Chapter 10: Verdict

Choosing to hoard money was a trap, Heather was certain of it. Each new unit one added to their army acted as a force multiplier. It made every other unit more effective. There were reasons why real-life armies consisted of different units. Some of it was how expensive training and caring for elite troops was. But archers and crossbowman were as vital to an army as the cavalry and the pikemen. Only a fool would forgo the obvious increase in power for the allure of gold.

No Heather would be smart about it. Optimizing each troop for maximum effectiveness. Finding synergies in her units and using each battle as a whetstone to sharpen her army.

Heather would reach the max bet anyways of course, a 10% bonus to gold per round was nothing to scoff at. She would just take a little longer to get there.

“Now go forth my minions! For we are an unstoppable wall of death. We are as inexorable as the march of time and it is time that we ride!” Heather cackled. Her army surging forward ready to decimate the pitiful foe before her. It felt good to finally be able to let loose. At least a little.

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Scott smiled as the archer brought him the Beloved Bow of the Western Monsoon. The rules said that he couldn’t leave his hill. It didn’t say anything about him not being able to participate in the battles. The bow had turned a single one of his basic archer units into a stream of unending arrows destroying the enemy before they could approach. Scott hoped to do even better.

Raising his body score had increased his perception and improved his aim. With the bonus stats from the bow and it’s lack of need for drawing arrows from his quiver Scott hoped to do a lot better.

He pulled back on the string for a test and a ghostly arrow made out of pure air appeared on his bow perfectly knocked. Scott aimed high and released sending his arrow over three quarters of the battlefield.

This will be fun, Scott thought as he smiled viscously.

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Nermit awoke confused. The last thing he remembered was getting shot, and then he found himself here on top of a hill.

His party must have done something, though he wasn’t sure what. He was disappointed in himself, he should never have gotten shot. It was stupid, so stupid. But he had survived, and he would get his revenge.

There wasn’t much for Nermit to do at the moment though besides continue so he played the game before him, upgrading his troops and acquiring a good number of clerics and eventually paladins.

It was when he had gotten his third commander that his army was finally set up to outlast any opponent. The commanders gave each defender — the upgraded unit from the basic barbarians — a bonus to their defense for each other defender in their aura. With three commanders with overlapping auras and a contingent of paladins and clerics to support them he had created an iron wall. A defense that was impenetrable. This gave his archers and mages time to whittle down the enemy numbers. The enemy mages were ineffective as his own clerics put up anti-magic shields protecting his army from their devastating attacks.

Nermit hated losing. So, he wouldn’t lose anymore. He would outlast them all.

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Casey ordered he cavalry forward and they crashed into the enemy’s right flank. Her mages took advantage of the confusion to deal damage to the enemy formation and then she released her rogues under the cover of a volley of arrows. They Shadow Stepped into the enemy army decimating their force.

The game was all about finding and exploiting weaknesses. Each army she faced had a critical flaw and Casey only needed to find it. Each of her actions was set to find that flaw. Troops were sacrificed by the dozen as she tested for openings. As soon as she found one, she ruthlessly exploited it, tearing the enemy army apart at the seams.

Every unit she grabbed gave her a greater degree of flexibility. A new weakness to exploit. Still her largest boon was being able to grant her troops a one time use teleport. It was often a death sentence for that troop, but Casey always made that death worth it.

Her dumb brother would drag down the party, just like he always did. She would just have to make up for it enough that they wouldn’t leave them like their parents had. She had to be strong. There was no room for weakness in her.

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Thing started to fall apart for Riley when aerial units became more common. The only thing his army could do to retaliate was die. The Arch Angels were the worst of the aerial units being able to heal themselves almost as fast as he could damage them.

He just barely made it to round 51 before his army was overwhelmed. By the end his barbarians were facing down Valkyries, Giants, and Elephant Cavalry units. He was proud of his little guys.

Achievement Earned! For defeating wave 50 while only using tier 1 units you are allowed create a single ability stone based off of your units and items.

Options Available

Reckless Assault

Attack for massively increased damage. You are extra vulnerable to damage for a short while after use.

Thorns

Physical attacks made against you cause the attacker a small amount of damage.

There were two choices but only one real option for Riley. He chose the Thorns ability. It was what had made his army a terror and he had seen how effective the ability was when paired with his Leech ability.

The ability stone fit easily into his palm and Riley put it in his pocket for later. He still hadn’t unlocked his second ability slot so he couldn’t absorb the ability.

When Riley exited the Trial he found that he wasn’t alone. Scott was waiting for him in the tunnel of the tree. It was night outside and the battle was long past. Scott had already done some scouting and said that the bodies had all already been cleared away. He had covered the entrance to the tunnel with some fallen branches and leaves providing the group some cover.

Riley settled in to wait for the rest of the group. Riley took the first watch, letting Scott sleep on the hard ground. Riley was exhausted himself and couldn’t wait for another member of the party to arrive so he could fall asleep himself.

Nermit and then Casey followed a few hours after Riley had. Heather didn’t arrive until the sun had nearly broken in the morning. She managed to get in a few hours of sleep passing out the moment she stepped out of the test.

The group ate a simple meal purchase from the shop with their leftover points discussing the trial and their spoils. Scott had only made it to round 30 but had gotten far enough that he could take a lesser version of the bow outside. It lost most of its abilities but did allow him to create wind arrows for a small cost of mana — what the group decided to call the mask energy.

Nermit and Casey had reached rounds 67 and 70 respectively. Neither one of them willing to explain what they had earned for the effort. Nermit not sharing wasn’t too surprising given the boy’s general brevity. But it was suspicious that Casey wasn’t using the opportunity to show off.

Scott pulled Riley aside for them to whisper their guesses conspiratorially, but it was a small space and Casey was only too eager to keep interrupting them with lies and potential half-truths which further muddied the waters.

When she awoke Heather took a cue from the others announcing that she had beaten round 100 but didn’t elaborate on what she had earned as a result. Still Riley noticed that she now had a horn on her belt where there was only a small dagger before. He tried to inspect the object but didn’t get a response from the system.

“We have to talk about what our next plans are.” Heather said to the assembled group. The group had already filled Nermit in on what he had missed while he was unconscious and had gathered in the tunnel of the tree by the door. All was quiet outside for the moment, the world still waking up. “Do we want to pursue the Omnis?”

“Yes,” the response came immediately from Casey. Heather gestured for her to elaborate and Casey did. “They attacked us, unprovoked. We need to respond or they will think we’re weak and keep hunting us.” Her reasoning was vicious, but there was a certain logic to it Riley had to admit. Scott nodded his head, agreeing with his sister.

Riley raised added his own voice to the discussion, “I don’t think we should pursue them.” At Casey’s furrowed brow Riley hastened to continue. “They’re probably the rest of the raid group intended to clear this dungeon. And even if we ignore the number of bunnies the unending horde sent at us you guys saw how the entire forest started to converge on us when they fought the stag. I think we’re going to be severely outnumbered in here and we could use the help.”

“I agree,” Heather cut-in, cutting off Casey’s response. “They attacked us, but no one died. We may still come to a peaceful resolution. But not if we retaliate.”

Casey snorted in response. “You saw them hunting us through the woods. They were intending to kill us, all of us. If we don’t respond, we don’t give them a reason to think twice, then in their next ambush they won’t miss.

“Sounds like we’re split then,” Heather said diplomatically. “Nermit, as the one who was attacked and the only one to not say their piece you get to decide what we do. If you want to retaliate, I’m with you,” Heather said this letting a little of the fury she must have been feeling seep into her voice.

It was chilling. Goosebumps ran up Riley’s arms and his breath hitched. Then the pressure lessened. What was that? Riley thought to himself. But he didn’t consider it for much longer because Nermit opened his mouth to answer.