We have three weeks to occupy the castle, or we will be sandwiched between the wall and the reinforcements. Let’s go. I will explain on the way.”
Winter nodded and wasted no time. He called Adria and headed to the town border. He was surprised that Summer managed to gather about 200 collections of people, on top of the current twenty four plus sixteen girls from Odette. Winter was included in the count, while Adria was left out, since she could not be partied by the group. She had a separate party, on top of Winter’s, with the group. Winter could not fathom how it all worked out. That made a total of 240 players, the largest gathering Winter had been included in. Summer shocked him further by telling him that they expected the total gathered force to be at least 2500 players. It reminded him of the view from atop the hill when he was doing the fish cart heist.Seeing it from level ground, it looked impressive. Much more than high above.
xXx
It was a day with much more shock received. The defender side had less than a thousand players in total. Winter was rooting for them to win, obviously, but was not sure whether they could do it with less than eight to ten times the amount of men the defenders had. Old siege tradition (courtesy of Daniel) stated that a man on the wall was worth ten times the men below it. But slowly thinking about it, it became possible.
Most casualties during a siege did not stem from death, but injuries that would be grouped to casualty, as they becomes useless baggage. A critical body part that was shot with an arrow, but was not deadly enough. A fall from climbing a ladder that broke bones. Scalded by boiling water, or having your head be internal bleeding from rocks thrown down. These sort of injuries would not stop someone in MMORPG. They would just get back up and keep running forward.
Then there would be priests that could heal you on the run, while you climb up the wall or are about to die from getting crushed by a rock, provided they could target you.But self-bandaging at a safe distance, or drinking health potions, would be more reliable, at times. Thinking this, the number difference between real life and MMORPG for a siege became much more viable.
We managed to meet up with the rest of the siege party, a day’s travel from the castle itself, Four days journey to East from Harine. Winter was not relegated to the role of helping to cook. He was doing the cooking this time, thanks to time spent with Sella. <
Sella’s Cookbook
The recorded results of continuous experiments and meticulous work by Sella. This book contains sixty-eight recipes, with unique five recipes of perfected Rainbow Fish signature dish. Cooking any dish by following the recipes allows the user to achieve a height of creation they normally will be unable to achieve.
Allows any listed dish to always yield intermediate level result.
Requirement:
Completed Rainbow Fish quest
Number of allowable dishes left : 9926
Non-transferable
Like it said. It allowed him to constantly make intermediate level dishes despite his cooking level only slightly more than halfway there. Adria helped me out too by sharing the cooking job, though she was not even in the party. Youngsters seemed to have a weakness for beautiful girls, something that I, in my old age, seem to be less affected.
We became an instant hit with the rest of the party of 200 we had not gotten to know yet. I was not surprised when Adria could recreate all the dishes I cooked at about the same level of skill. Somehow, her strange condition came with improved cooking ability and enhanced magical skill. Something that I would have expected, if she grew up normally learning magic and learning how to cook from Sella, instead of two weeks spent sleeping in a coma.
Of course, we two were not the only cooks. Other groups too volunteered their cooks for the field kitchen. But with so many players, last count came to 2569, all hands were on deck. There were surprisingly too many players either too lazy to learn cooking, not interested, or somehow cooked badly no matter what. So anyone with higher than beginner level 3 cooking were pressed to serve everyone on the field kitchen. With sixty people cooking, we still had a hard time fulfilling the allied force’s food demand. But we managed.
“Uncle Ronald. Good to see you again.”
Odette’s towering height loomed over me from my left as my hands minced several slabs of meat into little pieces. This was the first chance we had to talk. She was also included in the cooking duty, but seemed to have finished her share.
“Me too, Odette,” I think she got the clue to use our avatar names instead of real names.
“Ah, yes, Uncle Winter,” said Odette, switching gears.
’Second one that calls me Uncle.’
Dropping the large quantity of meat, enough for sixty, into a large pot beaten into shape quickly by the blacksmith, I slammed the knife down with a flourish. The stew would cook in a few hours without my supervision, and come out exactly right.
“Good to see you too, Odette,” I opened my arms for a hug, which she obliged me.
It was like the last time, lifting me off the ground. Trust Julianne to give a proper hug. Sweet child.
“I see you know Uncle Winter too.”
Only one other person called me by that name. Adria walked into view, as Odette put me down gently. Winter failed to see the surprised expression on Odette’s face, since he was not looking at the right direction. Odette was surprised, as the title indicated unusual closeness, not an NPC quest or any sort, but personal relationship with an NPC, that was rather rare in Royal Road.
“I do. I grew up knowing him.”
“I do too, though my time with him is shorter than yours. I am Adria.”
“Odette.”
Both ladies clasped hands. Their height difference was so much that Odette was forced to hunch a little to be able to look Adria in the eye properly, while Adria had to tilt her neck up in an angle that would give a normal person a crick in the neck. Both of them were smiling pleasantly. Winter, at the side, let out a breath he did not know he was holding in.
xXx
“Now that you two have been introduced, we can eat. If you ladies can sit there at the corner, this man here, will cook his best dish for you.”
Smiling, both of them walked to the indicated corner. Adria waved a hand and two rock stumps rose from the ground. I heard the thanks Odette murmured, before I was lost in my attempt to make a steamed dish using Rainbow Fish I had saved specifically for such occasions. I did not forget Summer’s portion. The rest of the men can eat my regular cooking for now. Tomorrow, they would eat my best dishes, as they would need the buffs.
It was not an easy dish, though mainly, it was due to the fish needing to be properly cleaned and cut in precise thickness. Unlike normal steamed fish, this particular one did not use the whole fish, but thin slices of it. When it was done, it would have a jelly-like texture and unbelievably good taste. First time I tasted it, it reminded me of the first time I ever tasted an ice cream.
I was done with the preparation. I put the slices in a circular pattern within the copper pot, that had stayed with me since the beginning of my journey. The fish had been well lathered with sugar that would seep into its flesh. It was embarrassing that I did not foresee to buy basic ingredients. But the field kitchen held basic condiments and spices that any cook was allowed to use, sparing me the need to beat myself up.
“Ladies. How is the talk?” I joined the two, as the dish needed twenty minutes to be done. The timer ticked down slowly in my vision, under the ticking three or so hours of the stew in the large cauldron.
“I really like Odette, Uncle Winter. She is pretty and has funny stories,” Adria’s honest answer elicited a blush on Odette’s face that she covered up quickly with a bluster and quick shift of topic.
“She was telling me about her time with you,” Odette posed a questioning gaze to me. I could use a clue here, as I had no idea what the look meant.
“Odette here was telling me about the adventure you two had last time. She told a slightly different version of it.”
’Oops.’ Spoke my inner voice.
I was caught for my embellishments. But who expected the two to ever meet and talk. The trace of a precocious girl was still evident in the smile she just flashed me. It was filled with amusement over my uncomfortable predicament, thought was now tempered by a lot of beauty and cultured attitude. It dawned on me then, she had really grown up inside somehow, not just outside, and I had to treat her accordingly.
“In my defense, I was telling stories. A damn good one,” I gave both girls a conspiratorial wink, coupled with a smile, that sent them laughing. Both of us finished the story for Adria. She was surprised that her father gave away such a powerful item. I thought I saw the love for her father increase significantly on the spot. Minalan could expect to be treated better by Adria when she was back home.
DING!
Cooking Skill rating expertise rises by 1.5%
Cooking Skill expertise rating rises by 1.5%
Cooking Skill expertise rating rises by 1.5%
Cooking Skill expertise rating rises by 1.5%
Handicraft Skill expertise rating rises by 2.5%
You finished cooking Steamed Rainbow Fish x 4
“Ah. There is my clue ladies. Go call Summer up. We are having an early dinner.”
Odette began whispering to her father. She probably could expect her father to come running. Minalan was not the only father that jumped on his daughter’s whim. It seemed to be a pretty universal trait but me. I made them jump instead.
Steamed Rainbow Fish
A unique dish created by Sella. This particular dish is famous for winning the 24th Cosare Culinary Competition. It has a unique texture, exploiting the unstable nature of Rainbow Fish’s flesh, that exudes a different taste and texture, depending on how it is cooked. A dish fit to be served on a King’s table!
200% Stamina
Satiety bar filled 50% faster
Reduce satiety decrease by 50%
Luck +50
You feel happy! Everything around you looks better!
24 hours effect
This particular dish was the only one within the repertoire, that I regarded was cooked without any intent, besides to make people that ate it happy. It had a quirky effect, making the air around you feel incredibly cosy.
“I am here! Where is the food! Oh! That smells good!”
Summer was sniffing the air comically. His moustache was wiggling in time with his moving nose. I almost dropped the pot when I saw that. The four of us had a good dinner. The conversation was rather mundane. It would be, if I was not the butt of the joke. Summer finally had the time to catch up with both me and Julianne, and was grilling Adria regarding her previous antics. Somehow, Summer could even draw the story out of an NPC, though I must admire Adria for not giving it out so easily. Still, the juicy bits came bit by bit. Summer fell off the stone seat laughing (another one courtesy from Adria). He rolled on the floor laughing, holding onto his stomach. I was decidedly sullen. I found no support from Odette, as she was trying her hardest to hold back her laughter. Seemed like the sullen look I directed at her burst her resolve. Adria was embarrassed when the story on how she once stuck me on the arse came out. It elicited the most response out of the whole story that was told. See why I did not share that detail with anyone?
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Adria, who decided she was sleepy enough, was curled on our side of the camp under the fur blanket I had haphazardly stitched. Summer backed off early, claiming he needed some sleep due to time difference, when I was about to take my revenge by sharing an embarrassing story of him with Adria. He still had that annoying skill of weaseling out of sticky situations. He caught my gaze, that promised short retribution, in amusement. In fact, it seemed to be looking forward to it. He probably should be careful of what he wished for.
Odette spent another hour speaking to me, before logging out for a bit. Left alone, I too logged out for a bit for a quick bite. There might not be many chances to do it when the siege started in earnest.
You finished cooking large quantity of Minced Beef Stew
Cooking Skill expertise rating rises by 12%
Handicraft Skill expertise rating rises by 1%
Winter used the book to cheat by tossing all the lower grade meat he has into it since the book guarantee the cooking to turn out well.
xXx
“Hold fast, men! Heave! Strike!”
*Slam*
“Heave! Strike!”
*Slam*
“Heave! Strike!”
*Slam* *Splash*
“Fall back! Fall back!”
Detaching from the armored ram, the warriors held shields above their heads to fall back. They failed again in their assault attempt. The defender had just splashed liquid fire onto the ram. It clung onto the wood and steel construction, and slowly consumed it. Quite a nasty alchemy concoction. Also one I am interested to learn.
Our allied group had been attacking Ranbell Castle unceasingly. But it had not yielded any result yet. A Wizard could be seen hovering on the air high above, doing reconnaissance. The defender also had their own Wizard that could also fly and take intel back to their base. The battle was done for the day, anyway. The night was about to fall. Night assault was where the Wizard could not see coming, since it was dark. It was also the defender’s most vulnerable time, and thus, they were extremely vigilant.
Our side had already lost almost a thousand players, while the defender lost who knows how many. It was hard to tell,since they did not announce their losses. From what our Wizard gathered, the defender probably lost between a hundred to two hundred.
The archers now patrolled the walls, while our own archers were roaming the flat piece of land in a set pattern, not that it would actually be needed. The defender was still greatly outnumbered, and sabotage was not a big possibility, judging by how the castle was constructed. Still, the players could expect treachery even in-game, and we could spare the men. It was not as if they could expect to be murdered in their sleep, though it was a possibility, since the battleground was not a safe zone. The avatars of logged out players would linger in-game, unmoving.
I spent nervous hours of watching over Adria, in case the defenders actually sent assassins to thin out our numbers a little. Luckily, due to time zone difference, Odette and Summer could relieve me. It was also how the players ran their patrol, using players that stayed in places where it was daytime, where in-game, it was late night.
xXx
“No! I refuse! Until you lot come up with a proper plan that have a chance in hell of working, I refuse to send my men forward!” Roared Summer in anger.
This was a side of Summer not many knew, a tough, passionate negotiator. Most of Summer’s subordinates imagined their boss as an affable man with a wicked sense of humor.
Gustav, Mackey and Haskel were the three dominant leaders out of seven picked. Gustav was especially dominant compared to Mackey and Haskel. Summer’s thought on Gustav was that this man was good at logistics and planning, proven by how neat, orderly and well-stocked with everything a player might need, when they camped down for a good while. Mackey and Haskel were good in their own respective fields. Mackey would be his ideal, if Summer needed someone brave and crazy enough to charge through a field full of monsters. This man was all courage and no brain, yet well-liked. Haskel was a man with good grasp on politics, the last thing the group needed at that moment. He was surprised that these seven somehow thought they were capable of taking down a castle with a half-assed plan. Whether they ended up dead or winning, Summer planned to have a serious talk with Haskel on the meaning of “easy gig”.
The two Summer acknowledged as people with a good brain in their heads were two free agents like him, Carvall and Mendell. Carvall was among the most intimidating-looking men Summer had ever seen. For a human, he was a match for Odette and more. Standing at probably some 2 meter 20cm, he was built like an aged tree oak, bulging muscles all over his body. He did not speak very much, but each word spoken was measured with meaning, only the bare necessary to convey his point.
Mendell was loud, built like a boar if they ever stood straight, with an extra serving of fat belly. Despite his rather round appearance, the heavily-armored player was practical in his approach to everything. He looked rather young, unlike Mendell, who appeared to be in his late-twenties. So far, out of everyone there, Mendell was the only one taking their circumstances with good humor.
“Stop all the shouting, mate, you are making my day sour here,” Mendell spoke with what Summer recognized as an Australian English accent.
Huffing a little to calm himself down, Summer paced inside the command tent. Gustav suddenly managed to find his spine.
“We have a plan! And we are sticking to it! The castle will eventually fall. It matters not if only a hundred or ten survived. What will matter is, we win,and we will be safe. Now, you, like the other two, signed the contract! Obey it!”
“Sure. I don’t mind. But can you pay the bill?” Summer shot back.
He was referring to a clause where there would be a considerable sum of money to be paid for every free agent that died. Something to cover the loss of level. All of Gustav’s allied guild members were not covered with this contract, but were guaranteed future earnings if the conquest was successful.
Gustav wisely kept silent.
“We need a better way to take down the gate. I think that is our best choice at the moment. I do not see any better avenue at the moment.”
Summer was against direct assault to the gate without any secondary plan. What Mendell said was too straightforward. The stone bridge felt as if it was left for a purpose, not because the castle defenders did not have the time to destroy it. They had been arguing back and forth over the merit since the siege started.
And the argument continued, with Carvall standing at one corner, completely silent.
xXx
Summer had just come back from another fruitless meeting with the rest of the leaders. He sported a mild expression of disgust, a telling clue to how the meeting went.
“Another bad meeting?” Asked Winter. Summer nodded and sat on the ground.
Winter had no idea how many meetings Summer had already attended. But judging by how exasperated he looked, it was too many. In real life, not even two days had passed. But in-game, the six days spent assaulting the very defensible castle took a toll on their morale. What began as an exciting proposition soon turned into a slow march to defeat. Winter might not be in the inner circle, but he could see where it was all heading.
Summer’s news confirmed that the situation had gotten even worse.
“These guys are clueless! They expected to rush over the wall with sword in hand! Can you believe it? They said that keep it up and we will eventually win!”
Summer went on with a few more examples of how the leadership failed to account for themselves. Despite being part of the meeting, Summer was actually a free agent. I only heard this from him recently. He contracted with the alliance in exchange for direct payment of gold. A tenth was paid when he turned up with the men, the rest would be paid when the siege was won. A mercenary, so to speak. The number/reward, however, was not anything to sneeze at.
Summer expected each member to be paid a thousand gold at the end of the siege. Apparently, they also had a running contract that depended on how long the siege would take, like a proper mercenary group. There was also contract that related to expenses paid for casualties in battle, which so far he need not invoke yet, since none in his command had died yet. The leadership above too, was not keen to pay the thousand gold penalty for every head Summer lost. So they were relegated to support and reserve troops. Coincidentally, his group make up also supported this role pretty well. Of the 240 players, about two thirds were range type or could use a ranged weapon proficiently. Winter was not included in this list, as he was doing cooking. The same for Odette. Despite being a tank type, she was not needed on the front lines at the moment. The rest of the melee spent their time practicing, improving their weapon proficiency or craft skills.
The only one that made a lot of noise about how boring all of it was at the moment was this one elven girl in white. Winter recalled it the most, since she was dressed pretty... revealing. Was her name Aloine? Winter could not be sure. He preferred not to get close to the loud, obnoxious type of girl like that one.
Winter listened to Summer’s ranting until he ran out of steam and sat down. He just mentioned one Carvall character, that had remained silent the whole time, and growled and stalked out of the tent, ending the discussion for the time being.
“We just received the news that the reinforcements are moving faster than we thought. If we cannot take over the castle in five days, we are dead.”
Not literally dead for good, of course, but will respawn in the closest city outside hostile territory. Winter had no idea where, but assumed it would not be close to the battlefield. The defeated players were also not allowed to enter the contested territory while the battle was still ongoing. The exception to the rule seemed to be properly requested reinforcements. There seemed to be more, but Winter was not really interested to know how it all worked.
“What you will do, Summer?”
“I don’t know. I have to obey the bloody contract! I regret signing all of us in now! I should have known better than to expect these dumbasses to have a solid plan aside from charge, charge and charge!” He sighed in annoyance and went on.
“They began considering to use the reserve troops. Three of us, the hired hands, could tell these blokes would botch it, and yet have to commit,” Summer was referring to the two other leaders of temporary mercenary outfit like he was. Summer had never met them yet, but could hear the loud arguments, since the command tent was pretty close to the field kitchen.
“In the end, I think all of us will just forget the rest of the siege, pack up, and go home before we are hemmed in, and forget the rest of the money. I will even do a refund! We can take the castle if we have time. A month, maybe, with proper planning. But pressed with time like this, and having youngsters that never think through a good plan aside from brandishing their swords, I fear we are doomed to fail.”
Between both of them, Daniel had a good grasp of medieval-style combat. It was an old hobby of his that Winter could not see the attraction of. Castle siege was the only part where Winter was most fascinated. The part where Daniel thought of an elaborate plan to breach the gate and win the day. But this time, even Summer was drawing blanks.
Winter was not experienced or knowledgeable about assaulting a castle. But his amateur eye could see that the castle was damn impressive.
A ten meter long moat filled with water surrounded the whole wall completely. There was barely any space between the wall and the water. It made putting up ladders for climbing an impossible proposition, even if they somehow managed to bridge the moat. The size of the castle was impressive too, stretching probably some four hundred meters from the the only angle Winter had seen it so far, the front door. Not a sizable castle, but pretty large, still. The battlements were probably ten meters high, with walkways wide enough for two passing players to walk by comfortably.
Summer had told him that in normal siege progression, you fill up the moat as much as you could to make a space to climb over the wall. It was what he proposed too, and the other two free agents supported. But the allied leaders thought better, thinking they could just assault the gate right away, since the walkway to the gate was made of solid stone. Somehow,Summer believed that the path was left as a lure, so they would concentrate their effort on breaching the gate, while being peppered with all sorts of conceivable deterrent methods. The alchemic liquid fire was always put as the finishing blow in every attempt, as if mocking their efforts, when they probably could have done it since the beginning.
“This castle is as solid as it can be. If I am not on this side, I can admire whoever thought it up,” Summer talked to himself, but somehow addressed what was in Winter’s mind.
Both gazed at the parapet that had lines of sentries, with torches and braziers. A good number of them had a pole weapon, or a bow in hand. Mages with AOE attacks might have decimated the wall defense, but the archers had a wider range for attacking above the ten meters high wall. At least four times, aside from them unable to use any AOE skill during castle battles. It was apparently something the game enforced to ensure the game was more exciting. Or slower going.
“I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, my friend. See you soon.”
Winter waved his best friend goodbye. His avatar was curled inside his sleeping bag, a neater work than Winter’s. Apparently, sleeping outside without proper gear drained your stamina. It was another thing Winter just found recently, when he woke up with zero stamina the first time he slept in the open.
Adria was asleep. The moon was already high in the sky. Winter stood up and equipped his Copper Sword. Surprisingly, swinging your sword at empty air increased your proficiency too, though slower. He would like to practice against Rock or Odette, but both of them were absent, and so were the rest of the group. Summer was the last one to logout, aside from Winter, who was still awake, since it was only early afternoon where his mortal coil was.
With the swishing of his sword, the night passed slowly for Winter.
xXx
“Any change from the ground below?”
“None, Commander Preston! Sir!” The appointed wall defense leader saluted.
“I told you to call me Preston. I know that I am appointed as the general commander for the whole army, but we are also guildmates, Wilem.”
Grinning, Wilem saluted again respectfully, ignoring the plea to make their exchange more informal. Wilem liked playing soldier a lot. Preston shook his head and sighed.
“What do you think they will try next, Wilem?”
“I don’t know, Sir! I will leave the thinking to you, Sir!”
“Entertain me a little, will you, Wilem?” Preston pressed.
“Sir! I believe they will try the gates again, Sir! I do not see any other method they can safely try, Sir!” With a salute, Wilem ended his speculation.
Preston;s appearance was that of someone who inspired trust. Despite in truth being only 19, he had chosen to age himself to the late fifties. Of course, it would not fool NPC bartenders when he ordered drinks, but he was acknowledged by general players as a figure of a wise person with strategic mind. He wore his white enameled armor with the emblazoned guild tabard at the front, and a clasped, plain white cloak around his shoulder. He would appear to be what you would call an honest to goodness knight. His appearance also garnered a few nice dates. His selling point was the bald head with the salt and pepper beard whitening at its edges. The ladies dug the older experienced man act, which he displayed to the hilt.
“I thought so too, Wilem. I am curious what they will try to take down the gate, though.”
“They will never get in, Sir!”
“Don’t be so sure, Wilem. Until this ends, you can never be too sure, even with all advantage on hand.” Wise words indeed, from a youngster behind the mask!
“But, Sir! So far we are having an easy time defending the wall and gate.”
“We are, Wilem, we are.”
Preston continued his patrol along the length of the wall. The NPCs had automatically disappeared when the city was officially under siege. Somehow, the AI made the NPCs disappear without need to pass the gates. Preston had been in enough castle-related battles to get used to the oddity. The NPCs would respawn back later after everything settled down, as if nothing happened. Exceptions seemed to be soldier and merchant NPCs. The first would stay when they were recruited, the second would always be there, and somehow survive the siege. In one case,the city was burned flat and the NPC somehow stood around the leftover of the shop.
He observed a line of catapults along the line where the defenders were camped. They had brought the weapon to bear since the beginning of the siege, to no avail. Ranbell Castle’s defenses were personally designed by Preston from his accumulated experiences. It followed medieval castle designs, with a few touches of new defenses made possible by magic. Like the sluice that could be filled with alchemic liquid fire, that had destroyed the ram so many times. The walls were beyond thick, not suffering even a crack so far, though it could use a repair crew, as its durability decreased with every assault. That was for later.
A few greetings here and there, a stop to check on the defenses, whispering encouragements. These were what Preston did when he patrolled the wall. He had made the preparations well, and currently enjoyed the fruits of his hard work. Pity about the defenders that died. But the butcher must have its bill.
Stopping inside the gatehouse, Preston looked out the porthole, that was narrow enough that no player could sneak in, yet could see out easily, and fire arrows and magic safely. He could see the attackers were spending their time building another ram. But this time, he saw mages raising the ground. The path pointed straight to the gate. Spades and kicks too were employed to construct the long earthen ramp. Preston knew what the attackers would try next. He chuckled and shook his head. They would get a little surprise.
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Author's Note:
1. Credit to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR
2. Special Credit to Veresliosi and Vim1inc for bouncing stuff around. Not to forget Ramzicmain that joined us.
3. Do let me know of mistakes you find. Try as me and my PR to spot them, we might miss some.
4. As promised folks, chapter 17. This week's release will be up to chapter 18.
5. Do let me know what you think, everyone.
6. Enjoy!