220. SHIELD WALL: WIREMU.

From the height of a new class and skill, Kelda was supremely frustrated the next morning in training. Tabitha pushed her way through her Mental defences to her new status information, and there seemed no way to keep her out. She was using everything she could, including Sharp Mind, to boost her defences. Tabitha was rubbing it in by using a mocking tone. Using tone and language like that weakens your defences if you let it get to you. Tabitha learned that from Eluf, and Ruku reiterated it. It was a common interrogation technique to continually put someone down to break through their mental defences. Eluf was more subtle in letting Tabitha celebrate a victory to slip through. Eluf was good at the mental shit.

Today it was working on Kelda very effectively. “I put all those points to mental Strength for no bloody reason!”

Tabitha smirked again. I have to remember Kelda has significantly less experience in the rough part of life than Tabitha or myself. I want to come to her defence, but I know it is good for her and I have my own struggles going on. Astrid kicked me out again. I know my Status interrogation skill needs a lot of levelling, but I have the Mental stats to support it. I am letting myself get distracted by Kelda, which is a known weakness of mine.

All of a sudden, Tabitha yelped, “Ow! What did you do?”

We all looked over, and it was Kelda who was smirking. “I figured out a new Skill.”

“Well, don’t hold back. Could we learn it?” I asked.

“I am not sure. I remembered how I learned Fire Eyes, so I did the same to my brain.”

“What?” several of us said together.

“Burning Mind is a new defensive skill I learned by applying my affinity to my mental defence. It burns anyone who attacks me. Only a little at this point, but it will level.”

“Let me try,” I said, thinking my fire resistance might help. I used Interrogate Status on her, and it was an extra layer of resistance to get through. “You are right about it being an active defence. We might be able to apply it to an attack as well.”

“Let me try,” Ruku said. “My water affinity should counter the fire.” We waited, and then he said, “That's good. It clearly shows what affinity you have, though. Let me try and do the same. Did you use a skill as a base for it?”

“I’m not sure, maybe my Flaming Touch or Fire Manipulation.”

“Hmm. Let me try my Whirlpool Shield.”

We waited. Ruku was our expert in all things mental, as he had been through military leadership training. I suspect he was taking us through a simplified version of it.

After a few moments, he said, “Yep, that worked. You try to interrogate me,” he said to me.

I did, and the probe seemed to get washed away when I said that, Ruku continued.

“Yes, it is a combination of Water manipulation and the skill. A shield Skill would seem to be the better skill to use, but once I get the hang of this, I might also try to use an attack.”

“I’ve got it,” Tabitha exclaimed. When I interrogated her, it seemed like a dark hole. “I used Engulfing Shadows and got Shadow Mind.”

I wasn’t sure what to use. Lava or Granite. My Granite Armour is a combination of both, so I tried that. It was very difficult. Granite is a difficult thing to manipulate. Hopefully, that means I will have the toughest shield. I manipulated the granite and lava from the armour and tried to make a shield around my mind. It took me several attempts. Mayakku got Piercing Mind while I was still trying, and it felt like a porcupine surrounded her mind.

Tabitha was trying to talk Modrica through it when I finally got success. Granite Mind Armour was what mine was called, and it was solid granite, and if you broke through, as Ruku did, it was superheated lava. The granite and lava layer was very thin at Level 1 but would grow.

Rodion wasn’t back yet, but Astrid and Runa looked at us with undisguised jealousy. “An affinity is such a cheat,” Runa said.

Ruku looked at her, “You know, you may not have an affinity, but you are a Master of the Shield. Why don’t you use your shield techniques in your mental defences?”

“That’s a good point,” Mayakku said. “I know all Skills had a flavour, and those at journeyman level and higher, that flavour can be used and replicated to some degree.”

“The Shield Skill is a technique or a series of techniques you use. Grab the flavour and use it for your mental defence,” Ruku added. He took Runa aside, and half an hour later, she was whooping and hollering that she had a Mind Shield.

Astrid was a different story as a healer. Her healing skills were her highest-levelled skills. He Revitalise Aura was her most used Skill, just short of Master level. Next was her Infection Cleansing Skill, then Cooking. Ruku thought Cleansing Infection might work if she thought of an attack like an infection getting in. Astrid had high mental Attributes, so she was an agile thinker. She went off to work on it, and as Rodion was not back, we decided to stay camped here for another day.

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When Astrid got a Skill, it caused a lot of mirth from Runa, “A dwarf with a Clean Mind? There is no such thing. You will never be able to ride Horny!”

Rodion didn’t arrive that night either. I decided to go looking after training the next morning. Kelda can try her Seek Hidden skill. That, combined with Trackers Insight, is going to make her a formidable tracker.

The following day, the Mental training was very different. Instead of floundering around trying to counter someone without mental Strength or rebound them with our Status skills, we have a new defensive Skill. We knew how to use skills, and Tabitha combined her Confuse Status with her Shadow Mind, and I couldn’t get through. Ruku did, but it took some time. My Manipulate Status was the weakest in defence, but my Mind Armour hugely bolstered the defence. I managed to have my Status Manipulation on top, so it looked normal. I could also have it show what I wanted, but if they tried to pierce through it, they hit Granite, and if they kept digging, they hit the lava. I went from one of the weakest to one of the strongest. It would take a lot of practice to keep it consistent and grow it, but we had time.

I showed Kelda how to layer it, as she also had Manipulate Status. Modrica had Block Status, and she became a solid defence with her new Earth Mind. It was like hitting a wall, which was Modrica all over.

Piercing someone's Status was the opposite of defence. Tabitha had the cheat here in her Spatial Awareness, but the rest of us had to work at it. Granite Spike has pretty much been my go-to attack since I got it. Layering that with my Interrogate Status Skill would take a lot of work, especially if I wanted to keep my defences up simultaneously.

The next morning in training, Ruku said that we would start incorporating bonds into our group training.

“Tabitha, I want you to work with Rodion when he gets back and see whether a skirmisher-style hit-and-run would suit you and Dusk. It might lead to a Specialisation for your Rider Class. If Rodion comes back with the sizable pack, I also want him to work on crowd control, which fits with your Shadows.”

Ruku then looked at Modrica and Runa. “The three of us will be the main shield wall, and we will anchor it around Težka. One of us must always be on Težka’s blind side, which should mostly be you, Modrica, as you can communicate with him. It will be preferable for Runa and I to be where he can see us. Hopefully, a healer in Waiouru can regrow his eye.”

“What about Horny?” Runa asked. “He is always ready to totally fuck someone.”

“That’s an image I don’t need,” Ruku said. “There are two options for Horny. He could work with us as the shield wall and deal damage with those horns and hooves, or if you think he is better as a skirmisher, he could join Tabitha and Rodion.”

“Can we try both and see what works?”

“Absolutely, that is why we are organising now,” Ruku replied. Then he looked at Kelda and me. “You two will be our primary ranged attackers. However, there are additional roles for you both.” He looked at Kelda, “You first. You will also be our spotter against stealth attacks, and you will be directing the fight, calling out weaknesses and opportunities. This should fit your Targeting Class well, but I realise you have only had the Lieutenant Training. You would get this training if you had done the Captain level training, so I will have to teach you. It will be a steep learning curve,” he warned.

“What about Liten?” she asked.

“Liten is our only aerial attacker. She is fast, and her fire packs a punch, but it is a single target only. Because she is small, she will be able to avoid most attacks against her. Her weakness is in wide-area attacks. Part of your spotter role will be directing her to where she will do the most good. If you have any spare attributes, I would recommend putting them into Mental Agility, as there are multiple things you must always keep an eye on. You and I will need to spend at least three hours a day together so I can upskill you until Skog, then at least an hour a day until Waiouru. Experience will count for a lot as well.”

Ruku turned to me, “I haven’t forgotten you are a highly skilled Trapper, and Tāoke is an ambush predator. If we get time to prepare the ground before an engagement, you will trap it, and Tāoke will wait in ambush. Even if we don’t get time, Tāoke should make his way to the enemy's rear and ambush them. There is an alternative if Kelda thinks Tāoke will be too exposed on his own or the damage on the Shield wall is too much. At that point, Tāoke should be riding Težka, and it will add Granite defences and striking attacks to our front line. We will have a formation for both options. You, Wiremu, will also be a backup melee fighter.”

I will have to prepare some traps, although fall traps are now easy for me to prep, especially with Modrica’s help.

“We have a lot of crowd control abilities in our main force, with Wiremu and Modrica’s spikes, walls, Puia’s lava and my water. It will be up to Kelda to call out where we need them. My bond, Wai, is not good in a fight, so he will stay with me and be my main support and poisoner.”

I keep forgetting about Ruku’s salamander bond. Wai stays out of sight generally.

“Astrid is our healer, so you will stay close behind the front line. You will be a target, and you will need a shield. Your job is to keep everyone alive, especially the front liners, who will be taking the brunt of any attack. Trassig is your emergency deliverer of potions. Can she do that?”

Astrid nodded.

“Good,” He turned to Mayakku. “I know you don’t have a fighting class, so your role is to watch Astrid’s back and do what you can to help her keep us all alive. Cōmpēṟi, however, is a fighter. I think he would best to fight alongside Modrica and guard Težka’s blind side. He is fast enough to get out of Težka’s way if needed, and his claws should produce a lot of blood for Modrica and Težka to self-heal.”

Ruku looked around, “Everybody clear?” We nodded. “Good, let's get into position assuming a standard frontal attack. Kelda, this will be the first formation. The second formation will be if we are surrounded, and we will practice moving between them. Kelda will make the calls. They will be called A1 and B1. We will start with six basic formations, three defensive and three aggressive. Then, variations will depend on the changing roles and the skirmishers. They will be numbered A2, A3 etc. The letter is the base formation, and the number is the variation. Moving from defensive to aggressive at the right time in the fight can be crucial, Kelda. The reverse can save lives. I can teach you the theory with examples, but experience is what will really teach it to you.”

This will take a lot of practice, but we need to be ready for a medium-scale battle. Kelda looks a bit shellshocked at Ruku’s words and the responsibility he is putting on her. This Captain-level responsibility would still be several years away if she were in the army.

Now, we need to find Rodion.