Chapter 13
Dirk Cabral looked out over the battlefield, monitoring it in real time through drone feeds on a nearby monitor and with his own eyes and senses. Something just wasn’t adding up for him with the enemy’s tactics. He had known something wasn’t quite right with how they’d been sending wave after wave previously, but that had turned out to be an illusion.
Now it seemed the enemy was using the same tactic. Sure the enemy units were trapped between the heavy machine-gun fire and the artillery and mortar teams, but they should have at least been able to come up with something other than just charging headfirst into instant death.
Even if you put all that aside, and assumed the enemy was a bunch of idiots (always a good way to get yourself killed) they should have been using system abilities to combat the aggressive meat grinder that was essentially a lesson in world war 1 tactics. Dirk knew his own list of skills, spells, and abilities was nothing to scoff at as a level two, and he had trouble believing the enemy was a whole group of level 1’s with nothing to show for it.
Even if the enemy was highly organized with their class distributions, only sending the equivalent of a single basic class, there should have been at least some higher leveled individuals in the ranks, or some one off abilities, similar to SFC Ming’s [Heirloom Weapon Mastery].
As the elvan numbers started to trickle in, he grew more and more concerned. None of the front line men had reported hitting level 4 yet, and it was almost like they’d stopped receiving experience. Dirk himself had left the fight shortly after the first group of enemy made it across the river, knowing that the company was better served with him directing rather than pulling a trigger.
Just to test, Dirk brought his weapon up, aiming through the old ACOG optic, and squeezed off a burst of rounds, downing the elf he’d been aiming at. Sure enough his experience bar flashed slightly, showing the small increase in experience.
Something just outside of Dirk’s mental grasp taunted him, begging to be discovered. Suddenly a blue system box appeared.
Quest Awarded!
Ice Elves are Idiots? (Part 1)
Your intuition is telling you that either the enemy you face is a race of complete idiots, or they are leading you along for some reason. Discover the truth.
Bonus Objective: Complete Part 1 before it’s too late [0:12:07]
Rewards based on performance
The quest in general had Dirk feeling uneasy, and the timer specifically had him sweating bullets. Something was about to go down, and it didn’t bode well for Savage Company, or humanity at large.
Dirk’s training had him sharing the quest with Lyndis, Garrow, Matt, and the platoon leaders as soon as he thought about it. The captain had told them how, explaining that there was some book he’d received at some point explaining how the system worked. It hadn’t seemed that important at that moment, but now Dirk was resolved to ask the captain as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Moments after sending the quest share, Matt’s voice crackled over the radio. “How close is everyone to level 5? There’s another force of elves heading this way, and these ones seem a lot more capable. In fact, I would have missed them if my senses weren’t where they are now. I got a system notification about resisting some spell, and then another about resisting an ability. I think they’re trying to sneak into range.”
“Nobody has reported getting to level 4 yet, but we’ve been slaughtering these guys almost as fast as they can charge into our firing line. I have a bad feeling about this Sir. You better get back here.” Dirk replied.
Almost at the same time Dirk released the Push To Talk button on his comms setup, several of the men on the line started collapsing, shaking like they were going into epileptic seizures, and expelling a sickly smelling black sludge from their skin.
Another system window popped up, but Dirk guessed he knew what this one would say before he read it.
Bonus Objective for [Ice Elves are Idiots?] Failed.
Better luck next time.
More and more of Savage Company fell, exhibiting the same symptoms. This was going to be very bad. Dirk immediately called the reserve force of 4th platoon up from staging, ordering the Platoon Sergeant to let base command know they were going to need reinforcements immediately, as well as all available medical personnel.
Lyndis wasn’t far, and Dirk imagined she was likely yelling into her radio as well, hopefully getting logistics figured out for a nearby field hospital.
It didn’t really take a genius to figure out what had happened, now that it was going down. A mountain of system messages popped up, confirming the ideas swirling in Dirk’s mind.
Effects of [Interface Suppression] have ended.
Your Skill, [Mental Fortitude] has triggered, but failed to protect you.
Your ability to perceive your system interface has been partially suppressed by enemy commander Queen Mab.
This Notification has been suppressed and will be shown when the effect ends.
Your Skill, [Mental Fortitude] has failed to protect you from [Mass Assign Attributes (Constitution)] Until the effect ends, all available attributes will be spent on constitution upgrades.
This Notification has been suppressed and will be shown when the effect ends.
Your Skill, [Mental Fortitude] has failed to protect you from the effects of [Mass Shadow Clone]. Until the effect ends, You will see multiple enemies when there is only one.
This Notification has been suppressed and will be shown when the effect ends.
***More***
Dirk quickly reviewed his interface and character sheet in response, realizing he’d actually reached level 3 and was close to level 4 while the suppression was in effect. The black sludge coming from the men and women on the ground would be the system purging impurities as the men’s attributes were quickly raised by multiple points at once.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
It seemed the reason humanity would fall was a critical lack of information about the system, and a willingness to believe the enemy was less intelligent than they actually were. The enemy commander, Queen Mab, if the messages were right, was obviously a skilled manipulator. Dirk even began to wonder if the effects had been cast during the illusion phase of the attack. It would make the most sense.
Something still didn’t quite make sense with the elves they’d fought thus far being so underwhelming, even if there were only one enemy for every 3 to 5 that had seemed to exist. One thing was certain. If Savage Company managed to come through this alive, they needed to stop thinking in terms of how wars were fought on earth, and start thinking about how they could be fought within the system.
*******
Matt hurried through the woods, hoping to get back to his beleaguered company before they were overrun. He had turned his radio down to almost inaudible levels, even for him, to avoid alerting any of the enemy. What he could make out sounded like things had gone from bad to worse, with several members of the company being forcibly leveled past 5.
Somehow the system was preventing him from communicating about what would happen when these people woke up, and were subject to the enhanced sex drive from the system quest to mate. They wouldn’t be getting back on duty any time in the next 12 to 24 hours. He couldn’t understand why the system was preventing that information from spreading. It was almost like the system didn’t care if humanity survived or not.
To make matters that much worse, the enemy unit somewhere behind him seemed to be another class entirely from what he’d started expecting. Matt hadn’t actually engaged any of them, but his enhanced senses told him everything he needed to know. Not to mention the system messages that let him know he wouldn’t even have seen the enemy if not for his exceptionally high level.
In response to his thoughts, Matt drove himself even faster through the forest, moving at speeds that would be considered a full out sprint for most, but still maintaining a degree of stealth due to his greatly enhanced stats. He needed to be back in time to direct the reinforcements, how the members of Savage Company would be treated, and still be back on the line in time to notice and point out the advancing enemy before they could sneak up and start killing his men en mass.
The forest ended just ahead, with sunlight and the river bank just coming into view as Matt sprinted forward. The thing that saved his life was a last second instinctual dodge to the right. Matt almost tripped, finding himself going down, he tucked and rolled, springing back to his feet and glancing around. A massive arrow protruded from a nearby tree, the head and a good 6 inches of shaft sticking out the far side at about chest height.
A short elf carrying a large bow stepped out of the trees, falling so gracefully to the ground that it seemed he’d simply taken a step. There wasn’t a single bit of the tale-tale silver armor, instead the elf wore a forest green cloak with spots of other colors, making a pattern that seemed to shift before Matt’s eyes. A leather cuirass of some kind with glowing golden runes covered what he could see of the elf’s chest, and it wore leather moccasins on it’s feet, with pants made from the same material as the cloak. A couple pouches hung from a snakeskin belt, along with a short sword or long knife, Matt wasn’t sure which.
“I approve of your dodging skills, human. It would seem Queen Mab was right to have myself and a select few others stand watch until our army units start to arrive. You’re obviously un-affected by the trap we planned to use on you humans, so you must be over level 5. Since that’s the case, I’ll treat you like an actual adult and ask if you want to talk a bit before I kill you. What do you say?”
Something about the elf’s mannerisms let Matt know he should consider this offer seriously. He didn’t exactly have a lot of time, but the opportunity to speak with the enemy couldn’t be ignored. Who knew what kind of intel he might be able to get.
“I’m willing to talk, if you can keep your answers relevant. I obviously don’t have all the time in the world here.” Matt finally responded. “What would you like to discuss?”
“Fights between consenting adults are handled a bit differently with the system in play. I’ll teach you a bit of the protocol since I’ve already acknowledged you as a worthy opponent.” the elf replied.
“I’m Freidrich Von Issenvile. Since I have the higher level, something you’ll learn to sense at level 10, I introduce myself first, and let you know what my level is. I’m level 12 by the way, which is considered barely high enough to be a part of the army regular, rather than the level 1 slaves we’ve been sending at you to gauge your responses.” it continued.
“Now you introduce yourself and tell me your class, since I’ve already said I know I’m a higher level. If you have a rare class, I might not kill you, taking you prisoner instead so you can pass on what you know.”
Matt considered a moment. He wasn’t about to give up without a fight, and there was no way he’d let the enemy take him prisoner, but the elf was level 12, and he was still just shy of reaching level 9. Three levels wouldn’t be anything to sneeze at if Matt’s study on aggregate stats was to be believed. There would also likely be an advanced class and extra abilities for the average individual over the second hump.
In spite of all that, Matt somehow felt he could stand at least a fair chance of fighting the elf and winning, likely because of the boons he’d been given by his mysterious benefactor. Unfortunately Matt didn’t have unlimited time to think things through.
“I’m a level 9 Hero. My name is Captain Williams.” Matt finally said. Instantly he realized he’d given his actual level and class, when he’d been planning to lie.
“How interesting. Hero is a very rare class, but it usually comes with some kind of restrictions. What are you a hero of? Also, since you apparently don’t know, the system doesn’t let you directly lie. It will also prevent you from explaining things about the process involved for crossing the level 5, 10, 15, and 20 humps by removing the memory of it from the minds of anyone who gains a system link. ” Freidrich stated.
“I’m a hero of [redacted]. Thanks for explaining why we couldn’t effectively plan for the level 5 quest. If I survive this, I’ll make sure we find some way of getting around whatever might happen during the other humps.”
Freidrich the elf gave a curious look before replying. Matt recognized the opportunity and realizing there was zero margin for error went all out, activating an ability and two spells simultaneously.
You’ve successfully cast [Inspiration] on yourself for the first time!
You’ve used [Breach the Defenses] for the first time!
You’ve cast [Touch of the Icy [redacted]].
[Breach the Defenses] is partially successful. Your enemy is now as susceptible to your next attack as they are going to get.
You’ve elected to channel [Touch of the Icy [redacted]] for damage over time.
Your target has partially resisted the effects of your spell, and is only taking [redacted] type damage.
Your Stamina is getting low!
Your mana is getting low!
Matt placed his hand on the elf’s chest, hoping to freeze it’s heart. The system messages he was inundated with had him reconsidering his approach, before he noticed the elf’s skin going a pale gray. The system messages indicated his opponent was still taking damage, and even if his mana was getting low, any high level threat he could take out now would be one less threat his men had to deal with later.
Almost a full minute later the elf crumbled, flesh turning into an ash-like substance. Matt gasped, feeling significantly drained. Both the yellow stamina bar and purple mana bar in the corner of his vision flashing constantly, showing a tiny sliver of color instead of their usual full state. Something else flashed, the EXP bar at the top of his vision, and the bar filled twice.
You have killed Fredrich Von Issenvile, a level 12 Warrior of the bow.
You’ve gained 109,000 EXP
You’ve reached level 9! Congrats!
You’ve reached level 10! Congrats!
You’ve reached level 10. You will be awarded a quest as soon as you spend your available Attribute Points
You must spend your Attribute points within 8 hours or you will die [7:58:53]
Matt skimmed over the notifications quickly before hurrying off toward the sunlight and his men on the other side of the river. He hoped he’d have enough time to effect the changes he needed to before the rest of the enemy caught up. If there were others like Fredrich, as the elf had insinuated, he needed to get back even sooner, or they might decide to try killing who they could before the main enemy unit arrived.