My last two purchases were Berserker Golems, placed around the wall. These two intimidating figures would put up a wild fight against anything that somehow had made it to the last legs of the defense. I just hoped that I had this all figured out. A lot was riding on this defense. Perhaps too much, but…I knew in my heart this was the right way to go. I couldn’t take half-measures. I needed to show the Baron and the world that I wasn’t about to just roll over when the enemy came to my gates. I’d fight like hell and more importantly, I’d win!
“You done?” Joeth asked as he overviewed my work. I closed out the Grid to discover that the morning light was coming in through the window, the sun having completed its respite during my time of planning.
“I think so,” I said, groaning as my biological needs caught up to me. I had felt so connected to the Grid that I hadn’t even noticed how hungry I was.
“Your maze looks good. High damage potential, low chance of enemies just waltzing through. Lots of variation. I’m confident to say you have a fighting chance. All that matters now are your ability choices.”
Right, abilities! These battles might be protracted, so I should take some abilities that refresh quite often. Wave-based abilities would be extremely limiting here, as I had no idea what kind of number I’d be facing. Anything larger than 50 per wave would probably need multiple abilities in a turn.
I’d be keeping my Alchemical Barrage ability, for my own training and expertise in the fine art of alchemy gave me a distinct advantage over my opponents. Attraction Ping had a wave cooldown, so that was out. Instead, I’d choose Defuse—a powerful ability stopping a target golem from exploding for the entire round. With a recharge time of 30 seconds, I could use that many times throughout the battle. This would serve as an excellent counter to any Ignition Golems coming my way.
Target Marker was a must-have; it was perfect for getting rid of beefed up enemies, and if all of my Karrack Towers targeted the same enemy? It’d probably be strong enough to kill off that secret colossus I had witnessed earlier.
One more ability to choose…but what? What to pick? Mana Shield looked promising. The ability to protect one of my units from destruction could let me rescue Gorn if he ran into trouble. Or to protect the Phlogiston Cannons from enemy attack. The shield lasted for 10 seconds and absorbed all damage. And it only had a 2 minute refresh time. Ten seconds was an eternity in the Grid. Long enough for me to adapt and kill whatever was threatening my valuable unit. Definitely worth the ability slot.
Once I set my abilities, I asked for my Erudite to evaluate them. He seemed pleased, nodding to himself as he stared upwards at the Grid. I was still curious as to how he was able to see my own interface. He must possess starmetal of his own, right?
“Solid. Definitely fills out the gaps and I like Defuse. That’ll stop him from throwing Ignition Golems every now and then.”
I nodded at that, letting out a sigh of relief. If he was happy with my choices, so was I. Having the man’s approval was important to me, for he seemed quite knowledgeable about everything involving the Game. I appreciated Joeth in many ways, at least professionally. It was unfortunate that he knew his skillset allowed him to get away with the kind of behavior that would usually earn a swift beating (from more than one member of this household!)
“So, one last thing before we call it a night…or a morning, I guess,” Joeth said, digging into a satchel at his side. “I have been meaning to give you this for a while, but kept forgetting and/or not really caring enough to remember. Here.”
The bag ruffled as he pulled out a shiny red medallion. It flashed with the tell-tale green shimmer of starmetal. But it wasn’t silver. How curious. Joeth raised the medal and extended it to me. There was the familiar printing of the Queen’s head upon it, the same image that was placed on our silver coins. Above her regal jeweled crown were words in an old language, one I could sort of read (Velkerian, our ancestral language, was the only class I had ever failed at college.)
“L…Learning Knowledge Stronger,” I translated.
“Strength through Knowledge Kept,” Joeth corrected. He thrust it into my open palm. “It’s all yours.”
As soon as the coin touched my hand, I felt a jolt run through my entire body. You have gained 1 ability refresh! appeared in my vision.
“Woah! What does that mean?”
“Ability refreshes let you instantly cooldown an ability. You can use the medallion every wave,” Joeth said. “This is a reward for beating me earlier, and I actually upgraded the medallion because you’ve been doing a killer job. And you also listen, which is a rarity.”
I inspected the red medal in my hand, watching as the sunlight glinted off of it. “This is incredible…” I whispered.
“Yeah, a bona fide miracle. Now, go to bed, get some sleep and get ready. I’m pretty sure the Baron’s gonna be here as soon as possible.”
Chapter 36
The Baron arrived precisely five hours after I fell asleep. I was startled by the loud clanging, not of the war klaxons from the Grid but rather from Sigmund rapping on a metal tray beside my bed. “Master Richard, it is time to awaken. Your enemy is here and wishes to meet you on the battlefield. In person. I believe he wishes to parley last minute.”
I rolled over onto my side to kiss my wife goodbye, but she was already gone. She had been more than happy to lay with me in the morning, snuggling up beside me as I fell asleep, but it seemed she had more important matters to attend to after I passed out. Fair enough, I suppose. Though I wondered how her health was doing. She seemed fine this morning.
Sigmund clanged the tray again, waking me up once more. I had inadvertently fallen asleep while thinking of Yoni.
“Come now, don’t make me fetch a pail of water,” Sigmund said.
“I’m up, I’m up,” I said, standing to my feet. I staggered forward, hardly conscious. Sigmund was quick to dress me and I was far too groggy to protest.
“Sorry, I know you were up all night preparing, but you must at least look semi-presentable. We have an hour before the Baron will begin his invasion. Or so he says.”
“I thought I had an extra day,” I mumbled, stepping into my shoes. Oh how I hated the way the Grid drained me. After all this mess, I’d have to figure out some way to cure my condition. Or at the very least, how to counter the effects of whatever it was that I had.
“Well, it seems your opponent is eager to close this whole operation down. He seemed rather antsy. Though that might just be pre-battle nerves. Either way, it may be advantageous for you.”
Sigmund gave me a hearty slap, to stir my senses. And while I might have preferred a strong cup of coffee or something alchemical, the slap seemed to do the trick. I thanked my ever-faithful butler for his service and managed to get a hold of my senses. A small staff was quick to assemble and escort me out of the property and to the exterior of the wall that now surrounded our territory.
I must admit, looking at the wall from the Grid, it just seemed like another piece of landmass to ignore. But standing before it…I was impressed by just how tall the thing was. Certainly money well spent.
The big heavy gates slowly opened, revealing a much smaller group of wagons than the Baron had come with before. While the number was still impressive, compared to what I had seen before? It was clear Jerem was working with far less resources now.
Standing at the gate was the man in his intimidating armor, though his helmet was gone. In its place was a rather plush-looking face, with skin as soft and smooth as a newborn’s. It was hard to stifle back my laughter at the sight of a man who clearly had never been in actual combat before. The metal armor was just a ruse, or worse, some fantasy pursued by a rich boy for old money. The man’s eyebrows were plucked, for Star’s sake!
“You have caused me no shortage of trouble, Richard,” the Baron said, motioning for me to come closer. I complied, stepping forward, though not too quickly. I wanted to appear leisurely, relaxed even. “You stole a
great deal of crystals, built up a tremendous defensive wall and to cap it all off, you stole my nephew’s wife away in the dead of night.”
“She is not being kept against her will,” I said, crossing my arms. “Imius just remembered what she owed to her family. Surely you would not fault a woman for choosing to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with her kin?”
“Of course not,” he hissed. “Though the timing of her leaving my court and renouncing fealty seems all too beneficial to you.”
I merely shrugged at that. “So are you here to invade? Or parley?”
“You have forced me into a rather unfortunate position, Richard,” the Baron said, sighing heavily. “I was never after you, you know. I was just trying to get that damnable woman to give over her signet and renounce her claims. Then Imius would inherit the land and give them to me in exchange for vassalage and a gentry title. Now, I have a claim to a single patch of land. My dreams of securing all of the east under my banner have been disrupted. So I’m forced to put my hat in hand, so to speak, and ask you to make a deal with me.”
Well, that was surprising. I was expecting the man to come raging after me, face red and full of fury. I figured he’d come at me with everything he had. Apparently not. Apparently, he was a somewhat rational man, though perhaps a little theatrical.
“I’m listening,” I replied, making no motion to show what I was thinking. Keep it nice and neutral, give him nothing.
“The Crystal Bitch—”
“Juliet,” I corrected.
“Yes, Juliet,” he said, drawing her name out, annoyed I’d even deign to correct a Baron. In retrospect, I absolutely should not have challenged him there, but my exhaustion mixed with my excitement to test out the new maze had made me just a little too cocksure. “Juliet commanded a great deal of crystal mines. Mines that I want. I am willing to make a considerable concession. If Juliet grants me claim to two territories that contain rich crystal deposits, just the two, I will drop my invasion. I’ll return home and, someday, Juliet may attempt to retrieve what is rightfully hers.”
That was a generous offer. Except for one thing: he was still using me as a bargaining chip. The whole deal was assuming that I was incapable of protecting myself from the Baron’s forces.
“And what do I get?” I asked.
Jerem frowned at that. “You get to keep your land. Your home. Isn’t that enough?”
“See, that is where I take offense, sir,” I replied. “You come to my homeland, demand that I comply with your bidding and now that I’ve put up enough of a war effort to reduce your strength, you act like you’re doing me a favor by not invading. I am not some pawn for you to move around on a chess board when you like. Though I may be a gentry, I still have dignity. Dignity and power. And today you are going to discover the extent of that power.”
“You must be mad to try and stand up to me. There is no way you could possibly win!” Jerem said, shaking his head. “Come now, see reason.”
“It is reason that guides my actions. Should I let you bully me, who else will come along, demanding that I do their bidding? Give in once, you’ll be forced to give in a thousand times more. But stand up for yourself? People will know I won’t roll over easily and they won’t be prone to testing me. They won’t dare just show up unannounced one day and force an ultimatum on me.”
There was silence for a moment, as Jerem scrutinized me. I tried my best to hold a firm line, keeping my head up and my expression strong, but internally I was panicking. Why was I saying all of that stuff? He had just given me an out. Why was I so prideful that I’d risk everything right now?
“I must admit, I am impressed,” the Baron said after a short time. He relaxed ever so slightly, causing me to do the same. I uncrossed my arms, surprised at his words.
“You are?”
“A first generation gentry willing to stand his ground against a Baron? You’ve caused me quite the headache, but it seems that you have the willpower to assert your dominance. I respect that, truly.”
Was he trying to buttery me up with flattery? It was kind of working. A Baron praising my resolve? Maybe I wasn’t such a fool after all.
“I fear that I have disrespected you immensely by trying to lean so hard on you,” he continued. “It’s clear that you have the resolve and the strength to stand against odds, even when by all accounts, it would be wise to give in. I was so caught up in scheming against Lady Efera that I didn’t really think about you at all. I see that was foolishness. I am sorry for threatening total war against you. It was unbefitting me.”
An apology? What was happening? “Does that mean you’re backing down?”
He laughed at that question. “Absolutely not. I gave an ultimatum, you did not meet it. Just as you cannot allow people to threaten you, a man in my position cannot make idle threats. But should you manage to survive this onslaught, I should consider this matter entirely resolved. I am not a man who would begrudge another for defending his own home and reputation.”
“And if I lose?”
“Then I would be kind enough to give your staff a 15 minute head start on the looting,” he replied with a grin.
Chapter 37
I had managed to impress a Baron, which was no small feat. However, it would seem that impressed or not, the man was dead set on attacking me. I suppose I could understand his point of view, but I wasn’t thrilled with the end result. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I was kind of thrilled at the idea of getting to use my brand new maze design, hoping that it would prove to be ruthlessly efficient. If that was the case, then there was a lot of prestige to earn from defeating a Barony. Assuming that I’d win, of course. But whether standing my ground or not was a wise decision would be a matter for another day. For now, I had a full-fledged attack to repel.
Invasion has begun! appeared in my vision, followed by the blare of horns in my ears. Immediately, the Grid showed me where the point of attack would be. Though the Baron had wagons just about everywhere outside of my property, parked in the main road, the point of attack was located on the western side of the wall. There was no mistake in where the Baron’s target objective was, for if he were to break through that section, his golems would have immediate access to the pathway leading to my Estate alone.
Just as Joeth had instructed, I quickly selected the targeted area of the invasion and selected the Form Defenses option. Do you wish to form a defense? This will trigger a countdown timer. Once the timer reaches 0, the attack will commence. Confirm?
Taking a deep breath, I focused on the confirmation button, trying to muster up as much courage and confidence as I could. My hands were shaking quite a bit as I began to quickly throw down all of the units and towers for the battle, following the blueprint that the Grid had automatically created. But with each tower placed, with each barricade put down, I began to feel that nervousness within me ebb away. I had a damn good design here and I needed to trust it.
I had 5 minutes total to place down my defenses. Thankfully, such a task took little time since I had already made all of the decisions ahead of time. I was able to finish the set up in two, leaving me time to enjoy three minutes of silence, watching the battle zone beneath me. My heart was in my chest and I felt nauseous. I wanted to blame those feelings on my condition, but I knew it was just due to anxiousness. I really was rolling the dice here.
“Hey, I’m not really able to give you any direction during the main event,” Joeth’s disembodied voice said, interrupting my train of worrying thoughts. “Can’t bring in outside help. But I do want to say, I think you’re making the right decision here. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that the key to winning, or really just not losing the Great Game is to keep your head down, make friends and not piss anyone off. But you know what we call those folks?”
“No idea,” I said, watching as the timer continued to relentlessly count down. I felt all of the air leaving my lungs and threatening not to return.
“W
e call them vassals,” Joeth said. “And you’re not cut out to be one. You’re a liege-lord kind of guy, I think. It’s tough to be the boss, but Richard? You’re being one hell of a boss right now. So, clear your head, focus on your task and don’t second guess your decision. There are no ramifications now. There are no stakes. There is just you, the golems and the Grid. Clear it all out.”
I complied with the man’s surprisingly snarkless advice. I took a long deep breath and forced my mind to return to that focused state that usually forgets all about things like time or biological functions. I let the Grid fascinate me and in the process, released all of my tension and worry. There was only one thing right now: the Great Game. And I was ready to play.
Wave 1/4
Remaining Enemies: 75
Total Enemies: 400
All in all, 475 enemies for 4 waves. He only committed a small number of forces to the first fight (if 75 could be considered small!). This indicated he was a cautious man, not prone to taking major risks. I took a deep breath and watched as the first group emerged from the spawn point.
There were 15 Boulder Golems, followed by a cadre of 4 small, goblin-like golems. These little creatures had long wooden staffs in their hands and were casting enchantments on the Boulder Golems, causing them to glow brightly with a blue energy. I didn’t recognize these little golems and quickly looked at their profile.
Shaman Golems: While possessing no offensive capability of their own, Shaman Golems are capable of providing a plethora of healing and defensive spells to other golems.
Healers, eh? Well, I doubt those little guys would have much of a chance against the boulder traps. I watched breathlessly as the big golem leading the pack stepped on the trigger switch. Immediately, the boulder in the lane above them began to activate, rolling down the ramp at high speeds and flying down the lane. But rather than smash into the barricades at the end of the lane, the boulder was quick to turn around the corner, making a quick U-turn, then heading straight towards the enemy force.
Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series Page 23