Chapter 180: Standard Deployment

"Let's start with the standard deployment. Does anyone have any idea what that means?"

As surprised as Fen was with how quickly this relatively huge group of youths managed to organise themselves, he didn't allow that small inconvenience to hinder him. Putting the talk with Nadia for the later date, the young mercenary, barely a few years older than the people around him quickly turned the messy crowd into an orderly circle. Out of almost thirty students, only four brought their hands up. 

"You, tall ginger."

Instead of playing it respectfully and seriously, Fen decided to go with a more relaxed tone of the lecture. And if someone were to take his nicknames personally… Then would have no other choice but to endure it. After all, in any mercenary group, one's most eyecatching features would quickly turn into a new name of a recruit. In the heat of the battle, it gave the mercenaries way easier time operating even with newbies. 

"It's a matrix defining the position of each operator within the striking range of the unit."

Despite his less than fortunate look, the young man pinpointed by Fen turned out to be quite capable.

"Correct, but wrong. While you are right on the point, look around. How many of your fellow students understood everything you said? How many understood only a half? How many understood a…"

Instead of pushing with the rest of the ironic response, Fen suddenly smiled before moving his hand towards another student with a raised hand.

"It's a formation for a group of people. According to everyone's capabilities, the area they can affect is determined. By putting all of those on a special chart, we can define the best positions for each specific arcanist within the formation, bringing its effectiveness to the maximum."

With his smile widening as he listened to the other student. While it was clear that he learned on his predecessor mistake and changed his answer a bit, it only meant that he was quick-witted enough to do something like that on the spot. 

And that alone defined a talent worth grooming in the mercenary world.

"Correct. Standard deployment is something that many consider being obsolete today. That's why I can't blame most of you who never heard of it. And the reason behind that is simple."

Knowing what he was about to do next, Fen felt a slight sting on his soul. Compared to the moments when he was killing swaths of people without paying any mind to it, it was nothing. But he felt the burden of his plan either way.

"Ever since the fall of the old mercenary kingdom, militaries around the continent turned to be more focused on the raw, physical force. And while it goes without saying that a single arcanist can take on entire units of normal soldiers, with the emerging of heroes and obviously, arcanists from the other side, the effectiveness of arcana on the battlefield decreased as a whole. "

This was the ultimate answer to any form of talent in the world. Money. Grooming a single arcanist required a prolonged period of time during which he would only consume an enormous wealth. While once properly educated he could do the deeds that no single mortal could ever dare to even attempt, what if there were ten humans in place of a single arcanist? Twenty? A hundred?

"Without the state-wide effort to cradle the new generations of our brothers and sisters, our numbers dwindled. And don't get me wrong here, I do not mean to claim that its something wrong."

Taking a short break to keep the suspense, Fen only smiled when he saw the surprised reactions of the students around him.

"For most of you, the lesser brothers of arcana you have, the stronger your own endgame becomes. So while taking this into account, we still need to admit one thing. We are no longer the leading force of this continent."

Suddenly taking a turn for some deeper tones, Fen could feel the disgust flowing out of every pore of his skin. Those young people came here to learn how to become better mercenaries, and he was serving them a full dosage of specially prepared propaganda. And as small as it seemed in face of sometimes extreme casualties that other mercenary groups had to share, Fen still felt himself detaching further and further away from humanity. 

Because what kind of human would intentionally coax the youth that trusted in him into a bloody war, just for his own interests?

"But that doesn't mean the old means are wrong. So far, no Kingdom managed to achieve a high enough ratio of arcanist to physical soldiers to reenact the old tactics. And this is the inherent flaw that any mercenary force should aim to strike at!"

Suddenly stomping on the ground to awake those few students that dared to lower their eyelids, Fen quickly gathered all the attention back on himself. 

"For the most part, in order to counter an arcanist, one needs another arcanist. While it's not exactly the truth, when taking costs of risks into account, that's the preferable option for the most. But for as long as one can implement the standard deployment across the entire frontline, not a single arcanist would stand a chance against it."

Using the heat energy of his fires to speed them up, Fen calmed his inner blaze in effect, quickly spreading it around the room. Just slightly different from the room's own temperature, it would be hard to notice it unless someone was especially looking for such an event to happen. 

With his fires now covering the entire room, Fen swiped his hand to the side, killing the fire on all the candles that keep the room alight. Retracting his fires back, he used the sudden shade appearing all over the chamber to cast his own fires into something aking to a fiery theatre.

"In the case I just brought up, the situation looks like that. We have a long line of standard deployment, three units deep. On the other side, we have just as many arcanists working alone, as support for the main army."

Moving his fingers in the air as if it was some kind of brush, Fen at first drew a line, then a set of dots opposing it. But instead of leaving this like that, the young mercenary firstly took his time observing the students before hesitatingly adding yet another set of burning dots in a specific setting right behind the burning line.

"The magic of the standard deployment works in this way. Imagine being one of the loose arcanists that do not use the formation. You have the line of the enemies in front of you, heralded by a group of people daring enough to stand a great distance away from each other. What would you do?"

Giving those kids the answer right away would turn this kind of knowledge into something they received instead of obtaining it themselves. Only by forcing them to realise the pros and cons of this foundational type of formation from the mercenary kingdom times could Fen hope they would truly grasp those fundamentals by heart.

"I guess… Attack?"

The time for raising one's hands in order to speak was gone. After the initial inquiries of Fen aimed at proving a certain point, there was no reason to keep the framework of the lesson so stiff. And Cleo, with her answer, proved cleared the way for those who weren't on such close terms with Fen as she was.

"Good. Let's imagine this kind of situation then."

Smiling towards the girl as a teacher would towards either an exceptional or completely awful student of his, Fen shook his head.

"Let's say you would use standard fireballs in order to attack. Let's even say that the person directly in front of you that you would attack is on exactly the same level as you as well. But outside of casting the fireball, you need to maintain your vigilance to make sure you won't be hit back once the opponents notice your position. Then comes the general awareness of the battlefield, listening to the orders… And what you are faced against, is someone who can spare his entire attention just on the task of killing you."

Instead of using just the words to describe the scene, Fen whipped his hand to the side, taking down most of the flames that he hung in the air previously. Leaving only a single dot on one side and three more on the other, he pointed his finger at the foremost dot on the standard deployment side.

"The arcanist at the front is usually one of the strongest. Obviously, the more people you are, the less personal differences would matter, but let's not digress that much. The man at the front has only one task. Kill and destroy anything that his arcana can reach. And he doesn't need to bother about the defence at all because…"

Once again, instead of answering right away, Fen glanced over the room full of students.

"Blonde shortie, yeah, you. Any ideas how can someone cast away any thought about his own protection?"

Picking a girl that seemed eager to answer but too shy to actually admit it, Fen smiled towards her while feeling some strangely threatening aura from Cleo's side as he did so.

"Because someone else is taking care of it? I mean, looking at the picture, it should be the job of the second row, right?"

Hearing the answer, Fen's smile turned even brighter than before.

"Exactly. Once the enemy enters the range of attack of the first lane, they wouldn't prioritize anything, aiming to do the most damage possible. But one cannot hold an army completely on their own. That's why, after a short set of duels with arcanist that will desperately attempt to defend against his arcana while trying to break the shields created by his friends from behind, the front-man of the formation would back off, merging with the second line. From that point on, the third line would take the duty of defence, while the combined first and second one would combine forces to do even more damage to the enemy."

Adding the third set of dots to the picture, Fen showcased how the initial triangle turned into a line, supported by another one from behind.

"But don't get fooled by this idea. Once all three rows merge, there is usually no more arcanists to continue the standard deployment. That's when they would switch to fire chain formation, where every third arcanist supports a massive spell created by the whole unit, making it nearly impossible for either side to breach its protection. And all that it serves to do is delivering the remaining two-thirds of now rested arcanists directly to the front line, where they can show why in terms of individual power, they are above simple mortals."

Finally taking down the fire projection, Fen looked sternly at the students listening to him.

"Don't get me wrong. Every formation has its flaws and ways to work around it. Standard deployment can be devastated by a swift attack from the rear. If a commander underestimates the capabilities of enemy deployment, even the flanks could be in danger. And let's be honest, standard deployment is called as such not because it was commonly used, but because it was the very first formation that any arcanist would learn."

It took a long while for Fen to notice this point, but now that he was aware of it, looking at the faces of his students with their eyes showcasing how immersed they were in his words made the young man feel a sudden burst of guilt.'

After all, he would turn into the worst possible kind of academy monster with just the next sentence!

"Now, that will be it for today. I don't need you to study about the other formations or even the fire chain one, but if you want to continue those lessons, this time in practical regard, then in three days we will meet in one of the gyms again. And I will expect all of those that do show up, to know the ins and outs of the standard deployment. Dismissed!"