“We can do this,” I said. “We have time to go in and methodically clear our way toward the cave. We’ll get close to the first clan and build an outpost to establish a foothold. We’ll launch precise, clean strikes and fall back to the fortification when needed, hopefully keeping our losses at a minimum. Then we’ll resurrect our losses and go again. The bouldites are monsters, but they won’t be able to recall their troops as quickly as we can. We’ll wear them down.”
“So it basically comes down to a resource war,” Aly said. “Whoever has more, wins.”
“It’s not just that,” Sullivan said. “The bouldites, at their base, are more powerful creatures than our forces, so with their lower numbers, they need fewer resources than us overall. We need some sort of an edge.”
“That’s why I’m counting on you,” I told the player with a smile.
“I figured you’d say something like that. Alright, the idea of using an outpost is a good one, but I propose taking it a step further.”
I tilted my head. “Oh?”
“Each outpost can employ an effective defense force of 200 soldiers. I propose building ten such structures along the Sandstone’s borders. Make them come to us, and keep a small, mounted force of our strongest fighters to pick them off in small batches.”
“Good plan,” I said. “Only one problem; we don’t have enough resources to build so many outposts – stone, specifically. We have ample wood, and I can always trade it for a bit more metal, but stone is a problem. I’m using all the limestone we quarry in the valley to summon more bonetises, and obsidian takes too long to gather in large quantities.”
The other players exchanged weird looks.
I frowned. “What?”
“You … have a problem getting stone?” Kyth said.
“Yeah.”
“Because the amount in the clan isn’t enough?” Hoshisu clarified the question.
“That’s what I said.” I was starting to get annoyed. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Heh, open yor eyes an’ look around, fugly,” Ragnar said, obviously amused.
I took in the barren, rocky terrain around us. “Oh.”
Julee chuckled. “Got all the stone you could need right here.”
I winced. I’d been so caught up in working within a known set of parameters, I somehow missed the obvious answer. “That’s a good idea, guys, and I’ll make sure to use it, but we still won’t be able to produce the 5,000 stone required to build ten outposts quickly enough.”
“How many outposts can you do right now?” Sullivan asked.
“One.”
The player nodded slowly. “We could probably make it work against the first clan, though we’ll take more casualties than if we were able to build more.”
I could wait, but I hated the idea of burning days away waiting for resource gathering. Especially since my soldiers could be fighting and gaining XP in the meantime. “It’ll have to do for now. We’ll have resources for more outposts for when we reach the next tribe.”
“I can work with that, at least for getting us through the tribes in our way, but I’m afraid outposts won’t be enough against the horde you described guarding the cave. We need something more, something that will help turn the tide in our favor.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Aly said.
Everyone looked at her. She smiled. “I’ve completed my research.”
“You’re kidding!” Malkyr and a few others exclaimed.
The platinum-haired woman shook her head. “Nope. It’s done. The miniaturization process was a bitch, but I found a solution in the end. I now have a working concept of the AVT.” She looked at me. “Come visit me at my lab soon; I’ll show you what I came up with.”
“That’s great,” I said. “I should be able to exchange that for a major bonus.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking.”
“Damn,” Julee said with a grin. “All I came up with was a new dress design. I’m a stylist,” she said when she noticed my perplexed expression. “I got an inspiration for a dress that …” She cleared her throat. “Well, I thought it came out nice.”
“I’ll come over and take a look at that too,” I said, trying to sound enthused. “You have a room in the science facility building as well?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m a floor below Aly.”
“We still need all the extra soldiers you can summon,” Sullivan said. “I’m thinking we’re going to want to save all the vassal militias for the final battle outside the cave, so any extra soldiers you can send us now will make our job getting there a little easier.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said. “Which reminds me: We’re at a point where we can purchase food for soldiers using gold, so send back any gold the troops loot off the corpses.”
“Will do. Questions?”
The players exchanged looks with one another then shook their heads.
Malkyr glanced around and smirked. “Looks like it’s time to start. Let the battle for Stoney Barrens begin!”
The first rays of light appeared above the faraway mountains.
Malkyr grimaced as he, and the rest of us, lost our Shadow-Touched bonuses. “First thing after dusk?”
***
I stood at the head of the army, looking toward the open, stoney expanse.
The camp around us was dotted with multiple small work yards, each supporting two stonemasons. I spent the rest of the day going back to the valley to arrange a rapid development of our army base at the border. With a token amount of energy to rush the buildings, we now had 40 new workers delivering 500 units of stone each day. It wasn’t limestone, so I couldn’t use it to summon more bonetises, but it was adequate for our outposts plan.
Not that I was planning on waiting to have enough for ten outposts.
The entire army stood behind me, divided into ten companies of roughly 200 soldiers each. A tier 2 or 3 boss stood at the head of each company, along with at least one of our player-officers.
Savol moved his bonetis mount ahead to come next to me. “Army is ready, Chief.”
“Thanks, general,” I said.
“I still can’t believe you were able to double the army size in such a short time, man,” Malkyr said, taking in the long rows of soldiers.
I shook my head. “Converting food into soldiers may be quick, but getting to this point took a lot of work. You know that; you’ve been around to see the clan grow. We spent months building a solid foundation, and now it’s finally time to reap the fruits of our labor.”
My large friend grinned at me. “A solid foundation still can’t account for all …” he gestured around us, “… that. You would never have managed it if you weren’t such a lucky bastard.”
I returned his grin. “You’re right. Luck is what I do.”
Sullivan joined us, causing us to sober up. “There are three Sandstone tribe patrols ahead of us.”
“You’re keeping in touch with David?” I asked.
“Yeah. That guy is incredible. I have no idea how he knows what’s happening hundreds of kilometers away, but he even sent me the coordinates of their patrol routes. We can intercept them in an hour or two.”
“Good, then we’re ready,” I said.
“Looks like. Oh, David also asked to tell you there’s a weird mana concentration underground ahead of us; not sure how that helps us.”
I nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. General, give the order.”
“Yes, Chief!” Savol raised his voice and bellowed, “GreenPiece – move out!”
The ten divisions started marching ahead, leaving only a token force behind to safeguard the goblin workers.
“Ready, Wolrig?” I turned back to the constructor behind me.
The goblin nodded nervously, seeming unsure on top of his monstrous mount.
“Then ride!”
We moved together at a fast trot, joining a division composed mostly of Ogre crossbowmen and hob scouts. The rest of the di
visions trailed behind us, forming a loose arrowhead shape.
We marched through the barren region for an hour before one of the leading scouts shouted, “Enemies sighted!”
A group of the Sandstone tribe appeared on the rocky plateau ahead of us, and I quickly signaled the other divisions to fall back while I urged my group forward.
“It’s you again,” the bouldite lieutenant said as we approached the patrol.
“Yes, it’s me,” I agreed, though I had no idea how he recognized me without eyes. “I’ve brought some of the friends I told you about before, I believe this is enough to allow us through your territory?” I passed him a satchel containing 230 raw gems, one for each individual in my division. It was our entire stock.
“You may pass,” the lieutenant grunted as he greedily examined the pouch’s contents. Then he looked up at my other, far away divisions. “But only you. If anyone else tries to go without paying, we will attack.”
“Don’t worry, the others will stay back.” I couldn’t help lowering my voice when I added, “I’m fully aware that if they come closer it will mean war.”
The dim-witted bouldite didn’t catch the double meaning of my words and tucked the leather pouch at his belt. “Now go.”
We marched on, reaching the edge of the large ravine overlooking the Sandstone’s tribe itself.
“Looks like a good spot,” I told Wolrig. “Let’s do this.”
The goblin dismounted and motioned to the soldiers. “Put everything down.”
The soldiers eagerly obeyed, putting down the heavy packs they carried with them, the Ogres especially – placing whole mounds of building materials in front of them.
I felt the information tendrils shift slightly as Wolrig did his thing. I reached out mentally and prodded them.
Rush Outpost construction (15,000 EP required). Yes/No
That was it. Once I approved the message, we’d be at war. That was also the reason I hadn’t started off by establishing an altar and then opened a portal to bring in the required resources. As soon as a building was detected, the formidable monsters would be on top of us.
I took in a deep breath.
Yes.
The holographic walls of the outpost materialized around us, and the building materials flew over it, closing in my force of 230 with metal-studded wooden walls and watchtowers.
Roars erupted from the ravine below us, and the squawks of sandhawks pierced the sky as they changed trajectories to dive down at us. The soldiers near me ran to the battlement, while in the distance, the nine other divisions started closing the distance toward us.
It was on. I hoped we had prepared enough.
***
“General!” A hob scout came running toward the central division. “Three bouldite patrols are closing in to intercept us.
“Damn, I was hoping they’d all go for the outpost,” Sullivan said as he glanced ahead at the outpost. A horde of the rocklike monsters was pouring out of the ravine and charging the fortifications. Sullivan turned to the purple-caped goblin next to him. “Savol, we’ll need to punch through those patrols. The chief can’t hold out against that force with the troops he has.”
“Yes, Savol understands,” the general said. He turned to his lieutenants and started issuing orders. “All divisions, close in around incoming patrols. Shield units at the front, archers and Ogre crossbows back. Hold lines and kill bouldites!”
The GreenPiece monster army quickly repositioned, the nine divisions converging into three units of 600 soldiers apiece, preparing to intercept the charge of 14 bouldites each. However, the tactic that had proven so effective against previous enemies now worked against them.
Instead of charging straight into the ranks of awaiting tanks, the 11 bouldite hurlers of each patrol launched massive boulders as soon as they got into range. Hundreds of kilos of rocks smashed through the frontline of tanks, blasting them apart before continuing to carve a bloody path through the ranks behind them. Within moments after the first volley, over a hundred hobs were lying broken on the ground, dead or dying.
“Shit, they’re outside our scouts’ range!” Sullivan shouted. “Engage! Engage!”
“Charge!” Savol shouted, drawing a sword from beneath his cape and leading the attack.
The army surged forward, Ogres howling, mages becoming wreathed in flames, and hobgoblins screaming battle cries. Another volley of massive rocks smashed through their ranks downing hundreds more.
Then the GreenPiece scouts finally got into range. Over 500 bow-wielding hobs let loose their arrows, briefly obscuring the enemy through the barrage.
“Oh, hell,” Malkyr muttered. The barrage ended, revealing the bouldites. Each of them had been struck with multiple arrows, but not one of them was down. They all held their arms in front of them, protecting their face with their plated forearms that looked almost like shields of rock.
The tanks and melee warriors kept their charge while the bowmen remained behind and sent out another volley that was equally underwhelming. Then it was the bouldites’ turn again, and their hurlers blasted the charging units apart, opening huge gaps in their ranks.
Over 400 soldiers were down in the first moments of the battle – nearly a fifth of the entire army – before their melee units finally engaged.
The hobs slashed against the bouldites’ rocklike skin, their magical blades scoring shallow wounds. The Ogres bashed against them with their giant maces, but the bouldites were bigger than the giant brutes, and each of their retaliation strikes dropped an Ogre or several hobs. To make it worse, every blow made by the bouldite lieutenants was accompanied by ripples of mana, staggering and slowing down the enemies around them. Then a flight of five sandhawks made contact, dive-bombing straight into the rear ranks of the scouts, each one killing several hobs.
The army was taking terrible losses, but they were still making the enemy pay for it.
The first bouldite hurler finally succumbed to the combined damage of nearly a hundred axe strikes that slowly peeled off his flesh. Another one was pummeled to the ground by an overhead blow from Rhyno, then torn to shreds as several bonetises pounced on it. The veteran melee fighters and bosses began to emerge between the fallen soldiers, holding back the overpowered enemies long enough for the common fighters to tear them down. Yulli, Hoshisu, and Ashlazaria used their powerful bows to ground the howling sandhawks, allowing the melee units to engage.
The three army divisions closed ranks around the three patrols and within a minute, the hurlers, the weakest of the enemies, were down, reducing the total enemies to 12. But those 12 fought back with unbridled fury.
The nine bouldite smashers and three lieutenants’ powerful swings sent hobs, goblins, kobolds, and even Ogres flying back with every hit. Those not instantly killed were held stunned for crucial seconds by the debilitating strikes. The bouldites were swarmed by hundreds of enemies, but they refused to be brought down.
Three Ogre Mages cornered a smasher between their mana shields. Mana streamed along their bodies, manifesting infernal flames that poured into their maces, boosting the damage as they pounded the trapped enemy, slowly bleeding its health.
Aidanriel appeared behind another smasher, the golem’s metal-beaded limbs wrapping around his torso, crushing him, as two fire rods emerged from thin tentacles and bathed it in flames. A few more smashers staggered and fell to a concentrated volley of drilling arrows shot by dozens of goblin adepts, but the rest fought on, exacting a terrible price for every casualty they sustained.
“Swarm! Where is Swarm?” Savol shouted in fury.
At last, the construct abomination made its appearance.
His hundreds of pink beads rolled down under the throng of soldiers, pooling under several nearby sandhawks. Then a forest of tentacles and shrieking mouths erupted upwards and clamped around the giant birds. One sandhawk’s head was crushed, while another was raised into the air by titanic tentacles, shrieking helplessly as its wings got torn away before it was crushed into
a paste. Another giant tentacle attempted to wrap around a third bird, but it was much too thin, and the giant sandhawk wriggled away, right into a storm of arrows.
The enemy’s forces quickly dwindled, succumbing to their opponents’ overwhelming numbers, but their deaths came at a terrible price. A thousand soldiers were down – most of them dead, the others crushed. They had won, but the cost made it look more like a defeat.
“We must go help Chief,” Savol shouted.
Sullivan shook his head, pointing at the crumbling outpost. “It’s already too late. If we go in now, we’ll be obliterated. We have to retreat.”
***
The bouldites poured out of their settlement toward us – over 200 brutes, each one broader and at least a head taller than an Ogre. There were scores of hurlers, groups of smashers, and a handful of lieutenants.
But we were ready for them.
The outpost’s battlement was lined with over 50 crossbow-wielding Ogres and 150 hob scouts.
“Fire!” I shouted as the charging bouldites got within range.
The soldiers all let loose, but to my dismay, the results were underwhelming. The bouldites protected their faces and the hobs’ arrows shattered on their toughened skin, barely even drawing blood. The Ogres’ giant crossbows were more effective, and I saw several bouldites fall under the barrage, their bodies pierced with spear-sized bolts, but that hardly put a dent in their numbers.
The archers kept raining arrows while the Ogres were forced to stop to reload their crossbows. That was when I realized my error. The high walls gave us a range advantage, but it was barely a hair’s breadth more than the bouldite hurlers’ natural range. And it was their turn to strike.
Over a hundred boulders were thrown back at us, each one with the force of a catapult. They were aiming upward at my soldiers, bringing down dozens with the first throw. Taking cover behind the battlements did little good; the boulders smashed through the wooden palisade and hit the soldiers behind while the shrapnel injured many others.
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 23
