I woke up with my heart pounding at a furious pace, as if it were trying to jump out of my chest and save itself apart from me. After a few deep breaths, I noticed that it had started to rain outside. All of this felt uncomfortably similar to my dream. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd had such realistic visions at night.
I sat there in a daze for at least ten minutes, replaying the small details in my head and failing to understand why I had to personally lead my squad into a trap. One thing in particular was bothering me: why hadn't I used the flasks of alchemical mixture? After all, they were purchased specifically for monsters with exceptionally tough armor. And I had no doubt that a glass flask filled with the Embrace of the Stars mixture would have been guaranteed to destroy the gigantic Nurgle leader. Nor could I figure out when this might happen, or whether it was simply a fantasy born from a consciousness exhausted by a tough battle.
Unable to find an answer, I simply decided to be more cautious in the future and take fewer risks. Stepping out of the tent into the pouring rain, my spirits immediately lifted. Water streamed down my exosuit, and not a single drop got inside. I instantly recalled countless journeys in torrential downpours and the endless dampness. My wet boots, which I could never truly dry even by a bonfire. With every step through the wet mud, my gloomy mood vanished without a trace.
The same could not be said for my recruits. Everyone but the sentries was huddled under the wagons, trying to stay as dry as possible. I doubted they would succeed; the rain was gusty and flew with abandon under their makeshift shelters. Only the mages and Moresh felt comfortable. Their expensive cloaks completely covered their bodies. But it didn't put a smile on their faces. The regiment from the Northern Ishal fortress wasn't due to arrive until this evening at the earliest. But given the worsening weather, they could be delayed. Not to mention, Uler could have been ambushed and might not have reached the fortress with his report at all. This meant we were in for a very pleasant wait, in every sense of the word.
By midday, the pouring rain was accompanied by a constant stream of all sorts of small critters looking for carrion. A small pack of wolves began to sate their hunger at a distance, while forest rats squeaked merrily as they feasted on the Nurgle corpses. The strange thing was that there were no Nurgles themselves to be seen. Usually, they scavenge in small groups of five to ten individuals. This is more than enough for them to hold their own against the other inhabitants of the forest. Attacking them was practically useless; these creatures were cowardly and would try to hide in the woods at the slightest sign of danger.
Considering the pros and cons, I concluded that from a hundred paces away, I wouldn't be able to hit a wolf, which stood a little over a cubit tall, with my bow, let alone a forest rat, which was even smaller. But missing out on the experience was also unpleasant, given that no one in my squad would know the levels of the creatures I managed to shoot. So, climbing atop one of the caravan's wagons, I took the most comfortable position to fire at both groups of scavengers.
[Notice] Would you like to improve the Bow Mastery (2/5) (40 SP) skill?
Yes/No
(42/210)
Memories of my ancestors began to fill my head. The System was changing me, imbuing me with the memories and muscle reflexes of a more experienced archer. With my new attributes, I easily processed this flow of information. My hands reached for an arrow on their own. The bow string hummed slightly with the tension, but there was a clear understanding. I could now confidently hit a stationary target a hundred paces away.
The arrow tore from the string, piercing through the air as if it didn't notice the falling rain. I could clearly see its trail in the air current. Neither wind nor rain could knock it off its trajectory. A large wolf yelped and fell to the ground. The arrow had severed its spine, not killing it instantly, but it definitely wouldn't be able to escape. The other four started looking around nervously, but I was releasing arrows one after another, without stopping. The skill required practice, and every shot had to find its target. I managed to hit two more wolves, but the rest suddenly dodged and escaped into the forest thickets.
Surprisingly, the rats, which were a hundred and fifty paces away, didn't react at all to the whimpering of the mortally wounded wolves. Now, the arrows flew in their direction. But even here, I only managed to wound three out of a whole squad of creatures. I continued to send arrows at the fleeing scavengers, trying to find the limits of my body's new capabilities and the Bow Mastery skill. The flow of knowledge provided by the System dried up. Now I could collect the SP from the wounded creatures. Arming myself with my cleaver, I ran over the wet ground, throwing up clumps of mud behind me.
[Notice] You have received 6 SP. (48/210)
I tried to attack the largest wolves first.
[Notice] You have received 8 SP. (56/210)
One of them, even with its hip shattered, was able to crawl a few dozen paces, trying to save its life.
[Notice] You have received 12 SP. (68/210)
Not bad at all, the last one was even Level 6. But the best part was that none of my soldiers were looking in my direction. The recruits were more preoccupied with the rain and their wet boots. Of course, they all saw my shots, but no one could make out the results through the veil of rain pouring down on us from the heavens. Perhaps it's better to say they didn't want to. Their attitude was mainly that as long as the old Decurion didn't bother them, everything else was less important. Especially now, when waiting for their guard shift to end was particularly difficult.
From the soldiers' point of view, gaining extra experience in a dangerous way was not beneficial. They would still have to hand over their SP to the accumulators as soon as we appeared before a senior officer. And since they weren't entitled to a bonus, where would their initiative come from?
[Notice] You have received 4 SP. (72/210)
The forest rats were less tenacious. One of them died without bringing me SP, but a larger Level 2 rat managed to crawl nearly a hundred paces, leaving a bloody trail that, however, was instantly washed away by the rain. I didn't find the third rat at all. Finishing up here, I returned to my position, now looking at the surrounding forest with a bit of a thrill, waiting for new scavengers.
Evening was approaching, and there was no sign of the support squad. Eating dried meat, I gazed into the surrounding forest with great interest. The lack of reinforcements didn't bother me at all. Thanks to my Eye of Darkness skill, I could clearly see the silhouettes of Nurgles flitting in the depths of the forest. There weren't many of them. But the trend, of course, was unpleasant; either it was a new pack, or perhaps the last one was so large that the previous losses were not critical.
Both of these options were very dangerous for us. So I figured there was no point waiting for wolves and rats anymore; they simply wouldn't be allowed near the beginning-to-bloat corpses. And at that moment, it was as if I was struck by lightning. A large figure flashed between the trees. I strained my sight as much as possible. And glory to Anteros, the Nurgle leader flashed again, and it became clear that it wasn't the giant from my nightmare. Weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to test my theory.
"Moresh!" I called out loudly. "I'm going to circle the camp and check the forest. I'm seeing things in there. Replace the sentries with fresh ones and keep a close eye on the area."
"Decurion, it will be done," he answered me crisply.
I started to enter the forest in a wide arc, trying to bypass the Nurgles I had seen earlier. They continued to circle the same sector, occasionally sending a pair closer to the caravan on reconnaissance. Their vision was good, but not like mine. Creeping to a distance of a confident shot, I began.
[Notice] Would you like to improve the Archery Mastery (3/5) (60 SP) skill?
Yes/No
(12/210)
My head filled with images. A sense of space filled me; it felt like I could touch the air around me and feel its density. The wind touched my face, and its currents felt sharper, even through the closed visor of my helmet. My arms and back muscles began to tremble, literally remembering the resistance of the bow limbs when they were drawn. The arrow placed itself on the string and tore off toward the most convenient target. The order of target selection also changed slightly; it was as if I was calculating where the enemy's body would be a few heartbeats from now and choosing the most suitable one. Arrows flew from the string one after another, at a simply stunning speed. I could have never imagined it was possible to shoot like this. And it was a very good thing that no one from my squad could see me right now.
The Nurgles sensed something was wrong and started to squeal, simultaneously shaking their heads in search of the incoming threat. Two breaths, and they rushed toward me. About 50 paces separated us. But there were no more than a squad of creatures left. They didn't even have time to understand that they wouldn't make it to me today.
The arrows struck without fail at such a short distance and repeatedly pierced the right side of the creatures' chests. With a punctured lung and crushed ribs, attacking was impossible, as was escaping from me. But most importantly, I would have a short window of time before they choked on their blood and drew their last breath, to collect SP from them. What was most surprising was that they didn't understand the moment they were outnumbered. And they clearly missed the moment when they should have retreated.
The last Nurgle fell five paces from me, failing to break through the dense bushes. The Nurgle leader waited until the end, expecting its kin to tear apart the lone victim on their own. But it certainly wasn't lacking in courage, or maybe it was foolish. Having lost all of its warriors, it still decided to rush at its tormentor, thereby bringing its body into range of a confident hit for my arrows.
Dealing with it this way was much more difficult, and it moved significantly faster than its smaller kin. But it only thought to protect its head after I hit it squarely in the forehead. I didn't even try to aim for the eye; hitting such a small target on a running monster was beyond my power. Naturally, the arrow ricocheted off its very strong bones skull, but I achieved my goal. The Nurgle leader was momentarily flustered by the strong blow to the head and slowed down. The next arrows flew into its thighs and abdomen. After releasing five arrows, a cleaver appeared in my hands.
Nurgle Leader Rank E+ Level 2
I was fully prepared to compare our strengths. Bestial rage and might against military training and a sharp blade. It no longer moved so confidently on its feet because of the arrows sticking out of them. Its blows with massive hands and huge claws remained very dangerous. But my reaction and combat experience were more than enough to counter them. For every one of its swings, my blade responded, striking the most unprotected parts of its body. The leader only let through five hits, after which it stopped rushing at me so furiously, realizing the futility of such attacks. With each of its charges, I managed to duck under and get behind it, after which my cleaver found a weak spot in the Nurgle leader's body.
After taking several more painful hits, it decided to change its attack strategy. Blood loss was beginning to take its toll on it. From the large wounds on its abdomen and thigh, blood gushed out in pulses. I couldn't assess its color because of my black-and-white vision, but I hoped I had managed to damage at least one artery. Now it tried more to catch and knock me to the ground to use its physical superiority over me. It made short dashes without powerful swings. These attacks were easy to dodge, and even the mud underfoot didn't hinder my movements. Two well-placed strikes to the neck and the Nurgle leader fell at my feet, wheezing from its severed throat.
[Notice] You have received 19 SP. (31/210)
And that was the end of it. There was no more movement in the depths of the forest. Only the rain, with unwavering persistence, was trying to turn this forest into a lake. This thought hit me like a jolt of fire. Our column really was in a lowland. If the downpour didn't stop, the water level on the road could indeed rise. And then, holing up under the protection of the wagons for a few days, as I had planned, would be impossible. With these chilling thoughts, I approached the first Nurgles gurgling blood from their mouths.
[Notice] You have received 5 SP. (36/210)
It was strange, but this group of Nurgles was very small. More accurately, this is how they usually are, but compared to the previous packs, it was starting to raise concerns.
[Notice] You have received 8 SP. (44/210)
…
[Notice] You have received 5 SP. (139/210)
No matter how masterful my shots were, several of the creatures died before I got to them. For this, they were particularly brutally chopped up with the cleaver.
[Notice] You have received 8 SP. (147/210)
This was the last one, I realized, counting the arrows I had recovered. I noticed that with the increased speed of my strikes, my blade was much more easily severing bone. After spending almost an entire hour, I managed to circle the perimeter of the forest surrounding us. But it was unusually quiet, even for such a downpour. When I returned to the dead merchant's wagons, I discovered that I was right and the water level had risen to a hand's width around the wheels. And it was no longer possible to sit under them. Cursing the weather, everyone wrapped themselves in their cloaks and talked quietly among themselves.
Chapter 15.1
Night, a broken caravan column
An evening in the embrace of dampness
"I'm telling you, we need to leave," Chikir said, his voice nervous, cracking, and trembling. "It's already evening, and they're still not here."
"Stop spouting nonsense," Tatalem So interjected, annoyed. "Your shoes got a little wet and now you're panicking that we're in danger."
"I'm telling you!" Chikir continued, almost shouting. "I have a bad feeling about this. What are we even doing here? They'll collect the wagons without us."
"Our order was to protect the caravan," Leur chimed in, joining the argument. "How can we abandon it?"
"Who told you our task was to protect the caravan?" the young warrior openly shouted. "If that had been the order, old Irchin would never have let the guards be wiped out. He'd have sooner tied up that stupid Liet and organized a proper defense."
"Then why did he do that?" Tatalem So asked, also in a raised voice. "Why did he let the entire caravan be destroyed?"
"It was just revenge," Leur said quietly. "The Decurion is a very vindictive goblin, and when he endured Liet's insults, it became obvious."
"But what about the order?" Tatalem So asked loudly and a little hysterically. "He'll be punished when we get back to the fortress, doesn't he understand that? That's probably why we're all waiting here."
"To hell with those brainless goblins who can't appreciate the value of our Decurion's armor," Chikir shouted. "We need to get out of here! The water's rising and will reach the wagons soon, and if those cursed Nurgles pin us down here, we'll all die."
"I'll even note in my report that you've finally grown a brain, Chikir," I hissed loudly. "Everyone, break camp. We're leaving in five minutes."
The warriors of my squad bustled about eagerly, packing their gear and my tent.
"Tatalem So, a Light Orb."
My soaked clothes began to shimmer, reflecting the light. It even felt a little warmer. We moved in a tight group and were at our planned stopping point an hour later, before the caravan had been attacked. Without stopping there, we continued forward. Step by step, my body grew warmer. I decided to try and reach Northern Ishal fortress overnight. My inner tension grew with every hour. At every new turn in the road, I expected to see the giant Nurgle. But it never appeared. And when the fortress's outlines appeared at dawn, and a full squad of Northern Ishal's defenders met us on the road and escorted us inside, a feeling of disappointment tore through me.
On one hand, facing a level 27 Nurgle leader was very dangerous, but I had assumed that with the help of an alchemical mixture that cost me about 10 SP, the chance of defeating such a powerful opponent was quite real. After all, killing such a giant Nurgle could yield about 250 SP, not to mention its smaller kin, which would more than cover my expenses many times over.
On the other hand, there was no certainty that the vision was prophetic. Even if it was, it wasn't a given that those events would happen in the next few days. It's entirely possible we would have sat there in the pouring rain for days on end for absolutely nothing.
All in all, joy and disappointment were contradictory feelings. But I had to be consistent in my decisions. Greed shouldn't cloud my mind.
First, we were taken to Lurion Takul, who was responsible for the soldiers from outside companies, and we handed over the SP and Liet's Bag of Holding. With a 9-point Intelligence attribute, my memory was a level better, and my thoughts themselves felt sharper. Therefore, surrendering the experience while simultaneously using the Minor Deceit skill caused me no difficulty and not even the slightest anxiety. In the end, I had 60 SP left (60/210). I figured that giving the senior officer's repository 87 SP would be quite believable.
After all the formalities, my squad went to the dining hall and then to the barracks for temporary placement. I lingered for a bit, handing my report to Lurion Takul and verbally adding a few details, then followed my soldiers. The officer's complete lack of interest in the caravan's fate was a little surprising. But those were their personal dealings with the merchant house. Maybe they're all as arrogant as Liet.
In the barracks, my soldiers who had been sent with the dispatch were also found. Uler reported that when the leadership learned the caravan was stopped but still under reliable guard, none of the senior fortress officers were in a hurry, much less were they going to let an ordinary soldier in on their plans.
The customs at Northern Ishal fortress were a little different compared to our city. The attitude towards officers also differed. During my entire time here, I didn't hear a single whisper about my exosuit, even though Lurion Takul, who met us here, was clad in very modest armor despite his higher rank. Although, this absurdity had literally amazed me since childhood in our world. Alongside peasant homesteads that tilled fields with draft oxen and relied more on the physical labor of village goblins, the aristocratic top of our society had access to the benefits of much more advanced civilizations. Those same exosuits elevated the owners of such technology to the rank of indestructible warriors compared to ordinary goblins. Or the high-level healing magic available to aristocrats was not used to save the lives of ordinary subjects under any pretext.
This kind of stratification in society existed in almost all areas of life. Strangely enough, in the many civilized worlds I've visited, the situation was very similar. Ordinary citizens don't have access to even a hundredth of the benefits available to the elite. But those are just ordinary philosophical reflections. And it has nothing to do with me, as an officer in the Lord's army, since I've been healed several times with high-level spells and had lost limbs regrown. And the armor on me can't be considered ordinary, and even the fact that it's broken doesn't change the situation at all.
We spent the next two days in training on the fortress parade grounds. No one was given leave, and we couldn't go to the adjacent town to really relax. Despite this, my soldiers' morale was still high. New levels and attribute points had significantly changed the appearance of what were once green recruits. They performed my training routines much better now. But it was too early to talk about any combat cohesion. The main thing was that they had the will to improve. The first battles showed all the dangers of missions outside the fortress walls, and the example of the merchant caravan guards shattered the rosy illusions of many new recruits.
From the grim conversations in the barracks, it became clear what state Northern Ishal fortress was currently in. Over the past month, several squads of soldiers had been completely wiped out. Attacks on city patrols had also become more frequent. Among the locals, there were rumors that the Nurgles had gotten bolder and were already creeping into the outskirts of the city. Apparently, several remote farms had even been completely destroyed. No one, of course, provided me with supporting documents, so it was all at the level of rumors and speculation. On the other hand, my squad personally encountered an uncharacteristically large pack. And that says a lot; in my memory, that hadn't happened in the last ten years.
Since I didn't directly report to the senior officers of the fortress, they could only give orders in the event of military operations. Therefore, further instructions would have to come via long-distance communication. In our Lord's province, a magical network had been established between all the fortresses. And when Takul handed me a folder with documents containing my next assignment at the morning briefing, I was speechless. Rage started to cloud my vision, and my hands trembled. Just think: "Conduct a reconnaissance of square 47E." According to the map, this was at the foot of a mountain range a week's journey north of this fortress, and then my squad was supposed to go straight to the city of Zarem's Claw.
I was about to open my mouth, planning, to put it tactfully, to argue about the impossibility of a single squad advancing so deep into Nurgles territory. But I stopped myself just in time. My eyes continued to read the text on the paper. It went on to say that this maneuver would be carried out as part of an entire platoon under the command of Lurion Takul. My task was once again to reinforce and, if possible, conduct reconnaissance. At the end of the report was a note signed by Centurion Otsev, stating that the task of reinforcing the caravan's security was completed satisfactorily, with no personnel losses or injuries. Bonuses were canceled due to a lack of due diligence and solidarity in combat coordination with the merchant house's security detachment.
This was all expected. No one would punish me for the loss of goblins belonging to a merchant house. They might have threatened me. But that would only have worked on a young officer. As an old veteran, they wouldn't try to feed me such bureaucratic nonsense. During my long service, I had learned the main rule: an order must be carried out. And if it can be interpreted vaguely, or, even worse, has several interpretations, then the safety of the mage, and then the entire squad, comes first. I knew that if the merchants had been able to reach a normal agreement with Centurion Otsev, my order would have been clear: protect the merchant house's people and property at all costs. Then I would have had to apply all my strength to accomplish the assigned task. Of course, the Nurgles might not have attacked the merchant caravan at all, in which case they would have been lucky. But Great Anteros was not looking out for them that day.
The next morning, Takul's platoon, reinforced by my squad, left the fortress. Our total strength was just over seventy goblins. The soldiers' spirits were high, but I was troubled by the general youthfulness of not only the enlisted men but also most of the officers. Their levels didn't seem bad; all the Decurions had reached level 10. Compared to them, Takul's level of only 14 was a bit unimpressive. But I figured his skills must be decent by definition; his rank suggests as much. A whole Lurion can't possibly lack something truly lethal. But the absence of experienced and battle-hardened squads didn't allow me to think positively. Yet, judging by the goblins' cheerful faces, no one shared my gloomy mood. On this reconnaissance mission, I had to strictly follow the orders of the senior officer. This wasn't some merchant house caravan master.
As I expected, there was nothing good to be found in this assignment. And on the second day of the march, one unpleasant circumstance came to light. Takul was either foolish or overly confident. He decided to move through the forest in a wide network, spacing the squads a couple of hundred paces apart. This would increase the area of the territory explored. But I didn't interfere or try to prove anything at the briefing, just as the other Decurions hadn't.
Inevitably, on the very first evening, the squad that was furthest to the west lost two scouts. I had hoped that would be enough and that we would then move in a single tight group, which would minimize personnel losses. But the oddities in the Lurion's behavior only continued to grow.
On the third day, he increased the distance between the groups to 500 paces. In some sections of the path, I even stopped seeing the soldiers of the neighboring squads. Where the trees grew more densely, we began to lose our sense of direction. The tension among the warriors grew rapidly. The soldiers had forgotten their recent smiles. We had already penetrated quite deeply into the Nurgles' territory. There was no longer any question of just sweeping through the forest. The creatures flitted across our horizon more and more often, but for now, they lacked the courage—or perhaps the stupidity—to attack our ranks.
That evening, I finally realized that this reconnaissance mission would not end well. So, choosing a suitable moment, I began to distance myself from my squad and look for a suitable target. I managed to shoot down two of the most careless Nurgles and collect some System Points from them.
[Notice] You have received 8 SP. (68/210)
In the end, I even managed to shoot down one that was level 5. This speaks to the extreme stupidity of such a powerful Nurgle.
[Notice] You have received 14 SP. (82/210)
This should be more than enough for my future plans. And chasing down the disturbed Nurgles had become too difficult.
At the general stop after sunset, the conversations among the goblins in each squad were not very different from each other. No one liked moving in such a wide network. A sense of impending misfortune literally hung in the air. The passability of the wooded area was only getting worse with each passing day. Clumps of trees were encountered more often, and with them, small packs of Nurgles. But Takul apparently didn't care about the opinions of even his junior officers. And the loss of two more scouts didn't affect him. The next morning, one of the Decurions finally lost his temper and asked a question when the Lurion decided to expand the scouting network even further.
"Sir Takul. Forgive me, but this is getting too dangerous. We are constantly seeing small groups of Nurgles. The time is not far off when they'll decide to attack us. And judging by their huge numbers, they'll simply crush a squad without even noticing it," he said uncertainly and disjointedly.
"Does anyone else share his opinion?" Takul asked quietly, looking around at all the junior officers. But no one spoke up in support of the young Decurion. "I have a personal order from the Centurion to destroy as many of the forest creatures as possible, and there's simply no other way to bait the Nurgles into an attack. I hope that in the future, my subordinates will refrain from asking such foolish questions," he concluded in an unyielding tone.
To be honest, I had something to say to that. But I saw no point in bickering with a senior officer and proving his complete incompetence. The young Lurion, it turned out, combined two unpleasant character traits: short-sightedness and stubbornness. Not too dangerous on their own for a commander. But in combination, as my experience told me, they always led to tragic consequences. However, the result of his orders was not hard to foresee.
We learned about the devastating attack on one of our squads upon returning to the temporary camp. As it turned out, two of the outermost squads had been subjected to probing attacks from different directions towards evening. And since we were already very deep in the Nurgles' territories, the numbers of these probing attacks were quite serious. It was impossible to say exactly how many creatures attacked the squad of the officer who had gone west that morning. But there were more than enough of them to completely tear apart all the goblins in that squad.
My reinforced detachment, however, was attacked by no more than three hundred. This army of Nurgles, I'm not afraid to say, should have been more than enough to destroy any squad, even a reinforced one. But they were just unlucky. If you can put it that way, of course.