6 hours after the notification

Orca Village’s Entrance

Duo Nan was right, the centaurs returned with a forces.

A large movement could be seen inside the forest, indicating that there were many centaurs involved in the attack. They move towards the clearing at the south, in front of the Orca Village’s entrance.

Since the village have been built inside a natural fortress, the villagers don’t have many problem to face the attack from the centaurs. A mountain stood tall at the north, behind the village while a vertical cliff on both east and west side. Although the cliff wasn’t very high, but it’s enough to force the centaurs to abandon their plan to attack from that side. The villagers also built a wall around the village, giving an extra protection. With the north, east and west secured, the villagers can focused their attention to the south.

Waiting for the centaurs to complete their movement, everyone locked their gaze towards the clearing. This will be their first battle with otherworlders, a mythical creature, the centaurs. However, almost all the hunters inside the village already faced numerous life and death situation when battling with the wild animal. This is the reason why all the hunters were calm and organized while facing this otherworld enemies.

Anyone specializing in melee were stationed behind the gate, ready to intercept any centaurs who manage to break through the gate. They were armed with swords, shields and spears. They wore a leather armor, made from the hide of the animals they killed. These melee hunters will be supported by 5 squads of archer. These 25 archers were given this task because they have the lowest accuracy at long range among the archers inside the village, but decent enough to hit a target at low range. These archers will be the first line of defence if the gate was broken. If the enemies manage to reach the malee squad, this archer squad can use their malee weapon to help malee squad.

The other 10 squads of archer were placed on the vantage point facing the clearance. These squads consist only the best among the best archers in the village. Their accuracy were the best at 400-550 meters. They also have the fastest speed to reload their arrow. Duo Nan was among these squads and he was stationed at the left side of the entrance.

After 15 minutes, the first centaur could be seen annd then the second, the third and so forth until every centaurs gathered. Roughly, there were about 100 – 120 centaurs, armed with longswords, axes and bows. They don’t equip any shield or armor. Although they came together, but they seem disorganize. They keep moving left and right, unable to stay still, but they still facing the village’s entrance. They have an arrogant look on their face, maybe because they think they’re superior compare to the hunters in the village.

One of the centaurs come forward, probably their leaders, brandishing his broadsword showing off his skill. His action receive a loud roar from his counterpart. Then he lift his broadsword toward the village and shout.

“H)*#&(^*&^(#$”, but no response from the village. Then he shout again, “&^$%#*$()FHEUF)Q)@”. He was fumed by the lack of response from the village. If only he knew, none of the villagers could understand his language. Because of his lack of experience, he gave an order to all of centaurs to start attacking the village, followed by a earth shattering roar from his minions. They start to move.

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1 hour earlier,

Inside the war room

Chief Pai, Elder Daquan, Elder Fai, Elder Ma, Duo Nan, Zi Yi and several important figures were standing around the table at the center of the room. They’re looking at the map on the table which show Orca Village and it’s surrounding.

“Chief, Elders, our scout reported earlier that they saw a group of centaurs between 100 – 120 were heading towards the village”, Duo Nan gave a report to the meeting.

“Brother Ma, can you advice us on how to face these centaurs. I believe you’re the most capable person to handle situations like this”, said Chief Pai to Elder Ma. Elder Ma was a retired special ops who have participate in many war. That’s why Chief Pai trusted Elder Ma with a responsibility to defend the village.

“Brothers, we will receive our enemy at the entrance of the village. Divide our hunters into 20 squads, 15 squads of archer and 5 squads of melee. I already checked our weapon storage, we won’t have a problem to handle our enemy at that number”, said Elder Ma while his index finger tapping the village entrance on the map.

“The centaurs most likely will gather at the clearance in front of the entrance, since there is the only place they can attack us. We will have 10 squads of archer to face them while the other 10 squads to receive any centaurs who manage to pass the gate. I already order our hunters to put a barricade around and after the entrance so our archers can kill them before they reach our melee squads”, explained Elder Ma.

“I believe Brother Ma will make sure everything will be fine. How was the moral of our villagers? Did the suddenness of this event shocked them?”, asked Chief Pai.

“You flatter me Brother Pai, I believe we need everyone’s strength to survive this event. I already briefed our hunters and villagers on what we’re facing. Although some of them still can’t believe what was happening, our hunters can be considered ready. I told them to see the centaurs as a mutant horse or an animal, so they wont have a problem to kill them. I also discussed with them where to shoot”, replied Elder Ma with a smile on his face. This old man can still smiling in a situation like this, proving his experience.

“How about other villagers, do we need their help to fight too?” asked Elder Daquan. “I think we still doesn’t need their help yet. The number of enemies is low and our hunters are more than enough to handle them. Another thing is, having them to help is a risky move because they might disrupt our hunters formation due to inexperience”, replied Elder Ma.

“Good, I believe we are ready to face those centaurs. Let’s conclude our meeting. Zi Yi, you will guard a non combatant villagers, move them further at the back of our village. Duo Nan, you will help Elder Ma to divide the hunters into squads. Everyone else, double check the wall around the village, and the cliff too. Make sure a horse can’t climb on. Dismiss”, ordered Chief Pai. “Yes Chief”, replied everyone in the room.

===========================

Currently

Orca Village’s Entrance

Watching the centaurs rapidly moving forward, Elder Ma gave a loud shout,

“EVERYONE, READYYY. ARCHERS, WHEN THE ENEMY’S ARCHER ENTER YOUR RANGE, KILL THEM BEFORE THEY SHOOT THEIR ARROW. OPEN YOUR EYES, BEWRE OF ENEMY’S ARROWS AND SPEARS. DON’T GET HIT !!!”

Duo Nan and everyone else feel a surge of emotions hearing Elder Ma’s shout. Although they were afraid, they definitely won’t go down without fight. The enemy clearly want to harm them, so they must kill them first. Behind them, they have many people they want to protect. If they were to fall during this attack, they will make sure that the enemy fell with them, so their beloved one will be safe and survive the battle.

Duo Nan ready his stance. Being the longest range shooter, he will be the first one to release an arrow. He was impatient, hoping the enemy will enter his range sooner.

“FIREEEEEE”, as soon as that thundering shout heard, everyone release their arrow.

‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’.

Having trained their aim for years in the wilderness, plus a nightmarish training from Elder Fai, all their arrow meet the target. One after another, the centaurs started to fall down, Several arrow pierced their body, which was proven fatal to these centaurs. With the first volley alone, almost half of the enemy fell, leaving their life behind.

This clearly shocked the centaurs. Although they want to regroup, stopping their charge was extremely difficult. They can only move forward while hoping they can burst open the gate and kill the enemy behind it. Never cross their mind, a weak looking humans inside this tiny village were able to deliver a fatal blow unto them with just a volley of arrow.

‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, ‘Swoossshh’, another volley were raining down onto them. Each arrow were deadly and another quarter fall. Now, all the vanguard were eliminated.

Among the remaining quarter, stood a staggering arrogant leader between the corpes of his fallen comrades. No more arrogance on his face. Numerous arrow stucked on his body, but luckily, none of it were fatal. However, an arrow pierced his right arm, hindering him from swinging his blade anymore. If another volley came, he can only receive it with a close eyes, unable to do anything. He can only hope, his death will come fast and swift.

“DON’T KILL THAT ONE, GET HIM TO ME !!!”, a loud shout could be heard. Maybe Elder Ma want to interrogate that centaur’s leader.

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Left Side of the Entrance

Duo Nan

All his arrow pierced the head of his enemy. Since the number of enemy is small, Duo Nan were rushing get a few kill. Suddenly, another notification pop out.

LEVEL UP

“What is this? Level up? What does it mean”, thought Duo Nan while looking around. He already get this level up notification twice. From time to time, some of his fellow archers stop their attack and stare on something, but quickly resume their attack. Duo Nan was wondering, maybe those archers also get the same notification like him.

“Hey, is there anyone got a level up notification?”, he shouted. “I got it”, someone shouted from his left. “I got it twice, I’m great right? Hahahaha”, another shout from his right.

“Maybe these notification was related to our current battle and killing the enemies. Lets consult the elder later”. “Don’t get distracted guys, lets kill these enemies !!!”. he shouted. “Huooohhhh”, the other archer replied.

====================

After Battle

Inside The War Room

When all the elders gathered inside the room, Chief Pai asked his first question,

“Is there any casualties among us?”, the safety of the hunters were what he concerned the most. He was at the entrance observing the battle unfold, but he asked just to make sure nothing missed.

“No casualties Brother Pai, not even a scratch from the enemy’s weapon. In fact, all of enemy fell before they could do anything”, Elder Ma reported.

“Great, that’s really a great news”, said Chief Pai. He really rejoice that nobody hurt. “How about the enemies?”, he asked.

“From more than 100 enemies, less than 30 survived. I already have their captured leader caged with 2 guards. I asked our doctor to stop his bleeding and he is ready for interrogation. However, all the corpes dissapear right after the battle”, reported Elder Ma.

Hearing that report, all elders in the room slowly nodded their head and a smile appear on their face.

“Our arrow were effective and our hunters were well trained. But, I think that we must thank our enemy because they gave an easy win to us this time. Their leader is inexperience, their army was disorganized and their arrogance made them refused to wear an armor”, said Elder Daquan.

“I agree with brother Daquan, they really underestimate us. I wonder if they’ve met with another human being before because from the look of their eyes, they seem to recognise us as human being. What do you think brother Pai?, asked Elder Fai.

“I think it’s still to early for that possibilities, but it’s not entirely impossible. Maybe the humans they faced before were weak, that’s why they underestimate us”, Chief Pai paused for a while and then continue, “if there exist a human being from other world, we still cannot lower our guard if we meet them. We still don’t know what their opinion about us. Elder Ma, what would you suggest for us to do after this?” Chief Pai asked Elder Ma because there is a possibilities that Orca Village might face another battle after today’s.

“Hmmmm…. We should build an elevated platform for our archers. From what I saw, the centaurs equipment is really low grade. Their arrow won’t reach 200 meters. But an extra precaution would never harm us. Also, I would like to suggest we seek help from Mad Couple. Even their son alone will be a great help for us. We need their weapons and battle experiences”, replied Elder Ma.

“Do we really need their help, brother Ma?” asked Chief Pai seeking a clarification. “Brother, do you remember 11 years ago when they brought their young son here for the sake of training. In just a mere 3 months, that 6 years old boy absorb all our technique like a sponge absorbing a water. I believe that boy grew up excellently. The way they train their son was really harsh, but the couples brought us a lot of benefits too, especially the medicinal knowledge taught by the mother. The father also gave us several firearms and taught us how to handle them”, replied Elder Ma.

“If that the case, I will ask Duo Nan to form a group to go to their villa tomorrow”, said Chief Pai. “Brother Ma, do you think the centaurs will attack us again?” he asked.

“I’m positive they will attack again, but with a bigger forces. I’m afraid, this time won’t be easy for us to win without a scratch”, Elder Ma paused, “The centaurs this morning only took 3 hours to reach us. I believe, we will have around 8-10 hours to be prepared before another attack hit us”.

“What? Brother Ma believe we can win against a bigger forces, is that true?” asked one elder with a confused face. Elder Ma quickly replied with a smile, “I believe so. I strongly believe, even they sent a forces 10 times bigger than our hunter, we still can win. We have a terrain advantages, an advance technologies and a trained hunters. And don’t forget, we haven’t use our firearms too. But of course we need to be cautious too”.

“Alright everyone, like brother Ma said, we have less than 10 hours to prepare for another attack. Please keep the possibilities of a bigger forces a secret from the hunters and villagers. I don’t want to lower their moral. Brother Fai, take out our firearms and gave them to our hunter. Brother Ma, please supervise how the elevated platform should be built. If there is anything else, please consult with me immediately. Dismiss”, said Chief Pai as he ordered the meeting to be adjourned.