“I would be the prettiest ballerina,” Steve said in a dejected voice.
“Why do we always get the metal-brained monkey?” Gurren sighed. He pulled out a helmet from his bag and put it on his head.
“’Cause we got hit on the head too many times as children,” Lox said in a sorrowful voice.
Steve snickered at this. He changed his arms through their different functions to make sure that they all worked before he grabbed the axe on his back. It came free with a scraping on metal.
All of the DCA looked at the massive weapon.
“Hello, honey. You missed me? I know you have. Coochie, coochie coo.” Steve moved his finger on the back of the large axe head as if petting the underside of a kitten’s chin.
The DCA officers looked to the Party Zero members.
Induca shrugged while Lox and Gurren checked their swords and shields and then one another’s armor as if they had done it thousands of times before.
“What you looking at? You some master mages in disguise or real fighters?” Lox ground out. “Now, you’ve been supplied with these weapons and armor. Are you going to let down Devil’s Crater and let it go to shit? Front and center, one line, arm’s breadth apart! Weapon and armor inspection!”
Lox might not be their commander, but the way he talked seemed to overwrite the officer’s way of thinking as their bodies moved into position without conscious thought.
Induca lightly stretched, checking the potions and gear in her belt and hot bar before she went over to Steve to see whether he needed anything checked.
Lox and Gurren moved through the five DCA officers, giving a lesson on how to properly perform inspections on gear, what were flaws, how to do minor repairs and maintenance. It took an hour before they were done, and now the officers saw their weapons and armor in a whole new light.
“Okay, now I think you’re ready to venture down.” Lox looked to Gurren, who nodded.
“This is how we’re going to do it: three of you up front, one of us behind you. We will advance slowly and carefully, discover the enemies, make a plan and carry it out. You will be up at the front, so don’t rely on us to save you if we run into a situation. This dungeon hasn’t been scouted, so slow and steady through here.”
With that said, Lox looked around at them all. His stoic expression turned into a grin. “Well, let’s clear us out this dungeon then!”
Krenua advanced at the front with two of his officers on either side. Behind them was Steve. He smiled as he moved his axe back and forth slowly.
They advanced into the dungeon. It had a faint musty smell; water could be heard dripping in the distance. It quickly became darker in the dungeon as it went lower.
Krenua held up his hand as he heard a noise ahead of him. He moved up slowly, careful to not make a sound.
A corner blocked him from seeing what was ahead. He peeked past it to see that the tunnel opened up into a larger cavern with three different tunnels breaking off from it.
The tunnels were secondary to the fourteen timber wolves that had made the intersection their home, burrowing into the walls to make their dens.
At their lowest stage, timber wolves were just slightly larger than regular wolves. They had some control over Earth magic to enhance their strength and their hide. Their coats were colored brown, with flecks of green. At higher levels, they grew to a monstrous size. Their fur could harden to look like the bark of a tree and they could call on vines and branches to grow from their body to help them in a fight. They were stronger, faster, and they could interact with their Earth magic by instinct.
These were only mid-grade timber wolves at Level 120, nearly sixty levels lower than the lowest DCA officer in the party.
“Timber wolves; looks like this is their den. About fourteen of them that I can see,” Krenua said into the party chat. They could talk as loudly as they wanted to through the party chat without fear of anyone hearing them and also blocking outside noises to a degree when they were fighting.
Krenua started using his arcane sight; it had come to him by reflex now. Even with a day of practicing the spell, he had come to have a much higher understanding and appreciation of what was needed to be a mage.
“Good. Pull back,” Lox said.
They reached the rest of the party waiting for them a few meters back.
“These are easy opponents for you lot.” Lox gave them a confident look. “Three of you across the dungeon—use your shields and swords. Slow and easy.”
In minutes, Krenua and the two officers who had been scouting with him were moving up toward the timber wolves. Edlai and Josen were behind them, with Steve and the rest of the party behind them.
They were half the way up the tunnel from the bend they had scouted from when three bolts tore through the air. Steve’s bolts took out two timber wolves and wounded a third.
“Charge! Momentum is winning—losing it is death!” Lox yelled out.
The officers yelled and pushed forward.
The wolves let out their howls, rushing to meet the attackers who had entered their homes.
The DCA officers barely stayed on their feet as their shields crashed into the timber wolves. Only by running forward were they able to have enough momentum to stay upright.
“Get down low! Second rank, get your shields over top of them. In battle, it’s not going to be all hit and run. Sometimes you will just have to fight it out!” Lox barked.
“Three inches of your blade is your enemy’s death. Four inches of steel means you don’t have a weapon!” Gurren yelled.
Krenua heard their calm voices. Even though they were fighting for their lives right now, their confidence and calm made him relax as his sword continued to dart out.
His original apprehension and fear dimmed as he stopped simply reacting according to the training he had gained with the DCA and started to think about his actions. The timber wolves’ fighting style was to pounce on their enemies. As such, their forelegs got caught on the DCA officers’ shields, leaving their stomachs open to the officers’ blades.
“Aim where you’re hitting. Don’t just stab wildly—you’ll only anger them more.” Krenua tried to imitate the calm of Lox and Gurren’s voice.
In minutes, the last of the wolves were put down, their green-brown pelts now red with blood.
Krenua and his officers stood from their fighting stances, a look of relief on their faces.
“You killed the animals and now you’re taking a break. When you’ve killed something on the field of battle, are you just going to stand around holding your privates, thinking you’re the gods’ greatest gift? There’s three entrances to here. Who knows what these wolves woke up or alerted?” Lox asked, his voice firm.
The officers winced at their own actions, quickly organizing themselves and moving to watch the three corridors.
“Steve, Induca, and I will take your spots,” Lox said after a few minutes of letting them reflect on what they had done. “Go, see Gurren.”
The officers moved to Gurren as quickly as possible, trying their best to look like the professionals they were.
“Who here knows how to field dress a kill?” Gurren asked.
Josen and her fellow Beast Kin Gola put up their hands.
“Good—get started on those ones. Waste not, want not. They’ll catch a pretty penny in Unity. Also, when you’re in the field, having a bit of fresh meat is sure to rally the troops after days or weeks of moving through forests and rough terrain,” Gurren said. “Now, the rest of you, watch here.”
Gurren taught them how to check the creatures, remove their offal and talked about ways to use them in the field.
Then, they moved forward again through the leftmost corridor. If they always took the corridor to the right or left, then they would always know their way out of a place without having to check their mini-map.
They killed more timber wolves and a selection of devil wisps, creatures that looked like red floating motes of light and attacked with lightning. Thre
e of the officers had been stunned before Induca finished the wisps off in a single attack.
The entire time, they were learning. It wasn’t like when they had worked in formations or lessons. Everything that Party Zero talked about had been tried and tested. They were veterans in their field.
The DCA officers were all part of the Red Hands force. They were meant to be the best of the best. They were the strongest who had earned a place in the Black Hands and then their fellows’ admiration had raised them to officers. They lived to be out in the field, to be putting their skills to use and developing new ones. Even if they were tired, they pushed forward, eager to show off their strength and abilities.
They had been moving through the dungeon for a number of hours when Lox called a break.
“Get some food and water into you. Remember that you and your people are only mortal beings. You can’t go forever and neither can they. You need to stay in top condition at all times. Down here, not being rested and ready can lead to a fatal mistake.” Gurren pulled out a sandwich.
“I’m going to scout ahead,” Induca said.
“I’ll come with. Maybe we’ll run into a big beastie.” Steve had no need to eat and Induca’s Endurance was so high, hunger didn’t really affect her.
Chapter 8: Devil Crater’s New Residents
Quindar floated in mid-air as if it were as natural as standing. DCA aerial troops moved in formation through the sky. Different groups practiced aerial formations through mock combat.
Others dove over a designated drop zone, using their armor’s ability to create spearheads to safely practice dropping Mana bombs. Others fought one another with their swords and weapons built into their armor and forearms.
“Looks all a bit chaotic.” Anna floated over to Quindar with a smile on her face.
“Yeah, it looks that way at least.”
To the untrained eye, it would look like madness but to Quindar and Anna, they could see the various formations working together to pull off the complicated movements within the air.
“Nothing is as bad as how my family are when they get to training outside. Now, that is one hell of a sight to see.” Quindar grinned.
“Oh, I bet,” Anna said. Wind curled around the lower half of her body, keeping her aloft.
“Their aerial movement isn’t bad but they are getting a bit overconfident. I’m thinking of facing them off against some experienced ground forces to make the point that even if more mobile, they are still quite vulnerable,” Quindar said.
“Agreed. There is a growing rivalry between the two groups. Tempering that, so that they push one another forward to outdo the other, would be advantageous,” Anna agreed. “I’ll get with Kala and see what she says.”
A shadow passed over the sun as Efri and Malkur’s flying forms moved to greet the two instructors. Their large wings flapped beside them as they came into a hover next to them.
“So, what new training are we going to be putting our people through?” Malkur asked.
“We’re going to have you face off against the ground forces to see how you do. I see a lot of smiles out there. Nerves will keep your people alive—overconfidence will get them killed as fast as diving into the ground,” Quindar said.
Malkur nodded solemnly. “Understood,” he said, straightening up in mid-air.
“Good. Then we’ll go and see what Kala thinks. It’s been some time since I saw that ornery old bear!” Anna laughed.
Quindar smiled as the air shifted around her and distorted with heat. Barely visible flames appeared on her feet as she shot forward through the skies; Anna tilted, following as Malkur and Efri’s wings beat rapidly to keep up with the two trainers.
They had been training outside of Unity. If their people missed, they didn’t want them to hit any of the surrounding buildings or people who moved through the city. There was also a lot of air traffic with a large amount of the population having the ability to fly.
Kala and her forces were also outside of Unity for similar reasons. They had training camps in every sector of Devil’s Crater to get her people used to the different terrains.
They had also become much stronger in their fighting, meaning they needed to keep them away from civilians who might try to fly overhead or pass the training barracks in Unity—they could easily be killed by the secondary effects of her troops.
Quindar used her far sight to watch the troops. Kala was with a group fighting in the farming section of Devil’s Crater. They were moving with shields over their heads, closing between two groups, trying to use their strength to overpower the other.
Then there were individual sparring areas where people were fighting in small groups. In the largest training area, DCA soldiers patrolled the border between the farms and the hunting area of the crater.
She watched as a group of soldiers stalked their patrolling fellows. It would lead to the patrols being more attentive and allow the stalkers to improve their ability to follow the enemy and strike when they were weak or distracted.
“Seems the more I watch the DCA, the more similarities I see with hunters instead of simple soldiers,” Quindar said.
A massive bear walked up and down the fighting square where groups were clashing. She had a large war hammer on her back as she yelled out instructions.
Anna led the way, moving over to the training area.
Kala looked up. Seeing the four arrivals, she gave instructions to her officers who moved among the fighters, giving pointers and watching them to see how they could improve. Kala stepped away from the fighting, drinking from a canteen on her hip as the four came in to land in front of her.
“So, what brings you bunch of bird wannabes over to my fine establishment?” Kala asked with a happy grin.
“Good to see you, too, Kala,” Anna said dryly.
“Been awhile since I saw you. We’ve got to spar sometime soon. I’ve been working on ways to tan your ass,” Kala said with confidence.
“Like you’ve been able to do that in four hundred years!” Anna crossed her arms.
“Hey! I was asleep for nearly three hundred of them! But, seriously, you coming over to teach this lot how to fight with their Affinity?”
“I’m still bogged down with teaching people how to fight in the air, though I know that my friend Deia might be over. She’s getting a bit stir-crazy with not doing anything. She’s a really damn fine swordswoman and she uses her Fire element in her attacks. She’s as good as me, if not better,” Anna admitted.
“Oh, is that so?” Kala cocked her head to the side. Anna was not one to waste praise on someone.
“She uses her Affinity as if it’s an extension of herself. She’s not as fast as me, but I think that she will reach my stage with enough time. It will be good for your people to get some more training from her, and she can grow her understanding of her fighting.”
Kala made an interested noise. “I will definitely look out for her in the future.”
“We also came to see if you and yours would be interested in fighting the aerial forces. They’re getting a bit cocky and cocky can lead to them making mistakes. Might also be a good point to bring them down a few notches,” Quindar said.
“I thought you were one of those cocky air lovers. Seems that I was wrong.” Kala smiled.
“Ah, well, I could beat you rocks anytime of the day, but not everyone can be as powerful as me.” Quindar smiled daintily.
Kala let out a laugh. “Come, us ladies have lots to discuss. You two, don’t fall over in a stiff breeze. Go and start sparring with each other. All that paperwork is making you soft,” Kala said to Efri and Malkur.
“We have a lot of work to…” Malkur started.
“Go spar, or else I’ll remind you of just how well I trained you lot.” Kala’s face hardened.
Malkur and Efri straightened their posture. Kala might be the same rank as them, but she was still their trainer who had engraved the fear of higher ranks and her own temper into their very souls.
�
��Yes, General Kala,” Efri said.
“Good. I will be watching. Give it your all. Make a good demonstration for this bunch.” Kala waved to her people who were training across the fields.
Chapter 9: Wasn’t This Supposed to be Easy?
Lox looked over the officers as they advanced through the dungeon located in Devil’s Crater.
Right now, they had to watch out for the officers. With being in actual life-and-death situations, they were able to put their different skills and spells to the test. The chance that they could die was high, but it made for the best training situation. They could go further than before with the confidence of Party Zero’s people being there, but they had to be careful to not exceed their limits.
A screech rang out through the tunnels they were walking through; a howl of a timber wolf followed as Lox gripped the hilt of his sword.
“What the hell was that?” one of the officers asked.
“Timber wolf and goblin.” Gurren looked to Lox.
The Dwarves’ hatred toward goblins was an almost ingrained instinct. There had been many times when goblins had broken into Dwarven tunnels and mountains, creating havoc with their large numbers and twisted bodies.
The timber wolf and goblin came into sight.
Goblin rider
Level 241
Timber wolf mount
Level 210
“Damn, is everything in here in the top tier of strength?” Lox muttered under his breath.
The timber wolf’s hide was turning from its earthern colors to a bark-like texture. Stirrups had formed in the wood for the goblin to ride.
The goblin was straighter, with a hint of intelligence in its eyes. It carried a crude spear, but Lox could see that the material was not as rudimentary as those that the goblins around Mithsia Mountains used.
“It’s got an ebony spearhead,” Gurren hissed.
“Well, then we’re just going to have to liberate it from the goblin.” Lox turned his sword in his hands. “Steve,” Lox called out.
Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7) Page 9
