ALL NOVEL Book Two - Chapter Eighty Three - Balance
I watched with quiet bemusement as Cal began to embody the role of general more and more with each passing second. The others were getting into it, too, but not like Cal. I watched him with a more careful eye because while he seemed to be changing into the general we needed to win this challenge, it was jarringly fast. It seemed to me like when I unlocked a new skill and information was pushed into my mind like it had always been there.
The system had done something. I felt the magic, but it was at a level of complexity and subtle influence which made my head spin. I only knew it was magic in the same way I knew that chemistry was science. I couldn’t do it myself, but I knew it when I saw it. I didn’t think the influence was permanent or dangerous, but there was nothing I could have done to stop it happening either way. For now, it was just something to think about while the others played their war game.
Which is what this ‘room’ was, clearly. From our vantage point atop the hill, I analysed the battlefield.
Describe the five zones, starting from the closest. They become more barren and death-filled until the final is a haunted graveyard.
The area we appeared in reminded me of the fields around Ascentown. The green grass and small copses of trees were vibrant and full of life. However, as the land which would become our battlefield extended away from us, the enemy’s presence could be felt. With each passing mile, the flora wilted just a little more than the last. The halfway demarcation made this effect even more pronounced, the ground turning barren and sparse of anything but dust.
As opposed to our side, the enemy command centre was on a hill that looked like a cemetery from this distance. What I assumed was their command centre was truly a mausoleum atop the thin hill. So, this was probably related to Mortesax again. The guy had the most ominous name I had ever heard and the undead generals to go with it. It was clearly not a miniboss room like before though. As the units began to appear on the field and the armies slowly started marching towards each other, I stifled a yawn.
I had been aggressively told to relax, so I was trying my best. A large part of me wanted to jump down into the fighting below so I could hurry things along, but one look at the actual combat had me rethinking that idea. “Just how strong are those things?” I asked in wonder, focusing my magical senses on a single member of the archer unit Cal had just purchased.
Though they looked like humans, they weren’t real people, nor were they actually dungeon monsters either. I had a feeling if Hassian were to be in charge, the soldiers would be Gibralan, but I doubted it would change their base attributes. Attributes which were way ahead of my own. I couldn’t help but go a little slack-jawed at the immense collisions of power as the squads began to engage.
Each member of the army seemed to be as powerful as myself, if not stronger. I reminded myself that this was essentially a simulation. Now that the two sides were fighting in earnest, the enemy forces had become more visible. Unsurprisingly, it was an undead horde, as initial scouting and general guesswork had expected. For each fighter or archer, there were three or four on the other side.
Our side had quality, while theirs had an overwhelming amount of quantity. It remained to be seen if strength in tactics would be able to overcome the disparity, but I had faith.
Not for nothing, but we hadn’t failed a room since entering the dungeon. Most puzzles required a trick which was easy to figure out if you could remain calm or had a level of magical understanding above what was required. What even happened in that scenario? I was content to wonder, not very interested in seeing any actual penalties in this place.
I had heard the phrase ‘War never changes' in the past, but I thought that was in regards to the cost of war, the fact that it’s all just death at the end of the day. From our command centre atop the hill, I realised it was worse than that. War was just… boring. This fake version was, at least. Cal was absolutely managing the situation correctly, winning small skirmishes and removing more of their opponent’s pieces from the board than they lost. I just also couldn’t help being reminded why I ignored this type of game in the past. It made me want to pull my hair out.
I didn’t have a watch, something I was only now realising as an oversight. I didn’t know how long we had been in the dungeon in total. The walls in the hallways held the strange luminescence which previous System instalments had, a colourless glow from all directions. Then, the rooms either had those same walls, or were a seemingly random time and place which only served to throw off my perception more. Then there were the safe rooms which locked down my mana and apparently bodily functions. It was possible my attention slipped as we made our way through this intermittently beautiful place.
I knew voicing my worries wouldn’t make anything move faster. There were benefits to slowing down. Some of which outstripped the need for pace. Survival was more important, after all. Right now, I felt the benefits of the calm most clearly in my settling mana channels. I tried to delve into my own magic, but the turmoil I had forced upon my inner world was still roiling and the potent energies being unleashed upon the battlefields below were distracting. I slowly found myself infuriated as the minutes ticked by into hours, unable to make any personal progress.
I forced myself to pay attention to the strategy being discussed, finally conceding to myself and letting my energy do as it wanted.
“Sector Two B is under attack by enemy fliers, we need a squad of scout archers to get rid of them. If we’re lucky they might level up and then we’ll have two heavy scout cavalry units to run around with.” At the end of his quick report, Morris gave an actual salute, which I thought was a bit much. I said nothing, lest the group’s effectiveness lowered from a lack of willingness to engage.
“Good work, Captain Morris. The Shadowed Cliffs are falling under our control and the fighting should be kept in Sector Three C for now.” As he spoke, Commander Cal never took his eyes from the battlefield below. There was a suitable intensity in his face. I had complete confidence that we were undergoing smooth sailing, even if it sounded chaotic and frantic to me.
“Supply lines are being attacked.” Rashid said quietly, his own eyes closed with his head on the round table before them. I hadn’t interacted with the game yet, but Rashid must have been rushing around the battlefield like a ghost, able to watch through the eyes of any unit on their side. “Two squads of shield skeletons with a blood knight group behind them.”
“Damn. Sending the shock cavalry, see what you can do with that.” Cal didn’t even blink as he covered the opening flanks. The orders and reactions continued. I forced myself to pay attention, learning everything worth learning. I did not try to put my mind towards the issue of winning the task. I had been told to stay out of it, and away from the controls I would stay until they asked for help.
Try as I might, I found it impossible to sit still and do nothing. Ever since I first grasped the concept of mana, I had been manipulating the strange force inside myself. Being unable to do so felt less like a discomfort and more like an impossibility. I was sure that if I kept pushing, the barrier around me would buckle. The impulse was there, but not true desire. My mood teetered like a see-saw with every step our army was pushed back. There were no longer any of our units moving past the second area.
Just as I was about to voice concern for the first time, a brush of power closed my mouth for me. Rashid also seemed to get worried at this point, but I told him it was fine before he interrupted by accident. This was an important moment for their group’s newest member. Cal had been close already, but now it was happening. He had come to the inspiration on his own, so my intrusion would be as unwanted as it would be potentially dangerous. With the formation of my constellation, the strange power of dao was even more mysterious than ever. Not only was my own out of reach, I could sense Cal’s blossoming power with needlepoint clarity.
“Three units to B2 and let them break into B3.” His buttoned shirt was pulled open at the collar so he could breath and the confidence in his stance was solid enough I began to look for the trick he was employing. I would have been in a panic as my forces were pushed further and further back, but Cal’s analytical face was slowly transforming into a winner’s smile. “Then we let their whole horde into A3 and let the fireworks fly.”
Wishing I had been paying better attention, I leaned forward to see better. Except, the excitement I had expected didn’t come quickly, and Cal’s dao hovered on the edge of formation. It took me another quarter of an hour to realise that was exactly the point. For every unit that Cal lost, he cost the enemy four. For each foot of ground he lost, he took two. Over a million units now swarmed the battlefield, but he kept them all in a complex dance. I almost slapped my forehead in realisation but I didn’t want to throw anything out.
Kept them in balance. I rolled my eyes at my own silent pun. If there were five enemies to every one of our fighters, then costing them six was a decent way to choke them out. In theory, it would work if everything else was equal. The issue was that the enemy forces seemed to be getting supplies faster than our own. I wasn’t even sure I could help with that due to my confused mana pathways, and I resisted the temptation to try. Not until I’m asked, I reminded myself.
Still, what was the plan here? The sounds of the zombies and undead from the other side were audible for the first time and Cal’s lieutenants were starting to look a little rattled. I wasn’t enjoying the tension either, but I had confidence that it would be okay. The fact that Cal’s smile was only growing was also a good sign. Then the man whipped around and slapped his hands on the table. Everyone looked to him, Rashid lifting his head from the wood. His eyes were bleary against the light.
“Time to commence Operation Turn Undead.”