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Chapter 68 - Pride and Sadness
🕑 Added 2024-07-01 17:54:16 +0000 UTCPlans for the future and worry were a fact of life. How my life had become so centered around those two facets, I wasn't sure. We all knew what to expect in the 25th wave and we had to be prepared for it.
The monsters would start coming from all 4 directions and I had to think up a way to defend against it. We only had 3 powerful warriors currently and no one was close to being able to do what we did.
Jonathan barely held off his gate last wave and we needed another to do the same for the fourth gate. The only thing I could think of was sending everyone from my side away. I could hold my gate alone and have extra people on the weaker side.
It would be hard to hold the gate by myself, but I could do it.
The 25th wave was a week away and we needed to have plans for what was going to occur.
The new addition to the walls would be a great help in the coming waves and it was a great purchase for the battle. It was an expensive purchase and took a lot of points, but it was worth it. We now had actual siege weapons that would be of great use.
8 large catapults positioned on top of the walls with 2 facing every direction. It was like looking back on history and pulling the catapults forward in time. They sat at around 10 feet tall and the same in length. The action arm was around 8 feet long and thick ropes coiled around the whole thing and kept it under tension.
It was truly starting to feel like a defense during a siege.
These weapons were more effective than their ancient counterparts in that they were modified with magic. The wood constructing them along with the rope was all modified with magic of some degree. I wasn't sure what or how much, but it was clear it was modified.
They fired farther than they should have and faster. The projectiles they shot out weren't normal stones either, they had runes carved on them that exploded when making contact with anything.
The explosion was quite violent. They wouldn't be able to down a boss in one shot but could definitely kill the minions of the wave. We hadn't had a wave to test them yet but I was excited to see how well they would do. There were only 2 catapults to a side which was a downer, but if there were any more I wasn't sure we could afford the ammunition.
Each projectile cost 1,000 points. It was an insane price and using them caused the same problem as the traps bought from the store as well, it would diminish the amount of points received through killing that way.
So not only were they expensive to use, they wouldn't result in the same amount of points earned at the end of the battle. It was an unfortunate outcome but I thought they would be worth it in the end.
It would take people away from using their own skills but the devastation the weapons brought was more than worth it. It was perfect for the few who focused on the profession side of things. It would allow them to have a bigger impact during the battles if they manned the siege weapons.
The battles came with so many monsters that missing out on the points of a few was worth it in the long run. It would have fewer monsters make it to the walls and less pressure on the defenders.
I was expecting mana cannons or something else of the fantasy variety when we purchased them, but what we got were catapults.
Even with the new addition, I was still worried. If I held a gate by myself, that left 22 people to the other 3 sides. Placement of who went where would be important and making sure people's skills didn't interfere with each other was paramount.
Oh, how I wished I could have everything just charged straight at me. It would make everything so much easier. But no, I had to plan out a defense that would hopefully end with as much family still alive as I could.
With the purchase of the siege weapons, we were ready to upgrade our camp again. We had upgraded to a small town before which unlocked the siege weapons, and now we were ready to do so again. It spawned level 25 orcs when we upgraded the last time and if the pattern held, the upgrade would spawn level 35s.
Every upgrade went up 10 levels and increased our camp in different ways. I wasn't sure what the new level would unlock, but it would be good to do so before the last wave.
The time I had to go out and level was starting to become filled with meetings and planning sessions of what was to come. I still got out and hunted when I could, but making time was becoming difficult. We received letters and messages from some of the factions that were still around as well that I had to deal with. We got one detailing something coming our way but I couldn't focus on that right now, I was focused on not dying to the waves.
I reached level 34 in my class and 27 in my profession. Leveling from the wave and the smithing I had done since my evolution. I brought up my stats so I could look at them.
Strength - 260
Agility - 131
Perception - 46
Fortitude - 122
Endurance - 130
Vitality - 68
Intelligence - 32
Wisdom - 74
Acumen - 30
Bringing up an abbreviated version of my status sheet wasn't that hard, I just had to focus on what I wanted to see. Wisdom shot up from what it used to be since I used all of my free points on it. I spent all 18 of them on it.
Anything to make me better at fighting off the long waves. Having a bigger pool of mana would let me use my skills more freely and let me use more of them during the wave rather than saving it for the boss.
My strength was still the highest by far and it would stay that way for a while. With [Body of a Barbarian] contributing to it along with the points I got through leveling, it was easily my highest stat.
From Champion of Niflheim, I got 6 points in strength per level along with another from the endurance transfer for a total of 7. My newly evolved profession gave 3 per level. Added together I got 10 points in strength per level from both class and profession.
My new profession did a good job of evening out which stats it boosted and in time the lopsidedness would go away. Hopefully. If it didn't that would mean I spent a lot of time fighting and something went horribly wrong.
One thing I was surprised about was I didn't feel anything wrong with my stats being the way that they were. When agility got under a 3:1 ratio to strength I felt the disconnect in my movements but nothing like that has happened for the others.
There was probably an information packet I could buy that would detail everything out but I didn't feel like looking for it. We had another lecture-style information purchase scheduled for after the next wave when we got enough points.
With over half of our camp reaching the F-rank the 'system' deemed us ready for more information. It was extremely frustrating to be spoon-fed information at a snail's pace when everyone else in the multiverse didn't have to deal with that.
I didn't know that for a fact, but it was getting ridiculous. The System wanted us to flail around in the dark until someone figured it out before giving us the information it could have to begin with. Like what happened with the Laws.
It kept everything hidden from us about them until I got one, then it opened up and let us buy information about it. I wasn't sure what purpose it all served but there had to be a reason for it. Being the 151st integration meant there were 150 integrations before us for The System to gather information.
Trusting that the system knew what it was doing was hard. I was an inherently distrusting person and having blind faith in something that I didn't understand was asking for a lot, the only difference being that there was nothing I could do to change it.
No amount of effort would change what the system offered us.
It was almost time for dinner and I didn't have time to start another project before it was time to eat so I made my way out of the forge.
Vinny was still hammering away and I could hear clanging as I walked away. Looking around I could see Sam and Ashley in their workshop working on new armor for the wave. Like Vinny and me, they got their own permanent workshop for their craft.
Scott was running around putting the finishing touches on a barricade for the monsters he built. It wouldn't stop them all but it would direct them away from the more important buildings.
A group of 3 worked in the kitchen to prepare dinner for all of us. Chopping up cuts of meat and vegetables bought from the store. Abigail went around fussing about this and that, making sure everything was where it should be.
Anna and Josh were running around playing with Lily and the other kids. Smiles and laughter came easier for the kids. They weren't as weighed down as the rest of us.
Just walking around and taking everything in was surreal. We built this, sure the system helped, but we were the ones who did it. Taking in everything we had accomplished filled me with pride.
Pride and sadness. Sadness for the few who wouldn't be able to see it. Derek never even got to see the walls. Granddad and Uncle Mark wouldn't be able to see their grandchildren grow up. It was hard to think about sometimes.
The only thing I could do was try to be better.
23 of us were still alive and it scared me to wonder how many would still be around when we got back to earth. Two died during the last wave. Two more added to the fallen. How many would the last 8 waves take?
If this was supposed to be torture, someone was doing a good job.
In the time before dinner, I went to find my Dad. There was something I needed to ask of him.
"Dad, do you have a second?" I asked.
He was going through the motions of sparring wearing the new chitin armor that Sam and Ashley rushed to make before the wave tomorrow. It used the best parts from the spider's natural armor and was a lot tougher than normal hide.
It had similar defensive properties as metal armor did but it was more flexible. It was easier to move in than the armor that we created. Vinny and I were still new at blacksmithing after all. It seemed Leatherworker was a looser term than what I imagined.
Dad stuck with the shield and axe combo that he started with and he had been doing pretty well for himself. I made him a new axe after working out the kinks of runes and a matching shield. Both had Runes of Least Durability carved on them.
"What's up?" He answered.
Not wanting to interrupt his time too much, I grabbed my hammer to join him in a light spar. We both weren't using our full strength as that would defeat the purpose.
Both of us went at half speed to go through the motions of the fight and work on the basics while talking. I began with small talk but we quickly got to what I needed to say.
"The 25th wave isn't far away." I said, "We will need another to hold the last gate."
This was the idea I came up with. We could use more people to hold the last gate but I thought one would be better. I could train him harder than the rest and work on getting him a law of his affinity.
I could make him the best armor and weapon I could and have him level as much as possible. It was easier to focus on one person than everyone.
Raising one person to Jonathan's level was easier than raising 4 people to half that. I thought over who to level up and my Dad was who I came up with. It was a tad biased but everyone else would get over it.
Plus, he had worked hard since the change and wasn't that far behind anymore.
"I don't know if I can do that, son," Dad said.
He was considering it which was a good sign, but he looked unconvinced.
"I'm not the same as you and Austin, I don't know if I could do it." He added.
"I'll ease you into it. Why don't you stand closer to me these next few waves to get a taste for it and get more experience so you'll be ready when the time comes." I said.
I stopped swinging my hammer and looked at him for an answer. He could say no, I wasn't going to pressure him into doing it. There were others I could ask and if that failed, go back to the old plan.
He looked indecisive but in the end, he nodded. "Alright."
It would be a challenge to regulate how intense of a fight he got but I could do it. I just had to make sure to ease him into it rather than throwing him in the deep end.
It would also have the added benefit of leveling him up so his survivability increased. It would be dangerous, but I believed in him. He made me who I was today, a small piece of who I was came from him and he would be able to do it. I had no doubt in my mind he would do it.
Comments
James Faulkner
Tftc!
