Tec Mage Chapter Forty Five: War, Defence  

Raised weapons and growling gnoll's rushed towards Atlas and Princess. Their speed had increased quite a bit due to the hunting of the fishmen and increase of level. They were no longer the weak level 20 but now had increased past level 70. To compare it to the city army, the city's army's raw recruits were level 15 after training and when their training and level raised they would be promoted to Denarion. The gnolls were above that level, a Denarion was level 50 soldier.

With the gnolls charging, Princess stood to attention. Raised legs and fangs barring down, she weaved a web instantly and chucked it at the charging gnolls legs. From above, the mana sparrows that had been following Atlas, dived at the face's of the gnolls blinding their view.

Mary stood stock still after seeing the mana sparrows. She had never seen the mana sparrows before but they had the same translucent faint blue shine to them as the mana mouses. She wasn't stupid and had made the connection. Before she could call out to stop, a massive earth wall, shaped as many hands erupted from the ground separated the two forces. The mana sparrows flew off in the air and both sides stopped the confrontation. On one side was Mary and the gnolls, the other Atlas and Princess.

Mary pushed passed the gnolls and stood in front of the earth wall waiting. The gnolls were confused, they hadn't seen anything after the mana sparrows swooped down and blinded them, they didn't recognise what the mana sparrows were.

With a slow rubble a section of wall melted away. There stood Atlas with the metal wolf head helmet in his hands. Behind him shaking with fury was a bouncing Princess.

"Ooh, you'll going to get it. Beat them up mum" muttered Princess.

The sudden voice of Princess echoing in everyone's mind caused Mary and the gnoll to be startled. Slowly, after realising who was standing in front of them, the raised weapons the gnolls were holding slowly dropped to their sides and the same razor toothed smile that Atlas had came to see from the gnolls was plastered over their faces.

"Alpha" all the gnolls rushed towards Atlas.

Atlas had earn the unofficial title of alpha from the gnolls. There could only be one alpha, and that was Beast the leader of the crafting gnolls but Atlas had done so much for them, that they called him alpha out of respect.

Princess bounced around as she avoided the many pairs of feet gathering around Atlas.

The gnolls were excited that Atlas had returned.

While getting patted on his back and shoulders, Atlas asked some important questions.

"What's with the welcome" Atlas asked. Even with a war going on, this reaction was too much. The city's walls should keep any damage from spilling to the normal people and if the walls fell then the kingdom would most likely have a new ruler.

Mary briefly looked down at the giant spider that was dancing beside Atlas. A faint shiver ran done her spine. Mary wasn't surprise that Atlas brought a new creature back from his adventure but why did it have to be a giant spider.

Mary grabbed Atlas arm and pulled him away.

Atlas looked back over his shoulder to see the gnolls touching Princess. They obviously weren't scared of spiders for they were technically monsters as well.

"Play nicely with each other" called out Atlas.

Princess was about to say some thing when a gnoll spoke first "yes alpha"

"Your hair is very thick" said another gnoll to Princess.

Princess didn't think highly of the gnolls until now. The complement had hit her pride and now she felt dizzy with happiness.

Mary pulled Atlas attention back to her.

"We've had problems with the army. They are forcibly recruiting anyone to fill the spaces on the city walls. A couple of gnolls were almost recruited against their wills" explained Mary.

The gnolls had better equipment than almost anyone else and their levels were high compared to the rest of the army, so they were much sort after to protect the kingdom and be stationed on the city's walls.

"If it wasn't for Captain Merek then some of the gnolls would have been taken away" explained Mary.

Captain Merek had risen though the ranks of the police force. When Atlas had first meet Merek, he was a sergeant of the city watch. With success in interrogation and the new forensic department doing serious good work, sergeant Merek had been promoted.

Helping Merek reach captain wasn't the only thing Atlas group did. Mary was the blacksmith for the police force and so the city watch relied on Atlas group for armour and weapons.

It was unexpected but a welcome gift. Atlas didn't foresee that Merek would come and help like this. It turned out that no good deed went unrewarded.

Atlas was lead into the four jacks shop by Mary, as the gnolls carried Atlas bags and flying machine.

"What happened to your equipment" Mary was looking at Atlas poncho.

"Just a little accident" Atlas would explain later what happen with the flaming god slime.

Entering a room Atlas saw that there was piles of papers stacked on a table. These were reports collected by Dracken.

Now the two had some privacy, Mary explained the details.

With over half of the lords changing sides and taking their army with them, there was no longer a army to man the city's walls properly. The police force had been trying their best defending the west walls but their resources couldn't be compared to the north, south and east walls that had trained and had well stocked commanders. As soon as the kingdom was surrounded and the most of the lords betrayed the kingdom, all the food had been bought up and arrows had been sold. There was little to none left for the west wall

Resources were one of the most important things in war. A army would march on it's stomach. The police force was struggling. They didn't have the connections and was only recently told to protect the west wall.

The rule for attacking a defensive position that had strong walls was three times the defending force. So for every one person on the wall, three would have to attack. If this was all, then the west wall would naturally fall due to a lack of man power, but the west wall had a massive hole in it. If it wasn't for the attacking army worried for their contribution points in the form of borrowed soldiers and the damage the attack would due to the city, then they would already have taken the city.

"Why would they give the weakest force the hardest wall to defended" asked Atlas.

This was down to the lords. Each one that had stayed, knew that with the city surrounded and no reinforcements coming, it was only a matter of time before the city fell. The defending lords could at lest say that they did their best and it was the police force fault for letting down the kingdom. In short, the lords were using the police force as a escape goat.

If by some miracle the city managed to successfully defend them selfs, then the lords would be rewarded. On the other hand, if the city fell then the new owners would see that the lords were loyal to the kingdom and could be trusted. No rewards would go their way but at least they might not lose as much.

That's why the north, east and south walls had good amount of personal that was properly equipped and fed. The lords didn't think that they had a chance but put a good face on things.

Unfortunately the king left the preparations to the lords, while he tried to escape. The minsters had distance them self from the king and disappeared. The city was like a sinking ship. Anyone that held power was distancing them self from a unwinnable circumstance so that they wouldn't be dragged down with the king.

If this was all then maybe the city could last a couple of days but with the city being surrounded the food supply that had been bought up by the lords was know the biggest problem.

It wasn't just the army that needed food, the common people needed to be fed. With out a food supply coming in to the city or a way for people to leave, the people were becoming desperate. Arson, muggings and stealing was up on the raise. With the police force defending the west wall there was no one to control the crime.

Just taking a walk in the city would show how desperate thing were. Doors had been kicked in, belongs had been sold to buy the smallest amount of food and buildings had graffiti smeared all over them. Almost every single building had some kind of damage done to it. All except Atlas shop. Atlas shop had a enchantment called seal, this protected the whole of the building. Graffiti that touched the walls would fall off. Bricks aimed at the windows would bounce off and fire would burn it's self out without touching the building.

"Why not open up for negotiation" asked Atlas

With out supply's or reinforcements there was no way in Atlas mind that they could defend.

Mary explained that the king couldn't escape and would be sentence to death if caught. All the hidden tunnels had been collapsed and the king had no where to turn.

The invading army couldn't afford to have a king freely run about with his life. A king could drum up support and gain their kingdom back. It was best for the invading party to get rid of any future trouble like that.

So the king had ordered the lords to defend no matter what. This was why the lords had kept the west wall weak. They didn't want unnecessary deaths. They weren't all bad.

The police force on the west wall would be sacrificed and in turn the kingdom would get a new ruler with minimal lose. All the orders would be followed but the city and the people would suffer less because of it.

Atlas felt sick after hearing all of this. the police force that he had help to raise to a new more efficient level was being used. Good or evil Atlas wasn't going to stand for it.

On the west city wall stood the only line of defence. The police force was cowering behind a wall. Clacks could be heard as arrows hit the wall and floor.

On the floor laid captain Merek, over his head rained arrows

"Keep your heads down" shouted Merek. 

In a way, the captain was very qualified to lead. Years and years of fighting crime had given him a understanding in to other peoples mind. He had spent years at sergeant level which gave him many times more experience in the way people worked. Unlike captains that earned their rank though other means, captain Merek had earned it though years of work and only the past couple of months did he gain the ranks he deserved.

The defence of the wall against an army was completely different to the defence of a city from criminals. Ordered by a high ranking minster, the police force had little to no say in the matter but to defend the city wall.

"Just keep your heads down and fire your arrows when you can" shouted Merek.

Along the side of captain Merek, evenly spaced along the top of the wall was the complete force of the city watch. Tired and weakened from the constant barrage of arrows and lack of sleep, each person was afraid for their lives . The only saving grace was that the attacking army was following a plan of isolation and starvation. They wanted to keep the city intact and the walls surrounding the city strong enough that when the took over it wouldn't take too much to repair.

Captain Merek face was distorted with anger. He had spent years in the police force and now he was told that the west wall needed to be protected. This was totally unfair thing to ask. The police force prioritized in non lethal force and now they were told to kill. No one in the police force was trained for this. A couple of young recruits had already been killed by freemen arrows. He knew they were freemen arrows because each shot had landed on a instant kill spot when it was impossible to shoot from that distance. This was way they were all taking cover.

A new barrage of arrows flew over their heads. Each one of these arrows seemed to be made out of wood but now and again there was one with an evil looking spiked arrow head attached to one of the arrows. This was a players arrow.

With so many arrows flying about, Captain Merek took note on his men. As his gaze looked around checking on his men he noticed a tall man covered in fine leather and wearing a sliver wolf helmet that covered his whole head and face, walking towards him. This man's arms were raised and any arrow that came close to him seemed to be diverted by the wind it self.

This was of course Atlas, using his spell "Gust" to divert the arrows away from him.

Captain Merek's twisted face was now slack in surprise. An arrow seemed to clip the helmet that Atlas was wearing. The helmet's metal wolf ears twitched and the muzzle bared it's fangs at the incoming arrows.

Who was this guy and how did he get on the wall with out causing a massive up roar. They were under staffed but still the wall was a no go area for anyone other than the defending force.

Atlas huddled down beside Captain Merek

"Captain" Atlas nodded in respect. 

Atlas had managed to get on the wall by showing his special constable badge that Captain Merek had given him. On special events Atlas could be sworn in to the police force to help with things.

"Atlas..." Captain Merek was shocked. He didn't expect for Atlas to turn up.

"Captain please don't use my name, just call me constable" Atlas wasn't sure if he could be any use, but if he was then he didn't want the invading army to know his name. 

If the invading army was successfully, then they might punish the defenders and Atlas had a lot of things that could be taken from him. Instead Atlas chose not to have his name mentioned.

"At..." captain Merek was about to say Atlas name when he caught him self "what are you doing here"

"Iv'e come to help the police force" it was a simple answer but it held massive amounts of truth. It was a sentence that said I don't care about the wall or even the invading army but I'm here for you.

On Atlas chest was a badge. This was the special constable badge that Merek had given him. 

This was the only good news that Captain Merek had gotten since he was stationed on the wall. Water filled his eyes. With great control Merek pushed back the tears and composed him self. 

"It's no use, don't involve your self in a lost cause" captain Merek had given up. The only thing he could do was make sure as many police force personal survived.

A new volley of arrows flew over their heads. Hunching down even further, both Atlas and Merek slumped down further.

"Leave that to me to worry about" Atlas held his arm out.

Merek didn't hesitate and grabbed Atlas hand and embraced Atlas like a brother. In war there was a thing as brothers in arms and Merek was grateful that Atlas was here. If anyone could turn things around then it was Atlas. Merek had complete faith in him.

After that, Atlas was given a special title by captain Merek, lieutenant of the watch. This was a tile for the police force but not for the army. This meant that Atlas would take orders from Captain Merek but no one else. In a way Atlas was a free agent that could move on the west wall and give orders to people but didn't have a rank to the rest of the army.

After the sun set and torches were lit in the invading camp, only then did the barrage of arrows stop. This was when Atlas made his move.

Mean while in the invading camp, there was a player called Thomas. He was the guild leader of the invading army.

Sitting down down on a stool Thomas rested his massive shield against the table he was working at. This player was a tank, and in a war, the tank was not that important but Thomas had came up with the idea to construct a massive NPC army from contribution points.

On his table was a copy of "The Art Of War", he had followed this book religiously and had erected the blockade surrounding the city. The book said it would be better to attack and overwhelm a weakened wall but the players that had gained the contribution points didn't want to lose them by attacking. 

As the sun raised, Thomas was still checking the book. Being a player he didn't need to sleep for a couple of days. Just then a soldier entered the tent Thomas was using.

"Sir" the soldier saluted and waited.

"Yes?" answered Thomas. He had given orders that what ever little changes happened, he was to be told immediately. This was why the soldier busted in to the tent without asking.

"Sir, there has been a change on the west wall" the soldier stood up right.

Thomas main forces were stationed at the west wall. If they were going to attack then it was going to be at the weakest point.

Outside Thomas was shown what had changed. On the west wall a dense fog was rolling over the edges of the wall, but that wasn't what stood out, after all fog was common in the morning. On the wall stood twice as many people there had been before. Each one of this new force's had shields made from what looked like wood.

The new force's on the wall was still lacking and Thomas was sure that they were forced subscription. 

"Sir, what do you want to do" asked the soldier.

"Has the blockade been broken?" asked Thomas.

"Sir, no, forces are strong" replied the soldier.

"Then leave them to starve, but fire less arrows" ordered Thomas.

"Sir?" the soldier couldn't understand. 

"You may know that resources are the key to winning any war" explained Thomas.

"Yes sir" the soldier did indeed know.

"mmmm, in my history, there was a battle called red cliff. A smaller force managed to beat a far superior force. One of their tactics was to use dummies to collect the enemy's arrows. The wooden shields that the forces are carrying can collect the arrows"

"What about the arrows we've already fired" asked the soldier.

"Spilt on impact. Wooden arrows have low durability. If they hit anything harder than wood or flesh then they break" explained Thomas.

Wooden arrows were used to damage the enemy's forces and control them. Weakening the enemy's armour was also a nice side effect.

"Spread the order" said Thomas.

"Yes sir" without haste, the soldier left

Thomas stood on the spot looking at the wall. He had read Sun Tzu, Art of war just to invade the kingdom. He was reminded of a passage "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting". Setting up a blockade was an idea that come to him after he was told by the other players that they didn't want to lose their contribution points by having a full out war. Thomas turned around and went back to his tent.

With the day coming to a close, the arrows had let up. The night time was the only time arrows wouldn't be fired. On the wall sat Atlas surrounded by man made fire. Along the wall was strange doll like people holding wooden shields. These doll like people were in fact the attacking scarecrows that Atlas had made for the training hall. The gnolls, with the help of some of the police force, had transported them to the wall.

The scarecrows took the place of the police force. If it was just that, then the attacking army would of been able to tell the difference but Atlas was using the newly acquired skill of illusion magic.

The magic was still low level and Atlas needed a base to put it on. This was why instead of just using the illusion, Atlas had the scarecrows placed on the wall.

For the whole day Atlas sat surrounded by flames. Concentration Meditation gave Atlas mana regeneration when near fire or a heat source, this was the only reason that Atlas could use illusion magic without rest.

With a base and the illusion magic on top, the attacking army would be momentarily fooled but with out movement they would soon suspect that something was wrong. That was when the police force came in to it. With wire leading to the scarecrow the police force hid in safety behind the wall, while pulling on the wire and making the scarecrow move.

This was all Atlas idea. He too had read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu but unlike Thomas he felt it was a bit lacking. Most of the book had detailed summaries of how to move your forces, how much money and food you needed for your army. This wasn't useful for Atlas, as he was defending but there was small snips of useful knowledge that he could use.

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” was what Atlas took from Sun Tzu. With many scarecrows on the wall, Atlas forces seemed to doubled over night.

Atlas didn't push how many forces he appeared to have, because if too many turned up the attacking army may attack out of desperation.

Atlas was appearing to be strong but not too strong. 

The night creped in and day turned into night. The attacking player army was settling in for the night. Two thirds of the army was sleeping while the remainder one third was on patrol. 

Two patrolling soldiers were side by side talking while looking at the wall.

"What do you have to eat" said the first soldier

"Piece of meat, the freeman's gave me a piece when they went hunting. What about you" said the second soldier.

"A couple of veg pattys, the freeman cook made them" replied the first soldier.

"What's that" asked the second soldier with a shaky voice.

"Oh, they are just herbs and vegetables mixed together and compacted in to patty. They taste really good and moist too. We can spilt our meals together and get a bit of both, if you want" answered the first soldier.

"Not that. What is that" the second soldier pointed at the wall.

The first soldier peered at the wall. It was getting darker and was increasingly harder to see but he indeed could see something. It looked like a pillar being raised on the wall. Not just one but many pillars had been raised on the west wall

"What are they" said the first soldier

"I don't know, but we need to report it" answered the second soldier

They both rushed to report their news but it wasn't necessary, as the freemen Thomas already knew and had sent in a number of players to find out what they were.

On the wall Atlas didn't need to spend so much mana thanks to the darkness. The darkness was masking the illusions, adding on to the whole. Looking in to the vast darkness that separated the wall and the player army, Atlas could see little blobs of mana running towards them.

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These blobs were players, thanks to "Magical Eye Of The Aura" Atlas could see a persons raw mana, even in the pitch blackness of night. 

The blobs speed was incredible. They must of put most of their stats into speed to reach this type of quickness. The blobs of mana steadily got closer and when they reached the wall Atlas pointed at a newly erected wooden pillars. A beam of light brighter than the sun pieced the darkness and illuminated the blobs of mana.

Completely off guard, the attacking freemen was stunned and blinded. Looking down, Atlas could tell that the stunned men below him were players.

Each NPC soldier was part of a kingdom and in turn had a uniform but Freemen would wear anything that increased their stats. 

The people that were stunned were all players. Each one of them wore different pieces of clothing that gave the impression of a blind man that had dressed him self.

The bright beam of light came from the pillars. Each one had a piece of perfect moonstone, and each perfect moonstone was surrounded by a plate of super shined metal. It was a simpler version of Atlas flower of light but on a bigger scale. Mary and the gnolls had made the pillars at the request of Atlas.

The brightly lit freeman panicked. Not one of them could see. Some ran in circles, while others pulled out their weapons and swung at thin air.

Atlas pointed at some other police men. With the signal, the police force dumped a pile of potions over the side of the wall. As the potions broke hitting the floor a cloud of green yellow vapour coiled out and surrounded the blinded freemen.

Thanks to Dracken, these potions were paralyse potion. If Atlas was good at making potion that helped with healing and regeneration, then Dracken was good at poison and debuffs.

Atlas stepped to the side and jumped off. Atlas biting belt blasted off the harness and attached it's self to the top of the wall. The biting belt was a grappling hook that could save an enchanters life by pulling him away from danger. Atlas was using it to scale down the wall.

At the bottom Atlas tied up every one of the paralysed freemen. Looking in to their eyes, Atlas could see that even though they were blinded and paralysed, they still were conscious.

Not feeling bad at all, Atlas placed a cheap hemp bag over their heads to stop them from gaining any info that they could send back in the form of a whisper.

The police force pulled up the limp tied up freemen. 

"Why don't we kill them" spoke one of the police men.

"Are you kidding, if you kill a freemen, they come back in four days, with a grudge. Better to hold them prisoner" replied another police man.   

With the freemen taken as prisoners, Atlas joined the wall.

"What now" asked a police man.

"I'll take over from here" a shadow passed by every one and stopped in front of the pile of freemen.

"What's this" called out a private.

"Who is this, how did he get past the guards" called out a different private.

Quick as a flash the shadow pulled out a special constable badge. This person was Dracken, under the advise of Atlas, Dracken was keeping his identity secret. His hidden class allowed him to hide his identity with shadows. 

"I'm under the command of Special lieutenant......" Dracken thought for a second, Atlas hadn't given him a name to call him by

"Special lieutenant, Silver Wolf" Dracken just made up a name for Atlas. Atlas helmet was a copy of a wolfs head. 

"Take them" Atlas gave the order, as he walked over to Dracken.

"Don't forget to keep them separated, in the dark and never take the bags off their heads" Atlas then handed over ten pairs of cuffs.

Each cuff had a mana gem placed in it, with the spell soul drain enchanted on it. The gem was one of Atlas inventions. It would drain the mana out of anyone it touched, and then use that mana to cast soul drain again. In a world of might and magic a person who was tied down could still escape if they had mana to cast a skill or magic.

"Remember, don't attack them directly, but go for their equipment" said Atlas

Freemen didn't fear pain or death but they would think twice if their gear that they spent so many months collecting was threatened.

"Yes" Dracken saluted towards Atlas. 

Dracken was about to leave and carry out his assignment, when Atlas heard a soft chirp coming from Dracken's back. A small black bird poked out it's head. With soft little chirps it was asking for food.

The feathers had just grown in making it look like a balding old man, that had a comb over.

"What's that" whispered Atlas, as he pulled Dracken away.

"I found him in one of your bags" replied Dracken, he reached over his head and placed a bug in it's mouth.

Atlas mind wondered to the day his mana mouses picked up some items from the manor of Duke Crow Feather. One of those items was a speckled blue egg.

"I assumed you picked him up for me. After all Mary has the giant wolf, and you have a giant spider and Forge the Imugi" answered Dracken.

Atlas thought about it. It was true that the little bird that Dracken was taking care of, was an Avian species. The Avians didn't really care for their eggs. They had so many eggs that they would store them in warehouses.

"Just....just keep it on the down low" replied Atlas.

Atlas wasn't sure if anyone was looking for this Avian that Dracken was taking care of but prudence was for the best.

When Dracken left, a new person turned up with the same badge as Dracken. This was Mary. Beside her was a giant black wolf clad in armour. Unlike Dracken she didn't disguise her self. Mary was only delivering items and didn't need to hide her self. 

"Over here" Mary pointed on the wall. 

A pack of gnolls dressed in their steel armour and their white cloth head gear, carried what looked like massive armour fit for a giant. 

Ten sets of giant armour was stationed evenly across the wall. Each single piece of giant armour seemed to be wielded or connected some how.

Once the giant armour was delivered the gnolls and Mary left.

"What are these things" 

"Don't touch it, you might brake it"   

The police men surrounded the giant armour, some were even prodding it.

"Sergeant" said Atlas

"Yes sir" a thick looking man stood to attention.

"Did you get what i asked for" asked Atlas.

"Yes sir, the sacks are stationed where you asked"

"Good" replied Atlas.

As night turned to day and the freemen caught by Atlas didn't return, Thomas and the attacking army started to get nervous.

Tiny little things had changed on the wall, not enough to warrant a full attack, but enough to take notice. More people station on the wall, with what looked like search lights and giant metal armour. All these things just appeared in one day.  

This threw Thomas off a little.

"Tighten the blockade" ordered Thomas.

Some thing was going on but the war plan was a blockade. 

"Send in a hundred men to pressure them, but don't get too close to the wall" ordered Thomas.

"But sir, who are we going to send in" the army was made up of borrowed forces and any lost men would be a great lose for the players contribution points.

"It's just a little pressure, send in platoon seven, they have more healers and tanks" replied Thomas.

Atlas was watching the advancing platoon. Fifty odd people was steadily getting closer. The rule of attacking a wall or castle was the attacking force needed triple the amount of defending forces.

What they were doing was trying to pressure Atlas into revealing his hand. The platoon moved closer to the massive gap in the wall. This gap was purposely left by Atlas, if he was to repair it then the attacking forces may go in to a full attack and wipe out Atlas and his forces. Appearing too strong but being weak could cause the attacking forces to be desperate and attack just so they wouldn't lose the upper hand.

Standing on the wall Atlas had to play his hand. Any closer and the attacking forces may realise that most of Atlas forces were just illusions. 

Near the gap, Atlas spread some seeds over the edge of the wall. The attacking forces rushed towards the gap hoping to spook the defenders.

Clapping his hands together, Atlas built up his mana. All four mana sources surged in him. At the foot of the wall small earth hands bursted out of the soil like flowers. Each one twisted together to form a bigger hand. More and more earth hands twisted and melded together to form a massive hand made from earth. Atlas had his hands raised and mana was pouring out like water from a tap. Each time Atlas raised his hands, the giant earth hand became taller and wider.

A spell such as Clay Hand that Atlas was using could just about managed to hold a person down, but Atlas had found a way to meld spells together. With his four mana sources, Atlas was able to cast four spells at once. One after the other, spell after spell increased the earth hand, until it was the same hight as the wall.

Platoon seven had came to a halt as they saw a giant hand erect out of the soil. The shadow of the hand covered them. With such a huge pile of earth in front of them, it was easy to see that they could be buried.

Unconsciously a couple of them took a step back. The fingers of the giant earth hand flexed as it mimicked Atlas hand. A tightly compacted fist waved in front of them.

All of them were low level NPC soldiers who weren't trained for this. Apart from a few freemen they all had the fear of death in them.

The massive fist waved in front of the soldiers in a threatening manner.

"Hold your ground" yelled a freedman.

The complete attention of platoon seven was on the massive fist. Suddenly the fist started to move towards the wall. Some of platoon seven people jumped back as the giant fist moved but the slow moving fist slowly slotted it's self in to the gap in the wall. It wasn't a perfect fit but tight enough so no persons could get by.

Shocked, the freedmen in platoon seven gasped. They never expected to come across some thing like this. One quick thinking freemen called out.

"Tear it down, it has no mortar"

The giant earth fist was a slotted piece of earth, meaning the slightest pull or push would cause it to fall.

"You come here" Atlas said to a police man

Pulling out a green potion Atlas gave instructions to pour it on the giant fist in a steady stream.

"What are you going to do" asked the police man.

"I'm going to distract the enemy" with that said Atlas jumped of the wall and abseiled down the wall using the biting belt.

Wide eyed, the police man pulled the cork out and poured the liquid on the earth fist. Small sprouts grew from the fist and wrapped around the wall, anchoring it down.

The potion that was used was mana of the forest. Mana extracted from plants with green leaves was called forest mana and it helped the growth of plants by a huge amount.

On ground floor Atlas instantly regretted jumping of the wall. He was now eye level with platoon seven. Atlas wasn't a coward but this many people looking at him caused nervousness in him.

Even though the NPC didn't exist in real life, Atlas swore that he wouldn't kill if he could help it.

Friendly, peaceful creatures didn't have anything to fear from Atlas but if you were a creature that had no intelligence or didn't care who they killed, basically a mindless killing machine then Atlas had no problem in killing.

With so many NPC soldiers in front of him, Atlas realised that each one of them had a family who would be devastated at their loss. At this point Atlas felt sick. Attack or defend, some one was going to die.

Atlas ran towards the advancing platoon, his stomach was turning over with nervousness. Not only the fact that he was forced into a fight he didn't want to be in but that there was many people coming in his direction, all with the intent to do harm.

Slowing down, Atlas came to a stop. His knees felt week. Atlas wasn't a coward but this new situation was hard to deal with. The charging and roaring of platoon seven was devastating to a persons moral. The killing spirit of each person was week but all together formed a thick miasma.

You have been hit with a platoons killing intent, all stats decrease 40%

The fighting spirit of each solider was weak because each man had gone though basic training to gain the stat, but each one was still low level. On the other hand Atlas was just above level 100, making any week fighting spirit unable to effect him. The combined affect of a platoons fighting spirit was different. With a platoons fighting spirit directed at him their weakness was now a strength.

Due to your Knowledge, Negotiation and Concentration stat the effects have decreased by 80%

Reason and knowledge was the counter to fighting spirit. If a person knew that fighting spirit couldn't hurt them on it's own then the debuff of fighting spirit would decrease as well. Usually magic users didn't own fighting spirit stat and if it wasn't for the concentration stat, then magic users would fall very easily.  

Just as Atlas was regretting his choice to confront the platoon, loud rhythmic beats came from the city wall.

The forces on the wall were beating massive war drums. These drums were stationed on the city wall to quickly deliver messages to forces out on the battle grounds but the police force was using it for a complete different way.

The beats of the war drum has restored your stats and negated the enemy's fighting spirit

Atlas knees straightened and his back felt sturdier, the effects of buffs were a magic in it's self. Atlas felt like he had his own army behind him.

The first man from platoon seven, who had ran a bit too fast and had separated himself from the rest, swang his sword at Atlas.

With ease, Atlas side stepped the blade and guided the blade away from him self. With a heavy miss, the man stumbled forwards only to meet with Atlas raising fist.

It would be safe to say that Atlas strength was abnormal. His strength had risen steadily since starting the game. With invention that pushed the body to new extremes and stats bonuses awarded to him from different things, Atlas was not weak.

The gloved fist of Atlas smashed in to the attacking man's chin. A fierce uppercut lifted the attacking man off the ground and flying away from Atlas.

Spinning in the air, the now flying soldier landed and crumpled on the floor. He was still breathing but was completely knocked out. 

This surprised Atlas. Atlas didn't have any special skills for fists but Atlas had forgotten that when he absorbed the perfect sun stone to evolve his Avatar Of Fire skill, permanent buffs were added to his character. One of them was that while he was in the sunshine he would gain a 30% increase in stats. Up until now Atlas had spent a lot of his time in a dungeon where no sunlight hit him and rarely ever fought out side like he was doing now.

Atlas would need to practice his fist, if only so he wouldn't kill by accident. Right now he would use magic. Atlas knew his magic well. Fighting against a god slime had given Atlas insight to his spells. He knew when to use them, how much power to use and the places to hit to cause the best results. This wasn't a skill but more a tactic, and Atlas called it Tiny strikes.

Above Atlas head four semi transparent balls of magic formed. Each one was a modified magic missile. Not only did it have more power than a normal magic missile it had accuracy. Atlas had to keep his distance from the charging platoon. A single person was easy to deal with but a platoon, that had freedmen in the horde was too much. 

A soft noise could be heard as air was disturbed by the magic missiles heading to words the platoon. Atlas's tiny strikes were more like a car crash.

Intermediate level magic missiles, against low level NPC was no contest, especially when Atlas targeted legs and shoulders.

The NPC went flying, hits to their feet caused them to fall over screaming in pain as bones were broken. 

After the front lines fell, the freemen got wise and sent in the tanks. Massive shields interlocked with each other to form a protective shell. Healer at the back, constantly healed and buffed the tanks.

Magic missiles splashed off the protective shell, causing dents to appear across the shields. As powerful as Atlas magic missiles were, they couldn't compare to team work.

The thumping of drums and pounding of magic missiles against shields caused a consent rapid noise 

Steadily, the platoon marched closer to Atlas. Just as the front lines could touch Atlas, a pillar of earth under Atlas feet, raised him high above the platoon.

Clay hand spell had raised Atlas away from the platoon. With a slow wave of Atlas hand the earth below the platoon turned to sand.

The platoon was more than shocked. Their footing had been compromised..

Some of the platoon started to climb the pillar of earth that Atlas was standing on but before they could climb higher than a man, they were punched in the belly by a earth hands coming out of the earth pillar.

Platoon seven were mostly made up from healers and tanks but their was some archers in the mix. Arrows were fired at Atlas but a flat hand erupted from the pillar and covered Atlas. The arrows bounced of the earth flat hand, some were able to pierce the flat hand causing Atlas to jump a little. These were players arrows, only player arrows that had a skill on them could pierced earth so deeply.

Concentrating more mana to his hands, Atlas started to use his Clay hand spell. The sand area around the pillar of earth started to form into hands. Many hands started to come together, more and more formed, as the platoon took noticed they started to prod the hands made from sand. Some of the platoon men would look at each other as if to say what kind of useless magic is this. Unknown to them the sand hands that were forming was the same spell as the the pillar and the wall repairing hand.

Suddenly the sand started to cause waves, the many clay hand spells overlapped each other and caused a wave of sand to manifested in front of them.

Higher and higher the sand waves built up until it was taller than a person. Rolling forwards the wave of sand splashed against platoon seven, moving them away.

Each soldier was powerless against the wave of sand, as they were pushed away, the platoon would bump into each other causing small status effects to pop up.

With the platoon being pushed a way from all sides, Atlas was left alone on his pillar. With a wave of his hand, Atlas caused the sand to be reformed into dirt again. This trapped the platoon in the dirt. 

Atlas didn't want to kill and this was his plan to keep the platoon busy. The newly reformed dirt wouldn't stop the platoon forever, but it would waste enough time for the roots to take form in the wall and anchor the earth to the wall.

Looking over his shoulder, Atlas could in fact see that the wall was finished. The roots had taken root in to the wall, meaning there was no huge gap in the wall.

Atlas rushed back to the wall, leaving the confused and stuck platoon to only think "What the hell just happened"

The platoon was quickly called back to their camp. Thomas, who had been watching, made a note not to mess too much with the west side of the wall.

KMC Media was a TV station that showed all kinds of thing connected to the game called Royal road.

At this point of time there was a program showing the siege on the Lerden kingdom.

"That's right ladies and gentlemen, there has been changing circumstances happing at the very first player controlled army that is attacking the Lerden kingdom main city. As you may know the players army has set up blockade, not allowing any supply's to enter. In short they are starving the city out." 

All of this was said by a panel of so called experts.

"But please look at this" a TV screen lit up and showed the whole city from a birds eye view

"As you can see, the west wall which was in great disrepair has now been repaired in an instance"

A video was quickly shown of a giant earth hand filling the gap in the city wall.

"But the most interesting thing was what happen after the gap in the city wall was filled"

A new clip popped up on the screen to show a single man in a full head helmet shaped like a wolfs head.

This of course was Atlas and his fight with platoon seven. It didn't take long for the fight to finish and for Atlas to return to the wall.

With Atlas gone, the only thing that was left was the pillar and waves of earth.

"These images were taken by a level 112 wind mage called Tavian, he's just learnt the hover spell and had him self catapulted in to the sky to get these wonderful images" 

"Just who is this man" asked one of the panels

"Is he a NPC or player" asked another

"What magic did he use"

Discussion about Atlas and who he was, carried on though out the rest of the show. It was the only entertaining thing to happen in the blockade. The only thing that was agreed on at the end of the show was the name of Atlas alter ego and the spell he used

Silver lupus was what the network started to call Atlas and the spell he used was thought to be mid level area of effect spell, which was named earth bloom. Due to the fact that the birds eye view showing the spell, looked just like a flower in full bloom. Every one would be surprised to know that earth bloom was just two different low level spells that were spammed together.

End Of Chapter Forty Five.