The other group of soldiers didn’t even notice they were coming until Karl was almost in the clearing with them. He had seen them through the trees over a minute earlier, but their scouting abilities were severely lacking, and the group looked exhausted.
[Rae, keep back, I don’t want strangers attacking you. Hawk, you too. Or go scout out the other Ogres.] Karl warned.
[I will go scout the Ogres. These humans are weak too.] Hawk agreed.
Rae wanted to stay, but she knew it was best to stay out of sight, so she moved behind the column to make sure that nothing came up behind them.
Karl spotted a familiar curly head of hair, in an Academy mission uniform, and began to laugh.
[You mean Dana? Dana is Rae’s human now?] Karl asked.
[She sleeps in Rae’s bed, not yours. She’s obviously Rae’s human.]
Karl got the feeling that there was some level of slander in there, but he decided to let it slide as he raised his hand and stepped out into plain view of the other unit.
There were numerous Hobgoblins dead around them, and Karl saw why they were resting. With roughly even numbers, Awakened soldiers versus Awakened Rank Hobgoblins was a hard fight. They were tough, as well as much larger and stronger than the humans.
The group only had one Ascended Rank member, and he was wounded, with his arm in a sling.
Lotus spread a healing spell around the clearing, reviving the weary soldiers, and bringing a few smiles to the exhausted team.
Dana ran over and gave Karl a hug when she noticed he was at the front of the group, and Rita gave her a startled look, not expecting to have found her here.
“Are you stationed out of this forward operations base now? I heard that they were sending in reinforcements, but I didn’t want to go back to the Academy yet, I’ve been making good progress on my magic out here.” Dana asked Karl when she pulled back to look at him.
“Yeah, we are supposed to be operating out of here once the location is upgraded, but we’re on an escort mission with Alice to help the military units in the area deal with the larger threats.
We found some more Ogres near you, so we came over to give your group a hand.”
Karl’s response caught the attention of the other group’s team leader. “Did you say there are more Ogres nearby? We’ve been in nearly constant combat since this morning, and the lads are beat.”
The Captain of the team with Karl nodded in understanding. “We can take care of it. The Hawk should be out there somewhere scouting, right? How is the strength of the group looking?”
Karl checked in with Hawk, who was circling back after having made a loop around the area to make certain there were no other imminent threats.
[It’s just the Ogres nearby. Then we can go a little further along and find some Giants, or lots and lots of Goblins.]
That didn’t sound promising. If there was a huge goblin infestation, it would be one of the priority targets for the region, before they became an even worse problem.
[Will the two units together be able to take out the Goblins?] Karl asked.
[I don’t see why not. They have mages, and lots of swords. How many Goblins is each soldier worth? There shouldn’t be more than fifteen for every soldier if the groups are together.] Hawk replied.
[Wait, fifteen Goblins for each soldier, if both groups are together? We definitely need to deal with that. We can’t let three hundred Goblins just wander loose in the woods. If they come across a regular group, they would wipe it out.] Karl reminded the bird.
Hawk wasn’t particularly concerned with that. He could take out three hundred Goblins alone if you gave him enough time, so he didn’t see them as a real threat, no matter how easily they could eliminate the human patrols.
Karl walked over to his group’s Captain with Alice and Dana following him, then motioned for the other team leader to join them.
“Gentlemen, we have an issue. There is a Goblin tribe nearby, roughly three hundred strong. Individually, they are fragile, but with that sort of numbers, we will have to work together to eliminate them safely.” He explained.
Alice nodded. Their job was to assist the military units, not replace them, so they would fight alongside the units, and not volunteer to do it all themselves.
She was glad that Karl was learning that lesson early, instead of volunteering to do insane, nearly suicidal missions for the off chance that it would let him push through a bottleneck and reach new heights.
There was some merit to the other way, and when you were really stuck, some would still try it, but this wasn’t the time or place to be playing the hero. They had two entire military units, and while Karl was probably a stronger military force than both combined, they could still deal with huge numbers of Goblins.
Karl explained the situation as Hawk had described it, and the two teams started to make plans to ambush the Goblins before they could start to move again. They weren’t the only enemies still in the area, and if they managed to link up with something stronger and smarter, they would become much more dangerous.
“Just this morning, we came across an infant Chimera. If the Goblins get the help of something like that, we will be in real trouble.” The other team’s leader explained.
“A chimera?” Karl asked.
Dana shuddered at the memory and nodded, then took out a poison gland from her storage.
“Scorpion tail, dragon head and wings on a Lion’s body. Absolutely terrifying, and both venomous and capable of breathing a toxic cloud. We were prepared, but we still almost didn’t win, and it was just an infant, hardly larger than a house cat.” She agreed.
That was a bit of a shame. A chimera might make a good partner for Thor. They were both big and durable. Plus, if they were something like Lions, they might be playful enough to keep the Lightning Cerro entertained.
“Alright, we will split into three teams. The two military units separate, and then the Mercenaries. Dana, you’re with them. The mercenary group will lead the strike, while the military units take the flanks and encircle the Goblin camp to prevent them from fleeing.
We will signal the attack when we’re in position, so hold back for a moment when you get close.” Karl’s team Captain announced.
Alice nodded, and called the rest of the team over.
“We’ve gained an Awakened Mage. We will attack the close side when the signal is given. Thor, Karl and the spider Golems are on the front line. Because of the numbers, ranged will not be holding back. I will keep my Golem back to protect against encirclement.” Alice announced.
“I can summon a pair of Golems as well. Stone Golems. Do you want them at the front or the back?” Dana asked.
Alice considered that for a second. “Send them to the front. Most of the fighting will be there, and we’ve got Tessa with us if something gets past my Golem. She might be a cleric, but most warriors wouldn’t be able to take her in a fight.”
Tessa looked a bit crestfallen that she couldn’t be up with Thor, but as Alice started to describe the plan, she realized they would only be a few steps back. That was close enough to activate her close range skills, and she would be able to step forward and touch him for the direct contact ones.
Lotus was preparing spells, layering them on her staff in preparation for the battle. Karl wasn’t sure what she was planning, but it almost felt like they were precast, and waiting for a target. That might be her way of spreading out the stamina draw of extended mana use, but her techniques were her own.
“Alright, everyone move out.” The Captain called.
The military units went first, and then the mercenary group started to move forward. Everyone was using Hawk as a reference point, as he was circling the area over the Goblin tribe. They would only see him every minute or two, but it was enough to let them know where they should be headed.
The only thing the soldiers regretted was not giving Karl a subvocal microphone so that he could relay Hawk’s observations in real time.
