The Water Body Refinement Adept

The sun was already high in the sky, but huge clouds prevented its rays from reaching the ground. It seemed like it might rain soon. There was a lot of wind, but none of these facts entered the soldiers" mind. The tension between the two armies, each one composed of hundreds of soldiers, had reached its peak. Fifty minutes pa.s.sed already since the two armies could see each other at the horizon.

The Huntingwood army, commanded by the beginner acolyte Reynold Chase and the Elite knight Johnson Gloom, was advancing, slowly but surely. They were wondering why the Thornfield army wasn"t doing the same. Something was wrong…but was since there were no more traps, and their enemies could already be seen, they continued to advance. In Swania, tactics were often overlooked. Few people who wielded power took the time to consider the destructiveness and crushing potential of tactics, instead preferring to rely on their own individual strength.

Drodosis agreed. Individual strength was important, but it didn"t mean that he could accept the overly simple tactics of Swania! They were so simple-minded that it seemed childish! There were barely any scheme in wars! Records were often simple description of frontal charges, and chaotic conflicts. To Drodosis, this was an opportunity, a huge weakness he could take advantage of.

When the Huntingwood army arrived about six hundred meters away from Drodosis, a notification reverberated in his mind.

[Beep! Enemies are within range of the archers.]

"Listen, everyone! Do you remember yesterday"s practice?", Drodosis shouted.

"YES!", the soldiers said in unison. The effects of being in a group were evident. The soldiers" moral couldn"t be any higher.

"Draw your bows!"

"Aim with the forth long-range stance!", Drodosis said, and the 150 archers started to aim in a weird position. Usually, archers drew their bow and aimed in order to fire an arrow which would follow a more or less rectilinear trajectory. However, Drodosis had another idea. Why not fire arrows which would follow a parabolic trajectory? While the piercing power of individual arrow would decrease, it would allow the range to improve dramatically!
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Obviously, Drodosis wasn"t the first one who had thought of it. There were master archers who mastered this art, but to use it in an army formation...It was pure madness. To properly reach a 50% hit rate as a master archer from a long distance and using parabolic shots, it took dozens of years of training, talent and dedication! How could an army gather so many talented people?

Yet, Drodosis didn"t plan on doing that. He would be the one with skills. With his perception and biochip, it was an easy task to properly aim with a bow.

This wasn"t the only trump card Drodosis thought of. He also chose the terrain so that the wind would be in their favour, further increasing the range, and thus the piercing power of the arrows as well.

Since even his biochip couldn"t predict the meteorology, he decided to teach his men a few dozen stances, which he named with numbers. His unusually high perception which came from his mummy eye and elite knight cultivation enabled his biochip to process more data than back when he was a simple preparatory knight. Calculating the wind"s influence, the soldiers" average strength, the biochip could actually choose which stance was the most suited in each situation.

Indeed, Drodosis spent the past few days teaching and monitoring the archers on these weird stances, using his biochip"s ridiculous precision to calculate angles at which arrows should be fired, the posture, correcting the soldiers" bad habits, and individually pointing out mistakes. The soldiers already had good foundations from years of service, and they possessed pristine-quality gears, hence Drodosis" amazing feat of teaching these soldiers in a week.

The wind was flowing at 78 kilometres per hour, so the biochip estimated that the forth stance would the most destructive.

"Fire!", and as soon as Drodosis said that, 150 arrows travelled through the sky, and as unbelievable as it sounds, the archers, who were basically average soldiers with no more than 4 points of strength on average, managed to hit enemies from more than 550 meters away from their target with impressive accuracy, with more than 75% of the arrows. .h.i.tting someone, an impressive feat which would rarely occur in history.

This was a combination of science, strength and discipline which could only be found in military household.

[Beep! 23 enemy spearmen and 12 swordsmen were killed in the process, as well as 8 enemy bowmen. 42 enemy spearmen, 18 swordsmen were injured, 4 crippled and 30 enemy bowmen were wounded. Other enemies received slight injuries. One of their knights has been killed as well, from blood loss.]

Drodosis vision was insanely good, but he didn"t expect it to be so good. While his brain wasn"t used to the new mummy eye which granted him amazing sight, his biochip could process any kind of information.

This report really strengthened both his confidence and his chances of winning the battle.

From the enemy"s point of view, the Thornfield family looked like an army of steel demons. After all, these Thornfield soldiers were equipped in light or heavy metallic armours of the highest quality, pure consequence of Rio Arson"s investments in military gears.

Yet…an army capable of shooting from more than 550 meters away…It was unheard of, especially from a rural army in some random barony! How could they possibly close the distance?

When the arrows were fired, the Huntingwood army noticed it. It looked like a swarm of insects, except that this swarm was heading towards them. As seconds pa.s.sed, the arrows started to fall on them. Suddenly, they understood. It wasn"t a swarm of insects, but hundreds of arrows falling down on them. Shot by long bows, the speed they acc.u.mulated was terrifying, and their piercing power unrivalled.

Drodosis estimated each one of these arrows to possess more or less 12 points of damage, which was enough to deal with a soldier! If it hit an artery, the blood loss would kill them on the long run. If it hit a bone, the bone would be shattered and they would be crippled. For the Huntingwood army, these arrows became demons and ghosts, reaping their lives as if they were livestock.

This huge loss further decreased the moral of the Huntingwood army. Psychology shouldn"t be underestimated, as in medieval times, deserting was a frequent occurrence. The army stopped advancing for a few dozen seconds: some checked whether their brother in arm was still alive, others were confused because their superior died. All in all, chaos and panic descended on the army, which greatly contrasted with the almost robotic discipline of the Thornfield army, focused, calm and radiating with killing intent.

It was just the beginning.

"Fourth stance again!", Drodosis shouted, in a charismatic voice.

In order to further boost his men"s moral, he asked Ofaris to cast an ice spike spell in the direction of the enemy elite knight, while he himself cast an acid spear.

"Aim!"

"Fire!"

The Huntingwood army was already in a pitiful state, having crossed the Hawk Mountain range at high speed, with few rations, and having barely survived the frequent ambushes planned by Drodosis, not to mention the deadly landslide and traps Drodosis created.

And now, a second wave of arrows was descending on their heads. As the arrows. .h.i.t the targets, blood splashed everywhere, cries of agony redoubled in intensity, and the panic rose to the highest level possible. Some knights, usually prideful and spouting "honour code" bulls.h.i.t, were now kneeling on the ground, praying for some kind of redemption, terrified at the idea of dying.

Be it the elite knight or Reynold, they hadn"t expected something like that to happen. And the worst thing is that they couldn"t do anything about it!

Reynold nodded and started to charge, with the few soldiers and knights he had personally groomed. The elite knight Johnson followed him as well. Taking his magical beast lizard mount, his image could only be described as heroic. If it were in normal condition, his presence and aura should have sufficed to give his army a huge boost in moral. Yet…the men were terrified. Most of the soldiers were unconscious, dead or wounded. Not all were physically injured, but their mind had taken a blow.

Among the soldiers, some never stepped in a real battle. Today was a revelation. Wars were horrible. When they enlisted in the army, they expected treasures and women. And…here they were, in the middle of a bloodbath, waiting for an arrow to end their sufferings. Should they survive, these images of demonic arrows falling on their heads would haunt their nights until they died.

[Beep! 12 enemy spearmen were killed. 6 bowmen. 33 enemies were injured (maybe swordsmen, bowmen or spearmen).]

By the time the fourth and fifth wave of arrows fell, the enemies" numbers fell dramatically.

However, a new threat arrived. More than 60 strong soldiers, mainly knights and preparatory knights, had arrived in the 100-meters-range away from Drodosis. The spearmen readied their weapons, their spears held high, their shields supported by their whole bodies, ready for the impact.

Drodosis nodded at this epic sight. He had done a great job, training this army to this extent. For sure, most of them had already served the baron for a long time, but the past week transformed them from veteran soldiers to elite soldiers.

Drodosis" acidic spear and Ofaris" Ice spike had killed one or two knights each, but they didn"t hit their target.

"Bowmen! 11th stance! Aim! Fire!"

About twelve seconds later, Drodosis heard a report.

[Beep! 11 knights were critically injured, 6 preparatory knights died, and 11 preparatory knights were wounded. Reynold Chase lost 6 points of mana in order to absorb the arrows" impact, the Elite Knight dodged them.]

The elite knight Johnson Gloom was indeed the main threat in the enemy"s army. Even Drodosis didn"t have confidence in using his agility and footwork to dodge hundreds of incoming arrows!

However, Drodosis was no weakling.

"CHARGE!", he shouted with more fervour than ever, while riding his ethereal red deer, himself charging towards the elite knight.

When he saw Johnson at range, his red deer unleashed a terrifying laser which crippled the elite knight"s mount, but the latter had unparalleled reflexes, which allowed him to jump before he was. .h.i.t. In the air, he even had the time to throw a javelin at Drodosis, which was absorbed by the latter"s water orb spell.

[Beep! 42 points of damage absorbed! 3 layers destroyed. 4 remaining!]

Drodosis jumped from his mount and unleashed a terrifying vertical strike at his opponent. Johnson didn"t expect such speed from an "acolyte". His spies only reported acolytes. How could he expect Drodosis to be an elite knight? This mistake cost him dearly.

His arm was cut cleaned, but Johnson avoided the worst, using his left hand to deflect the scimitar with his spear. Drodosis didn"t stop here, casting the acid spear spell. The ma.s.sive acidic spell impaled Johnson, but the latter still charged at Drodosis, in an outburst of fighting spirit.

Would Drodosis survive this madman charge?

Of course, he would. He had simulated hundreds of fights and spars, and back in the fortress, he had the occasion to exchange pointers with other knights. This allowed his acolyte spells to merge perfectly with his fighting style, which mainly revolved around his scimitar mastery.

Drodosis didn"t dodge, but instead rushed in, knowing that his water orb barrier would be enough to absorb the impact.

[Beep! 50 points of damage absorbed! 3 layers destroyed. 1 layer remaining!]

Drodosis spirit shook at the impact, but he still continued advancing, and started rotating. It was the whirlwind spell he had practiced, direct inheritance from his mummy eye.

[Beep! 60 points of damage dealt!]

Drodosis didn"t need the following notification though.

[Enemy is dead! No signs of life detected.]

Johnson Gloom…was no more. His arm was cut and laying on the ground, while his torso was separated from his legs. An incredulous stare of shock could be seen on his face, void of life. He possessed an enchanted armour! Yet, Drodosis cut through it as it was b.u.t.ter.

While Drodosis was fighting with Johnson, the twin brothers, Rolf and Jon were fighting acolytes. Both Thornfield acolytes cast their defensive spells and used the water grasp spell. After an exchange of two or three spells, the outcome was already determined. Water Grasp had an offensive power and a versatility that only water elemental spells could offer. In comparison, the enemy acolytes" spells, respectively, fireball, Rock Spear or shockwave were lacking. They dealt tremendous amount of damage, but rarely landed, either absorbed, dodged or blocked. Instead, the water grasp spell could condense a hand out of nowhere, and summon near ten points of strength!

After a minute, the Rolf managed to land the water grasp spell, and subdued the acolyte. Ten seconds later, Jon managed to do the same. They were all beginner acolytes, but the Thornfield family had given them plenty of insights, guidance that the enemy acolytes obviously lacked.

Ofaris had cast two nova in the middle of the enemy"s formation, and landed an ice spear which almost killed Reynold. The latter surrendered. The spearmen also helped in the process, killing those who didn"t dropped their weapons. Some died, but casualties were a common sight in a battlefield.

Seeing their commanders fall, the knights surrendered, one after the other.

Drodosis used the spearmen to subdue the last stubborn fighters, and he personally killed Reynold Chase. The kid was dangerous. If he let this threat survive and grow, who knows what kind of scheme he would be planning in the shadows. If there was one thing Drodosis hated over the years, it was fear.

Now that he possessed a biochip, he hated variables, he hated the unknown, which was probably the reason why he was obsessed by knowledge. He had promised a flawless victory, and he had given a flawless victory. Cheers and tears of joy fell on the soldiers and knights" cheeks. They did it!

They defended their homeland as heroes! And more importantly, they were part of an epic battle…which was legendary in their eyes. They had subdued thieves, and captured bandits. But they had never been part of a huge bloodbath against sworn enemies like the Huntingwood army!

The records were terrifying. Out of the 400-men army, 246 perished, 16 knights were captured (including 3 veteran knights) and two acolytes were subdued. 60 soldiers, who were not injured, were going to become slaves. As for the others, they deserted the war. However, the bloodbath which they escaped from would surely prevent them from touching a weapon ever again. It was a traumatic experience for every member of the Huntingwood army.

It was a huge contrast with the Thornfield family, which only suffered 18 deaths and 38 injuries (spearmen mainly). Soldiers cheered, knights contemplated the battlefield, processing what just happened, and acolytes were a.n.a.lysing the whole battle, with incredulous eyes, barely believing the feat Drodosis had pulled off, almost single-handedly. Not only did he kill the most enemies in the battle, including an elite knight, he also proved his intelligence through tactics.

He was a monstrous existence!

While everyone was in high spirit, Drodosis proceeded to the looting part. 16 magic crystals from the acolytes, a strange rock which had yet to be appraised, a pouch full of gold coins, spell books he would scan and exchange for treasures with elders in the Water Fortress, and an injured Fire Lizard, two-meters long, fearful but easy to tame with his strength. It would make a fine mount, since his ethereal red deer didn"t belong to him, but was only lent to him!

All in all, the battle only lasted for a few hours. Yet…hundreds of people had lost their lives.

Drodosis felt good. Everything went as planned, from the strategy to the individual fights he won swiftly. However, while everyone was preparing feasts and banquets to celebrate, Drodosis was already working on the next battle.

He had just crushed two n.o.ble households" armies in one battle! Why would he not take advantage of the fact they lack strength, to harvest a few gold coins?