Then, we began to attack players. Sometimes we would use the entire group, other times we used smaller groups that were spontaneously selected and expected to quickly carry out their orders.
Although it wasn't easy, the zombies began to enjoy it. They could see how marching was important for them to move at the same pace when forming new units and to achieve better coordination. They also understood why an all melee group would be ineffective against certain compositions of enemies. They learned the hard way that even sneak attacks could go to hell if not executed properly.
That specific lesson was learned when we were passing through a big group of twenty players, all of them vampires wearing at least leather armor. Daggers ordered us to walk casually, but be prepared for an ambush. That was on the second day of travel and our second to last day before entering what my map called 'Purple Wilds.'
The passage we were traversing was a tight corridor and they walked inside our formation. When half the enemy was half way enveloped by our forces, Daggers ordered the attack without giving any specific orders.
It was an ugly mess.
Some of the enemies were already close to the crossbowmen and when we attacked, they hit these zombies first. The front row, intended to be our defensive bulwark fractured, half of the zombies fighting the enemies outside our formation, and the other half trying to attack the people inside.
When the first zombie ignored everything he had learned and bit an enemy, a lot of the others followed suit. In the narrow corridor, it only made it more difficult for the rest of us to attack, especially for our ranged attackers.
Although they were being attacked by a numerically superior enemy, the twenty players did their best to form a defensive perimeter. Their shield wall properly defended against the chaotic zombies and if it hadn't been for my healing, a few zombies would have died.
After five minutes of disorganized brawling, Daggers managed to get them all to disengage, and then reassembled the formations for an attack.
The enemy was wiped out without difficulties after that, mainly by our ranged attackers. Only a few melee attackers were used to surround the enemy and defend the ranged guys.
That fight humbled the zombies to no end and was the final eye-opener for them. One of the zombies had lost an arm in the fight and someone called us the Armless Battalion.
To my dismay, Daggers claimed the group creating a self-identity was great for morale.
And so, the Armless Battalion entered the Purple Wilds.
* * *
The very earth of the corridor started turning purple as we entered the cavernous chamber. Everything in it was purple, from the soil to the stone, the walls and the plants. According to the internet, there were some minerals present here that affected both the terrain and the living beings in the region.
It was a stone jungle. Stalagmites of all sizes rose randomly from the ground and made the place hard to navigate. The flora consisted mostly of a sparse grass and some mold, with some brush dotted here and there. All of it was purple.
Stalactites also hung from the distant ceiling and the eyes of countless purple bats half my size shone as they rested up there. Small rodents like rats and squirrels, all in shades of purple, were everywhere and the place had a lively, almost whimsical feeling to it, as if I could expect happy purple lions to come my way at any time.
Moisture was also a common factor, much more perceptible after the dryness in the air since I had revived. Drops of water were hitting the stalagmites and a huge waterfall was visible in a wall that must've been ten kilometers away from us. The water gushed from a huge opening in the wall, but we couldn't see the bottom because of the stone jungle around us. At least the water was more blue than purple.
Daggers pronounced.
Melkier said simply.
I agreed with Melkier. It wasn't as beautiful to me as Ted had said, but it also wasn't as bad as Bear claimed. It wasn't good enough for me to move there, but it would take a few days of taking in the view before I got sick of all the purple.
Looking at my map, I pointed at the waterfall.
"Armless Battalion!" Daggers shouted and we all kinda unconsciously stood taller. "You stink! To the waterfall! March!"
Their mood brightened with the interesting destination in sight, however a major obstruction presented itself: the stalagmites badly hindered our movement. Daggers wasn't one to back down from a challenge though, to the dismay of the men. More yelling and disparaging remarks followed, as she taught them how to march in the new terrain.
Eventually, they more or less understood it. We found no players or hostile animals the entire way, and the lack of further conflict was a welcome reprieve for us all.
As we approached the waterfall, we saw a huge lake of vibrant blue water which was a pleasant break from the monotone color of the Purple Wilds.
The cascade was monstrous, you could have easily hidden multiple mansions beneath it The height the water fell from was also incredible, and the mist it created obscured a vast portion of the lake.
In spite of this, the lake was large enough that only small ripples reached the shores.
A school of an animal that I could only describe as a mix of dolphin, swordfish and shark leapt high above the surface in the distance and let out very dolphin like clicks and squeals. Right behind them followed an enormous purple Orca, devouring the stragglers.
The only thing which marred the beauty of the place were the two tribal encampments on the shores. They were on opposite sides of the lake, but had the same fence-like metal barricades surrounding them. There were openings on the lakeward sides of each, allowing access to shoddy looking metal docks with a few boats each. The inside of the encampments were completely different though.
One of them had big clay huts with roofs made of vegetation, while the other had makeshift rusty metal shacks. The clay-hut tribe appeared more spacious and better organized, while the metal-shack tribe looked like its denizens built whenever they liked without concern for how it affected the flow of the town.
The final difference was the inhabitants of each. Metal-shack tribe had purple goblins while clay-hut tribe had purple... Mud people?
They reminded me of some old anime monsters, a mix of mud and toxic waste with gaping mouth and eye holes. They moved incredibly slowly and I wondered if they could even talk.
Both tribes had sentries watching us, but none made a move. We didn't, either.
"Alright, you bunch of noobs, you can relax for now," Daggers yelled and a loud cheer echoed in the huge cave.
Bear and Melkier laughed at that but Ted supported my decision.
Daggers didn't show any opinion, she just asked:
Unbound Deathlord_Obliteration Page 17