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Chapter 167 - Name Your Outpost
🕑 Added 2024-10-29 21:32:57 +0000 UTCFinding the pylon was easy. It would be harder to overlook it than it was to find it. Its beacon effect hadn't diminished or disappeared over our months of travel or construction.
Even if Abigail tried to play hide and seek with it, which I swore she did with certain materials, by moving it around to different carts intermittently, I would have been able to find it.
It felt odd to hold one in my hand. When we were first introduced to them and saw one at the start of our tutorial, it was already affixed to the ground. It was already placed and we weren't given the option to move it, only claim it.
The pylon I received at the end, the one I now held, wasn't affixed to anything. It was a midnight black rod that seemed to eat light. Fitting in my hand comfortably, it measured about 2 feet in length, and a few inches in diameter. A far cry from the size I knew it was. I knew it would grow into the obelisk I knew from before once placed, but it was still odd to hold it in my hand.
If people hadn't heard our warning yet, they certainly knew something was up now. The pylon was rarely, if ever, moved and people would be able to feel it as I did so.
It was no surprise that a crowd began to form as I walked with it. They all knew what we were by now.
Around half our number, just over a hundred, stood geared ready to fight. More than I expected from the group. Not everyone was so inclined to violence after being given a chance to settle down.
The fighters were geared and ready, wearing determined faces with only the barest hint of nerves. Not all knew what would happen as only a few had tutorials that experienced them other than ours.
They knew from stories, but this would be their first time facing a wave. If I didn't have so many bad memories associated with waves, their nervousness would be amusing.
Without having to say anything, the group parted as I neared and fell in behind me as I passed. Conversation was light amongst the group and only a few people had the courage to speak.
We certainly chose the right day to do it, I thought. While snow covered the ground, none fell from the sky. Clouds dotted the sky letting the occasional ray of sunlight fall down. The occasional snow storms took a day off for us to place our pylon in decent weather.
While it would have made me stronger, the others would have had to fight through the hindrance.
Arriving at our construction site unveiled another additional boon. With all the work I had been doing to prepare the ground, it was already clear of any snow for us to fight on.
It was easy enough to use [Ice Manipulation] to clear the frozen carpet of white and it made it easier to visualize what I was doing. It was easy to confuse distances when everything was a monotone white.
As we arrived, people turned to me expectantly. Even with my growing confidence in leading groups from our travels, it was still somewhat awkward to be in charge of so many.
The largest battle I had been in was against the Mindbreaker and that was only a fifth of the number I was now in charge of. Plus, I wasn't even the one leading most of the time. I was off on my own for most of the battle.
Others usually led during the defense of the waves and by the time I started doing it, the plan was already set. I didn't need to do much other than fight.
Luckily, my foray into large-scale battles would be relatively simple. I knew what to expect, I knew what would spawn and I only had to array the people to fight against it.
"Shields Front! Rogues behind!" The group shifted after my shout and a group of people hefting shields stepped forward. Metal-on-metal clanks could be heard as either the full plate or half plate, depending on what they chose, clinked against each other. The 20 most heavily armored of our group settled into the front of the line.
While sword and shield were the most common weapon arrangement, there was a healthy mix in the entire group. Spear and shield was second most common followed by axe or mace.
After the shields were set, another group of 19 set up behind them. These were Rogue-type Classes that weren't best at front-line fighting. They were set behind the wall of shields to take care of anything that got through or to help out the front line if it was overwhelmed. None wore the heavy plate the front line favored, instead donning hardened leathers and furs.
This kind of structuralized fighting wasn't where their Class excelled, but they were good enough to kill things quickly behind cover. It was when they were outnumbered and surrounded that problems arose.
This group sported shorter weapons and usually used both hands as well, dual daggers or short swords. Some chose not to and kept their off-hand free but those who chose to do so were few.
"Warriors split and hold the flanks!" While the Rogues were in charge of helping the shields hold the line, the Warriors without shields were in charge of holding the sides. The majority of Warriors used a shield, but 15 chose to go without, not including myself.
Two-handed weapons like spears or great swords were most common in this group but there were other things as well, such as two-handed battle axes and one with a quarterstaff.
Jonathan's twin shields weren't the only uncommon choice of weapons.
"Archers Back!" The same shifting occurred but this time it was swift and without the associated clanking. Bowmen were the least populous archetype besides Healer in our group while also having the longest range. The faster arrangement was due to the fewer people who had to move. Including Hal, only 13 others held the Class.
I called them Archers instead of Rangers because most weren't the base class anymore and had evolved out of it and into a wider variety. Archer encompassed them all and that was why I used the general term instead of Ranger.
Plus, everyone knew what an Archer was and it made it easier when giving orders.
"Mages, form up based on affinity!" The last group besides the Healers finished sorting themselves out. 27 people in our group chose the Arcane route and were firmly in second behind the warriors in number.
We knew from experience having two opposite affinities next to each other hindered them so we devised splitting them up. While it wasn't the end of the world if it happened, it was easy enough to fix.
Gabriel and Rachel stood at opposite ends of the line as they were direct opposites. Other matchups had to be separated as well, such as the lone lightning mage and the few metal mages.
While they could be used in tandem to great effect, we weren't a coherent enough group to stop friendly fire from happening. The same was true of Lightning and Water. If any water was connected back to the mage and lighting struck it... the mage was in for a bad time.
Or if water splashed on some of the warriors and then lightning struck... it was just easier to separate them for now until they were used to working together. It wasn't like we trained for this, yet.
We certainly would after this, but I had assumed the first wave would be me alone.
The last group was the Healers at only around 10. While the assortment of Classes told a picture, it was far from the full one. This was only half of our group only those who wanted to fight.
While having 10 Healers for a group of 100 seemed few, there were more back at the camp who chose not to fight. My grandmother and Sam included. Abigail and Ashely chose to join us in the field.
I had them interspaced throughout the lines attempting to go for equal coverage.
Our formation was far from the best and there were no doubt some who had specific environments that would make them better, but for the first wave, this was enough. It would give everyone a taste of the waves while being a simple enough battle that things weren't chaotic.
Specific classes or fighting styles that weren't suited for this kind of combat would need to be incorporated with proper planning that we just didn't have yet.
With our formation set, it was time to place the pylon.
Standing at the center of where our future castle would be, I brought the pylon out in front of me.
After accepting the message to place it, the Pylon began to change in my hand. It jumped from my grasp and started extending out. It grew in both directions and settled into the ground where I placed it.
'Placement of Civilization Pylon accepted, initiating claiming of land.'
After it became the pylon I used to know, another notification chimed not a moment after the shifting ended.
'Defend your claim!'
Ah, the dreaded notification is back. Well, what used to be the dreaded notification. It didn't hold that existential creeping fear that it once did.
Everyone must have gotten the same notification because reactions sounded out from the group. Those who knew the drill didn't show any outward expression but everyone that was new did.
While I waited a beat for Hal to convey what we were up against, I moved through the crowd to take my place at the front. The wave could only come from one direction and I would take my customary place as the vanguard.
Positioned in the dead center, I only stood a step or two ahead of the line of shields instead of way out in front. I would hardly be fighting with the group if I stood out ahead and fought alone.
Austin chose not to join me and that was fine, he was off to the side with the rest of the shieldless warriors.
"Goblins! Level 30 or so with highs at 50!" Hal shouted.
While a bit tougher than anticipated, it was around what we planned for. Tracy had mentioned what her wave was like and this was a few levels above that.
Either she was lying, which was unlikely considering the relationship she wished to foster, or the waves weren't constant. Just another joy to plan for.
We didn't have the high ground and it took a moment to pick the wave out from the trees, but I saw the shifting bodies eventually. The tree line was cut back during my work but it had yet to be cleared enough for easy visibility.
They were similar to the goblins we had fought before but their levels changed them. The goblins from before were much lower level and weren't nearly as coordinated as the ones I was seeing now.
They didn't march in ranks or hold a formation, but they were clearly denoted by the different evolutions as they had varying sizes and weaponry.
A collection of metal weaponry along with some bows were among them. A few at the back wore feathered caps carrying staves which I marked as Shamans.
Their numbers were few compared to what I was used to and only outnumbered us around two to one.
After looking over what we were up against, I signaled the start.
"Archers, fire at will!"
Arrows whistled overhead and more flew through the air than our number would indicate. Hal and Carrie chose to join us and both of them had [Splitting Shot] trained well. Or in Carrie's case, her evolved [Arrow Rain].
Those two could put out multiple arrows from one shot and it seemed they weren't alone in having the skill. Not knowing the range of how far they could shoot, I left it up to them to dictate.
Same with the mages. Everyone had a different range their skills could go and I didn't know everyone well enough to get a good picture in my head.
The mages didn't need any prompting and once the goblins closed in, their magical fire joined the arrows in the sky.
Rachel's fireballs were easy to pick out due to their size but other attacks held a strength to them as well.
I witnessed a patch of the snow rise up and completely encase a goblin running over it and I knew of only one who could be responsible for that.
It was an odd thing to experience. It was so far away from how we started that it felt entirely different. Large clusters of arrows and devastating bolts of magic that I witnessed now made the first wave of the tutorial feel like child's play.
Where we once only had 3 Rangers and 7 Mages, more than 4 times that number were now releasing their attacks together.
The goblins died in droves but the distance from the tree line was short enough that half would make it to our line before they fell.
While I felt the fight would be a bit of a letdown, this battle wasn't for me. I would usually be throwing javelins of ice or firing of [Ice Arrow] at this time, but I refrained from doing so.
This was a rare chance to get experience leading and I wanted to make the most of it.
Bows continued to lose and swirls of mana flew through the air, but the goblins were closing in nonetheless.
I readied my hammer as they neared, "Brace Shields!"
While the line wasn't enough to interlock in any fashion, they lowered themselves and got ready to receive the goblin's charge. Before the lines collided, I could see various objects flying out from behind me.
Throwing knives and other bladed objects from the Rogues behind us or throwing axes and javelins from those who had them.
It cut down the first few but there wasn't enough to blunt the charge by much.
As the lines crashed, I brought down my hammer on its first victim. [Mighty Blow] was unnecessary and my bare strength was more than enough to end its life.
I left my more... excessive skills alone and stuck to swinging my hammer for the most part. I didn't even use [Frost Armor] for the battle.
The line of shields handled the charge well with only a few sliding back from the mass. As the goblin's momentum stalled, weapons lit up with skills and our frontline had its time to shine.
Arrows from the goblins tried to rain down on us but they were swatted out of the air by the wind. I was unsure who was responsible, but I believed it was my mother.
Similar to the arrows, any magic the goblin Shaman's tried to wield failed spectacularly. Either washing over the [Mana Shields] of those who had them or imploded with other skills before they landed.
Without having to deal with any projectiles, the front line was able to have their sole attention on what was in front of them.
We out-leveled the goblins by a decent degree and while they landed a few blows, it wasn't enough to bring anyone down for long. The few unlucky enough to catch a bad hit had a Healer on them before the blood could start flowing.
I fought with one eye on the wave and one keeping track of what was happening around me. It didn't take much attention to wield my hammer and even the sliver I was giving it was more than enough.
My attention elsewhere made sure no one died. If any looked to be unaware of a threat or in a losing situation, a Law-infused spike of Ice freed them up quickly.
Letting people fight like we planned was risky and I tried to make sure that no one died, or at least attempted to. I wouldn't be able to do this forever nor was I perfect, but I did my best to keep casualties from happening.
A few took nasty wounds while I had my attention elsewhere, but no one looked to be in any fatal danger.
As the goblin's number dwindled, my need to interfere dwindled with it. As the numbers turned against them, people began working together. A shield in front to hold attention while a warrior or rogue finished them off.
Arrows were deadly accurate and they could even fire through our lines. That was a bit risky in my opinion but if they trusted themselves to make the shot, I wouldn't say anything. Until they slipped up, but I didn't see any of that happen.
While it wasn't a good fight personally, it was a good showing of how far we had come. We could fight in ranks decently and we weren't total amateurs at it which was a good enough foundation to start on.
I did see a few standouts that I would try to convince to join my guards but everyone who chose to fight did well.
It made me feel good about the future.
It was little more than 15 minutes after the wave began that the last goblin fell. As it did, the kill notifications came in and I saw people look over what they had. Some should have leveled, even if I did not.
It was hard to focus on what I had killed when one other notification stuck out from the rest.
You have successfully defended your claim!
Name Your Outpost.
Comments
Alexander C Hyde
Bows continued to (loose)lose and swirls of mana flew through the air, but the goblins were closing in nonetheless.
Alexander C Hyde
It was no surprise that a crowd began to form as I walked with it. They all knew what we were (doing) by now.
Buck
Really have no idea what they will name the city. Will be interesting to see what the author goes with.
Demonlord
Thanks for the nice chapter 😊
PWeygandt
ZalenSkii Lodge. Turn this place into a resort⛷️
