The hordes are the System’s way of developing races, ensuring constant progress by culling those who fail to keep up. While simple at first, they grow terrible with the passing of time. Guns grow ineffective, bio-agents become useless, and although weapons of mass destruction remain deadly, they become unusable because of the close proximity hordes spawn in of settlements. The only way to survive is to play by the System’s rules.

Giada Marino - Scholar - Intricacies of the System

____

The rain poured down in torrents, painting the clouds a miserable grey and stirring the ground into gooey mud. Suffice to say, Silas wasn’t looking forward to a fight in such conditions. Regardless, he had gathered in the village hall with the other fighters to discuss the very topic.

“How about one of those defensive monuments?” a newcomer asked with a faltering tone. Silas figured they were desperate for the attribute bonuses.

“Unfortunately, it appears we can only buy buildings after we complete the first horde,” Lazzaro replied, his face dark with exhaustion. He had worked tirelessly over the last few days, organising quarters for the newcomers, helping the injured, and generally keeping spirits up. “Besides, we lack the required amount for even the cheapest monument, so it’s best if we forget about them for the time being.”

A groan passed through the hall, and people broke off into their own conversations. Out of the hundred or so gathered together, roughly half were dedicated fighters. Out of them, a few people held more influence than others, one being Bandana Dom. He had a striking appearance with his pencil moustache, blue bandana, and powerful physique, and others had been drawn to him by his leadership and bravery. The foremost amongst his followers was Elise, the eighth ranked person in Riverside.

Another faction centred around Lazzaro. As the only mage in the village, he had the respect of many, in particular the non-fighters as he had been a fair mayor to everyone, irrespective of power or status. Silas, Iris, and Josh were notable people in his faction, especially Silas due to his fearsome display in the cavern.

The last major faction was the smallest but nevertheless powerful as all its members were high-level fighters. They believed the fighters deserved better conditions and more supplies than the others considering they were the ones risking their lives daily. Led by Grace, the Valkyrie, other notable figures in the group included Sabine, who had instantly flocked to their banner, and Ruby, the Assassin.

Grace cleared her throat, and although she wasn’t loud, the hall quietened for her. “So what will this horde actually consist of?”

Lazzaro gave her an overly lined grimace. “The System hasn’t said much else other than that the horde will attack the village in roughly six hours. I assume by village it’s referencing all the buildings but it could also mean just the hub crystal, in which case only this hall.”

“Well, there’s an idea then,” Grace replied, raising her voice. “If they’re attacking just this hall, we can build fortifications here so that they have to slog their way up through the mud to get to us.”

“And if you’re wrong, we’ll have to trudge through that same muck to come down and stop the horde marauding through the village,” Bandana Dom said. “We don’t even have enough space for everyone on this hill, so that means some people will be down there when that happens.”

Grace shrugged, and a few of her followers smirked at him. “There’ll be deaths either way, Dom.”

Lazzaro cut in, “But we need to minimise the deaths. Perhaps we should split our forces between the hill and around the village boundary.”

There was a momentary silence and Silas glanced around, hoping someone would mention it before he had to. Although he was getting better at leading people into battle, he still had some ways to go with his anxiety concerning public speaking.

Luckily, Grace brought up the issue on his mind. “That would spread our forces too thin. If this horde comes in numbers, you would have damned everyone in its way to certain death. It’s not like we can move around easily either with the conditions outside.”

“How about then we keep the most vulnerable people here in the hall? We can have those of us without much combat experience around the hill, and those of us with experience can be further out,” Dom suggested, earning himself several nods and words of approval.

“That still spreads us thin,” Grace countered with a frown.

Silas noticed Iris passing a note to Lazzaro, who inspected it for a moment before speaking. “Excellent idea, Dominic. Iris has added that we should have a way of warning others when we spot this horde. Maybe we could have—” he paused, his voice faltering as he entered deep thought. “I don’t know how well this will work with the rain, but I can send a flare into the sky using my magic. Once you spot the horde, send a runner here and I can send flares to direct our forces to right areas.”

Discussion broke out again and several more ideas were suggested but none of them gained as much traction as Bandana Dom’s one. As such, its initial opposers eventually gave in, and the entire village began preparation for the coming horde.

****

Chewing on bitter biscuits, Silas sat on his porch, blankly staring out. He had been chatting for a while with Josh, who had been rather stressed, and Iris, whose expressions he still had difficulties reading. They had left some time ago, and with only two hours remaining until the attack, he was too tense to do anything productive so had instead resigned himself to wasting time.

It was then that he spotted her cutting through the dreary landscape with a bright red umbrella, although it appeared she hadn’t noticed him. He watched her go from house to house, searching for him, eventually turning up in front of his home wearing a soured expression.

“You could have called out,” Grace said, moving closer. She placed her slender sword and scored shield on the floor and took a seat beside him.

He shrugged and offered a biscuit to her. In truth, Silas didn’t particularly like Grace as his brief encounters with her had left him feeling she was arrogant and spiteful over the fact he was number one. As such, he was surprised she had sought him out like this. Still, despite his negative views on her, he had to admit she was undoubtedly capable and a born leader with how quickly she had set up her faction.

She was also strikingly beautiful, her golden hair tied neatly, her eyes bright and blue, and her skin softly tanned. Her figure was full but lean as if someone had sculpted her, and he spotted shockingly few scars for someone of her power. At least her armour marked the tribulations she had been through, its design indicating its origin from the extreme tutorial. However, even while her appearance was largely disarming, he sensed an alarmingly powerful aura from her.

“What do you think about this whole horde business?” she asked casually, accepting his offered biscuit. Taking a bite, she frowned and put it aside.

“I don’t think it’ll be an issue,” he replied, “It’s our first horde. I remember in the tutorial too, the System starts things slow and builds it up.”

Grace nodded. “It doesn’t make sense for it to ban building purchases either unless they offered too great an advantage, and none of them are particularly amazing anyway. How do you feel about the plan they’ve come up with?”

“We,” Silas corrected, although she simply shrugged. “Makes sense to keep the weakest up there. They would die if they were down here.”

“Maybe they’re meant to, Silas,” Grace replied, and his eyes widened for a moment, lines forming across his brow. She noted his reaction and chuckled. “Think about it, the tutorial, its rewards, the constant killings: everything seems to be geared towards separating the fit from the unfit. This is a cruel world that wants us dead, all of us, and the only way we can survive is by cutting off the excess fat.”

Although Silas saw what she was doing, he couldn’t find it within him to tell her to stop, after all, her points made sense, even if the direction they took was twisted.

“You know, some fighters have already left; they don’t want to shed any more blood for these leeches who do nothing but drag us down,” Grace said.

“Are you going to join them?” Silas asked.

She smirked at him. “I’m not a little pussy. I don’t even care about this horde, but it just pisses me off to see our mayor coddling those vegetables while the rest of us fend for ourselves.”

“I think they’ll be useful in time,” he countered. “This whole mess has just started - people don’t know what to do right now so they’re stuck in place, but they’ll eventually get moving.”

“None of us know what we’re doing, but at least we’re putting the work in. Listen, all I’m saying is if Lazzaro keeps prioritising the useless, then perhaps we should elect someone more fitting to be mayor,” Grace said.

Silas wondered if she meant him, but looking at her cocksure expression, he quickly realised she meant herself. “I’ll stick with Lazzaro. He’s treated me well, and I doubt things will turn out as bad as you fear.”

Shrugging, she lifted herself out of her seat and picked up her weapons. “I guess we’ll see, Silas. Good luck to you out there on the field.” She left as she had come down the cobbled path, her red umbrella bobbing slightly with each step.

____

Dolkar Letho, the Aeromancer, was originally a monk from Tibet. Following the apocalypse, he realised a large portion of a neighbouring monastery, the Palyul Monastery, had been transported to Idroa, so he moved there. Although initially dismissive of the path of violence, he found himself forced onto it in order to protect his less able brothers. Situated on a mountainside, the monastery worked well with his powers as flinging a foe off the mountain was akin to a death sentence.

As his powers grew, so too did his acceptance of his new role to the point he began to take pride in it. The Palyul Monastery became a safe haven for humans while at the same time attracting more foes than ever, putting Dolkar’s powers to the test. Although he held on for as long as he could, he eventually sent out a request for help to the global community.

…

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age