In the warm morning, thirty-one people jogged in lines. They dodged from tree to tree as arrows struck the ground around them. "Keep moving!" Doevm ordered. "Get close enough to hit them." His spear flashed, cutting an arrow in half. This was a cooperation training program that he had set up. He borrowed archers from around the base and gave them dull arrowheads. The archers got to practice their shooting and Doevm"s squad could act like they were under fire. While there was no risk to the men, the arrows were strong enough to bruise. Only by utilizing proper cover would they avoid getting hit. This forced the men to learn how to move in the forest while attaching themselves to cover. An hour later, when the men were downing their water, Doevm ordered them up again. "Now we"re going to do strength training. Everyone line-up." Squad six lined up and equipped their hooks. "Climb!" Everyone leaned themselves to the nearest tree, hooked into the bark, and hurried up. If one was so careless as to fall, the vine would save them, but only from gravity, not from the squad leader. The slowest ones would always have to suffer punishment drills like additional sparring or a loss of meal. When everyone got to the top of the tree, they had to maneuver on top of the branches like the Elves did. This tested and practiced their agility and balance. The first week, nearly every single one of the men fell. If not for the vines saving them, the medical wing would have been overworked. The intensity of training increased the closer it got to the battle. Doevm made sure to give them all proper rest, food, water, and then broke their minds. Crying or vomiting was common. Sometimes Doevm caught himself before he crossed some lines such as nearly beating one soldier to death who had refused to train with the rest of the group.
In their eyes, Doevm became a monster. Squad six made daily trips to the medical wing. They even knew the healers by name. He made sure to train away from everyone else, as he didn"t want his methods to be exposed to the spy. He did, however, still have doubts. "Why hasn"t the spy struck yet? I should be an easy target. Are they waiting for something?" He pondered as he sat on one of his men"s back. That particular soldier had fallen and had to spar with Doevm.
"Next!" Doevm called out. Everyone climbed down and followed him on a march to an open area for meals. He didn"t even let them enter the mess hall. To eat, they had to quickly set up their tents, make a fire, and cook rations. Watches had to be established. He had once set up a mock-battle between his own troops and Frey"s when they were in the middle of their meal. His soldiers hated him, mostly the new ones. The old ones, however, grew as much respect as they did hatred. Only they knew the purpose of this training and why it was so intense.
During their meal, Doevm used a spell to monitor their mental states. While he did break them, if he did it too much it would result in insubordination and resistance. Men turning against their squad leader was a real threat that he had to look out for. "Two weeks," he thought, "Just bear with it." He wasn"t just yelling at them all this time. He trained right alongside them. If not for him taking the lead in everything, they would have grown even more resentful. When the sun went down, he let everyone go wash up and rest. This also gave him time to meditate in his cave. The Lich kept to his word. So far it had never shown up or talked. While silence was pleasant, it was also a growing fear. Doevm still couldn"t grasp the extent of the Lich"s capabilities. If he wasn"t careful, his soul could be pushed out of his body. Every night, he opened the black book and read through it. While he had sworn not to rely on magic, this was more out of necessity. The Lich was a threat he literally could not beat with his fists. Only with this book could he stand a chance.
With the book, he gained knowledge about the soul. It seemed that, much like Arthur said when he described using his power, using the soul did not exhaust mana nor physical energy. It did, however, still have a cost. The mind and senses would grow dull as if his body and mind were separated. While he was quick to pick up the book"s concepts, he had to learn through trial and error.
Soul magic, in itself, was a false term. There was simply no better word to describe it. Thus, since it was technically not magic, Doevm did not feel the insatiable need to learn it. His curiosity towards it could be forcefully suppressed unlike his aching heart over holy magic.
Over these two weeks he made sure never to get healed. He was sure that if he saw a healing spell even once, the Lich would strike, and he would be sent back to his old ways. He avoided the medical wing like the plague, even going so far as to run from one of the healers. Every day for him was a risk. Training could quickly result in an injury and an injury on the battlefield, no matter how minor, was a greater chance at death.
�� Author"s note: I combined two chapters because the previous was too short.
It was just another day. Doevm pushed his troops to their utmost limit and ran alongside them. Sweat covered the ground, killing all unfortunate pieces of gra.s.s that tried to soak it in. The rate of falling had come to zero. Soldiers were nearly twice as fast at climbing up trees and through shrubbery. People made less trips to the medical wing. "This progress is good," he thought. "I have no idea what is going to happen to us but I"m sure I"ve done all I could have. Now we just need to rinse and repeat."
As he thought of areas his men were lacking in, a messenger arrived and handed him a letter. Doevm ordered Hopi to take charge in overseeing the training while he read its contents. After, he sighed, folded it up, and left returned to base.
It was unusually packed, with people running around like ants in an anthill. Almost every single squad leader and most of their squads were present. Doevm headed to Marcus"s quarters, placed his weapons with the guards, then walked in to find Ashtehar, Frey, Wade, and Marcus talking. They got him a chair and let him see the map of the battlefield that they were all circled around.
The battlefield was separated into three lanes labeled: left side, right side, and center, which were further divided into front (which was away from the base) and back (closer).
He a.s.sumed that the blue figures, which were fewer in number, represented the Acrin Kingdom and the red troops that had "Fis.h.i.+es" etched across their wax face represented the Vilbarian forces. Each troop was a different size as well, similar to a chess game.
The figures were nearly self-explanatory with their near cartoonish level of detail. Mages had a book and robe, regular commoner troops had pitchforks, n.o.ble squads had an elaborate dress, and a strong man inside a castle probably represented the captain. This accounted for all the pieces except for one type, a kid with a dagger hidden behind his back. Of these pieces, there were two on each side.
Before Marcus was about to explain and waste everyone"s time, Doevm said he could infer what was happening and asked about the strange kid. Marcus laughed: "Those are you and Frey, our two strongest squad leaders. The other two red figures are the enemy"s two strongest. Sit down and I"ll explain our battle plan for the major battle ahead." Doevm nodded.
Marcus continued: "The enemy is in V-shaped wedge formation with its point pointed at us, something that would completely obliterate all of our forces." Despite what he said, a smile crept across his face. "This is not fact, but what I expect. The enemy has slowly and systematically taking out our forces over the past few weeks.
"Normally, in this type of war, a captain as myself should not be involved. This situation is already baffling as I am no pushover when it comes to warfare. I found it strange the enemy knew of our exact location nearly from the start." He frowned. "To counter this, I have intentionally put all of my troops, you guys, in the worst possible formation."
"What foolishness is this?" Ashtehar yelled, his unwanted voice ringing far enough to annoy the G.o.ddess herself. "Why would you sabotage our own troops?" While Doevm wasn"t as angry as Ashtehar, he understood the war monk"s anger. Frey looked like he wanted to say something as well.
"Hold on for a second," Wade calmed the war monk before the map could be smashed. "Let the man explain."
"You have five seconds." Ashtehar held his fist over the map. No one doubted his words or his stupid amount of sincerity. Doevm didn"t interfere. His and his squads" lives would be in the captain"s hands. He needed a reason why he should follow something so stupid.
"The enemy knows our movements," Marcus began, seemingly getting calmer after getting yelled at. "Normally I would just put my troops in a position to counter a wedge formation, however because our movements are exposed, I am willing to be the life of every man here that the enemy will adjust to our formation."
"What does that mean?" Frey asked for himself and Doevm.
"This means," Marcus shoved Ashtehar"s ma.s.sive fist away. "That the enemy is going to change their wedge formation at the last second into something else. What the enemy expects me to do is to stretch my troops into a thin line and have two separate but stronger units flank. Since they know what I"m planning, they will change their wedge formation into one that will counter my counter. This is where I got the idea to play the simulation out with Wade."
"I acted as me and Wade played as the enemy. I acted as I would regularly would and Wade was allowed to change the wedge formation. To counter me, he had a reverse wedge formation, where his troops were in a triangle with its tip pointed at their base. His front line was able to hold back my thin line of troops while the other two sides were able to branch off and handle the two flanking troops. These two branches were stronger than my two flanking squads and managed to flank me. All of my troops were obliterated."
"So," Doevm could tell Frey was still confused so he stepped in. "To summarize, you"re going to put us in places where we can counter a reverse wedge formation despite the information you"ve gathered on the enemy, which says they will do a wedge formation."
"That is correct," Marcus nodded and let the idea sink into the others. "Here is what is going to happen tomorrow: The enemy will be bulked up in the center lane with their two strongest squads at the border of the right and left lane." He placed all red troops at the center in the reverse wedge formation. The enemy captain was at the center surrounded by dozens of pitchforks. At the back tip was a mage squad, ready to engage in whatever lane that needed help. The kid figures were put at the back borders of the left and right lanes.
"Now for the placement of our troops. Frey, you will be in the right lane with me," Marcus said as he placed the tower and one of the two blue kids on the left lane. "Doevm, you will ambush the left lane with your men. Don"t think I haven"t seen your squad members practicing their climbing. This means the left and right lane will have "kid" against "kid". Frey, Doevm, when I gave your squads men, I gave you guys the best men in the base. If you two can make it out of a Ghoul den, you can go through a single squad, even if it"s the enemy"s strongest."
"In the front center lane will be the mage squad with the rest of the troops." He placed the mage figure at the center surrounded by pitchforks. "With their large range spells and area of attack, they can lay waste to the center of the reverse wedge. I will send all the squads I can to defend them."
"I have an issue with this," Ashtehar picked up his figurine. "Why are the mages getting put on the front line? No matter the reason, this is dangerous to us. On top of that, we are little in number. We most likely cannot do as much as you believe you can and will be overwhelmed. Have we done something to upset you?"
Marcus"s smile faded as he stared up at the war monk. He considered something but seemed to throw the notion away. "War is dangerous. You are here to be used, not to sit back in the medical wing. Most of your men aren"t even able to heal yet they lay there. It"s time you guys do something useful." He placed the mage figurine back on the map.
"Now, the main danger of this plan is that the enemy mages are a major threat. They are at the back of the reverse wedge and have the best view of the battlefield. My main concern is they will a.s.sist with either the right lane or left lane. This will put either Frey and I or Doevm in danger. When this happens, retreat no matter what. I cannot lose either of you."
"I have a question." Doevm said. "Why is Frey getting support while I am alone? Our squads should be equal in strength. Is there a reason why you"re helping him?"
Marcus responded by lifting the kid that represented Doevm"s character. Under the base of the figurine was a winged boot. "You guys can run fast if the mages engage you. Frey"s squad is more strength. In case the mages choose to go after Frey"s squad, to retreat, they will need more back-up." Doevm nodded.
Wade stepped forward: "This is only the first battle. The enemy is most likely not seeking to eliminate us in our entirety. Disperse and go inform your men. We leave at first light." The meeting ended despite Frey not having a clue as to what was going on. Any questions he had were answered by Doevm as the two headed back to their squads" barracks.