novelraw Chapter 6-5
Chapter 6-5
Leveling outside of combat isn’t impossible, it’s just fucking slow. If you’re lucky, you might earn enough Essence through pure training for a single Level during your year at the Academy. The rest of it will come in fits and starts, when you get a chance to fight monsters or clear the dungeon.
Scholars have done all kinds of fancy research on this, but no matter how much academic jargon they throw at it, the reality is simple. A fucking Blacksmith can make nothing but nails and butter knives and cruise through half of Tier 0. Unfortunately, combat Classes advance primarily through actual combat, not training.
The System is an asshole. Never forget this simple fact.
- Delver’s Guild Handbook, Section 2.1 – "Levels”
The rivalry between the two advanced track Squads didn’t take long to spread through the rest of the class. A couple Squads, made primarily of trainees, came down on Yuri’s side. Most of the rest – the teams composed only of recruits – either sided with us or tried their best to stay out of the fray.
I was getting frustrated with the lack of chances to get more Essence, since I couldn’t exactly count on killing Yuri every week. The Head Instructor assured us in Skill Theory & Classes on Wednesday that we were earning Essence while training, despite the lack of evidence.
“This is the primary way that non-combat Classes Level,” she explained to us. “An Enchanter might feel a rush of Essence after completing a single masterwork that took them weeks. However, if they instead worked on many smaller, easier projects, the Essence would trickle in undetectably. After doing the same thing too many times, it would eventually cease to offer them any Essence at all.
“Think of your training as completing many small projects resulting in incremental day-by-day improvements. If you stick to the same training routine, eventually you’ll get no more Essence from it and need to make it more challenging. Similarly, killing monsters and completing Quests is like doing a big project all at once – the palpable rush of Essence that you all experienced during the Tutorial.”
I reluctantly assumed that she knew what she was talking about, even though no one on my Squad had Leveled from training yet. I had been spoiled by the Advanced Tutorial and the dungeon giving me more opportunities to Level than probably anyone else in the class. That didn’t mean I was happy about slowing down.
Tara’s family finally cut off her account access Thursday, later than she’d expected, but still before we had a chance to do any further shopping. The blonde Defender pretended to be unaffected, but it was clear that it bothered her. She was stuck with us now, and her funds were limited unless she wanted to sell off her expensive gear. That would only hurt her though, at least until she’d out-Leveled it – which she needed Essence to do.
We finally got some excitement Friday evening. The assembly signal went off while we were eating dinner, and most of us crammed a few last bites in before we filed out of the hall. The square quickly filled up with more people than I’d seen there before, as the second semester students poured in from their final class of the day.
Thompson was waiting for us on the steps of the administration building. When she felt that everyone had arrived, she held up her hands and the crowd of students quickly quieted.
“Our scouts have spotted a large group of goblins heading towards Backhorn. They are mostly Level 3 to 5, with elites in the 7-8 range and possibly a few low Tier 1 hobs. At these Levels, they pose no threat to the town itself, but they could severely damage the surrounding farmland if not dealt with.
“They will be passing by us within the next forty to fifty minutes. You will deploy to block their path and destroy them. Each Squad will be assigned an area of responsibility and rookie students will handle the standard goblins while the veterans focus on the elites and hobs. Your instructors will only intervene if you are in danger of being overwhelmed.
“Find your mentor and follow their directions. Your performance will be evaluated – and I expect you to wipe them out. Don’t let any escape!”
We gathered up around Wolf as Thompson walked off. I retrieved my cutlass from my Inventory and fastened it to my belt while we waited for… something. A minute or two later, the reason for the delay became obvious.
New Quest:
Required Objective: Eliminate the monsters threatening the town of Backhorn
Reward: Essence
It was the first time I’d gotten a Quest outside of the Tutorial and the dungeon. I knew that settlement leaders could issue Quests, but I’d never experienced it. When monsters had attacked Sunland the Mayor had issued Quests, but I hadn’t had System access then. I wondered where the school’s Settlement Stone was - maybe hidden in the administration building? I hadn’t paid attention to which way Thompson had gone.
My heart was beating faster as we followed Wolf out the gates, mixing in with all the other Squads doing the same thing. I was bouncing on my toes, eager to fight in my first large-scale battle. The instructors led us on a twenty minute double-time jog to where the fight would happen, and I finally appreciated all of the training runs paying off. I did wish I had waited to get my cutlass out, though – it was annoying to run with it banging against my leg.
Each first-semester Squad was given an area roughly thirty feet wide to cover. I wasn’t surprised when they placed another Squad between us and Yuri’s. Their name was Squad Deathdealers, and they were clearly the top standard track team. I always wanted to make fun of their name until I remembered that we were Team Hard Limit…
The ‘veteran’ second-semester students were placed behind and between our Squads, forming a staggered line. Wolf explained that they would hold back while we engaged the lower-Level monsters, then dash in whenever something over Level 5 appeared. We each checked our gear as the nerves built.
Our tactics would be simple – we’d open fire with ranged attacks to try and thin their numbers. Then Raylan, H’ruk, G’hala, and Tara would engage hand-to-hand, concentrating on stalling the attack. We paired up one of our ranged fighters with each of them with a couple yards of space between each pair.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
It wasn’t long before we spotted movement ahead, which quickly turned into a swarm of goblins. A horde, maybe? I wasn’t sure what the right terminology was, but there were a shit ton of them! Hundreds at least – way more monsters than I’d faced total until now.
A few students panicked at their numbers and attacked, firing off their weapons or Spells too early. They were quickly stopped by their teammates before they could waste all of their mana. The small, ugly creatures didn’t make the ground shake like in the stories, but their pounding footsteps did merge into a growing rumble as they closed the distance.
I could hear a growing hiss coming from the horde as their voices blended together. Then they raised their primitive weapons and sprinted towards us.
I ordered the team to open fire when they were seventy-five yards away, and Spells streaked out from our melee fighters’ wands. Ironically, they slightly outranged Jayce, Zaire, and I now – but the goblins were moving fast and I lined up my first shot.
BOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click
I emptied my entire magazine in rapid-fire, putting the red dot of my sight over the chest of one goblin after another. I fired twice at each one, my first shots taking out their barriers and my follow-ups punching into greenish flesh. The last shot went into a fourth’s barrier, and then they were on us.
Despite their massive losses, the goblins pushed forwards relentlessly, mobbing each of our melee fighters with a half-dozen opponents, with more coming behind them. I engaged again with four shells loaded, blasting away several goblins and clearing H’ruk’s right flank.
Next to me, Arlo was gunning down goblin after goblin with precise shots from his pistol. He was only using one of them, held in his preferred two-handed grip. Every six shots, he smoothly reloaded using what he called ‘speed-loaders’. His gun clicked as he emptied it again, but the last goblin he shot managed to stay on its feet.
Raylan was fighting off three goblins, shortsword in one hand and knife in the other. He wouldn’t break free in time to help Arlo. I cursed, trying to slam home a shell and bring my shotgun around to bear before it could reach the Pistoleer.
Arlo took his left hand off his gun, and it blurred to the holster on his waist, yanking his fresh pistol free. BANG! His point-blank shot nearly took the goblin’s head off, and then in a flash he’d holstered his empty pistol on his right hip and resumed firing two-handed. I turned back to my area of responsibility, but suddenly there was a chorus of howls and the goblins we were fighting turned to flee.
“Squad Hard Limit, fall back!”
The shout came from behind me, echoed by others across the battlefield. Breathing hard, I obeyed, my team joining me as we let the veteran Squads behind us take our place on the front lines. We hadn’t been told to expect a coordinated attack like this, but it was obvious that someone in the back was paying attention and knew what to do. We hadn’t really learned anything about large-scale fights like this and I briefly wondered if we ever would or if this just wasn’t something Delvers did very often.
Most of the veteran students were Level 7 or 8, with maybe a few 6s and 9s. Beyond their raw Level advantage they had six months more of intense training and at least one delve into the dungeon – plus whatever monster-hunting trip they’d gone on between semesters. The result of their hard work was obvious as they engaged the goblin elite.
The team that slid into the gap we’d left in the line was composed of two tanks – both in plate armor with shields and one-handed weapons. There was an axe-wielder that I thought might be a Berzerker or Barbarian, two Mages, and an Arbalist. They even had their own Healer to back them up.
Lightning Bolts sizzled from their taller Mage’s scepter, punching into barriers and shattering them. Their two tanks split wide, then Taunted the attacking group of a half-dozen armored goblins and single, nearly orc-sized hob. The group of goblins split in two, with two heading for one tank and four for the other. One of the four was immediately cut down by a trio of bolts that punched out from the Arbalist in rapid succession, obviously using a Skill I hadn’t seen before.
The Berserker charged straight at the hob, engaging it in a furious clash of axes as the Mages and Arbalist cut apart the goblins battering at the tanks’ defenses. The second Mage was calling up some kind of dark, wet-looking spikes from beneath and behind the attackers. I gaped as I realized each spike was emerging from one of the pools of goblin blood spreading from the corpses we’d left littering the area.
Shit, I thought she was an Ice Mage! Does blood have that much water in it? Or is that a Blood Spike?
Either way, it was highly effective, as were the blasts of lightning that occasionally stunned their victims. The axe-wielder was being pushed back by the larger, stronger hobgoblin, but despite taking several deep cuts their Healer was keeping them in the fight.
As soon as the two elites ganging up on their first tank were eliminated, the defensive fighter sprinted forwards and threw themselves into the fight with the hob. It was over quickly after that, as lightning, ice, and deadly crossbow bolts all rained down on the powerful monster.
There was a pause in the fighting ahead of us now, with the immediate threats eliminated. Across the length of our line, the students were prevailing, though I saw several being hauled to the rear by their teammates for medical attention. Unfortunately, it looked like Yuri’s team was still fully intact. I debated briefly whether I should feel guilty about that particular thought, but I was quickly distracted.
A sudden trio of howls rose above the noise of the battle. The sources quickly came into view, and thankfully it wasn’t another multi-headed spiderwolf. Instead, it was three separate creatures, each standing almost as tall as Trite though far less wide. Identify.
Monster: Alpha CyberwargTier: 1
The cyberwargs strongly resembled the borghounds I’d seen Mason slaughter in the Tier 2 zone outside of East Bank. Instead of being part dog, these were obviously part wolf, and much, much larger. Riding on the back of each was a heavily-armored hobgoblin. I Identified the rider of the beast closest to us.
Monster: Hobgoblin ChieftainTier: 1
The three riders halted for a moment, then their mounts howled again. The remaining goblins, including those that had fled from us before, came sprinting around them and headed for the flanks of our formation. The middle of our line – three veteran Squads backed up by Yuri’s Squad to the left, the Deathdealers in the center, and Squad Hard Limit on the right – was left to face down the three pairs of Tier 1 monsters hurtling towards us at dizzying speed.