Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Ludmila joined the other Adventurers as they gathered around the Gate that Pestonya opened at the end of the chamber, and Ludmila awaited her turn to enter along with the other scouts.

As per procedure, the front-line Fighters – the Defenders and Vanguards of each party – entered first to secure the landing. It was most likely safe on the other side, but it was the sort of thing they could only practice at the start of an expedition. After the expedition vanguard entered, the scouts would follow and fan out over the surroundings. The camp and their supplies would come through with a second Gate once the immediate area was deemed secure and a Message was used to relay the go-ahead to E-Rantel.

Stepping into the portal, Ludmila entered into a shadowed clearing, through which a bubbling brook cut its way down the rocky terrain. Those that had come in before her were tense and alert, each member looking around nervously at the forests’ edge. Save for the sound of the wind through the trees and the water flowing nearby, it was quiet, though their entrance could have easily been the reason for this.

“Have you been here before?” Ludmila asked Kyla, who was covering the eastern approach to the landing.

“This is exactly where we left off,” Kyla replied softly. “We fought those Frost Giants right along that brook last week. They probably just dropped us off to continue from where we were, but it feels kinda mean…”

Ludmila moved past Kyla as more Adventurers arrived through the Gate. Across the clearing, there were indeed signs of battle: earth and stone violently displaced; vicious gashes left on the trees by massive blades. One could easily imagine a battle being fought with Giants from all of the evidence left behind. Joining the other Rangers as they examined the perimeter, Ludmila mentally reviewed what she was responsible for.

While she hadn’t participated in any of the training expeditions, she did help organize them. She also had far more practical experience in this type of environment than the other Rangers due to her upbringing and ongoing duties on the border. This portion of their procedures was rather straightforward, if not time-consuming, as it involved securing the area where the first base camp would be established. For the Rangers’ part, they were to ensure that a one kilometre radius around the camp was clear of threats, then report in so that the second Gate from E-Rantel could be called in.

She made her way around mossy boulders and exposed roots over the rugged forest floor, occasionally looking up at the snowy peaks of the Azerlisia Mountains peeking through the treetops. Along her meandering route, the closest thing that might be considered a threat was a den of wolves. They watched her as she made her way by, then followed her a short distance, but ultimately did not make any aggressive moves.

At the root of a Ranger’s ability to bond with their chosen companions was a natural empathy that allowed them to communicate with animals at a rudimentary level through a myriad of means. They could use skills derived from this ability to intimidate animals just as easily as they could attract them. It was one of the keys that allowed one to navigate the wilderness smoothly, as it allowed a Ranger to both avoid confrontations and take advantage of the wisdom of the local wildlife. The more one advanced as a Ranger, the stronger this natural empathy became, as did the skills that stemmed from it.

There were many ways of taking advantage of this ability. Some Rangers, like Lady Aura, followed the path of a tamer, who could make even magical beasts their companions. Others went in another direction, combining it with their studies to specialize in dealing with certain opponents. Ludmila, for instance, was a Demihuman specialist, while Merry specialized in the Undead. It was difficult to understand how one could specialize in the Undead through natural empathy, but the results were undeniable. Needless to say, Demihuman Rangers could specialize in Humans if their environment demanded it, making them some of the deadliest threats to Humans that defended the border.

After roughly an hour investigating her assigned area, Ludmila was satisfied with her findings. She returned to the camp location as twilight fell over the clearing. As the least proficient Ranger in the expedition, she was, of course, the last to arrive.

“Sorry for the wait,” she told Merry. “It’s clear on my side. There was a den of wolves, but they shouldn’t bother us.”

“Okie…”

Merry nodded, then looked around until she found Moknach. Seeing her wave, Moknach nodded at a mage who was standing nearby. Within half a minute, a Gate opened and the Adventurers started moving in their camp materials and supplies.

“How far behind was I?” Ludmila asked.

“About fifteen minutes from the first guy in,” Merry replied. “Still better than before, though. The first day out of the Great Lake, the two Rogues we sent out took forever. Pretty sure they got lost a few times, too. After that, we had to pair ‘em up with Druids.”

The Elf Ranger placed her hands on her hips, looking around at the other Rangers, who were still assembled from their reporting.

“We’ll be continuing our survey work from here,” she said, “but we’re narrowing our work area so we don’t stick around more than we absolutely need to. Each of your parties will be responsible for a 500 metre wide strip, and we’ll be focusing on figuring out the best balance between distance and changes in elevation for the future highway.”

“Are we still following that old mountain trail going north?” Pool, one of the Gold-ranked Rangers asked.

“It’s been pretty useful as a loose guideline so far,” Merry said, “but you’ve seen where it doesn’t work. I made it pretty far ahead before I detected those Frost Giants the other day, and the trail past a certain point won’t be suitable for the highway. There’s a deep gorge past this range to the north of us, where the trail basically goes straight down a cliff. Soul Eaters might be able to get around no problem, but not the wagons that they’re bringing with ‘em.”

“How many more days will that add?”

“The route we’ll be taking actually saves us time,” Merry replied. “Probably a good two days. The problem with it is that it’s completely above the treeline. That’s why the mountain trail takes the route that it does – to avoid exposure to bad weather and baddies in general.”

“We’re not going to be camping up there, are we?”

“Naw, we’ll be setting up our camps in the trees below and working above. It’s the best compromise between safety and speed. The good thing is that us Rangers won’t be needed to actually lead the surveyors. Since the chance of getting lost is basically nil, we’ll be keeping watch against Giants coming from above. Hope you all didn’t forget your mountain gear.”

No one would forget their mountain gear on an expedition to the Azerlisia Mountains. Probably. Ludmila had plenty of experience in mountainous terrain, and possessed the skills to negotiate her way without equipment, so her gear effectively amounted to protection against the elements. Between her warm clothing and Mantle of Elemental Protection, she would be able to comfortably withstand freezing temperatures far below what her own home reached in the winter.

After going over a few more details and answering questions from the gathered Rangers, Merry sent them out on their respective tasks. Four were sent out to patrol the vicinity, while Ludmila and another were instructed to inspect the camp preparations. The expedition base camp was laid out in a fashion not dissimilar to the makeshift camp that Ludmila had ordered in Fassett County. The reason for this was that Ludmila had come up with the basic layout for the Adventurer Guild’s expeditionary training, and both were based on the patrol camps once used in Warden’s Vale.

There were changes made to suit the nature of the camp, of course, and there would probably be more coming as improvements were devised by the Guild. The camp was enclosed in heavy wooden barricades fashioned from sharpened stakes, which were reused from the previous camps and replaced using local materials when necessary.

Tents housing the Adventurers ringed the interior ten metres away from the barricades, divided into three sections. At the centre of the camp was a space cordoned off for magical transportation, the expedition supplies, and two pavilions. The first pavilion was used to study findings on site and catalogue those slated for delivery. The other, nominally called the ‘command tent’, was where planning was conducted and meetings were held.

Walking around the perimeter, Ludmila stopped to frown down at one of the barricades being raised. The Adventurers looked up at her.

“Something wrong?” One of them asked.

“A Frost Giant can just kick this one out of the way, can’t they?”

The barricade was set over a flat stone surface, with nothing to brace it. Several were set up the same way.

“Yup,” another Adventurer replied, then looked towards the interior of the camp. “Anyone in the way will be in for a world of hurt. It’ll still work just fine for things that are more Human-sized, though.”

“Has anyone come up with a potential solution?”

“Aside from making them out of steel and nailing them into the stone, no,” he shrugged. “Won’t help if their Difficulty Rating is high enough, either. Giants over 90 will just kick those out of the way, too.”

“What about traps or magic?”

“Maybe, but our casters are still trying to catch up with their spells, and a trap still might not matter. In the end, the expedition leaders decided that the best way was prevention. Patrols are sent out to detect anything too crazy early on and we intercept them before they hit the camp. Worked the last time, sorta. On the bright side, we got some experience fighting Giants under our belts now, so it’ll probably go better the next time.”

If they were as strong as the last group of Giants, Ludmila wanted to add. She didn’t want to dampen their spirits so soon after they had arrived, however, so she simply continued on her way. An hour later, the base camp was fully raised, and the Adventurers gathered for a late meal. With their recent experience still fresh in their minds, the topic of discussion in every team revolved around Frost Giants. To be more specific, they were strategizing over how to fight them. She quietly joined her own party, settling down on a log with a plate of food in hand.

“It’s ridiculous how much reach they have,” Derek, a dual-wielding Fighter complained, “I can’t even get in close. It’s like trying to stop a tree every time they take a swing at you.”

Derek used a sabre as his primary weapon, and wielded a rondel dagger in his offhand. Through their periodic sparring, Ludmila understood that he relied on a defensive form that either waited for openings to appear, or worked to create them. It was the style of a duelist, but it was also a style meant for adversaries closer to one’s own size. Combatants with superior reach and leverage, like Ludmila, had few problems beating him as he was. Giants were probably a nightmare for him.

“Henrich’s figured it out,” Penn said. “You just need to wait till Kyla’s gotten in. She’ll set up chances for you.”

“That part I understand,” Derek said, “but what if we get two? I can’t do what Kyla does.”

“You probably could in your own way,” Kyla said, “if you stopped pretending you were a tree. You can’t even get close to Ludmila, never mind a Frost Giant.”

Ludmila wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to say anything herself, but Kyla just went right out and said it anyway. Derek’s problem was a part of what Ainzach had noted when Ludmila had first realized her ability to perform Martial Arts, and it wasn’t just isolated to him.

The vast majority of Adventurers joined as they were, meaning that they were little more than a fluffy cloud of hopes and dreams coming from mostly civilian stock. They picked out the Adventurer ‘image’ that they fancied, and the way they fought and thought about fighting was just as fanciful. Those of less durable classes were unapologetically dissuaded by the Adventurer Training Area from such absurdities as Mages trying to run in and fight with their staves after running out of mana.

Sturdier warrior types, however, more often than not developed various problems as they rose through the ranks. Lower-ranked training sessions were not very demanding when it came to technical performance – they were designed to raise recruits to ‘safe’ levels before exposing them to a more risky regimen. The nascent martial school attached to the Adventurer Guild served as a supplement to this introductory training, but one could only learn so fast. Ludmila’s expertise came from over a decade of training; Adventurers were being catapulted to Gold rank in a matter of months.

The martial training that Adventurers received from the martial school was a sort of compromise between learning fundamentals, pushing the acquisition of essential Martial Arts, and the development of one’s own style of fighting. It was accepted as a necessary evil when the members gained in strength so quickly and were expected to participate in expeditions as soon as they qualified rank-wise. To say that one’s fighting style was ‘wrong’ was also something that required extended observation, as there were often no veteran members that trained in established schools of combat or extensive experience to say otherwise. Ainzach and Moknach could help out with longsword and shield technique, Merry could give pointers on one’s archery, and Ludmila with spear-type polearms…except no one else in the Adventurer Guild used polearms. Thus, members were allowed a great degree of freedom in the development of their personal combat styles.

There were some fundamental things that were definitely wrong, however. One of the more common problems was that Adventurers put great effort in moving their hands, but seemed to forget they had feet. ‘Pretending to be a tree’ was a jab at this, as Derek was one such combatant. Footwork was an afterthought: he just wanted to be the most impressive-looking two-weapon Fighter in the history of ever, swinging his two blades around.

Ludmila supposed that he did try a sort of strange jumping attack once, but her – admittedly annoyed – counter launched him straight out of the training hall, breaking several ribs and landing him on the pavement near a group of spectators. He stopped using jumping attacks after that.

Derek glanced in Ludmila’s direction.

“Why don’t we just put Ludmila in my position instead?” He said, “She has an answer for literally every attack you can throw at her.”

“I don’t have a definitive answer for a seven-metre tall giant using a nine-metre long spear,” Ludmila didn’t look up from her meal. “Especially if they’re a lot stronger than we are. Well, no, I suppose I do: they’re called arrows. Since I’m acting as a scout this time, I’ll be on lookout duties anyways. You’re just gonna have to pull up your roots or get chopped down.”

“I don’t see why all of you offensive warriors are like that anyways,” Kyla said. “Shouldn’t you be all about proper footwork and maneuvering so you can put your weapons to work? Somehow it’s all backwards: all of the defensive warriors are developing their footwork while you lugs just work on swinging your weapons harder.”

“It’s equally important for both offence and defence,” Ludmila told them. “Beyond that, if you can’t develop your footwork, you won’t be able to learn Martial Arts that incorporate it. With the reach of your weapons, learning something like Shukuchi is basically a requirement for advanced combat, but you won’t ever attain it if you don’t learn how to move properly.”

Derek blew out a long-suffering sigh, but Ludmila thought that he probably understood that focusing on his footwork was in his best interests. Martial Arts were not only derived from how one used their weapons, but also from how they employed their body.

Ludmila had learned one movement-boosting Martial Art so far, which she later learned from Merry was a Boost Art called Wind Stride, but Shukuchi was still a mystery to her. It was likely that she had probably not pieced it together yet from what had been drilled into her in the past decade of training. She felt that many Martial Arts floated just beyond her reach, just waiting to be grasped, but it took time to carefully review the elements of personal combat that she had been instilled with by her parents.

“What did Henrich do, anyways?” Ludmila asked.

“He fought defensively and got himself in close,” Penn answered. “It was after we dumped a whole lotta enchantments on him, though. Merry said the first one we fought was the equivalent of high-Mithril or low-Orichalcum.”

“The Frost Giants have a lot of protection below the knee,” Kyla added. “All those layers of hides are pretty much impervious to regular attacks at our rank, and only two-handed Martial Arts have had any success getting through. Henrich got inside the Giant’s reach and took out her knee with his hammer. People with bladed weapons have to go for the hamstring. They’re a lot easier to deal with once you cut them down to size.”

“That seems like an obvious weak point,” Ludmila frowned. “Is it really that easy? Surely they’d realize the same thing.”

“The ones that we fought were all the same,” Kyla shrugged. “I couldn’t even get it into my head how big these things were until we actually fought them. They do have armoured skirts, which kinda don’t matter to us, but trying to make full body armour for a Frost Giant would be a giant pain in the ass.”

“What about magic?” Ludmila turned her attention to Penn, “Is there anything we have in our party that can help?”

“I have a fire spell that seems to hurt them really good,” Penn replied, “but it really pisses them off. I wouldn’t use it until the Giant is committed to whoever they’re fighting in the front. Our Divine casters have a few offensive spells as well, but they had their hands full just keeping people in the fight last time. These Giants are a fair bit more powerful than our average caster too, so magic resistance becomes a problem for a Gold-rank.”

“So…we’re fighting based on what we learned, with no major changes?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Kyla said. “I guess what it boils down to is how many we’re up against. One feels doable, especially now that we have some experience fighting them, but two still borders on overwhelming. That’s if we don’t run into anything entirely absurd.”