Three hours after the automaton left the village, I pull the cube from my inner world again and try to jiggle it while pressing multiple sliding pieces together. Though as another few minutes pass and no progress manifests, I walk away from the smithy after another pair of +7 weapons is finished.
Another failed attempt at solving it.
He said that this puzzle is going to take time to solve, but I didn’t even began to understand the logic behind how to properly slide the pieces around, not even with help from my perception field. The internal mechanisms is too complex for me just yet.
I think of ‘cheating’ and putting the MRI up to making a 3d physics simulator, which might be able to ‘brute force’ at least part of the puzzle, but I don’t think going that route would deliver the expected result.
I have the distinct feeling that learning how to solve this puzzle the intended way would be the only way to get the reward. An exercise that will teach me something, though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be.
Returning it to the inner world and getting into my little hut in the village, I settle my overactive mind down. The puzzle is a long term project and today we have a lot more to worry about than something that will take a while to manifest.
There are hundreds of developing specimens over here and using a smidge of Aether to connect with them, while being careful about my mana usage, I compare them to the copies in the inner world.
I don’t find anything too outside the norm. They are developing just like the other ones, except much slower, which is well in line with normal plants. I get measurements of everything as precisely as I can which also finishes my daily rounds. This time much slower than usual given the dozens of interruptions as I was tempted into trying to solve this puzzle.
The village feels ever so slightly emptier even though there are still a good 850 people. Plus the additions by the system of the 12 year old kids whenever they got to this age. They tended not to get involved in the fight, acting as messengers or helpers around the village.
Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I head for the wall to wait the for the attacks.
The fact they are all at the same time is helpful for our preparations given that we know exactly when they will come with a lot of antecedences, but being so close together each subsequent attack will see our forces growing weaker and weaker.
I continue playing with my perception field. This time by spreading it in pulses and trying to use it in two places far apart.
Each brief pulse sends a little pressure down my skull, but I keep going just getting used to it until the pressure starts to morph into actual pain and I stop myself. Instead, I move on to another of my recent exercises, feeling mana through the perception field.
The minutes and hours pass until I start hearing everyone getting on top of the walls to my sides. The shuffling of armored boots and the clangs of metal plates hitting each other.
The divide between leather and metal armor is becoming more evident in the last couple of weeks. Before they each had their own advantages, but now the limited production of +4 defense armor is being vied as the universal superior choice. Leather will only be able to keep up if we find a better source of materials than the medium level beasts. Until then, metal will be king.
I look down at my wooden armor and smile.
Metal will reign supreme, but only in terms of pure defense. Wood provides only mild protection in that aspect, but the lightweight, flexibility, and runes already in place are all small advantages that melded well with my skills and style. Taking a larger view, they are overall a better choice for me until I found something significantly better than what is currently being used.
As the sun is nearing the highest pointing the sky, minutes before the attack, someone shows up on my side. Someone wearing different armor than most, a hybrid design.
Leather with a few metal plates.
Raising my head from my cross legged position I see who it is while keeping my perception field on the small mana sphere in my hands.
“Alex. You changed armor.”
“Yep, there was enough leather on the lion for 3 sets and I chose to reinforce mine with a few sheets of deep steel.”
“And I see you have put a decent amount of reinforcements to protect your neck,” I say pointing out the glaring design choice.
He thumbs the metal plates and overlapping leather layers underneath his chin.
“Yeah, It just seems such a vulnerable spot, I wanted to armor over it a little more than usual. I think Blackwood found a good balance between stiffness and additional survivability.”
“You progressed any after your level 100 skill?”
“Nope, still at level 100. I didn’t get any more interesting classes as well, so I’m still level 50. I think that I only unlocked half of the puzzle, I need to hit level 101 to really get past this bottleneck.”
“Me too, level 50 for my class I mean. Though I’m planning to deal with it in the next week or so. That might take me out of contact for at least a couple of days.”
“Uhmm, if you had the choice why didn’t do so before?”
“Some people would say I’m rushing even now and I definitely want to get a few things in place so I can get a ‘good grade’ in the ‘test’ I will be going through. I wanted to wait even more, but even after you helped us reach the tipping point of battling with the HLZ beasts, I still feel the push for more power.”
“As long as you don’t cripple yourself in search of an immediate power up in trade for humanity’s future.”
“Someone has been reading the notes from my book.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
He shrugs his shoulders. “We can’t take it easy like back on Earth, the situation is dire, especially if we let the council’s minions run roughshod on us. You know better than anyone what will unfold if they take over. The death tools, their policies, the lack of control over our own fate.”
“Look who is growing up?” I say with a grim tone. “Yeah, things are getting real. Though disregarding a few more short-sided fools, most people are stepping up, or at least willing to stand in the battle line. Even after the attacks this past month, there are about 700 people per village where the network reaches. That is a lot more than I expected.”
“I think that more would have remained behind if they had the available funds.”
“A few probably are hoping to take the funds they aquired back to earth, even after I told them that taking anything back to earth is impossible.”
“We are going to have to rebuild everything back on Earth won’t we?”
“Yep. But don’t worry, we have the one thing that can cheat that.”
“What?”
A little lower, I say. “The inner world.”
“Ohh…, I had forgotten about that.”
“I mean, I can’t take everything back with me and leave you all sucking your thumbs, but there is probably some stuff that just a small group won’t need.”
“Nope, you are the last one that will leave.”
He says that with a serious face.
How wrong you are! You, Merlin, and a couple of other people are the ones who need to remain behind, people with talent that can make the most of the opportunity.
I got lucky, and I had to find a way back to Pando before the normal timeline. He was my secret weapon, and I couldn’t trust that the council wouldn’t try to harm him.
Over here in the instance, Pando’s coin was coming together, which after it scales enough will be a more reliable source of money for the end of each month.
The connection to the other instances was slowly progressing.
Soon I would have all the knowledge in the bookstore. Though it is up in the air how that will turn out.
After that, I doubted I would be of any essential use in the instance. Merlin and Burges could handle the magic side of things pretty well, Alex could use Aether, and there was even a promising Black smithy in the running if I had to bow out before it was time.
After I took care of that I would make my way back to Earth.
A blaring warning from the comm system sends Alex jumping taking him out of his own introspection. We look at the horizon as I tap into the feed from the detectors around the village. Thousands of enemies, just instantly popping up in the middle of the forest some 6 miles away.
For the first time, we confirmed they were being teleported in.
Silent ripples through everyone as they prepare themselves.
Richard’s voice echoes through the individual comm system instead of runic speakers behind everyone standing guard atop the wall. The lieutenants organizing the troops all along the wall hear from him.
“Four thousand enemies, it looks the first attack is the regular one as we expected. Scouts, prepare for identification.”
I let my awareness spread growing the small wheat-like plants with poisonous and numbing agents in the path of the charging enemy. They come out of the clearing. This one is as expected with the standard distribution. About a third are wolves and most of the other two thirds are goblins with just a few special units trailing behind.
I pay attention to my actions and focus on the coming fight to help everyone and minimize the risk of their injuries while hogging as little Exp as possible.
A delicate balance that I try my best to straddle.
As they approach I slow for just a few seconds and send part my own awareness to the fight in my hut dozens of miles away. Can’t miss it again. A group of three goblins and one wolf run in the direction of my hut.
A truly pitiful that doesn’t seem to represent my strength.
I almost shoot the fireball turrets, but stop myself in the last second before opening a line to the comm center.
“Eliminate the goblins attacking my house. You can get a few more Exp points… I think.”
I hang up without waiting for their reply and come back to the charging horde.
Though even this larger attack is still not enough to hold a candle to the entire village. Very few are below level 50 with a good portion at level 80 or above. There are even a few at level 100 with soon many more to be joining them.
The thick mana streams heading underground from both me and Aspen strengthen the network around the village even as the small attack goes over the defenses arrayed in front of the village.
This first fight is easy and finishes in only a few minutes. The efficient and well practiced movements with everyone efficiently coordinating. Their familiarity with their improved weapons, armor, higher levels and average power imbalance against a weak enemy force.
The first goblin horde stands no chance.
Nobody goes down to join the fray. Alex and Greg and a couple of others who can survive down there are all holding back and letting the others gain a larger Exp share, especially considering they will need to be front and center against the next attack.
Not a single person gets more than a few light blows from the climbing goblins and wolves and the Shamans are far too few and too weak to do more than take up a minute for Merlin’s team to handle.
As the last smoldering hacked corpse falls and silence replaces the cacophony of combat, the well practiced movements start. Hundreds of people go down the walls and start cleaning the traps in preparation for the next attack.
Health and stamina fruits disappear into the mouths of fighters to accelerate their recovery.
The short but intense combat took a little out of us, but the expected hour break in between each attack is just about enough for everyone to get back up to full.
About 58 minutes after, the network shows the first signs of the next attack.
“Nine thousand enemies, preliminary count.”
“Average level: 48.”
“Large special units contingents at the back. 400 orcs, 1000 archers, and 100 shamans.”
The information flows in my brain as the tactical implications start to form. I’m going to need to pull out all of the stops for this. I raise the fields of wheat like growths with paralyzing agents spread all over the seemingly clear fields in the approach to the village preparing to inflict the maximum damage possible.
A very subtle rumbling travels kilometers through the earth in their charge of the village and I see the wave rushing straight at us. Without hesitating, hundred of goblins and wolves brush past the raised fields and they slowly start feeling the slowing effects. Though as usual, the mass of the attack get less of the sap and can basically ignore it.
As a few of the trip over the defenses, my roots cover them slowly eliminates a few. A slow but continuous stream of enemies is taken out of the fight. Each step closer to the village, they fall a little faster, but against a trampling of this magnitude, the most I can do is to thin the herd.
I will be able to get a few more continuously before encountering the first real signs of strategic thinking. None of the chiefs until now have been masterminds, and I realize the game has changed when the enemy stops some 200 meters off, a greater range than most of our capabilities to attack and start ordering the horde.
A powerful wave of fire flows from the hundred shamans. Every single root and wooden emplacement peeking out of the ground becomes a charred mess that simply crumbles under its own weight.
The few heavy crossbows we had in stock replace the fireball turrets for their greater range, but even as the first bolts hit the enemy, thick walls of earth raise from the ground at a speed that surpasses our best Earthmovers working in concert with unlimited mana.
A line near 200 meters wide protects their entire army. Our few archers can’t even see what they are shooting at after the wall is raised, though the heavy crossbow can still occasionally catch the unaware enemy peeking out of the walls.
Even as I send my mana at twice the distance Merlin can affect, the inexorable advance of the combined might these shamans can put out is on a whole other level. Even with the advantages my soul stat can help me get, which has done a lot to help bridge the gap to the other magic user given my lower stats, my power for the first time fails in sheer magnitude.
The shamans simply bulldoze over every single one of my attempts to halt their progress. If I was alone to defend the village against magical traps, we would be screwed. Luckily, there are dozens of dedicated mages standing with Merlin and when the enemy crosses the 50 meter mark they will be in range of our own combined group effort and things should even out a little.