I let the wereboars leave, having no desire for more death today. After all, there was plenty of blood left to spill on the path Tabby and I walked.
EXP Earned: 53,120
EXP Total: 202,530
EXP Until Next Level: 52,470
Quest Completed: Hero Training!
●See Tabby for your reward!
Well, would you look at that! Guess Lucky made a good showing of himself. I couldn’t stop the boyish grin from appearing on my face. Though it died quickly as I looked around, the smell of death hitting my nose. Screams of the injured or dying rang in my ears. Closing my eyes, I focused myself, trying to get a handle on the emotional storm raging inside me. I could feel my mind struggling, the images of this and battles past flowing through it as I thought about Tabby and the promise of not just sex, but the intimacy that went with it. Thoughts of Tabby just being Tabby brought me back from the brink. I could feel my pulse pounding in my skull, my breath coming out in a rush as I started to calm back down. Opening my eyes, I headed to the rear of the formation where the elven leadership was shouting orders to the surrounding troops.
There were cheers from the elves as the last of their enemy fled into the jungle and out of sight. Sergeants then went around assigning the grim task of executing the injured wereboars on the field. I could see the shaking hands of some of the elves as the adrenaline rush started to wear off, those on execution detail sometimes losing their lunch as they completed their dark task. The odor of shit, blood, and worse filled the air, typical sights and smells of a battlefield. For most of the elves this was their first real battle, many of them looking lost, some staring with blank faces, none of them unaffected by the carnage around them. They had fought the wereboars before, but nothing close to this scale. Violence is scary, anyone who says otherwise is either a liar or insane. There was something more to a large scale battle, however. Something that made the violence so much worse, and yet somehow more exciting as well. In both lives, I knew soldiers who lived for it, battle maniacs, unable to truly feel alive without large scale violence. Me, I was never a maniac, though that didn’t mean I shied away from battle. It just made me tired. Tired and hopeful that these elves would go a long time without needing to fight like this again. Not likely, at least not until after the counterattack.
I could see the healers, Tabby in their mix, working to save those they could. A few had sword wounds from accidental friendly fire, just another hazard of being a soldier. The dead were laid out to the side of the healers, covered by sheets. Thankfully, only a few, yet still losses who would be mourned. This was the reality of war. Battle. I was made for this. I thought sadly. Suddenly, I could feel my mental protections kicking in. Huh! That was weird. My mental protection usually stopped moments like that from occurring, helping with the stress of battle. Going to have to talk to Tabby about that. It was true that I had my issues. There was no way to even try to deny that, but it wasn’t something that hit me that hard, especially on a battlefield.
Walking over to the healers, I guarded them while making sure to stay out of their way, aware my presence could distract them from their work. Lucky showed up twenty minutes later, covered in blood but uninjured. As he stood next to me, he looked pensive, the rush of the battle fading now.
“Hey, Rho,” he greeted.
“Lucky,” I nodded to him.
“That was different than I expected. It’s different from the,” he took a second to find the right word, twirling his hand around, “smaller fights. So much more of the worst parts of them. The fights I mean.” He took a deep breath, turned to look at the healers, then stepped closer to me.
“Yup, nothing really prepares you for battle. Fighting like you did before helps,” I shrugged, nodding at the scene around me, “but as you said, it’s not the same. Thanks to you, I completed my quest.” Trying to move past the battle and the darkness it generated, I changed the subject. “You’ll have to tell me about your side of the fight later. Tonight, I have something else planned, sorry.” I said in mock apology, hitting him in the shoulder.
He snickered, “I don’t blame you. Think I might have the same plans.”
“Hey, man, I don’t do freaky stuff like that,” I teased him.
He let out a full belly laugh at that, breaking some of the lingering trauma created by the battle. “You know what I meant, you ass.” I couldn’t help but laugh with him.
“Hey, boys. What’s so funny?” Tabby asked, coming to stand on the other side of me.
“Oh, nothing, Tabs’ just talking about the battle,” I waved it off… I hoped. “How’s everything with you? You didn’t get hurt, did you?” I asked, concerned, but confident that she had been in no real danger. If she had been, I would have been by her side in an instant, staying there until it was all over one way or the other.
“No, I was safe. Well, as safe as you can be on a battlefield.” Lucky excused himself, leaving me and Tabby relatively alone. “Completed your quest, I see.”
I groaned. She had heard us talking. She just laughed at the groan that went along with the painfully embarrassed expression on my face. “You should see your face. Go talk to the commander, then take a nice, long bath. I will be waiting,” she squeezed my hand, which at some point had found hers, and gave me a kiss before departing. I was smiling while turning a pretty shade of red, making her giggle and turn to glance at me as she headed back to Marvel.
I caught up with Maximus as the last of the injured were being taken back to the Home tree. He was about to order his soldiers to form up and head back when he noticed my approach. “Great one,” he bowed his head as he faced me. “I thank you for your help. The battle could have turned out quite differently had you and Sir Lucky not been there.” I bowed my head slightly in return as I stopped in front of him.
“It was my honor, Commander.” I told him, waving away his praise. “Now, if you no longer need me, I’m going to head back.”
“No, Great Rho, I don’t think your presence is required any longer. I do ask that you are ready to march out with us tomorrow morning. If you are willing to join us that is. We leave once the sun has fully risen.” Saluting each other, we went about our individual business.
***
I must have scrubbed the first layer of my skin off in the bath as I noticed my healing factor kicking in a couple of times. Still, I took my time, nervous yet excited at the same time. Like a freaking teenager again. Get your shit together, Rho. I mentally scolded myself. The bath helped to bring things back into perspective, centering me, washing the battle away metaphorically as well as physically. After a good hour in the bath, I climbed out and toweled off.
Tabby had an elf tailor make me some casual clothes that could be worn when armor wasn’t required. The fashions the elves favored were not something I would have worn back on Earth. Although it was a nice change in pace, as a Gess we weren’t allowed to wear anything other than the standard armor given to us by the geneticists. I imagined the shirt she’d had made for me would be called a tunic, but I never saw one in either of my lives, so I couldn’t be certain. It was a deep, black cherry red—at least, I like the color—that fell to right above my knee. There were slits that went halfway up the thigh. It wasn’t baggy, yet it wasn’t tight either. It was designed to be worn with a belt, so I put my sword belt on over top of it. I had a clean pair of system-generated boxers, thank Gebus. The footwear was a type of soft leather moccasins with a fur lining. They didn’t have soles like boots from the system, or the one I remembered from the old days. Instead, they just had a harder, rougher leather.
Unsure about the look itself, I couldn’t complain about the comfort. It was soft, didn’t hinder my movements, and kept my body warm. Good enough, I said to myself as I made my way to our quarters.
Tabby was stunning, covered in a sleek, sheer black tunic that hugged her body perfectly. She smiled as I closed the door behind me. “I have your reward ready for you, handsome.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
>
As we started our march away from the elves’ Home trees. I was glad I only needed six hours rest every two days, because I didn’t get any the night before. Tabby and I had explored every inch of each other, taking care to treat ourselves to every pleasure we could imagine many times throughout the night. However, the first time was slow, awkward, and quickly over. Though throughout the night we both grew increasingly more competent. Well, it was the first time for us both, in these bodies at least. I mused, at the memories as we marched.
Tilting my head back I shut my eyes, I was enjoying the sun on my face and the breeze in the air. It was a glorious day. I was on the left flank of the formation again, off to the side as we marched down the sloped hill of the boulder, I heard the earth mages being ordered to double time it to the front of the formation as we approached the river. We came to a halt at the bottom of the slope where the river cut around the village. The earth mages started forming a bridge to go over the river, and in under a minute we were crossing it, heading toward the side of the jungle that led to the grasslands. I figured the jungle part of our journey would be the most difficult. The path through it to the grasslands was only wide enough for two soldiers at a time, with overgrowth choking in on both sides, making it excellent hunting grounds for predators.
The plan was to march through the jungle, then stop for the day a few miles into the grasslands. This would give the elven soldiers enough time to set up camp with an earthen wall surrounding it as well as allowing the scouts time to do their jobs. Hopefully, I thought, knowing they had never set up a camp like that, and also not having a clue as to how far the scouts had to travel. After yesterday’s battle, Maximus had sent scouts to follow the wereboars back to their home, telling them to stay well away from them and not to take any chances that would lead to losses. It had been less than a day, so while those scouts had yet to return and report back the wereboars’ location, not enough time had passed for us to become worried. Fortunately, we had other scouts that had been sent ahead of the main group to find the path the others had taken, giving the information back to the sergeants, which in turn guided us toward the proper trail through the jungle and into the grasslands.
Tabby had stayed behind, saying that the healers could do just about anything she could, so with a wave and smile only a recently laid male could produce, I left her back at Marvel this morning. She also wanted to get as much work done as she could before our inevitable, upcoming departure. Lucky was again on the right flank, closer to his fellow elves, joking around as we marched toward the jungle, bouncing like the bundle of nervous energy he was, much to the disapproving looks of the NCOs in formation. Yet morale was high, so they put up with it somewhat. I didn’t have the luxury of being able to joke around with the troops, due to the fact that I was “Great Rho”, but more importantly, because I didn’t want them or me to become too attached, or more attached than I already am. One of the drawbacks of being on a quest like this, I guess, I shrugged. At least the trauma of my last life made being distant easier, I sighed. Wow, two things in a row I want to do less of. Oh well, not going to let it ruin my day.
I taught the elves a few cadences, boredom getting the better of me. Some from this world, some from my own, half of which they will never know the full meaning of, seeing as they have no reference to it, I laughed internally. Other than that, the march up to the jungle was uneventful, and thanks to the bridge the mages had made, hours shorter than it would have been.
As we started going through the jungle, the soldiers grew tense. Noise was kept at a minimum as we traveled, even though the scouts didn’t report any creatures along the path. It was a fact that no matter what was seen, there were predators out there. The jungle was never safe to just walk around unaware. I was at the head of the column, a hundred yards ahead of the rest, hoping anything waiting in ambush would go for me first. Lucky had rear guard, which meant there was a good chance he would have a fight or two before we finished crossing the dense foliage filled with the sounds of thousands of animals. We made it through to the grasslands by midafternoon. For all our worries, only Lucky was attacked, and only once. A jungle viper had tried to make a meal of him by attacking from behind. Unfortunately for it, Lucky was on guard, having hunted those snakes most of his life. One causal swing of Moonlight while quickly leaning to the side, and that was that. Lucky didn’t even bother to stop and loot the corpse.
As planned, we marched a few miles into the grasslands then stopped, the soldiers quickly getting to work on the fortifications, marking out where the walls were to be built, pits to be dug, and all the necessities of an army camp. Scouts became lookouts guarding the earth mages who went where the leadership indicated, raising four-foot walls a foot thick. The earth mages used the ground in front of the walls, constructing a slope leading up to them. This made the wall around six feet on the outside, while creating a gully that would also hinder attackers trying to invade the camp. The soldiers then set up camp trampling down the tall grass, some even getting yelled at for using their swords to cut the grass down as they went about erecting their tents. A central fire pit was built with the commander’s tent next to it. From there, they set up their tents in the same wavy oval the yurts had been positioned in, the entrances on either side so they could be by the fire, or head to the walls at a moment’s notice. Well, the last part will come with practice, not all will survive, I thought fearfully.
Tabby had managed to teach space magic to Celeste who was a weaver and our first tailor. By some miracle, this all combined magically to give her a class that specialized in making bags of holding. This was a huge boon for the soldiers, pfft, for me too. I finally can carry my own loot! Though it does make me feel even worse for how I treated her originally. It made it unnecessary for the elves to bring wagons or the animals and crews that were necessary to use them.
Item: Bag of Holding
Quality: Good
Description: This bag was made by a Space Weaver, giving it a greater amount of carrying capacity than its outside appearance would suggest. Can hold ten cubic feet. Reduces weight by 75%.
It was a canvas bag a foot long and maybe six inches in diameter. With a drawstring to keep it closed, it was easy to tie to your belt. The only thing that set it apart from an ordinary canvas bag was the way light reflected off it. It had a sort of metallic sheen at times, almost a glow that you would catch sight of every now and then. They were simply amazing. It was one of the few wonders I had never seen before. All the geneticists had some type of storage device, but never shared any details about them. We Gess weren’t allowed access to them in any way, just another reason I never really got my loot. So, I was in awe. It was a dream come true, and the first day I had it I tried as many things as I could before Tabby became irritated with me acting like a child in front of everybody. I truly didn’t care, but still stopped when she asked, chuckling like a madman the whole time regardless.
Lucky and I were placed in the same tent for the night, each tent holding two soldiers, with the soldiers using their tents in rotation. I could have been an ass, watching him instead of helping him, but remembered how much I hated it when the higher-ups did the same thing, so joined in the work. After the tent was up, I placed my bed mattress on the ground next to Lucky’s bedroll, as he gave me a raised eyebrow.
“What? If I don’t have to sleep on the ground I won’t. You’re just pissed you didn’t think of it,” I laughed, smirking at him, his expression one of annoyance as I explained.
That night, the soldiers on guard were attacked twice by grassland lions. The creatures were as big as African lions, the differences between them being that the males had no manes, like cougars. Both times there were a few injuries, though no deaths, the soldiers handling the situation superbly. I slept right through the attacks, thankfully, not needed in the night’s defense, exhausted after the last forty hours or so of going nonstop.
In the morning, Maximus informed Lucky and I that the scouts he had sent out after the battle
to tail the wereboars had returned. From what the scouts had observed, it sounded like most of the wereboar fighters were at the battle, leaving mostly females with the young at their home. Their home being nothing more than a small, shallow pond about three hundred yards in diameter, half a day’s march from us. Filled with the disgusting monsters wallowing in their own filth, their numbers looked noticeably smaller than they were recently, as far as the scouts could tell anyway.
Maximus’ plan was a straight assault. The issue, and entire reason for telling us separately, was the presence of a beast called a wereboar patriarch. The scouts had said that it was easily nine feet tall. After he let that sink in for a second, Maximus went on to explain that the monster wasn’t like the lesser wereboars. It was pure muscle, unlike the flabby freaks we had already seen, with quick reflexes, and a deadly temperament. One scout, who looked pale at the retelling of his story, observed the beast snatch a wereboar father in its grip, upon its return from the battle, crushing it with its bare hands before eating the remains, snarling in disgust the whole time. Maximus wanted Lucky and me to deal with the wereboar patriarch while his troops took care of the rest. The plan was for us and a scout to go ahead of the main force, circling to the side of the clearing the monster called home. We were then to wait until the main force started its attack, hopefully drawing as much attention as possible away from the patriarch as possible, then rush in and take it down. I agreed, which, of course, meant Lucky agreed, so we started to get ready to move out ahead of the main force.
G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier Page 18
