The Empires Rise

I think about the four options only for a brief moment. I select extermination in hopes that this will count not only towards pushing back the timing of the attack. I also hope it will help me level up and get my Mana Veins to progress.

One more flash and I am back in front of my army. It is weird for me to think that this is my army. Looking around, I see they are prepping as best they can. Within sight is a small encampment. I see movement from inside the encampment. Once I see my target, I receive a set of notifications.

- New Quest:

Extermination

Upon entering, you have found yourself in front of an encampment. Kill all the inhabitants of the encampment.

Task: Eliminate all the inhabitants of the encampment (0/1)

Rewards: Ability to go back to your settlement, one Treasure of the Fog

New Army Quest:

Wet Behind the Ears

This is your first time being in command of a force more significant than the amount of digits on your hand.

Task: Clear the encampment by only giving orders to your troops (0/1)

Reward: ??? -

With the new quests in mind, I look for my commanders. "I will be unable to help you clear this encampment unless necessary. We will clear this place with no problems." I hold back the fact that the only time I have given any orders is through RTS games. In hopes that I don't make a mistake, I call out. "Scouts, please find out what we are looking at. I would like to know numbers, if possible, and levels." Sending them off, I give orders to the other two commanders. "Let's set up a defensive line here for the scouts to fall back on just in case they are spotted. We don't want to be unprepared if whatever is in the encampment decides to come and welcome us."

Draemish gives a nod and sets the warriors into a line. While also giving some instructions on holding a shield to help protect themselves and their companions.

Vranjaya looks towards the mages and has lined up several steps behind the warriors.

I hear a shout from the encampment and see that one of the scouts is sprinting back to us. Four humans are chasing after him with crazed expressions on their faces. I analyze them.

- Crazed Bandit:

Level 1

HP 5/5 -

They were only level 1 and didn't have much health. But seeing that my opponents this time were humans, I could feel a knot develop in my stomach. Looking towards my commanders to see what they would do, I see they are calm. There are only four people who feel a sense of unease with the situation. When I looked back to see who was being chased, that knot disappeared. Seeing the frantic look on my mother's face gives me the courage to do what I need to.

"Mages, Fire when they are within range. Warriors, prepare to step forward to help."

Hearing the orders, my troops settle into a ready position. I can feel minute amounts of mana being channeled into spells as they prepare their arcane shots. Draemish nods back to me on the front lines with the rest of the warriors.

My mother passed the 30-meter mark quickly, and shortly after, the four bandits passed it as well. The mana surges out of the mages as they cast their spells. Three of the spells connect with bandits, two directly dropping to the ground, with the third getting staggered as the bolt impacts them.

With the now one remaining bandit still running at full speed, I give the order for my warriors to surround and kill him. I have the mages take turns casting at the staggered last bandit. It takes four more bolts, several missing before they can down the bandit.

Hearing the panting of my mother, I see her going to hold my father, looking for support. My father, shaken by the fact that he had to cut down another human, mercilessly holds her close. Approaching the two of them, I ask. "How are you doing mom?"

She doesn't reply right away before a sob escapes her lips. "These men are not right. They were eating something; from what I could see, it might have been another human. I don't know exactly, but only the four heard my shock and started chasing after me. The rest appeared to be fully invested in their meal." She holds onto my father firmly. I look towards Draemish and Vranjaya.

"It seems we might be able to take the rest of the encampment by surprise." As I finish saying this, Shadow and the other scouts return.

Getting right to the point, Shadow tells us the situation in the camp. "There are six more figures inside of the encampment. From my information, there are five level 1 bandits and one level 2 bandit. I would recommend long range in hopes we can whittle down the numbers and make it even more in our favor."

Draemish and Vranjaya both nod in agreement before I ask an important question. "How many more arcane bolts can your mages cast?"

Taking stock of where the rest of the mage squad's mana levels are at, I get a response. "We can cassst at leassst one more volley of bolts. Then ssseveral of our cassstersss will be unable to continue, which will only put usss down to four cassstersss, myssself, Laxreal, Zul'Zara and Narusss."

With this information, I ask Shadow, "What are the odds that you and your scouts can kill the rest before they can get close?"

"I have only four bows available since one of my scouts is a warrior, and the other seems to be taking the fact we are facing humans harder than the rest. He should be able to sneak up and at least distract one of the bandits. In theory, we should be able to get three volleys of arrows into the enemy before they are on us in melee range."

"How about our melee? Will it be a problem to be down one of the warriors?"

"We should be fine. I want to ask for the warrior in the scouting party to be a part of the defensive line. He will be better used since he can't be caught out alone then." Draemish counters Shadow's plan.

Shadow looks at Draemish and huffs. "That is fine. Take him if you want; it will be best since we won't accidentally shoot him." Throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I think the best plan of attack is to leave the mages only to cast the one volley of bolts. This will give us time to recoup some of the lost mana." I say.

"Why do we need to consider that?" Draemish asks.

"It is so we can continue to clear out encampments," I answer. "Before I arrived by your side, I was allowed to pick what type of experience we would have. I won't be able to do so in the future. And from what Rititorous has told me, this can be more of a gauntlet. The more encampments we clear, the better the rewards, but we can also extend the timer before we have to deal with the attack on the settlement."

With this information, Draemish looks at me with a gleam in her eye. "You want to clear out several encampments at once. This will give us some hands-on experience, coordination, and information on how we all fight. This is a good idea."

After letting them see my overall plan, I ask, "Who will go and start the fight?"

Shadow raises his hand. "I will go so we can get this over with and move on to the next encampment.

Glancing at my parents, I tell them to get behind the mages and to calm down as best they can. Shadow stealthily approaches the encampment once again. I see him draw his bow and fire before sprinting back to us.

He can get to the warrior's lines with the head start he had. Once he reaches the front of the line, the three other hunters and six mages fire at the enemy when they cross over the 30-meter range. I analyze the only bandit that has armor on.

- Bandit Chieftain

Level 2

HP: 15/15

Armor 1 -

Two of the hunters hit their targets. One of the bandits goes down with an arrow piercing the left side of his chest. The other gets an arrow to his gut. Two of the arcane bolts hit targets as well. One shoots the chieftain right in the leg. The last one hammers into another regular bandit, dropping him the moment the bolt pierces through his skull.

I analyze the chieftain again.

- Bandit Chieftain

Level 2

HP: 11/15

Armor 1 -

I call out, "Focus on hitting the lesser bandits to start. We must take them out before the chieftain can single out anyone."

With the two bandits dropping to the ground, unmoving, three more regular bandits are coming at us and the chieftain. Shadow can get into position and join the hunters firing at the bandits. In the next volley, only one of the arrows hits, dropping the bandit with an arrow sticking out of his gut.

There is one final volley of arrows before the bandits can reach the warriors. This time, two of the arrows hit targets. On pierces a bandit in the eye. And the last one hits the final regular bandit in the leg, slowing him down.

"Charge!" Draemish calls out to the warriors, and they push forward. In the first clash, the warriors can quickly kill the bandit chieftain and the other bandit.

With all the bandits dead, I call out to see if anyone has been hurt. To my thanks, no one was, which isn't too shocking considering we were able to lure them out in smaller batches.

"Well, that was anti-climatic," I say before a notification appears.

- Congratulations, you have successfully cleared a level 3 encampment. Would you like to move to the next encampment? Yes/No

Note: You have one hour to choose before you are forcefully moved onto the next encampment. -

Telling my commanders this information, I make some recommendations. "Let the mages sit down and see if you can help them get the mana circulation skill before we move on to the next encampment. Shadow, I want you and Draemish to go around the camp and see if there are any boxes that you can see. If you see them, quickly bring them back to me if they don't disappear on you."

Going to check on my parents, I ask how they are doing.

"Honestly, Drake, not the best. This is the first time we have had to do anything like this. How did you get over it so quickly?" My father asks.

"Well, it does help that I have mostly been facing skeletons and goblins. This is the first time I have watched humans be killed before me. But after being here for a few days, I learned quickly that it is a kill-or-be-killed world, and strength is the only thing that can keep me alive."

Looking at me, my father takes a deep breath. "That makes sense. I am sorry you were all alone to deal with something like that. I promise to do my best to help guide and support you when you need an ear."

"Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it. In the coming days, I might have to lean on not just you but everyone in the settlement. There are lots of things that have to be done before the night attack." Thinking about that, I look at the quest to see if there have been any increases in our time."

- Time until Attack: 35 hours -

From my memory, it was 33 hours before I went into my hut and learned all the new spells. I know it took a couple of hours of talking before we started our trek into the fog. So, based on this, we received four hours on the timer before the attack. This is good news. That is until I see it tick down to 34 hours. With the walk, scouting, and the battle, it took us close to an hour. We will lose even more time trying to find treasure and getting the mages so they can participate in the next round.

Sighing, Ritotorous and I decided that since we didn't help with the combat, we could at least help find any treasure that might be lying around. After an hour of going through the tents and scavenging around the camp, we found 5 Treasures of the Fog and one unknown token that were all directly sent back to the settlement.

When I call everyone over, we are closing in on the hour mark. "I hope everyone has been able to use our time wisely. It is time for us to move on to the next encampment."

Draemish and Shadow give nods in agreement. Vranjaya looks skeptical. Turning to her, I ask. "What's wrong?"

"The magesss were able to learn the mana sssirculation ssskill, but they still aren't at full mana."

"Can they at least cast one of their arcane shots each?" I ask.

"Yesss, they can do that much." She replies.

"That is enough for now. Ritotorous and I should be able to help out in the coming encampments with two more mages capable of casting magic."

Hearing that eases some of her burden. "That isss wonderful. Thank you, my lord."

Checking one last time with everyone before I select yes, I see they are all ready. We then proceed to the next encampment.