Altura

I sighed as I stepped into the fortress. Poor thing had barely been built and was already seeing war. Before leaving the City, I had given Lady Illiana one of the pebbles that were recovered from the ‘warehouse’. Hopefully, we would be able to remain in communication during these trying times.

“How goes the war Aswelth?” I asked my General.

“Quietly, your grace, there have been no attacks yet. According to what the Ducal guard was able to gather, the beasts will be rushing at us in waves. The farming villages have already been evacuated, and the beasts should hopefully target the fortress instead of the farms.” Aswelth answered.

“Why so? Shouldn’t beasts take the easiest route?” I asked back. That was puzzling.

“No, your grace, beasts navigate based on their senses. The fortress will now be the main source of the ‘human smell’ in the region. That should cause a good amount of beasts to target us. In fact, from the Ducal guards' reports, the entirety of the army has been focusing on the fortress. I suspect foul play, your grace.”

“The timing is too coincidental, if the fortress had not been made, then the duchy would have been overrun by now. Even then, the fact that the attack occurred when we were at the party is suspicious to say the least.” Aswelth said. The man had a point, and I was not liking it.

“I have to agree, Aswelth. But first we shall have to deal with the enemy before us. Then we can think about other attackers.” I answered.

“Yes, your grace. To that end, I have ordered the Ducal guard to order themselves according to elements. It should create a wave effect against the beasts. I suggest that we match the beasts’ cultivation level, higher levelled cultivators might deal with the beasts easier, but it would waste a good chance to increase the Ducal guards’ cultivation level. Depending on how this plays out, we might not get another chance.” Aswelth proposed.

“Agreed. Perhaps loop the Adventurers Guild in too? Those people could benefit from such an opportunity. And it would be best if we call all our troops in at once. The chances of the fortress being besieged are high, the beasts will assuredly outnumber us.” I recommended.

“Yes, your grace. That might be for the best. A general call to arms may not be out of the question, either. Even conservative estimates put the approaching army at over 50,000 strong.”

“Considering that we do not know the full extent of this, an estimate that the beasts outnumber our total population by 5:1 is not an exaggeration.” Aswelth stated. Well, this was hopeless, wasn’t it?

“If we are so outnumbered, then why are we still here Aswelth?” I asked, “Isn’t it better to evacuate?” Aswelth seemed particularly offended at my suggestion, at least if his expression was anything to go by.

“Quality, your grace. The first wave itself has over 20,000 beasts, but most if not all of them are from the Seedling stage. Utterly useless before the guard, I doubt they will serve any purpose other than provide Qi for us to cross realms.”

“That is the only way we can survive, your grace, by being in the higher realm. On that point, I would propose you take advantage of this opportunity and hunt down any Plantlings. This might not come again. There are a couple even in this wave, your grace. General-like position from the looks of it. Targeting them would be a wise decision.” Aswelth recommended.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked.

Aswelth smiled at that, saying, “Well, your grace, it would seem that the beasts are the ones late to the party, perhaps we should get more ready for them?”

“Then I shall call for all volunteers to report to the fortress. Though I have to ask, how exactly are they supposed to get in?” I asked.

“I shall clear a way for that time, your grace, besides, this attack should take at most two days. The volunteers can come in three days.” Aswelth proposed. Uh oh, that would not work.

“That may not be the best plan, Aswelth. The volunteers may have no cultivation, they would be completely useless at that point. Perhaps it is too late.” I said.

“So, it might…” Aswelth answered, a grim tone setting in. Even with all the organizations, we had only about 5000 cultivators. A ratio of 20:1 was not favorable. Even if we were hidden inside a fortress, facing a lesser enemy with a lesser intelligence, quantity had a quality of its own. But we weren’t going to give up just yet.

“Prepare to retreat at the first sign of trouble, Aswelth. But for now we follow the initial plan. Now go, I have a few Plantlings to hunt. That should put the group in chaos and allow us to hunt them easier. Call all cultivators, too. But restrict it to cultivators, I will clear a path for them when the time comes.” I said, dismissing Aswelth.

“Yes, your grace.” Aswelth said, his face grim. The reality of what was about to go down was starting to set in. But I suppose there was one good thing about this. If we won, then Aswelth would be even more of a folk hero than before.

Now to go kill some beasts. I immediately snowflaked over to the forest, gliding over the hoard of beasts that stood below. Every beast that noticed me roared, some bird types even coming for me, but a little fire killed those. Pretty soon I was close to the first leader of the area. Spotting them wasn’t hard, they were the ones who triggered my senses the most. I had been training every day, after all.

I removed my staff from its place and focused its tip towards the beast. Some form of green mouse, perhaps one that evolved to camouflage itself in trees? But why forsake the brown of the ground? Anyways, I had to kill it, not examine it. ‘Lightning, kill.’ I thought as a purple beam of lightning emerged from my staff, colliding with the mouses’ body.

A few desperate wind strikes emerged towards me, but I dodged them easily. The mouse was dead within seconds, my greater stats granting me a bonus that was too powerful for the little thing. Now onto the next one.

I weaved through the trees, trying to do my best to avoid the low hanging ones, But I still had to go on killing sprees in some places that did not allow me to go higher. I tried to do it in places with Saplings, however. At least those would give me some Qi. A few dozen kills later, I had arrived at the second beast.

Surrounded by a crowd of other beasts, this one was a much harder catch. But no matter, nothing a little fire couldn’t solve. ‘Fire, turn these enemies to ash, let a little rain occur before me.’

And so it happened, a ‘little rain’ of fire occurred right there, turning the beasts to ash. Neither of these had managed to even detect me, if I was a gambler then I would bet that both of them were Early Plantling level beasts. Enough to pose a threat but not really harm me.

Poor things were dead now. The next part was harder. I might have been beyond the beasts’ range, but they had detected that their leaders were dying. A rather large flock of pigeons was now circling above the canopy, and if my senses were correct, a Plantling beast more powerful than both of those was with them. A Mid-Plantling stage?

Well, it would be seen who hunted who. I sent a wave of fire towards them, not even bothering to think much. I did not know how, or when, but it had become natural. Natural enough that I did not even need to think in a concentrated manner to incant, just thinking it worked.

Hmm, could I perhaps use that to form what that powerful Elder had said? I had been slacking on making my own technique. But not in putting in the daily practice, it was just that none of my tries were working, and I did not have the time to put in a concerted effort.

Some pigeons died from the assault, but most of them successfully dodged the attack. But it accomplished what I wanted it to. The beasts were now heading towards me. Wait. No, they weren’t. Those pigeons were running away from me!

Why would they-of course. I was the predator here, they were just reacting based on their instincts. But they were still all right there in a nice little line. A little fire rain had them dead. No sign of the Plantling though. Where-ah there it was. Sneaky thing was running in the opposite direction…where I could feel the presence of five other Plantlings.

All gathered together. Calling on allies were we? Well, no matter. I will kill you all anyways. I clenched my staff as I followed in pursuit.

Perhaps I would get a level up from this. Becoming a Plant would be nice.