PenguinKills
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Chapter 89 - Move
🕑 Added 2024-07-24 20:02:37 +0000 UTCI spent most of the night and the following morning thinking about it to no avail. Jonathan's warning that it didn't happen overnight was proving true. My Law came after a few hours of effort but forming a spirit anchor was proving difficult.
Plus, I had other things to worry about. The 25th wave was coming in a few days and we needed to be ready for it. There was still something I needed to discuss with everyone before that happened though. Something that I had kept hidden.
While I was talking with Tracy in front of her camp, she offered me the chance to merge factions. We could merge and join her camp. Adding together the power of my family with the defensiveness of what she had built.
It wasn't something I initially planned to entertain, but seeing her camp changed my mind. We had always said no to merging camps or letting people join us but this time was different.
Tracy's camp was a lot stronger than ours and could help defend against the waves better. We had strong people but we didn't have the strong camp they did. Every time my family fought, we risked someone dying.
Declining wasn't something I wanted on my conscience.
At first, it was a matter of trust. We didn't trust anyone to join or for us to join others. We were all still feeling out the new world we found ourselves in. Now, though, it was different. We could hold our own.
I wasn't able to see the woman face to face but I could tell I was stronger. I wasn't sure how, but I was. The feeling she gave off wasn't clear because of the spell we used to talk, but I would put her somewhere near Rachel's level.
We had multiple people at that strength. If we were to join, we wouldn't have to worry about getting stabbed in the back as much. We would be able to fight the entire camp, especially at our full strength.
The hardest part would be getting through the walls if we were to attack, but if we joined, that wouldn't be a problem. We would be let in.
As bad as that sounded, I had no plans to attack the woman. We had our hands full as it was with the waves, we didn't need to add conquering other pylons into the mix.
Also, it seemed that Tracy understood that. She was focused on surviving the waves rather than trying to conquer. I could respect that. It was just a thought I had when thinking it over.
The only thing holding me back from saying yes right away was asking my family about it. And a more selfish reason but I squashed that quickly.
Selfishly, I didn't want to give up our pylon. It was our home, where our family fought and died. Just giving it up felt wrong, like admitting defeat. Let alone the penalties for doing so.
We weren't certain how the tutorial worked, but at the end of the three months we were supposed to receive rewards based on performance. Losing control of the pylon we claimed seemed like it would be a hefty demerit.
Thinking about the reward was something I killed quickly. It wasn't even worth entertaining. I would do what helped my family most, prizes be damned.
The decision wasn't something I could do on my own, it affected more than just me. Abigail would lose access to her profession as she was the Town Mayor. I wasn't sure how losing the pylon would affect that but it couldn't be good.
Gathering everyone before breakfast wasn't hard and as soon as we were all settled around the table in the keep, I told them the offer.
It went over in a mix of confusion and them asking clarifying questions. What did the camp look like? Who was the leader? How did everyone look?
Most of the questions were focused on the state of the camp but the condition of the people was brought up as well.
I told them everything I knew, which was less than I would have liked, and everyone took a second to think it over.
"I don't like it." Austin was the first to give his answer.
It wasn't an outright refusal, just his feelings on the matter. He was probably thinking along the same lines I was and felt like we would be giving up if we moved camps.
"The idea has merit." My Dad said from his spot at the table.
Sam nodded to that without saying anything.
Abigail was too busy in her own head to answer right away which left Hal.
"It's what is best," Hal stated.
"I know it is. Doesn't mean I have to like it though," Austin muttered.
Abigail finally came out of her introspection and added to the conversation.
"It would help in so many ways. We wouldn't have to worry about the waves as much, we could focus on more things than just surviving. The weight off our shoulders alone is worth it." She said.
It was quiet for a beat while everyone realized there were no nay-sayers.
"Then it seems we are in agreement," I announced. "The only question now is when."
Packing everything we owned up would take a while and we would have to sort through what to bring. Not everything was worth taking and we didn't know what the other camp had.
We had two days until the next wave so multiple trips weren't out of the question. It would take me four hours to reach the destination and that was running at top speed. It would take most of the day to travel alone.
That was one of the reasons I didn't bring it up before the 24th wave. It would have taken too long to get everything together to move with the hour or two we had before the wave by the time I got back.
I was lucky no one died or it would have been partially my fault.
Abigail immediately went off to catalog everything we would need for the trip and went about making sure everyone knew about the move.
People took the news as well as can be expected. There was the underlying feeling of defeat but there was hope blooming in people's minds. I didn't hold back any information and told them of the powerful camp we were going to.
The thought of protection and the slight lessening of worry that hung around since the start was a huge weight off everyone's shoulders.
It worked to quash the feeling of uncertainty everyone had. We were going to an entirely new place with what were complete strangers. If that didn't raise at least some unease there was a problem.
I would admit that I had a slight feeling of tension and anxiety but it was easy to get over those. This was what was best for my family. If it turned out to be a problem when we got there, I would deal with it then.
At that thought, I added another thing I needed to do.
Remake my hammer.
While using the glaive was all well and fun, it wasn't my hammer. I had gotten comfortable with the weapon and was averse to changing that.
The glaive did well against the low-level people we fought at the camp but it wouldn't hold up against the tough bodies of the monsters during the waves. [Sweeping Slash] produced a weakened mana blade that wouldn't be able to get through and the blade wouldn't slice as well.
Plus, the glaive didn't leverage my monstrous strength quite the same. My hammer was made for crushing and pulverizing, utilizing my strength to the fullest. The glaive wasn't.
I had a few ideas about the new weapon I was kicking around in my head and I couldn't wait to try them out. What came first, though, was getting everyone packed up.
We had two entire days to move but slacking now would only delay our departure.
Another reason I put off telling everyone about the offer was because my revenge was put on hold. I couldn't go and attack the Mindbreaker if I was here helping with moving.
It was a delay I would accept. My family came first and putting off my revenge was easily done. Putting it off did not mean I would forget. No, that wouldn't happen.
The move came at the perfect time though. The 25th wave was next and I wasn't sure how it would go. It should be the wave all four directions were assaulted but that wouldn't be all.
Just adding another direction of assault wouldn't be all it did. The tutorial only had 5 more waves to try and kill us, only adding a direction wouldn't be all it did.
It was the main reason I agreed with the move. I felt we were in for a sharp incline in difficulty in our remaining days here. One that I wasn't sure we would survive alone.
The camp was packed and only non-important things were left lying around. Most of the buildings would be left behind. Vinny's and my forge would be left behind, the leatherworker's shop and Scott's carpentry building abandoned.
It took most of the day, but people were ready for the move. We would begin in the morning.
After the decision was made I worked to make Tracy aware of my answer.
I knew she used birds to scout so I made it clearly obvious to any aerial point of view.
A giant arrow painted into the ground outside was hard to miss.
At the end of the arrow was a poster that declared my intent. It was short and to the point. Even a bird would be able to read it.
I accept. Coming tomorrow.
After everyone was as prepared as they could be and full from dinner, I snuck Jonathan away to work on something. I didn't want to bother Scott with making something and I wasn't sure if he would even be able to.
He was a high-level Carpenter but he wasn't E-rank yet.
Spending points while I was saving up for a bloodline hurt but it was necessary.
The main problem with my hammer was that the shaft couldn't handle the strain. The weight of the hammer head and the speed I was swinging it around was too much for the shaft to handle.
There was no flex or give to the ice to help deal with the load. It was too rigid and shattered when it reached the failure point. Something I would remedy.
With a wooden shaft, it wouldn't be as likely to break. I would coat it in ice in places and make the hammerhead out of ice, but the shaft itself would be wood.
I thought about using metal but decided against it. I felt that wood was the better choice. If wood broke as well I would move to metal.
I chose wood mainly because it was cheaper.
While I skimped on points by choosing wood instead of metal, I picked the best wood I could. I got Jonathan to search for ice affinity hardwood within an acceptable price range for my project.
What came back was a longer list than anticipated but it wasn't hard to choose what I needed. Wood at the high common tier alone with an ice affinity, about wrist size in diameter and 5 feet long.
What materialized in front of me was called [Frozen Oak] and it was pricy. Not pricy in the grand scheme of things, pricy compared to other wood.
It was almost 10,000 points. Compared to the over 600,000 I had, it wasn't much, but still a lot for a small amount of wood.
The wood itself was an off-brown color that looked frosted over almost. It had very little give to it from testing and was cool to the touch. With my affinity, I could tell the affinity wasn't huge, but enough for my purposes.
After testing it out, I was immensely satisfied. It would work superbly.
I allotted time to make the hammer the following day as there were a few more things I had to do before the move. There wasn't much left to do, Abigail made sure of that, but as a leader I felt I should double-check everything.
It took a few hours to scout the way and another hour to check over everything in camp before I settled into bed. I didn't scout the whole way, just the part nearest to us, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything too strong in our way.
Since I was there anyway, I slaughtered everything on the path we would take anyway. It didn't take much longer than normal running and gave me some piece of mind for tomorrow.
Still, ever since I brought up moving I couldn't get a thought out of my head.
My family was strong and could hold their own in a fight. They were going to a camp with a bunch of other people and defenses to the nines. They would be as protected as they'd ever be.
Since they would be safe, or as safe as they could be, what would facing a wave alone be like?
If they all left for the other camp, no one would remain here.
But I could change that.
We had faced the waves with over 20 people and we were told that they scaled based on the number of people.
What would a wave for one person be like?
One very powerful person.
It was a thought that had been gnawing at me all day. I wouldn't have to worry about anyone behind me. I wouldn't have to worry about my family. I would be able to fight however I wanted.
It would be dangerous, sure, but what wasn't? If I survived I would be stronger. The vision of what I did to the village wouldn't get out of my head and I constantly worried about what would happen when we got back to Earth.
Would I be strong enough to defend against someone who tried to do that?
There were billions of people on Earth and thinking I was the most powerful person was lunacy. If I could do it and get this strong, thousands of other people could as well.
Facing a wave alone, and surviving, would give me that strength. It was the most difficult thing I could think of to do and the system rewarded overcoming challenges.
I couldn't think of a harder challenge.
Those were the thoughts running through my head to justify my idea but deep down I felt something different.
Ever since the start of the tutorial, I had this feeling of euphoria during battles. A rush I had never felt before.
The deaths and losses that occurred quickly tempered that feeling but it didn't make it go away. That feeling was screaming at me to do it. To face down a horde and see who was left standing. It called to the more primal side of me.
All of the thoughts and feelings added together pushed me to do it. I was still a rational and logical person, or I tried to be, so I wouldn't let that control me but I couldn't help but float the idea in my head.
Would I be able to do it?
Comments
Thomas Hendrix
It might be the reverse. It would depend on if the fusion leaves him subordinate or if on the contrary it leaves her subordinate. Other factor could be if it makes them equal partners
Demonlord
Yeah but being able to collect points for this bloodline seems to be important too
Gus
I mean he did accept the offer 🤷. Also what more valuable points or the lives of his family.
Demonlord
Him fighting a wave alone would be awesome but if he accept the offer of tracy wouldn't alls his points be channeled to Tracy? Thanks for the great chapter anyways 😊
James Faulkner
This one man wave is gonna be dope, Tftc!
