The World of Tactics

Chapter Eighteen II: A Nightly Battle

"The item slot is useful and it becomes even more useful after being able to equip accessories. Through the ages, accessories that could increase stats are quite rare. However, that changes as our population grows and there are plenty of those who could now create such accessories. Even without the right class, those who know a bit of a trick or two would be able to create accessories that provide a boost in stats. However, there were such accessories that were created successfully but failed in providing any obvious boost. Those are some that either had some interesting unknown effects or just a failure that could barely prove that it was an accessory.

Sometimes, just creating an accessory could bring about those unknown effects. That is where an appraiser was needed to tell you what the crafted accessory was. However, sometimes, the appraiser fails to appraise the accessory and those are deemed as failures even if it was created successfully. Of course, that the accessory may be successfully created does not mean that it will always provide a boost. This is called the blank accessory that provides no boost at all. This is also the reason why all accessories are a notch pricier than normal.

Of course, those accessories that were created with unknown effects or no effect at all are within the unknown category. Hence, when unknown accessories are created. The unknown accessory would be sold for twice the price of its counterpart. If it's a grade one accessory, then it would be worth two grade one accessories. There are also cases of the appraised accessory having unimaginable effects so that the value skyrocketed. Then the said appraised accessory sold back would be profitable.

This is what we call accessory gambling. Many times, it would result in failure or a loss of deficit. However, it does not stop others from trying to be rich within moments." Written by an accessory enthusiast.

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He moves on to the next tab while keeping in mind the terrain layout. The [Start Battle] tab came into view and he moved to the [Start] option, then pressed the [Yes] option afterward. He was greeted with [Player's Turn][1] right afterward. There was nothing fancy regarding this and everything was the same except for a few small changes.

He had already got a plan in mind when the battle started. Two things will happen during this battle. The wolves confront the goblins or they band together to target both Goon and Uzi. Since he did not have a solid conclusion, he would strategize as the battle moved on. He quickly edges adjacent to the campfire and chooses the [Command] option. He [Select] Dork and [Move] Dork to the square that contains the campfire. Once that is set, he makes sure that Dork [Trade] is with him before ending Dork's turn.

There was one reason why he did so and that was the affinities that attach at the end of the terrain message log. Since it says 'fire,' he had reason to believe that it would most likely affect the magic usages and a hidden bonus during battle or about. Afterward, he made sure that Goon and Uzi got into position as well. He still has a tint of concern about Uzi. After all, Uzi's defense is weaker than his and Goon's. However, the two herb batches should be able to maintain Uzi's health.

Once the formation is set up, he ends his turn. For [Neutral's Turn][1], it was quite simple and Dork did follow his command to the dot and he was happy about Dork's collaboration. He easily gave Dork the two stacks of magic scrolls, fireballs, and thunderbolts. With this, he just needs Goon to close up the square gap within the formation. This will ensure that Dork will be protected inside. Now, it's time to wait for the enemy's reaction.

For this battle, he is not seeking more experience. He wants to ensure the safety of Dork and himself. It would be best if the enemies battled themselves because they were about to face off. Since it was [Enemy's Turn][1], the result that he got was quite concerning because none of the wolves and goblins were going for a full-blown battle. Instead, the wolves were the first to gain distance and move closer toward their formation. He was quite dismayed to see that his summons was still as attractive as before.

There might have been a reason why it is so. He must test it out in the next battle to see how and why his summons was interesting. When the wolves and direwolves manage to cross over half the distance between them. The goblins and hobgoblins also made their move right after and managed to make some good distance. From his point of view, he could see the shadow within the woods flashing. After a while, the red eyes of the wolves begin to show. Over in the distance was some faint outline of figures. He knew that those figures in the back were the leading hobgoblins and goblins.

He glanced at the map to the side and did a rough calculation. While he was calculating, [Player's Turn][2] flashed, but it was ignored. The answer that he got was that the hobgoblins and goblins would take two more turns before they would be able to approach the formation. Meanwhile, he had to gear up because the alpha male direwolf would be able to reach him at the end of its movement. That also means that he would be battling the alpha male direwolf. As for the other two direwolves, each was also able to move within attack range. Luckily, Uzi was positioned to the left of the formation while Goon was set to the right. This also means that only Goon will be attacked by the two other direwolves.

He checked Goon's weapon and could only leave a self-defeated smile because there were only four points of durability left on the wooden club. He had not been paying attention to Goon and Uzi as much when he got into the barracks. He even forgot that he needed to give Goon some kind of durable weapon. Luckily, after this battle, Goon will have some proper weapons when he loots from the hobgoblins because they are holding a bone ax each. That is quite a significant change. He instructed Goon to move one square to close up the gap in the formation and ended their turn just like that.

[Neutral's Turn][2] was no better because Dork could not do anything and [Neutral's Turn][2] ended just like that. The moment that it flashes [Enemy's Turn][2], he grips his bronze lance with familiarity and poses himself for the bout against the alpha male direwolf. He had waited with narrowed eyes as the alpha male direwolf dashed over and this kind of speed and agility was amazingly fast. He counted the squares as the alpha male direwolf came closer and closer. Three squares, two squares, and one square...

His heart leaped as the alpha male direwolf jumped toward him even though he knew that he had a solid amount of defense and was laid with thick armor. The size of the alpha male direwolf is much bigger than he had initially thought. He still made his heart pump with dread. The stinky smell from the unclothed mouth of the alpha male direwolf reaches him and before he knows it. He was already injured by the fangs of the alpha male direwolf. He felt a split pain coming from his right thigh along with a red negative number of four before the alpha male direwolf jumped back with a back-rolling flip.

He was amazed at the tricks of the alpha male direwolf, but he grinned even as the pain coursed through his veins. It was time to retaliate and it would not be beautiful for the alpha male direwolf because the alpha male direwolf was within his and Dork's attack range. He made his shot at the alpha male direwolf and a thrust with his bronze lance. Blood blossoms as his bronze lance immediately punctured the thick hide of the alpha male direwolf. A red negative-number flashes on top of the alpha male direwolf. It was negative nine and the alpha male direwolf lost close to thirty or forty percent of its health points. He automatically pulled back to his square and the bout ended with a satisfying result (John Smith, EXP +19).

The first of the other two direwolves also engages in a bout with Goon the moment it reaches the attack range. Goon's bout was not as exciting as his, but he still observed it anyway. Since the first direwolf is six levels weaker than the alpha male direwolf. The result was quite drastic damage, as Goon only suffers two damage while the first direwolf suffers seven points of damage (Goon, EXP +100, Levels Up). He almost forgot about his summoned unit's ridiculous rate of experience gain, but he was also glad about that too. Now that Goon has leveled up, he has to allocate Goon's newly gained points.

He smiled and calmly looked towards Goon's status and looked at how many points Goon got for allocation and it was three points. Subconsciously, he felt weird seeing the number three as he perfectly recalled that previously the points for allocation were just two. Now that it numbered three, he realized something else as well. His current level is still twenty and at rank two. He had assumed that because he was ranked two, logically, that would mean that the points given for allocation should be just two. This does not make any sense at all. The other particular change that he had was his class change and his class grade went up by one.

Since his previous conjecture is all wrong, then it must have been related to his grade and he had quite that feeling that it might not even be because of his grade. This just jumbles up all of his previous thoughts as to how this set of given allocation points was given to the summons when they level up. Helpless, he decided that since it was beneficial. It does not matter what causes such changes. Even so, he had hoped that he could quickly figure it out because he could have a target that he could aim at. That target would make him much stronger and easier too.

He gave up, and put two points into Goon's defense while adding one point to strength. With that done, Goon should be able to be a complete tank without taking any damage aside from the alpha male direwolf and the hobgoblins. With that done, the second direwolf took this chance to attack Goon. The result was that the second direwolf got the short end of the stick. Goon suffers no damage at all and dealt a significant deal of damage to the direwolf. Eight damages (Goon, EXP +80). It was too bad the second direwolf's levels were lower than expected, which was why Goon could not gain a level again.

The rest of the wolves came over and stacked behind the three direwolves. He could see that the shadow figures of the hobgoblins were becoming bigger and bigger. The goblins were still a turn away behind since their movement was quite little. In just two turns, it brought him such a result, and it became the [Player's Turn][3] again. At this time, he had to do some consideration for Uzi because the wolves are quite the problem. If Uzi were able to defeat every one of the incoming wolves, then getting the chipped damage from each wolf would put Uzi in danger. This would also expose Dork to the other remaining wolves.

That is unless he could stop Uzi from attacking and his head stops at the thought of 'attacking.' He finally remembers something else and it was Uzi's other innate weapon. It was the wolf's claw and it occurred to him that the claw had a hit plus fifty. This would help Uzi miss an attack during the bout. This would mean that Uzi would not be able to quickly slow the wolves. If he was careful, he would be able to heal Uzi with the herb batches within Uzi's item slots. He first made sure that Uzi was currently equipped with the wolf's claws. This would ensure that he did not forget it later on when he was enacting his actions.

Then he turned to the [Command] option and [Select] Dork. Then he made sure that Dork [Use] the fireball scroll on the alpha male direwolf within Dork's [Item] option. He hates parting from such a large amount of experience, but this is crucial to making sure that Uzi can have enough health points to withstand the attacks of other direwolves or wolves. After instructing what Dork needed to do during his turn, he became much more determined and grabbed his bronze lance.

He chose to actively [Attack] the alpha male direwolf. He charges toward the adjacent alpha male direwolf the moment the gridline merges the two. He pumped himself and aimed. Jump forward and grip the bronze lance. Then, as he got closer, he thrust a stab at the alpha male direwolf. Just when his bronze lance edges closer, the alpha male direwolf unexpectedly actually claws back toward his bronze lance at an awkward angle. The might of the bronze lance on his hand also unexpectedly moves off-target toward the left hind leg of the alpha male direwolf. This time, the damage that he could have caused was one point lower than before.

He was a bit distracted by the words that came on top of the alpha male direwolf and they read 'Parry!' along with a white color negative number, negative eight. In his distraction, he was counter-attacked and suffered a bite on his left stomach, four damages. It was such an unexpected situation to crop up at a time like this. Only when he felt the automatic force that dragged him back to his square did it come to him that this was not the time to be distracted. He never knew that parrying was also possible.

He never got to learn anything about parry within the barrack's training, but he guesses that parrying is only taught when a trainee is willing to go for further training. It was a bit regretful that he did not find such a thing within the library. It would have been a huge gain if he were to find such a book about parrying. If he had known, he would have been training his skills as well. This would have been much more helpful. Giving a huff, his blood started to leak from the two wounds that he had just got. The pain was not shallow either, but he still felt better knowing that he could endure such pain.

This time, he made Goon attack the first direwolf after a few deep breaths. He was finally able to ignore some of the throbbing pain and watch how the bout turned out for Goon. Goon was able to successfully hit the first direwolf and dealt an amazing eight damage. In return, though, Goon only got a barely visible scratch on Goon's chest. There was no pain because Goon's stiff face was still the same, unmoving. With this, he ends his turn because there is nothing else to take action.

[Neutral's Turn][3]. It was Dork's turn this time and he hoped that Dork would do as he [Command] or else it would be a disaster for Uzi and Dork. With fingers crossed and Dork finally moving. Mana of white light flashes and a fireball scroll is within Dork's mouth. Dork roughly chewed the opened fireball scroll while violently shaking it back and forth until it was torn. Dork may seem small, but Dork is quite smart for a miniature donkey. Once the fireball scroll is torn, a ball made of fire quickly condenses within the air.