Chapter 420 - Plan for Smoothrock

--AN--

Sorry for the lateness, I spent most of the day dealing with over a foot of snow. Oh how I wish I had Christopher's powers at times.

Chris

The days that followed weren’t the most enjoyable, but they passed nonetheless. The search of Fort Hope amounted to nothing but wasted time and effort. No one on Killian’s team found any sign that Ryan had been there at all, nor had any of the wolves found his scent.

Ashton was thrilled when I told him of my acceptance, though. He got down on one knee right then and there and gave me his Oath. The same one that the rest of the Oathbound had sworn.

The only difference was that this time, I got to see [Oathbound Frostguard] work in the moment. It wasn’t the chain [Tyr’s Judgement] manifested, but watching the link get forged as it happened was intriguing. It stung my spirit a bit, but the worst of the wound had settled after months.

Healing, though, was still a long road. I could feel my Spirit slowly knitting itself back together, but it was slow.

Afterward, he even pledged his army if I should need it, but I turned him down. Adding new forces right this moment would only throw off the experience we had managed to gain. Plus, his forces weren’t at the level ours were. Not after our stint in the South.

Instead, I had him get a garrison force ready so that he could manage the transition of any cities we took. Instead of having to stay for weeks after the battle, we would be able to hand it off to him and move on to the next one.

Ashton delegated that task to Noah, his second in command, while he and a few other select individuals would be coming with us. I didn’t have a reason to refuse, and he didn’t necessarily need to personally handle the transition. Grace was running Frostheim while Abigail and I were away, but Sophia was still traveling with us.

She would handle most of the administration work, while Noah was just there to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Of the people Ashton selected, one of them was the Ranger from so long ago. Victoria. I hadn’t seen her since we dealt with the Demons, and she had grown a lot since then. Her gear had been upgraded, and her presence signaled a strength even some of Elliot’s Lieutenants could barely match. She was certainly stronger than that Brooklyn Baron, whatever his name was.

Ashton himself had changed since then, as well. I was expecting him to be somewhat above average, strength-wise, but he’d really put some work in. Not only did he have a radiant mana core that felt like looking at the sun, but he had a solid band of light orbiting it for his First Circle. He was further along than me in that regard, but I highly doubted his Body measured up. Now that I’d reached Body of Copper, it was hard to imagine that there were many people on my level.

The handful of others didn’t stand out as much, and even the weakest Lieutenant in all three Orders felt more solid. Not to disparage them for that fact, the Order leadership was a hard bar to measure up against.

With Fort Hope taken care of and a few new additions to our forces, we set out a week after our arrival. A lot less blood had been shed than expected, but I had a feeling that was about to change.

Smoothrock wouldn’t be as easy.

The forest separating us wasn’t only heavily wooded, but there were a number of enemies inhabiting it. It was nothing our forces couldn’t handle, but it would still take time. Time they could prepare, as there was no doubt they knew we were coming.

~~~

It took us a month to wade through the forest and reach Smoothrock, and it was immediately clear that our arrival was expected. Sharp wooden sticks covered the field outside the city’s walls, and what appeared to be a freshly dug trench surrounded the walls. No doubt there were traps littering the killing field in addition to the visible deterrents.

As our line of forces arrived, I fired off the same orders as I had outside Fort Hope.

Hugo got to work building the siege weapons while the rest started setting up camp. This time, they would be used. While they did that, I got to work setting up the Wards. We were far out of range, but just in case some spell or something else was launched, we would have protection.

After finishing my work, I moved on to the next step.

Pushing my aura to its limits to not only reach the city, but cover it, stung my recovering Spirit, but I did it anyway. To not make it any worse, I got right into it without preamble.

"Citizens of Smoothrock, your city is now under siege. We ask all those not affiliated or participating in the fight to leave the city now. If you cannot leave the city, vacate the area near the walls and find shelter, preferably underground. I give my word that all those who do not take up arms will not be intentionally harmed.

“Those that do, will be ended. There will be no quarter given to those who stand against us.”

“You have three hours.”

Sadly, it was easier to give that declaration the second time.

With notice sufficiently given, I walked back to where the command tent had been set up. It was clear from just the way the city had been set up and the preparations they had made that this was going to be a lot different than Lakeshore. We needed a plan that went beyond me just smashing open the gate.

Reaching the tent, I found a dozen people ready and waiting for me.

From the three Orders, there were Elliot, Hal, and Gabriel who led them. Anders, Gavin, and Meredith, the three Vice-Captains, respectively. For Lieutenants, there was Hugo, who was in charge of the trebuchets, Sydney, who was the head of the Ranger units and could speak to their capabilities, and Jacks, who was in charge of the Artillery Mages. Rachel was usually in charge of this, but she wasn’t here with us, so it fell to Jacks.

Outside of the Orders, there was Abigail, obviously, in addition to two newcomers, Ashton and Victoria. They were both high-level fighters, and I wanted them to see how we did things. Also, I wanted them in the room to point out anything they knew or could do that we weren’t aware of.

Zion’s missing presence stung a bit, as he would usually be the spokesman of our mounted forces, but at least he was making a recovery. Some wouldn’t be.

In the hours it had taken to break camp, start setting up the siege weapons, set up the Wards, and give notice, a Cartographer had gone around the area and sketched up an up-to-date map of the city and its surroundings.

It wasn’t the most artistic of maps, but it noted what it needed to in the time we needed it.

“Alright,” I said, standing over the freshly penned map, “Let’s see how we can do this with as few losses as possible. Ideas?” Everyone else in the room had spent more time looking over the map than I had, so I opened the floor to them. We had all also gotten a good look at what we had been facing when we arrived.

“Do you think you can smash open the gate again?” Elliot opened the floor.

I shook my head, “I don’t think so. They’ve placed rubble in front of the gate, burying it under tons of dirt and rocks. I’d have to smash through that first before I reached the gate. They knew we were coming and prepared.”

Ashton lightly coughed, “I may have told them how you attacked Lakeshore.”

I nodded, acknowledging the information, but moved on. It was information we now had to deal with, but it didn’t help us get through the gates. “I could maybe try going through the walls, but I don’t know how well they’re built. I’m stronger than I was then, but a wall is different than a gate.” I said, thinking about it deeper. Plus, I won’t have my Spirit to aid me or protect me. I left that part unsaid, but from the way Abigail was staring at me, she was thinking the same thing.

“If through doesn’t work, we can try over.” Elliot pivoted well, “We could build ladders to scale the wall.”

“It would leave the bulk of our forces waiting to climb while getting shot at.” Hal said, “I know your Order prides itself on its toughness, but that’s a stretch, even for them.”

“Hal’s right,” I said, “It would lead to a lot of losses.”

“Towers, then.” Elliot responded, “It would take some time building them up, but we would be able to scale the walls without problem. They aren’t as tall as Frostheim’s, only about fifty feet, give or take.”

“How do we deal with the trench? We won’t be able to push them up against the wall.” Anders asked.

Elliot shrugged, “We could build them so the top bridge extends far enough if we have to, but we could also fill the trench with something.” He turned to me, “Ice, if you want, or Earth. I’d say I could do it, but I don’t have that much metal and create it from thin air like you can. Anything solid enough to hold that much weight would work fine.”

“Who would push them?” Ashton asked, “Anyone on the outside would be sitting ducks.”

I turned to Elliot, and we both had the same thought. It just went to show how new Ashton was and how much he still had to learn.

“You’ve seen how we do things, Ashton. Did you forget what Faction you are now a part of? Do you think we will struggle to find volunteers?” I asked with a small smile.

Ashton opened his mouth but stopped, thought about it, and said, “I forgot. I knew you guys were slightly mad, but I didn’t think it would be at the level of volunteering to get shot at mad.”

“Before we get ahead of ourselves, here, we need to be practical. The tower would need to be higher than the wall at over fifty feet, while also being stable enough to withstand any spells or impacts the city throws at it to destroy them.” Abigail interrupted, “Now picture that much weight and bulk being pushed over uneven ground with traps in the way while being shot at.”

There was a pause while everyone pictured what she had said.

“We could have Mages stationed inside the towers with [Mana Shields] to protect them against attack. If individual [Shield] spells aren’t enough, a ritual-cast [Shield] would be more than strong enough.” Gabriel threw out there with a nod from Meredith. “The only problem is that most of the Mages who are competent ritual-casters usually focus on artillery magic. If you take them away, our magical bombardment will be weaker.”

I turned to Hugo, “Can we compensate with more siege weapons?”

“We only have the support staff to man two dozen. We have enough to man up to thirty, but that will be pulling from other areas. Any more, and you’ll need to hold people back from other units.” He answered.

Jacks spoke up, “You’d also have to take a few more Earth Mages from the battle lines. Creating the boulders needed is a lengthy process if you want them done right. Compacted for additional denseness and Law improved takes time and effort, not to mention mana.”

“It’s worth a few Earth Mages and support personnel if we can destroy a section of the walls. It will give us another opening to use at the very least.” I thought out loud, “You know what kind of resistance we saw at Lakeshore, I suspect it will be worse here.”

Compared to Lakeshore, Smoothrock had a similar population, but they had more levels. Smoothrock’s forces had fought in the Assessment, while Lakeshore had not. They had also fought their own Demon incursion and dealt with a few Dungeon breaks inside the forest. It was also less strict than Lakeshore, which led to a higher average level.

While I was confident in myself and my ability to force open a path, that was only one chokepoint. If we all streamed in through one opening, the concentrated fire we would see would be unbearable for nearly everyone but the strongest few.

If every Archer, Mage, and ranged attack in the city only had to focus on one point, even I would be hesitant to weather it for long. A lot of people would die following behind me if that were the case.

Ideally, there would be three or four places we could break through at, but that was a later issue.

“That solves the issue of the towers being attacked, but that doesn’t fix the issue of getting them to the walls in the first place. Something that tall needs to have a sturdy base to build off of, which means a lot of weight.” Abigail stated, “There are pot holes, divots, traps, and stakes filling the field you’d have to push it through.”

“What if I pave the way?” I said. “Before we charge, I can remove all the stakes in our path and lay down a sheet of ice, smoothing the way. It’ll take a bit of mana now that it’s not winter, but I can do it.”

“Chris-” Abigail started, but I cut her off.

“Yes, I know, I don’t have my Spirit anymore, but I still have my Fortitude and armor. That’s more than enough to weather whatever they can throw at me.” I said. The larger these battles got, the more dangerous it was getting to step in front of all the attacks.

Lakeshore hadn’t thought I’d charge the walls alone, and had trouble targeting an enemy moving as fast as I was. I doubted Smoothrock would have the same limitation. Every Ranger and Spellcaster would be forewarned of my tendency to charge the walls.

They’d be ready for it.

While I was confident in my new body, I wasn’t invulnerable.

But I would do it anyway.

“I’ll carry a shield, just in case. It’s not like I’ll need my hammer.” I placated her. It would help defend while I was being shot at. With the right Runes, it would be perfect to deflect arrows and spells. It would take some time enchanting someone’s shield, but I could get it done in three hours. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it would work.

With no one else attempting to shoot the idea down, I asked, “Does anyone have a better idea?”

“Tunneling under?” Abigail threw out.

“I couldn’t feel the entire Formation on the walls, but I could tell it extends well into the ground. We’d have to go deep, and that would take weeks, and it might not even work.” I said. We had enough supplies for a year, and taking that long on one city would eat into them quickly.

“Plus, we’d have to fight their Earth Mages for control, and they’d know exactly where we’d be coming up. It would be giving them the high ground and alerting them of where we were,” Gabriel said.

“We could just wait until the siege weapons bring the wall down,” a new voice said. Victoria had mostly watched as we went through ideas.

“There’s no guarantee of that happening,” I responded, “We could attack all day and not bring them down. That’s what the Heartlands tried to do in the South, and they didn’t manage it. Jon and other Earth Mages were able to keep it together and even repair it during lulls.”

I doubted Smoothrock would have someone on Jon’s level to protect the wall for that long, but they could have something else.

“What’s the harm in waiting?” Sydney threw out there. She was eyeing the new Ranger as well, “While the stone throwers do their work, the Sharpshooters can pick off whoever they can. A good enough [Powershot] can take down any of the siege weapons mounted on the wall, too. I can’t promise it will work, but it will do something and cost us nothing.”

Why am I rushing? It hadn’t occurred to me that I was trying to hurry this process along until Sydney pointed it out. While I was trying to find Ryan, I highly doubted he was in Smoothrock.

We just needed to take the city so we could continue our search east. The same could be said of St. Marie and Shieldreach. If Ryan were to flee somewhere, it would either be his Capital Ottawa, or one of his other big cities like Montreal and Quebec.

“You’re right. It doesn’t cost us anything but time and supplies, but we can spare a few days sieging down the walls. We’ll still build the towers as plan B.” I said. “Anyone else?”

Everyone looked around and shook their head.

“Then I’ll be in my tent if anyone needs me.”

With the plan set and the meeting concluded, I walked back over to where Sophia had set up my tent. The Ice Bed treasure didn’t heal the Spirit as well as it healed the body, but it was better than nothing.

Plus, I could catch some shuteye while everyone was preparing. I’d make the shield sometime tomorrow, just in case, but I was tired from the march here. Without my boosted endurance, I had to sleep a lot more than I was used to. The fact that I wasn’t sleeping well had nothing to do with it.