《Bulwark》 Unpleasant memory Waking up to a screeching sound wasn¡¯t pleasant, it was therefore not unexpected that Kerek fell into the habit of turning his alarm off with a violent smash. He hated the high-pitched waking tone, but nothing else could get him out of the dreamland so early in the morning. Full of tiredness he lazily opened his left eye to peer out of the window through a hole in the blinds. After a while of lying he managed to open his other eye too, the morning sky was beautiful enough to warrant it. The homogenous gray stretched as wide as the eye could see, its uniformity called to him, the perfect weather for staying inside. The fact that the gray sky was all they got around here was beside the point. Just imagining nursing a cup of coffee drank in bed against the advisement of common sense filled Kerek with longing. He however was no leisure amateur to be contend with so little. He¡¯d leave the blinds rolled down on all his windows, pretend not to be home to ward off any visitors, not that he got many and as soon as that¡¯d be finished he¡¯d open his latest reading. A romance novel so sweet that even his barbaric cup of coffee consisting of an unholy amount of milk and sugar couldn¡¯t contend. Then he¡¯d lay there reading, slowly sipping his sweet nectar until hunger forced his body into action. If only that was possible. He never needed much to be happy, or that¡¯s what he thought. The older he got the harder it became to find enough free time to enjoy himself to the fullest. He understood now that being greedy didn¡¯t need to mean lusting after riches or prestige, for a working-class man like him it could be embodied by a simple craving for more free time. Most of the working adults would most likely agree that free time was a luxury many couldn¡¯t afford. Kerek lightly slapped his cheeks to stop any further daydreaming, instead opting to be slightly more productive, and slowly crawled from under his blankets. Those warm fluffy blankets. NO! He had to stay strong. He stood up, yawned, and started circulating his mana. It wouldn''t make much difference in the short term, but every additional minute would pay dividends in the years to come. Feeling more energised he went to open the blinds. They were useless, as again they didn¡¯t get any sunlight around here, but since they were already firmly incorporated into both his night and morning routine there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. Except maybe changing his routine. Yeah, not happening. With the view secured, he moved on to making his bed, he was very careful to fold the blanket nicely. When he already put in the effort he wanted it to show. Done with the housework for now, he started working on himself. He went to the bathroom where he started applying his favorite moisturizing cream to combat the effects of the dry desert wind, while dreading the need to make breakfast. After much ruminating he settled on making syrniki, a dish similar to pancakes, the main difference being that it contained cottage cheese instead of milk which made it more protein heavy. When he finished applying his skin products he headed straight to the pantry to acquire the necessary ingredients, a few minutes later he was already mixing the batter. It was without a doubt one of his favorite meals, as Kerek simply needed to throw multiple ingredients together and then fry the finished mixture. Not too unhealthy, while surprisingly easy to make. If only he could figure out why his batter always turned out so sticky. According to his friend shaping the mixture should be unproblematic, but that wasn''t the case for Kerek''s substance. His batter turned out shocking similar to glue which while inconvenient, supplied him an ample excuse to eat it. At moments like these, he missed living with his family. The blessed days when food simply spawned into the household were long gone. Then his selective memory turned slightly less selective and he thought of his 18th birthday when unbeknownst to him he almost turned into a demon sacrifice. He felt confused when a team of soldiers broke down their front door as he was about to blow down his candles. They rushed inside his house in full tactical gear, looking like angels of vengeance. The glimpses of their faces he caught through the visors of their helmets were the only hint of their mortality. There could''ve been a dozen gunmen and then a handful more melee fighters, those were positively glowing from how fast their mana was circulating. His hands shot automatically up when their rifle barrels pointed at him and his family. His shock soon morphed into fear when he saw their fingers hovering over the triggers of their weaponry. They stood there keeping them all at gunpoint a second passed in this unnatural stillness. Then without a single word being exchanged something changed, he could feel it in how the fighters got ready to draw, in how the soldiers took careful aim. His eyes widened in panic. ¡°You can¡¯t just ¡­¡± He shouted, but the content of his scream would never be heard as the barking of rifles thundered through the room drowning out all other sounds. The world slowed down to a crawl as the bodies of his parents fell to the ground like sacks of potatoes. Kerek stood there visibly shaken, his face losing all color. He didn''t spare a single thought for the guns and ran up to his mother taking her bleeding body in his arms, the soldiers were shouting something in the background, but he paid them no mind. A look of surprise was frozen on her face while blood poured out from dozens of holes covering her whole form, but the volley mostly focused on her head and midsection. This couldn¡¯t be happening. Tears streamed down his face dropping on what was left of her body. He held her remains tightly, but a soldier rushed to him and grabbed him by the back of his neck carrying him backwards like a disobedient kitten. It was so unexpected that he even forgot to fight back. Before he could protest his mother¡¯s face regenerated at an unbelievable pace and her eyes rolled back showing whites. She got up, nonchalantly stretching like she woke up from a long nap while the rest of her flesh knit itself together. Nothing was making sense anymore. The breach of their house, his mother''s death, and now her apparent resurrection. Then it all clicked in place, this wasn''t real, merely a hallucination of a teenage brain. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. He chuckled to himself while the soldier threw him over his shoulder and ran to the back of the formation, paying him no mind. His father flew up behind his wife, armor materializing around his form. It was a blend of white and gold covering every inch of his body except for the majestic wings that sprung out of his back. ¡°The marked one is ours meddlers, be gone and we might yet spare you.¡± They said melodiously in perfect sync. The gunmen opened fire again while the rest drew their weapons and positioned themselves protectively in front of them. His mother was no longer standing in the middle of the room instead she appeared in front of the soldiers grabbing an axe wielder by his head. It was a testimony to his fast instincts that he was mid-swing when she tore his head off. A fountain of crimson was born where the fighter''s head was, painting the room red and shocking some of the greener soldiers still. His mother took a step back, a sword strike passing a leaf''s distance from her slender neck. She gave the swordswomen a predatory grin while two more men joined the fight. The gunmen did their best to take cover from the bombardment of feathers his flying father attacked them with. To which he reacted with a sad smile "Scurry little rats, scurry all you want. In the end, you will all be forgiven and reborn anew." His brain could barely process what was happening while his kidnapper went for the door. The last thing he saw before being carried outside was his mother tearing a screaming spearman limb by limb while his dad ordered around the victims of his strikes like they were his personal servants. Some had a single feather piercing their armor, some were covered in them from head to toe, but all of them heeded his commands. As the door opened Kerek was greeted by the sight of a deserted street. The piercing sound of a siren accompanied by a repeating message beckoning everyone to seek shelter. He wasn''t sure what to believe, but now that he had a minute to think it dawned on him that this might be not a nightmare. The movement made Kerek''s body jump up and down enough that his birthday hat finally fell on the ground, only to be trampled under the boots of the running soldier. No longer could he hear any fighting, the only sounds that accompanied the sprint were the emergency announcement and the rhythmic pounding of boots on stone. His carrier stopped abruptly and threw him on the ground, the unexpected meeting with the floor drove the wind out of his lungs. Doing his best to not panic he tried breathing, but no air came to his lungs. His heart was hammering in his chest and his vision was growing dark until the sweet oxygen finally graced him with its presence. Shaken to his core, he got into a sitting position by leaning on one of the houses. From there he could see the unnamed soldier emptying his rifle on his mother. She closed the distance swiftly deflecting the bullets with her bare arms and Kerek averted his eyes to spare himself the gore that was soon to follow. When he looked back the battle carried on and he didn''t understand how that was possible. His mother fought barehanded and without style or reason, a flurry of chaotic strikes. Or at least that''s how it looked to him. On the other hand, the soldier, now wielding a military knife, defended with precision. Nevertheless, his movements, even though methodical, were so much slower than hers that the fight should''ve ended a long time ago. He ducked and weaved with machine precision and whenever a deadly strike was about to connect anyway his feet slid on the ground like skates. The soldier couldn''t land a single hit, but neither could she. Growing more and more frustrated her eyes roamed the battlefield until they met his, then her face bloomed into a brilliant smile. One that used to be reserved for only the happiest of family occasions. She ignored the soldier and instead rushed for Kerek, she got multiple gashes on her hand for it, but she paid them no mind. Kerek''s body got up in the air while most of his eyesight was covered by pillar-looking structures. Oh, belatedly he understood that it was the second time today that someone was carrying him by a part of his head. He could only be thankful that cultivation made his body sturdy enough to handle it. The demon turned him around showing her hostage to the soldier, who stopped a few meters away. "Meddler, surrender yourself and I''ll grant you a painless death. Your charge is captured and I feel how low your mana reserves have grown," she half-sang smugly. No reply came and no one could be sure what the soldier was thinking behind his helmet. Kerek could barely see with the fingers covering most of his vision, not to mention that the T-shaped visor hid his protector''s face well. Then it all happened at once. He slid from the demon''s grasp and a hooded individual stepped out of his shadow to catch his falling body. As he was again being carried away he saw a single woman approaching the demon. Her skin was light pink and two cute horns grew out of her forehead. That was all he managed to see before he was carried to safety. Later he found out that the demon outbreaks happened all over the city stretching personnel thin, the ones that descended on his parents were a particularly strong pair, which sentenced the first response squad to a hopeless battle without backup. Many died. From his birthday visitors, only the ones mind-controlled by his father survived, the nameless soldier not being one of them. To contend with his mother for even a short while he burned his body as a mana source, only a pile of ashes was left inside his armor. His mastery of friction might''ve been high for a gunman, but not enough to contend with such a beast without the extra oomph. Of the people who had the luck to be born in Korgadar, most didn''t spend their free time being thankful for the free education and advanced healthcare the city provided them. Kerek did, half a dozen people fell so he could live and that was a debt he could never pay back. The smell of burnt food brought him back to reality, he grimaced throwing the first round of syrniks into the trash. His pyjama was soaked with sweat and he did his best to take deep breaths. In and out, in and out. For the first time in his life, his horrible habit of frying in pajamas didn''t result in oil stains, but instead saved him from having to change his outfit. He turned off the stove, stripped naked, and took a long warm shower. When he felt calm enough he continued frying nude, not wanting to risk dirtying his outfit for Ekklesia. At last, he was finished with frying, and with the help of a generous portion of homemade jam, the two of the most misshapen syrniks were sentenced to a series of hungry chomps, the rest he put away for dinner or tomorrow''s lunch. It depended on how much he''d eat at the traditional feast. Finished with eating he put on his freshest guard uniform, it wouldn¡¯t do to arrive looking like a vagabond. Dressed up, his skin smooth and unblemished, Kerek was almost ready to leave. He snuck a glance at his floor mirror and couldn¡¯t help but feel mighty pleased with himself. With his clothes on it was time to move onto jewelry. Kerek picked up his favorite pair of earrings, as always he first admired their sublime craftmanship before putting them on. Sadly their tear shape has lately been matching his mood more often then he would¡¯ve liked. To think that the date of his next free day was more uncertain than ever filled him with sadness. Neither were the occasional panic attacks helping his mood. He missed the times when his days were full of either binge reading or sleeping. His free time decreased steeply since he joined the guards two years ago and while he couldn¡¯t be happier with his job, the lack of reading time was ungodly. The recent increased monster activity served to only deepen the issue. Overtime for everyone, yay. The Tree of Harmony was doing everything it could to help to bolster their defenses, It wasn¡¯t always enough. During the latest set of attacks everyone stationed at the wall had to come to terms with the fact that their guardian was monstrously powerful, not omnipotent. Their central figure, the bond that held their city state united in purpose. The main reason why their community thrived in the desolate monster-infested land, were the few of the myriad things that came to his mind when he thought about the Tree. Not to forget that the sharing of thoughts and ideas it facilitated was a blessing no one else could replicate, without it, they could never govern the city the way they did. It was thanks to this mind connection that they could exchange opinions, air their worries, and debate issues fast enough that governing the city through gatherings featuring tens of thousands of people stayed feasible. To show their respect to their ancestors, they named the gatherings after the great thinker Ekklesia, who was one of the biggest advocates of the concept. Yet, they couldn¡¯t stay forever dependent on their guardian. He, the same as every other citizen, was glad for the unending support it offered them. However, deep down he felt that their selfishness was too much. The strain on the Tree couldn¡¯t be small, it was their strongest defender, and most competent teacher, not to mention that the Ekklesias wouldn¡¯t even function without it. Now angry at how for granted they took the Tree he hastily put his earrings on. Artfully combining his crimson skin tone with the shades of gray of his accessories and clothing was something that he was well known for, or so he hoped. Instead of wasting any more time he put on his sturdy combat shoes and picked up his pistol. Ready and armed, he left his house. It took a few years for people to get used to the concept of Ekklesia, at least that¡¯s what his teacher told him. For Kerek and other members of his generation, it was a natural fact of life. There they could cultivate in a mana high environment, find out about the newest technologies and influence the city¡¯s future. What was there to not like. Thoughtful walk The Tree was situated directly in the city''s center and in the middle of a mana zone of its own creation. It wasn¡¯t unusual for a group of monsters to seek the mana zone out. Normally the guardsmen made short work out of them. That changed a few months ago when monster groups of unprecedented strength started appearing. The defense of the city walls didn¡¯t turn bloody yet but it was only a question of time before the first casualty in a long time would be claimed. It was not that monster-related deaths were not unusual, they simply happened to the fools searching for riches behind the cities¡¯ protections, not to its well-trained defenders. Kerek took his trusty pistol with him everywhere he went since the first bigger attack, that day the battle concluded before he got back from his run to the armory. He wasn¡¯t on duty then, but he wouldn¡¯t have been able to forgive himself if someone died in a defense where he could¡¯ve helped. The attacks got unpredictable enough that being armed even on his off days was warranted. These thoughts made him stop at the side of the road and take his weapon apart, double-checking the mana crystal powering it. It was a sphere with a rough surface that glowed a light blue and while the bright color made his eyes hurt, he wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to let that interrupt his work. His quick check-up didn¡¯t reveal any deficiencies, so without further ado, he resumed his march. Only to pause and facepalm. He forgot to take the rebreather with him, one of the newer inventions designed by the "bright" minds from Arkana, the college of arcane arts. Returning was slightly annoying, but not outside of the realm of expectations. It wasn¡¯t Kerek¡¯s first and it wouldn¡¯t be his last time to forget something important. Some rummaging through the house revealed the metallic apparatus sitting on his bedroom table. Its two pistons and unmistakable metallic sheen which made the masks so popular at costume parties led to its fast discovery. With the rebreather hanging around his neck, Kerek left his house in the direction of the gathering. The further he went the more decrepit grew the houses. He heard from the merchants that having the city center be the poorest part of the city was highly unusual, he couldn¡¯t say he felt the same way. He found it logical that the paranoid rich would try to give the Tree as much of a berth as possible. Ironic then that it was their paranoia that paradoxically made them the most vulnerable if the city walls ever got breached. To be fair, that didn¡¯t use to be a real possibility. Until it was. Maybe the citizens elsewhere acclimated to their Trees faster, so the wealthy built right next to their Tree? It was a rare occasion when they got a caravan. Currently, no traders were staying in Korgadar and he didn¡¯t feel motivated enough to find which of his gossipy neighbors knew this particular piece of information. Resigning himself to ignorance Kerek continued on his way. He knew that his thoughts were wandering, but he didn¡¯t fight it as it was impossible to get lost while following the silhouette of the Tree. It was the tallest landmark far and wide. The second highest structure was the central tower overseeing the defense of the main gate. Comparing the two of them was like saying a newly sprouted sapling and an aged oak were in the same height category. It was not even close. Behind the last set of hovels stood a small stone wall, closer to a fence than a wall if he was being realistic. The obvious state of disrepair hinted at the truth of the matter. The wall was built in the past when people still felt skeptical about their Guardian, the foolishness of constructing a stone wall to protect against a mana beast didn¡¯t discourage their efforts. The growing faction of Tree sympathizers decided to jokingly help out, which ended in the creation of an extremely unserious stone barrier in some places. The citizens soon found out how expensive such a defense truly was and gave up on its creation. Most materials had to be either imported or created from mana, both costly endeavors. The sympathizers stopped with their humorous efforts soon after. This led to the creation of wall segments which differed in size and sprung up seemingly out of nowhere and ended just as abruptly. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It wasn¡¯t until much later that the First Gathering decided to repurpose the stone from the defensive wall segments for the completion of the sarcastic low wall. The decision wasn¡¯t made out of fear, neither was it born of ridicule. The First Gathering was more practical, it decided to set an obvious border to the Tree¡¯s territory and subsequently give it to it as a reward for sheltering them from the imperial army and helping the subsequent Freedom siege. Walling the zone was an easy way to set a clear boundary, while also taking advantage of the already existing infrastructure. Yes, theoretically speaking, the Tree was the biggest landowner in Korgadar. The passage through the low-wall was protected by a gate, not surprisingly, it was more of a reinforced wooden door. However, what this checkpoint lacked in defensive infrastructure it made up in personnel. Waving people through and distributing comfortable sitting mats was no other than Samantha, the infamous 8-foot-tall crystalline golem. He speculated that her body was made out of mana crystal, the familiar roughness, the blue glow. He was however not brave enough to ask. Her muscular frame combined with a height that forced her to bend down while walking through doorframes cut an imposing image. It was nothing compared to the intimidation factor of seeing her fight, Samantha, as elites usually did, preferred cold weaponry to the arcane rifles. They were often both stationed on the southern wall and he must say that seeing her split monsters in half with a battleaxe bigger than Kerek¡¯s whole body made for one hell of an impression. She was at the forefront of every battle, leading every charge. The berserker of Korgadar was not someone to be trifled with. She must¡¯ve caught him staring as her pale blue eyes locked with his, breaking into a cold sweat Kerek hurriedly dropped his gaze. Defending the same wall didn¡¯t magically turn them into best friends and if he was being honest, she scared him. The line moved fast and soon he was having his identity verified. He put his hand on the orb Samantha held in her hands, and after a few seconds, it started shining a pleasant black proving that his mana signature was in the database. Done with the formalities he received his sitting mat and continued onward. The same breathtaking scene that greeted him at every Ekklesia presented itself, a plain of vibrant green stretching for as long as the eye could see, only the great Tree in the distance disturbed the otherwise homogenous environment. It was a sight like no other in the desert and stood in stark contrast to the desolate environment of black sand and harsh wind that one could find behind the walls. When he focused he could see blue streaks racing through the Tree''s enormous trunk, Its mana pool was so big that it produced mana currents when The Tree moved Its mana around. Kerek didn''t have a good eye for estimates, but the Tree must''ve been miles tall. Its glowing branches stretched again as far. He saw a couple of work acquaintances beckoning him to sit with them and he saw no reason not to. The conversation was pleasant enough, if much less professional than he was used to. He talked to these people mostly during their guard shifts and except for the occasional hello in the street or a random Ekklesia meeting didn''t have much contact with them. The green plains were slowly getting fuller and fuller with citizens trickling to the gathering in the thousands. While taking part was by no means obligatory, only a few people voluntarily gave up their right to governance, time dilatation, and effective cultivation. Like this, more than 80,000 people met here every week to decide the future workings of their city. Yes, the Executive committee took care of the day-to-day goings, but this was where the important changes were made. With all the citizens concentrated in one place, many measures needed to be implemented. During the week-long period leading to the Ekklesia the city¡¯s shield generator was greedily sucking in ambient mana, the city-wide energy dome it provided during each gathering was an insurance that their city wouldn¡¯t be overrun during the absence of most of its defenders. To preserve law and order in the city The tree provided its famous wooden constructs, the Ents. During Ekklesia¡¯s they served both as a policing force for the few who decided to not partake in the gathering and a caretaking one for all young ones below the age of 18, as they were deemed too young to take part in their gatherings. The Reform tried to sink the required age of participation to 16, or at least enable the young ones to visit as spectators, but while it was gaining momentum, proposals of this change still ended up short of the three-fifths of votes that a core change required. His thoughts on the topic were interrupted by a mana beam of monstrous size shooting into the sky, its brightness forcing him to avert his eyes. When the light became manageable once more, the breathtaking sight of the mana dome spreading from the center of the beam greeted him. No longer was the dark sky visible, instead a crimson-red barrier blocked the sky. As if on signal groups of Ents started departing from the Tree¡¯s location. They were mostly in pairs, where one was a hunkering nine-foot-tall behemoth covered in a glossy black plate armor inscribed from head to toe with arcane script. While the other members of each pair stood in stark contrast to the first one. A slim dryad with androgynous features and a warm motherly smile. This way the children would be both comfortable and protected. The rest of the Ents were split into five men fireteams. Though it was slightly paradoxal to call them such, each Ent may have carried a mana blaster on their belt, the melee however was what they excelled at. Two of these teams again merged into a squad, which merged into platoons and then companies, until finally four battalions of tree soldiers stood gathered in front of the sitting people. They stood eerily motionless, entirely unnatural, and unlike what he would expect of even the most disciplined army. Their hulking forms were armored in the best Korgadar¡¯s forges could offer and they were towering above even the tallest of residents. Their eyes, hidden behind two slits of their medieval-looking helmet, glowed an eerie gray. He imagined that in the past this sight would strike fear into even the most fervent of the Tree¡¯s supporters, today no one seemed to even notice how terrifying this force truly was. The moment of stillness soon passed and for a few minutes, only the sound of boots stomping could be heard as each battalion departed to defend its allocated wall section. Now that they were both protected and isolated from the outside world, the guardsmen currently on shift would soon change their positions with the wooden constructs and instead head for the Ekklesia. As soon as the last wall guard joined them the citywide meeting would begin. Cultivation When we accepted the Tree¡¯s offer and made our settlement under its protection almost 200 years ago, we were a tri-racial group: descendants of the rock spirit Asmonoth, descendants of the crimson angel Belzimir, and humans, a race whose origin is still unknown to us as they migrated to our continent more than 3000 years ago. We have records of historical figures with mixed origins dating all the way back to the founding of the Sunny Empire. So while most preferred their own kind, many mixed families existed even then. This status quo which was characterized by tentative tolerance, but not full acceptance changed after our ancestors escaped to the Black Desert. In the face of a common enemy, unity was important above all. Old grudges were set aside, and rivalries forgotten. This together with an already existing precedent made interracial relationships the norm. Unsurprisingly, in the current day and age, we have reached a point where differentiating by race has become meaningless. Were you to ask, you¡¯d most likely get a dirty look or a confused: ¡°I¡¯m Korgadarian.¡± Not from the purists though. Pointing out that their eye color is a hereditary trait of a different racial group might land you in a knife fight. So, keep your thoughts to yourself. Excerpt from "How to Survive in a Desert: A Brief History of Korgadar" by Alon Thomson. Not much time has passed since the last Ents have departed the plain. Nevertheless, it was not typical for people to wait quietly. Instead, the silence that was forced onto them through a march loud enough that not even Bob¡¯s incessant chatter could pierce it disappeared as suddenly as it first appeared. Excited conversations could now be heard coming from all directions, and when Kerek focused closely he could even hear snippets of speeches being practiced. He didn¡¯t mind the lively atmosphere, liking a little bit of conversation just like the next man and it was nice to catch up with the other guards. A few minutes later he was already cussing out the naivety of his past self. It went well enough until the metaphorical pile of small talk topics ran out, which wouldn¡¯t have been a problem on its own. The silence that followed was amicable, not the awkward kind. The issue was who decided to fill it. The guards usually worked in pairs and it was none other than his partner Bob who couldn¡¯t keep his mouth shut. A trio of young women seated themselves nearby, an opportunity that Bob couldn¡¯t let slip by. So, there he was bombarding the ladies with vastly exaggerated stories that were fast getting on the nerves of not only him, but all his other colleagues too, if the side eyes shot Bob¡¯s way were any indication. The more he tried to zone out the more Bob¡¯s voice invaded his head. Giving up on ignoring the situation he stole a glance at the trio of listeners who were lucky enough to get his partner''s attention. Seeing their strained faces was enough to give him a dose of secondhand embarrassment. The fact that they were getting progressively more strained with every subsequent word of Bob¡¯s animated chatter reminded him that there was a reason why he never truly befriended Bob. A horrible guy he was not, but a bad listener he sure was. He couldn¡¯t hold back anymore, he needed to act to preserve his sanity. ¡°Bob, that¡¯s a very exciting story. Now how about you let the ladies properly introduce themselves? I don¡¯t think I managed to catch their names.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Apologized Bob, having the decency to look at least slightly embarrassed. The group of women exchanged a few meaningful glances before the tallest of them started introducing them. "I¡¯m Violet, and these are¡ª" "Violet, what a beautiful name,¡± interrupted Bob. ¡°It reminds me of that one time a group of chaos slimes attacked the wall. Their bodies were dark purple and shining with magical energy. I, of course, was the first to notice them, and before anyone else could react I shot the leading smile straight between its eyes. Or where you¡¯d expect the eyes to be. Did you know that ¡­¡± Kerek sighed quietly and went back to tuning Bob out. Well, you couldn¡¯t blame Kerek for trying, nevertheless, some people were not destined for enjoyable conversations. When roots started erupting from the ground, it was as if the Tree itself decided to save him and his fellow prisoners. The interruption couldn¡¯t have come at a better time. He pulled up his sleeve, closed his eyes, and did his best to relax while the Tree part slithered inside his vein. Some people preferred an entry directly through their face. Kerek was happy that this was simply up to personal preference, while no practical difference existed, he liked his mouth unviolated. The whole process didn¡¯t make much sense biologically, as a part of a tree, especially the Tree had nothing to be doing inside a human body. Not to mention the issue of dimensions, a branch wouldn¡¯t fit inside a vein, no matter how much you might want it to. The Tree didn¡¯t care for such trivialities. For a being as powerful as It reality was at times merely a suggestion, even Kerek, at best an average practitioner understood that much. The root slithered forward meeting his offered hand, only to stop abruptly. The tree as always waited patiently for consent. He gave a nod and the wooden appendage plunged inside him and while he barely felt its entrance, his body was instantly flooded with mana. There was a reason why most of the citizenry visited these meetings, even the more apolitical ones. The practical benefits were immense. With no time to waste Kerek sat himself as comfortably as he could, closed his eyes, and visualized cultivating in the Way of the Tiger, the standard body reinforcement technique. Assuming it was subpar would be reasonable for almost everywhere in the World. Not in Korgadar. The city took its open science approach seriously, making all publicly funded research available to anyone interested. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The technique was not the most widespread one for nothing. Yes, there were without a doubt secrets hidden deep in the ancient archives of the legacy families. He didn''t doubt that they hoarded useful discoveries, but he was doubtful that their knowledge reached the heights they wanted the rest of them to think. Korgadar was a machine running on free education, effective healthcare, and a strong military. If a group of wealthy ex-nobles thought that they could match the concentrated efforts of tens of thousands then they were in for a rude awakening. Well, they still had elixirs, tutors, and connections on their side. That was the reality of life, equality in opportunity was an admirable ideal to pursue and an unrealistic demand at the same time. The Way of the Tiger started by gathering his mana inside his bones, this was a difficult exercise in control and Kerek soon found his forehead covered in sweat. He imagined his bones growing denser, dense enough that he could rip his own hand away and club Troll heads with it. He stood in the void, surrounded by endless nothingness, his left arm in his right hand. He wasn¡¯t alone for long as a monster thrice as big as him, with red angry eyes materialized close by. Its skin dark green, rugged, and full of scars. The breath of the Troll was strong enough to make him grimace, though the battle axe it wielded was the more dangerous weapon. He stood there naked. His body his only protection. His body his only weapon. He beckoned the troll with his severed arm, provoking it. It snarled and started closing the distance in a mad sprint. In a real battle, he wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance. This however was a battle of will and there the rules of reality grew murky. He didn''t dodge the blow as that would defeat the whole purpose, instead, he gave the Troll a crazed smile and headbutted the axe strike about to sink into his shoulder. It hurt, it hurt like hell. His vision was spinning while blood trickled down his face, soon blinding his eyes and filling his mouth with warmth. Nevertheless, his head had rebutted the strike. Not giving the troll any time to recover Kerek closed the distance and blindly struck with his weapon, through sheer luck or his imagination greasing the wheels he struck the Troll¡¯s groin cloth. The fact that he struck with a severed arm and not one still attached to him was now paying dividends, groping trolls was not exactly a pastime of his. He couldn¡¯t see the Troll''s reaction as his eyes were glued together with warm blood. Rather than seeing it he heard it and the scream was loud enough to make his ears ring, proving that it was indeed a he. Stumbling while clenching his ears was the last thing he did before an axe hit his already injured head and smashed it like a watermelon. He opened his eyes with a wince and a killer headache, his concentration falling. Recognizing his limits, Kerek loosened his hold on the mana in his bones. The relief was immediate while the mana saturated the rest of his body. That wasn¡¯t the formal process, normally a practitioner would control the release and let the mystic energies flow from their bones into their mana channels in the required pattern. That wasn¡¯t the case for Kerek, his control was too sloppy when he was young, so instead he created a workaround of sorts. When his headache was mostly gone, he concentrated on his mana-saturated body and flung all the mana into his bones once more, this time for only a fraction of a second. He hurriedly diverted all of it inside his mana channels according to the technique. It was a necessary compromise, if he were to skip the bone-reinforcing step altogether, he¡¯d soon find his frame too fragile compared to his otherwise enhanced body. Too sloppy to do it normally, but too stubborn to switch to a new technique, young Kerek instead changed the typical steps: bones - channels, into bones - a short break - bones for a second - channels. He asked his teacher about it and she was intrigued by the method, a little bit of testing discovered that while it wouldn''t give him any extra benefits it''d let him use the technique to its full potential even with his lacking control. Cultivating like that for years has made him grow used to it, so he never bothered to learn it the traditional way. With every breath, he felt higher and higher concentrations of ambient mana entering him. That would¡¯ve been fine if he wasn¡¯t getting a steady stream of mana through the Tree root too. Kerek was not a man of risk, so he recognized that it was high time to put on his rebreather. While most of his mind was busy with cultivation he slowly guided his hand around his neck where the gadget was dandling. One satisfying click later and his rebreather was firmly in place. It was an engineering marvel and an important safety tool. The Tree had its branches full with the ritual, so managing the internal mana concentration of tens of thousands of people at the same time was a recipe for a disaster. In the past, there weren¡¯t that many participants. The population was smaller, and the number of people respecting the Tree was lower. Now there were enough of them to inconvenience even It. That¡¯s why the College of Arcane Arts came in and submitted a theoretical design of a rebreather. A tool that would regulate any intake of ambient mana. The leadership at the Institute of Mechanization and Weaponry was intrigued by the proposal and soon a joint research team was created. A few weeks later a prototype was built and before the year ended they were already being mass-produced. The Tree still had to regulate the mana, after all, it was pumping it inside every participant. Nevertheless, the task turned out to be much easier with ambient mana kept at bay, which was only logical. Taking care of a pond is difficult. Taking care of tens of thousands of ponds is grueling to an unimaginable degree. Taking care of tens of thousands of ponds during a storm is impossible. Not that there were many ponds in Korgadar, and one person wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of even a single pond let alone ten thousand. So, while the metaphor sucked, it was obvious that the Tree didn¡¯t. It was amazing. The Way of the Tiger focused on creating impenetrable skin and a sturdy skeleton, with a secondary focus on increasing muscle strength. The shortcomings were obvious enough, the technique was without a peer when it came to increasing toughness and the strengthening effect was quite strong too, but it didn''t provide any perception enhancement whatsoever. Nor did it provide any special abilities or fancy techniques. It was therefore not surprising that practitioners used it to build a solid physical foundation before switching to a more advanced technique. Kerek had a different plan. With his average talent hopping between many techniques seemed counterproductive to him, even mastering a second one would take too long. Rather than spreading himself too thin, he decided to double down. He may never shoot lightning from his fingers, fly, or have molten magma coursing through his veins. That said he should one day be tough enough to survive a building collapsing on him, strong enough to bench-press cows and his skin will serve as an impenetrable barrier that even the sharpest of swords won''t be able to pierce. That was the future he envisioned for himself. He could feel his body resonating with these thoughts, the mana in his channels churning violently, like grains of sand caught in a raging sandstorm. The mana splashed around violently, but eagerly. He felt strong, he felt tough, he felt invincible. He accepted the Tree''s mana hungrily, demanding more and more. His channels were overflowing, his mind was straining. Then as suddenly as it came, the alignment of his mind and body disappeared. It was a state every practitioner strived for, no matter whether wizard or knight, sorcerer or martial. Holding it for a few seconds was already incredible, still, Kerek couldn¡¯t help but feel greedy. No, am I brainless? Forcing it will lead me nowhere, patience is the key. Sometimes it was difficult to be patient, especially when you were lagging behind others and Kerek knew that if he took more risks he could¡¯ve been better. He also didn¡¯t think it was worth it, he liked to read books and corpses weren¡¯t very good at that. With his mind back on track he spent the next twenty minutes fighting against his exhausted body to keep cultivating. His mind and body might no longer be in a state of perfect union, but it would''ve been a waste. Such a perfect cultivation environment was something to be treasured. He still did his best to imagine his body growing stronger, the closer the body and mind were connected the more difficult and rewarding grew the cultivation, and mental pictures were an effective learning tool to achieve that. Nonetheless, he was too tired to imagine something specific or complicated, so he took the most uninspired of mental images and imagined his muscles simply growing bigger. His forehead was now completely covered in sweat, not only that but even his clothes got drenched. His legs started cramping up and his back was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Just as he was about to give up the ringing of the Startbell could be heard. He started slowing his cultivation until it halted completely, but the passive cycling he usually kept going in the background didn''t resume. His channels could use the rest, and overworking them would be only counterproductive in the long term. The necessary preparations must''ve been finished as the Startbell signaled the end of cultivation and the beginning of something much less enjoyable, politics. Ekklesia The bell ringing wound down and Kerek could feel a metaphysical switch manifest in his head. Everyone saw it differently, for him, it was a metal lever of humble make beckoning him to push it down and so he did. When he opened his eyes again he was still standing on a plain. Yet, that was where the similarities ended. A look upwards revealed a drastic deviation from the typical sphere of gray. The sky shone with an unrealistic light blue that made sense only in the context of a mental space. That was not the end of the absurdity. Gray floating shapes covered the light blue sky. Clouds were their name and one could find about anything in them with enough imagination. Sometimes they reminded him of monsters and other times of everyday farm animals. Last time he saw a book lazily floating up there. Then its image started to warp. Eventually, it looked more like a wardrobe but with funky proportions. This was what true magic looked like, the sky was the limit. Well, not exactly, not even the sky was the limit corrected himself Kerek with a chuckle. The plain was not empty. Countless amphitheaters dotted the land and he, the same as everyone else, was seated in one of them. They obeyed the standard design: made of stone and circular in shape. Each row of seats was higher than the previous one and in the middle of it stood a marble podium. Thanks to this seating arrangement every citizen could hear and see the speakers clearly. One amphitheater would be picked at random. That¡¯s where the counselors would make their proposals. To all the other places mana copies of the speakers would appear on their podiums. They were so lifelike that without knowing you''d mistake them for real people. This space was not bound by conventional rules. Which was a big benefit as a thought was enough to teleport to your desired destination. With everyone ready, the first projection appeared. Adam was an old man pushing his sixties, his balding head adorned with two curled horns. He stood hunched at barely 5 feet tall. His attire, while not rugged, was practical and far from new. The clothes of a craftsman and he had the hands to match them, calloused and rough. That was the visage of one of the most popular politicians and the current Speaker. An elected function, somewhere between a moderator and a ceremonial representative. ¡°Dear colleagues, it is an honor to welcome you to this week''s Ekklesia. Yet before we start I wish to remind us of a fact that we can''t forget." "To govern ourselves is a privilege our ancestors bought with their blood and tears. It was them who bravely fought off their oppressors and carved a place in the world that they could call home." "Now two hundred years later their home is prospering like never before!" he said with fervor in his eyes. "Let us rejoice at our good fortune," he finished more calmly. His eyes went around the amphitheater verifying that the audience understood his seriousness. His gaze carried a solemn weight. "However, it is not luck that made it possible. I thank the ancestors!" bellowed Adam. ¡°I thank the ancestors!¡± answered the citizens. "I thank the Tree!" he continued. "I thank the Tree!" they shouted back, Kerek being no exception. ¡°Of the 50 councilors one has gotten injured during a scouting mission. There will thus be only 49 new agenda items today." "After we finish those we''ll hold the second readings of yet-to-be-accepted bills. Then we will draw lots for next week''s counselors, followed by a few educational speeches,¡± Adam informed them ¡°Let the Ekklesia begin!" he announced and started introducing the first counselor. "Matthew Brown proposes the creation of a Temporary Investigation Unit. He has noticed a possible case of misappropriation of city funds.¡± A different person appeared as the Speaker faded away: a tall, lanky human with stubble covering his face. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, my name is Matthew and I work as a construction worker. There is a restoration project of the cobble buildings in the Corner Street and ¡­¡± Matthew went on for another five minutes. But, by then it was clear that something might be amiss The project was progressing slowly and the site often went days without anyone working on it. When Matthew noticed that, he shared his suspicions with a friend. She double-checked the company''s accounting and found many potentially incriminating entries. Kerek could focus perfectly and feel the time fly by much faster than usual. That was the beauty of these gatherings. It wouldn¡¯t be possible to go through 10 agenda items outside, you could forget about fifty. Here? Every person felt the world move at a pace comfortable to them. If there was an agenda item you couldn¡¯t be bothered with, it was over in a few blinks for you. Others could¡¯ve been debating about it for hours, and somehow that all happened at the same time. To tell the truth, he didn''t understand how that worked. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. That made sense. The last time that he opened a magical textbook was years ago, and only because he had to learn for his final exams. He had passed them, but he wouldn''t be becoming a wizard any time soon. When Matthew finished his spiel many people raised their hands. Showing their desire to react. Even in Kerek¡¯s circle, there were a few. They promptly disappeared, teleported to the chosen amphitheater. Nothing happened for a second. Then their projections started appearing on the podium one after the other. Each got two minutes of subjective time. They mostly used it to either question Matthew or add their perspective. Some accused him of overreacting. Others thought he was meddling in an area under the competence of the Executive Committee. Which as far as Kerek understood was not the truth. The Committee took care of the day-to-day operation of the city. Even so, the Ekklesia had the right to initiate investigations. He found it reasonable. People should have some degree of oversight over their own tax money. It seemed that most saw it the same way. Except for a minority they voiced concerns about the possible misappropriation. Some were even eyewitnesses of the tardy project themselves. Matthew was called upon often to give more details and corroborate his story. As well as to distribute copies of all suspicious documents. That was made easy by the immaterial nature of their location. Kerek was persuaded that there was a reasonable suspicion at play. He thought that forming a temporary investigation squad was the correct choice. Or they could pass the information to the police. That was an option too, not a very practical one though. Korgadar was not big enough to warrant a big police presence. That left them either quite free or very busy depending on how hectic of a period the city was going through. There also weren''t that many dedicated corruption investigators in the police force. Not to mention that the perpetrators would get an opportunity to cover their tracks. The police would need some time to start investigating after all. So, instead, if the proposal went through then an investigation would start immediately. Meaning before the Ekklesia even ended. All suspects who were participating would be detained for 24 hours. A search for the ones left in the city would start right after the gatherings end. Then the Temporary Investigation Unit would call on the city''s accountants and lawyers. The professionals would go through the documents while the investigators visited the site. It was a swift and efficient process. The discussion was starting to go in circles. Further questions didn''t seem to be constructive either. Matthew was instead bombarded with variations of previous ones. So, that¡¯s when the Speaker jumped in and pronounced the agenda item well debated. A marble appeared in the palm of everyone¡¯s hand and a voting urn materialized itself on the podium. There were two tubes leading from the urn, one left and one right. Both led to two smaller urns. The marble was an artifact made from golem ore, a material malleable to mental instructions. It would obey three distinct ones. You could wish for it to destroy itself, move left, or move right. It was currently in an inert state and would do nothing. Yet as soon as the activation spell got cast all would come awake and follow the imbued instructions. A line formed and the people put the marbles inside the urn one after the other. Kerek stood up and joined the line. When everyone placed theirs in whoever wanted could check for tempering. Many paranoid wizards did. The voting committee made of bureaucrats, journalists, and volunteers counted the marbles. They verified that their number matched the number of voters. Then the committee members placed themselves around the urn and started chanting. Some of the marbles instantly exploded while others moved to their respective urns. ¡°317 in favor, 161 against, 23 have abstained¡± declared the committee after a few minutes of counting. Or what he thought was a few minutes of counting, for him it was over in a blink. When he focused again they already had their result. ¡°65 433 in favor, 21 299 against, 2355 have abstained. The proposal passed¡± declared Adam. Many cheered, while others clapped politely. It surprised him that so few people abstained from voting. Not everyone was interested in everything, so it was usually more people than that. The rest of the Ekklesia continued in a similar spirit. Though most proposals were much less impactful. Most of them were introductions of law tweaks or new regulations. This meant that they would only be voted on next week. With the new proposals finished the second readings started. The minimum pay for apprentices increased. Requesting a building permit was simplified. The recurring proposal to sink the participation age for Ekklesia didn¡¯t go through. It was a core change and those required three-fifths of votes. The proposals continued in a similar light except for a single outlier. Last gathering a faction member of the Crown made an extensive core change proposal. It would change the city¡¯s political system into a hereditary monarchy. Reinstating a descendant of the Blood Prince to the throne. The second reading of it was promptly shot down with an overwhelming majority of votes. However, the fact that the idea found more than three thousand supporters was surprising. On that worrying note, the second readings ended and came the time to draw lots. The Speaker encouraged everyone interested to throw a paper with their name into the now-empty voting urn. Fifty of these would be drawn to become the next wave of counselors. The content of the urns teleported itself to the chosen amphitheater. There a comically big hat stood, now filled with papers. From it, a wizard with a randomization spell drew the lots under the watchful gaze of a committee. Shortly after, the picked joined Adam. He handed out a medallion to each of them. They had a depiction of Korgadar on the front side and the Tree painted on its back. Those symbolized their status as counselors. Now that the most important part was over some people promptly left. Most stayed, happy to listen to the speeches. The researchers from the College of Arcane Arts introduced a new cultivation method. It would help people with the Narrow syndrome to widen their mana channels. They would still progress slower but most of their symptoms would be cured. Kerek saw multiple people openly shedding tears. Unsurprisingly the announcement was met with thunderous applause. Next came an engineering corp from the Institute of Mechanization and Weaponry. They introduced a new type of war machine. A tank. It was based on historical references from the records of the Traveler. Deemed largely a legend in the past. However, the rapid progress of vehicle creation revived the idea. Then it was swiftly buried after the great car ban five years ago. The vehicles were too inefficient, dangerous, and loud to operate in the city. They also made foot traffic almost impossible. Too fragile to travel outside the city wall and too inconvenient to use inside. The idea of a car seemed to be destined for burial. Until A new alloy of enchanted metal revived the dream a year ago. Cheaper than the alternatives, sturdier than most monster scales, and light enough that making a vehicle out of it was feasible. That''s what the people from IMW would make their prototype from. Kerek, the same as many other people saw the writing on the wall. This was not only about tanks. Now it was only a question of time before private companies released cars again. They might be banned in the city, but if they were fast and durable enough they¡¯d be ideal for the long distances caravans had to travel. What would help too was the practical fact that wealthy merchants were the ideal clientele. All this together meant that cars might be a few months away from making a huge comeback. What an exciting time to be alive. Last came a group from Erwin¡¯s University. The teachers wished their students good luck with mid-terms and departed the stage. It seemed that the University had no groundbreaking research to share today. Kerek clapped with the others while the final projections faded away. It was an anticlimactic end to an otherwise exciting event. One thought later he opened his eyes in the real world. He blinked blearily and got up from his sitting mat only for his stomach to grumble. It was difficult to say, but it must''ve been around the early afternoon. His mouth watered when he looked around and saw the endless expanse of food-covered tables. Perhaps the comprehensive buffet was the true reason why so many people attended. He imagined a group of friends zoning out through the whole gathering. Salivating at the thought of the awaited buffet. That made him laugh out loud as there was certainly someone like that going to the Ekklesias. Kerek headed to the closest table with a spring in his step. It was time to enjoy the provided catering. Watch Pair It was an early Monday morning and he was guarding the wall as usual. "The newspaper said that today''s risk of a sandstorm is 15%, like how do they even know that? It''s not as if a sandstorm has a special mana signature they could detect. I think that ..." and on and on Bob went. He soon sported a headache. The mountain of words threatened to bury him alive. "And do you still remember that downpour from last year? When we get any rainfall it''s usually swift and heavy. But noooo, it''ll barely be a drizzle they said. Half the town ended up underwater." "That''s not what happened at all. The meteorologists warned about the importance of preparation for the unlikely possibility. It was the Executive Committee who didn''t take their warning seriously," Kerek countered. "Well, then they shouldn''t have foretold a drizzle if they wanted to stop a flood" waved him off Bob. He didn''t feel the need to argue his point any further. It didn''t rain often in the desert. When it did it was either nothing or a downpour of unbelievable proportions. Wall defense was an important job, so they both wore tactical armor over their guard uniforms. It was made from amcat. Its dark color hid bloodstains well and it was both sturdy and flexible. Their boots were comfortable. Their arm guards held nicely in place. Together it all looked remarkably stylish. It was a fine piece of equipment. If only they hadn¡¯t named the material amcat. He understood that chemically and magically treated leather was a mouthful. How did they get amcat from that though? He suspected that the one responsible for its naming had one beer too many. The armor set contained two helmets. While the first one offered head protection it left the face and ears unguarded. The second one was a full-face helmet. In other words, it covered the whole head. The problem was that it blocked sound well, too well even, making them unusable outside of battle. Communication earrings solved the issue. They degraded fast though, hence why the helmets were hanging from their belts. It was a chore to drag it everywhere but when the fighting started you¡¯d appreciate the extra protection. The helmets were both from amcat too. The exception was the t-shaped glass visor of the full-faced one. All guards and military personnel wore modern equipment. Only the Ents still used old-fashioned steel helmets. They both had a pistol and an arcane rifle with them. Kerek also wore a sword on his hip, meanwhile, Bob decided that a knife was enough. Kerek knew that he didn¡¯t specialize in close-quarter combat, which made the knife a reasonable choice. He wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in a melee with a monster no matter which weapon he was carrying. A sword would only weigh him down. The pair was one of many stationed along the length of the southern wall, the most robust one by far. Made of heavily enchanted stone and reinforced with black steel, the same one used for Ent armor. It was more than 200 feet tall and around 60 wide at the ground level, it decreased towards the top. Where they stood it could¡¯ve been around 30 feet. Without a battle happening the wall was mostly empty. Pairs of guardsmen were stationed at set distances watching for threats. The multiple watch towers were manned with skeleton crews. From the canons perhaps a third was currently prepared for battle. Strictly speaking, the Guardsmen were not understaffed. If a call to arms were to be ordered all positions would be getting more personnel in minutes. No, it was a compromise of sorts. The guards needed to be sharp, effective, and competent. For that, they needed rest, training, and practical experience. So, while a fraction of the guards kept watch the rest were either undergoing training or off the clock. This made sense from a tactical perspective too as monsters usually focused their attack on a single wall. Because most of the guardsmen were kept in the city they could reinforce a specific location swiftly. This arrangement required a plentiful forewarning before every attack. That¡¯s why each of the pairs had a briefcase with them. It contained a special contraption consisting of a roll of paper connected to a metallic hand. The more finicky hardware was built into the inside of the suitcase, invisible to the naked eye. Bob had the suitcase currently open and was checking it. Kerek scanned for threats on the horizon. He saw only grains of gray sand floating in the turbulent wind. It was a hostile desert out there and if the monsters didn¡¯t get you, the environment might. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The metallic hand moved on its own, jotting down lines on the paper roll as it slowly rotated. The result was a graph describing local mana levels and their fluctuations. Bob focused on the paper. ¡°Mana concentration higher than yesterday,¡± he droned, until he suddenly stopped. His dull tone took on a note of panic. ¡°This can¡¯t be right¡­ detecting a rapid spike in mana levels. A monster attack near certain,¡± he finished. ¡°Engage Red Protocol.¡± Kerek gulped, today was shaping up to be the opposite of a peaceful day. He pulled out a small golden bell from his pocket and rang it thrice. Its handle bloomed like a flower and a clear voice rang out of it. ¡°This is General Hannah. Report." ¡°General, Watch Pair 23 reporting. We¡¯ve identified a steep increase in mana levels. An attack is imminent¡± ¡°Understood. Similar reports are coming in from other guards as well. Stay in position and await further orders. General Hannah, out¡± The flower wilted and the golden bell turned to dust. How was this even possible Kerek wasn¡¯t sure. Their mana detection devices were superbly sensitive. A small change in the readings was already a big deal. Such a rapid change could most likely mean many things, but he could think of only one. The monsters masked their approach and stayed undetected until they were too close to remain under the radar any longer. Now that was a terrifying thought. The city bells started ringing in combination with a broadcast: ¡°Code red, code red. All citizens, proceed to your local shelter.¡± The code red was a message for any available fighters to reinforce the wall. While the second half had the obvious goal of evacuating civilians. There were multiple forces the city could call on when it came to its defense. Guardsmen were the obvious one. The protection of the city was their singular goal. Then there was the Tree and its Ents. When engaging any attackers directly The Tree risked damage to its roots. So, instead, puppeteering constructs became Its modus operandi. The military generally focused on operations outside the city. They handled scouting, intelligence gathering and protected Korgadar''s sole mining outpost. Naturally, they were mobilized during an attack on the city too. The last group of fighters worth mentioning were the volunteers. Those were practitioners not employed by the city. Most came from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and the Mage Tower. The rest was a mixture of unaffiliated practitioners and citizens with varying degrees of battle experience. The only major armed force that didn¡¯t take part in direct fighting was the police. It had a different task. Policemen ran around the city directing the evacuation. If the monsters breached the wall they''d put their lives on the line to protect the civilians. The two of them waited nervously. Kerek could see little figures running urgently in the city. From so high up they seemed more like ants than people. Some headed for the shelters, others moved more orderly for the walls. A loud noise erupted behind the duo. It couldn¡¯t be. Yes, the artillery has started firing. That confirmed his worst fears. While the artillery had a range that could hardly be believed, they wouldn¡¯t be found firing so far most of the time. The range might be long, but their detection capabilities were much lower. This meant that the enemy was close and they might arrive before the brunt of their support did. The first reinforcements started arriving and it wasn¡¯t long before a runner came with a pair of wooden earrings before darting off. They put them on. For now, they wouldn''t do much. When their commanding officer arrived a line of communication would open with their fellow squadmates. Only urgent information could be passed directly to HQ. Getting their earrings was an unspoken signal to put on their helmets. While no monsters were visible yet, Kerek was not braindead enough to disregard protocol. Both he and Bill promptly put their helmets on. The air grew staler, and his vision became more restricted. The glass visor guaranteed some visibility, but it still reduced his field of view. Kerek busied himself with a last-minute equipment check. The fact that he already did one this morning didn''t stop him. He wanted to be certain that there would be no surprises during the battle. His rifle and pistol crystals were looking good. While the weapon would fire even without them, they gave it the necessary oomph to contend with mana-reinforced defenses. The guns sported no mechanical deficiencies. Moving on from the weapons themselves he counted his supplies. His ammunition amounted to 8 rifle magazines, one with explosive rounds, 2 for the pistol, and three grenades. The emergency first aid kit was in his utility belt. There was a supply crate nearby to counter ammunition shortage. Yet he knew how important it was to know what he was working with. ¡°I''m Second Lieutenant Hopkins and this wall section is under my command. What am I working with?.¡± Asked an out-of-breath voice in his head. Kerek looked around and saw that he recognized all his fellow combatants. That was good, nothing worse than fighting along people you couldn''t count on. Hopkins was their typical commanding officer, so no surprises there either. Without further ado, they rattled off their ranks and specializations. Even though the officer knew them well, that was the proper procedure. ¡°Sam, bronze 3, sniper¡± ¡°Boris, bronze 3, no specialization¡± ¡°Adam, bronze 1, close combat specialist¡± ¡­ ¡°Kerek, bronze 3, no specialization¡± The familiarity of the interaction helped to calm his nerves. ¡°Good to meet you boys, sorry Amanda. Western Wall will be facing the brunt of the assault. That''s where most of the combat will be happening, so don''t expect much reinforcements. An Ent fireteam will come and serve as our melee protection, but other than that your seventeen lousy asses are what we have." "Snipers, spread around the watch towers. Fire at will. Melee fighters, join the Ents when they arrive. The rest, follow me!¡± commanded Hopkins. Kerek''s hands were shaking. It wouldn¡¯t be his first wall defense, but it was the first time he felt woefully unprepared. The danger of facing an attack of unknown size on a side battlefield made him even more nervous. On one hand, they would face a weaker opponent. On the other hand, everyone would think twice before redirecting any resources their way. At least he could count on his squadmates and his officer. Hopkins has always been dependable. The snipers left and the rest of the soldiers started preparing for the defense. The officer went around talking to his subordinates, while most of them did the same as Kerek. They checked their gear and tried to look brave. The second lieutenant must''ve noticed the mood. He stopped talking and looked around at their state. He saw that the departure from a sizable forewarning was not something that they could easily shake off. It was a change and an unknown. It was their first time fighting on such a short notice. Hell, it''d be his first time too if he never went beyond the walls. Hopkins reached a decision. This wouldn''t do. "Form up!" he barked. The soldiers obeyed without hesitation, snapping into two straight lines. "Fear is normal. Fear is logical," Hopkins said, his eyes scanning their faces. ¡°But we fight despite it. We are the brave defenders of Korgadar!¡± "We are its shield, its guardians. Conquer your fear Guardsmen for today we shall bathe in monster blood! He raised his voice now, a roar rising behind his words. ¡°What will we do?!¡± ¡°Bathe in monster blood!¡± they thundered in unison. ¡°Who are we?!¡± ¡°Guardsmen!¡± "Dismissed. Finish your preparations."