The World of Tactics

Chapter Eight II: Where Am I?

"There are three battle situations that will happen on a battlefield. One is the air battlefield that only consists of those that can fly. Two, the ground battle. The last is an underwater battle. Hence, there are also three aspects to units. A unit could be either a sky unit, a ground unit or a water unit. There are times when a battlefield changes.

As the battlefield will change constantly, there will be a time when the ground battle will overlap with air battle. In such a situation, those that could sky unit could either 'land' on the ground battlefield. For those that can not fly, the ground unit could only stand on the ground battlefield. Of course, if a sky unit were to 'land,' then the ground unit could now attack the landed sky unit. Also, if a sky unit were to die while carrying other units, expect another sky unit. Then, depending on the height in certain cases, the carried unit (Ground or Water unit) will get damaged after falling to the ground. (Side note: It takes a turn for a sky unit to land and another turn for a sky unit to fly up again.)

Likewise, there are also times when battles were near the coast and influenced the water of the sea. Then, a layer of ground and a water battlefield would be interconnected. Also, if the water were deep enough, then the water battlefield would start to lie downward. Only those that could swim or with the innate ability to breathe underwater could move underwater. Those that can not swim or breathe underwater will take on the drowning effect after a few turns, depending on their body's constitution.

Finally, there are special and unique battlefields like lava, soil, and others. Those are for only the specific kinds that could travel through such terrain with ease. Otherwise, almost no other one could be able to travel on such a battlefield unless it's a multilayer battlefield. In addition, those that try to would find themselves suffering damage every single turn that they were on that battlefield/terrain." -Written by an evil battlefield researcher (Through a multitude of live studying).

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He looked to the other side of the beach at the other end of the bridge. He noticed that it seemed quite sandy and, upon a closer look, he realized that the water below the bridge was not that high compared to the start of the bridge where he first started. Looking back, the way where he started seems like a tall cliff. It was no wonder that he thought the water was deep. It was just an optic illusion.

Somehow, this place was so peaceful. The sound of water, the sound of leaves, the sound of nature, and the sound of the world seem to be concentrated within this clearing spot within the forest. He was thinking of catching one big fish for food, but he realized that he had neither the skills nor the tools and the body of water might contain something dangerous inside. So, he put that thought aside for now until he got the tool to fish. The walk on the mossy bridge did not take long at all, but the process of going along the bridge was amazing though.

It had been a long time since he had this peaceful feeling. At the end of the bridge, he did not expect to find any road tracks, but he found some blending roads that went on through the forest. Hope began to fill up his mind. Even if this road is quite vague. This vague road might just help him find a way to exit this forest. Even with all of the forestation, the road was vaguely still yellow compared to the forest ground. This might be the only road that would give him a way out of the forest and he followed it without hesitation.

The time walking along the vague road within the forest was twice as long as his normal walking speed. Quite frankly, he did not care about the speed that he was going at. As long as he found a way out of the forest, everything was fine. As time went on, the vague road became clearer than before and his pace increased to his usual walking pace. Then, out of the blue, he saw a small road branching off to the left side of the road. Even though he was inexperienced at tracking. He knew that only if it was frequented by other living beings would there be a clear track like this.

He becomes much more cautious. If this is tracked by humans, then it is fine. Contrary to humans, if this track is from goblins, then he should take some precautions while moving ahead. He used to be quite naïve about the danger outside of civilization and he became much wittier to survive. He proceeded through the clearing with care. He just continues moving along the road. One kilometer, two kilometers, three kilometers...

He did not know how far he had traveled after seeing the bridge. It was evening now, his hope had popped into smithereens. It was true that the road is now cleared off and loosely resembled a road that was frequented by people. There were no humans in sight nor was there anything that closely resembled human buildings. He had drunk three portions of his water already and had left the used water somewhere along the way. He is now hungry, yet again. If he knew, he would have stayed behind to stock up on more water and food by the bridge. It might not be too late if he returned now, but that would mean going back along the vague portion of the road. If he is off by a slight margin, he might be lost forever.

The only thing that cured his anxiety was the notification messages that he got from time to time. Every time he got a notification, he would gain one experience point (John Smith, EXP +10). Altogether, he recalls that it might have been ten or so experience points. He did not keep account of the experience that he got at all. It was not something that he could eat anyway, so he was not that interested. It helps make this loneliness much more durable. He would have gone insane being out here alone in the wilderness and lost in the forest at that. He regretted that he did not study the world map or at least learn about the geography of the surroundings or just some roadways. At least this would give him some indication of where he is at.

He was too late to even think about it, so he marched on, and finally, the sun painted the sky orange. Tears finally fell from his eyes. It was neither the tears of despair nor were they the tears of fallen hope. It was the tear of joy, he had breached a field of wheat that stretched far away. To the left was a house, and a bit further was a distinct barn, and to the right side of the field was the ranch, and beyond that was a wall made of wooden logs. His knee gave out and he cried out loud. He made it! He made it back to civilization! He could go back and see his family members!

This is a sight of sunset that he will never forget. The sky was magnificently orange and the golden wheat field stretched to yonder. He ran with all his might not to the house on the left, nor the barn, and neither was the ranch either. The place where he could use his gold was within the walled-off village. He got water, but his stomach was growling for food. As long as he gets into the gate, he will be able to find answers to solve every one of his problems. By the time he managed to get to the gate of the village, he saw that there were four guards.

Two were wielding lances with leather gear that covered only the vital parts such as the heart, and similar parts. The lance that the two were holding onto was a bronze lance. Their class was militia and their levels were lower than his and their weapon mastery rank was also lower at the rank of D (Level 12 and 13, respectively). Their strength and defense stats were also much lower, but they have higher skill stats and the same stats as their speed.

The two on top of the wooden wall also have the same class as the two on the gate, militia. Their levels were also two to three levels lower and were also younger too (Level 10 and 11, respectively). The only difference was the weapons that the two on top would compare to the two below. The two on top were able to equip bows instead of the standard lance and have the same weapon mastery rank D. The two were also a one to two stats weaker as well. The two on top do not seem to have much experience in real battles.

The first to speak was the militia guard that had the highest levels out of the bunch, "Halt!" The man continues, "Who are you and what do you want, strange beggar!"

He realized why he was stopped by the gate, his clothing was in a mess, and how out of the world his muscles were compared to his age. He opened his mouth and was able to speak. After a few days without speaking and he had almost forgotten how to speak. He opened and closed his mouth for a bit while constructing the sentences inside his mind, "F--F-Food..." He knew that he was not afraid to talk to strangers, but his voice somehow could not get the sentence right and he went straight to the main topic.

So, he fumbled with his hands and opened his mouth while pretending to take out some gold coins. Even pretending to grab some coins inside his badly torn shirt. He somehow was able to grab five gold coins from his inventory and presented them to the guards. He was even surprised at how he could conveniently do so without even calling out his inventory and physically taking out the gold coins. The two guards gave him another suspicious look before the two let him enter.

He did not care what looks they gave. His only interest right now was to get some food, a place to sleep and find a way to the capital. He finished what his father expected of him, then returned home. After that, he spent his time dilly dally around and making his younger brother Hugo the heir. Then have a spectacular life by lazing around the house. Unless it was a major problem involving hobgoblins, his younger brother Hugo would be able to take over. Hobgoblin is not something an average person (around levels 10 to 15) can take straight on.

The daylight was about to set and the day was nearing its end. He follows the amorous smell of cooked spice along with the familiar waffle of meat. Sadly, when he got to what seemed like an almost deserted market, he spotted only one or two stalls that were closing up their stalls. He found a kabab stall owner that was about to wrap up and hurried over. The most important thing was that there were a few huge kababs on top of the griller. His hunger was biting his stomach and it only quickened his pace. When he got over to the stall, the stall owner was a man that was about to clear up the stall and frowned at him.

It must have been the outfit that he is now wearing. The cloth was dirtied with dirt and grime and became rags. He had not checked how dirtied his face had become yet. It might have been dirtied with mud along the way. It was fine, though, he thought to himself. He got gold coins, so it was okay and he stretched out his hand for one gold coin. He could see that the man's lips tightened before taking his gold coin. The man's voice was quite rough and he said, "Take this and go away, little beggar." Then, on receiving a thick paper bag that contained all of the kababs on the stall.

He turned around happily but was disheartened when he heard the ending mutters of the stall owner, "You're not welcome... dirty... stinky... beggar... disgusting orphan..." There were some other words, but these were the most prominent among the other words that he had heard. He almost dropped the bag of kababs as well, but he still needed to eat. He was not angry with the stall owner. There was only sadness gushing within.

He did not devour the kababs like a beast and walk to the gate. He leaned against the wall and sat down on one side of the gate. At least here, he would avoid the unfriendly gazes of the villagers through the windows. The four guards also practically ignore him as well. At this time, the darkness rapidly covers the sky. He slowly took his time munching on the kebabs with a blank gaze. He is exhausted mentally and physically. A full stomach with the feeling of thirst and that was already great.

He could not stomach all seven of the huge kebabs at the same time and could only finish three kebabs. There was no seasoning and the meat tasted horrible and the seasoning barely made it any better. The blood from the meat was not even drained yet and it was already cooked on the fire. He put the five kebabs into his inventory for tomorrow's lunch and dinner. He would have liked to get some vegetables, but those stalls had already closed for the night. Maybe he should get some veggies or some wheat grains into his system tomorrow morning.

The night comes and the gate's closed. He moved to the tree nearby and climbed up. Luckily, while he was eating the kababs, he found out that the tree had a nice curve and a few tree branches made a nice comfy bed. He was right about it. The first branch was strong enough to support his whole body, while the other branches were proportionally high enough to be wrapped under his armpits. This will be his bed tonight, though the left side of the branch is slightly lower than the right side of the branch. However, it was good that there was also another branch that he could lend his head to the left as well.

It was quite the unique sleeping posture, but it was better than the cold ground at night. The moment he hits a comfy sleeping posture and semi-crosses his legs. It was the moment that he fell asleep. He did not even resist the universal power to call sleep at all. He was just that tired.