43. Battlegrounds: Duelist
Archer
A+ again
Mage
I ranked up to A.
Acolyte
I might have found a premade that will take me. They’re just forming, so it will be filled with people who either didn’t catch the earlier battles or didn’t fare well.
Lord
No comment
Duelist
B+ again. Lord, what the heck is going on?
Lord
I said no comment. You’ll remember when we recombine during the break. It’s frustrating. I’ve been winning in the most frustrating way possible.
Mage
How’s that?
Lord
You’ll remember in a while. Don’t let me distract you. Head in the game, guys.
Duelist
Wonder what the final rewards will be. Some of the members of my premade have already been cashing theirs in, and they got weapons on par with the [Mooncrest Ancestral Sword].
Archer
It’s in the system’s hands, but I wouldn’t mind another growth weapon, like [Blade of Eclipse], except a bow.
Lord
Aside from ensuring that there were no Reputations associated with them, we left the rewards for these battleground entirely up to the system for a reason. Whenever we try to adjust rewards for our quests, we can only make things worse. It only makes sense that the same logic applies to Battleground rewards.
Archer
I know that. But it doesn’t hurt to speculate, does it?
Duelist
My leader is giving some sort of a speech. Going to actually tune him in. Good luck in the next BG, everyone.
I closed the chat with my other selves and leaned back into the bench. Jorge, the [Arcanist] who had formed the premade I had joined, was highlighting everything we knew about the upcoming battleground, which was to be the penultimate fight of the first batch. After the next one, there would be a two day pause before they continued. Six batches of five battles were scheduled across the next fourteen days, each group at different times in an effort to ensure that everyone on earth had an opportunity to take part in at least one set.
“We know that Team Red will be attacking, but since we’re selecting the Mercenary route we don’t know if the system will be putting us on offense or defense,” Jorge was saying. “Because of that, we need to have a plan for both scenarios. Including one for if we’re all split up at the start, like we were for the last battle.”
He pulled out a crystal, and the item began projecting images taken from the first three battles. “There’s already a basic map of the bandit camp on the forums, but I took these images myself. We know that in order to win the battleground, Team Red needs to destroy three structures within the time limit. They’ll have access to siege equipment from the former Jeoran encampment atop the hills for this one. In order for blue team to win, they need to either run out the clock or disable to siege equipment. Unfortunately nobody has seen the Jeoran encampment since the renovation, so we have no idea what sort of equipment we’ll have or how it’s protected.”
He was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, so that’s what we know. Let’s talk about what happens if we end up on Team Blue first.”
I folded my arms and patiently listened to our leader speak. It was a solid plan, I give him that, but I think he was micromanaging. There were too many variables and unknowns to go into specifics, but he was already setting rally points and fallback locations for every scenario he could think of. I only listened with one ear, pulling up guildchat for a moment to check in with my friends.
Hagi (Duelist)
Hello everyone. Just checking to see how everyone is doing with the battlegrounds.
Gummytiger
Honstly, I’ve given up. I keep getting ganked.
Birdie
Same here. I was super excited, but PVP is harder than I thought it would be.
Hexshade
I’m having fun. I’ve got a B- overall rating.
Weaselfire
It’s a mixed bag for me. The premade I’m in is doing well, but compared to some of these monsters I’m facing I keep coming up short. I have to give it my all just to stay alive.
Hagi (Duelist)
That’s step number one in PVP, Weasel. You can’t kill the enemy or accomplish your objectives if you puff into mist.
Gummytiger
Oh, That’s where I keep messing up. Thanks Hagi, it all makes sense now. /s
Moderator
Yellow card issued to Gummytiger
Gummytiger
What? Why? I was just being sarcastic.
Moderator
Yellow card rescinded from Gummytiger
Dimple
Sorry Gummy. We’re still working out the kinks with the new filters on our Moderator-bot. Things might be a little overly strict for a few days.
Hexshade
I hope you didn’t give that thing permission to Gkick, did you?
Dimple
Of course not! Yellow and Red cards only, and they’re subject to review, like just happened with Gummytiger.
Hexshade
It’s like being back in kindergarten, except with even less freedom. I mean, I get it, but it’s still frustrating.
Hagi (Duelist)
Sorry everyone. I know that the new chat rules are a drag. They weren’t my idea, and I’d get rid of them if it were up to me.
Dimple
Hagi, we’re trying to set the right sort of culture for our guild, and that’s going to take some time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears. The fact that moderation is now global is unfortunate, but it’s just an effort to show how seriously we’re taking things.
Hagi (Duelist)
You realize that it’s just making Hail and I feel even more singled out, right? I understand your heart is in the right place, but we don’t want everyone watching what they say around us.
Dimple
It’s either that or we make purges a regular occurrence, Hagi. Don’t worry, things will die down once everyone gets used to the new rules.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Hagi (Duelist)
I hope so. Anyway, good luck to everyone who’s taking part in the next battle. Do your best!
I closed out of the guild chat menu and tried to focus on Jorge, who continued to drone on about stratagems and hypotheticals right down to the wire. When the Queue finally arrived, it was a welcome relief from his theorycrafting.
We spawned on Team Red. Unlike the previous battlegrounds, which had only allowed fifty members per team, this one was scheduled to allow three hundred. Further, we all spawned in the same zone, what the Players were alling the Jeoran encampment. We were not the only premade in the raid, six other groups were just as quick as we were in getting their bearings and forming up. Half of the players present, however, had looks on their face showing that they clearly had no idea what they were doing.
“Right! If you didn’t join with a premade, split up and get attached somewhere!” Jorge called. “My team is going to work on assembling that trebuchet over there and wheeling it into range. Everyone else pick your targets and get to work!”
The leaders of the other premades shot Jorge an annoyed look for presumptuously taking the lead, but they didn’t correct him as they discussed their strategy.
“We’ll have to get it atop that hill to be in range of the enemy camp,” Mariselle, an [Archer] said, pointing in the general direction of the bandit camp. We couldn’t see the structures from here, they were hidden by the landscape, but I made out a blue flag flying from atop one of the enemy guard towers in the distance. That hadn’t been there earlier, but given what I knew about the layout, I estimated we’d have to move the trebuchet something like half a kilometer. But first we’d have to figure out how to do so. The siege machine was in pieces.
The barrier keeping us in the starting zone faded, and my team rushed over to our chosen instrument to begin working on its assembly. Fortunately there was a conveniently placed manual explaining the work that needed to be done, with detailed instructions how to to assemble, move and fire included. Unfortunately the work required multiple people working together to complete, and we hadn’t gotten very far in the process of putting the trebuchet back together when the enemy crested the hill.
“Form a line to meet the charge!” someone called, and about a third of the unaffiliated melee Travelers complied with the anonymous order. I cursed, quickly counting the enemy. Their entire team had shown up to the fight.
“Protect the siege machines!” I called out, but my voice was drown out by hundreds of primal screams as the enemy charged our position, and some fools on our own team raced out to meet them.
The unaffiliated players who had tried to blunt the charge were rolled over like they weren’t even there. To call it a line was being overly generous, although the same could be said of the other team. The two forces met midfield in a chaotic venn diagram, with the melee charging into midfield while our ranged and healers stood back. Travelers flashed into motes of light here and there as battle was joined, and our side was getting the worst of it.
Team Blue pushed forward. A team of eight pushed towards the trebuchet I was guarding, and I had no choice but to engage as well. With [Sudden Proximity], I closed the distance between myself and a [Marching] [Soldier]. I unleashed my Skilled attacks, cycling from [Eagle’s Claw] to [Dragon’s Bite], following up with [Phoenix Blade], and using [Whispering Slice] to reset my stance back to repeat the process. When cycled properly, each ability reduced the cost of the next, and it is possible to maintain this routine almost indefinitely without running out of Skill, the resource which empowered them. In PVP that’s seldom possible, however, but the speed with which I cycled through them caught the poor [Soldier] by surprise. They were at forty percent health before they managed to respond, [Falling Back] and [Spear Thrusting] at me with his pike. I dodged, and followed up with a [Crimson Riposte], one of my strongest skills, which can only be used after avoiding or [Parrying] an attack.
A [Lightning Bolt] connected with me from the side, distracting me for just a second. I glanced in the direction whence it came to see a scrubby Mage flubbing through the incantation of a followup spell. She would have been better off hitting me with slow, I reflected, as I ignored her for now, focusing on finishing off the soldier.
He had been caught offguard, but although he was down to twenty-five percent health, he rallied, and I took three [Glancing Blows] from his pike before I finally got him down to zero. Between the damage he’d caused and a second [Lightning Bolt] from the mage, I was down to seventy-percent health, but a Team Red healer tossed me a heal over time effect, as well as a damage shield to give it time to work.
I ran after the mage who had singled me out. She panicked, using [Blink] early, just as I had hoped. I closed the distance with [Sudden Proximity] and my blade lit up with my rotation as I tore through her Health.
“Next time, lead with a [Slow],” I advised a second before my final [Dragon’s Bite] caused her to burst into mist. I glanced around at the battlefield, trying to make sense of it, but there was no sense to be made. It was a brutal melee, with our assailants scattered everywhere. I picked a new target, a [Warrior], and once more closed the distance, coming up behind him and mercilessly assaulting him from the rear.
He was a tank build, and my initial attacks did very little damage. Compared to what they had been doing to the [Mage] at least. In fact, the [Warrior] initially disregarded me as he focused on finishing off the [Rogue] whom he had been fighting when I’d gotten involved. That was a mistake, he should have disengaged. Instead, the [Rogue] applied [Expose Weakness], reducing the [Warrior’s] Armor significantly. Together with my [Sustained Assault], a passive which causes my damage as [Duelist] to ramp up the longer I focus on a single target, my damage ramped up quickly, and together with the [Rogue] we overwhelmed the [Warrior].
“Thanks for getting my back,” the Rogue said, dropping back into stealth. “Next time I get yours.”
I saluted her as she vanished into the chaos of the battlefield. I turned about, trying to select a new target, when abruptly I was hit with a [Polymorph] spell. Frustrated, I waited impatiently for the world to return to its normal size as my digital avatar wondered about aimlessly as a rabbit. I saw the mage who had targeted me, but they weren’t specced for damage. Rather, they were what I had seen before called a [Mage] Tank, a mage wearing heavy armor that specialized in disrupting PVP battlefields with crowd control abilities like [Slow], [Befuddle], [Counterspell] and [Polymorph]. While they did very little damage, they were hard to kill and extremely disruptive. I would have to focus on him to keep him from--
BAM!
An vibrant, multi-hued explosion rippped through the battlefield. A dozen Travelers on each team burst into mist, including the [Mage] Tank that I had been worried about just seconds ago. I was close enough to the epicenter of the blast that it brought me down to forty-eight percent health, but I survived.
Looking back down the battlefield, I saw the source of the disruption. The Focusing Crystal had been activated, targeting the battlefield rather than the bandit camp. A Focusing Crystal was an arcane siege weapon that built up charge over time before unleashing it in a savage blast. It was a bold move, and costly considering that the blast had killed almost as much of Team Red as it had Team Blue. Another downside was that it would be fifteen minutes before the next blast was ready.
But it also turned the tide. While the battle had begun more or less even, with the entirety of Team Red facing the entirety of Team Blue, Team Blue’s base was over the hill, and that was where their reinforcements spawned. Our Reinforcements spawned right on the battlefield itself. Often surprised and perhaps a little disoriented, but most of them got their bearings quickly enough. The result was that Team Blue’s numbers began to dip, while ours remained steady at just under three hundred. With the explosion shaking things up, the leaders of the enemy team called for a retreat. Half of our team pursued them, but most of those from the surviving premades stayed back to survey the damage.
Three of our siege machines had been destroyed, including the trebuchet I had been working on prior to the assault. That left us with the Focusing Crystal, a Catapult, and three Balistae.
“Someone tell those idiots to get back here and help,” Jorge called.
“If we don’t apply some pressure, Team Blue going to rally on the other side of the hills,” I said in our premade’s raid-chat. “We need to get to work or they’ll finish us on the next sally. Let the randoms dick around midfield while we figure out how the siege mechanics work.”
Jorge grumbled, but didn’t have an answer to that. We claimed the Catapult. While the others were figuring out how to assemble the thing, however, I made a discovery among the ammunition. I just about cried out in surprise.
“Forget the catapult. Forget all of the siege machines, we don’t need them,” I said to raid-chat. “All we need is the ammunition.”
The others looked at me like I was crazy. I pointed towards what looked like stacked balls of wood the size of a man’s chest. “Those are Sappervine Seeds. I can’t believe there’s so many just sitting in one location, this many could wipe out a small town! We just need to get those inside one of the buildings and set them on fire.”
“They’re bombs?” Jorge asked.
I shrugged. “Sort of? They don’t explode, they just turn into a thousand burning vines that dig into any stone or wood nearby then rip it apart. There’s about a one minute delay between setting the fire and the wild growth, so you could launch them by catapult, but we can also just pop them into our inventory and sneak into the enemy camp.”
Jorge looked at me skeptically. “How do you know about that?”
“Ever visit the library?” I asked. “You’d be surprised what you can learn about this world, I bet.”
“I vote we try it,” Mariselle said, dropping a wrench and coming over to the ammunition pile. She lifted one of the large Sappervine Seeds, then it vanished into her inventory.
Our premade had five mages, but one of them was a [Storm Elementalist] and another was already a [Cryomancer]. A third hadn’t survived the initial battle. That left two of us with fire magic to set the seeds aflame once they were in position. There were nine seeds, so we spread them out among us in two groups, then split up and went in different directions to sneak around the melee.
Sneaking into the bandit camp was deceptively easy. The other team didn’t set any lookouts. They were simply zerging our position, battling for the top of the hill that separated Jeoran Encampment #1 and the Bandit Camp. We simply went around. My team angled along the riverbank that made the western border of the bandit camp, while the other half of my premade angled around to come in from the east. They reported that they ran into some stragglers, but they were swiftly dealt with.
The target buildings were marked with floating icons above them. Several of those buildings had Travelers streaming out of them, or gathering up outside, but they were all focused in the wrong direction. One bunker was nearby, so we rushed over and threw the Sappervine Seed inside. Our mage lit it aflame with a Fireball, and, at my suggestion, everyone took a step back.
A moment passed, and a Ripping sound filled the air as the seed took effect. Flaming veins ripped through the bunker’s ceiling and out of the exits. The entire facility was ripped and twisted apart by the Sappervine within moments.
Team Red has destroyed 1/3 targets!
Team Red Morale: 1257
Team Blue Morale: 743
We charged the next encampment, but our activites had been noticed. A volley of arrows and spells flew our way, and we were forced to take cover inside the very building we were trying to destroy. I stood at one of the entrances, rapier in hand, facing a string of oncommers trying to wedge their way in through the bottleneck. With the mage supporting me with casts of [Slow] and damage, I made for an effective cork. Likewise, the other two entrances were blocked off by our other melee Travelers, who received support from those they were protecting in the center of the bunker.
The leaders of Team Blue must have known that we had more Sappervine Seeds, because the pressure increased over time. Minutes passed while I continued to exchange blows with the same Warrior.
Team Red has destroyed 2/3 targets!
Team Red Morale: 1578
Team Blue Morale: 422
The other team cursed, and our team cheered. The other party must have managed to reach a target on the other side of the battlefield and set off one of the seeds.
“Drop a seed and set it on fire,” I ordered.
“We’ll get ripped apart,” they pointed out.
“And we’ll get credit for destroying two of the buildings. It balances out,” I argued.
However, before anyone could respond, a CRACK echoed through the battlefield, along with a flash from outside. Our team that had stayed behind had figured out how to aim the Focusing Crystal and discharged it a second time, ripping off the top of one of the guard towers. I saw this over the shoulder of the [Warrior] I had been dueling.
Congratulations!
Team Red Wins!
The second battleground (Siege #1) has completed!
Your record of participation (cumulative):
Player Kills
43
Deaths:
1
Flag Captures
2
Zone Control Seconds
2593
PK assists
87
Capture Assists
5
Relic Control Points
7843
Buildings Destroyed (Assist)
2
Damage Done
1.387*10^7
Healing Done
0
Overall Rating:
A
You have earned scalable rewards according to your rank!
You may select to receive your rewards now, or participate in further battlegrounds to earn even greater rewards!
Make your selection now
Claim Reward
Save participation reward for later
Quickly selecting to save the reward for later, I allowed the system to zone me out of the battleground.