Chapter 4
Sea Adversaries and Allies
People had gathered in front of Duke Kramnik’s house when the news of his passing was leaked. Guards had a hard time to contain the crowds. Everyone knew that Duke Vestibel Bron Kramnik was a lousy ruler, that his extravagant lifestyle had earned him animosity throughout his land.
Tax increases upon tax increases were levied on the fishermen, farmers and nobles alike. People had been suffering because of frequent attacks by the sea goblins and occasional visits from the mountain gnomes, yet Duke Kramnik demanded more and more from his people.
It is not clear, however, if Duke Kramnik was assassinated. Though, it was on everyone’s mind. Some felt bad for thanking the gods that he was dead. While some, the brazen few, celebrated with style—singing merrily in front of the duke’s house while drowning themselves with free ale.
Everyone had turned quiet when someone exited the manor and headed towards them. In the midst of the darkness that Duke Kramnik shrouded his lands, there is one light that his people turned into. It was his daughter, Lady Joanne Kramnik.
Joanne was the only daughter of the late duke, and his constant headache. Joanne was every bit a leader one should hope to be, and every bit a proper woman one shouldn’t aspire to be. She rides horses instead of carriages. She wields spear instead of needle, and she brawls instead of attending balls.
When she announced that she would step up and become the Duchess of East Lothingshire, everyone cheered. People didn’t care that it was supposed to be a sad day because a duke, their own duke, had just passed away. The idea of Lady Joanne being their leader clearly surpasses their false grief.
Lady Joanne promised things would be different. That she wouldn’t abandon anyone who needed help. Her first action as the Duchess was the relocation of the people living in distant small villages back into her city.
She knew it would be hard task, people don’t left their homes easily, and for it to work, she knew she had to do this personally. And she succeeded more easily than she expected, people were tired fighting the sea goblins and wanted to leave their homes as well, and they were quite optimistic under her new rule.
“Captain Mon, where to next?” Joanne said. Atop of her black stallion, she wore a silver chain mail with her family’s insignia—a half heart shaped spear tip, with a wing on the right—engraved in the middle. Her golden hair breezed through the wind, while her pale, pretty face took the brunt.
“Sitio Village, around East Wind Valley, My Lady.”
Joanne had known of this little village. She had once argued to his father on why he was not asking the king for some aid. Because, geographically speaking, the village was situated nearer to the capital than their own estate. She hated what was his father’s answer on that day. Pride. She couldn’t understand why such nonsensical things should get in the way of helping people—his very own people.
“Lead the way, captain.” Joanne said.
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Musk
Musk couldn’t see what was the fuss all about. The prince drew the long, slender blade in his cane, followed by an order to prepare for battle.
When Musk looked around, he could see the frantic and confused expressions on his fellow recruits. The standing order to prepare for battle still stands, however, it seems not everyone had heard of it because only about twelve people managed to withdraw their swords. Much to Musk’s dismay, he was not one of them.
“Musky. Hey. Musky.” Musk heard Spiel’s voice calling for him. And all of a sudden, the once deadening silence was shattered by clanking of swords, distant sound of bells (village alarm), shouts of orders and his own beating heart
“What’s happening?” Musk asked. He hated being called Musky, but Spiel only do that on the direst of occasions. Spiel said that calling him ‘Musky’ had made his attention sharper. In a way, it must be true, Musk thought. For he felt a bit of clarity.
“Stay behind me, ok?” Spiel said.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Musk shrugged.
Musk had heard the prince’s order. “Milo get your squads to reinforce the villager’s defenses. Lt. Brax cover my left, we will sweep the goblin’s left flank when they reach the fortifications.”
He had studied the villager’s wooden fortification a while back. And he admitted, though insufficient, was well built. Long line of sharpened tip of wood fashioned in multiple cross-like formation stood in the shores of the beach.
The fortifications has three openings for the sea goblins to use. Musk theorize the openings would serve as a sort of delimiter of flow or a choke point for the villagers to take advantage of. Right now, he really wishes he was behind those fortifications instead of following the prince heroically charging towards the sea goblins.
Musk was somehow glad that Spiel was with him. They’ve been through many difficult situations before and Spiel had always managed to get them through it. Well, except the last time that had landed them here. Spiel argued that despite of everything that had happened, it rather went well. But seeing the sea goblin’s made him sure that Spiel was dead wrong.
Musk wanted to throw up, again, when he saw the giant webbed, three pointed ears of the sea goblins. Their elongated, hound-like mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, their multiple fins at their back, their slime-like, green shaded small body and their bone-like weapons that they were raising in the air quite enthusiastically had made him trembled.
Though, the sea goblins stood half shorter than humans, Musk swore the sea goblins stood a lot taller than Lt. Brax. And damn scarier, too.
The prince’s squads were nearer to the sea, their job was to cut off the sea goblin’s reinforcement coming in from the sea, while Lt. Brax’s squads were to clear out the sea goblins trapped in between.
A nasty sea goblin managed to slip through the prince’s line and leap at Musk. Are you kidding me? Musk thought, there are ten soldiers on his right and another ten alongside him, yet somehow, the sea goblin chose him.
Musk raised his sword in defense, then the sea goblin’s bone-like weapon and his sword met. The stroke was slow but heavy. Their weapons were on the lock down, and both refuses to give in. The sea goblin’s opened his green jaw and tried to bite Musk’s right arm.
The goblins stood half shorter than Musk, but he swore the elongated jaw of the sea goblin he was facing could snap at his neck easily. Luckily, his training, though little, had kicked in. He managed to step back a little that saved his right arm.
“Musky, keep on running.” Spiel shouted.
When he turned around, Spiel was already steps away from him. When he glanced around, he saw the prince’s squad was already running ahead of them, leaving an opening behind them. Confused on what was happening, he rushed towards Spiel.
“Deal only one blow and move on.” Spiel said. “It’s the prince's orders.”
His confusion increased but he obliged, after all, he doesn’t want to get left behind in the company of little green sea monsters. He ran like his ass was on fire. He saw a sea goblin up ahead, but Spiel’s quick blow had wounded the goblin on his left arm, but Spiel didn’t stop to finish it, instead he moved on. And the very same wounded goblin appeared in front of him, this time he managed to stab the goblin in the neck.
An azure blood spurted on the stab wounds, and Musk felt good. His first kill, he thought. He quickly uprooted his sword and quickly rushed to Spiel. He gets it now, the prince’s tactics. The sea goblin’s were quite slow on the land, probably due to their unproportionate short legs, Must thought. hat was why even when they laid their backs open, the sea goblin’s didn’t pursue them or rather they couldn’t catch up.
A hit and run strategy. However, this strategy bets on the assumption that the front lines will deal a substantial damage for the next line to deal either the finishing blow or another substantial damage for the third line to capitulate. If the first line were not skilled enough this whole strategy will fail.
If the sea goblins were also quick on their webbed feet, the whole strategy won’t work either. They would be butchered in the front and at the back.
Musk was quite impressed on the strategy. To come up with something like that, Musk believed, that a knowledge of the enemy’s strength and weakness beforehand was necessary. He easily thought of the prince, and the villager’s story about the prince’s fighting alongside them since he was a kid.
He admits that it was quite a well thought out plan, and glanced at the prince. He saw the prince was using both his cane and the blade to attack. Stabbing, slashing on his right hand, while bashing the enemy on his left using the wooden casing of his cane sword.
It was a sight to see, Musk thought. Even when he knew nothing of sword fight, he agreed on his best friend that the prince was certainly proficient.
When they had reached the end of the shore, everyone stopped and turned around. The trail they left behind was riddled with sea goblin’s corpses. Though, quite a number of sea goblins still slipped through and managed to reach the wooden fortifications.
Musk swore that any minute now his heart will jumped out of him. They had just ran the entire shore and Musk was not even half exhausted. This must be the rush everyone talked about, Musk thought.
When he looked at the sea, he saw there were fewer goblins emerging, unlike before. Musk had counted he had slain two goblins. He imagined how many the prince’s and lt. Brax had killed, then he tried to sum that up on the goblins his fellow recruits had slain.
He counted sixty goblins fell on their hands. At least twenty for the lieutenant and the prince, and the rest was to his fellow recruits. But when he saw the battlefield and the goblin’s corpses, the number doesn’t add up. He estimated at least a hundred of sea goblins were killed.
He shuddered when he realized that he just went through a hundred-sea goblin army and came out unscathed. It seems unreal for him that he was still alive. When he looked around, he swore the rest of them were thinking the same thing.
“It’s not so bad, isn’t it?” Spiel grinned.
“I still don’t understand how we managed to come out of that alive.” Musk pointed at the battlefield.
“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. I saw you kill two goblins.” Spiel said. “On your own, I might add.”
“Not quite, you guys have already wounded it.” Musk said.
“Quite a strategist, isn’t he?” Spiel looked at the prince.
“I think it was more about experience rather than tactics.” Musk said. Though, he believed it halfheartedly.
“Depends.” Spiel said. “On whether he fought like this with the villagers before.”
|| || ||
Rain
The assassin urged her own squad to keep up. She understands quickly what the prince was trying to do. She knew based on the information she got from the Order that the sea goblins will lose their agility and dexterity when they step foot in a land. A penalty of some sorts.
She wished she had her twin daggers on. It felt awkward for her to wield a single sword. Nevertheless, she showed a degree of mastery in sword that allowed her to deal with the sea goblins in one hit.
She used the goblin’s incursion as an opportunity to fully observe the prince’s ability. She was surprised when she saw the prince could dual wield. Basically, everyone could dual wield. But not everyone could fully integrate their less dominant hand in an attack pattern or combo.
Her experiences in using her twin daggers had allowed her to see that the prince knew what he was doing, and that he was quite doing it well. Though, she believed that the prince could double his damage output if he’s using a real blade on his left hand instead of a wooden cane.
She twisted her body and delivered a round house kick that sent a sea goblin flying towards her squad. She believed that her kicking abilities would be the deciding factor when she’s up against the prince. But to her surprise, the prince used a side kick that sent a sea goblin in a distance farther than she admitted she could possibly do.
From time to time, she observed, the prince had also incorporated kicks in his offensive repertoire. She wondered how the hell he learned those things, atop his swords skills. She bit her lip when the realization dawned on her that her chances on beating the prince in a one-on-one fair match had just turned from small to infinitesimal.
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The prince was clearly faster than her, and a lot stronger, too. She believed the prince’s was probably above captaincy level. A level where one could employ mystic arts, yet to her frustration the prince didn’t use any. Was it arrogance or just tactics to make sure his cards up his sleeve remain hidden, she wondered. She also wondered if the prince had yet to evaluate himself on a StarStone.
Last time she checked herself using a StarStone, her Mystic Star Level was at 26, an equivalent rank of 1st lieutenant. But she had to conceal it down to Mystic Star level 9, a rank of first cadet to enter the prince’s supposedly army of recruits. Lt. Brax was a bit higher than her, a MS level of 29, nearing the captaincy level. Though, rumors has it, that he was stuck at that level for almost two years now.
She estimated the prince at around MS level of 35-40, although, she couldn’t be sure if she had seen everything the prince had to offer. Only a StarStone could tell.
“Deal a fatal blow if you can!” the prince ordered. “But don’t get stuck against a single enemy for far too long!”
A half-awake sea goblin was startled when she shoved her sword at its chest. She then gracefully turned around to pull her sword, then she used the carried momentum to slash another sea goblin. She felt a pair of dark eyes was looking at her, gauging her, undressing her and revealing her very nature—a trained killer. She hated those ever-penetrating, ever-observing eyes, the prince’s dark eyes.
She shrugged the uneasiness she was feeling and pressed on.
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Calex Zath
A bit disappointed that it took my men a minute or two longer to prepare for battle. One of the things I needed to polish. It was no excuse even if it was their first brush against sea goblins or any monsters for that matter.
A bit proud that most of the villagers had already taken battle formation behind their fortifications, quite fast, too, I might add. Those wooden fortifications had helped us quite a few times in the past, since then, the villagers made various upgrades and adjustments to strengthen those fortifications. They even include pits along the choke points.
The sea goblins kept on coming even though the full moon’s next schedule was supposed to be next week. That is really a strange, and what's more strange, the sea goblins have increased their numbers. They usually numbered forty to sixty. I had estimated around fifty, but more were still coming from the sea.
My men were nervous. I could practically hear their heartbeats. I have no idea what to say in this situation, even back before I led the villagers to make a stand. I never say any introductory, awe-inspiring speech before battle. I just gave orders as I see fit, then charged ahead. And most of the time, it turned out just fine.
And so I just charged. Expecting everyone to follow me and give it their all. I have always known that the sea goblins weakness was they got slowed when they reached the land. But, if you ever got stuck in the middle of the sea in a boat, fighting for your life against sea goblins, you better pray. I have come up many ways before on how to defeat the sea goblins when I had an army behind my back. I may not have an army, but I have thirty men behind me.
Unlike what I and villagers had done before—sticking behind fortifications, then wait for the goblins to attack. I believed that method was rather slow, albeit effective. My plan was to charge ahead, deal a substantial damage, then charged back again. Mobility was the key.
When I charged, I shouted. Then it was answered by a collective roars of men behind me. I could feel the energy seeping off of us. A very powerful energy that felt like a drug to deceive us that we’re invincible. In a way, that made me think that I could get through anything.
And we just did. I had lost count on how many I have killed and how many I have fatally wounded. In the midst of the battle, I saw some of my men could actually fight. The second squad leader, for instance, Rain, I think his name was, moved in a very precise and elegant motion. Those weren’t an amateur moves, and that made me believe there were more to this guy than meets the eye.
First squad leader Pole also knows what he was doing. His explosiveness could be seen in his attacks, though they need a bit of refinement. Lt. Brax charged forward cutting the sea goblins as if they were an overgrown grass.
When we reached the end of the shore, near the cliff. I stopped and turned to have a look at the battlefield behind us. Countless corpses of sea goblins decorated the once golden sand. Those goblins that were still alive, tried their luck against the wooden fortifications.
I could see Milo did a perfect job on helping the villagers against the oncoming sea goblins wave. Back then, the villagers used fish spear/lance as their primary weapon. Now, behind the safety of their wooden fortifications, they used real steel-forged spear.
I must say, though, they have become good at wielding it. It was quite amazing what a dire threat to existing could do as a motivation.
And it was no time to rest either. I ordered my men to prepare for another charge.
The goblin’s reinforcement stopped coming after we did another run. Though, there were still quite few remaining. I let Milo handle the cleanup of the rest.
It took us roughly ninety minutes to completely defeat the sea goblins. There was a moment of silence before someone shouted ‘Victory’. Then, the rest of my men raised their swords like a madman and let out a roar.
“Lieutenant, have the squad leaders check on their members and report to me.” I said.
“Aye, sir.” Lt. Brax said. If he was happy, I couldn’t tell.
According to my squad leader’s reports, we suffered no casualty. My squads and Lt. Brax’s suffered some though nothing lethal.
I dismissed all of them and ordered to go help the villagers for cleaning the beach.
I looked at my men, and saw some, in fact, most of them, were grinning like idiots while looking at some stone. I approached Cadet Pole and Tobi who was also looking at a similar stone.
“Sir.” They both saluted.
“What is that?” I pointed at the stone.
Both of them looked at each other, confused. “This is a Mystic Star Stone, sir.” Pole said.
“And?”
I don’t know if they were afraid or just unsure of what to say next. “Sir?” Pole said.
“What does it do?” I clarified.
“It displays your Mystic Star Level, sir.” Tobi said.
“Mystic, what?” I have no idea what he was talking about.
“Mystic Star Level, sir.” Tobi said. “It determines our rank, sir. Here, sir, you could give it a try.”
He tried to hand me a half-fist sized yellow stone. I could sense every set of eyes were looking right at us. I grabbed the stone, then asked, what to do next. Tobi said to hold it firmly and wait.
I could sense a bit of magic inside the stone, before it broke into two. It didn’t display anything either. Never had it occur to me that such method exists in determining ranks.
“Should it break like that?” I asked.
“Um, no, sir. Here try it again, sir.” Pole offered his stone.
I held the stone again, though not firmly as before. Again, it broke into two before it could display whatever mystic crap it should display.
“It didn’t work. So, I assume, A higher Mystic…” I fished for the word.
“Star Level, sir.” Pole supplied it for me.
“A higher star level means higher rank, is it?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“What was your Star level?” I asked Pole.
“twelve, sir.” Pole said. I could hear gasps from my men around us. “I just leveled up, sir.”
“Twelve, then what was it equivalent rank?” I asked.
“Corporal, sir.” Pole said proudly.
I never had any idea such system exists in the royal army. I thought skills, achievements and sucking up to high officials determined the ranks. Now, I know why my men were grinning like fools while looking at some stone. Probably all of them had leveled up. This means a rank up, and a considerable increase in their monthly stipend.
“How about you?” I asked Cadet Tobi.
“Just level ten, sir. Private First Class, sir.”
I nodded. Then I urged them to continue what they were doing. I need to learn more about this star system thingy. I got to ask Digby about this the next time he’ll arrived.
I saw Squad Leader Spiel and another recruit playing with the sea goblin’s corpse. They both saluted when I had approached them. I asked them what they were doing with the sea goblin’s corpse.
“Sir, we’re examining the sea goblin’s body.” Squad leader Spiel said over a smiling face.
“What have you found?” I asked.
Spiel looked at his friend, quietly urging him to speak up.
“Sir, these bone-like weapons, the goblin’s used, they have a good properties on them. For one, they are light, yet sturdy, and with a bit of elasticity on them. If you look closely here, sir, you could see the grain patterns on the cross section of the bone that they are quite scattered evenly. This is a good sign of a good grain structure that indicates a good resistance against shearing or cutting, or tearing of the material along its horizontal plane. Also this one…”
Spiel coughed out loud. Probably letting his friend know that he have already said a hundred words without nearing to the point.
“I’m sorry, sir. What I am trying to say was, this is a very interesting material, sir, the kind that warrants further study.” The cadet said.
“What is your name?”
“Musk, sir.”
“Were both of you a crafter before?” I asked.
Musk looked at Squad leader Spiel.
“He was, sir.” Spiel pointed at his friend. “A damn good one at that, sir. While yours truly was an aspiring businessman and entrepreneur sir.”
I nodded. “Then, Cadet Musk, can you make something useful out of it that could greatly aid us?”
“I could before, but now I can’t, sir.” Musk said. “I have just lost my apprentice license, and was forbidden to touch or fabricate something made out of Rank D or above material. And these bone-like weapons are clearly above rank D, sir.”
“License or no license, that doesn’t stop you from observing and studying them, right?” I said. “What’s stopping you, now?”
“I was just curious, sir.” Musk looked down.
“I say, let’s put those curious brain of yours into action, then. Wouldn’t you agree, Cadet Spiel? Or was it still cadet?” I pointed at the stone at his left hand, I had witnessed him fight, and I say he’s quite fast, despite everything he does were all calculated moves.
“Unofficially, a Corporal, sire. And I most definitely agree with you, sir.”
Cadet Musk then looked at his friend. But Spiel, with his smiling face, just nod.
“So, Musk, what say you?” I asked
“I’ll get right on it, sir.”
|| || || END OF CHAPTER 4 || || ||
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