Chapter 199 - The Wider War*

After a short conversation with Greg, I made my way to the command building. The other sergeants who had manned the wall during the first wave were also there. Instead of Captain Petrae, Senior Lieutenant Torquatus was addressing us.

First, we reported the casualties in our sections and the specialties of the mercenary units that had attacked us.

While most of the mercenary units were like the one that had attacked my section, relying mostly on improvised siege weapons and melee units, a few sections had been hit by units that relied more heavily on long-range attacks using archers, rune equipment, and talismans. Thankfully, the command staff had provided specialized mage units to counter those talismans and pieces of equipment.

Once we were done reporting, Senior Lieutenant Torquatus looked at us.

“Good job holding your positions. The first wave was harder than we expected, but it is clear that this was only a probing attack. The enemies who attacked today were mostly from mercenary units, with only two Frosthallow companies taking part, and even those looked like newly formed companies.”

“There is a strong possibility that the intensity of their attacks will decrease beginning with the next wave and remain low for a few days.”

Then he spread his mana around the room to make sure the next part of the conversation could not be heard by anyone else.

“We were able to establish contact with Stonegate, and the situation is dire. We have lost Fort Darrow and Fort Dunvale. The chances of us getting reinforcements, especially from high-tier individuals, are low, with most Royal Army knights and House Petrae knights occupied with defending against Frosthallow.”

“Count Petrae needs help from the Royal Army?” one of the noble sergeants exclaimed, before the lieutenant could even finish explaining the current situation. “This is the first time in history that House Petrae has had to rely on the Royal Army to defend Stonegate.”

Finally noticing the lieutenant’s reproachful gaze, the sergeant quieted down and mumbled an apology.

He was not the only one who was shocked.

I was in almost the same state. If he had not disrupted the meeting, I probably would have, though for a different reason. I was still trying to process what he meant by losing Fort Darrow and Fort Dunvale.

Did that mean every soldier there was dead?

Would I also have died if Captain Darrow had not sent me to Velkar Town?

I knew a lot of people who served at Fort Darrow. More importantly, I was worried about Lieutenant Cicero.

Was he alive, or...

“Avalon has already lost one of Count Petrae’s Tier-6 personal guards and two Tier-5 Royal Army commanders,” Senior Lieutenant Torquatus continued. “This also means that most of Frosthallow’s powerhouses are currently occupied at Stonegate.”

Then he turned and looked at the sergeant who had just interrupted him.

“The information I am sharing is for the ears of Royal Army officers only. Count Petrae is in the process of breaking through to Tier-7, and the Defense Council suspects that this attack is meant to stop him from completing his breakthrough. A Tier-7 breakthrough is a long process. It can take anywhere from one to six months.”

We were all in awe after learning that.

Tier-7s were almost like gods in this world. If Avalon gained one more Tier-7, I was sure the ripples would affect the entire kingdom and perhaps even the whole continent.

“The Count started his breakthrough fifteen days ago. He is nowhere close to completing it, so relying on him to turn the tide is not an option for us.”

“How did Frosthallow know the Count was close to a breakthrough?” another sergeant mumbled.

“This will be the last question I answer about Count Petrae’s breakthrough,” the lieutenant said in a commanding tone. “As I said, a Tier-7 breakthrough is different. Even I am not completely aware of what exactly takes place, but it is said that the mana in their domain starts behaving differently long before the breakthrough actually occurs. This allows Grandmaster-tier sensors to sense the breakthrough, sometimes even three to six months in advance.”

“Why are the other Tier-7s of the kingdom not helping us?” I asked.

Almost all the noble sergeants present looked at me as if I were a fool.

Thankfully, the lieutenant explained.

“You have seen the domain of a Tier-5. At Tier-6, that domain is given physical form by linking it to something that exists in the real world, usually a piece of land. At Tier-7, a pillar is established in a way that makes the Tier-7 the sole authority over the linked area.

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“This allows them to boost the mana cultivation of selected retainers, as long as those retainers have the same element as the Tier-7 lord. I do not have time to explain what all of this truly means or how it works, but know this: people at Tier-6 and Tier-7 become somewhat vulnerable outside the area of their domain, and their mana regeneration takes far too long when they are outside their lord’s domain.

“I have never known a Tier-7 to leave the territory anchored to their pillar.”

This was a subject I knew nothing about, and I had so many questions.

Was there a lord above Count Petrae himself who supported his Tier-5s and Tier-6s? If so, who was it? From what the lieutenant had said, a lord and retainer should have the same element, but in Avalon, there was no Tier-7 earth user that I knew of.

If there was no lord, was it not possible to progress to Tier-7?

If not, how had the first Tier-7 come into existence?

Regretfully, it looked like I would not be getting answers to these kinds of questions anytime soon.

Lieutenant Torquatus continued.

“Now, those are things we have no control over. Instead, the things that matter are these: while we might not get reinforcements from Tier-4 knights, we could receive reinforcements from lower-tier army soldiers.

“Two battalions’ worth of soldiers can arrive in fifteen to twenty days, along with at least two months’ worth of food. But with Frosthallow surrounding us on all sides, ensuring their safety would be difficult, not to mention bringing them inside the walls.”

“Why is Frosthallow so focused on Velkar?” I asked. “If they really want to stop the Count’s breakthrough, would it not make more sense to launch a full attack on Stonegate? Why waste even a single powerhouse on Velkar Town?”

“Because Fort Dunvale and Velkar are not part of the domain Count Petrae established at Tier-6,” the lieutenant replied. “So even if he becomes a Tier-7, Frosthallow might still have a chance of holding the land they captured.”

I nodded.

The lieutenant proceeded to discuss a few more details, such as where we could expect to be assigned during the next shift and the expected strength of the enemies we might face.

After that, he spoke with each sergeant individually, discussing their section’s performance.

When he came to me, he did what he had done with the rest of the sergeants. He isolated the two of us with his mana, making sure the other sergeants could not hear anything.

“Sergeant Edward, your performance was better than any of us expected. Just lead your section as you did today. The only thing I would suggest is that you avoid making promises on the battlefield. No matter how great a commander is, people always die. Your promise could make your subordinates doubt your words in the future, even when they know you did everything in your power to keep it.”

I nodded. “I will not let it happen again.”

Lieutenant Torquatus patted my shoulder. “Do not take it too hard. As leaders, we all make a lot of mistakes. Even when we do not, every death that occurs is our responsibility in one way or another. The only thing we can do is keep moving forward and learning from our past mistakes.”

I took the lieutenant’s words to heart and nodded again, this time with more conviction.

“Do you have any questions for me?” the lieutenant asked.

“Is everyone at Fort Darrow dead?” I asked, almost in a whisper.

One part of me wanted to know.

Another wanted to live in ignorance, at least until this siege was over.

The lieutenant shook his head. “We lost Fort Darrow on the first day of the invasion. Command does not have any information about the soldiers who were stationed at the fort or whether any of them survived.”

Then, looking at me with a softer expression, he said, “I would not worry about Cicero if I were you. He has always been a tough opponent to kill. And do not forget, he is the most qualified healer at the fort. Healers are the most precious commodity in war, even enemy healers. So Cicero has the highest chance of surviving among those at the fort.”

What the lieutenant said made me feel a little better, especially considering Lieutenant Cicero’s age. He was not someone who fought on the front line.

After that, the meeting ended, and I made my way back to my tent.

The sun had already been down for some time, so I grabbed some stew for dinner and went to sleep.

With today’s deaths, the atmosphere in the camp was far more somber than it had been just yesterday.

I woke up to the sounds of shouting, cannons, and fighting.

Getting up, I ran to the nearest soldier to confirm how much time I had left until my shift and whether my unit and I were required as support. When I was informed that I still had three hours until my next shift, I made my way back to my tent.

Instead of sleeping, I checked my status.

+34,000 XP

13,000 XP – Training more than 750 soldiers for the town’s defense

11,000 XP – Preparing the town’s defenses and arrays

3,500 XP – Leading more than 150 soldiers in battle

6,500 XP – Patrol and night watch

Name: Edward

Class: Battlefield Coordinator

Rank: Initiate (T2)

Level: 42 / 50

EXP: 500 / 12,600

Elemental Affinity: 0.1% Wind

Mana Cultivation: Tier 2 (85.5/100)

Mana Nodes: 6 / 7

Physical Attributes

Constitution: 80.4 → 84.9

Strength: 64.9 → 69.4

Agility: 59.2 → 62.2

Spiritual Attributes

Intelligence: 116 → 126.1

Wisdom: 99.1 → 107.6

Willpower: 94.3 → 101.8

HP: 800 / 849

HP Regen: 216.5 per day

MP: 4000 / 4248

MP Regen: 373.2 per hour

Class Skills

[Operational Cognition (A)] – Level 47 → 57

[Unbroken Stride (UC)] – Level 50*

[Flowing Spear Style (UC)] – Level 50*

[Perceptive Instinct (UC)] – Level 50*

[Adaptive Vital Restoration (A)] – Level 5 → 7

General Skills

[Battlefield Command (UC)] – Level 45 → 50*

[Triage Ward (UC)] – Level 50*

[Rune Analysis (UC)] – Level 50*

[Fortification Planner (UC)] – Level 32 → 42

[Logistics Routecraft (UC)] – Level 42 → 47

[Mana Manipulation (A)] – Level 35 → 45

[Mana Reinforcement (UC)] – Level 50*

The level gains in my skills were obvious.

Even after repairing the core rooms, I had not stopped experimenting with core formation. I had tried making cores with natural mana and with my own mana, but I had never been able to form a proper core, supporting the existing theory that forming cores without a high elemental affinity was almost impossible.

I had also tried creating rune weapons that could help during the siege, but none of my experiments had produced the results I was hoping for. Still, they had pushed my [Mana Manipulation (A)] to a whole new level.

The same thing had happened with [Operational Cognition (A)]. A month of organizing the militia and conducting drills, followed by four hours of coordinating an active wall defense, had pushed [Operational Cognition (A)] up ten levels.

What surprised me most was the 3,500 XP from a single four-hour battle.

Sure, I had been leading more than a company’s worth of soldiers while holding the rank of sergeant, but the gains were still enormous.

If I kept gaining this much XP after every battle, and if I survived this siege, there was a chance I could reach Tier-3 by the end of it.