The next day was spent almost exclusively on weapons practice. Shelby insisted on spending most of her time watching the camp, and Andrew agreed. They needed to know if the hobgoblins were on to them. In the meantime Andrew focused on making one last push to get grenades finished. He would need to start working on the dam tomorrow, and wasn't sure how much time that would leave him to finish more. He hoped to have far more than he needed to deal with the hobgoblins, just in case.

Kalan was having Tyler and Baily practice sparring with sheathed blades, while he ducked dodged and blocked Carter's sledgehammer swings. By midday Tyler gained the sword mastery skill, Bailey the dagger mastery skill, and Carter gained the Warhammer mastery skill. They took frequent breaks, during which Tyler impulsively grabbed for the crystal to practice his mana control. Carter and Bailey followed his example about half as often, and with far less enthusiasm. Bailey gained the skill early in the day. Carter only managed it just before the evening meal. Tyler was already at level 2, and Andrew gave him one of the boards to practice with instead. He was able to power the circle on the first try.

"Ew what the fuck? It's all damp and shit. It looks like I pissed myself over here" Tyler said.

The board he was holding was dripping wet, the circle glowing fiercely in his hands. It looked like he was still pushing more mana into it, despite now holding it out and away from his body. He had scarfed down his evening meal ignoring assurances that there would be plenty of time to practice, and appeared to be constantly pumping more mana into the circle.

Looks like he probably tried to shove as much mana in as fast as he could. Probably got a lot more extreme of a reaction that way. Still though, he definitely has more of a talent with mana then the other two. I wonder if I should teach him some rune stuff, or let him figure out a different use for it. A traditional wizard could be a lot more adaptable in a fight than whatever I'm turning out to be. We still don't know enough about how classes evolve, might shoot ourselves in the foot by copying each others progress.

"Oh yeah, haha, probably should've warned you about that. I had the same thing happen when I was first trying that one out. Part of the reason we'll never have to worry about water, as long as someone has mana. I would be careful putting so much mana into circles at one time in the future though. Some of them can be pretty dangerous when oversaturated. These grenades work off of similar concepts remember? Though you'll have to wait before you get a chance to see what they can really do." Andrew said, gesturing to the grenade he was carving.

"But my intelligence increases so much faster when I use as much mana as I can! Can you make me something that won't soak me as soon as I push mana into it? I think I’m really getting the hang of this!" Tyler said. The circle was still glowing brightly in his hand, and rivulets of water were streaming down to make a muddy puddle in the ground.

Hmm. How much water could I really produce with one of those? Would it be enough to feed all the prisoners we rescue? If we build this dam, could I over fill the reservoir with one? Actually, could I change the properties of the water at all, infuse it with fire or air mana or something? Would that change it's physical properties? Shit this could be useful, but I'll need my mana the day of, and we need these grenades more. Something to keep in the back pocket for the future. Worth experimenting with once we get somewhere stable. So many things. Might find something neat for Tyler to play with tomorrow.

"I could make you something yeah, but I need to focus on preparing us for the upcoming battle, and that is the least dangerous of the mana circles I can create. You'll have to just put up with it for now." Andrew said, turning back to finishing the grenade he was carving, his own dinner momentarily forgotten.

The rest of the night proceeded along the same lines. Tyler boasted a level 4 mana control skill by the time they started to rotate watches. Baily managed level two, and announced her plans to practice with the water mana circle during her watch. Carter seemed to be stuck at Mana control level one, despite a valiant effort otherwise.

It looks like he may be out of the picture for grenade usage, but he is doing very well on melee skills. I get the feeling most of his stat gains so far have gone into Strength or vitality, which is good, considering I don't have the freedom to build him a set of armor yet. Even if I wanted to give him mine or something, he wouldn't fit in it in a million years. He might be better off focusing entirely on physical training tomorrow. I'm still not sure how I feel about how hands on we're being with the development of their skills. We need to win this fight, but is it really our place to decide what skills they learn and what classes they take?

Andrew was lost in thought as he finished his work. His watch passed by uneventfully as he worked to carve grenades. The process was so familiar to him at this point that his hands worked as if on auto-pilot, his mind wandering out to consider all the upcoming issues in days to come. He did not fall asleep until well into the next person's watch.

By the time Andrew headed to bed he completed twenty four grenades. It was a healthy amount, and hopefully would be enough to deal with the camp. It was certainly enough to give each person capable of using them a few options. He would end up keeping the bulk with himself though, as he was still the fastest at charging the grenades, and most comfortable with their usage. To that end, some additional effort was spent comparing the delay circles to the specifications in his book. He was fairly sure he could increase the delay duration on the grenades on the fly, with a reasonable margin of accuracy. Something that might come in handy if all goes as planned during the attack.

The next morning things proceeded as usual. The group as a whole moved their practice to the river banks, and the new additions alternated between weapons training, mana control training, and assisting Andrew in chopping down trees and preparing them to become a part of a dam on the river.

The trees in the area were easily twice the width of the river, and so each one chopped down could be halved and used twice over to block up the river. As they worked Andrew took aside a few trees and worked to carve explosive rune sequences into them. He created a long chain of connection and delay runes leading to one end of each rigged log so that it would be possible to charge the circles from the river bank. It would be problematic if the user had to charge the circle from the center of the river.

I'm not entirely sure how well this will work underwater, but the very top log at least will explode with quite a bit of force. This isn't exactly an engineering marvel, considering I have no fucking clue what I'm doing, so it shouldn't take much to make the whole thing come tumbling down. Who knows, the logs flying downstream might even be beneficial in the end. So long as they don't hit any of us I guess.

Progress on the dam proceeded steadily throughout the day. The trainees each made steady progress with their work as well. Carter was by far the most skilled in physical training, and soon was pushing even Kalan to his limits during their sparring matches. He reached level 3 In Warhammer Mastery before evening, though only managed to reach level 2 in mana control. Andrew figured that would be enough for the future in general, and decided against giving him more than one grenade to use during the attack.

Tyler on the other hand was veraciously pursuing his Mana Control skills, quickly draining himself of mana before using the crystal given to him to pull mana into himself and increase his mana regeneration speed. Something Andrew wasn't even sure was possible. Each time his intelligence increased he did a small dance of celebration before dropping to the ground to continue work once again. Kalan had difficulty with him in a different way, as it became ever increasingly difficult to coerce him into weapons training. Only the demonstrations of his obviously magical weapon kept Tyler's interest.

Baily was the great equalizer. She mostly worked with Shelby on archery training, though the lack of previous experience made her significantly slower to gain the kind of expertise that came naturally to Shelby. She took to accompanying Shelby on her observation trips to the camp, following promises made that she would continue to work on her mana control skills while in the field. When she returned for the night her Mana Control had increased to level four, more than enough to effectively use the grenades, and almost equal to Shelby's own skill.

Andrew meanwhile was hardline focused on getting the dam ready. He wasn't sure what he was doing in constructing this dam. He dug slots for the logs to sit in inside the river banks, and pulled dirt form the bank behind the dam to fill in the area underneath the logs where they could not be buried further. He constantly vacillated between attempting to increase the sturdiness of the dam, and worrying that the explosive runes he carved would not be enough to destroy his creation. It didn't help that he spent the entirety of the day soaking wet and colder than he had ever been since arriving in this wild land. He had constant reminders of the cold, cold night spent washing his armor in the river after he first attacked the goblin camp. The similarities to that attack with what they planned for the next few days was not lost on him, and though his conviction did not wane, he was not nearly as eager to attack as some of his companions.

Both Shelby and Kalan seemed to share a degree of his reluctance, they remembered the much more recent attack on the goblin caves, and the price they paid for it. If that had gone a different way they may have been ten people planning out this attack today. Instead there were seven. Carter seemed driven and determined, Baily was quiet, but when she spoke of it she radiated an almost sadistic glee at making the Hobgoblins pay. Tyler was the hardest to read out of them all, he spoke of it with a determined energy, but Andrew sensed an underlying anxiety, as though he was working to convince himself more so than any other member of the little group.

That evening they made camp by the dam. It was fully finished just before nightfall, and they celebrated with a meal overlooking the waning riverbank. A thin stream of water still flowed down the river and towards the Hobgoblin Camp, but it was insignificant compared to the river which used to fill it's space. It should be very obvious to anyone below that there was a blockage uphill.

Later that night everyone was on edge. Each watch was conducted by a pair of two, and everyone slept in their armor, with weapons nearby. They would not be caught unawares when the hobgoblins came to investigate. And so they were not, as Andrew awoke to see Carter gently shaking him, one finger raised over his lips.

"Torches coming up hill. Three. Can't see how many total, but Kalan is guessing six or more. We still have a couple minutes until they reach the dam. Kalan and Shelby are circling around." Carter said, gesturing to an area in the forest opposite of the dam from where they were currently camped.

Shit, that means we're the bait, and they're going to be hitting them hard from behind. Gotta get ready quick.

Andrew shot up, grabbed his weapons and scanned the camp. Tyler was up, and looked bone white in the moonlight, clutching his sword with both hands frantically scanning the forest in the direction of the dam. Baily was strapping a quiver onto her hip and preparing her bow, dagger already belted onto the opposite side of her waist.

"Okay, you two, both on me. Baily, you find a good spot in the tree line behind us, get a clear shot of the dam, that’s where we'll be starting the fight. I'll go in first, Carter, you're right behind me. " Andrew said, then turned to Tyler. God, he really was pale. It wasn't just the moonlight, despite the cold night air, sweat beaded across Tyler's forehead and his face was as pale as could be. His hands held the sword in a white-knuckled two handed grip. "Tyler you hang back. When you see an opportunity to get a shot in, you take it. Otherwise, try to keep out of sight, only jump into the fight once all the hobgoblins are already engaged."

Tyler made eye contact and jerked out a nod, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.

Maybe he should be the one to stay behind and set off the dam. I'm not sure if he's cut out for the raid on the camp. Unless this fight gets him a whole lot braver he's going to have trouble with the kinds of carnage these grenades make.

Andrew set off through the forest to get into position. He could vaguely hear the distant, muted clink of Kalan's armor on the opposite side of the nearly dry riverbed and sincerely hoped that he would be in position before the Hobgoblins were close enough to hear the same. Carter crouched nearby, his massive bulk surprisingly well hidden behind a tree, his eyes locked to Andrew's crouched from. From where he was hidden Andrew couldn't see Baily, he hoped that was a good thing. They left Tyler a few feet back, and he was clearly doing his best to stay hidden, as Andrew had no idea where he was either.

Okay, it'll be okay. Everyone here want's to help get those people out. Carter is an excellent fighter. We took on almost as many with just Kalan Shelby and I. This will work out, just trust in the plan, trust in the people.

Andrew's thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of bushes and low complaints in that same unfamiliar language coming from down stream. The glow of a torch drew his eye instantly, and not long after he saw six hobgoblins push their way through the underbrush and into view of the dam. They paused for a moment after seeing the obviously intentional blockage.

Two hobgoblins split off, each holding a torch, and began wandering through the underbrush at the edges of the river towards where Andrew and Kalan's groups were hiding. The other four let out loud sounds of complaint before heading directly towards the dam itself.

Shit shit, might be salvageable. If we can take out the two that separated quickly then we'll be at the advantage. I really wish I could see Kalan or Shelby right now. Or if we had a walkie talkie or something. Hopefully he's thinking the same thing I am.

As the torch grew ever closer, Andrew readjusted his grip on his spear, waiting, waiting, waiting. The hobgoblin grew ever closer as the group of four bent over the dam to inspect it's construction. Andrew leapt up and dove forward, thrusting his spear outward towards the hobgoblin's chest. It brought it's arm up just in time and Andrew's spear stabbed through the leather vambrace and into the flesh of the hobgoblin's upraised arm. He pulled his spear back and prepared a second thrust that was interrupted by the arrival of Carter's Sledgehammer.

The hammer came crashing down on it's shoulder with an echoing crunch. The hobgoblin squealed in pain and Andrew quickly brought his spear up and into the hobgoblin's exposed throat. It dropped to the ground writhing and Carter stepped over it, bringing his hammer down.

I'll trust him to deal with that one. Time to be the distraction I've always meant to be.

Andrew charged out of the bushes towards the chaotic group of four hobgoblins now scattering away from the dam. One already sported two arrows in the chest and was breathing heavy, wet breaths. Andrew headed towards him first. Another headed off into the forest in Baily's direction before another arrow sprouted from his back. A bolt of fire caught another hobgoblin in the back as it brought it's sword up to swing at Andrew.

Andrew for his part charged forward behind his shield, trusting in his armor and high vitality to tank a couple hits as he moved to engage with the already injured hobgoblin coughing up a storm in the back.

The next few moments were a blur. Andrew's shield crashed into the hunched over hobgoblin, knocking it to the ground and nearly toppling Andrew over along with it. A blade slammed into his back and he had to a couple of desperate uncoordinated steps over the fallen hobgoblin to avoid joining it on the ground. He turned to see Carter come crashing into the hobgoblin who struck him from behind. Sledge hammer swinging ferociously enough that Andrew took an instinctive step back and was pulled to the ground as the hobgoblin he knocked over grabbed at his ankles.

He fell back hard into the emptying river bed, his helm clanking against the stones in the bottom and cold water flooding into his ears and eyes. He could hear the flumph of Kalan's fireballs whooshing over him, and kicked out at the hobgoblin pulling itself up Andrew's prone leg. He shook his head and blinked the water out of his eyes, ignoring the resulting headache. Tyler was there, at the edge of the forest. Standing with sword shaking in both hands, just watching the carnage in front of him.

Shit. C'mon dude, perfect chance. They're all distracted. This dude's clawing at my ankles! Get in here!

He took a small step forward, then looked down. Then took another small step, deep shadows playing over the grimace barely revealed by the moonlight. The hobgoblin had a dagger in hand now, and Andrew's own spear never left his grasp.

Guess not then.

He kicked out at the Hobgoblin's dagger and only succeeded in slowing it down a little as he struggled to stab uphill with his spear. He nicked the hobgoblin in the shoulders several times, but they were shallow. He couldn’t get any power behind his strikes in the current position.

A Hammer came down into the back of the hobgoblin from above, and it gasped and released Andrew's legs as the arrows dug further into it's body. Andrew scuttled back and rolled to his feet to see Carter on the backstep, bleeding from several wounds as the hobgoblin he fought took advantage of his momentary distraction. The riverbed was a chaotic mess of struggling silhouettes and moonlight. The hobgoblin that once clung to him was now desperately pulling itself to it's feet. Andrew stabbed out with his spear, expertly lodging the tip into the flesh between it's neck and shoulder. It froze and Andrew pushed further until it fell limply to the ground.

Baily was in the open now, firing arrows as fast as she could at the back of a hobgoblin that was engaged in melee with Shelby. Kalan was fighting his own hobgoblin, and Carter was being slowly pushed back by his opponent. Andrew pulled his spear from the corpse and raced to assist Carter. He approached unnoticed and stabbed out at the hobgoblin's legs, digging into the flesh just under the back of it's knee. It stumbled to the ground and was struck across the face by the haft of Carter's sledge hammer. From there the pair made quick work of the stunned hobgoblin. They split off to finish off each of the hobgoblins occupied by Kalan and Shelby.

The fight quickly turned in their favor, and within moments they were standing around the dry riverbed, panting heavily in the moonlight. The coppery smell of blood was thick in the air, and what remained of the stream was turned a dark red.

Andrew rushed to pull the hobgoblin bodies out of the riverbed as soon as he noticed it, but the damage was already done.

Shit. As soon as anyone sees that they'll know something up here is killing their people. Might ward them off from attacking again tonight, but we have to move in the morning. Can we?

Andrew looked around. Carter had a number of lacerations along his torso and arms. He was standing without issue, looking up into the night sky and taking deep breaths. Kalan, Shelby and Baily were virtually untouched. Andrew himself was sporting an impressive bruise across his back, and wasn't sure the lump that was forming on the back of his head would fit back inside of his helm, but was otherwise unhurt. Tyler stood quietly on the edge of the forest, unmoved, breathing as hard as any of them, eyes locked on the corpses in front of them.

Not a fighter that one. Can't be helped I suppose. Better to know now than never. Maybe he'll get better in time for the fight tomorrow.

Andrew carried that empty hope with him as he waved to the rest to join him by the growing reservoir behind the dam. He knelt to wash his hands and face in the cool water before turning to address the group. Tyler joined them, hovering at the edge behind the rest.

"Alright. Well, that went about as well as could be expected. They'll know we're coming now, but we expected that. We'll resume watches as planned, and head down the hill early tomorrow. This is it. We've thinned out as many as we can, we need to hit while we still have an edge of surprise on our side. The second they bring the prisoners across that bridge to the quarry we'll hit them. We'll give it everything we've got, and we'll get those people out of there. It will be hard. It will be risky. Hell, we may not all make it out of it alive, but know that you will be securing the future of the human race in this land. This is our world for now, and we have to make the most of it that we can, we have to fight for it, as you know, as you've seen once again tonight. Get some rest. Tomorrow we will look back on this fight fondly." Andrew said, doing his best to project confidence. The speech felt foolish, but the group around him each gave a solemn nod, before approaching to wash their own armor and weapons.

Andrew stepped away to intercept Tyler before he closed distance with the rest of the group. "Hey, I know fighting, killing like this isn't for everyone. I don't like it either. You have exceptional talent with mana though. I think you should stay behind to set off the dam for us. We need someone with excellent mana control to run those circles, do you think you can do that? "

"I'm- I- Yeah, I can power a mana circle, easy. Yeah. Yeah I can do that." Tyler said. He still looked pale, and his eyes were darting everywhere but Andrew's face.

"Good. I need someone good with mana control to do this. You'll need to keep a sharp eye out for our signal, but I know you can do that, you've shown amazing dedication these last couple of days. Just this one thing more and we'll be able to relax a little. Once we're through with this I'll show you some of the runes I've been working on, how does that sound?" Andrew said. He was doing his best to maintain an upbeat expression through the pounding headache he was developing.

"Yeah, of course I can do that. I've got the best mana control out of all of us. I mean, other than you maybe, but just wait, you spend way too much time with those rocks, I'll be better than you in no time. Of course I'll see the signal. I want to get everyone free just as much as you do. More maybe, I was actually in that camp remember? Of course I'll do it."

"Good. I'm glad we can count on you. I'll let the rest of the group know the change in plans. As soon as you set the dam off, start heading down towards us, we may need your help in the fight. I'll leave you a couple grenades just in case. Be careful with them, treat them like real grenades. They are very dangerous, but I trust you to do the right thing." Andrew said, placing a hand on Tyler's shoulder for a moment before releasing him and stumbling off towards his sleeping roll.

I knew first watch would pay off one day. Sleep as long as I want until we all wake up for the upcoming fight. God that felt weird. Who the hell do I think I am? That guy can't be more than a couple years younger than I am. Yet here I am, giving him a pep talk into blowing up a dam and charging a war camp. What the fuck am I doing? Goddamn I can't wait until we free these prisoners. There has to be someone down there better than I am at all this shit. Can't believe that speech I just gave to everyone. If I never do that again It'll still be too much. Fuck. I'm supposed to get some rest after that? I should've taken last watch.

Andrew's sleep was fitful. Interrupted constantly by flashes of Tyler's face frozen in hesitation and his spear plunging into the neck of a hobgoblin. He was almost relieved when Shelby shook him awake, the sun just barely starting to illuminate the clouds above in a hazy pink.