Chapter 43 : War 1

(AN : This chapter is susceptible to change.)

"Why did you let Lord Midel give the speech? As the Town Head, you should be motivating the people, even more so since you plan on battling alongside them." A brunette with a sense of maturity diffusing from her faced the little 'kid' before her. Thy were both a few metres away from the crowd as such no one noticed them.

"I'm letting the younger generation have experience in matters like this. What's wrong with that?" Arman responded while munching on a bag of chips.

"The young generation? Permit to say this but Lord Midel isn't that young anymore plus he's already had a few experiences in war time situations. If you wanted to lie, you could have given a less lousy reason. Don't tell me you were shy approaching them because of your height?" Alice lightly smirked.

Coughing awkwardly, Arman replied "That's not it. I made myself like this so why would I be scared of meeting others? I just felt like giving a speech would be stressful."

"I thought you wanted to let the younger generation gain experience in such matters?"

"...uhh, it's my turn now."

At this time Lord Midel had just concluded his motivating 'speech'. Town Head Arman tossed his bag of chips away, possibly to an alternate dimension and lifted his hands towards the crowd.

"[Great Void Movement]"

Following that, a burst of light flooded out from beneath the crowd and in the next second, the clearing was empty. All the players alongside the NPC soldiers and mercenaries were gone. Even Arman and Alice were gone.

. . . . .

Gnorka, Formerly Ghost Mansion

The boss was nowhere to be seen but the damage he had caused on the land still remained. A huge portion of the ground was stained with a mix of red and green coloured blood. After the creature of darkness and devastated a large amount of land behind the mansion, most of the goblins had evacuated from the underground tunnels they hid in and set up camp behind the building.

It turned out that the numbers the allied guild forces had earlier faced was nothing but a tip of the iceberg. There were at least 300 at the clearing with a few more occupying the mansion and some others camping on the mountains. An estimate of the goblin forces on ground would be at least 530 goblins and there were even more underground.

A couple of metres away, a barrier was set up and within it was a small army of humans. They consisted of the at least 480 NPC forces(AN : Once you include the General and his men that arrived exactly on time.) together with a player force of more than 300 players which included the ones from earlier who had faced the boss.

When the players had earlier arrived, they all received a System notification;

[[ System notification :

Update on "The Goblin's Invasive Retribution."

The Goblin's Invasive Retribution : Mission Package

A player has just discovered the goblin hideout, Gnorka. Slay the goblins and prevent them from invading the lands.

The mission begins in 00 : 10 : 00 .

Rewards : Based on performance.

Kill 1 goblin : Experience reward + Basic reward

Kill 10 goblins : Experience rewards increase by 0.5 + 1 Silver ore(2 star).

Kill 50 goblins : 5 ingots of Dawn steel(2 star)

Kill 100 goblins : 1 log of Iron Pear wood(3 star). (If completed individually, the reward is as it stands. If completed by a group, apart from the experience reward, only 1 set is given to the group)[1]

Kill 1 troll : Experience reward + 1 silver core(2 star)

Kill 5 trolls : Experience rewards increase by 2 + 5 ingots Dawn steel

Kill 10 trolls : 1 log of Iron pear wood + 10 silver coins

Kill the leader : 1 Soul crystal (4-star) + 10 gold coins

Most Kills (individual) : 1 bar of Timber Crystal(3 star), 2 ingots of Star Gold(3 star), 5 silver coins, 1 level up, Relationship level with human forces becomes [Honoured], title [Humanity's Friend].[2]

Most Kills (group) : 1 ingot of Star Gold, 5 silver coins, 1 level up, Relationship level with human forces becomes [Honoured], title [Great Helper].[3]

Basic reward : 2 ingots of Limber steel , 5 Dark pearls, 3 silver coins, 50% increase in experience.

Failure Penalty : Destruction of the nearest Town

Loss of 2 levels with reduction of experience gained by 30% for 2 weeks

Relationship level with human forces at [Dislike] ]]

(AN : Relationship levels in Infinite Realm are divided into; [Unforgivable, Hatred, Dislike, Neutral, Acquaintance, Friends, Trusted and Revered] for people. For organisations, Relationship levels in Infinite Realm are divided into; [Unforgivable, Enemy, Dislike, Neutral, Honoured, Respected, Trusted and Revered] )

Even thought their numbers were huge, their levels were still low, averaging around level 3-4. In a battle consisting of level 4- level 7 goblins, the players would undoubtedly lose. However with the assistance of the NPC forces, their chances of victory had risen by more than two-folds.

In the command centre of the NPC forces, Lord Midel, Town Head Arman, Secretary Alice and a few other important figures had gathered round a table in a tent just recently set up.

"According to our scouts, there seems to be more goblins hidden beneath the mountain. We estimate a total of one thousand but it might be more or less but not so much." Midel said as he pointed at a spot on the map placed before them.

"I can't scan the mountain because as we all know, the Kiro mountain range is made up of Ghalates and they have a special feature of blocking out mana." A man dressed in a white and azure pellegrina and cassock with a crosier in his left hand commented. He was the bishop of the Church of Light's branch in Riverdale, Enzo Giovanni.

"I would have peeked in with my void abilities but I doubt I could go unseen by the emissary." Arman casually uttered. "Since we don't know the exact measure of his strength, any advantage we have shouldn't be lost especially our advantage of surprise."

"So the only option we have is to rush forward and adapt right?" Another man with a turban on his head and a white beard asked.

"Indeed but not exactly." Midel replied. "Lord Arman, kindly tell them what you told me."

"A few hours ago I felt a gaze on Riverdale. You all are quite strong so you should have pretty much sensed it."

"You mean that gaze is…" The turban headed man, Deval, frowned.

"Considering the current situation, then yes. The gaze was from it."

Bishop Enzo frowned and said as if in thought "That gaze held a lot of darkness in it. Despite the wide distance I could still feel it. That means that it's strength is around the 6th or possibly 7th tier." As a Bishop, he had once come into contact with the Papal head. As a result of this, Enzo was already aware of the energy rank of such beings.

"Normally I would agree with you but not this time. It isn't easy to reach that level plus the kingdom isn't so lax as to let a 6th tier being in without regulation. Even though they failed in discovering this goblin army, a 6th tier being is different. It's most likely a weaker clone or a projection so we should be able to handle it."

A 6th tier being would be a Saint whereas a 7th tier being would be a Demigod. Such beings are capable of easily wiping out a city much less a simple town. Even the Emperor of an Empire or the King of a Kingdom would be at this level at most. Because of this, they tend to prevent any one of equal magnitude or ability to cross through their borders, in fear of their destructive abilities.

Reaching this level is quite tough as such, everyone who does so often value their lives. Even though they are very few who can rival them, with the gods all in hibernation, some Empires and independent Kingdoms have secret treasures and weapons that are capable of slaying them. With the right amount of quality and quantity of lesser figures, they could even eliminate a 6th tier being.

Due to these factors, 6th tier beings often operate with clones or projections of themselves. Even though these clones and projections are far weaker than the main thing, wreaking havoc and eliminating a town isn't a hard thing to do.

"I will handle him first and get a feel of his power. After that, Deval and Enzo, you both find an opportunity and deal a significant blow on him. Keep in mind that I might not be able to hold him off for long. Midel, you work with the units and eliminate the goblin army as fast as possible. There's most likely a commander figure amongst them. Lead our troops to victory with as minimal loss as possible."

"Yes, Lord Arman." Midel saluted.

"My men would act as a shock troop, barging through the army and eliminating their elites." Bishop Enzo clarified.

"Alright. I know you church people aren't a fan of being controlled but I hope you won't get in the way?" Arman faced Bishop Enzo.

"My teaming up with you and agreeing to your plan is already a sign of us hoping to work together properly." Bishop Enzo smiled kindly.

"If that is all then let's begin."

AN :

[1] Take for instance 1 person slays 50 goblins, he receives all the reward for slaying 50 goblins plus the reward for slaying 10 goblins * 5. So his/her rewards are : 5 ingots of Dawn steel, 5 ingots of Silver ore and 5% increase in experience gained from slaying goblins (for the event.)

If a group of 5 players slay 50 goblins, only one set of the 50 goblins reward is given, in other words only 5 ingots of Dawn steel is given not 25. The same with the reward for 10 goblins * 5, only the experience is shared. In other words, their rewards collectively become : 5 ingots of Dawn steel, 5 ingots of silver ore. The 5% increase in experience gained is given to all the players in the group but the rewards above are given collectively not individually. (Ask me questions in the comment section if you still don't understand.)

This applies to all the rewards.

[2] [Humanity's friend] :

5% discount when trading with human forces.

NPCs tend to trust you more for missions.

Relationship level with human forces would always be capped at [Honoured] unless you commit a sacrilege.

[3] [Great Helper] :

2% discount when trading with human forces.

NPCs tend to trust you more for missions.