Preparing for a war was daunting. Merlin had never experienced one before—Dungeon raids excluded, if they could even be cssified as ‘wars’ in the first pce—and, as a result, wasn’t quite familiar with the processes that went into it.
One had to consider their opponents' reasoning, see things from their perspective, and come up with simutions of the possible way they could unch an attack. It was only through this process could they figure out how exactly they could counter.
A day had passed since Merlin and his teammates had made their decision to fight with the vilge of Btt, and three days since they had begun their preparation. However, in that time, they had focused on burrowing into the mind of the chief of the vilge to the west, Stein, Chief Rivale.
Baba and Chief Rivale had once been close friends during the times when the first floor of the Tower of Xéros had been flourishing. They had shared trade secrets and fostered growth between their two vilges more than the others which were now lost. And that was why it was easy for Baba to decipher what ways his old buddy, Chief Rivale, could attack.
The battle was for the forest of Grun, the st surviving prosperous piece of nd on the first floor, and it was the pce where Merlin and the rest had camped. It was a day’s journey from the vilge of Btt, but three days' journey from the vilge of Stein. In other words, Chief Rivale had already begun his approach for the war to begin.
The chief of the vilge of Stein would obviously camp at the forest of Grun on the st day before unching his attack. He would most likely use that moment to propose one st chance to Baba to have his leave from the first floor, which would obviously be rejected. Regardless, Chief Rivale had always been a direct dragonman, believing in the power of brute force over all. He would have no tricks up his sleeve, and since his vilge was two times that of Btt, it was only normal that he had a rger army. A straight forward attack was the most likely. Bombard the vilge of Btt with his rge army, and force them to surrender or kill them all.
Baba, on the other hand, didn’t have the power of an army. His vilge was mostly composed of frail elderly Drachens, female Drachens, and young ones. The warriors numbered to fifty at most, which meant that he would have to rely on efficiency rather than brute force. The problem was, just as the old dragonman knew what his old buddy, Chief Rivale was thinking, so did Chief Rivale know what he too was thinking.
Senior Sun-Hee understood that, which was why as soon as the old man had proposed fnking, to attack Chief Rivale's army from the sides as soon as they marched forward, she had shut it down.
“What we need is some innovation,” she had said, and proceeded to scour through that big brain of hers, flipping through the countless pages of both fiction and non-fiction works alike, that she had read, proposing different tactics they could take to win the war in the case that the peace treaty broke down.
The best of the lot she had proposed was the ‘hiding in pin sight’ tactic. Basically, camoufge. They were to burrow within the sand in patches surrounding the region that led straight to the vilge. Then when Chief Rivale and his army had entered their range, they would surround and attack from all sides. They would have lesser numbers, but the disorientation of the opposition army would be to their advantage.
That tactic, though, had some problems. In fact, it was the greatest problem for the whole battle in earnest. The sandworms.
The monsters rarely sauntered near vilges, because of the barriers that were always erected; however, a war was bound to attract them. The sandworms had no allies, and neither vilges would be safe from the onsught. They could only hope that the war would have ended long before then, but entering into the sand would only send the vibrations emitted from their bodies towards the sandworms quicker than it would have if they were above.
That tactic was on the verge of being canceled, until Senior Hyunwoo proposed an idea. Each patch would have a barrier erected over it, preventing the sandworms from noticing the presence of those hiding within the sand.
The dragonpriest had bnched at that proposal. It would be an exhaustive task, it seemed, as he was the only one who could make use of enchantments. As such, he had asked that they did something else, until Merlin had proposed to help. Shock riddled everyone’s face then. For one, the magic of the dragonmen was totally different from that of the humans, it seemed to rely on their connection with their dragon god. A human didn’t have that same connection; they wouldn’t be able to learn it.
However, Merlin had said nothing about learning it. He wasn’t going to be using the magic of the Drachen race, he was going to be increasing its potency, reducing the stress it would impact on the dragonpriest when he put up the barriers. The test of his Perks which he had earned upon clearing Gce’s Ice Cave, [Special Editor], granted him that power. But that, and the exact nature of his capabilities, was kept only to himself. Not because he fancied being secretive, but because something had been bugging him for a while now.
The Tower of Xéros had been cleared. If it took two weeks at least for only the first floor to be cleared, even with all the knowledge that had been gathered ever since the cataclysm, then he could assume it took fifty times that duration to clear the whole tower during the time of the cataclysm when magic was just being figured out. There was no way those who had ventured into the tower hadn’t tried to learn the nguage of the Drachens in that time, and, as a result, there was the possibility that the professors watching on could understand every word he had uttered to the Drachens, including those involving Blue.
If that were true, then he was fucked. He could only wait until the Tower raid was done to prove his suspicions. He hoped he was wrong, but he had begun thinking up a lie from now.
The meeting on how best the vilge of Btt was to attack concluded with the camoufge trick being passed, as well as one more proposition Merlin had brought up, which was paying Chief Rivale a visit in his camp, and proposing peace one more time. However, that action came with a follow up.
A peace treaty was most likely not going to be passed, which was why, known to Merlin alone, for now, Blue would pay a visit to their storage room, or whatever shabby tent they would have erected for that, and enfeeble their weapons.
That, though, was risky. Unlike his mates, the Drachens could see the dragon. Obviously, that would be no different with Chief Rivale and his men. And that was why Merlin was seated secluded from the main areas of the vilge of Btt, and having a very serious dialogue and training session with Blue.
“We only have two to three days to go, Blue,” said Merlin with urgency. “You have to get this right.”
Blue was seated on the ground with all four of his paws tucked beneath his body, his eyes wide and dreamy. If one wasn’t looking closely, they would almost think the little dragon was a loaf of bread. He was too comfortable for the urgency of what was to come.
Merlin couldn’t have that.
He sighed and dipped his hand into the bag to his side, bringing out a piece of meat. Blue instantly perked up, blinked, and opened his mouth, revealing jagged teeth and a tongue bluer than his body and eyes.
“You want this?” Merlin teased as the dragon’s wings unfurled. “Then you have to listen to what I say.” Blue snarled, Merlin sucked in air through his teeth. “Oho… You’re not getting feisty, are you?” Blue reined himself in. “Good. Now, what I want you to do is practice,” said Merlin. “You see, even though you’re hiding yourself well from the others, and I commend you for that, if I focus my Perception, I can notice you, like now. And the Drachens can too. What I want is for you to be able to hide your presence from everyone, including me and the Drachens. Can you do that?”
Blue hesitated. Merlin wiggled the meat, forcing the dragon to hiss in frustration. Then it stood on all fours and turned his head to the side sharply.
Merlin was not falling for Blue’s tricks.
“Well, I guess you don’t want this meat, then,” he said. “I’ll just have to warm it up ter, and eat it myself. I’ve been craving meat for a while now, and I’ll need the energy for the coming war.”
Blue turned to Merlin and puffs of fky icy breath escaped his nostrils. Merlin raised a brow.
“Really?” he said. “You think you can freeze me?”
The dragon hissed and huffed. His wings fell onto his back once again and his shoulders slumped. Merlin was well fluent in dragon-nguage now, so he realized that Blue’s actions meant he had agreed.
“Good,” said Merlin. “I’ll be going through my System; once I stop noticing your presence, that will mean you have passed. Don’t disappoint me.”
Blue growled, but Merlin didn’t pay him any mind. He tossed the meat back into his bag and summoned the System, taking his eyes off Blue, but feeling the presence of the little dragon nonetheless.
[Blue Quests ongoing (2): Strengthen your body, Merlin Tyrrell. (The strength of a Mage not only lies in their prowess with magic, but also in their physicality. A better body makes a better Mage.)Be clear of mind and spirit, Merlin Tyrrell. (If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Meditation is key. A better mind and soul makes a better Mage.)]
[Progress to leveling up Strength: 62.75%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Agility: 69%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Intelligence: 13%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 97%/100%]
[Progress to leveling up Resilience: 2%/100%]
[Free Attribute Points received: 54]
Merlin sighed at the sight of the blue words hovering before his view.
It had been a week since he had returned back to the Academy, and since then he had not summoned them. He had obviously not neglected his training, he had just not had the time to sit down and take in his progress as he once used to do.
For someone in his first year at a Mage Academy, it sure felt like he was in his second year. A lot had happened, and a lot more was still on the horizon, he could feel it.
Besides the whole deal currently with the tower, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of how Sunny was faring with gleaning the required information about the drugs from Club Spiral.
Merlin knew he was insensitive. In fact, he was selfish. There was no point in trying to tell himself that he was chasing after Club Spiral with all his heart just so he could protect his loved ones, and those who might fall prey to them.
Yes, there was some sort of truth in that, but, in reality, he was chasing after them simply because of his own curiosity. He had a feeling that the club was reted to the mysterious woman in bck leather, and, for some weird reason, Professor Dmitri, as well. But he couldn’t make any cims without evidence, which was why he was seeking out one. Taking the drug off the streets was just one of the many things that would happen in return if he managed to quell his curiosity, as well as exerting revenge for Nikoi. He could still see the boy in his dreams, feel what the boy felt, the pain, the frustration, the anger. It was like they had become a part of him, a part Merlin couldn’t shake off. And he knew the source of all that. It was Professor Dmitri. The man was not all he seemed. Merlin realized that; and he would expose him one way or another.
However, his quest had thrown Sunny to the lions. If those at Club Spiral were smart enough to evade the Consortium Guild, then Sunny had no chance, Merlin knew that deep down. This wasn’t shamanism fraud, it was something more serious.
He had made a mistake, but even though he could admit it to himself, he still didn’t want to stop the ongoing quest. Perhaps something positive may come of it. The Consortium would be making use of legal means; those could be exploited. Sunny, however, would use unconventional ones. Merlin, selfishly, could only hope that Sunny would be all right.
He clicked his tongue, took a gnce at Blue who was visibly trying his hardest to vanish from pin sight, and put them back on his System.
Assign all free Attribute Points to Perception…
Leveling up his Perception instead of his Intelligence as usual, was partially for aesthetics purposes, and partially to take his Perception to the best possible range it could be in presently to assess Blue’s skills.
Well, whatever the case, it felt good to level up.
[Assigning...]
[Successful]
[+54 Attribute Points have been assigned to Perception]
[Progress to leveling up Perception: 97%/100%] → [24%/100%]
[Perception has leveled up!]
[Perception Level 19 → Level 20]
[ATTRIBUTES]
STRENGTH: LV. 39
AGILITY: LV. 43
INTELLIGENCE: LV. 33
PERCEPTION: LV. 20
RESILIENCE: LV. 58
Merlin hummed softly at the sight of his status screen. He was somewhat impressed with how far he had come, but to him it still wasn’t enough. And it seemed it would take Blue quite longer than he had expected to be able to fully conceal his presence.
He sighed when the dragon’s stomach growled and it slumped to the ground, exhausted.
Merlin decided to take pity on Blue. He was not one of those ancient swordsmasters who took a liking to running their pupils to the ground before bestowing them their techniques. He was a good guy, albeit an awkward one.
He took out the piece of meat he had kept in his bag, and pced it on the log of wood he was seated on. Without even uttering a word, Blue perked up and hurried to the meat, froze it to his satisfaction, and gobbled it down, finishing his exploit with a satisfied belch.
Merlin cocked his head, staring at the dragon. One question rampaged through his mind at what he had just witnessed.
Why exactly had he been burning through his electricity when the damn dragon could just freeze his meat himself?
