The Hillside Slaughter.

"Who would have thought that stick fighting when I was a kid would save my character in Dynasties Online?

"I learned that day that even a player with the skill rank of expert."

"Could have the practical skill of a novice."

"While a novice could have the practical skill of an expert."

"NPCs are different though, for their skill rank reflects their practical skill level."

"It all depends on your fighting skills which can be transferred from reality to the game and vice versa."

Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.

…..

Leon's exhausted limbs protested as he swung his spear in a wide motion slicing the necks of 2 incoming orc wolf riders as he rode down the other side of the hill, his horse archers skillfully riding out towards the left and right as the wolf riders were led towards the bottom of the hill, where waiting was 5,000 elite heavy cavalry, their horses coated in mail and their faceless tinted crimson and black steel-clad riders turned them into terrifying apostles of death their pointed lance tips shooting towards the wolf riders as they started to thunder up the hill to engage them.

The wolf riders, filled with the excitement of the hunt and with a battle frenzy, eagerly followed the mounted Chavarian archers over the hill, not realising the deadly trap they were entering as they headed straight towards a line of heavy cavalry as the horse archers turned to circle round the wolf riders surrounding them while continuing their relentless rain of arrows.

Lucius led the charge towards the wolf riders as around him, faceless royal Chavarian knights accurately impaled the approaching orcs with their lances leaving them sticking into the orcs as they dropped them and drew long curved sabres and began to hack and slash at the remaining orcs and wolves.

Lucius found the leader of the wolf riders turning his horse and mustering up his courage as he charged toward him, thrusting his spear towards him; however, his reactions seemed slower than the orc in front of him as he skilfully dodged Lucius' novice spear stab and stuck him centre mass his steel axe cutting into Lucius' steel breastplate denting it slightly the steel blade drawing a slight trail of blood as it impaled itself into Lucius flesh.

The axe sliding off the smooth steel plate, its impact sending Lucius flying off his horse and rolling down the hillside as pain erupted in his chest, his horse running off wildly without his rider to control him.

A series of damage notifications appeared within his vision as the world spun around him.

[Checking vital organs]

[no vital organs struck]

[Received 22 points of damage from orc captain]

[Received 5 points of fall damage]

In a series of clatters and clangs, Lucius finally stopped rolling, lying down as a moan of pain escaped his cracked lips.

'Fuck, that hurt.'

Lucius complained in his mind as the orc captain sliced the neck of a knight who tried to protect his general by delaying the orcish captain's advance and trying to kill him. Using this time, Lucius shakily stood up, drawing his sword out in one hand. The spear once clutched in his hands was lost in the clash as his other hand clutched at the dent in his once smooth steel armour.

'Friend system, what the hell was that! Why was he faster than me, and why did my reactions seem delayed?'

Lucius thought, asking the games administrator Friend System a question.

[The reason is simple your sensitivity is still set to 50%!]

'What has that got to do with anything?'

[Sensitivity affects much more than just the pain you feel, it affects your reactions, hearing, sense of taste and smell, and anything to do with the human senses, including eyesight. NPCs like the captain that dented your armour don't have the option to change this. As such, they are always fighting as if this was at 100%. In essence, this means that his reactions are currently 2x faster than yours, his hearing 2x better than yours and all his other senses are 2x better than yours.]

'Can I increase my own sensitivity to 100%?'

[Yes, in battle, you can at any time by requesting it of me; however your pain will also be doubled. Are you sure you want to do this?]

Friend System asked.

'Do it!'

[Sensitivity set to 100%, please be careful.]

A final system notification said as Lucius' reactions, once slowed, returned to normal, raising his sword to parry the Orc captain's large steel axe, the orc's great strength and momentum reverberating through his arm, causing it to ache.

The pain in his chest flared up for a second before a river of adrenaline flowed throughout his entire body, suppressing the pain. The survival instincts long suppressed by the peaceful modern world were awakened, surprising the orc who saw Lucius as no more than privileged prey. Every fibre of his now battered body concentrating on the fight for his life.

"General!"

Another knight cried, charging toward the orc captain, his steel sword glinting in the sunlight as he slashed towards the orc captain, who, in one slash, deflected the incoming blow before his backslash cut into the knight's head, severing it from his lifeless body, which crumpled to the bloodied ground as the severed head rolled down the hill stopping at Lucius' feet.

The Orc captain, an expression of joy on his copper-capped tusked face, charged again at Lucius, his mind filled with the glory of killing the enemy general. Lucius letting out a great war cry, dodging the incoming wolf and ducking under the rider's large axe, which slightly skimmed the top of his helmet as steel clanged against each other, leaving a scrape on the top of Lucius' winged helmet. Lucius' longsword cut into the mouth of the white-furred wolf, the steel searing into its flesh as it died with a pained whine, its gums and throat shredded by the steel sending the wolf's rider crashing into the hillside.

Slowly and shakily approaching the orc captain on the ground, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm himself down, sword raised, Lucius noticed movement in the orc as the battle cries and death throes of the battlefield filled his ears, wishing to be anywhere but where he is right now shocked by the brutality of the medieval battlefield that had been romanticised in many peoples mind for the last few hundred years.

In a flash, the orc captain was on his feet, showing his decayed teeth to Lucius as he picked up his fallen axe nearby wielding it in two hands and charged towards the shaken Lucius, his heavy footsteps leaving large footprints, each step shaking the ground like a mini earthquake.

Closing in on Lucius, the orc began to swing his axes in broad cuts as he and Lucius exchanged blows for 5 seconds, Lucius parrying and dodging to barely survive before the ache and strain on his hands and arms led to the sword in Lucius' hand spinning through the air and clattering on the ground leaving him weapon less, the large axe of the orc raised ready to deliver the final blow.

A spear falling like a shooting star pierced through the crude iron armour protecting the orc captain's body. His still beating heart was impaled by the spearhead, which now protrudes through the front of the orc, blood running down what remained of the iron plates covering his chest as the axe fell from the grip of the now limp orc, who falls forward on top of Lucius.

My lord, are you ok?

Leon shouted, his hands now empty, using his deadly spear to save the life of his lord as he thundered towards his fallen lord drawing his steel sword. A battlefield rage overtaking him as like a god of war, he cut a bloody path towards the man he was sworn to protect, Green skinned heads and limbs thrown out towards the ground around him as his sword moved like a whirlwind, effortlessly piercing and cutting through the orcs in front of him.

The blood began seeping down from the orc onto Lucius' chest plate, who began to take in the woeful sounds of war as the battle began to settle. A horn resounded from the top of the hill as the last orcs were slaughtered by the Chavarian knights like cattle letting out their final death cries while others were filled with arrows from the veteran horse archers who had survived years of unrelenting warfare.

Leon rushed over to his lord, lifting the large, muscled orc off his lord while he, in a panic, began to look over the bloodied body of Lucius.

"Send a message to camp! We need a doctor for the general and bring me some bandages."

Leon shouted, worried over the fate of his friend.

Lucius smiled at his saviour and friend as he sat up with a pained groan and said to the man whose face was filled with worry.

"I'm fine, Leon. Don't worry, the blood is not mine."

Lucius said gently as he calmed himself down and began to plan his next move.

"We need to get the lads away from here quickly it won't take long for them to send more men."

Lucius stated, taking the outstretch gauntleted hand of Leon standing up as a knight bought his horse over to him. Others began to quickly gather the wounded, throwing those who could not ride over the backs of their horses as they started their retreat from the battlefield littered with corpses of dead men, a few wolf riders hearing the horn from the hill, managed to break through and retreat to their comrades and report the situation to their commander.

…..

While the battle was still underway, Wurgoth stormed towards the general of the Plurus army, the plated knights drawing their swords at the unexpected arrival of the raging orc blocking his way to the commander; the naked steel of their swords glared in the sunlight as far-off cries of battle can be heard echoing slightly.

The middle-aged red-haired general took a relaxed swing from his waterskin, after which he let out a relaxed sigh as he motioned with his hand towards the knights blocking the prominent orc general who had come to visit, his eyes suddenly sharp and brimming with insight.

"General Bardornus, mobilise your cavalry and help save my wolf riders!"

Wurgoth said, his voice colder than the snows which covered the artic.

"They be dead already."

The middle-aged man said calmly, taking a swig from a different tiger-skinned waterskin filled with fine red wine enjoying the taste and keeping up his casual mannerisms.

"They don't sound dead!"

Wurgoth replied, hearing the cries of battle from the other side of the distant hill as ravens began to gather on the sparse trees throughout the landscape.

"Is that so! Because I hear nothin' but ravens nestin."

"What is it that you hear, Vice General Alden."

General Bardornus said to the sparrow head pauldroned man behind him to his left, a bow tucked into a pouch attached to his saddle.

"Ravens nesting general, nothing more."

Vice General Alden said a curt smile on his face, working with his general as Bardornus gestured toward the man, a toothy grin on his scarred face.

"See, apart from those crow's cries, we hear nothin else."

Bardornus said as howling wolves and screams of death could be heard faintly coming from the direction of the lonely hill to the left.

"If we want to win this war, we must work together! Now you can help me out, or I'm taking my army and marching home."

"Do you think that you can beat the Chavarians without us?"

Wurgoth said coldly in his deep orcish voice, using his large army to pressure the middle-aged general.

"Nay, we cannot! But then, once our kingdoms be united as one! Where will that put your kingdom?"

Bardornus said, a scheming smile on his lips as he frankly responded to the questions of Wurgoth, not bothered in the slightest by them.

"If ye so worried about ye puppy riders. Then why don't ye send the rest to rescue them?"

Bardornus said as a flame-red feathered parrot perched on the shoulder of the general and began to chirp.

"Puppy riders, puppy riders, black red knights, black red knights."

The parrot chirped, copying its master's derogatory name for the wolf riders.

"Because it's a trap, and if it is, then they would have been prepared for any counterattack I make."

Wurgoth said condescendingly towards the allied general as if it was obvious.

"Aye, that be true! Tell me, what do black, red knights mean to you?"

"Some form of heavy cavalry?"

"Aye, but this is no ordinary heavy cavalry! These are the royal knights of Chavaria, the most feared bloody devils the Alendel Steppe has ever produced."

"They are merciless riders of hell, leaving no man, women, child or other alive, their bodies stacked on large pyres as the skin is singed, leaving only mellow blackened ash-like bones and flesh behind in their hellish crusade for the unification of the 3 central kingdoms, their flaming vengeance has blackened these lands for a generation."

Bardornus says solemnly as if his eyes could see the burning pyres and blackened bones of people long forgotten.

"In 10 minutes, ye puppy riders will be mostly dead with a few escapees bringin you news of their slaughter even if we leave now to pursue…."

"It will not matter for the black, red knights will be gone even our knights are no match for them as they have fallen over the years of war to the sabre of the Chavarians until only 20,000 are left their numbers in the hundreds of thousands in our ancient tomes of old."

"But I will lead our cavalry to assist you though nothin' good will come out of it.

Bardornus said in an unbothered as he began to rally his men together to head towards the bloodied red ground of the hill.