Siege State

After their talk, Darius indicated he needed some time to think, and spent the rest of the afternoon in uncharacteristic silence. The rest of the party were happy to leave him to it, preoccupied as they were with watching for the ever-present, imminent threats of the Proving Grounds.

Eventually, the sun began to dip below the expansive sea of grass, casting flickering peach-coloured light across it in waves. Though they had not been attacked again since Tom had impaled the snake, they released a collective sigh of relief when Darius indicated they should make camp for the night. They were all fatigued from maintaining so much alertness and carrying so much tension all day.

Tom and Darius were the only two party members not completely exhausted. Rosa was the next best off, having spent time with the Hunters during the siege, but it could not compare to the sheer amount of time Tom had spent in the Deep, or the amount of preparation and experience Darius had with the Proving Grounds.

Accordingly, it fell to the two of them to set up wardpoles around the section of the road they’d decided to stop on. Darius picked up the theory behind their placement quickly, and soon after they had a familiar circle of comforting protection surrounding them. The enchanted poles would mask any sign of their presence, and gently steer away any beasts that strayed too close.

Usually, in the Deep, the wardpoles would be set up against some natural feature, a large tree, or a cliff, or some such. The terrain would then stop any agitated or particularly powerful beasts from stumbling upon them.

Here, in the flat, open Proving Grounds, they had no such luxury, and would have to set a watch while they slept. Still, the extra security was welcome, and should see them through the night.

After they’d set up, Darius took a small stone from a belt pouch. Tom felt him channel a trickle of mana into it, and it began to vibrate softly and slowly. He placed it on the ground in the middle of them all.

He shrugged when Meri questioned him on it. “Is a ward thing, not so good as these poles, though. It is usually only enough for one person, and we each carry one, so it is as likely to do nothing for so many. But the more help the better, yes?”

Noone disagreed. They’d all been a little unnerved by their first day in the Grounds. The propensity for deadly attacks to come from any direction, at any moment, was apt to abrade nerves. Even Eli, who’d been a Guard for decades, was looking a little frazzled.

They made a decent dinner, heartier than usual, as if to reward themselves for their bravery, taken from their various storage spaces. They ate in companionable silence until, at last, Darius broke it.

“I have been thinking,” he began, slowly.

“Nice change, for once,” Rosa muttered. Darius affected not to hear her.

“I am thinking it would be useful to learn to be a proper healer,” he said. Everyone shifted slightly in their seats, making minute movements. No one said anything, though, perhaps fearful of scaring away this new good sense like some sort of small, skittish animal.

“By proper healer, I of course mean a healer that can fight,” Darius continued. Now everyone went still, as if the sudden reversal of Darius’ train of thought was a large predator encroaching upon them, but which might yet move off without conflict.

“Tom has made very good points. If I can show that I can be a tempered battle-healer, then I may still be allowed into battle. It must be a fine line that I walk, though. Too much good at healing and I will be stuck in some tent waiting for injured. Too good at fighting and they will say I am not knowing my place. It is difficult.”

Tom spoke. “I think you’ve drawn the wrong conclusions. You want to be as good at fighting and as good at healing as you possibly can be. It’s not about that. What you want to work on is fitting into the role of a battle-healer.”

Tom was confused. He didn’t understand this fixation on this false dichotomy between healing and fighting. It was almost as if the horizoner was lumping everyone into two categories: fighter or healer.

“What do you mean, exactly then? So I am clear.” Darius asked, a guileless look on his face.

“How do you train small units at the Monastery?” Eli asked.

On the back of it Meri, leaned in. The small woman was still keeping an eye out towards the darkness beyond their small circle. “Do you have specific roles? You surely must have scouts and tanks and such, as well as things like healers?”

Darius still seemed to have trouble with the concept. “Ah.., yes? Sort of? We are having Idealists with many different abilities, but each of us proves ourselves in our own ways, no? If someone is better at doing scouting, they do it, but I am not knowing of tanks? Such as for storing water?”

“Tanks are a role in small units,” Tom explained. “They are good at taking damage, and they attract enemy attention, so that others who are better at dealing damage can do their work.”

“How do they not have tanks in the Monastery?” Markus whispered, half to himself.

Darius answered him anyway. “Oh, yes, we have these types, who are difficult to make move and can stand tall to strong enemies. Is just another type of fighter. This is what I do not understand. Everyone is for killing. Everyone is for the Bloody Dawn.”

Tom felt a flicker of understanding dawn in him. “That’s why healers are treated differently, then? Their skills are mostly not combat skills. It’s only those rare few that have a mix, and usually they’re weighted far more towards combat than healing.”

Darius shrugged at him, as if conceding the obvious.

“Right. That makes sense,” Tom continued. “In other places, healers, even those with no combat skills, go into combat. They protect their party, and their party protects them in turn.”

Understanding finally lit in Darius’ eyes too, quickly followed by confusion. “Ah! I see! But… this is… not right. Fighters are for bringing the Bloody Dawn, spreading Goddess’ truth through blood. Anyone who cannot protect themselves should not be making of a burden themselves.” He frowned.

Tom wiggled his hand, indicating he understood where Darius was coming from. “It’s not like that. Even though a team with a healer has to protect them, they are still more efficient than without a healer. While the healer is with them, they can go further, push themselves more, than if they did not have healing at hand to rely on.”

Darius was silent for a while, then. The others continued asking clarifying questions, but he seemingly ignored them, and they were mostly answered by Rosa.

“This is mostly the area of the battle-healers, for the Monastery. But they cannot help so much as a full healer would in battle. But then, a full healer in battle would be a liability. You said small unit tactics, and said about roles. Can you explain?”

“The smallest small units are three or four, and the largest are eight to ten. Any more than that and we have to start talking about strategy, not tactics,” Tom said, launching into the explanation with gusto. Small unit tactics had always been one of his best classes at the Academy.

“In each unit, depending on what they are doing, there are ideal compositions, different combinations of different Ideals. Most of the time, many different compositions would work for a given situation.

“There is what we call the “Every Unit” though. It is the unit that is the most flexible, that can achieve the most goals with the smallest resources. Generally, it goes like this:

“One tank to draw attention and take damage that would cripple or kill his squadmates. One damage dealer to kill threats to the unit. One utility caster, who can provide solutions to complex situations. And one healer who keeps everyone else alive and fighting.”

“The Monastery, we place great importance on independence. We go on pilgrimages, small groups of monks, but we fight as warriors, as individuals, using our own skills to the fullest as we know how. It is our wisdom that this maxismises them.”

Tom could not refute this. Bloody Monks were known as some of the most individually feared and capable fighters in the world. It was baffling that they had such disdain for proper strategy and tactics.

Tom extrapolated on the information. The battle-healers likely just fought as regular warriors, using their few healing skills in crutch situations to push their sustainability out, or occasionally save the life of a brother monk.

He still did not think it would be a waste of time for Darius to learn to utilise his skillset properly.

“Lad, any small unit from Wayrest would kill to have a healer like you on their team,” Eli said gruffly. “A team with a full healer is incredibly difficult to stop or kill, so healers are always targeted first. A healer that can protect themselves, that knows how to fight like you do, would be worth their weight in gold.”

“I am still not thinking I am understanding properly,” Darius said, his brow knitting tight. Tom decided to try a different tack.

“Where is the most glory in a battle, Darius? With an army?” he asked.

“Leading the charge,” Darius answered confidently.

“What about when the battle is met, and the enemy is about to break your line, and a person manages to hold the line until everyone else can regroup? Or when a fortress city is attacked, and one man manages to hold the breach in the wall until reinforcements arrive?”

Darius thought for a minute, “This is as much glory. Maybe more, I think.”

Tom gave him a smile. “That is what your role would be in a small unit. The same, but scaled down. If a teammate falls, and everyone else is at risk, you step in and heal them, and hold the line while they recover.”

“Decent explanation there, Tom,” Eli agreed. Darius looked deep in thought again.

“I do not like it, but I am looking like I will be a full healer skillset. But I can be more useful to a team than just that. I like the idea of these ‘small unit tactics’. I will need to think on this some more. Thank you, everyone, for explaining.”

There was a round of mumbles from the group. Everyone was tired, but Tom still had more to say.

“We have time before we reach Horizon,” he said. “We can practice small unit tactics. I’m sure if the monks see how useful you can be, they will let you fight.”

“Okay,” the healer agreed, flashing his handsome smile. “Let us try it.”

“Good,” Tom said, relieved. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so invested in this. He definitely knew how it felt to be relegated somewhere you didn’t want to be, but more than that, he was coming to like Darius. The healer was arrogant, and more than a little blithe, but he had a good heart.

Tom made a decision. Darius made a curious sound in the back of his throat.

“What is this? A party request?”

Everyone else stirred at the same time. They would all have been notified by their wisps that Darius had accepted. If there was one thing every Idealist had in common, they were always curious about other skillsets.

“If we’re going to fight together, to try this properly, we should know exactly what you can do, and you should know our skills, too,” Tom said.

“Agreed,” said Markus, and Meri echoed him.

“Make sure you read up before bed then, everyone. Early start tomorrow,” Eli nudged them.

Tom drew his bedroll from his storage, placing it beside Rosa’s. Sesame and Coal settled down to either side of them. Sus and Sol perched one a piece to the larger familiars’ backs. As he settled down to sleep until they were woken for their watch, he pulled up Darius’ skillset. After reading it, he became a lot more hopeful that their plan could work.

Request status: Darius Gallo.

Status: Darius Gallo.

Ideal One (Complete): Damage.

Skill One (Complete): Damage Reversal (Active).

Mana cost: Moderate.

Cooldown: Moderate.

Range: Medium.

Duration: Trivial/Short.

Any damage that the target ally takes is prevented and an equal and opposite heal is applied.

Skill Two (Complete): Damage Well (Active (Channelled)).

Mana cost: Moderate.

Cooldown: Moderate.

Range: Aura.

Caster can negate a moderate percentage of all damage taken by allies within their aura for the duration of the channel. When the channel ends, the caster knocks back all nearby enemies. Knockback strength is based on damage negated.

Skill Three (Complete): Shield Wall (Active (Channelled)).

Mana cost: Moderate.

Cooldown: Moderate.

Range: Low.

Caster can project a shield in front of themselves. Any damage the shield prevents is converted into healing, and cast behind the shield.

Skill Four (Complete): Slow and Steady (Ritual (Familiar)).

Mana cost: High.

Cooldown: High.

Requirements: Forty life essence, twenty hardness essence, ten heavy essence, ten slow essence, five earth essence, five water essence, and one speed essence. Five aspect essence.

When summoned: Familiar can make moderate damage physical attacks. Familiar has a channelled ability.

When subsumed: Caster gains high increase to toughness. Caster gains moderate increase to their endurance. Caster gains low increase to health regeneration.

Ideal Two (Classic): Healing.

Skill One (Classic): Burst Heal (Active).

Mana cost: Moderate.

Cooldown: Moderate/High.

Range: Medium.

Duration: Moderate.

Caster applies a moderate heal to the target. Moderate duration, moderate heal over time applied as well.