A New World, an immersive game experience

Of course, the two thousand Tier 5 combatants -a mix of soldiers, adventurers, and random people who had talent and got to Tier 5 without military training- weren't all the Tier 5's in the city. There were naturally also all the craftsmen and women and people involved in management.

Looking at simple stats, they were stronger than Tier 4 combatants, but their lack of battle experience and little to no training would be a massive disadvantage. Not to mention the lack of mental preparation.

On top of that, throwing them away in war would be beyond stupid.

The creations of the Tier 5 craftsmen and women were far more valuable than the limited help they might be able to offer the front lines. Especially the new and improved cannons that Solvi and the other dwarves have designed.

The design had been shared about a week ago, and everyone was fully focused on making them before the undead reached the city.

Only requiring 150MP per activation, capable of firing buckshot, chain balls, or standard cannonballs. Magical or standard, with a barrier to prevent the people manning the cannon from being surprised and no fear of unexpected explosions. These cannons sounded like a dream.

The best option to Eldrian seemed to be to create as many cannons as possible and build a massive wall strengthening from Ganalin across the Kynigo region.

This, however, even he felt was a fool's dream.

The wall would have to stretch over 400 kilometers. Sure, the terrain was mostly plains and construction would technically be easy. But the distance was simply insane.

"What if we first make the watchtowers?" Therdul proposed, Eldrian having shared his thoughts and the general situation of Kynigo with everyone. His details were a more accurate since it directly came from Pelaros.

However, his knowledge lacked the personal element that the guild gathered. Eldrian was aware of this, but he couldn't see a way to include that at the moment. The kingdom had to first secured their borders from all invaders.

"Mmm, focusing on resting and gathering points... that would help." Doing quick calculations using the mini-tower as a reference, Eldrian felt he could construct one, maybe two, proper watchtowers within a day.

If he were to try to make some miniature forts, he might be able to make them within two or three days.  Of course, if he were to get a bunch of mana crystals to supply him with mana, he might be able to do it all within a week.

'Maybe I can cheat that in a way? It is possible for any experienced mage to refill a mana crystal, as long as it hasn't been drawn to the point where its structure is about to collapse. Maybe I can make something to lower the difficulty and have other mages supply me the mana?'

Eldrian actually realized for once how insane his idea was. Even so, he wanted to try it. This one, he felt, was at least achievable.

"It is still a stretch, but if we build them every ten kilometers, and if we start at Kyno Northeast... we might just be able to prepare for the coming undead on the western side." For now, Eldrian kept his mage battery plan to himself. He first needed to hammer out the details with Two later.

"What about the east?" Elizabeth asked. Feeling it was about time to think of the other half of the region.

"It is of less importance. There are four reclaimed towns, but compared to keeping our connection with Ganalin, they are inconsequential."

"So you will just abandon them?"

"No," Eldrian paused and turned to Elizabeth, realizing that she still had an idealistic view. He felt this strange. He recalled she used to give him excellent advice.

'Did I change, or did she? Or is she just not prepared to cut losses?' He wondered before clarifying his stance.

"I will leave the decision to Pelaros. My limit is protecting one side, given the time estimation of a week." This was how long Eldrian felt it would take the undead to move from the encroaching to the forts.

They were truly moving slowly. Only covering between 10 and 20 kilometers a day. Some groups even made negative progress on certain days.

Noticing that Elizabeth was frowning, Eldrian added some more points to his argument. "Since the western side has three forts still in moderate condition, albeit not all in our hands—yet. And our trade route, I feel that is where I should focus my efforts first."

Eldrian stressed the 'first' to highlight that he was not against moving to the east. Eldrian also realized just how influenzal he was. Thinking back to Elizabeth's comment of going to help Trigora, maybe he could save the city if he went...

There was a nice mountain range, east of Kynigo and south of Trigora, that could be used as part of a kingdom scale wall. But that idea was even more insane than just building a wall to protect Kynigo's southern border.

'I can't do it alone, but... if I was given support and enough resources, I might be able to make something happen. If I meet up with Ceph—I wonder how much he has grown... We might be able to turn the tides of battle as long as people above Tier 6 are limited.'

It honestly surprised Eldrian how easily he thought of this. But it didn't feel wrong. He didn't think he could compare to a thousand Tier 5 trained soldiers, but unless they had some trick, he might actually be able to deal with that number.

Especially since in war, battles were often chaotic. It wouldn't be facing a thousand, but rather facing one to eight (a squad) a few hundred times.

'No, I would be overwhelmed in the end. They'll notice the peculiarity and send reinforcements. A thousand is an insane amount. I think my limit would be around a hundred, depending on their discipline and coordination. Though, if it comes down to it Evale and Pelaros can do the same or more. They are, after all, still far stronger than the current me...'

'But they are more involved with management and security of the city. If they move out, it leaves the city in danger of a powerful individual's wrath... But is that really all that we can do?'

At this point, Eldrian's thoughts had spiraled to where it was no longer productive. Luckily, Elizabeth still had many concerns and didn't allow Eldrian to disappear into his thoughts for too long.

Vivian and Theas returned while the group of players were discussing the plans for after clearing the forts. Somewhere in between, all worries of the actual clearing of the undead had disappeared. It had become accepted that things will go smoothly in that one area.

Unlike Eldrian, Elizabeth did not think taking command of a fort would be an smooth effortless task, or rather she realized he was placing the burden onto her and the guild.

Having listened in on the conversation, Eldrian was glad he had called them to help. Smiling, he felt that it truly was simple to manage a place. Just find someone capable and dump it on them. Clean and simple.

'Yup, they'll handle it well.' He thought with a smile as he welcomed the two exhausted returnees. Sending Anthizontas (Tier 5 Anthos—rejuvenation spell) at them, as has become Eldrian's habit. He also offered them with some cold kounle while listening to their report.

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