FMH: Everything ~ Twenty-Two

Luke blinked blood out of his eyes, hunting for his next targets. The enemy army was in a rout, at least the portion nearest him, and was working to maintain a solid perimeter of a few hundred meters of clear space around him at all times. It wasn't doing much to help them, as he could outrun any of the basic humans with barely any effort. Regardless, now that he had been deprived of a worthy adversary, his annoyance had increased to unexpected levels. Destroying these base humans was as simple to him as swiping a quill over a figure to strike it from a document was for an accountant.

Happily, things began to shift quickly, though in a literal way, which was slightly more concerning than he wanted to let on. At first, Luke thought it was his imagination, but a quick glance confirmed that either the ground beneath his feet was lifting higher, or the land supporting his enemies was sinking slightly. Only half an hour after it began, it was obvious that some large-scale magic was at work. Seeing as it was constant, and slow, and impacting the earth… Luke immediately recognized who was responsible. “Andre is up to something.”

Both armies had retreated, clearing enough space that the end result was apparent at a glance. As far as Luke could see in either direction, the Hollow Kingdom’s side of the border had lifted nearly four feet into the air. Such a low cliff wasn't an insurmountable challenge or impediment to anyone who had some kind of Potentia, but to the common soldiers, it might as well have been a castle wall.

The earthen barrier was certainly more secure than a castle wall, seeing as they would literally have to tunnel through it, or build ramps, in order to conquer the bulwark that it presented. The handiwork of the Druid didn't stop there, and soon all areas within five paces of that new border wall had sunk even farther into the ground, then filled with spikes that grew directly from the earth itself.

It was clear to see that there was nothing special about these spikes. No ores were involved–in fact, it appeared that the native stone was rather weak and would break away at the first hint of being disturbed. Such brittleness would make it all the more deadly against fleshy targets, if they fell onto the spikes and were impaled. Cleaning the wounds would become nearly impossible, and in the unsavory conditions that these armies were forced to camp in, it was highly likely that the embedded fragments would lead to infection. From there, the possibility of disease spreading among the enemy forces could only grow.

Luke was incredibly impressed by his friend's ingenuity. Even though these changes were happening slowly, they were obvious, as well as being highly effective. Deciding that he had done enough for the day—mostly because he was bored of the constant slaughter—he hopped up the strange new tectonic shelf and set his course toward the greatest concentration of mana produced amongst his countrymen. Following that energy signature would lead him directly to his team… or at least that was the thought.

Instead, he was led to a man who looked strangely familiar talking with a group of soldiers in Hollow Kingdom armor as they huddled around a small campfire. The fact that the campfire had been built in the middle of the battlefield demonstrated exactly how long these troops had been in this area, likely overnight, due to the constant pressing of the dynasty's forces. The Murderhobo’s presence quieted the soldiers, but not the man who was speaking. No, that man gave him a jaunty wave and a wink as he continued with hardly a hiccup. Luke scrutinized the face for a long minute, took a deep breath, and walked away with only a tiny roll of his eyes. “If Zed wants to play with the locals, why not?”

That was when things started getting weird. The next knot of dense mana revealed yet another man who had a slightly strange, familiar countenance. Luke walked directly up to him, grabbed the man by the shirt, and pulled him close. “How many of you are there in the area?”

This one’s features had seemed drastically different from the last clone he had encountered, but now that he was this close, Luke could tell that the man he grasped was just wearing makeup, or at least a combination of dirt and blood that had formed naturally and obscured his appearance from a distance. “Hello, Luke! At last count, there were ten of me around. The original me has us come to the front lines to learn about all of the scuttlebutt in the area whenever we have accomplished our original mission. Doesn't hurt that us being in the ranks with the other men means a real person gets saved whenever we fall.”

Luke straightened the Zed clone and dropped his meaty hands on the man's slight shoulders. “I don't like this. You're worth more than being a throwaway. I'm going to find you and talk to you.”

“You are talking to me. But you don't mean me, me. Do you? I’m here in person? You should get me out of here; it’s too dangerous.” Replica Zed seemed somewhat choked up as he tried to get a hug from the Murderhobo. He failed, as Luke was far too cautious to be easily trapped in a position where he wouldn't be able to maintain his full range of motion. “I know you probably didn't intend it that way, but what you just said was… very kind. Believe me, we agree. None of us throw our lives away casually. Even so, we are homunculi. Whenever any of us meet, we discuss our existence and what it means. We have settled on this definition: we're not truly people, and we have this knowledge from the moment that we are created. It’s our honor to rescue someone who will go on to do other real things in the world.”

Luke searched the other faces around the flickering campfire, noting that the people that had been conversing with Zed had life in their eyes and could still find a way to smile, even though they were bivouacked in the epicenter of a slaughter zone. He finally recognized that, even though the Bard standing before him might not be a real person, he was having a real impact on the people around him. Nodding stiffly at the copy of his friend, he started walking away. “Be well.”

Even amidst the hubbub of an encampment, Luke could still hear the whispered, “I will.”

Unwilling to risk any farther detours, he used his standard sight instead of honing in on any specific mana clumping, allowing him to pick out the only pure white swathin this murky area. Knowing he had found Taylor, he wove through the clusters of soldiers in time to overhear her animated conversation with some type of officer of the Hollow Kingdom's military. She was standing, looming more like, over Andre. “I understand your position, General; however, I cannot allow you to interfere with the Archdruid’s undertaking. If he believes that this is the best thing for the land, I guarantee you that it is.”

“But what about the kingdom, you daft Spellweaver?” The General practically howled in fury as he tried to win what had devolved into a circular argument. “We have treaties preventing exactly the sorts of actions your group has taken! You're going to throw us into a full massacre instead of a mere invasion game!”

“We have our orders, and you have yours,” Taylor coolly stated as she stared the general down. “You won't be interrupting the Archdruid; his work is far too important.”

Luke was increasingly impressed as he watched the Mage work her verbal magic instead of blasting the person yelling at her with actual magic. Even a few years ago, this General would be either a blood splatter or on his way to a political prison of some kind at this point in the conversation. It was nice to see how she had changed in a real-world setting.

Anyone could make claims about how well they were doing; very few people were able to prove the truth of the matter with their actions. Still, the fuming General was in his way, so the Murderhobo casually slapped him to the side as he walked up to his party. “Getting boring out there. Can we get moving yet?”

“The King's orders were to do everything that was required to ensure the success of our mission.” Andre was the one who answered, demonstrating that he had some awareness even within such deep a meditation as he had sunk himself into. “I am merely doing everything I can to ensure that we will have a kingdom to return to. I am not going to fail this quest because of some ridiculous loophole.”

Luke pondered that for a moment, silently agreeing with the decision. Needing something to occupy himself in the meantime, the Murderhobo’s eyes landed on the armory, and he set off in that direction without a word. He’d only made it a few steps when Zed, finally looking like he was supposed to look, popped up in front of Luke with a knowing smile on his face. “Why, hello there, friend! I don't know if you remember, but you're not the only person who is at the warfront! These fine people around us are going to need those sets of armor and weapons, and there is going to be no benefit for you to have them, anyway.”

“There was a Lieutenant on the field that actually gave me a challenge. He had a really nice robe that I want. How was he so much stronger than our officers?” This blatant disregard for the general, who wasn’t even a few feet away, didn't go unnoticed.

Zed put his arms up as though he were performing a sun salutation, then swept them out while dropping them to his sides. “The dynasty is a big, big country. Think of how big you think it is, then make it three times bigger than that at the minimum. Now you have one province of the dynasty. Even without factoring in their ambient mana saturation being significantly more dense, if their average population only produces the same percentage of Ascenders our kingdom does, they’ve got us beat nearly two hundred times over.”

“Wow.” Luke deadpanned.

“Very wow. Much Ascender. With so many to choose from, they have many more options than we do. The only people who can attain positions of power are the people that earn it. Even their Emperor is required to control a Tier nine or ten summon in order to take the throne when their predecessor Ascends to a higher world. At least in theory, because the rumor is that the person on the throne has always been there.”

“Interesting. Instead of trying to make one perfect Ascender and dump all the resources into them…” Taylor’s features took on a worrisome, considering look, “They just churn out Ascender after Ascender, knowing that they will separate themselves into the hierarchy simply by merit alone. If only we could mimic that in our kingdom! Think of how powerful we would be, if we were able to take a tiny kingdom and pack it full of incredibly powerful-”

She cut off her musings, realizing that reintegrating the Scarrocco Nature Preserve into the kingdom might have made that vision a reality already. Only time would tell, but bringing that possibility up when anyone could be listening in was likely not the best way to keep that secret to themselves.

“Something is happening.” Andre suddenly took over the stunted conversation, his eyes popping open as he launched himself to his feet. “I think the dynasty is bringing their Druids into the area; my influence over their land just got shoved back. If Druids are approaching the lines, I think we're about to see a big push by their Ascenders.”

“You've killed us all!” The General threw his hands in the air and walked away, appearing more like a broken man than a leader of them. “How long do we have, Druid?”

“Judging by the shifting wind, the trembling earth, and the threat of violence that is filling my heart…” Andre's words were dramatic, to the point that Luke rolled his eyes back into his head so hard he involuntarily blinked a few times. “Not long enough.”