"Sit still and crush "em"?
These words would have seemed more appropriate if they had come from a 10-year-old who had just started playing with toys, but hearing it from the man whom he had trusted to break his own losing streak, an expression of disappointment came directly on the Spikeking"s face.
Noticing this, Daneel asked amusedly, "What"s wrong? No confidence in my plan?"
Just these words were enough to remind him of the pressure that had made him kneel before, so even though the Spikeking spoke, it was in a much more polite tone than the one he would have normally used if he was in this mood.
"Erm… Don"t take me in the wrong way, but I really don"t know how you chose this even after listening to everything I told you. That guy is known for his elaborate tactics, and many, many people have despaired after choosing plans that were many times more complex than the one you have. It isn"t even unique! I expected that you would come up with something never seen before, and that was why I tried as much as possible to impress upon you that this guy is not someone to be taken lightly."
It was obvious that the Spikeking wanted to go on and say that he was disappointed, or something along that vein, but he stopped himself, and seeing that made Daneel"s smile broaden.
"I never said that that was all of my plan, but that does not mean that I need to tell you everything right now. The main thing is to begin the preparation phase right away, and we really do need to get started on what I just said - start to train the troops regarding how to sit still, or more importantly, start to explain the various things that are involved whenever one is defending a position. Here, use this information. It is not that hard to master in a short amount of time, and if you have any questions, ask me or my… Subordinates. After that, I want you to make sure that you drill it perfectly into the minds of each and every soldier who is a.s.signed to you. When the time comes… You"ll understand why I chose this. For now, have confidence in the one who made you all kneel. Go."
Saying so, Daneel raised his hands and made a bunch of booklets appear above and fall down on the 10 people who were all looking at him with different expressions on their faces.
Some were bewildered, others were angry, but overall, everyone looked like they thought that he was just posturing.
If Daneel wished, he could have given them all his thought process and the reason behind him choosing this plan, but time was limited, and he needed them to follow his orders first. Besides, his plan wasn"t even completely formed, and he needed a little bit of time alone to a.s.sess a few things and then finalize what he wished to do.
So, even though it might make sense to take a little bit of time and inspire a bit more confidence in those who were following him, he decided on this route, and once again made the same pressure that had made kneel before appear in this area.
Right away, remembering the experience that was still fresh in their minds, the expressions of the ten present changed, and they immediately caught the booklets and teleported away.
It really was a simple task, so Daneel simply asked the system to keep an eye on them before turning to his sovereigns.
"All of you, get started on that, too. You all trust me more than they do, so I don"t think I need to tell you that our plan is a bit more complex than what I"ve let on, but I need a little bit of time to finalize it. In the meanwhile, make sure that you train these skills as perfectly as possible, and if you come up with any additional things that need to be taught, communicate them to me, and I will add them to the booklets that are present with the others. Go."
Just as he expected, his four sovereigns who were used to him keeping things a bit secret for the purpose of awing people later simply smiled and took the booklets that appeared in front of them, before teleporting away.
Daneel chuckled as he saw this, because that really was not the reason behind what he was doing right now.
Still, he would have time to explain later, so he first began to set out on a tour of all of the troops under him, so that he could get finished as quickly as possible.
It would all come down to whether he was a good reader of people, and Daneel was quite confident in that aspect of his.
So, puffing up his chest with confidence, he, too, left the golden cloud.
…
On the other side, unlike the one that Daneel had just left, the golden cloud was full with 15 people.
However, if one noticed more closely, they would see that all 15 of these people were flickering, which made it clear that they were all low-power clones who were just there to discuss something.
Unlike Daneel"s group which was comprised of a ragtag bunch of individuals all wearing different clothes, this one was orderly. Except for a small man at the head of these 15, the rest were all wearing some kind of uniforms.
The uniforms were made of grey colored robes, and if Daneel saw them, he would have thought that they looked a lot like those worn by waiters in expensive restaurants back on Earth. There was a jacket with a vest below, and the costume was finished off by a pair of tight trousers.
The man at the head, though, was the most unique of them all, and he wore pristine white-colored robes that were the same style as the others, but had 23 medals affixed in different places all over his upper body.
He was only around 5"4" tall, and his appearance had been something that had always motivated him to break through to become a Hero so that he could change it as he wished. He seemed old - much older than what people would expect that those in the Order would be, and he even had wrinkled skin and a hunched back which made him look like an old grandpa who had come out of retirement to play war.
His voice, weirdly, was that of a strong young man, and he used it to say, "How goes the training?"
One feature among all of his subordinates was that none of them were taller than him. The one who spoke was actually even shorter, and he said, "My Lord, we have done this enough times to know it by heart. All of the basic skills that we usually impart to the troops are being taken care of as we speak, and soon, they will be equipped to deal with any of the situations that we might face. Right now, the way the rankings stand is that I am leaving the rest in the dust, and I have to say that if the others don"t step up, the additional reward will be mine."
The team of the G.o.d of Tactics had a unique set up where the rewards that would be obtained on winning would enter a pool, from where those who performed better would be able to pick in an excessive quant.i.ty than the others. This made it so that there were always three people who got nothing, and it was meant to be a method to motivate them and make them work harder to earn their rewards.
The results of this team were testament to the fact that this method worked, at least to a degree, and the words of this man-made all the others bristle with anger and stand even more alert, as if they had decided to push themselves and make sure that what he said would not come to be.
The G.o.d of Tactics laughed and rubbed his hands together as he saw this, as it was exactly what he had intended for his team.
After that, though, he became completely serious and said, "Have the spies been sent? He"s a newbie, so I expect that he will come up with some far-fetched plan that he will not be able to execute properly. All of these newbies always think that war is supposed to be flashy, and that they can be won by whoever is most cunning. If they pause for a moment and understand that it is often execution and teamwork which is lacking and causes armies to lose even though they might appear more powerful on paper, they would understand that it is always better to go with what you know, instead of what you think might work. Well, I guess we were lucky to draw him, because it means that we can get closer to the winning streak where rewards will be doubled once again."
Greed shone in the eyes of almost all those present as the G.o.d of Tactics said this, but he clapped his hands and continued.
"Remember, everyone. He dared to challenge is in return, so we really should wipe the floor with him. Make sure that each and every thing that we teach is perfectly instilled into all of the soldiers. Follow our regular method-send all of the spies at once, and then call back a few each hour until the preparation phase ends. By the end of it, I want to know what he is going to do, and even if that is not possible, I want to be able to estimate in what direction he will move. Everyone, disperse."
For the next six hours, the G.o.d of Tactics" mood only started to get better and better, because it soon started to become obvious what kind of a man his opponent.
He had handled all kinds of people in his life, and it was often those who thought themselves smart that he liked to crush the most. It was priceless to see their expressions when they realized that they were not as intelligent as they thought they were, and he looked forward to obtaining another sweet, sweet experience like that soon.
At the end of the six hours, his team gathered again, and they, too, had smiles on their faces.
"It is clear, my Lord. They have chosen the cla.s.sic tactic of just being where they are, and hoping to defeat us when we start to a.s.sault them. They"ve dismantled all of their cannons, and used the Key gems of the mages to build defensive formations. Basically, they"ve made a fort which will be hard to breach. But… what they don"t know is that people often use this. Yes, we do pride ourselves on our ability to react to what others are doing instead of being active ourselves, so that must have led the commander-in-chief on the other side to a.s.sume that he would make us clueless if he made a situation where we would have no option but to act. All of them are the same. They keep doing that, but soon, they realize that the resources they have are nowhere enough to sustain their "fort" for five days. Shall I roll out our usual reply, Lord?"
Nothing more needed to be said. The G.o.d of Tactics nodded and said, "Yes. We used it before, but it will allow us to get a better gauge of our opponent"s mind if he managed to find some way to counteract it."
Soon after this, the sounds of troops marching could be heard from the side of the G.o.d of Tactics.
It was only 3000 troops who moved out, though, and 2000 of them were archers, while the rest were meant as a vanguard to protect them.
Soon, they approached the point where 10,000 soldiers could be seen huddled together in a circle, while a large barrier protected them from anything that might try to break through their defenses.
Stopping at a comfortable margin, the 2000 archers idly began to shoot their arrows, and as each of them impacted the barrier and started to bleed the resources that were being used to power them, it became obvious that the opponents had thought of a way to handle this.
10 Magic Crossbows rolled out of the fort, and before the three thousand could react, the crossbows shot their arrows.
Weirdly, though…the arrows flew slowly, and it soon became clear that the reason behind this was that they had some sort of large bowls attached to them.
Soon, it became clear that mages were handling the bowls with difficulty to make sure that they would only move forward with the help of the huge bolts without tipping over.
The G.o.d of Tactics suddenly got a bad feeling and sent the message to activate defensive methods, following which barriers popped up around the three thousand.
Indeed, the crossbows soon overtook the group, but the moment the bowls were over the three thousand soldiers…the bowls made of earth tipped, and a yellowish fluid started to fall.
At the same moment, a thousand mages flew out, and all of the fluid transformed into multiple, sharp ice p.r.i.c.ks which accelerated and rammed into the barriers.
They started to break one by one, and soon, the G.o.d of Tactics realized that the Magic Crossbows were reloading. Right away, he ordered a retreat, and the three thousand ran quickly to get out of range.
By the time they returned, he was fuming. His plan had been thwarted, and he didn"t know-how. Both armies had been given the same things. But how had the other side obtained so much liquid? Had they depleted the water given to sustain soldiers for five days? But that didn"t make sense!
Soon, as the G.o.d of Tactics reached the soldiers who returned, he understood the answer to his question.
A stench floated to his nose, making him understand…that it was urine.
For a moment, he was shocked, but after that, he burst out laughing.
He laughed and laughed for an entire minute, and just as it looked like he wouldn"t stop, it abruptly cut off and was replaced by an expression filled with deadly anger.
Gritting his teeth, he spoke to himself in a tone filled with malice.
"I see you have a few tricks up your sleeve, you mongrel. Well, then you"ll be all the more fun to crush. Oh, just you wait. By the end of this, you"ll wish you never heard my name…"