Conquering new earth a l.., p.17
Conquering New Earth: A LitRPG Progression Fantasy, page 17
I immediately understood how bad that was. If I’d lost Malcolm and Lana in our first dungeon, I doubted people would have flooded into them willingly. The fallout would have been terrible for the community. The dungeons literally birthed a better life, provided awesome bonuses, and created a strong outpost as a whole.
“Oh,” Bart said in confusion. He leaned forward in his comfy spot and placed his elbows on his thighs. “But they’re easy.”
Dion shot him a glare before reluctantly nodding. “Some folks aren’t meant to be warriors.”
“So, what happened?” Tiffany asked.
Dion sighed, glancing at Margaret. The woman nodded that she would continue, “We banned going into the light. As the elected leader, I needed to make a decision for the whole of my people based on limited information. The SaLeen hated this. At first, they tried to bribe us to go, with incentives that we refused. In reply, they flared a warning to our forearms that an extra-large invasion was coming, and that the only way to beat it would be to finish orientation in the dungeons.”
Dion resumed the story. “This was day five. By day six we were offered to fight the invasion early. I told Margaret to decline. Our citizens hustled, leveling up on the basic threats, but those dungeons were ever-present. On day seven, one of our scouts neared this outpost, our closest potential trading partner. What they saw, well, the writing was on the wall. Two wagons rolled out of the city, farms rested outside walls, you had a stable and horses everywhere. We just finished our town hall, and you were leaps and bounds ahead of us.”
I cued in at this point. “You weren’t leveling, you found another option, and you decided to shift to us. You’re the people Jordan was hoping for.”
“Yes and no. We do have some fighters,” Margaret sadly admitted. “When I decided to pack us up and move to Outpost Lanti, the damn SaLeen forced everyone into solo dungeons. We had an almost perfect success rate. Two died, but it wasn’t the seventy-percent death rate that we feared. Hindsight’s a bitch, and I may have triggered something in people. Once you tell them doing X will cause them to die, they really don’t want to do X, even if it is mostly safe. Anyway, before we arrived, we all earned our orientation, complete with horses and secondary weapons. Malcolm, here, well, he’s been most gracious and fair. We’ve fit right in, and so far, everything is going smoothly since our arrival.”
“I feel less bad now,” I admitted. “This was always about a labor shortage which fixed itself in a way.”
“Yeah, well, sadly, it's about supply issues now. We need more adventurers!” Malcolm said in a positive way. “Honestly, dungeons have dried up, and new threats are appearing as missions for the outpost to conquer. I have three available, but you guys need to figure out your teams. We’ve shifted to ten-person teams.”
“Huh?” Bernard blurted out of turn.
Tiffany frowned at him, and he tucked his chin. “Why?”
The one word spoke volumes, questioning the rationality of the decision from the leaders while we were away.
Malcolm shifted to Dion. The man ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling meekly. “At risk of offending, common sense was the reason. Look, we’re not all… like this fella,” he gestured at Bill’s bulky frame, “and we clearly don’t want to die. Ten people means two healers, two revives, and that many more folks to keep others alive. Fewer gains for fewer risks, and ten is the dungeon maximum. We honestly have seven full teams already out of two hundred and fourteen people.”
“You’d need to find people to add without stealing from the other seven. Which, I’ve got farming duties that are granting me experience and helping me level passively. It’s slow, but I’m not a soldier anymore, and yes, apparently, I’m the long-term mayor,” Malcolm said.
I smiled, honestly loving this news. Malcolm was an amazing choice, and he seemed to be creating a great community. If the others also saw that in him, then I was all for it.
Olivia cleared her throat and said, “I’m on the council. Almost died five times to reach level fifteen.” Her complaint was ignored. “Expect to deal with me when Malcolm is detained. Tiffany, your name was put in for a council seat because of your battlefield leadership. You won the vote. You can decline or accept. Laura, you did not win the Sheriff seat. Dion did.”
“I did what?” Tiffany blurted.
“You were elected to help run Lanti,” Malcolm said dryly. “Do you accept?”
“Probably but give me a bit to process. Why not Laura? She led the defense and the clean-up. You put her in charge of the mission, and what does this mean for adventuring?”
“No change, and the five of you will need to create a new team while we are all figuring out leadership roles on our own,” Dion said. “The others can answer about why you and not Laura. But it's politics.”
I glanced at Tiffany, and her hazel eyes locked to mine. We both wanted our own teams. At the same time, we managed the mission just fine together and ended up nodding in respect to one another. That settled that for now. We’d figure it out.
“And me?” I asked. “What am I assigned?”
“Nothing right now, but we have a plan. How would you like to become the captain of the guard or commander or something along those lines?”
“I have leadership experience, sure. But not combat,” I replied.
Tiffany snorted. “It’s me or you, and I wasn’t a soldier, either. Plus, you grew up as a military brat; that’s a step closer than me.”
Dion nodded. “I lost a lot of faith with our people, as did Margaret. People still trust us to keep them safe,” he sighed unhappily, “just not with combat.”
Lana smiled and added, “I vote you as the military leader. It has to be someone, and you’ve done well so far.”
“Lana has a point,” Malcolm said. “We need someone who can lead us in a group and can decide what missions never are even handed out. I… can’t be everything as the mayor. Hell, there are people in this community who’ll never be farmers, and they’ll be team leaders. They need a boss.”
“Shouldn’t that fall on you?” I asked.
Malcolm shook his head, sticking a finger to his dirty chest. “If I travel more than a day away, all my chores and farming gains go to shit, and I have to find a sitter. Meanwhile, the ogre fight isn’t forgotten, and you stepped up. I’m sorta rambling and repeating myself, but this is us working out the issue in real time. We need one central shot-caller for the community for bigger battles. The plan is to have team leaders set up a hierarchy, with the top team leader being a captain or general or whatever the team leaders decide.”
“Oh…” Tiffany said, catching on. “If I join the council, I can’t be the general?”
“Well, maybe,” Olivia said in a positive way. “More and more people trickle in to join us. They either left their outpost or are fresh starts with us showing as the closest outpost. There’s bound to be a ninth team at some point, and probably someone from an HOA looking for power.”
Olivia’s self-joke caused us to snicker. Malcolm continued, “For now, the community can use you as a balance. We need a military member in leadership. Tiffany, since you are less hostile towards Olivia, who won her vote fairly, we figured you were a better fit.”
And there it was: the reason they picked Tiffany to council over me. The raven-haired warrior slumped into the couch, understanding as well. Her defeated sigh meant she’d likely accept.
“Why don’t you create team eight and I’ll build a team nine?” I offered.
“Or we just run two teams inside the one team. Join together only on missions that call for it,” Tiffany countered. “Just because other teams are scared, doesn’t mean we have to be. And by the sound of it, these aren’t dungeons, anyway.”
“I find your terms acceptable,” I replied with a warm smile. “In the meantime, what are these missions you need help with?”
“Are you sure you want to go right back out?” Olivia asked.
I shrugged and said, “I may want to do some cobblestone laying, which I assume there’s a mission to pad the outpost?” Malcolm nodded in reply. “Sounds fun for a bit. I need to go over my gains from the troll camp and sort our loot.”
Malcolm wagged a finger. “Speaking of which, yeah. Anything you earn is yours to keep, besides common supplies for building. We realized no one is trading a spare bag for wooden planks anyway. Everyone wants the same thing at the moment.”
“What about this silver I have in the back of my mind?” Lana asked, breaking her silence. “I can’t be the only one.”
“We haven’t gotten a drop of it yet,” Malcolm replied.
Our eyes shifted to Bill, and he shrugged. “Nope, no silver yet. What about those missions, and how are we assigning living spaces?”
“Well, a few tents have been dropping. Mostly from missions where the residents lived in tents. We have to cobble the entirety of the outpost, which makes sense. If we didn’t, the ground would become muck in a few weeks, anyway,” Olivia said.
Dion frowned at her. “We have nothing to assign you guys to live in. Unfortunately, everything is overcrowded at the moment.”
“We killed a troll camp, so maybe we got lucky and there’s a tent or two,” I said cheerfully. “And the missions?”
Malcolm glanced at his inner wrist and said, “There’s been a countdown timer for something big coming. Hence the general position talk. If that proves to be a minor threat, well, there’s a quest to defeat a camp of merfolk upriver. While it seems simple, they’re on an island that you either have to swim to through infested waters or waste days building a raft. Option two is to venture a few weeks away to clear out a rabid bear den. Doing that unlocks a mining camp for humanity. The third choice is to free a dozen flameweavers of Jaro who are being held by a small army of nagas.”
“Whoa,” Tiffany blurted, and my eyes widened. “Flameweavers are badass.”
“Hell yeah, count me in.” Bill clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
I nodded in approval. “Definitely in.”
“These are the worst missions that none of the other team leaders wanted. I assume you're excited about the flameweavers. If so, don’t be. They don’t join our side if we free them. They simply come and help us build torches atop our inner walls that never extinguish,” Malcolm said in disappointment. His frown deepened. “Oh, great. Now we have an infestation as well.”
“A what?” Dion asked.
Olivia checked her inner wrist. I was a bit surprised when mine tingled as well, seeing as how I was a nobody at the moment. I glanced down to read the message while the other groaned.
Outpost Pedion has fallen to the invaders. The twenty-four-hour chance of redemption has passed. An infestation of orcs has changed the zone difficulty from basic to rare. Defeat the infestation before it grows in power or move before they crush you. Severe Warning - The longer you wait, the worse the situation becomes.
We sat there in awkward silence for a minute until I snickered and said, “So, how about that general position, because it looks like we’re marching to war.”
BATTLE FORMATIONS
Pedion Outpost - Day 13 Post-Calamity
The entire community received the message, taking the warning very seriously. As one, we rallied behind the call to muster our forces. Only a handful of defenders remained in Lanti with over two hundred adventurers ready for battle. After half a day of preparing and a day on the move, we faced off against the horde of greenskins.
I never expected to see so many regular people lined up as soldiers. “Ready” might have been an overstatement. “Terrified but determined” might have better set the tone. The strength of the human spirit birthed pride in my chest as much as the butterflies in my guts requested that I vomit. I normally didn’t become squeamish before a fight, but this time, I couldn’t help it.
The forces of Pedion lined up against us, and their might caused fear. A single, towering ogre bellowed at his troops, who inched forward, eager to engage. Mages with arcane staves situated themselves among the hundred or so orcs. The enemy wore their simple garb of kilts with brandished weapons. A few carried shields, a half-dozen or so wore helmets, and most bore no protections.
While we outnumbered the enemy, our battle lines quaked with uncertainty. The orcs grinned, grunted, and taunted while we shook with nerves.
A gusting, cool wind helped with the heat as we waited, two armies on the precipice of battle. The barren space between us seemed far too close, and so far at the same time. The clearing of Pedion remained empty besides a few smoldering fire pits, and I chose to fight in the open instead of amongst the trees.
“This is crazy,” Lana said with Kibbie in her lap. “I wish we could just go home.”
“Kibbie,” Kibbie said in a sad tone. “Hug.”
The two hugged with Lana rubbing her little back.
“We clearly can’t do that,” Malcolm said with a huff. “I know what’ll make you feel better. What’s the least-spoken language in the world?”
Lana smiled, tucking her chin and batting her eyelashes in happiness. I smirked at her, desperately wanting to ruin the cheesy joke.
“Sign language,” Malcolm said. “Get it. Get it? You got it, right?” Even the after-joke was delivered well.
We shared a light laugh, the tension of the situation never easing.
As much as I wanted to enjoy the moment, I feared people would die today. Hopefully my sneaky plan would work. If it didn’t, I prayed there were enough healers with revives who could bring them back, because this was it.
“So…” Bill said. “What’s the plan?”
“I was hoping they’d charge into us. Hence the marching through the woods in tight formations. If they break ranks, they leave their magical protections and open themselves to our counterattacks. Conversely, they’ll have shields in place the moment we advance. I want archers and crossbows focused on the mages. We move forward slowly and methodically. One step at a time,” I said.
“That’s it?” Olivia asked with a scoff. “I like Dion’s plan.”
Dion wanted a hard charge directly into the enemy with defense mages shielding the forward rider. The thought process was fine, and probably would work. The enemy mages would spend their mana on the poor sucker who acted as lightning bait. When the orc casters ran out of mana, we could smash their anti-magic shields.
The entire cavalry would rush in, and we’d enter a melee with the horse’s charge becoming this amazing battlefield moment that won us the victory - just like in the stories. Except we would hit each other with magic, no one had lances, and if the enemy’s shield line held, we’d be clumped up against superior magical casters. The plan had a whole lot of issues, in my opinion, so I didn’t go with it.
Even if I wanted to shout at Olivia, I calmly answered, “Yeah, it's something everyone can understand and follow. Kill the mages to ruin the defenses, use our magic to keep the orcs from reaching our lines, use the ranged magic to our advantage, and hopefully no one dies.”
“I like this plan,” Lana said, glaring at Olivia. “Plans normally go to shit. This one is basic and has a decent exit strategy if it goes wrong.”
“You sure you don’t want to try to break their shields?” Dion asked.
I shook my head. “Nope. Look, there are a hundred orcs waiting to do battle. We’ll lose thirty, maybe forty soldiers in melee. I’m… No. Sound the advance, ten paces then stop. Follow my orders or remove me as general,” I commanded.
Malcolm nodded and bellowed, “Ten paces advance! Lock step, march!”
The forces of Lanti urged their mounts forward, and our lack of unity showed. The line wormed forward with different team leaders counting ten differently. Some horses used long strides, while others stutter stepped. Some counted each foot of a horse lifting as a step, some the front two, and others just guessed the distance. It was a mess that finally fixed itself at about fifteen paces.
We stood at a stalemate, neither army moving forward. At our current separation, someone had to advance for our ranged magic, crossbows, or arrows to become effective. Across the distance, the ogre commander kept his troops in line while I inspected the army. Everyone sat atop a horse besides me and Scarlett. I decided we’d be a mounted fighting force except for the archers.
While this risked the horses, their ability to help our mobility was paramount. The front rank consisted of our soldiers who earned heavy armor, focused on physical stats, or lacked magic altogether. Behind them were those who selected ranged weapons or had agency magic. In the far rear, the extra mounts waited beside archers who stayed on the ground.
I definitely wanted the archers mounted, but I finally caved to their request. Since their horses were nearby, it created a decent compromise for today. If things turned sour, and we lost this first fight, we would attack again or give up Lanti. Both those scenarios required the mobility horses could provide.
As disgusting as it was to internalize, some people might die today because no one fought this invasion like they should have. Without a doubt, the right answer was to march out and exterminate the problem before it became too much to handle.
While I glanced up and down the line, I saw nervous postures among the people. Everyone wore their best armor, carried their best weapons, and knew the stakes. I just had to hope the decision to not charge in with our cavalry to break the enemy’s will was the right choice.
“Lana, you’re up,” I said.
Bill rode Gloomy, pushing ahead of Lana to escort her to the front lines. The duo had held their date around a campfire, keeping things cordial. Lana did flash him a smile when he talked cutely to Kibbie. Meanwhile Malcolm frowned, his eyes following the woman as well.
“What’s she doing?” Olivia asked.
I purposefully ignored her until Malcolm shifted to me for an answer. “You’ll see. Cover your ears.” I warned before shouting. “Another ten paces on my mark. Hold the damn line straight. Medium steps. When we dress the line, fire mages to the front. Once the fire mages are moving forward, send the crossbows and archers forward as well. Infantry to brace for incoming spears and take the blows on your shields to defend the ranged troops.”
