"The fuck do you mean 'protection protocol'?! What does that even mean?" I frustratedly questioned Korbin, raising my hands up at my sides. Cassi shot me a dirty look from across the table, subtly flicking her head toward Winston who stood beside Korbin. Phoebe and Derrick both turned their heads away from us in a fruitless attempt at covering their snickering, while Hayden and Lonni stood rather stoically on their side of the Tytos Giant clans war table.
"I mean you're not to leave my side or engage in any way until I explicitly say otherwise, and anything else will be an open act of insubordination that will not go unpunished. Are we crystal fucking clear, Tom?" Korbin asked, staring intently into my eyes. I refused to break eye contact, knowing full and well I may be overreacting a tad. It's just difficult imagining myself taking a backseat to a siege after having carried the heaviest responsibilities in each one so far. Especially after failing to protect my soldier's miserably already.
"Yes, sir." I said, removing my hands from the table. My eyes wandered forward away from anyone else's gaze, an instant sense of regret overcoming me at my sensitivity to a change in roles. I sighed realizing Cassi was more than likely staring a hole in my skull. Looking over however, her eyes were surprisingly softened, bordering sympathetic at seeing my frustrated little outburst. Korbin continued briefing the rest of our Captains as I focused on accepting my new, more passive role.
"Derrick, Barry, you two will lead our front lines. Derrick, be sure to expend as much mana as you can, as you will be taking damage if they end up having a decent force on the ground, and will need that toughness boost. Based solely on Winston's information, you shouldn't have much resistance from foot soldiers. Your role better fits a precautionary measure." Korbin instructed, earning an affirming nod from Derrick. Barry rubbed his hands wearing an excited grin, no doubt being eager to see some action after being sidelined with a terrible burn at the hands of a Wyvern. While it was probably 99.98% my fault he got hurt having taken him to the island, that full arm gauntlet does look pretty fucking cool. So, all's well it ends well, right?
"Phoebe, you and Becky push head of formation and rain hell on their toxic sentient plants and giants alike before our soldiers are in range. Retreat immediately after and split up. Phoebe, you provide support from the backline. Becky will serve as our calvary, meaning you must get close enough to relay my orders to her." Korbin ordered. Phoebe took a moment, apparently soaking in the details of her orders before nodding. Korbin turned his attention back toward me.
"Steve will be our eyes in the sky, inform him to remain in the air as long as possible and scout for stronger forces. If he finds anything he can't handle, he's to report it before I send you with him. If I'm not told it's race and level, you're not to accompany him. Understood?" Korbin said, going out of his way to spell it out for me. I nodded, seeing he's been reacting to nonverbal responses much better.
"Lonni, you're to stay with me as well, as I intend on bouncing between the front and back lines. Our soldiers will need your range and support, and I'll need the attention you demand." Korbin said, shooting Lonni a grin. Lonni smiled back as he responded.
"So the usual?" Lonni replied. Korbin gave a chuckling nod, turning his attention to Hayden.
"Hayden, you're Gryphon is to wreak havoc on our enemies backlines. Their best weapons a poisonous miasma both their casters and the plant life around their settlement excuses. So long as you don't mind, your Gryphon doing constant damage will make pushing to their gate much easier. Not to mention how many fallen foes will be available for you to reanimate…" Korbin said, his words sounding more of a proposal than an order.
"Of course! And I greatly appreciate your permission, sir Korbin. Be certain those reborn under my will shall serve your soldiers in this battle." Hayden replied, bowing in respect. As weird as I found how he talks when I'd first encountered Hayden at the Placement Tournament's top 10, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't growing on me a little.
"What will the Tytos Giants be contributing to the battle?" Cassi asked curiously.
"Their scouts information on these half demonic, half plant life giants who have been touched by the giant demigod known as Lily The Baur. Their defenses are well documented as well, with a few of Winston's more talented having used spells to copy down drawings of their settlement walls instantly. The Tytos clan also intends on becoming active allies to Elysium, even willing to send their brightest minds to trade knowledge with our Savants. They've done more than enough help." Korbin replied.
"Of course, apologies General." Cassi responded in a professional tone. After going over a few black and white drawings of the infernal plant giants' settlement walls and its defensive measures covering the thick, overgrown jungle-like biome surrounding their settlement. Unlike most other pylons which usually had wide open plains surrounding them, the brush and trees tightly packed together multiplied, covered in massive low hanging vines and exotic plant life.
"Is there anyone here who's confused about anything I've said here?" Korbin asked, glancing around the room at us. Nobody spoke, rather shaking our heads looking amongst each other.
"Okay, then it's time to leave. Cassi, get our soldiers in formation outside their gates." Korbin ordered. Cassi very promptly bolted out of the room, bumping into one of the Tytos guards standing outside.
"Everyone else is to await our soldiers and myself outside of the Tytos clans Settlement. Everyone except Tom." Korbin said, giving me pause from heading for the exit. The others shuffled out, Phoebe flashing me a grave look that said 'yikes'. I gave her the finger before walking back to Korbin who waited in front of the Tytos, and assumedly Winston's war table.
"What's up?" I asked, feeling far more casual with everyone else gone.
"Fuck man, you got to stop snapping at me in front of folks like that. There's going to be a time where that's really not okay, and 'not okay' shit will have to follow, you get what I mean?" Korbin said, sounding more discouraged than angry.
"I get that but, why am I being benched exactly? I don't recall fucking up anytime recently to warrant it now?" I asked, feeling frustration resurfacing in my chest.
"It's not because you did anything. In fact to be perfectly honest with you Tom, you've been leaned on like a crutch. You, and your 'squad' should not be absolutely necessary to win every single battle. Not with the resources available." Korbin replied in a keel tone.
"Maybe, but only because everything around us is so much fucking stronger, seemingly naturally." I said.
"Exactly, everything absolutely IS stronger than us, doubly so than most of our forces. Other than our giant recruits of course but, frankly they're not nearly as well trained as our Water Druid soldiers. And we can't afford training soldiers dying by the dozens on the front line every siege. Things are going to change, but none of it is because you fucked up this time, okay?" Korbin explained, extending his hand for an informal handshake. I chuckled noticing he'd managed to slip an insult into reassurance.
"Okay, that's fair enough honestly. I got to ask man, how hard did you go on Cassi?" I asked, accepting his handshake. Korbin began walking to the exit, but didn't refrain from answering as I followed him out.
"Honestly? Not as hard as I should've. A lot of her reactions came from answers came to before I could explain the full spectrum of her fuck-ups. I suppose being such a fast learner has its drawbacks after all." Korbin answered, chuckling to himself.
"I see, she put two and two together before you could explain it? You must have been pissed not getting to say your piece." I said, knowing how much Korbin adores dramatizing his lessons, with just a sprinkle of shame at the end.
"Don't even get me fucking started." He replied, opening the exit from the Tytos clan's Pylon building.
"Do you honestly think you're going to need me out there by the way? I'd like to know how bored I should expect to be." I asked, blinking quickly as my eyes adjusted to the light.
"I'm hoping not, but worst case you can protect our soldiers from dying while they farm experience killing our foes. Helping doesn't hurt, Tom. You just can't dip out and steal all the experience just because you can." Korbin answered sternly.
"That's…not a bad point. Boost our soldiers to at least somewhere more comparable to our levels." I said, thinking out loud.
"And anything too strong for them to handle, you're available to fight all by yourself, with nobody other than Steve to interfere." Korbin added, smiling at seeing me understand his plan. It certainly doesn't suck, and I'd be a liar saying I hadn't often wished our forces were higher leveled. Then again, I also wish that for myself far, far more often.
"Alright, I'm cool with th-"
"Better be, SOLDIERS!" Korbin interrupted, making sure to get in his verbal jab before commanding the attention of the troops gathering outside of the Tytos settlement through the front gate. Those in formation stood at attention at his call, while the others catching up continued their sprints until joint formation themselves.
"Double time, we're not fighting anything in the dark, and we have a Pylon defense first thing at noon tomorrow. The sooner we handle these hellish twigs, the less I'll ask of you to defend our new settlement tomorrow. Sounds like a fair deal?" Korbin asked, his hands out to his sides glancing about his soldiers.
"SIR!" Replied every soldier in earshot.
"Good, we leave in 20 minutes." Korbin said, earning another confirming 'sir' in unison. Our troops quickened their already favorable pace, collecting their armors, weapons, potions and squad assignments with haste. Korbin was incredibly thorough in ensuring each soldier knew their jobs, using Lonni and Derrick as tutors for the upcoming siege being a prime example of his clear priority on everyone knowing their roles.
After finishing our preparations, we exited from the Tytos Pylon and began our track further northwest up the continent of warring Demigod Giant siblings. Our travels were surprisingly peaceful, though it wasn't the first time beasts retreated into the woods prior to a defense like waves retracting into the sea before the devastating force of a tsunami consumes the land and its inhabitants, leaving destruction and silence in its wake. Though many noisily primates made themselves known among the trees, none of their communities inhibited our travels toward the Lily, The Baur settlement. Korbin and I lead the pack, with most of our better soldiers already positioned where they'd serve during the siege. With that came plenty of quiet banter to pass the time.
"Any reason why you have birds that send messages, but never for scouting and reconnaissance?" I asked, feeling rather curious at the lack of utilization.
"Their tamers are absolutely shit in combat, and their beasts aren't meant to fight either. That's only for now however, as I intend on diversifying our array of beasts to select from at the birdcage." Korbin answered in a hush, smiling excitedly at explaining his long term plans.
"Damn, that's a shame, especially since Shared Sense would make scouting exponentially easier out here." I replied, shaking my head in disappointment. After a couple silent paces, I glanced over at Korbin confused at why he hadn't responded to find him staring in disbelief a few feet behind.
"Sha-shared…what is 'Shared Sense', Tom?" Korbin asked, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath clearly subduing a flare of unbridled rage in his eyes. The face was unmistakable, though at what he's so pissed about is beyond me. Confused, I explained the nature of my Tamer skill I've had for quite some time now.
"It's a beast tamer skill, and a common one at that. You can feel, smell, or see through your beasts senses at one time. It was totally clutch when Steve and I were fighting this one Sonic Whale-mom who chased us deep under the ocean being so unbelievably strong a-"
"Shut up, you're telling me you can see through Steve's eyes?" Korbin interrupted, pointing back at Steve who was slithering closely beside Becky.
"Yeah?" I replied, shrugging.
"…through the giant flying snake's eyes?" Korbin asked, rewording the same question.
"Yep, that's the one. Why?" I said, not seeing any reason why it's such a surprise.
"Tom, you're a fucking idiot." Korbin said, continuing his pace forward after looking back and seeing our soldiers catching up to earshot.
"What the fuck, why?" I asked, feeling rather wrongfully offended.
"When we get close, Steve will fly over while Phoebe and Becky rain hell. You use that bullshit skill while he does, and, are you ready for this?…scout." Korbin said in a vigorously sarcastic tone.
"Oh, yeah good idea. Shit, why haven't I be-" the realization hit me before I could finish my sentence, feeling Korbin's wide glare burning through the side of my head.
"What's that? Why haven't you been…using that skill? Well shit, that's a pretty great fucking questions isn't it, Tom?" Korbin snapped, speaking in an angry hush.
"To be honest, I don't even know its range because AS I WAS SAYING, I had to use that skill to see in deep water. I've only ever used it while riding on the back of Steve." I said, reluctantly summarizing one of my favorite hunt stories.
"Well, todays the day you find out." Korbin replied dismissively. We continued our trek in silence for another 5 minutes before Korbin's head snapped toward me.
"You said that shit's only a common rarity?!" Korbin asked astonishedly.
"Yeah, got it really early on, too." I answered honestly. This was certainly not the first time Korbin assisted in finding utility in something I otherwise ignored. Far from it in fact, making the transition between discouraged at my ignorance and enjoying my new knowledge nearly instant by now.
"Course you did." Korbin replied, looking to the sky as he spoke. I smiled, knowing I'd accidentally gotten under his skin. Though, it's a bit silly of me to have never really utilized this skill, but no to time like the present. Following another 2 hours of marching through the dense forest before spotting the transition into the plant infested jungle biome. Korbin halted the troops, holding his fist in the air.
"Alright, Tom. Activate your Shared Sense and send Steve to scout from above. Becky, try to stay within communicative range with Steve in case he sees any surprises. Otherwise, Phoebe will be ripping through as many of the massive plant traps and giants alike. Both of you retreat the moment they start returning attacks." Korbin ordered.
"Steve, you heard him." I said, turning toward Steve who slithered beside Becky and Phoebe.
"Loud and clear." Steve replied, slithering forward and lifting up himself high in the air with his massive wings. Becky slithered nearly under his shadow, with Phoebe stretching her shoulders with her bow on her back. Closing my eyes, I focused on activating Shared Sense. A second later the world took on a far more detailed form, my view now from above the towering trees glancing between the gaps in the leaves, branches and vines. Steve's ability to focus was impressive, albeit discombobulating not having control of directing my vision, nor being able to hear anything.
Steve slowly glided down in a circular descent, landing softly atop a thick tree branch and slithering across the many clumped branches. Phoebe's fiery arrows flashed into Steve's vision, multiple building sized plants with only teeth igniting in flames. One of them spat out a massive cloud of purple and pink glistening mist from its glimmering purple drool dripping maw, which exploded in a cloud of fire as another flaming arrow whizzed into the toothed plant, erecting from a mess of thick vines. Steve quickly U-turned seeing the fight, heading back towards us.
"Phoebe and Becky have engaged, and those plants are fucking terrifying. Steve's on his way back now." I informed Korbin, deactivating the skill after Steve took flight.
"Forward!" Korbin commanded aloud, jogging through the abrupt transition from foliage ridden forest to the claustrophobically diverse jungle biome. Our forces frontliners followed after us 20 feet behind with Derrick leading their charge. It didn't take long to spot the smoke from Phoebe's incendiary introduction to these demonic plant-giants. Along our path burned the charred remains of giants who's anatomy was made entirely out of vines, wood and even flowers. To our sides crackled the remains of the teethed plants slowly withering to dust in a sea of flames. Becky's figure emerged from the thick layer of smoke that hung over the jungle, with Phoebe leaping from her back as she passed by.
Looking up, the faint outline of my winged serpent over watching breached a gap in the dark smoke.
"Contact!" Korbin announced, stopping dead in his tracks and allowing the front to push ahead. I halted my jog beside him, knowing he wouldn't allow me to join our initial push. Derrick and Cassi were the first to dash by me, followed by Lonni and Barry surrounded by our giants and Druid soldiers. Squinting ahead, towering figures emerged through the heavy cloud of smoke, each exuding a shimmering pink miasma. Derrick's halberd thrusted forward, glowing a dark violet at each blade that grew into a ball of energy. The violet orb disappeared after Derrick thrusted his weapon at a faraway charging plant-giant. Then, the giant dropped, a small portion of its head missing as it collapsed.
What the hell was that?
A 30 foot tall tree suddenly lurched down towards our troops, slashing its branches out like wooden claws. It too emitted the same pinkish fog from the pores in its bark. A long dark figure wrapped quickly around the trunk of the sentient tree, Becky's head pausing after fully locking her body around the living tree. Her body began flexing hard, causing the tree to shudder as its trunk started crackling under the immense pressure. Barry smashed his cleaver into the roots of the massive attacking tree, letting out a bloodthirsty battle cry.
"Keep moving!" Korbin ordered, pushing our soldiers ahead and placing the constricted living tree in a sea of our warriors. Steve blasted into the downed tree like a meteor from the sky, landing his Flow Bite and smashing the tree completely in half. I started running over, hoping to get an Identify on it when Korbin's hand clasped my shoulder.
"The fuck are you going?" He asked.
"Relax, I just want to know what that's called." I said, pointing to the ravaged sentient tree. Korbin pulled on my shoulder, spinning me to face him.
"Then ask, Cassi!" Korbin shot back before peering over at the tree's corpse. Cassi was just about to chase after Derrick to take on some more plant-giants when she heard his call, sprinting over without hesitation.
"What's up?" Cassi asked through heavy breaths.
"Can you tell me the race name of that tree-beast?" Korbin asked, his eyes remaining trained on the frontlines almost completely shrouded in smoke.
"Oh yeah, they're Tree Dryads." Cassi replied. Korbin smiled, staring me in the eyes, not breaking contact even while giving Cassi instructions.
"Thank you, inform Barry to slow down, there's a second wave of poison flowers just a bit further ahead. Cassi, give me an approximation." Korbin ordered.
"Got it." Cassi replied, her eyes rolling in the back of her head standing perfectly upright.
"Woah, what the fuck?" I said aloud.
"What, did she not use this with you guys?" Korbin asked, looking angrily at Cassi who stood blankly between us. Her eyes rolled back forward as a flow of words escaped her mouth.
"20 yards. Barry won't make it in time." Cassi said through heavy breathing as she popped the cork off of a man's potion.
"Tom, g-" I sprinted through the crowd of soldiers pushing forward, weaving between a few fights until finally reaching Barry. Of course, the bloodthirsty Jaia Giant was doing what he loved; fighting multiple enemies at once. Half a dozen giants completely made of vines swung massive piles for arms wildly at Barry, fighting within a mist of shimmering pink energy.
Not willing to fuck around with questionable clouds, lightning mana surged through my chest into my arms, discharging through my blades slapping together firing a Lightning Bolt through the chest of a vine-giant. Barry cleaved through its midsection, bisecting the creature at its smoldering wound left by my attack.
"Barry! Back the fuck up!" I yelled, seeing him charging towards the furthest giant. He looked back, right as the drooling toothed maw of a massive sentient plant leaned its green and purple figure around a giant tree. Barry turned back around in time to get absolutely drenched in a stream of purple liquid. Steve's Water Breath attack slammed into the top of the plant's purple and green head, ripping the toothed plant's green 'skin' from its body. The giant plant collapsed, leaking purple and pink liquid out of its exposed skull. Barry retreated towards me, chugging a health potion along the way.
"Holy shit?!" I said seeing Barry much up close. The liquid on his armor didn't appear to do much other than drip off of him. The fluid that soaked his exposed skin however left streaks of sickly purple veins protruding from his discolored skin.
"It's fine, I can feel the health potion winning in there." Barry said, attempting to physically shake off the thick poison from his body. I backed away, making sure not to get any splashed on me.
"Doesn't matter, slow down. Stick to the fucking plan!" I said, turning and sprinting back toward Korbin who stood waiting with Phoebe in our backline. I hated the fact I had to be a stickler about this, especially given how freely we used to operate on sieges. Still, there would be unavoidable losses if an act of ambition sent Korbin's plan went awry quite frankly, it's already happened enough times for me to start giving these drawn out schemes a chance.
"Good work. We're halfway there, they should send more ground support soon. Cassi, join Derrick, Barry and Lonni at the front line. Split them, let our enemy funnel into death if they choose to push. Phoebe, shadow Cassi from afar and provide support to her and our front liners. Don't push too far forward until Becky's with you." Korbin quickly ordered, sending our squad out to prepare for presumably our largest clash this siege will have to offer. I looked back toward the battle, catching a glimpse of Steve and Korbin's Gryphon crossing flight paths, firing their respective liquid-breath attacks down at a second Tree Dryad.
"What about me?" I asked, turning back to Korbin. I barely caught him passing me behind my other shoulder, heading closer toward the frontlines.
"Protect me. If any soldiers are looking worse for wear, save them. Then come back." Korbin replied, lifting his gem tipped battle axe into the air. Korbin's arms erupted into wavering orange flames, channeling into his axe and firing out of the gem at the top of his polearm. A stream of the same wriggling orange mana shot over our front line, descending into a fiery orange dome surrounding the majority of our frontline. He'd used something similarly many sieges ago on an entirely different continent, though it was nowhere near the same size or intensity. If memory serves me right, being in that bubble boosted our resistance, though our soldiers began cutting through the plant-giants noticeably more efficiently.
My eyes darted from melee to melee, scouting for any soldiers being put on their heels. Lonni's spiked flail slamming into the bark skull of a plant giant stole my attention, trailing the extending chain across the battlefield. A barrage of fiery arrows exploded further into the forest, the concussive force wafting away the remainder of her smoke cloud. Under the smoke revealed the burning corpses of giants withering along with the rest of the plant life congesting the jungle. Two giant toothed plants lurched forward from behind trees on either side of our path towards their settlement, one being doused in high pressure water by Steve from behind, ripping its body apart.
The other sharp toothed plant was being violently compressed, branches and vines leaking purple liquid squelching under Becky's unrelenting constriction. Becky's dark serpent form snapped inward, finally crumbling the poisonous plant in her grasp. The liquid had definitely contacted Becky's body, though it appeared to drip off harmlessly from her thick scales. She whipped back toward the plant giants in melee with our forces, slamming into a group of them. Derrick teleported around the plant-giants flying by, slicing his purple headed Halberd through the skull of another plant-giant. Derrick pointed his open hand toward another giant's leg, another purple orb manifesting and disappearing in a flash. The plant- giants leg shattered in half in response. Whatever skill Derrick was using, he fucking owed me an explanation later.
Our steady march through the rather underwhelming Plant-Giants showed no signs of slowing, seeing our troops cycling devastating blows after one another. The giants touched by Lily, the Baur consistently funneled into the gap between our front line, now leaving two formations of about 30 of our warriors each. The enemy giants happily sprinted into our kill box, as the gap slowly tightened closer toward the middle of our formations. Looking ahead, the outline of their massive settlement walls covered in tangling vines and branches growing into the walls. Just outside of the gate hovered a familiar pink shimmering miasma.
"HOLD!" Korbin ordered, bellowing a deep bark over the ensuing carnage. Our frontlines halted nearly in unison, Phoebe's arrows intensifying in quantity being able to stand still and fire from 20 feet beside Korbin and I. Korbin raised a hand, a baseball size orb of orange flame manifesting above his open palm. Slowly, the ball of fire grew in size exponentially by the second until growing 6 feet in circumference. Korbin strained letting out an audible grunt thrusting his arm forward, sending the massive ball of flames straight into the miasma cloud.
The cloud exploded like fumes to a lit match, decimating the trees just outside of the settlement gate. Both trees collapsed, though a set of branches lifted one of them from the jungle floor. Its branches were actively aflame, though that didn't stop its branches from piercing into the dirt, roots sprouting across the green jungle floor. One after another, the roots fired up into a bouquet of massive sharp wooden pikes. The roots wriggled between or split front lines, jutting wood pikes between our troops killing dozens of the plant-giants still fighting.
"Barry!" Korbin called out. Rather than his attention, Barry immediately began hacking through the wooden pikes separating our forces. Movement at the settlement caught my attention, squinting to see the entrance gate rising open. Out stepped a feminine figure, based on their shape and long hair from a distance. Though, as she approached, the mysterious figures' details became apparent. She stood over 8 feet tall, her body completely made of thick, wriggling vines and massive leaves, with branches and exotec flowers blossoming from her head in place of hair. Around her forehead sat a diadem, with a thick green gem at its center. Her eyes glowed bright red, piercing through the little smoke hovering from her burning subjects' corpses.
"Korbin!" I yelled, pointing at the red eyed plant-woman.
"I know! Steve needs to identify it!" Korbin yelled back, chugging down a mana potion.
"She looks tough, Korbin!" I shot back, weary to let the stranger strike first.
"War isn't just strength. It's control!" Korbin replied proudly. Looking back, the multicolored figures' hands were lifted into the air, dozens of massive vines rising from her arms and back high into the air. Bright pink energy emitted at the ends of each vine before whipping forward, firing a barrage of pink spikes into our soldiers. The energy dissipated from the spikes as they traveled through Korbin's orange dome, though they still stabbed many of our soldiers. Luckily none of them fell, many being giants of other demigods who merely ripped the spikes from their bodies and discarding them. I looked back at Korbin, who stared back at me with his patented frustrated blank stare. Sighing, he finally gave my presence purpose.
"Fine…go."