by Dean Henegar
Battlemage Enclave (Mind), Level 4. Upgrade cost: n/a. Upgrade the main garrison to unlock further upgrades.
A new spell for your battlemages has been unlocked: Confusion. This channeled spell sews confusion and disorder in your enemy’s ranks. The spell covers a 50-foot radius, and affected enemy units will ignore orders and mill about in confusion for up to 30 seconds. The effect ends if the target takes any damage.
The level 4 battlemage enclave has unlocked a new unit that will be added to your order of battle. The war mage is an NCO version of the battlemage with the same stats as your other elite soldiers and more powerful versions of the battlemage’s abilities.
Supply Depot, Level 4. Upgrade cost: n/a. You must upgrade the main garrison to unlock further upgrades.
Upgrades to standardized weapons and armor are now available.
Enchanted Weapons (Mind): Enchanted weapons grant a +1 bonus to attack power while adding an effect based on the school of magic you have selected for your battlemages. To pay for the reagents required by the battlemages to enchant the legion’s weapons, a 1.5% additional deduction will be taken from all gold and resources gained by the legion. Special school of magic ability: Mind Blade. Weapons enhanced with Mind Blade have a 1% chance per strike of causing your foe to not notice the incoming blow, granting an automatic hit.
Enchanted Armor (Mind): Enchanted armor adds a +1 bonus to defense and includes a special enhancement based on the school of magic you have selected for your battlemages. Special school of magic ability: False Weakness. For each blow received, there is a 1% chance that for the next 10 seconds enemies will focus their blows on the strongest parts of the armor. This enchantment grants a +5 bonus to defense for 10 seconds when triggered. To pay for the reagents required by the battlemages to enchant the legion’s armor, a 1.5% additional deduction will be taken from all gold and resources gained by the legion.
There were some decisions to make with the auxiliary formations as well as whom to select for respawn protection. First, I went ahead and selected the magic enchantment options for both our weapons and armor. My income was being throttled with all these deductions, but it sure beat spending coin on gear that would be quickly outdated.
The next order of business was to select my auxiliary formations. I had two slots left, as I did not want to change out the runesmiths who had worked so well with my siege engines. Based on the available choices, I had to go with some ogres. It turned out that one auxiliary unit equated to a section of five ogres, so I selected two, giving me a squad of the giant warriors to work with. I couldn’t wait to see them charging through an enemy line, breaking a hole for my other troops to exploit. As an additional benefit, I was willing to bet that they looked cool in legion armor.
For the respawn protection, I chose the usual suspects: Brooks, Wrend, and Tavers. I had two more slots open and would reserve one for the NCO mage, who I suspected was going to be a named NPC. There was one slot remaining, and I knew the AI was pushing me to select Blevins. I reluctantly added the annoying private to the list, but I was still not sure of his status. Was he part of the defensive garrison? He didn’t show up on my legion roster, but that was a mystery for a different day, and I had more work to do.
It was now time to reshuffle the advanced soldiers. I had a hundred of them to work with and was excited to flesh out our siege train, especially with the new upgrades. The crew cost was now back up to five for a catapult and five for a pair of scorpions. No matter how many of each siege engine I wanted, I still needed to keep a sizeable force of scouts. Many of my allies had good skirmishing and scouting forces that could screen the legion, but I wasn’t about to rely solely on a separate group for such an important task.
With their new ability to throw multiple smaller stones, the catapults would be more effective against something other than fixed targets. Their downside was that they weren’t quick to set up, leaving them useless in a meeting engagement. The repeater scorpions were also a big upgrade that would deliver a powerful initial volley before having to be reloaded. After running the numbers in my head for a while, I decided on five batteries of catapults, six pairs of scorpions, and forty-five scouts. That mix would give us long-range firepower as well as a solid screening force when we were on the move. We had two siege towers already in inventory, and I could pull engineers from where I could spare them if a tower needed to be assembled.
“Private Blevins!” I shouted, and the man—to his credit—quickly appeared.
“Yes, sir. How may I be of service?”
“Have Brooks form up the legion on the parade grounds,” I ordered, wanting to get a look at everything we had to work with. I gave them a few moments to assemble before walking out of the headquarters.
“Legion! Attention!” Brooks shouted at the over 1500 troops waiting in formation. The sound of clanking metal and the stomp of boots rang out over the parade grounds as the soldiers snapped to attention.
“Post the colors!” Brooks ordered, and the men tasked with bearing the legion battle standard stood next to a small podium placed in front of the assembly field. I climbed the steps to the podium and looked out over my forces. The sight was impressive, and I was proud of how far I had come since that first day in-game when I led a single squad of underequipped legionnaires.
Stretched out in front of me were all five companies of the legion. To the left of the formation, our group of scouts was arrayed in sections, crossbows held at port arms. Behind the scouts were my ogre auxiliaries. With their door-sized Imperium shields and greatsword-sized gladiuses, they were as impressive as I had hoped. On the right of the formation stood the dwarven runesmiths and ten Imperium soldiers identical to my others, save for the fact that they had no shields and wore no helms. These were my battlemages, and in their legion armor, I found them much more intimidating than any robe-clothed mage. The NCO war mage stood in front of the regular mages and looked the same except for the sergeant rank on his armor.
Behind the five companies, Wrend had his Ignominia unit lined up. He had chosen to go with ten scouts and a team of scorpions for his advanced soldiers. The unit was an attached force, which limited my direct control over its composition, but in this case, I approved of his choices. Beside Ignominia was our siege train. The catapults were assembled and manned, along with the scorpion carts that had proven so effective in our previous battles. Behind the entire force, dozens of wagons stood ready, hitched to their mukok. My legion had grown enough to need transport for not only the pair of siege towers but also the supplies of food and reloads for our siege weapons.
“Soldiers of the 1st Legion, we move once again to defend Hayden’s Knoll against potential invasion—” I was then cut off as the AI pulled me from the game so my medications could be refilled.
Chapter 6
“Dad, do you know when they’re going to unlock grandpa’s memory yet?” Lauren asked as she made a futile attempt to hide a green bean inside her napkin. The look on her mother’s face convinced Lauren that she should probably make some attempt to eat her vegetables. She jabbed the least offensive-looking bean and tried to swallow it without chewing in order to avoid the taste. Lauren had spent as much time in-game with Grandpa as she could, but school and homework took a big chunk of her gaming time away. She also hated that her dad couldn’t talk to Grandpa. She could only imagine how hard it must be to see her go in-game to play with him.
“Yes, good news on that front. Dr. Greenway says he should be set for unlocking his memory in around a week or so. There’s no guarantee, but things are looking good for him,” Trey replied.
“Cool, I can’t wait until he gets better and we can see him in real life, too,” Lauren told her parents.
“Let’s take it one step at a time, kid. Just getting Dad’s memories back would be good enough for me,” Trey replied.
“Is everything going okay with his heart valve?” Lauren’s mom, Veronica, asked.
“Doctor says it’s too soon to tell, but the repairs are ho
lding up so far. The anti-rejection medication is working, and the nanobots have almost finished the valve. They’ll test it out once the AI gives the green light. For now, the nanobots are keeping things running for Dad, but it’s not a permanent solution,” Trey advised.
“What about a big reunion party once Grandpa has all his memories back?” Lauren asked. She thought it would be so fun to have everyone at Grandma’s instanced house for a family get-together.
“That could be arranged, but we might have to ease him into things. The doctor can tell us more once it’s time. We also need to let Grandpa have some time to adjust. He may want some time to himself with just us and Grandma for a while before he’s up for a big party,” Trey told Lauren.
“Okay, just let me know when they flip the memory switch. I want to see how Grandpa reacts. Speaking of Grandpa, can I have some extra time tonight to play? Grandpa needs me and Ty and everybody to do something for him. Can I?” Lauren asked. Normally, her game time was restricted by Mom, but there was no school tomorrow and she had gotten a solid report card recently.
“Well, I suppose you can stay up a little later to play since there’s no school tomorrow. Just understand, little monkey, if your grades start slipping, the game will be taken away.” Lauren started to reply, and her mom held up her hand in a stop motion. “You won’t be allowed to play the game, but we will let you see Grandpa and Grandma, just for a shorter time. Remember, your dad can have someone track everything in-game, and we’ll know if you’re just talking with Grandpa or playing.”
That wasn’t going to be a problem. She found that school wasn’t too hard, and she even liked most of her classes and teachers this year. There was no way she was going to pull a Quimby and let her grades slip. The poor guy had been lagging behind everyone else in levels and gear for a while. When his grades dropped, his parents had dropped the hammer on his gaming time.
After rinsing off her dishes—and destroying any evidence of green beans hidden in her napkin—Lauren logged into Limitless Lands. She should be just in time to meet the others and would finally have a chance to try out her new gear.
She found herself in the Petty Dispute, where she had last logged out. Moving past the mob of people in the center of the room, she looked toward the group’s usual table. The middle of the tavern was the spawn point for folks who logged out anywhere inside the inn and was the one weird feature in the otherwise realistic inn. There was just something unnatural about a bunch of peeps appearing in batches in the middle of the room.
Ty’s giant—and only—arm waved her over as Crunchy spawned in next to her.
“Hey, Crunch Crunch, you ready for some riding later?” she asked the nonresponsive beetle. She had unlocked the swarm lord prestige class and was excited to give its abilities a try. She could now ride Crunchy as a mount, even if the mounted speed remained the same as her character’s walking pace. Crunchy had even unlocked a short-ranged charge ability he could use in a pinch.
“Hi, Yendys, are you and Crunchy ready?” Jacoby asked as she pulled up a chair. Crunchy followed his usual procedure of making his way around the table to beg for food. For the most part, the rest of the group ignored him, with only Smashem dropping a few choice bits down to the floor for the beetle to enjoy.
“Yeppers, where we heading to first?” Yendys asked Jacoby. He had fallen into the role of their group’s leader but was one of the cool ones who actually listened to everyone else if they had ideas. He seemed especially open to suggestions from Ty when it involved anything battle-related as they worked on converting Ty’s real-world combat knowledge into something that gave their group an advantage in the game.
“I think we head to the closest transition point to the south and then port directly into Bharga’s Crossing. I’m not sure how the guards there will react. We may be hostile to them after we killed Darkfallow in his lair a while back,” Jacoby warned.
“It’s more likely we’ll be neutral given all the time that’s passed since that fight,” Kathala offered. She was an awesome healer and had solid gaming knowledge. Yendys also suspected that she and Jacoby were a couple in real life.
“We don’t really have a choice unless someone has another way of entering the zone,” Ty said. “I say we take our chances and be ready for a fight with the border guards. There weren’t too many soldiers at the border last time, and I’m sure between all of us, we can take them. If the force at the transition point is hostile and too strong to handle, we’ll make a break for it, and I’ll do what I can to slow them down.”
“Thanks for letting me come, guys. I know I’m only level 8, but this quest will bump me to ten if we’re successful,” Quimby added. They were able to add him to the party for the quest, but the game would only allow him to receive a small portion of the XP due to his level difference. Despite the penalty, the rewards would be a windfall for the halfling ranger.
“We also need to remember that this is a scouting mission and not a kill quest. We stay hidden and try and get Raytak a solid count on what Narbos has gathered up for the invasion. We ready to roll?” Ty asked.
The party members paid their tabs and proceeded at their best pace to the transition point. Thankfully, a group of players tended to move more quickly when not engaged in combat, so they made decent time. Yendys looked around as they marched—or, in her case, rode. Jacoby, Kathala, Nitor, Smashem, Quimby, and Ty were a strange group. She loved that they were all so different but still enjoyed playing together.
“I’m jealous that you get a mount already at level 15, Yendys,” Smashem said.
“He is super cute, but I can only go at the same speed as everyone else. I hope he gets faster at level 40 when we would normally unlock mounts,” Yendys replied. It was a poorly kept secret that Qualitranos had fast mounts that could be unlocked. Someone on the development team had told a reporter in an interview that level 40 was chosen in homage to an old game the developers were fond of playing in their downtime. Level 40 was a long way off for the majority of players. The most hardcore players were only just now hitting the late twenties. Like other games, leveling became a harder and longer process as you got higher.
They made it to the transition point, and after a brief inspection, they were waved through by the Imperium soldiers stationed there. Yendys couldn’t help but notice that the fortifications were improved and there were more soldiers than the last time she had gone through this point. Jacoby was the party leader, and she could see him select the Bharga’s Crossing transition point as their destination. The world blurred for a moment as they stepped out from the swirling blue portal and into Bharga’s Crossing.
“Enemies at the portal, to arms!” a guard at the portal shouted out as they emerged.
“Looks like that answers the question as to whether they’re hostile or not,” Nitor quipped before beginning to chant and equipping his crossbow at the same time.
“There’s too many. Punch through to the left and head for the trees!” Ty shouted as they looked at what faced them. Like in Hayden’s Knoll, the transition point here was guarded. But unlike Hayden’s Knoll, these guards were more of the town watch variety and not soldiers. Unfortunately for the party, there was also an entire army camped out alongside the road, and it stretched as far as she could view. Scores of soldiers burst from their tents and began making their way toward them.
In the direction that Ty was pointing were the beginnings of a large forested area about three hundred yards away. Directly in front of them, the main road—with the army covering it—continued east as far as they could see. To their right, the terrain turned into rolling hills and short grass. Not much to hide behind for their scouting mission. The transition point itself was guarded by a pair of wooden towers flanking the main road. A long barracks had been constructed as a fortified position as well as a place to house the guards. A pair of guards stationed at the top of each tower readied their bows as the warning rang out. A dozen guards covered the transition point itself. They drew swords and c
harged.
“Move it, Yendys!” Jacoby shouted, and she realized she was the only one still standing there and gawking. The others had downed several guards and were making their way toward the forest. Jacoby, Ty, and Smashem led the way with axe, hammer, and sword, cleaving through the NPC guards. Kathala had an AOE heal going, while Nitor and Quimby fired their weapons as fast as they could toward the approaching reinforcements. Yendys spurred Crunchy toward a guard trying to flank Smashem.
Crunchy lowered his spear-like horn as Charge of the Unicorn Beetle activated, providing a burst of speed. Yendys’s class enabled her to cast spells as she rode, and she looked behind her before hurling a new spell called Gathering Swarm at the enemy. A half dozen beetles the size of dogs burrowed up from the earth and scuttled toward the approaching reinforcements. Feeling a jolt, Yendys turned back around to see a guard flailing about on Crunchy’s horn. The beetle had impaled the man, and his mandibles sliced off pieces of him even as Yendys swung her staff to help. She landed only a glancing blow; her melee skills took a penalty when fighting from beetleback—not that her melee skills were ever that good to begin with.
Smashem popped his rage ability and used Whirlwind Attack to spin his hammer in a circle, clearing out the last defenders between them and the forest. After that, it was a footrace to see if they could lose themselves in the forest before the army caught up. They had gained a hundred yards on the pursuers, their lead increasing with each step. An arrow then sprouted from her shoulder; the archers in the tower were still within range. Yendys cast Swarm Lord’s Shell, and pieces of hard beetle chitin formed around her body, providing as much protection as a suit of plate armor. The effect lasted only a minute, but that should be enough for her to reach the forest in front of them.