Essence Wave Book 2 Chapter 31

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

1/2 today!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Two hours later, they’d gone through ten more cycles, leveling thirty six more people to five. After Tiffany, David worked with Absalom, another sniper, to help him evolve his Piercing Bolt into Steel Penetrating Bolt, which did less damage than Tiffany’s Focused Sniper Shot. Instead, it seemed to just ignore his Mana Shield, slamming into his gut and stripping a couple hundred Hit Points off with each hit. David wasn’t able to figure out a counter, but the attempt did push Mana Shield to Apprentice three.

“You’ve done great,” he told Absalom as they jogged back up to let the Dungeon reset again.

“Thank you,” the young man whispered.

David clapped him on the back, and they walked into the mid-morning sunlight. The sky was a greenish color, with streaks of purple, a constant reminder of the changed world.

“Lord Black,” Josiah’s voice echoed in his ear, “I need you back here. Caleb reported that they are only thirty minutes out.”

“Got it,” David responded. “The truck’s full of ore, so I’ll bring it back to unload too.” A grunt was the only acknowledgement he got. He shook his head then turned to Aly, “We’re going to greet the Salidans, come on. Blake, Steve, keep this running.”

“Will do bossman!” Blake yelled back.

“Five hundred more people will be seriously helpful,” Aly said as she hopped into the truck.

“Yup. Hopefully a lot of them are combat capable,” David said.

“What did Caleb say? Five hundred low level Mana Darts did a ton of work, or something like that,” she said. “We might want to bring everyone.”

“We talked about this,” David said. “And I agree with Michelle. Leaving enough people to defend Hope’s Refuge Keep gives us a fallback. Even if we all die to close the portal, they’ll be able to recover and expand.”

“No they really won’t,” Aly said. “Most of them are going to follow us anyway. I was listening to a group of woodcutters who were only level three. They agreed to sneak after the army, so that they could participate and help out. If five hundred Mana Darts took out a Slime, what would they do to a group of Grunts? Even if they only take out half as many, that still saves the resources of the higher level fighters.”

“I agree,” Josiah said. “Aly tied us into the conversation. I canvassed the farmers earlier, and they would all rather join the fight than hide in the Keep.”

“How about we get them to throw the first volly, and then retreat back to the Fortification?” David said, steering around a rock. “That way they get to participate, but we’re not risking them too much. Get everyone who isn’t participating in the rest of the battle to strengthen the defenses there, just in case.”

“Or the farmers can use their Wood Skills to strengthen the Earth Mage’s Walls,” Liz said. “This is all or nothing, now, and we need to let everyone be a part.”

“I guess I’m outvoted,” Michelle said.”But, I kinda agree now. I found a short primer on portal types, and a Regional Portal means thousands more Daemons flooding into the area. The only one really worse is the World Portals.”

“We’ll still have to deal with that one at some point,” David said. “So finishing this one faster is important. Okay. Fine. Announce to everyone that we will be marching as a city, as a people, to destroy the Daemons and save our countrymen.”

Cheering sounded through the communication system. “You just did,” Josiah said. “Not sure how, but you just spoke through the tax pillars and buildings.”

“City Essence dropped by five hundred,” Michelle said. “You did a Barony Address accidentally, and everyone in your barony heard it.”

“Can’t back out now,” David grumbled.

“Nope,” Aly said. “Come on, park so we can get to the Manor.”

David laughed, pulling in next to the Smelter. A few people were waiting, all level three. “Empty the back out,” David said. “We’ll need the truck to haul supplies to the fight.”

“Yes sir!” One young man said excitedly, and they all jumped to the truck.

David and Aly took off in a Sprint, heading up the switchbacks to quickly reach the Manor, where Josiah, Alexander, and Michelle were waiting. Colin and Liz were on their way, the Bridge Dungeon being farther away than the Resource Dungeon. “David,” Josiah said. “I thought I’d lead off this meeting with this.” He held up a disk similar to the one David’s truck had come from. “Here.”

David caught it, his reaction speed and hand-eye coordination well into the superhuman realm. A quick Scholar’s Vision gave him information on the item.

Name: Tier 1 Ballista Technical Installation Disk

Description: Installs a Ballista that fires bolts of Mana using the Energy of its wielders onto a suitable vehicle. Vehicle must have a Mana Engine. Mana from the vehicle is used to generate the Mana Bolts. Vehicle storage will be changed to store Mana Bolts, number determined by the type of vehicle.

Value: 2,500 credits

“We got six of them,” Josiah said. “It takes about ten minutes to install.’

“It takes another half-hour to take it off, and the storage reverts afterwards,” Michelle said. “So no worries that your fancy new truck becomes a weapon forever.”

“Sounds great!” David said, grinning at them. “This is something we can have the non-combat guys and gals use to assist.”

“Each one does need several crew,” Josiah said. “We did a few test shots. Each shot is four hundred Mana and a minimum of two hundred Energy. The maximum of a thousand blasted a whole straight through the Wall. Luckily, the Inscriptions are able to take Energy from multiple people.”

“We haven’t found a good way to get multiple inputs into the truck’s Mana Engines, though,” Alexander said. “So it will eventually run out of Bolts. Hopefully by then, the battle will be decided.”

“Eh, if not, it’ll just slow down the firing rate,” Aly said, “Right?”

Josiah nodded.

“How many people per truck?” Aly asked.

“Four in the back charging and aiming the Ballista, two in the front taking turns recharging the Mana Engine,” Josiah said.

“What’d we miss?” Colin asked as he and Liz walked in.

David tossed him the puck, “Truck mounted Ballistas.”

“Ooh, fun,” Colin said grinning. “So, big army ready to go?”

“There’s still six hours left until our self-imposed deadline,” Josiah said. “That should be enough to get almost everyone who was level four to five, and potentially a lot of the threes to reach four.”

“Every level is more Hit Points, Mana, and Energy, so we’ll have more ammo for our Skills and live through more attacks,” David said.

“But every hour means a harder task,” Colin said. “We should push north as soon as we can.”

“People will level when we attack Buena Vista,” Josiah said. “I’ll make sure we rotate people so they can use the Essence they will gain and recharge.”

“So, our plan is to pull the Daemons into a fight at a quickly built fort made by the Earth Mages,” David said. “What if they don’t attack?”

“We’ll have to move forward and do it again,” Josiah said. “We’ve got a bit of time to do this. Let’s do it right.”

“Lord Black, Seneschal, this is South Scout. We can see the Keep!” A young man’s voice sounded in David’s ear.

“This is Lord. We’re on our way down to greet you,” David said, then nodded at the rest. “I guess we continue this discussion with Caleb and whoever the leaders are of the newbies. Let’s go.” He stepped out of the room and held the door. Everyone filed out before putting on a burst of speed. They raced down the switchbacks and down a gravel road that shot out to where the eventual South Gate of Hope’s Refuge would end up.

There it met the old highway that ran north to south, connecting Buena Vista to Nathrop and Salida. Just down that road, hundreds of people walked in a rough approximation of military order. The majority of the people David could see were gaping at the Keep, the massive edifice that David and crew had built with a combination of physical and magical power, and System cheats.

Caleb walked in the front, looking very much like a D&D ranger from a video game, with brown pants, a green shirt, and leather armor on top. The armor was black, seeming almost to drink in the light, but the effect was partially ruined by the knives festooned about it. He was walking next to two older women and a middle-aged man.

David moved forward, launching himself to his full speed so he almost seemed to just appear in front of them. “Welcome to Hope’s Refuge,” he announced loudly. A dozen Mana Darts shot out at him as the front rows screamed. He easily dodged or blocked them, with most of the damage absorbed by his armor. “Uh, sorry, I shouldn’t have scared you all like that.”

“Lord Black,” Caleb said, bowing to him. “May I present to you Annabel Schmidt, Betsy Green, and Malcolm Brown. Ms. Schmidt is the leader of this group. Ms. Green is her deputy and represents the people who want to become crafters. Mr. Brown is the leader of the militant arm of Salida.”

“It is good to meet you all,” David said, nodding to Caleb.

“So, you’re the guy who became a Baron in America,” Malcolm said. He was a short, wiry man who looked like he worked outside with his hands a lot.

“Yup,” David said, “Just trying to help out. The System decided I was a Baron when I conquered a third Corruption and then Caleb here helped you out taking the Crystal down in Salida. You all are just in time.”

“Just in time for what?” Ms. Schmidt said. She stood a bit shorter than Caleb, with a bob cut of pure white hair and a stern face.

David concentrated on his Status for a second, then shared the Quest with the four of them. “We’re marching in six hours to take back Buena Vista and shut down the Subsidiary Portal.”

Groans sounded from behind them. “We’ll help,” Ms. Schmidt said. “But our strongest people are only level five.”

“Anything is better than nothing,’ David said.

“Come on, let’s get you into the city,” Josiah said, stepping up beside David. “We have food and lodging available for all of you. That should see you ready to march out when the rest of the city is.”

David stepped to the side and then joined the procession next to Ms. Schmidt. “The Market is up in the Keep. Everyone is welcome to go up to spend their credits. Are you staying here or taking the small group back to Salida?”

“Staying, Lord Black,” she said.

“David, please,” he told her. “If you’re staying , you’ll be one of my advisors like Josiah and Michelle.” David gestured at them. Josiah and Malcolm were talking about the battle against the Corruption, while Michelle was speaking with Betsy about leatherworking. “I’m just a twenty-nine-year-old software engineer who was in the right place at the right time.”

“Only if you call me Anna,” she said, her voice firm. “Where will you be when we attack the scum?”

“In the frontline,” David said. “I’m the most powerful person here. Heck, I’m probably the most powerful person on the planet. I’m a Vanguard, and generally start off battles with a charge into the Daemon lines, to break them up for everyone behind me.”

“He’s an idiot but he means well,” Aly said.

“Aly, this is Anna. Anna, this is my wife Aly, and the third most powerful human alive,” David said, fake glaring at her.

“Charmed,” Anna said. “An idiot?”

“He keeps putting himself in harm's way to protect others, often when he doesn't really need to,” Aly explained.

David just laughed at that. Two dozen various people met them near he newly raised Log Houses. “Anna, Betsy, Malcolm, these men and women will be assisting you in assigning housing and potential work positions,” Josiah said, walking in front of the group. “If you would, please meet us in the Mayor’s Manor, up on the Keep, in two hours with Brandon.”

“Brandon?” David asked.

“He’s in the rear guard,” Anna said, “but he’s the leader of the group going back to Salida.”

“Okay,” David said. “We will be asking them to stay, at least for the upcoming battle.”

“Of course,”. Anna said, waving her hand. “I doubt they would tell you no.”

David frowned at that, but accepted it. I hate the feeling that I’m forcing everyone to fight, but this could end up with us being overrun by Daemons if we don’t stop it. We have to prevent the Daemons from opening portals everywhere if we ever want to take back the Earth. What’s a little conscription when your goal is to save humanity? At least Aly will tell me if I ever go power mad.

The Salida crew’s leaders peeled off to coordinate their people getting settled in. A minute later, Josiah said, “You did good, David.”

“Uh, with what?”

“Scaring them by moving quicker than most could process, then just ignoring the attacks that came at you,” he answered with a grin. “Erased every doubt those people had about our capability and your strength at the same time. They’ll listen to everything you say now.”

“But shouldn’t leadership be more than just who is the strongest?” David asked.

“It should,” Liz said, “but right now strength makes people safe. I’m sure there are groups of people who follow a giant asshole because he protects them, even if from a desire to protect his property. We’ll have to conquer them too, eventually.”

“But right now,” Colin said, ever pragmatic, “anything that helps the human race survive is good.”

“Most things anyway,” Aly said. “And anyone who abuses their position of power over people will face their reckoning.”

“This discussion is another reason why we all trust you,” Michelle interjected. “Everyone who has ever talked to you understands that you won’t abuse your authority and power over us. If we have to follow someone who is strong, we can celebrate that he is good too.”

David blushed, ducking his head. “Thank you,” he said huskily.

“Alright, let’s go work on the plan some more,” Josiah said. “It’s getting too philosophical and mushy for me.”

Everyone laughed, then sped up when he took off in a Sprint.