Another week bled by in a haze of stone dust and mana pulses. Day after day Ludger pressed his hands to the earth, shaping pillar after pillar, seam after seam, until the northern wall no longer looked like a patchwork of repairs but a single, seamless bulwark.

On the eighth morning he stepped back from the last section, wiped the grit off his palms, and let out a long, slow sigh. The northern wall now rose thick and high, towers interlocked, foundations sunk deep enough to laugh at a battering ram. It looked less like a border town’s barricade and more like a fortress carved from the hillside itself.

He rolled his shoulders and drew in a deep breath of the cold air. For the first time since he’d arrived, the scent wasn’t just stone and sweat — it carried the faint edge of cooked food from reopened stalls, the low murmur of merchants setting up shop again.

As he glanced around, he caught the change in the people’s faces. Soldiers walked their patrols with straighter backs. Some Townsfolk crossed the streets with fewer anxious glances at the horizon. Children darted between crates, laughing. The whole place looked different now, as if the weight pressing down on it had lifted a little.

The wall didn’t just hold back enemies; it held back despair.

Ludger smirked faintly to himself, dust still clinging to his tunic. Good, he thought. Let them see it can’t be taken so easily again.

He took another deep breath, eyes scanning his work one more time, already thinking about the next section to reinforce.

Ludger brushed his palms together, the last crumbs of stone dust falling to the ground. He turned on his heel, already rehearsing the words in his head: time to go home, time to hand the fortress back to its garrison. A few days’ travel, a warm bed, a real meal. At least for a few days.

He scanned the yard for Darnell. Usually the captain hovered nearby like his shadow, but today he wasn’t at his usual post near the supply cart.

Ludger’s eyes narrowed as he finally spotted him across the square. Darnell stood with three soldiers in a tight knot, backs half-turned to the crowd. Their heads were close together, voices low. The scarred captain’s expression was carved from stone—serious, almost grim—as he gestured subtly toward the gate and then back toward the barracks.

The soldiers nodded, faces tight, eyes flicking around as if to make sure no one was watching. It wasn’t the casual briefing tone Darnell used with patrol shifts. It was the sound of bad news being contained.

Ludger tilted his head, watching from a distance. So much for a clean exit, he thought. Whatever he’s whispering, he doesn’t want it spreading.

He slipped his hands into his pockets, smirk fading to a thin line as he started walking toward them, deciding whether to wait or interrupt.

Darnell’s head lifted the moment he felt Ludger’s shadow fall across him. The soldiers he’d been whispering to stiffened, glancing at each other, then at the boy. One sharp gesture from the captain and they melted away into the yard, boots scuffing as they hurried to their posts.

By the time Ludger reached him, Darnell had already straightened, arms crossed, expression arranged into something close to normal. “Well, look who’s back on his feet,” he said, trying for a crooked smile. “Was just talking about your time off. When were you thinking of coming back to work?”

Ludger stopped in front of him, dust still clinging to his sleeves. His eyes stayed flat, unreadable. “Don’t dodge,” he said quietly. “What’s going on?”

For a moment the only sounds were the hammering from the far wall and the low murmur of patrols. Darnell held the boy’s gaze, the scar at his cheek twitching once. The captain had led men through ambushes and riots, but being stared down by a nine-year-old with eyes like cooled steel still made his stomach knot.

He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled through his nose. “You’re a hard kid to fool, you know that?”

Ludger didn’t blink. “You’ve been whispering to soldiers like they’re carrying contraband,” he said. “You’re either planning something or covering something up. Which is it?”

Darnell’s mouth tightened. His heartbeat ticked faster — Ludger could feel it through the ground, a faint double-tap in the earth like a hesitant drum. Whatever he’d been trying to keep quiet wasn’t just idle gossip.

Finally the captain let out a low sigh, shoulders sagging a little. “All right,” he said. “I’ll tell you. But not out here.” He glanced toward the nearest patrol, then back at Ludger. “Walk with me.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed, but he fell into step beside him, silent as dust, ready to hear whatever bad news was being kept under wraps.

Darnell led Ludger away from the work site, boots crunching over the hard-packed dirt. They stopped near the shadow of one of the new towers where the wind masked their voices. The captain glanced around once, then leaned in slightly, his tone dropping to a low growl.

“They’re on the move again,” he said. “Barbarians.”

Ludger’s eyes narrowed.

“Until now they’ve been sitting quiet, licking their wounds while you rebuilt this place,” Darnell continued. “But the last few days our patrols have been running into their scouts—more of them, and closer than before. The men I sent out last night came back swearing they saw their markings on the trees just a few miles from here.”

He rubbed his scar, jaw tight. “It’s not a raid yet. Could just be them sniffing around, trying to figure out what you’re building. But it’s clear enough—they’ve finally realized they can’t just sit and watch while you turn this border into a fortress.”

The wind tugged at Ludger’s tunic. He stood silent, eyes fixed on the horizon beyond the wall, the earth under his boots already humming faintly as his mind ticked over the news.

“They’re testing us,” Darnell finished. “Trying to see what’s changed. And sooner or later they’ll push harder. I needed you to know before it hits the rumor mill.”

Ludger gave a slow nod, lips pressing into a thin line. “Good to know,” he said quietly. “Means we still have a little time.”

He turned his gaze back to the wall he’d built, the smirk gone, his hands flexing slightly as if he were already shaping new plans in his head.

Ludger let the silence stretch until even the wind seemed to hush. He stared past the wall he’d built, eyes following the tree line where Darnell’s scouts had seen the markings. His fingers twitched once at his side, already sketching lines and choke-points in his head.

Then he sighed, a quiet, deliberate sound. “Looks like my return home will have to wait,” he said at last. His voice wasn’t dramatic; it was flat, clear, the way he might announce another layer of stone to pour. “If the barbarians are moving, I’m not walking away now.”

Darnell’s scar twitched, but he didn’t argue. “Figured you’d say that,” he muttered. “Your mother’s going to skin me alive.”

“Send a message to Lord Torvares immediately,” Ludger continued, eyes still on the horizon. “Everything you just told me. And a letter to my home — tell them I’ll be a few days later.” His mouth twisted in a faint grimace. “I’ll leave the excuse in your hands. Haven’t had time to think of something funny that won’t make my mother worry.”

The captain huffed a dry laugh. “I’m better at field reports than comedy, but I’ll manage. Maybe I’ll tell her the walls started talking back and you’re trying to tame them.”

Ludger finally turned his head, smirk flickering for a heartbeat. “That’s as good as anything. Wait, I should write instead since I have something in mind…”

Then his eyes hardened again. “While you’re doing that, I’ll start planning. If their scouts are sniffing around, we’re going to make sure they don’t like what they find. Triplines. Dead zones. False weak points.”

Darnell straightened, the soldier in him responding to the boy’s clipped tone. “All right. I’ll re-route the patrols and double the watches on the north and east approaches. We’ll keep your work areas clear for whatever you’re setting up.”

“Good.” Ludger drew a deep breath, scanning the fortress like a chessboard. “We have a few days, maybe less. Let’s make them count.”

For a moment, standing there with the wind tugging at their cloaks, they looked less like a captain and a child and more like two strategists at the start of a campaign. Ludger’s trip home was postponed; the fortress had become his battlefield. Again.

Ludger could have started laying traps the moment the scouts’ report landed — hollowing a false footing, weaving quicksand under a sleeper patch, setting earth tripwires — but he didn’t. He kept at the wall, reinforcing both faces of the northern stretch, letting the rhythm of pull, compress, anchor, seal do the thinking while he waited for Darnell to return. If someone else was watching, he wanted their captain’s eyes on it when the answers were decided.

A few hours later Darnell appeared out of the dust, shoulders squared, boots scuffed. He stopped beside Ludger without ceremony and watched the seams lock together for a moment before the boy spoke.

“Why are you still doing the same thing?” the captain asked. “We’ve time to set traps, make messes for them. You could be laying surprises all over the approaches.”

Ludger didn’t flinch. He kept one hand on the cold stone. “My tactical knowledge’s limited,” he said bluntly. “You’re the one who’s had men in the field. Tell me what to make and why. I’ll build it. I want it to work, not just look clever on paper.”

Darnell’s face softened into the only kind of half-smile he ever allowed himself. He crouched, fingers tracing a faint line in the packed earth as if drafting without paper.

“All right,” he said, and his voice went low and steady, soldier-sharp. “Listen. We’re defending a town, not a keep. The goal isn’t to kill every enemy— it’s to delay damage on the walls, funnel, and break their formations so our men can do the killing. Make the enemy choose the worst option at every step. Practical things, not theatre.”

Ludger folded his arms, face flat. “Say it plain.”

“Considering your magic….” The captain’s tone grew harder. “Quicksand pockets. Cavalry and scouts hate loose ground. Make hollows under soft patches that liquefy under weight, then harden them once the fool’s stuck — neck-line control if you need it. No suicide exits.”

[Tactical Insight + 100 XP]

Ludger nodded, picturing boots sinking. “I can lay Quicksand in that can solidify on my signal. They try to bite their way out, they’re stuck enough to be taken alive — or useless.”

“Also sally ports,” Darnell said. “Small reinforced exits for counterattacks. If they think they’ve hemmed us in, open a gate and hit their flank.”

[Tactical Insight + 100 XP]

“You want hidden doors in the wall?” Ludger raised an eyebrow. “I can carve quiet exits and hide the seams in the foundation. Perfect for surprise sorties.”

“Archer lanes,” Darnell added. “High slits and ledges to cover the funnels. Mask them from a distance so the barbarians don’t see the shooters until they’re dead in the box.”

[Tactical Insight + 100 XP]

Ludger looked at the town people in the square, thinking of civilians. “And safe corridors for the townsfolk. Shelters. Routes that steer them away from fight zones.”

Darnell’s hands flattened on the dirt. “You build the ground tricks. I’ll reroute patrols, hide reserves at the sally ports, and time the counterattacks. Our job is to make the barbarians pick the worst path every time.”

Ludger breathed out, feeling the plan click into place. “I’ll weave it into the foundations so it looks natural. We trigger when their formations are in place.”

Darnell gave the only half-smile he allowed himself. “Do that. And Ludger — don’t waste stone on vanity. Make it brutal and usable.”

Ludger’s smirk returned, sharper now. “Brutal and usable. Sounds good to me.”

[Tactical Insight + 100 XP]

Tactical thinking became something he could slot into his earthwork design: not just “make a hole here,” but “make a hole that forces them into our crossfire at 12 paces.” He folded Darnell’s corrections into his plans: collapse timing tied to volley rhythm, quicksand pockets angled to catch flankers rather than foot-soldiers.

Practically, his afternoons turned into tests. He’d finish a seam, then hollow a pocket and mark it with a hidden mark. Each small experiment fed back into his growing tactician sense: spacing, timing, and how to make terrain dictate the enemy’s choices.

Darnell kept giving him tips — blunt, precise, the kind that left no room for prettiness:

“Time the collapse two heartbeats after the volley. Make the funnel chest-high for crossbows and spears, not swords. Don’t make the trap obvious from the next ridge. Keep a sally port within thirty paces so reserves can flank.”

Ludger wrote those in his head and translated them into earth. He learned to think in beats — three heartbeats to stall, two to break, one to finish. The wall became not only a barrier but a clockwork.

And then the practical realization hit him: experience in a tent and remote drills was one thing. Experience under real pressure, with veteran masters at his side, would teach him nuance no wall could. He’d been relying on magic and geometry, and it was powerful — but limited. To reach the kind of influence and durability he wanted for his guild, he needed more than spells. He needed flesh-and-bone masters who could show him melee timing and feint-reading in the crush of real combat with all sorts of weapons. He didn't want random masters, but one can’t have everything they wanted.

Experience from fighting with these people would translate into more than dog-eared tactics. It would give Ludger the kind of battlefield literacy that stacked on top of his geomancer power would let him design not only traps, but whole engagements — and then lead men through them. That mentorship would grant him leadership XP, hard lessons in timing and sacrifice, and the credibility to recruit into his fledgling guild later.

He made the decision quietly and fast. “Captain.”

Darnell turned from a patrol map, eyebrow raised. “What now?”

“I want you to show me a few spear techniques,” Ludger said, wiping dust off his hands. “Not parade forms. The kind of stuff I’d see from someone with your level of ability — how they lunge, feint, recover. I need to know what to expect.”

The captain blinked once, then gave a low, surprised chuckle. “You? Wanting spear drills?”

Ludger shrugged. “My magic covers a lot, but not everything. If I’m going to build tactics for this place, I should understand how the weapons actually move. Not just the diagrams.”

Darnell set the map aside and picked up the spear leaning against a crate. “All right,” he said, spinning it once with a veteran’s grip. “You’re about to learn why a good spearman can break a line before a mage even gets a spell off.”

He stepped into an open space and demonstrated a clean thrust, then a low sweep, narrating as he moved. “Watch the feet. Short steps for stability. Point stays in their face; butt of the shaft can crack ribs on the retreat. Timing beats power. If you’re setting traps, think of these angles — where a man’s weight will be when he lunges, where he’s open after a sweep.”

Ludger mirrored the stance, stone dust still on his boots, listening with that same focused stare he used on walls. Darnell walked him through feints, shield-breaking thrusts, pivot steps. Each movement was a small download of experience: what a spear does to formations, how distance feels, where a mage’s opening appears when he’s forced into close range.

[New Job Unlocked: Spearman Lv. 1]

Bonus per Level: +2 STR, +2 DEX, +2 Vit

Skill Acquired: [Piercing Discipline Lv. 1]

Improves reach control, thrust speed, and recovery with spears. Increases accuracy and critical chance on lunges. Reduces stamina cost for extended spear combat.

Ludger flexed his fingers, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth. “That’s what I wanted,” he said. “Now when I build the field, I’ll know exactly how it feels for the men standing on it.”

Darnell spun the spear once more and grinned. “Good. Now let’s make sure they regret stepping onto it at all.”