War
With their huge numbers, the orcs had many peak experts. The fort quickly changed hands. There weren’t even many magic warnings issued, allowing them to have the time to lay low in wait for the reinforcements once the original guard was taken care of.
After a few rounds, the teleportation rays no longer flickered, and the orcs controlled the fort with ease, setting up their own teleportation spell formations. The Unfallen Moon Fort had its own arrangements for escape routes. The wizards had left themselves teleportation gates that would allow for convenient access for assistance. The orcs in turn had messed up the spatial undulations here and sealed off all teleportation.
Just as the camp was in a frenzy, a pair of golden eyes looked down from above. In that moment, the Weave within tens of kilometres seemed to rebel, and powerful thunderclouds formed silently.
“Mystra, what’s happening? Are you trying to go against our contract?” A gruff voice sounded, and the thunderclouds in the sky dissipated to reveal shining moonlight. The orcs below did not even realise that they’d been at death’s door, and they all silently gathered their loot.
The dim golden eyes did not make any more movements, and instead seemed to streak through the sky and focus on an orc.
“Gruumsh!” The owner of the golden eyes called out the name of the werebeast, the flames of her fury growing.
“You saw that. I didn’t make the first move! It’s a result of the guys’ fight!” The orc god chuckled, sounding gleeful.
“Furthermore… We’ve gotten the support of many gods, for instance the guy who’s been following you…” Gruumsh reported another piece of news and then was satisfied to see the anger in Mystra’s eyes.
The powerful conscient left, looking exasperated at seeing such a conflict happen so close.
“I can’t suppress someone as powerful as the Goddess of the Weave even at my peak. However, the competition on this path is ruthless. Whether in the dusk of the Magi and Gods, or now…” Gruumsh mumbled, and then he disappeared after sending down a powerful oracle. With their priests, the maddened orcs seemed to spread throughout the north.
Survival and reproduction were the two main goals of living beings. The orcs were like locusts as they looted all that they saw, and much blood was spilt. The states that were lucky to survive in the northern lands sunk into an arduous battle after being summoned by Silverymoon. The situation was in a deadlock.
On one hand, the land that the orcs obtained needed to be governed, and the soldiers needed to be reorganised. On the other, with the sudden attacks, the Silverymoon Alliance had suffered continuous losses and desperately needed some respite.
Another great wave of attacks could burst forth, and small skirmishes were a constant thing these days. The mercenaries, adventurers and even dreamers of the human world risked their lives to come to the northern lands, hoping to get some part of the glory. More merchants and commoners fled, which was a huge headache for the country.
In this chaotic world, a name that had been in the shadows before began to grow in intensity and shone in the battle with the orcs, thus earning the name of a hero...
……
Unwittingly, a year passed. Year 37666 of the calendar of the gods, Silverymoon City.
A handsome black horse galloped along the road, its bloody hooves evidence of it having passed through a battlefield. The troops following behind it held orc ears, proof of merit and rewards. The knight at the head was astonishingly a female!
“It’s the Knight of Light, Rafiniya!” An adventurer along the road saw the female knight, their eyes filled with obvious admiration and worship.
“Mm! I heard that the lady became a high-ranked knight at a young age. She’s been shining in battles with the orcs as of late.” A young girl’s eyes twinkled, “Even more worthy of admiration is the fact that Lady Rafiniya is the personification of justice. She treats commoners and nobles all the same and does her best to protect the interests of the weak… Just like the city master…”
“That’s why so many adventurers are coming from all over the world!” Someone who was obviously the leader beside the girl supplemented, though he was critical on the inside, ‘Few agree with the city master’s ideals and want to participate in battle. Most people prioritise benefits.’
Although he knew this, he wouldn’t say such a thing out loud. Merit was the best way for adventurers to become nobles. The city master of Silverymoon was known for her generosity, so what harm was there in keeping mum?
‘Her commander, Baron Violet, seems to be a great example of this…’ The adventurer leader thought inside and urged his people on, “What are you looking at? Go to the Mercenary Guild and get the rewards from the mission!”
Due to the war and the surge of many mercenaries and adventurers, Silverymoon strangely seemed to be prosperous. The citizens who had lived calm and comfortable lives had disappeared, and in their place were mercenaries and adventurers who reeked of blood.
Besides hotels and the shops at the sides of the streets, there were many shops that sold all sorts of steel weapons and low-grade potions and the like. In general, they were items that would raise one’s battle might. The Mercenary Guild’s business was going so well that they were filled with adventurers every day.
‘Mercenary missions can only give money… Who knows, after a period of time when the war eases up, I’ll want to take a walk amongst the city guards…’ The leader was still considering his plans for the future. These were the true thoughts of unimportant characters in a chaotic world. They did not care who was in charge and only bothered about their own benefits.
……
The female knight naturally did not care about this group of adventurers by the road, this was a common thing in Silverymoon.
The procession entered one of the camps, and Rafiniya took off her armour to change into a casual outfit. She entered Leylin’s tent. He was blanked out while looking at a huge map of the northern lands, as if he hadn’t noticed Rafiniya entering.
Upon noticing this, Rafiniya suddenly had a mischievous look on her face and sneakily ran to Leylin’s back.
“Stop playing around, Rafiniya!” Leylin spoke unenthusiastically, causing Rafiniya to deflate like a ball.
“Come on, can’t you just let a girl have her way? What happened to your gentlemanly attitude?” Rafiniya expressed her discontent to Leylin, who seemed to have grown a pair of eyes on his back.
‘Haha… With the spiritual force of a wizard, she wouldn’t be able to escape the detections of the A.I. Chip no matter how cautious she was, unless she was a high-ranked assassin or thief.’
“Have you completed your mission?” Leylin was now the main commander here, and Rafiniya was his underling.
“Yes! I’ve completely wiped out that group of scouting orcs. What bastards! They massacred three whole villages!” Rafiniya exclaimed, feeling indignant. This had always been a life or death struggle between two races, and Leylin merely raised his eyebrows a little but did not say more.
In addition, he had another thought in mind.
‘They’re killing so much in the areas of their enemies!’ Leylin sighed. His intel said that old, ill, weak, and disabled orcs were already entering the areas that had been taken over, and clearing the land for cultivation. They had scattered seeds and were clearly trying to restore life to the land.
What surprised Leylin more was that these orc villages already had signs of human slaves.
‘There’s someone capable among the orc invasion…’ This was not a short term policy, and that caused fear among the higher-ups of Silverymoon. Leylin, however, was unperturbed. As their desires and goals were different, their worries varied. Watching those nobles down on their luck, Leylin even felt refreshed.
‘A.I. Chip, show me my current stats!’ Leylin commanded. The A.I. Chip loyally carried out Leylin’s orders, and showed a group of stats.
[Leylin Faulen. Age: 21. Race: Human, Rank 14 Wizard. Strength: 12. Agility: 11. Vitality: 10. Spirit: 14. Status: Healthy. Feats: Sturdy, Erudite, Elementary Perfect Body. Spell Slots: Rank 6(3), Rank 5(5), Rank 4(7), Rank 3(???), Rank 2(???), Rank 1(???), Rank 0(???)]
[Progress of analysis of Weave: Level 0: 100%, Level 1: 100%, Level 2: 100%, Level 3: 100%, Level 4: 68.88%, Level 5: 37.91%, Level 6: 12.36%!]
Leylin had risen by a rank in the past year, which the other wizards found unimaginable. If not for the war, he might even have advanced faster. Given his continous outstanding military service, he’d even obtained Legend-ranked information.
It had to be said that the World of God’s structure of the high-grade magic strength system was still a great inspiration to Leylin.
‘I’ve already checked the Nether Mountains a few times, and can confirm that the red dragon’s cave and the ruins of the arcanists are there…’ Leylin’s eyes glowed brightly.