Wu Chang was busy swinging the Halberd around, getting the hang of increasing and decreasing the weight between swings. The concept was easy enough for anyone to understand, but it took a bit of practice to get the timing right. If the weight increases before the swing or thrust is already in motion it will interrupt the strike. There was also a sort of art to increasing the weight for horizontal strikes. The weight increase can drop the attack angle. Changing the weight of strikes can also catch an opponent off guard, suddenly striking them with a hit many times harder than normal. Or, the opposite can be done. Striking hard many times and then switching to a light strike to feign an attack or perform a fast follow up.

Wu Chang had a moment of indecision when he heard the armor mentioned. Sage solved the issue, “Take your time, Sir. The secrets of our armor can’t be shared with outsiders.”

Wu Chang looked a little disappointed, but Sage immediately started sharing some different tricks that were possible with the Horde Halberd. In addition to the weight tricks, there were a lot of different fighting styles that could be used with the different lengths of the weapon. In the shortest version it was similar to an oddly shaped sword, a bit longer and it could be used like an axe or pick. Then of course it could also act at many different polearm lengths. It certainly wasn’t the most powerful of weapons, but it could fill in for a dozen others. Wu Chang finally set the Halberd down. He looked quite invigorated, but not completely excited.

I’ve hooked him, but now it’s time to reel him in!

Wu Chang looked like he was preparing a statement to turn down the offer, but Sage interrupted him.

“Now that you’ve experienced the Jade Horde’s arms, you should get a chance to see our tactics.”

Wu Chang’s face was easy to read and Sage saw another flash of interest. He’d most likely heard of the Jade Horde from his own informants, but the number of people who saw them in action was quite small. Even so, they’d earned quite a reputation lately based on what those few people had seen. Only the most elite units could fight in formation, and they were usually the secret weapons of first rate powers. When a unit of the Jade Horde was seen fighting in formation they became the subject of many rumors. Later, when completely different units of the Jade Horde were also fighting in formation, they became very popular. Of course, Wu Chang would want to see whether the rumors were true.

Sage led him outside to where his Hoplites were waiting. Then he turned to Wu Chang, “City Lord, would you like to arrange a unit of city guards for the Jade Horde to skirmish with? Just a friendly training battle, the Jade Horde will defend and the Lionheart Town guards can attack.”

Wu Chang was at first uneasy, but then he heard the further terms and nodded his head. They stepped into a carriage and the Jade Horde followed behind them towards a large training field outside of the town. After a few minutes, nearly a thousand of the city guards had arranged themselves on the field across from the Jade Horde’s hundred. As interested as Wu Chang was, he wasn’t a fool and he didn’t want there to be any ‘accidents’.

“First Company, come forward!”

Wu Chang gave an order and a hundred of the city guards moved forward. The others stayed where they were and Sage smiled. Of course Wu Chang was going to make this a ‘fair’ confrontation. He only brought a full thousand troops to prevent an assassination or other funny business. Despite his inability to hide his emotions, he was still a City Lord and an accomplished fighter. It would be foolish of him to head outside of the city accompanying a foreign fighting force without bringing troops of his own.

Sage waved his hand and the Centurion barked an order. The hundred Hoplites shifted position, no longer standing in neat rows and columns. They spread out, a dozen of them forming a hexagon in the center, while the rest formed a series of spirals out from the center. Then, the men of the Jade Horde smashed their Halberd hafts against their shields and their armor started to light up. Thin lines of energy circulated over the armor, giving them an intimidating appearance. After a few moments a large circle appeared on the ground around the whole unit and a hexagon created out of glowing yellow energy formed directly over the center of the unit. Almost immediately, six more bits of energy formed, this time in the shape of large scales. They originated from the edges of the hexagon and extended outward, ending with a curve like a scallop. More and more of these energy scales formed, creating an overlapping pattern and building a huge dome of energy over the Jade Horde.

“Attack at your whim, City Lord.”

Sage let the Wu Chang know the Jade Horde was ready and Wu Chang put his men into action. The First Company pulled out bows from their Storage Bags and opened fire. Their commander barked orders, and the arrows fell in waves upon the Jade Horde. Wu Chang already knew it would be ineffective, but he had led the First Company act as they wished. The Centurion saw the arrows and barked an order, then the huge dome of energy retracted. They actually allowed the arrows in.

The First Company commander thought the energy dome was made to protect against something else, so it was brought down to save energy. That is, until he saw the rain of arrows simply disappearing. Many of them struck the ground around the Jade Horde and created a light field of feather fletched grass, but all those that fell over the Jade Horde itself were completely gone. The arrows that struck the ground around them showed that the arrows weren’t stopped early.

Wu Chang knew what was going to happen, but it was still quite impressive to see on a large scale. After another volley of arrows, the First Company gave up with that tactic and drew their other weapons. The city guards had three main duties, patrolling the town like policeman, standing guard at important locations, and manning the walls of Lionheart Town. Each of them were skilled with a bow to protect the town, but their other weapons were all quite personal. At this time, each of them had completely different weapons: swords, sabers, spears, clubs, maces, axes, and all manner of other choices. Normally, such a large number of well armed guards would be intimidating, but in comparison to their foes they seemed… inadequate.

The Jade Horde was perfectly uniform, in both their equipment and their movements. Sage made a gesture and the Centurion bellowed another command. The Jade Horde slowly tightened its formation, squeezing the spiral arms of soldiers in closer and closer. They overlapped the edges of their shields and the energy dome around them tightened as well. The outer layer of Hoplites dropped to a knee and lowered their shields to cover their legs. The second layer of soldiers put their shields over the outer layer’s upper halves, while the inner layers of soldiers lifted their shields and held them up to form a ceiling over the troops.

“A protective shield, and a turtle formation?”

Sage nodded, “I’m quite confident this century can easily withstand at least five of your companies.”

Wu Chang glared at Sage, “Is that so? Care to make a wager?”

“Haha, why not? If you lose, you join the Jade Horde!”