Chapter 4 - The Specialist

The day after the failed assault on the enemy town, I'm officially transferred to my new sleeping grounds as a sub-officer as part of my deal with the Operations Overseer. I now have a slightly larger tent with an actual bed and a small desk. It's a massive improvement. The double pay is also really sweet; I've been trying to save as much money as possible to repay past debts and it will definitely come in handy. All in all, I feel good right now. The thing is, I still have to find a way to breach the damned walls of the town. It will not be easy.

After I'm transferred to the commanding wing of the company, I quickly realize that the senior officers don't seem to like me at all.

"Never seen you around before." A disgruntled officer speaks to me. I think I recognize him, he was one of the officers that stood idly and watched while our men were torn to pieces by the Sulostans yesterday. I would love to beat him up with my staff, but that's not very professional.

"Because I've never been here before." I simply reply.

"Uh huh. What's your name?" He asks.

"Rose Thorne. I was just promoted to this position."

"Mmm. Well, one piece of advice: Watch your back. The officer corps can be quite competitive."

"I'll be fine." I respond, showing him the abundant kill marks on my staff to counter his euphemized threat.

He finally pisses off.

 I'm certain that the officer had no good intentions at all, solely because he didn't shake hands with me as is the custom in Stracian culture. He didn't tell me his own name either.

The Overseer had expected something like this would happen, so he recommended that I keep a weapon on myself at all times for self-defense purposes. In his own words: "Those corrupt bastards at the officer corps cannot be trusted in any capacity whatsoever. They'll probably suspect our plans and try to get rid of you, so don't hesitate to use lethal force to defend yourself if anything happens."

Not that I have to be told to do that, but I'm happy to comply anyways.

The Overseer also provided me with a new uniform, similar to the ones the officers of the company wear, and he insisted that I should wear it. However, I'd much rather keep wearing my mage robes instead and just put the arm band and sub-officer insignias on top. I do this to affirm my identity as a mage. I want to associate myself with the rest of the officer corps as least as possible.

The problem is that now, I stick out even more.

Yesterday, I barely managed to submit the document and my plan to the Overseer in time as he had requested. It was a sloppy plan, but he seemed to like it, even though he had some small observations. The first step of the plan to put a hole in the walls of the town within a single month involves reconnaissance, as every sane military operation ever. I need to know what I'm actually dealing with before I can proceed with the plan. So, I requested the Overseer to put someone who's specialized in stealth and such under my command so I can get some help with that.

That someone is waiting for me outside my tent right now.

"Uh... Ms. Thorne? Is anyone there?"

I come out to meet him. Just outside the entrance, a young man wearing a mud stained gray combat uniform and leather armor stands around, waiting for me. He has disheveled black hair and should be around my age. I'm not impressed.

"Yeah. You're the stealth specialist?" I speak.

"Yup. Name's Paul Crow. The Overseer summoned me all of a sudden and directed me to you. He said there was a special operation thing going on."

He politely shakes hands with me.

"I'm Rose Thorne, but you probably already know that. There's a special operation indeed."

"Give me the details then."

I grab my staff and order him to follow me. He looks confused but obliges. As we walk, I explain to him that we're assembling a strike group to bring down the enemy walls and that it's kind of a secret operation. He listens carefully. I still don't know what to make of him.

"Alright. What do you need me for then?" He asks.

"For now, just help me out with some basic recon and other stuff."

"Sure."

We exit the main camp. I ask if he knows a good place from which we can observe the besieged town, so he takes me to a slightly elevated position on a small hill nearby. Today, the scenery is just as gross as any other day. The sky is still brown, there is grime everywhere and there are still fires in the distance. However, there's a cool breeze today that makes the smell of the air slightly more tolerable.

We get on a makeshift watch tower the company built there and observe. The walls of the town form a hexagonal shape and they have multiple towers, battlements and hoards that make any attempts at climbing them extremely dangerous. They also had a glacis around them; a small ramp dug out on the ground around the entirety of the outer wall structure that makes approaching with siege engines almost impossible. A formidable defense that we need to find a way get through.

Paul then unpromptedly begins explaining to me that the layout and height of the walls also make building earth ramps to climb them impractical, and that the composition of the ground in this region makes mining operations to undermine them impossible. He also notes that the Sulostans defending it are extremely disciplined, keeping watch and staying alert 24/7 despite probably facing starvation. I'm not sure if he tells me all of this because he loves talking, or to break the awkward silence.

This guy seems okay, but I still don't know if he's actually qualified for the task at hand, so I inquire.

"So, what's your class, Crow?"

"I'm a ranger."

Rangers are a type of light infantry specialized in magical and non-magical forms of stealth. They typically participate in covert ops and pick off the enemy one at a time using long range weapons such as bows and crossbows. This may be why the Overseer sent him specifically to help me in this operation.

"Huh. So how did you end up working here? Your class isn't really suited for boring ass siege warfare, is it?"

"Ehm, the pay is decent. Besides, the company thought my detection spells would be useful for being a sentry and all."

"Hmm."

There's another awkward silence.

I think it would be a good idea to assess his magic capabilities too, so I continue inquiring.

"What's your magic pull force?"

"You're awful at coming up with ice-breakers, you know?" He replies, visibly annoyed at me.

"Answer the question."

"About nine hundred aether units per second." He says like it's no big deal.

Any person's magic capability can be fully quantified in three parameters: the pull force, the push force and the hold force.

The pull force is essentially how quickly you can naturally recover your magic power; the rate at which you absorb aether units from the environment. The push force is just how much aether units you can spend in a single instance, when casting a spell, for example. The hold force is the total amount of aether units your body can naturally store.

Paul's pull force is extraordinarily high. So high, in fact, that he can probably cast spells indefinitely without running out of aether or needing to replenish using batteries.

My pull force is around forty aether units per second, for comparison. If I had a pull force like his, I would probably be the most powerful mage in the world.

"That 's amazing."

"Yeah... But my push force is shit though. Only two hundred aether units per second."

"Oh."

Having a low push force means that you can't really use high-energy spells at all. Due to this limitation, Paul's must be constrained to using low-energy spells that don't require a high push force to be able to be cast. This explains his choice of specialization; the ranger class leans more towards passive spells that enhance stealth, vision and mobility, as opposed to the mage classes that use high-energy active spells that go 'ZAP' and 'BOOM'.

My push force is around four and a half thousand aether units per second. It's only expected from an artillery mage like me to have an extraordinary push force for casting the most destructive spells there are.

I take a look at Paul. He is visibly bored. I can't explain why, but something about him seems to have caught my attention. I must remain focused though.

"Are we just going to stand around here? You could have done that by yourself, you know?" He says.

At this point, an idea comes to my mind.

"How close can you get to the walls without being detected?"

"Probably twenty or so meters in the ideal conditions."

"Can you get me there?"

He is confused.

"You want me to take you that close without being detected...?"

"Exactly. You're the specialist and all, can you do it?"

"I don't know. Your stealth capability is exactly zero, so it would certainly be tricky and dangerous even if I help you. I'm not really in the mood to get killed."

"But can you?" I pressure him further.

"Best I can do is forty meters. But it would be an extraordinary effort that should be rewarded accordingly."

"Oh, yeah? How exactly? I have no authority to raise your wages."

"Maybe you can allow me to buy you a drink sometime."

I stare at him. Is he seriously trying to flirt with me? I should have known better.

I am always really fucking annoyed when men try to flirt with me, I don't have time for their bullshit. But for some reason, I don't really mind it right now, especially because he is so nonchalant about it.

"We'll see." I reply.

"Ehh, worth the shot."

I grab my staff.

"So, are we doing this or not?"

He groans, but finally accepts the challenge.

My plan for breaching the walls involves getting a squadron of artillery mages close to the walls without being detected. That way, we can catch the Sulostan support mages off-guard and destroy the wall before they can cast their magic barriers. It would probably be complicated to do it, but if Paul manages to take me close to the walls without being detected, it can probably be done. This is an attempt at a proof of concept, sort of.

Paul takes out a weird black cloak from his backpack and shows it to me.

"Put this on. And take off your hat."

"No way. My mage hat stays on."

He groans again.

"That thing is not stealthy at all. It's gargantuan and it'll make us easier to detect with magic. Wear it, and we'll get spotted in an instant."

"I doubt it will make much of a difference." I reason.

"With all due respect, who's the fucking stealth specialist here, huh?"

I roll my eyes and comply. Then, I put the weird cloak on. Its heavy and smells like sweat.

"Okay, follow me and do exactly as I say. Else, we'll become target practice for the Sulostan garrison."

He grabs me by the wrist, and we sprint a couple dozen meters before diving into a crater. He then activates his passive stealth spells. He seems to get darker as the spell causes less light to bounce off him.

"Listen, you don't know any anti-detection spells or stealth magic in general, so you'll get detected in an instant by their sentries once we get close. The cloak has stealth characteristics, so it will delay the detection as long as you lay flat and cover yourself with it."

I signaled that I had understood, and we proceeded with our approach. We jumped out of the crater and then started crawling to get closer. It was slow as hell and I hated having to drag myself across the mud, but Paul assured me it was the only way of getting closer.

As we crawled closer and closer to the walls, Paul explained a bunch of stealth magic stuff to me that was really interesting, but I didn't understand at all since it was way out of my area of expertise. From what Paul explained, sentries typically use a type of spell called 'enemy detection' that functions like a pulse. The only way to not be detected by it is by using counter measures such as anti-detection spells. As I don't know how to use those, the cloak will have to do.

We got closer, and Paul signaled me to move more slowly. Aside from being detected by magic means, we could also be spotted by sight. The haze and the cloudy sky helps though.

Paul signaled to me to stop crawling and whispered.

"This is the closest we can get right now without being spotted."

I peek out the cloak. The walls stand tall before me. I grab my staff and point it forward from my prone position.

"The hell are you doing?!" He protests.

"I reckon I can take a shot."

"Hell no! The second you transfer aether to your staff, we're cooked!"

"Let me see it for myself."

"For fucks sake, Thorne!!"

I point my staff up at the wall and transfer aether to its core, ready to cast a spell. A mere two seconds later, a loud horn is heard atop the walls. We've been detected.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" Paul yells

I get up and fire. The Sulostans are taken off guard and they don't have time to cast magic barriers, so the wall receives the full might of my spell. A loud boom and crash are heard, and a huge cloud of dust elevates into the air. I can hear the Sulostans scream in panic from here.

"Holy shit, that's impressive. NOW RUN!!!"

Paul gets up in a hurry and grabs me by the arm again. At this point, the enemy is well aware of our presence and they start firing spells and shooting arrows and bolts at us.

We run for our lives.

Thankfully, we manage to get out of the enemies' range quickly, but Paul gets hit by a crossbow bolt on the back just before we get to safety. He crashes loudly on the ground.

"AHH! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO DO AS I SAID?!" Paul yells at me.

"I'm sorry, it was necessary to try it out for the plan!"

"Fuck off, you and your plan!"

Paul rolls around to let me see his wound.

"Aghh... Is it bad?"

Thankfully, his leather chest plate had absorbed most of the impact and the bolt only penetrated a bit. The wound was shallow.

"It's not a mortal wound."

"Ah... good... Help me get back to the camp and to the infirmary, if you please."

I am impressed with his stoicism despite facing a painful injury. Maybe this guy's a true professional despite his untidy appearance.

I'm relieved. Even though it kinda went to shit, this endeavor proved that the plan is actually possible. I just need to find a way to successfully sneak a squadron of artillery mages close to the walls without alerting the enemy. Paul will be instrumental for exactly that.

"You know that you're a total pain in the ass to work with, right?" He says as I help him walk back to the camp.

"Ha. Better get used to it, Crow. We'll be working together real closely from now on."