A wooden pole sat awkwardly in my arms as I held it up. I had to make sure it sat at a 75-degree angle while the others tied the tent roof to the top of it. Which wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t weigh like two hundred pounds. Seriously you’d think with the supernatural strength that manual labor would be a cinch. But when you’ve held it for the past ten minutes straight, it wears on you.

Power beyond earthly understanding and this is what I’m reduced to holding a damn pole while two short teenagers try their hardest at tying a knot they’ve no knowledge of whatsoever. It bothered the outdoorsman inside of me to no end watching the two fumble such a basic knot. It’s just a simple Taut Line Hitch, it takes all of three seconds. Though personally I would have chosen a Midshipman's Hitch, much simpler design and far easier to adjust without sacrificing any strength. Gramps would have smacked me with a switch eight times over by now if he watched such sloppy knotsmanship.

“No idiot, the second loop goes through the third,” Tawny told her brother.

“No it doesn’t, I think the third goes into the first,” Hait responded.

I felt a blood vessel nearly pop in my skull; there weren't even three loops in a hitch, to begin with. That internal woodsman begged me to fix the butchered knot, but seeing as STR just so happened to be both Tawny and Hait’s detrimental stat, they had no hope of lifting the pole.

“Can you hurry it up? The other squads have already finished. Any squad I’m a part of must be competent and rapid in its endeavors.” Said the newcomer, who also just so happened to be strengthless.

I breathed in slowly, determined not to let the birdbrain who sat under the tent preening his dark brown hair feathers with a weird wooden hair pick(feather pick?) and a small pocket mirror, whilst somehow also critiquing our work without so much a looking in our general direction.

“You could go and help them.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Oh I’m helping you plenty as it is. Besides, one of my feathers is being quite defiant. And Hait, three tucks, then the hoop. Also Liam, put your elbow a little lower. It should provide a little more leverage. You know what leverage means, yes darling? It’s the scientific concept of…” He said, picking through the feathers near his forehead.

“Yes, I know what leverage is, damn it.” I grumbled to myself as I couldn’t really argue with him. Especially not while Atlas’s fucking tent pole bore down on my arms. That and his advice was accurate, moving my elbow did in fact make the pole feel lighter. And the fact that he was doing us a big favor in joining our squad. Though I was beginning to think we were the ones helping out the Third.

Rashith Wrenne Timely IV, our newest and, from what I could gather, final addition to squad L7. We picked him up on our way out to the staging ground. A Support on loan from the Third Legion. He was a relatively new addition to one of their squads, only taking place in two raids thus far. The squad already had an ample number of Supports according to Len.

It seemed odd at the time that a squad was simply fine with giving up one of their members, a Support at that, arguably the most valuable role on the battlefield. But the Squad Captain that met us at Field Seven, a tall, slender elf woman named Clarice with yellow deer eyes, handed him over immediately. She mouthed something at me that I didn’t quite get as she walked away.

“Dear First Ones above, my butlers would have finished this and brought me tea and run a bath by now.” Rashith said, practically groaning.

Now I was positive his previous captain mouthed “I’m sorry.” No doubt in my mind. He was apparently from the same wealthy family as Rita, the owl girl that lived in the Guild Hall lab. Major difference between the two being, his wealth and status was his personality.

Tawny and Hait finished up in a couple of minutes. I inspected the knot, planning on fixing it if need be, but the twins lucked into what had to be the ugliest trucker’s hitch I’d ever seen. But it would support the weight so it should be fine.

Squads fighting in the second wave were tasked with helping build the various support structures while the First wave squads fought to keep the monsters at bay.

Len headed over to the main command tent situated in the middle of the field before we set up this medical tent. He said I would get a notification when our time was up, something about a system that only starts up during a raid.

I walked over to a hill nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the battle. Off in the distance, maybe half a mile away, I saw the same blocks of soldiers fighting off a horde of monsters. And doing it spectacularly at that. In the time we were setting up the tent, only one person was brought to the medical tent in search of aid. An archer with a broken finger, kind of lame.

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I watched on as the monsters’ numbers dwindled. A5, our original squad was out there, Len had us assigned close to them. It was strange, I must have been just about the same distance away from the raid last time I took part. But this raid looked so…tame compared to the last. The roar of battle didn’t fill the air, screams weren’t belting out. A good thing, but still.

“Maybe that’s just how the first wave is.” I said to myself. I was told later that I had joined the last raid during the third and final wave. The bloodiest.

The monsters’ died out by the time I finished my thoughts on the matter.

FRONTLINE SECURED:

PREPARE FOR ASSAULT >> SQUAD L7 DESIGNATION: EASTERN VANGUARD

NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES

A small holographic map appeared in my vision, a blinking red dot hung just above showing where our squad was assigned. It was pretty awesome, far more technical than what should be in a world whose technology was just barely above medieval, but I didn’t have time to question it. Our spot wasn’t far away; we were placed on the outer edge of the battlefield, on a hill. High ground, a decent arena for our squad. The fighting should be less there as well, being at the edge.

Just as I went to blink the notification away, another popped up.

Tell the squad to form up. You are the front line but avoid raging. You’ll need your senses. Hait will back you up while Tawny hits them hard. Birdy will keep you all topped up. Focus your attention on small groupings.

Liam, You’ve got this, Toodles.

-Len

I closed my eyes, but opened them before any doubts could surface in my head. It was go time. No more thinking, just action.

“L7! FORM UP!” I shouted.

I turned back and saw that my squad was already behind me. Tawny and Hait looked up at me, eyes burning with determination. Even the haughty Rashith had his game face on. I watched as the Third Legion made its march to the backline.

“We are on the Eastern front. Over there.” I commanded, pointing at the hill to the east

I took a step, then the earth beneath my feet rumbled, throwing me off balance.

“What's going on? Is this normal?” I said, kneeling down to help keep my balance.

“Not in the slightest.” Rashith answered.

Another notification popped up as the ground shook under us.

SECOND WAVE COMMENCING

POINTS DEDUCTED FOR:

OUTSIDE OF DESIGNATED FIGHTING ZONE

I shook my head. Who gives a damn about points at a time like this. What points for that matter?

The rumbling stopped and I looked forward. Large holes dotted the landscape in front of us. They spanned the entire frontline, exactly where the squads of the Third Legion were just seconds ago. I scanned the area, seeing a few stragglers at the edges of the circles. Shit they must have fallen in. Did the boss come early? Some type of earth based power? My mind went to giant worm but that might be a bit cliche.

“Look at the monster side!” Hait yelled while pointing across the field.

I followed his finger, just on the other side of the holes, I saw people standing around the ring of the hole. A lot of people. Groups stood above the artificial canyons.

My mind could wrap around what I was seeing in front of me. Who stood above the holes? If they were soldiers, why weren’t they helping the others get out? And what was worse, behind them, a mile out, a fresh wave of monsters were heading to the battlefield. Probably three times as many as the previous wave.

“L7, Head for the hole straight in front of us.” I said as I burst out into a sprint. Fennel and our home squad were most likely there.

“But our orders.” Rashith said as he ran behind.

“No time, our guys are pinned down out there. They need our help before the monsters arrive.”

We weren’t the only squad to think like this either. Seconds after our advance, the ground rumbled again. No mystery to this shaking, its source was the hundreds of footsteps pounding away as the more squads charged forward.

More disbelief took root as we neared our target. Arrows flew into the holes from the men that stood above them. I tried to rationalize what was happening. Maybe they were shooting at monsters in the holes. That they were assisting those who fell in. Yeah that makes sense.

Until I heard the screaming. Orders flung out from the hole along with wails of pain. One thing was missing: the snarls of monsters.

A hand popped out on our side of the hole, then another. A man with a large sword on his back pulled himself out of the hole, or tried to. He slumped over as he raised a leg over the edge, an arrow sticking out of his back. All but confirming the worst case scenario.