"Squeal little piggy, Squeal!" a ridiculing laughter resounded across a beastmen camp as a bunch of their soldiers had surrounded a poor human sod. The man was on the ground, writhing in pain as a few of the beastmen had surrounded him within a larger circle of spectators, each holding a metal prod with searing red, hot end and seemingly playfully poked the human every now and then, with one of them asking questions in human tongue while another repeated both the questions and answers received- if there were any- in beastmen language. Whenever the human took too long, or his provided answer was not to the liking of the beastmen, one of the individuals 'gently' poked the unfortunate human, the searing hot end of the rod sizzling charring flesh as it touched, earning a cry of pain that became weaker and weaker as time went on, until finally, there was no response whatsoever- the humans life coming to an end.
"Tsk, what a weakling. Did not last even an hour! Pthu." spat one of the beastmen with the branding iron in hand, clearly annoyed his entertainment coming to an end "Think we can grab another one?" he asked his partners in crime.
"Forget it. Zixrak will not agree. This batch was too small. Maybe after the next captured tribe. This one was way too small for all our needs." spoke another, swirling his own branding rod a few times as it was cooled down, its color returning to normal. "Besides, as fun as this is, it can never compare to the real thing." he added, already dreaming of the next time they would run into human tribe.
"Yea, right you are." in agreement nodded the first, following the latter's example and extinguishing his own branding rod as well. The remaining beastmen followed suit, with the watching crowd slowly dissipating as well. With the fun over, everyone returned to their own devices, pulling own their rations for a quick meal, taking care of their equipment or laying down for some shut eye. They would rise early next morning and continue their march further into the outer steppe in search for more prey.
Similar events occured within other beastmen raiding parties as well, with the more bloodthirsty and sadistic members torturing an unfortunate human all the way to expiration, laughing and having fun as they did so. Numerous pairs of eyes stole glances their way, fear, anger and hatred boiling within the bodies of the humans captured, bound and incapable of revenge and resistance. The realization and full understanding of the suffering ahead of them only now properly settling in, with plenty of those captured and bound now regretting not fighting to their last breath. Death seemed more preferable than whatever was in store for them.
Night fell and passed by unnoticed, save for the sentries who had been assigned to nights watch and guard duties, and the next day came soon enough, with the beastmen waking up, eating a filling, if rather simple meal, preparing their gear and once again setting out. Once again the thundering of steps resumed, as numerous thousand men large raiding parties set out, guided by their scouts and commanders. And so deeper still they went, attacking any human tribes they managed to catch up to, slaughtering those that resisted and capturing those that foolishly surrendered in the face of such overwhelming power. And so they marched all day, only stopping to rest twice a day. Once around midday for a quick meal so their strength would not diminish, and the second time in the evening before eating a decent supper and resting for the night.
The night's watch and guards who did not get to sleep would rest during the march, getting some much needed shut eye in one of the few wagons that were dragged along with the raiding party. Spatial storage artifacts were rare and expensive, making it impossible to carry the supplies necessary in such way, making supply wagons a necessity. One would think that it exposed an obvious weakness to target for the people living within the outer region of the steppe if they wanted to force the beastmen back, but the problem with such an action was the stark difference in levels, experience and gear quality of the warriors of both sides.
The level gap might not mean much in terms of attributes, leaving both sides in a rather similar situation, assuming one ignored the natural advantages the beastmen races had in that regard. Rabbit beastmen were naturally faster than humanoid races, bear beastmen were stronger, wolf beastmen had better squad coordination and so on and so forth. The only advantage some humanoid races such as elves had was their superior magic, and even that was minimal when compared to natural caster like fox beastmen.
Worse yet, due to the forced nomadic style life that human tribes led, their crafting had suffered in result, the quality of their gear and master crafters slowly deteriorating over time, creating another gap in the overall strength. It was not very likely for someone with lower level, thus having access to fewer skills, and with worse rarity gear as well to win again a better equipped opponent who even has better base stats, resulting in the current status quo. making the beastmen raiders even more arrogant and overconfident. But was it really overconfidence if the result was always the same?
And so deeper the raiding parties marched, with some even extracting a rather juicy rumors from their newest captures. If their slaves to be were to be believed, a rumor of an actual, honest to god settlement having been established, were spreading, though not much else was known about it. Still, the very idea brought huge, shit eating grins on the face of any beastmen raider who heard of it. Just what did that mean exactly for them one might wonder? In truth, it would guarantee one hell of a fight, as well as loot and slaves to plunder beyond anything they have had the chance to rob before. Oh the glory and ecstasy they would all feel when the time came.
The raiding parties in the know even had more pep in their step once the word spread, though it was not all without a drawback. As far as they all knew, there was no such place marked by their scouts. That could be explained with only two scenarios. First, their scouts had no knowledge of such a place for the obvious reason of it not actually existing, the rumor having been spread by some of the tribes that fled with the hope it would slow down beastmen advance. Unlikely, but still somewhat possible.
The other, more likely scenario was that the scouts that were close enough to discover the settlement in question were discovered and taken out by the places defenders. Every season of conflict a part of the scouts were lost as they marked the outer steppe after all. That too was a piece of information that was known to the leaders of the raiding groups. They knew that the scout losses this time were slightly above average, though not nearly so stark that it would arise suspicion. The existence of a settlement would however explain that bump of casualties.
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It was only reasonable that the smarter leaders of the raiding parties reached such a conclusion, spending their evening in mapping the place with the lost scout zones of search. If the settlement truly existed, there should be a blind spot within their scouting reports. Even among those leaders that got that far, only a couple noticed the necessary pattern at the very edge of the scout routes, a similar thought forming in their minds.
'Just barely sighted, and even then past the usual scouting paths. The tribes must had retreated well in advance, explaining the lack of prey we have encountered so far and why our scouts had to travel deeper as well.'
Thankfully, none of the commanders realizing it were willing to share in their discovery. Not one of them believed there would be no other commander realizing the same, making the idea of a message sent to those that might not have reached the same conclusion a folly. They would have to share as it was already, so why would one willingly reduce their own share further? And besides, what actual military might could those savage and yet unclaimed slaves actually amass in a few decades? No, better to rush towards the place and then work with those that reached the same conclusion as them.
And so, the march order was given the next morning, with the information spread among the company commanders who in turn stoked the fire of greed and bloodthirst further still within their own men, ensuring not only high morale but also a brisker pace still. The thundering of thousand pairs of feet echoed, drowning out the low neigh's of the mounts that dragged along their supply carts, mixed with jovial singing, growling or the like, once again only stopping for much needed meals, quick breaks and rest at night. While it was important to reach their destination faster than others, it would all be for naught if they were too exhausted to capitalize on their quick arrival. It still took a couple of weeks regardless for the determined raiding groups to reach the outskirts of Selin's tribes settled territory.
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Jack sat atop the reinforced outer wall of their city as his gaze was directed towards the horizon, a light smile tugging at his lips. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, its last rays illuminating the fledgeling city and the lands around it. Beautiful as the sight of golden grass as far as the eye could was, his attention was locked on something far less neutral in disposition. Next to him stood Selin, a slight worry etched on her face.
"So they have come?" she asked in a sober, though not at all desperate voice.
"And so they have. Three groups, thousand men in size each." Jack replied, his tone calm and casual. Unlike Selin, who was worried- for good reason- he was far less concerned. Sure, their numbers were nowhere near the soon to be attacking force, but they held plenty of other advantages. Firstly, they had accepted a couple of tribes within their walls at the last second, bolstering the numbers that would defend their admittedly impressive walls that had risen from mere two meters in height all the way to four, now capable of properly stopping the attacking force. Secondly, the core power of their defensive army had grown considerably in the last few weeks.
It was to be expected though. With the advantage of a constant, ever adjustable difficulty dungeon at their fingertips, the levels came easy for them, pushing the level of those that diligently worked at a visible pace- something the kids had complained at great length when Jack had offhandedly mentioned it to them during one of their evening calls. The advantages had been stacking a great deal, especially so for Spartacus, Jack's maids and Selin's tribespeople, the new healers included of course, as only these people had gear with increased experience gain-, allowing them to push forward even faster.
"It is going to be exhausting." Jack added "The battle I mean, but it should not consume too much of your people. They are mostly equipped with ger of my making after all and epic quality should trump near everything the beastmen could come with. And it's not like they can just loot the gear after killing your people and use it to bolster their own might." he positively grinned with the last sentence, his ingenious yet despicable strategy resurfacing in his mind.
"Heh, that is indeed true." Selin also smiled at those words "I would have never guessed you could make race locked equipment."
"Well, turned out I can."
"What about second awakening individuals on their side?" Selin then asked.
"A few per group. Nothing my maids cannot take care of." Jack replied with a proud grin.
That was another, rather important achievement Jack could smile about. Spartacus and his maids had worked extra hard, somehow managing to reach second awakening just the day before. They were now deservedly resting for a day, recovering and getting familiar with their new power and skills. They had gained a lot, not only through their own advancements, but also thanks to the new gear Jack provided them the moment they returned.
"And besides, there is also me. Do not think I will just sit back and chill during the coming siege. Can't sit and allow my servants to take care of all the fun stuff. I do that and moss will start growing on me. And we can't have that. There is a certain pretty angel I have to impress once I return." Jack hummed the last sentence, just half perceptible to Selin.
"What was that at the end there?" she asked.
"Personal musings. Don't trouble yourself with it." Jack waved her off.
"As you wish. I will go inform Mina about the expected opposition so she can get the men ready." Selin bowed and departed a few moments later, leaving Jack all alone once again.
"How hard should I go at you, I wonder?" Jack hummed to himself as he closed his eyes, enjoying the momentary solitude as he gazed out into the horizon.
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"Should I say I expected this?" Namon the Shadow of Sol-Char fox beastkin clan from Avalante smiled ruefully and spoke as he walked into a tent that would serve as their temporary command center before the siege properly began.
"I should be saying the same." In unison replied Nurmalak the Swift and Rungwald the Bloody. All three leaders were from Avalante, with Rungwald and Nurmalak also being their respective clan heads, while Namon was the right hand man of his own.
"What, is Nurika still too good for raiding herself?" Snickered Rungwald.
"It is not my place to question her decisions. And besides, I am more than enough for the task at hand." Namon replied, his eyes slightly narrowing. He was one of the few lucky beastmen who had managed to gain a lot from the dungeon festival, reaching second awakening and strengthening Sol-Char clan a great deal, making them the only clan in Avalante with two second awakening experts. Ordinarily, the rest of the ruling clans would have joined forces to suppress them, but thanks to Nurika being a merchant mainly and considered an extremely desirable possible mate for any beatman, the same had not occured here.
"Are we in agreement to cooperate during the siege then?" Nurmalak asked, returning the conversation to the task at hand.
"I agree." Namon replied.
"No reason not to. I only see benefit. Those walls seemed rather sturdy to me when I glanced their way." Added Rungwald.
"Let's strategize then." Namon smiled, sitting at the table and laying out several possible tactics they could use to achieve a quick, efficient and brutal success. Little did he know of the surprise that was awaiting him and his allies on the city walls. A surprise that would haunt him and the rest of the leaders for the remainder of their admittedly short lives.
Jack Raja(?)
Age- 27
Species- human(?)
Level- 37
Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)
Stats unassigned: +14
Attributes:
Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))
Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))
Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))
Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)
Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)
Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).
Spells- none.
Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster, Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary).
Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.
