Book 3. Chapter 4: Conflict in Highlands

Book 3. Chapter 4: Conflict in Highlands

Jake found that the Alliance HQ here on Highlands was completely bare bones in comparison to what he saw on Ariminium. The halls were empty, and even the reception area was not staffed. There was only one workstation in the Command Center, and he found that it was related to his guild. It allowed him to keep a representative here that could monitor things more actively, and better direct those for scouting along with the other guilds, to not duplicate their efforts. Jake realized that ultimately, he would need to staff people here. People could accomplish what they needed to with the signs and use of their Menu, but it felt lifeless.

Jake looked over the [Conquest Map] in confusion. While things were looking bad, he couldnt help but feel things looked strange. There were four different streaks where a thin line of rifts or conquest took the territory, only for them to move hundreds of miles in this way. The odd geography gave Jake a bit of a headache, the many mountainous regions with plateaus in which people lived.

Jake knew that the invaders could not spawn rifts where people couldnt or didnt go, keeping them from amassing an army that could not be scouted or spotted. He wondered how the beastkin people could move across the landscape in this way.

He called in Tanda through Ophelia to see if she could shed some light on what was happening, to which Ophelia followed. Fhesiah had gone to talk to a Herbalist, and Bloodberri was playing with children, the latter really in her element around the kids. She had changed into her more reasonable clothes, when Jake let her know it would be a few hours before any additional combat.

Tanda gave Jake a look, like she was evaluating him, but she scowled at him. Can you turn that Aura thing off? Its verydistracting. And it confuses those that are Awakened, changing our Auril. I dont know how you can do that, butyou should really not use it in town or outside of battle.

Listening to her voice, it appeared her song even matched her expression and emotion. Her voice while feminine almost rumbled out in a growl and a rapid rhythm, and her tail and ears matched this. Even the feathers in her wings, and somehow her hair looked extra ruffled.

Jake turned the Aura off and did his best to focus on his speech like Grayson said, mainly trying to follow a simple beat. Im sorry, I just didnt know. I do what I can to keep all our beneficial effects running at all times. Not only is it good to always be prepared for combat, but it's a form of training.

Jake paused, then said, What does it feel like? Berri and Ophelia tell me it makes them feel protected, and that it really feels like their husband is watching over and empowering them. I hadnt truly thought about how it might influence others.

Jake wasnt sure if his speech was much better, but he thought he was landing a lot more syllables on-beat, at least. Their language was musical, the syllables, and tones of their emotions influencing the meaning. The Framework did appear to aid somewhat in this when he made a conscious effort, but he could tell he had a long way to go.

Tandas scowl turned into a blush, T-Thatcan you just keep it off?

Jake did, then pointed at the map. No problem. So? Can you help me out here, so I can better focus my efforts for the war?

Tanda looked both skeptical and angry. For the war, is it? Not just how you can earn the most contribution points and credits?

Jake sighed. I dont know what the adventurers were like that you met, but I promise you that were not like them, and we will be focused on both protecting life and winning the war. Unfortunately, things are bad enough that Im pretty sure that the best possible effort and the one that earns the most CP are going to be one and the same, for at least the first week.

Jake could tell Tanda still had some doubt. She said, If thats the case, can you at least something about the blight? Where the necromancers army went, the area is blighted. Nothing can grow, and it even spreads. Were even considering burning some landscape to cut it off.

Ophelia responded, Wed need to see the blight itself to know if we can do anything, but I think youll find there should be something available on the [Alliance Market]. Our clan truly cares for your peoples survival, Tanda. CP are a valuable resource and can help us fight the war and even buy such things, but wed rather have Tartarus removed than earn any. Our focus is on removing Tartarus from this world, we wouldnt have put our lives on the line if our goal was just to earn them.

Tanda nodded and looked over the map, and Jake began pointing out the things he had noticed.

She nodded and pointed to the map. Were here. You can see the rifts take what appears to be a direct path from this plateau to the other, crossing the mountainous region. This is the way that our people would take, when traveling from one to another. They do not often travel through these other heavily forested areas you can see, in the valleys. This is due to [Auril Beasts], the majority of them being what you call Tier 1. While some exist on the plateaus, the largest or most savage often end up in the valleys or forests.

The more she spoke, the more he realized how poor he was speaking, or singing. The Framework appeared to aid him even in this, but he was just not very good.

Ophelia laughed in his mind, then spoke in song that was much better than Jake had accomplished, [Well really need to put you back on that karaoke machine and practice some more. Youre really tone-deaf.]

He asked, They really climb across these mountain areas here? This terrain looks pretty steep, judging from the map. While I think I wouldnt have a problem climbing any longer at my Tier, even the unawakened take this path?

Tanda turned her hand over, reaching it out towards Jake, and flexed her claws, causing Jake to look on in interest. He could see that her claws were both thick and sharp, and Jake thought her hands looked strong, despite being feminine.

We all have claws, even if our animal parentage are ones that wouldnt normally have it, such as those with hooves. Even unawakened dont have much trouble finding purchase on most cliff-faces. Those with long enough tails can even use them for a little more traction. Still, we often climb in groups, and many of the commonly traveled cliff-faces have safety ropes installed. These are practically necessary for climbing with a load on our backs, as we often do, besides.

Jake nodded, but he was fascinated with her hands. They both looked really fluffy, but also deadly. He had only barely kept himself from reaching out to see what they felt like. Tanda pulled her hand back, and he couldnt help but feel disappointed. It must have shown on his face, because Tandas frown once again returned. He went back to focusing on the map.

Jake could see that there were plenty of valleys and wondered why nobody lived there, and now understood that they were untamed territory.

Why do you think Tartarus doesnt claim most of this valley territory, or spawn rifts on it? Have you faced many Auril Beasts under its control?

Tanda frowned as she looked over the map and said, We have faced some, but its not many. What you will find is that part of the reason they inhabit the valley is that it is a rich environment for their prey or other food. Its also that many are large and cant climb the mountains, especially cliff faces, very well. My guess would be that even if they can claim them as you say, many cant go anywhere meaningful. Its why the plateaus are so much safer for us.

Jake thought he now understood. It would be like claiming units that they could never use against the population, even with its Rube-Goldberg-like machinations. Not only that, but Tartarus goal was to capture the HQs, as rapidly as possible. A defensive war would likely see it claiming many of these creatures, but an offensive one would see little value in using them.

This world was a strange one for Jake. Just what kind of activity could make such a rocky world with many plateaus? Jake was starting to feel the multiverse was truly vast, and this was only a T1 world. Jake knew that T2 worlds had much higher energy levels, and would have even more ridiculous features such as worlds many times the size of Earth, floating islands, underground civilizations, magical societies, to having ranging magical anomalies.

Wheres your city on the map here, Chieftess?

She looked at Jake and scowled, and she practically growled out, So Im a Chieftess now, is it? Not your subordinate?

Jake did his best to keep on topic. Our agreement was that youd still be a Chieftess, but youre also my subordinate: my envoy. Im talking to the Chieftess now. You dont want to tell me where youre located? I will need to clear some rifts, no doubt about that. I want to clear incursions too, but I cant risk being away for long periods of time, for now. Not only that, but I will need to train up others, quickly, to accomplish that task.

What Jake said was true. While his party cleared incursions rapidly, the longest taking a few days with rest, training, and recovery. That might sound like an inefficient usage of his time no matter how you sliced it, but his partys one incursion victory was worth more than a hundred solo victories, based on what Odin told him. When you considered his partys level in that it was far higher than any of the beastkin, it could be as much as a thousand or more.

But he knew that Tartarus would really do what it could to delay him, likely making each one require lots of travel and take so long, that it was hardly worth it. With how the terrain was and the distance between each rift low, Jake could probably ride Bloodberri and arrive at a half dozen in a single day. His priority was certainly going to be to close as many as he could and retake the Alliance HQ, as soon as possible.

The scowl was still on her face, as she pointed at a location on the map. Jakes eyebrows rose in surprise. He thought it almost looked like a mountain split in half, with a river running through it. There were banks on the sides of the river, beneath the cliff faces.

Jake asked, Thats not a plateau, though? Its two mountain peaks and some caves on the cliffs facing each other, from what I can tell. Is it all avian beastkin there?

It is, but youll find that most beastkins claws make their climb steady, we just dont often travel with them. We hunt in the river and valleys below, our flock rotating among many of the mountains. We hunt and forage for most of our food, and our people have long since been involved with other tribes trading food, goods, news, and maintaining peace. Us avian beastkin are the only ones that can travel the plateaus with ease, ruling the skies. Acting as messengers, traders, and deterrents for tyrants.

Your tribe plays an important role in this world, I can see. Thank you for sharing that with me. Looking at the map, I cant help but feel that your location is best left alone for nownot needing any help, unless you have concerns?

Tandas scowl had turned into a frown as she stared at Jake. We dont need to be saved, were the ones helping others. We close any rifts that open nearby, even if some of us die to accomplish it. Most of my flock present for the battle of Kenwodi have already headed home, to continue with this. Many of the other avian beastkin you saw have already headed back to their homes among many villages, for us to call upon them once again when they are needed. They have their own clans, and their own responsibilities and goals.

Jake frowned. This threat is pretty serious, Chieftess. Its much more preferable to have them remain rallied as a unified force and close as many rifts as possible, than it is to protect their scattered homes. Can they even accomplish anything there?

Tanda shook her head. These people are not mindless soldiers in some army, Jake. They came to the call to defend Kenwodi, but they have their own families to care for. To tell them to fight in land that is not their own, while their family might die while theyre gone? Are you going to protect their villages all over the continent? Youd tell them to just let their families die, while they go fight elsewhere? Even if they might not be able to do anything, they would rather be there to try.

Jake realized that having an army of beastkin was a lot more complicated than he thought. With three quarters of the warriors being women, and all likely having several children of their own, its very different from the armies of Earth. A majority of Earths armies were often filled with young adults.

Things would have to be extremely dire, or they would have to have some guarantee that their families were protected before they would be willing to separate themselves and fight hard in this war. While many beastkin had died, it was only two of their larger cities and villages in a single region. The conquest progress simply didnt reflect what the beastkin themselves would see in terms of how dire things were. It was one of the most populous regions, and why nearly 1 in every 5 beastkin was now dead, but around the continent, they wouldnt really see much impact.

I understand, Chieftess. Then our goal will have to be to get these nodes out to as many villages as possible, and save the ones that are in front of us, for now. Perhaps as time goes on, we can gather people at villages, allowing us to better defend their people or homes, so that we can rally more in defense.

Tanda frowned. The plateaus often dont support many people, its why many of our young become nomads. Kenwodi here is already beyond too much.

Thatll be fixed by the Framework supplying food through taking it from the dungeon by means of earning credits, though. One dungeon delver can easily supply many meals.

Tanda brightened, and her tail started to wag behind her, with her ears lifted back up. She smiled.

I guess youre right, thanks for the

She appeared to notice Jakes interest in her tail wagging, and she froze, then scowled. This Framework thing is just not natural, ok? Its all your fault I have to deal with this, anyway!

Tanda left in a hurry, and Ophelia spoke up, I learned that shes been under a lot of pressure, with her father, the previous Chieftain and Auril Hero dead. Several of her clan mothers had been lost as well, many of them were warriors and had joined the fight. Apparently, even her birth mother was an auril hero. Shes lost a lot of warriors too, and I think she almost did want to lose that duel, giving her an excuse to take a step back and have someone else share the burden. Though, if you had just fought her

Jake chuckled. I know. If I won the duel, their custom would make it so while she wouldnt be forced to marry me, it is still common if the girl is receptive to at least start with courting. Though, the details werent clear on that. They probably see it as their form of romance, the male making the female submit, perhaps? For her being among the strongest remaining of her people, definitely within her age group, this would have been a big deal. Then, raven or wolf beastkin could have their own thoughts on the subject, each parentage having their own focus on these things.

Jake shook his head and added, But Im not into having an unwilling partner, this is why I gave her the option. It seemed she didnt want to risk the chance that she would become my wife, or that honor would dictate that she should at least consider it. If I faced her, even the spectators would be expecting that I would be courting her now. I feel like that is much more volatile than this result. I can feel she hates adventurers, wouldnt being forced to court one be humiliating?

Well, its not like she hates you, specifically. Shes quite frustrated with the previous Adventurers, is all. It turns out, that even spawning these two branch HQs had originally hurt their war effort a lot more than if they had just kept the original one. They had wanted them for the portals, but when they lost each to the enemy, it was a significant loss of conquest progress: around 5% for the branch, and 10% for the original HQ. Theyve only lost 20% into Tartaruss favor, so this most of what they lost altogether. Not only that, but they had to split their defenses against both, and the respawn when one side was overwhelmed was simply too long for them to join at the other. If they only had the one to defend, they might have held it.

Jake raised his eyebrow at Ophelia. Whend you have the time to learn all this? You werent talking to Tanda that long, were you?

Ophelia laughed. Im just piecing it all together from Blood and Fhesiah. They are both getting lots of news too, and Fhesiah is asking around about this girl already.

Jake started. He had been hearing a lot of things over the bond, but he had to shut a lot of it out to pay attention to what was in front of him. He missed that much?

She laughed again. Women are just better at listening to more conversations at once. Maybe once youre no longer a human in truth, youll be able to keep up with us? With Tanda, I mostly talked to her about training and other adventurers. She somewhat respects your strength based on what you displayed, but shed need to see or hear about you fighting her people for her to truly respect it, as Adventurers were the same way. They would kill many monsters in combat, but lose in their duels without their magics. For me, she definitely felt my strength, and so she puts a lot of weight in my words. At any rate, I think as long as your actions match your words, Tandas frown will get turned upside down, eventually.

Jake laughed. Well, I hope so. It would be a big challenge if she was angry at us all the time and didnt do her job as envoy very well. Anyway, it looks like we have our plan. Since we defeated the necromancer, the rifts in the area were closed, and we should try to make forward progress towards the other HQ for now instead. Id like to get these done by tomorrow. Im not sure if Fhesiah would be done with her task yet, but we could go without her and [Call Summon] when were near.

When rifts were open long enough, they would essentially spawn their [Challenge], that could leave the normal area of it. Usually, the spawned challenge would be above that of the original rift, resulting in a much more powerful enemy or spawn. By defeating that challenge, the rift would close. Tartarus would not exactly lose that territory as much as if Jake had gone to it in order to close it, however, and so new rifts would spawn much more rapidly in their place.

Jake had some trust in Ira for threat detection. While the demoness had been their primary means of enemy detection up to now, and he wouldnt want to be without her, Ira certainly made up for her not being with their group as they traveled.

That should work. Its too bad you dont have a reverse summon spell, huh? Then you could just send one of us then teleport to us, summon the rest. Its also too bad none of us can summon the Refuge portal outside the HQ besides you too, or wed be able to do that instead.

Summoners do get a spell like that, but when Ill get it, who knows? I know I have something big coming at 20 from the specialization choice, as do most classes. Mobility is really important in this war, so I will have to think of something. While I had made those engineering spell-rods, Im not so sure if they would be up to the task of constructing something on the scale of a land bridge, thats for sure. Lets go check on Berri and head out.

Jake followed his bond out of the HQ, and found Berri doing not quite what he expected. She was cooking in the massive plaza outside of it, while wearing an apron that he had gotten for her that said danger noodle with a picture of a cute snake on the front. She was cooking up many large pots of soup, stirring them and serving them to children and refugees alike.

Oh! Jake, I could really use some help! These people are so hungry. Some of them havent had anything to eat in days!

Jake was truly surprised, he thought she was playing with kids? Still, his heart swelled with pride, knowing she would do something like this of her own volition, and he could see that while she was happy at the feelings Jake sent to her, she looked a little guilty.

Whered you get all this food, anyway?

Berri blushed at that. Well, I might havegrabbed some from our refuge. Thats okay, right? T-They need it a lot more than us!

She had nearly stammered out that last part, Jake wondering if Blood was helping her make her case.

But Jake sent some reassurance over his bond. Thats alright. Ive long since told you that when it comes to food, you can have whatever you like. Still, this is a lot of people to feed, and we need to get going. Ill pop over and get some more food, but youre just going to have to delegate cooking up some more stuff. Ophelia, are you able to help her get some cooks here?

No problem, Jake. Well take care of it.

Oh, thanks Jake. I tried getting the kids to learn to play baseball, but they said they were just too hungry to play!

Jake just wryly smiled at that, maybe she was ultimately finding a way to serve her interests? Still, the ends certainly justified the means here. Jake realized that the undead invaders were probably chosen for this reason, as well. If they used large beasts or something, then their win would provide them with plenty of food.

But the dead skeletons left little in the way of anything these beastkin people can use. Jake had to keep himself from looting anything but the Bone Dragon or Necromancer, as Jake had learned that the bones were from their own people. They desired to make a mass grave, to return their energy to the world.

Jake activated the spell that was a means of entering his refuge from nearly anywhere in the world. Because he was in the city and within a certain range of an Alliance HQ, the portal appeared immediately. This feature was affected by Conquest Ownership and other things. If he was behind enemy lines or near a Rift, the time necessary to activate would be much longer, and Tartarus could even be aware of his usage and could set up an ambush for when he returned. As long as he activated it from a safe location or in the Alliances conquest ownership, it shouldnt be able to be detected.

Some people in the surroundings gasped at the sight of the portal, and Jake popped back into his refuge and filled some larger [Storage Bracelets] with food that he purchased from the Shop. He found that there was in fact a limit. Jake couldnt supply enough food to feed the entire world with a few hundred or a thousand T1 credits with what was available from the Shop.

He could get more from the [Market] outside that limit. But with the delivery fees and being sold by people in the nearby multiverse rather than the Framework, each pound of food became up to one-hundred times or more than the cheap shop prices. Jake found that there was even a limit to these types of purchases.

Not only that, but he realized he was only able to obtain the amount he did in a single day because he was a [Knight]. A regular person that was using an [Alliance Node] would only be able to get a few days worth of food for a family each day. Someone with their own [Refuge] would probably only be able to get a tenth or less than what Jake was getting.

Still, Jake could feed hundreds without any effort, and thousands easily enough. He filled several [Storage Bracelets] with food of various kinds. He also filled a few with cookware, as he doubted the few pots and pans Bloodberri had were going to be enough to cook all this food in a reasonable amount of time.

Jake went through the portal to where he was standing before, to find Ophelia and Bloodberry standing in front of a large group of people, even larger than the ones lined up to eat Berris cooking earlier. From the looks of them, Jake thought more hungry people had arrived. Er, did you find anyone to cook for you?

Ophelia said, This is them. These are all people ready to cook whatever you got, and aid in dispensing it to those that need it.

Jake realized he shouldnt quite be surprised, as every family ought to have a cook, right? Still, this was fast to get so many people involved to work hard to cook for tons of people. Jake was only gone for a few minutes, and while Bloodberri was causing a stir, its not like there were hundreds of people in line to eat Bloodberris soup, only dozens. There was more than that, ready to cook here.

Whered they all come from?

Well, I had Bloodberri call the kids over, and had them go spread the word. There were also a few of our guild members loitering around, so I gave them some work to do. Theyll both also spread the word that theres going to be food here, so I hope you managed to get a lot of food there, Lord Jake.

Jake smiled. He sure did, and he was quite impressed. While he might have come up with a similar strategy, hes not so sure if hed have come up with it so quickly. The valkyrie beamed with pride at his praise in his mind, and he began dumping all storage bracelets out onto the ground in the large flat plaza they were standing in. He had even brought wood for burning and some spices, everything that they should possibly need.

The beastkin gasped at all the stuff that he took out of seemingly thin air. Jake eventually released twelve storage bracelets worth of goods, which all held more than a full-sized wagon, for them. It was certainly enough to feed an army, and this was something hed need to do each day until these people became self-sufficient under the framework.

He gave a minor speech to the cooks, reminding them that if they joined the Framework at the HQ, the Framework would help them even with that, though they should certainly be willing to fight as well. Jake mostly received blank stares at that last part, as nearly all beastkin fought. While Jake already knew this on some level, he still had trouble aligning it in his mind.

They left them to it, and they got Bloodberri equipped and ready to go. Jake checked in with the demoness over their bond, Were about to head to the rifts, I take it you need more time doing what youre doing, right? Making any progress?

[Im learning a lot about their Auril plants and other wildlife, and have a lot of reading ahead of me. Its so nice of the Framework to make that piece trivial for us, making us able to read the natives text. Still, Im hopeful. [Inner Force] potions and other restoratives exist, and while I have not personally made or consumed one, I have seen one with my Divine Sense, and I feel like their plants containing Auril have a similar feeling. Its a good thing this place wasnt found by a T4 or T5 cultivator; they would probably harvest it into a giant pill or something, this place is beyond special. I do think time is of the essence for this, so do only call me once you need me, will you?]

Jake suddenly felt a little weird, as he realized that this was the first time theyd been apart in months. He knew shed be there in his thoughts and bond, but suddenly theyd be separated by nearly a hundred kilometers.

[Aww, Jake, are you going to miss me? Well, I expect this will be the first time of many. But Ill be right there with you, able to join you at a moments notice. Plus, you have your other women with you, you sure you wont forget little ol me? Youll have to tell me what you think about this Tanda later.]

Jake rolled his eyes and said goodbye to Fhesiah, and they started to head to their destination, Jake riding in Bloodberris basket and Ophelia taking to the skies, with Ira on lookout. He wondered what kinds of Rifts theyd run into.