Chapter 404 - Fire and Fuel

Chris

East Fort

After being interrupted on my way to the next Fort, I continued on but stopped after only one fight for the day. The numbers were growing the closer I got to where they were concentrating their attack, and things were turning into a slog.

Fights weren't the moments of intense battle that they'd been at the start. They were long, drawn-out chases most of the time, where, throughout it all, I was getting shot at, attacked, spells thrown at me, and all around hindered in every way imaginable.

Poison, acid, lightning, fire, wind, blood, earth, all kinds of affinities were used against me, and not all of them were easily brushed off. Poison and acid lingered the longest, but shadow was by far the most annoying.

Finding the person was an exercise in frustration, let alone killing them.

I gained yet another level, but it did little to prop up the sinking ship that was my stamina. I was tired, injured, and needed a rest.

The nearby Fort, Fort Sept, or some other French word, was a good enough spot as any. The Leader, Claire, a Fire Mage I'd expected to see everywhere, was a good enough host. By now, news had spread, and a room had been prepared for my arrival. It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was good enough to pass the time.

I woke the next morning and pushed through the mounting fatigue. It felt like I could have slept for the entire day, and it wouldn't have been enough. I'll rest when it's done, I told myself.

A feeling I wasn't experiencing for the first time.

I bade Claire goodbye and ran off to the next Fort. I was warned ahead of time, both by Claire and Rachel through the Message Stone, that this Fort would be different.

It was where the battle was thickest. East Fort was the direct center of the battle lines, and the numbers there weren't something I could just smash through like I'd been doing.

I was skeptical.

After cresting a low hill and seeing the Fort and the ongoing battle, I was less skeptical.

There were thousands of people. Tens of thousands, probably. They were everywhere. The Fort's walls were filled to the brim, and the fields surrounding the walls were covered for hundreds of feet.

Even Frostheim on its busiest day didn't have so many in the streets. It made what I had already done feel like a drop in the bucket. The few thousand I'd cut down were only a fraction of how many in white I was seeing now.

Spells rained down on the Fort and splashed upon [Mana Shield] after [Mana Shield]. Some were noticeably stronger and of higher grade, but I was more focused on the fact that there were hundreds of the spell defending the Fort. The number of mages just defending...

When it looked like the only thing the Fort was doing was defending, a massive gout of flame spewed from the wall. I could feel the intensity from where I was standing, hundreds of yards away, it was so powerful.

It spewed out hundreds of feet, incinerating all in its path. Blackened earth and ashes were left in its wake when the spell ended. That, and the slag from melted weapons and armor.

Even Rachel would struggle to do something like that.

Now that I looked, I didn't see a single flake of snow surrounding the Fort for a thousand yards. All that stood around the stone fortification was scorched ground and flash-dried mud.

A large fireball screamed through the air and landed in the middle of a dense pack of attackers, ripping through all defenses and leaving a similar wake to the previous spell.

Whoever was launching them was powerful.

I wasn't sure what to do. Usually, I would rush in and start swinging. I'd done as much four times already. Except this time, I wasn't sure if I'd be helping. Fire seemed to be a massive part of the defense, and fire and I didn't mix all that well.

The temperature, even from far away, was sweltering. It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

I'll have to rely on force then. Getting hit with a hammer was still getting hit with a hammer. The temperature didn't much matter when your skull exploded.

Before I could launch myself into the thick of things, my Message Stone vibrated in my pocket. I reached out with my mana and noticed it was Rachel who'd messaged me.

"Vanessa's asked me to tell you not to do whatever you were about to. Michael has it under control and doesn't want you interfering. If you head to the western gate, they'll let you in."

Don't interfere?

That went against all of my instincts. There was a battle in front of me, and I was being asked to stand by and watch.

This is their war, and I did say to direct me as they saw fit.

I just never thought I'd be directed not to fight.

I created a chair of snow and sat down to watch, not wanting to get any closer to the heat than I had to.

The fight continued for over an hour. Fire rained down time after time, and while things were definitely hectic, the Fort was enduring whatever the attackers could throw at it.

Siege weapons hit the Shield Formation and deflected off harmlessly into the mud. Spells were intercepted with shields of mana, and arrows were either incinerated with fire or blocked with the same shields as the spells.

Warriors charged the walls and were repelled violently. Based on the charred bones, this wasn't their first attempt at storming the gates.

Every once in a while, a powerful spell would be launched, but it didn't change the course of the battle. No matter what the attackers threw, it wasn't enough to get through.

As the early sunset darkened the sky, the pace slowed until the boom of explosions rang out every few minutes.

Seeing how things had settled down for the night, I dispersed my chair and approached the western gate. It opened at my arrival and closed swiftly after I entered.

I was then quickly led to a room simmering with fire mana, and I didn't need my aura to tell me I was being led to the man in charge. Rachel had mentioned a Michael a few times, and how he was the second strongest behind Vanessa.

I could honestly say I believed her. The man's aura, even through the door, raged with enough power that it eclipsed nearly everyone I'd met. Even other leaders like Marcus didn't have as strong an aura.

Depending on how far Austin had advanced, even he wasn't up to par.

Rachel wasn't lying. While aura strength wasn't everything, it was a good indicator of power.

I pushed into the room to see a man in blazing red robes sitting in a chair, swirling a drink in his hand. Based on the fluctuations I could sense, he was low on mana and felt the same exhaustion I did.

He looked similar to how Rachel described, except I wouldn't consider him middle-aged. He looked too young for that. The levels had done him well, if he was this revitalized.

He was thinner than I was, and even without standing, I could tell he was shorter as well. His wavy brown hair had seen better days, but it wasn't disheveled, like I assumed my hair looked.

"Christopher, it's nice to finally meet you." He greeted warmly, "Put a name to a face, and all that."

"Likewise," I said as I shook his hand. "Although today did not go as I thought it would."

"I know, I know. You were expecting a fight, and I'm sorry to disappoint." He said and lifted a decanter in offering. At my nod, he proceeded to pour it into a glass.

I accepted the wine and gave it a deep inhale. I wasn't a connoisseur, but I could appreciate a good wine. Plus, I could use a drink. The flavor was good, and the kick it had surprised me.

"It's from a vineyard in the Heartlands. A nice little place with a powerful Druid-Viticulturist combination. Expensive, but well worth it in my opinion," Michael admitted.

I'll have to ask Alaric about it after their squabble is over.

"I won't say I'm disappointed, just confused." I said after swallowing, "Not that you didn't have things in hand, obviously." I couldn't say I was sad at not being able to slaughter hundreds. I wasn't a psychopath.

"This isn't their first assault on the walls, nor will it be the last." He said and sat back down, "I only arrived a week prior, and this is the fourth time we've repelled them since. They try new things, launch what they can, but in the end, they gain little. They come out behind, most of the time."

"I could have helped. I can fight without interfering with your flames." I said bluntly.

"You could have," he admitted, "But that would have hurt us rather than helped us in the long run."

My brows rose in confusion, "How do you figure? I know you must have lost people today. I saw as much from the hill."

"We did, and while sad, it doesn't change the equation." He said, before abruptly changing the subject, "Tell me, how many levels have you gained?"

I didn't answer him, but I began to see where this was going.

"I, myself, have gained quite a lot. Nearly 10 in just over a week. I assume you've had your gains as well." He conjured a fire above his hand, dancing around his waving fingers, "A fire grows with fuel, and you would have taken that fuel. With the levels we're both at, the amount we could gain is small compared to the amount of fuel we take."

Essence. That's what it came down to. If I joined the battle, I would have killed many, and in doing so, taken the essence they held.

"You had me stand by while people died for essence?" I asked, but my words failed to have any of the edge I expected. On a base level, a logical level, I understood.

We did something similar during Settlement Waves when we let the Warriors fight in front of the wall. Some of them died, but it was a tempering experience. What Michael was talking about wasn't that different.

But it still tasted bad in my mouth.

"Not just for essence," he explained, "For strength. So when we're asked to fight again, and we will have to, more will be ready. Some levels and experience now outweigh the downsides. We bleed a little now, so we may save blood later. Whether that be another war, the next Assessment, or whatever the future holds."

I hated how logical it sounded.

"And did these people volunteer knowing this?" I sought any reason I could to find the moral high ground.

"They did." He stated, "Those who still wanted to help but disagreed were sent elsewhere. Logistics, transport, and other Forts. Places where bodies were needed. Everyone here knew East Fort would see the most battle and understood all the risks."

I took a larger drink. You were supposed to sip wine, but I ignored that rule.

"And I assume you will ask me to do so again?" I asked.

"I'm not barring you from fighting or asking you to abstain, just to keep things more... contained." He said, "I don't use everything I have to kill as many people as I can, just those with similar strength to my own, or when the situation calls for it. I leave the weaker ones so that others may grow. So they might gain or improve a Law, forge an Anchor, or upgrade a skill."

Could I do that? Stand by and watch?

I'd been at the front of nearly every battle I'd been a part of. The only time I'd restrained myself was during weak Settlement Waves so that...

Oh. He was asking me to treat this like a Settlement Wave.

"I'm going to have to think on this." I said, "I know what I said, and that still stands, but I... I need to think about this."