Chapter 83 - Weight

There was no need to do anything fancy, so Zaos only made his squad train the same movements. Pick an arrow, nock it, and then aim. Zaos would be the one who would give the order to fire. So, they only needed to repeat those movements hundreds of times until they can do it in almost total synchrony. If Zaos had some time, he would have given them more instructions on how and where to aim. Still, since he needed to recover his mana, he decided to focus on his meditation. Even so, it was evident that he wouldn't recover his mana before sunset, much less before the next battle.

Despite that, Zaos still gave some instructions to his squad. The focus was for them to become fast enough to make each step in one second. Zaos heard that most decent archers can do that in a single second, while decent archer squads can do it in two seconds. That was why he aimed for that speed… even if it seemed a bit unrealistic.

However, the training had to come to a halt in the middle of the afternoon. That was an odd time to attack, but the mercenaries showed up at exactly that moment, anyway. Zaos's and the other squads were immediately called to the walls. Still, in the end, they only found the enemies stepping out of the forest three hundred meters away and then organizing their troops. Little by little, the number of enemies was increasing, and the people on the walls couldn't help but gulp.

"What are they doing?" Zaos frowned.

"They are trying to intimidate us with their numbers," Elius replied. "I heard reports that they had two thousand mercenaries on their side, but I am counting five hundred more… it looks like they are using their wounded to increase the pressure on us, and it looks like they also armed their servants to make their army look bigger."

If that was really the intention, it was working. Zaos looked to the side and saw many of the recruits sweating cold. It was no surprise since around fifty more of them died during the night raid, and one hundred more were too wounded to move. So, their numbers barely reached the three hundred mark. As for the veterans, and the garrison of the town… there were only one hundred and fifty more.

"All squads! Fire at will once they approach!" Elius shouted. "Do whatever necessary to keep them away from the walls!"

After saying that, Elius and the riders left the wall and then moved to where the horses were resting. It looked like all the veterans would fight in the open field in front of the gate… it was the only way they could think to hold back the army was that five times larger than their own. Fight as much as possible and hope that the recruits' arrows would take their lives and slowly chip away the strength of the mercenaries.

"I was thinking of focusing on leading my squad, but I guess I will have to join them…" Zaos thought. "To think that the outcome of this fight is actually resting on our shoulders…"

In the end, Elius didn't even think of evacuating the residents of the town. Not only were their numbers just too big, but there wasn't a place for them to evacuate to. There was an exit on the northern side of the town, but that was only used when the garrison needed to go and explore the northern region and the mountains. It wasn't a place for the civilians to use. As for the main entrance, the mercenaries wouldn't just watch the people leave the city.

Before the mercenaries could start the attack, the cavalry left the town and organized themselves in front of the gates. However, Elius moved away from the force and then approached the walls where the recruits watched him.

"… Squads one from ten will follow Drannor's command," Elius said after a long sigh. After that, he looked at Zaos and obviously hesitated. "Squads eleven to twelve will follow Zaos's commands. While are of you are recruits, those positions of command are temporary. That being said, we don't tolerate any type of insubordination. After the end of this battle, I will personally punish anyone who cause problems."

Drannor wasn't caught off guard by that announcement, but Zaos was. While he was aware that he was doing a decent job as a squad leader, he certainly didn't have the right mindset to give orders to one hundred and fifty recruits. Still, despite those thoughts, Zaos didn't show on his face what he was thinking. After all, he knew that it was hard to obey an unreliable leader.

"So, it is up to us here, Zaos," Drannor approached and spoke. "I have an idea… with these numbers, we can combine our strategies. While we didn't have time to practice, I am sure things will work out."

"So, you will focus on defense and I will focus on offense…" Zaos said. "I am pretty sure we inverted the roles of our families."

"That is just a minor detail," Drannor shrugged. "Squads one to ten! Prepare your shields because we will protect the archer!"

"Squads eleven to twenty… Stay close to a comrade equipped with a shield and work together," Zaos said. "If we are to win this fight, we can't afford to lose a single soldier."

Some of the recruits hesitated since they were supposed to follow the lead of someone who wasn't older than them. Not to mention, few of them knew how to use a bow, so they weren't that confident.

"Don't worry about your aim, just copy the movements of your allies and you will hit the targets," Zaos said.

Zaos made sure to put his squad on the extreme sides of the walls. That way, most of the kids would be able to see their movements. Once the recruits close to them see how they should aim, it will create a wave and that wave, and that will save Zaos from correcting everyone's postures… or so went the theory in his head.