“Are you telling me, the totems are driving my wife crazy?” Olaf asked, kneeling down to look the wolf in the eyes.
“Not crazy, not exactly, some will leave her soon, but she cannot listen to them all. She is trying so hard, but she is at her limits. Butch wants to leave but Sundance does not. They are always arguing, and Boss is giving it her all to hold on to him. But as soon as the others sense the weakness, they start looking to leave. Kodiak is a brute and is always like ‘Rawr’, which Butch approves of, but Sundance doesn’t. And Paddington is all about protecting everyone and everything, which Butch and Kodiak disapprove of. So, Paddington wants to leave and find something worth protecting. And then Butch and Kodiak see him leaving as a sign that boss is weak so both of them want to leave. And Coffee, Barista, and Espresso want to fly off because all the arguing annoys them. Eventually, Boss will exhaust herself trying and some or all of them will leave her. And now that they have gained enough strength to survive in the spirit world without a host, they do not need her anymore. However, they also know they will get far stronger by staying with her than by leaving,” Vision explained.
“Okay, so Micaela isn’t going crazy, that’s good,” said Baby.
“But she is stretching herself to her limits,” I said, looking at her still working her way down the mountain and arguing with her totems.
“At least now we know why we haven’t seen a Shaman with an army of totems wiping out armies by themselves,” said Rose,
I furrowed my brow. I just didn’t know enough about Shamans to be able to help her, and I hated not being able to help my friends.
“Think you can help her, Jack?” Rose asked as a follow up.
Slowly, I shook my head. “I don’t know enough about Shamans to be able to help her,” I said, my words echoing my thoughts.
“Well, then when this battle is over, you need to learn enough about Shamans to help her,” said Rose. “And there is a perfectly good archive you can bury yourself in to do it.”
“We’ll handle the war,” said Olaf, cutting me off before I could retort. “You help my wife, and we’ll win the war.”
“And what if you run into player killers without me?” I asked. I was torn, on one hand, I knew I was essential to the war effort in dealing with high-level players. On the other hand, I wanted to help my friend who was clearly hurting. “And why are you asking me to help your wife? Shouldn’t you be the one to help her?”
“Bye-bye, normally, I would agree with you completely. I can help my wife. But I would only be able to help her grieve for the loss of her spirits because that is exactly what she would be doing, grieving. I’m asking you to help her because she needs a game solution. She needs you to unearth one of those miraculous Easter Eggs you’ve been finding for us since we met you,” Olaf said honestly.
Crud, why did he put it like that? Now if I didn’t help her, I would be the reason she got hurt.
“As for the player killers, from what I’ve gathered, Mardi only used one of those scrolls you gave her, we can make do with them, hopefully, we won’t even need them anymore,” Olaf said, answering my first concern.
“You fight dirty,” I grumbled.
“No, I fight like a man who loves his wife and would do anything to see her happy,” Olaf replied seriously.
“Fine, after this battle I’ll start researching. See what I can find,” I said.
The corner of Olaf’s mouth upturned slightly. “Thank you, I mean it.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go beat the tar out of Anvilton already,” I said, trudging ahead of Olaf, to catch up with the other adventurers before they started the fight without us.
Olaf and the others quickly joined me, though nothing was said about our discussion, nothing needed to be said.
About two miles away from the brewery, Olaf called everyone to a stop and sent the scouts to investigate.
“Vision,” I said softly, kneeling down to rest like everyone else.
The spirit wolf appeared in front of me a moment later and gave my nose a playful lick.
I scratched him behind his ear. “I need you to have a look around the brewery. Count enemy numbers, tell me if they have any cannons. And more importantly, tell me if they look like they are expecting us.”
“You think someone told them we were coming?” Vision asked.
“I hope not, but if you see them start to suddenly rush around then that probably means they know we’re coming,” I said.
“Okay, how long should I watch them?” Vision asked.
“When the other two scouts leave, you come right back to me. Report what you see only to me so I can compare it with what the scouts report,” I explained.
“You think they are spies?” Vision asked, staring at me wide-eyed.
“I hope not, but this is how we can find out if we can trust them,” I said, hoping Vision would understand.
“Like a test then,” Vision said.
“Exactly, and I know I can trust you. Now, better get moving, the scouts have a good head start on you,” I said, giving him one last scratch behind his ears.
“Lots of petting if I do good, right?” Vision asked.
“Yes, lots of petting if you do good,” I promised him. It didn’t seem like much of a reward to me, but Vision sure did seem to like it.
Vision vanished from sight and was off on his own scouting mission.
Olaf sauntered up a minute later. “I’ve asked Icyhot to start dividing everyone into groups of 10-15 players, generally trying to build groups of people that know each other and then balancing them out for 1-2 tanks and 2-3 healers per group. He seems to know everyone better, so I was fine delegating the work to him.”
“Sounds good,” I said, not really sure what else I could say. The fact was, our decision to train for a few days was probably a mistake in the short term. We hadn’t gotten to know any of the other players, we hadn’t been participating in missions with them or assigning higher level missions that only Olaf could give out. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was some resentment directed at us from the other players.
“I know we needed the training, but I hate playing catch up like this,” Olaf said. “I’ll get this all sorted as quick as I can, and by the time you find a solution to Mic’s problem, I’ll have us ready to end the war once and for all.”
I didn’t care for being pressured like this, but if it was Rose, and Olaf was the only one who could help. I might be putting the same kind of pressure on him. “No pressure,” I quipped.
“Good, I like the confidence,” said Olaf, ignoring the complete lack of confidence in my retort.
Icyhot came up to speak before I could retort. “Yo, Ollie, got everyone split up. I also assigned first and second commanders for each group then assigned them to one of the Lieutenants. I figure the Lieutenants can report to you or the Captain. It will give us some sort of order in the chaos ahead of us.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Olaf. I could tell he was grateful for the help.
“Happy to, I figured you could use a little help after being out of the loop the last few days,” Icyhot added.
Olaf just nodded. I could see his being grateful for the help had shifted more to annoyed after the possible negative insinuation. I say ‘possible’ because I wasn’t picking up any snark from Icyhot, though I also didn’t know Icyhot very well to know if that was his snarky voice.
“Alright, find out if there any woodworkers among the groups,” said Olaf, taking on a more serious attitude. “We need at least one 10-foot ladder for each group.”
“What for?” Icyhot asked, the quirk of his eyebrows reflecting his confusion.
“On a battlefield, like the one ahead of us, it is usually on the terms of the defender. Anvilton has had two days to set traps, dig trenches and possibly build a makeshift wall of some kind. Ladders are great as temporary bridges over any pitfalls, or particularly deep trenches, not to mention the obvious benefit when it comes to scaling a wall,” Olaf explained.
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br /> “I never would have thought of that,” said Icyhot. “I’ll get right on that.”
Honestly, I never would have thought of that either.
“You think they will have anything worse than that?” I asked.
“With only two days, I doubt it. Depending on their numbers, some of them will have been split off to guard the brewers. I would expect some shallow trenches dug and spikes levied. Possibly some brush to hide them,” Olaf said. “All that is more to slow us down or hinder progress than to actually cause harm.”
“I guess we’ll just wait on the scouts to hear what they have uncovered,” I said. “Oh, I also sent Vision to scout for us. He’s going to give me his counts so I can compare them to the player scouts, see if we can actually trust them.”
“Good thinking,” Olaf said, his words punctuated by the sound of an ax chopping into a nearby tree.
The scouts returned about an hour later, looking out of breath but unharmed. I split off to find Vision.
“Okay, Vision, what did you see?” I asked softly, kneeling down next to the pup.
“I counted 42 soldiers outside and 23 adventurers. The adventurers were laughing and telling jokes . . . I think they were jokes. Anyway, they were mostly lazing around. Most of the soldiers were patrolling the area, eating or sleeping. There were three small camps of soldiers just above the factory, I counted 16 with bows or crossbows though they looked very tired. I do not think they are expecting an attack,” Vision said, giving me a good count of soldiers.
“What about inside? Anyone powerful we should watch out for?” I asked.
“I saw maybe 60 inside but I could not tell you if they were soldiers or prisoners. The highest-level adventurer was level 22. The highest-level soldier I saw was level 13 and he was giving orders to the other soldiers,” Vision answered.
“And what about defenses? Did they build a wall or set traps?” I asked.
“They stacked barrels in front of the entrance. There were a few pitfalls hidden around the area in front of the soldiers’ camp. Wooden stakes sticking out of the ground with sharpened ends and the ground was dug up in places and filled with brush. I think they might have also put something on the brush, it smelled really bad,” Vision answered, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head once roughly as it trying to expel the memory of the smell.
“Good job, buddy,” I said, giving him a good scratch behind the ears. “Let’s go see Olaf and compare notes.”
“Good work you two, go find Icyhot, he’ll assign you both to a group,” Olaf said, dismissing the two scouts.
“How many?” Olaf asked, seeing me.
“Vision counted 42 soldiers and 23 adventurers outside, 60 inside though he didn’t know if they were soldiers or prisoners,” I answered.
“Leafy, the actual Scout, counted 41 soldiers, 20 adventurers, so that’s a good start. Nothing too high of a level on the soldiers, but there was a level 22 adventurer that he said made him nervous. I also don’t like Anvilton having Archers camped on high ground like that, could make things difficult. The terrain is nothing I hadn’t already expected,” Olaf said.
“Vision said he smelled something on the brush, that mean anything to you?” I asked.
“Yeah, probably oil. If they light it on fire, it can create a fog of war. Basically, a smoke screen,” Olaf replied. “Chuck, the Thief, said he managed to sneak a peek inside the brewery. He saw at least 10 soldiers, most of them guarding the brewers. He said he also saw a level 18 Anvilton Captain.”
“Oh boy, we even get a boss fight,” I said sarcastically.
“Yep,” Olaf replied, a small grin forming on his face. “I love it when a plan comes together.”
“What plan?” I asked.
“Alright, so we need to split into three different assault groups,” Olaf started, laying out his attack plan. The first attack was to come from behind the Archers to claim the high ground, this was an attack Olaf planned to lead himself along with any other ranged attacker he could get his hands on. It would take some rearranging of the groups, but he was confident it could be done easily enough.
The second attack would be led by Rose, a frontal assault to draw out as many of the soldiers and adventurers as possible. That would be the worst of the fighting and probably would result in a lot of deaths on both sides. Even if Olaf reminded the adventurers with us that we wanted to capture as many Anvilton soldiers as possible, I didn’t expect they would all listen.
The third attack was to be led by yours truly, a flanking maneuver. I would lead a small group to charge from the west where there was plenty of cover that would allow us to get close as long as the bulk of the forces was preoccupied with Rose and the majority of the army.
It took another half an hour to get the groups reorganized.
“Okay, Vision, remember, when you see me give two thumbs up, just like this,” Olaf instructed the wolf, showing the two thumbs up. “You tell Rose to start her attack. Got it?”
“Can do, Minion Number One,” Vision answered, vanishing from view, missing most of the players laughing at the wolfs running joke.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” said Olaf. “Ranged team with me.”
Olaf and thirteen other players started moving east. It would take a while for them to get into position.
“Flanking team, with me,” I ordered loudly, causing 10 of the adventurers with us to jump to their feet to follow me. We traveled west for about a mile before moving north. The idea being, that if something went wrong with Olaf’s group, my group was to try to take the Archers in his place. Otherwise, we would wait until the battle started before initiating our own attack.
“I’m nervous Captain,” said a mousy looking player,
“It’s just a game,” I reassured him. “Nothing to be scared of. And you can call me Bye-bye, the Captain thing is honorary.”
“But what if I screw up?” Death said, doubting himself.
“Then we all die horribly,” I said, doing nothing to allay his fears. “And after we respawn, we try again. And if we wipe again. We try . . .” I motioned for him to continue my statement, my hand making a rolling motion.
“Again,” Death completed the sentence, not sounding sure of his answer.
“And again, and again, as many times as it takes,” I replied. “It’s all a game. You don’t need to be nervous. Just go out there and have fun.”
While there was truth to my words, right now, none of this was a game to me. There were very real consequences for Hammerton if we failed.
Death laughed, seeming to finally relax.
“That said, don’t screw up,” I said seriously.
Death straightened up. He didn’t look as nervous anymore.
“So, what do we do now?” Death asked.
“Now, we wait,” I said. It shouldn’t take Olaf more than two hours to get into position and that was with taking a generous route to avoid the Anvilton forces.
And with the ample time to wait, I found a good tree to sit next to and lean back against. I brought out the map I had started a few days prior, while we were training. I still found time to update my journal every night before I went to bed. I loved that I could still use the base ‘Writing’ profession to level up my ‘Runology II’ profession.
Runology II (Evolved from Writing)
Level: 23
Experience: 81.14%
Professional Skill: Runology is the art of communicating power.
Chance to Learn Rank I Unknown Rune: 61.50%
Chance to Craft Rank I Skill Book: +30.75%
Chance to Craft Lesser Spell Book: +15.375%
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br /> Chance to Learn Rank II Unknown Rune: 11.50%
Chance to Craft Rank II Skill Book: +5.75%
Chance to Craft Beginner Spell Book: +2.88%
Professional Skill: Writing is the ability to communicate through the written word.
Norse Expertise: +100% to craft any known Norse spell or skill book of Rank I regardless of level.
Greek Expertise: +100% to craft any known Greek spell or skill book of Rank I regardless of level.
Or ‘Drawing’ to level up my ‘Cartography’ profession.
Cartography (Evolved from Drawing)
Level: 92
Experience: 16.47%
Professional Skill: Cartography is the ability to read and draw maps of varying detail.
Professional Skill: Drawing is the ability to communicate through drawn images.
Although, just using ‘Runology II’ or ‘Cartography’ seemed to level the professions faster. With the time to spare, I started in on my map, using the various tools, making sure I listed the gradient and direction for each grid square as I worked to fill in the various details. I wish I could have let my mind wander but ‘Cartography’ required I pay attention. I kept hoping I would find a subskill or something to make the profession more useful, but so far nothing had popped up. It was another thing for the ‘to be researched’ pile.
An explosion of noise from the west of us abruptly ended my profession work and had me scrambling to put all my tools and pages away. That is, until I remembered I had time before my flanking group was to attack.
“Is that it? Is it time to start?” another player asked,
“Not yet,” I said, finishing packing away my stuff. “Remember, our job is to flank the enemy army. That means we need to give the main group time enough to grab their attention.”
The Mountain Valley War Page 42