by Seth Ring
He was not Ouroboros and he could not let the potential for abuse prevent him from using his skills. Still, the idea of manipulating others through his voice left a sour taste in his mouth.
The martial form that the Dawn Walker class practiced had improved as well, giving him better versions of his two skills. His eyes drawn to the bottom of the notification window; Thorn frowned slightly. The Disciple class had led naturally into the dual category Night Walker class, Dawn Walker. Sadly, the Dawn Walker class was the end of that chain which meant that he would have to wait and see what his options were for advancing past Dawn Walker to a triple category class. With no Destiny Points to gain an Ancient Inheritance, Thorn was stuck grinding his class out.
Though the description for [Oration Proficiency] had not changed when it became [Journeyman Oration Proficiency], Thorn knew with certainty that he had improved considerably in his ability to speak. The constant practice had done wonders for him, allowing him to integrate the examples he had from his aunt throughout his life.
The improved version of Thorn’s [Rallying Cry] ability was also not that different from the basic version, though the change was surprisingly significant. In addition to increased stamina and health regeneration, it now granted additional strength to those affected, making it both offensive and defensive. Rather than using it to help the group when they were losing, it was better suited as an opener for the moment of engagement.
Similarly, the change in wording to [Improved Pack Travel] was not that large, but the effect and use of the skill was improved. Not needing to be the leader of a group to use [Improved Pack Travel] meant that Thorn could play a supporting role, allowing other Leadership classes to use their abilities to the fullest.
The last new ability granted by the Dawn Walker class was more of a convenience than anything else, allowing Thorn to activate his buffs and stun at the same moment, giving the potential for a huge swing in momentum. Quite happy with his upgraded class, Thorn opened up his menu.
*Status*
His playstyle had finally come into full focus and he was excited to try it out in the coming war. First, however, he had a few things to take care of. Sitting down on the large chair he had arranged in the command tent, Thorn opened up the last ability on his status.
Though he had the beginnings of a strong army already, Thorn could feel in his gut that his days of adventuring with a small group were fading and he wanted all the help he could get for the coming wars. Sitting up, Thorn activated [Call the Stone Legion] for the first time.
*THUMP*
A low hum radiated from his body as his heart squeezed tightly in his chest. The hum vibrated through his feet and down into the dirt. Thanks to the [Heart of the Earth] ability, Thorn could feel the hum as it traveled through the earth, echoing far and wide. A faint clock showing twenty-four hours popped up at the corner of his vision, starting to count down. Within twenty-four hours, Thorn would have a new force under his command and he was quite excited to see what it looked like.
Chapter Four
“My lord, it is time to begin.”
Thorn glanced at Captain Del’har who stood in the entrance to the tent, saluting respectfully, and then looked beyond him to lengthening shadows. The valley was quickly being consumed by the shadows of night as the sun set. The teams sweeping the valley had arrived less than ten minutes ago and were quickly combined with the army camping outside of Treefell.
Standing, Thorn stretched and grabbed his tetsubo from where it was leaning against the table. With a flick of his wrist it was stored in his inventory. Walking out of the tent, he could see the last tent being stored. What had been a full camp an hour ago was now an empty stretch of grass, clearly showing the advantage of having a player army. The real advantage, however, lay in what they were about to do.
Opening up the channel that had been set up for all the players who were part of the Iron Wolf Army, Thorn muted it and sent a notification, instantly getting the attention of all 10,000 players spread out in a line across the valley. Turning on his video, he spun it so it could see his face and grinned.
“Evening, soldiers! Those of you who were assigned to assist the Moon Guardians and the Freemen have done a great job with the sweep. Thanks to your fine work we can push forward without worrying about an outbreak at our back. So, the question is, are you tired? Do you need a rest?”
[N]
[N]
[No!]
[N]
It had taken Thorn a while to get used to the way that players spoke in Nova Terra’s chat feature, but thankfully, Mina was there to explain it to him. As he watched the stream of ‘N’ flow down the chat window at the side of his stream, his grin grew wider, his face taking on a slightly wolfish look.
“That’s right. We are the Iron Wolves. We need no rest; we know no fatigue. And we will see our enemies torn under our fangs. Captains, you have your orders. Move on Commander Hasta’s commands.”
Hearing howls rising up from the players listening, Thorn closed the chat window and turned command over to Hasta, who he had made temporary commander of the Iron Wolves. Truthfully, Thorn felt slightly silly with all the roleplaying, but he felt like it was the right thing to do. Since the natives treated the world of Nova Terra as real, he had no excuse not to do the same. Turning to the Wolfkin captain who stood behind him respectfully, Thorn patted him on the shoulder.
“Captain, you’ve been with me for a while now. From before all of this was, well, anything. And you’ve always done exceptional work.”
Touched, Captain Del’har bowed low.
“It is my honor to work for you, my lord.”
“Well, such hard work should not be without reward.”
Opening up his [RMS], Thorn made some adjustments.
“I’m promoting you to Commander of the Valley. You are now in charge of the Moon Guardians, the Freemen, and the Defenders of the Citadel. It is a big job but I’m sure that you are more than up for it.”
“T...this…” Stunned, the newly titled Commander Del’har had no idea what to say.
“I recognize that in some ways, this is just piling more work on you, so I have granted you permission to promote internally. I don’t care who you elevate, or why, so long as the valley has a watertight defense. Your place on the council can be filled by someone you pick as well, just try to keep the balance as much as possible.”
“Y...yes, my lord!” Quickly kneeling, Commander Del’har bowed his head as he saluted.
Thorn’s words radiated a casual indifference that Del’har had not heard before, but while the words were extremely pleasant to the commander’s ear, they also managed to carry a warning with them.
“I will not disappoint you!”
“I look forward to your excellent work, commander.” Grasping Del’har’s arms, Thorn helped him up. “Now, I’m going to go see how our Iron Wolves are doing.”
Jogging after the team that was getting further and further away, Thorn quickly caught up. Mina shot him a funny look and rolled her eyes when she saw him.
“What’s up?” Curious what was bothering the Ice Witch, Thorn flicked the tip of her witches’ hat, sending it tumbling through the air.
“Hey!” Blinking to the side, Mina caught her hat and perched it back on her curls. With a sigh she fell in beside him, taking four steps for every one of his. “I’m just thinking about how different everything is. You’re so… official. It is hard to believe that you are the giant noob that I ran into back in Berum.”
“We’ve all changed. Living in Nova Terra has forced all of us to grow.”
“That is true. Though for some of us, Earl Greymane, it has been more pronounced than for others. It's just that so much has happened since we ran into you, and in such a short period of time. And everything seems complicated now. I mean, look.” Mina gestured to her right where a line of players was jogging forward. “The guild has thousands of people in it. Hundreds of thousands even. Do you remember when it was just me, you, and Ve
lin? Oh, and Oberlin too?”
“Speaking of, where is Oberlin? It has been a while since I’ve seen him. Jorge too.”
“Last I heard Oberlin was still on Rasyn, helping out with the slaves. Jorge was leading teams to mess around with Ragnarok though he should be back soon. Ever since you set him loose he has been going to town. From what I hear it is brutal.”
“Huh, I forgot about that. I should probably check and see how much I owe them for the bounty.”
“Oh, it is way past that point. It has turned into a real grudge match. One of the sub-leaders who used to fight with Jorge a lot counter-ambushed them and now they’re going back and forth, trying to wipe each other out.”
“Haha, that’s pretty funny. Speaking of, have you talked to Velin recently? I sent her a message but I have not gotten a response yet. Do you know when she’ll be back?”
Unable to meet Thorn’s gaze, Mina stared straight ahead.
“I got to talk to her a bit right after we got back to the valley, but we both entered full dive this week so I have not talked to her since. I’m sure she’ll respond as soon as she is able. In the meantime, you need to focus as much as possible on keeping up with the valley. She’ll be really disappointed if all her hard work goes down the drain.”
“Good point.”
Thorn fell silent and they continued on toward Greyfield village. Greyfield and Treefell were connected by a road cut through the forest. Wide enough for two carts to pass side by side, the road was made from hard packed dirt and stone. Normally, it would be patrolled by a member of the Moon Guardians, but currently it was occupied by Thorn and his team.
Making sure that they were going slow enough that the teams to the left and right of them could keep up, Thorn and Mina continued to chat. It had been some time since Thorn had time for casual conversation and he could only imagine that it would not last.
It did not take long for them to arrive outside Greyfield village and, lifting his hand, Thorn called for a halt. Sending a message to Hasta to let him know that they were in position, Thorn scanned the hastily built defenses that the cultists had erected. The village had only been in their grasp for a few days, but already there were walls built from thick logs from the surrounding forest completely surrounding the village. Thick wooden stakes jutted from the earthen embankments at the wall’s base to deter attackers.
What Thorn was more interested in was the four towers that stood at the corners of the village, providing a clear line of sight to the edge of the forest. Because they came down the road, Thorn knew that they had been spotted, but that was fine because this maneuver was not relying on stealth as much as pure offensive power. A flurry of activity could be seen from the top of the wall as the defenders rushed to get into their positions.
With a gesture, Thorn commanded his team to get ready for an assault. Night had fallen, but players were generally able to operate in the dark without any issue so Thorn was not concerned about a night attack.
*ding*
Opening up his messaging system, Thorn saw Hasta saluting.
“You are good to attack any time, my lord.”
“Oh, not you too.” Thorn groaned, his hand covering his eyes.
“Haha, sorry, Master Xavier, the boss said that we had to take this seriously.”
Sighing, Thorn nodded that he understood and shut the screen. One of the major downsides of his position was the automatic distance that everyone he came into contact with took from him. Lifting his eyes to look at Greyfield Village, Thorn’s eyes caught a flash of Mina’s red hair. Well, not everyone. He still had his friends.
Suddenly energized, Thorn took out his tetsubo and buckled on his helmet. The Titan Squad had become the Titan Battalion and had been expanded to a full one thousand members. The battalion was further broken down into ten companies of one hundred soldiers, each organized in ten units of ten. Just like the other units, Thorn’s contained three tanks, three dedicated DPS, two healers, and two support classes.
Thorn filled one of the tank roles, supported by Heidi, the Elemental Warrior that Thorn had met in the tomb on Rasyn. Though the Society of Roses had tried their best to recruit her, she had settled on Nova Luna instead. The third tank in the unit was a Crimson Dragon Knight named SoulSeeker.
The three dedicated DPS players on the team were Mina, Alabaster, and Sivir. Alabaster was a Wolfkin New Moon Walker and Sivir was a Human Frost Priest who specialized in DPS and Control like Mina. At first, Jorge had been part of the team as a DPS player, but he was having so much fun playing with Oberlin that Thorn transferred him to Corvo’s team to assist with the spy network.
Seven Twisted Leaves had upgraded his Fae Druid class to Master Fae Botanist and occupied one of the utility positions. He was partnered with an Elven Pathfinder named XdvilX who went by X. Together they took care of scouting and miscellaneous mobs that got too close. They also helped with crowd control and pulling when the team engaged. The support positions were normally filled by Delmore, the Tigerkin Spirit Guide and Velin, but with Velin gone they had recruited a half-Fae named Blossom who was a Flower Tender.
Though they did not have the greatest raw damage or the tankiest front line of the units, Thorn’s squad was possibly the most well rounded due to their ability to shift roles and the sheer amount of crowd control they possessed. To say nothing of the fact that Thorn often played both tank and DPS at the same time.
Making sure that the rest of his unit was ready to go, Thorn stepped forward and lifted his tetsubo to point toward the wall in front of them. Silence spread rapidly through the battalion as all of the players stopped chatting and focused on the village they were about to assault. Red-robed cultists swarmed on top of the walls surrounding the village and the towers were packed with archers waiting to rain death on anyone who got close.
“Company Two through Four, take down the towers on the right. Five through Seven, you’re on the left towers. Eight through Ten, you’re with Company One. We are taking down that poor excuse for a gate. Remember not to get bogged down. If you need to fall back, fall back toward the gate. Attack!”
Thorn had no idea who started it, but as he began to lead the charge toward the village an eerie wolf howl started to grow in volume behind him until it rang through the valley. In the distance he could hear other members of the Iron Wolves picking it up and joining in. The echoing howl spun around them, making it impossible to tell how many attackers there actually were and striking a note of fear in the hearts of the defenders.
When the charging army got within fifty feet of the gate, the squads split up with three going to the right and three going to the left. Before they got too far apart Thorn lifted his head and activated his [Pack Leader] ability, chaining [Call the Pack] and [Rallying Cry], which also activated [Pack Travel]. The change was immediately noticeable and the whole battalion sped up drastically, causing the arrows that the towers shot out to miss. Lowering his shoulder, Thorn cleared the remaining fifty feet in a few seconds, smashing his shoulder into the hastily constructed wooden gate.
*BOOM*
The gate splintered into a thousand pieces, shards of wood flying through the air and peppering the cultists clumped up in the village’s entrance. Without stopping, Thorn took a big step forward and landed in the center of the crowd, smashing two cultists to the side with a swing of his tetsubo. As he squared up to hold the entrance, two burning figures appeared next to him as Heidi and SoulSeeker used their charge abilities to close the distance.
[Wolf Lord’s Howl]
Throwing back his head, Thorn joined in the Iron Wolves’ war cry, though his carried a strange subtone that shook all the cultists who heard it, causing them to pause what they were doing for a brief second. That second was all it took and all of the companies closed into combat. Each company had thirty tanks who formed a solid line as they assaulted the cultists on the wall. Once the cultists were tied up with the tanks, the DPS began to cut them down.
Standing in the middle of the village�
��s entrance, Thorn did his best to keep an eye on what was happening with the other teams while helping to stem the flow of cultists rushing from the center of the village.
“Heidi, Soul, let’s push forward. All tanks with me!”
Gathering the thirty tanks who were part of the First battalion, Thorn, Heidi, and SoulSeeker led the way as they began to slowly shove their way forward. Thorn could see a spot about a block ahead where the cultist reinforcements were splitting to reinforce the left and right sides of the wall.
“Our goal is between those two buildings.” Thorn’s voice carried easily over the battlefield as he blocked two strange looking blades on his arm guard. “If we can hold there we’ll have a natural choke point. DPS, clear us a path!”
Chapter Five
“On it!” Mina nodded at Sivir and both of them began chanting. Behind them, the other DPS players took their cue from Mina and began to prep their major AoE attacks. Less than a minute later a hellstorm of ice, lightning, arcane energy, magma, and wind ripped through the cultists ten feet in front of the tanks. As the spells cleared up the players were greeted by thirty feet of completely empty street.
“Advance!”
Crushing through the few red-robed cultists that had been close enough to the tank line to survive, the tanks sprinted forward, filling the space before the cultists could. Thorn activated his [Predator’s Leap] ability, easily clearing the empty space and landing with a boom, sending both dust and cultists flying through the air.
The tightly packed and now furious enemies began to hammer against him and he nearly drowned in the deluge of attacks before he felt the world shift and a spirit appeared in his place. Watching from next to Delmore where he had been moved, Thorn gulped as he watched the spirit get ripped apart almost instantly.