Chapter 39: Seige

    Since we had our team, and everyone got along just fine, we decided to move around together.

    We had been introduced to all the facilities of the base, but there were still some things we needed to know.

    For one, we had to know about certain protocols. For the most part, they were standard. After all, this was the military. There would be very few times when protocols deviated from what was in the book.

    Still, after we had some free time, the Commander came back and gathered us together. For the next few hours after that, he went over all the necessary protocols.

    Specifically, he explained what we needed to do when missions arose.

    For the time being, we wouldn’t be sent out by ourselves. Each squad would be paired with another soldier from the base who would primarily be responsible for navigation and general oversight. After all, the soldiers here knew the lay of the land much better than us.

    When the time came for a mission, everyone would gather in the briefing room before being assigned a task that would involve us going beyond the walls and out into the wilderness.

    After our briefing, we would be given supplies for the mission. This included packs of food, water, medical supplies, and other equipment we would need.

    And after gathering everything we needed, everyone would meet at the gates for final preparations before heading off.

    Then after returning, there was a process of taking damage reports. Injuries, loss of equipment, expenditures, and other miscellaneous things would be logged before we could retire.

    That was basically the gist. I couldn’t really bother to hear the extensive details, and it didn’t seem like the Commander cared too much about making sure we knew. After all, this wasn’t our first rodeo.

    With that, the day gradually came to a close.

    Missions would be assigned in cycles. This meant that different squads would go out on different days. Also, not every mission would involve killing something.

    Sometimes it would be a perimeter patrol, and sometimes it would be a search and destroy mission.

    If things got really exciting, then this base would be raided by a wave of beasts and we would need to help defend. But the chances of that happening were low since this base wasn’t located on the true frontlines of the war front.

    This place was merely here to fill in gaps and make sure that enemies didn’t slip through. We also needed to clear anything that tried to nest and develop itself between the cracks, making sure our allies in distant lands didn’t have to worry about being attacked from the sides or back.

    So there wasn’t a whole lot of action. And while there were still frequent hunting missions, they would be split between all the squads, not leaving much for any single group.

    Well, I was completely fine with that. I still had yet to kill a real Scourge beast. I didn’t need to jump straight into a frontal battle. Easing my way in was preferable.

    Like that, we ended our second day uneventfully. The night concluded after everyone had eaten dinner and went back to the barracks.

    The next day, we were supposed to receive our first orders. A schedule would be given, and the Puppet Master had said that the Elites were going to be some of the first to deploy on real combat missions.

    So I went to sleep with excited anticipation. I wasn’t all that fearful, especially since my squad was damn powerful.

    ......

    ...

    “...”

    I woke up at some point during the night, not to my Aerial alarm, but to a weird feeling.

    I didn’t really sense anything other than a faint omen in the back of my head. My heart was also beating pretty hard, enough to send noticeable tremors through my bed.

    I sat up, remaining there for several minutes.

    And then, I heard it.

    *WHIRRRR*

    An ear piercing alarm suddenly sounded through the whole base. Feiden instantly woke, as did everyone else who had functional hearing.

    His eyes widened as he looked at me.

    “That’s not good.”

    “No shit.”

    I frowned while jumping out of bed. I had a hunch as to what was going on.

    There was really only one thing that could send this entire base into high alert.

    Sure enough, I heard several shouts outside the barracks.

    “Enemy attack!”

    “All hands to battle stations!”

    I could hear a commotion outside as all the soldiers on base instantly jumped to the call, rushing out to get ready.

    I decided to arm myself for battle as well, equipping my standard gear for when I would train.

    The coat was the last thing to go on as Feiden and I ran out of our room with the others.

    “All students, gather here!”

    They looked like mutated abominations. Tigers with spines shooting out of their backs, bears with bone spurs jutting out of its body, lizards with irregular scales that made them seem like a bed of razors, and many other monsters I couldn’t recognize.

    Of course, some looked more normal than others, but it was clear that the Scourge really was just a monstrous collection of unintelligent creatures. They thirsted for nothing but destruction and human flesh.

    Some were more mutated than others, and these were the stronger creatures. Not only that, but a larger size generally meant more power, so there were many large monsters that stood a few heads above the rest.

    It was clear that the Puppet Master dialed down the grotesque looks for us in training, but otherwise, they looked and operated exactly how I’d known. Otherwise, what use was his special training?

    After finding the familiarity, I calmed myself and spoke.

    “Umara.”

    “Yes.”

    “How long can you kill the sound?”

    “If I focus on nothing but that spell, I can do so for several hours.”

    “Could you?”

    I asked, not doubting if she actually could, but if she was willing to do so.

    To simply cast a single spell for several hours was no doubt boring and tedious. It might be fine for the first hour, but after that, she would end up just sitting by me and doing nothing but supporting me.

    But without her spell, I would draw too much attention. It didn’t matter how much was going on. My guns were simply too loud and pulled the attention of everything within a mile. That meant this tower would be attacked and I wouldn’t be able to work.

    But if nothing could hear me, then I would be a silent killer. The battle would continue as normal while I simply killed everything I laid eyes on.

    I felt bad asking her for this, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to mind much.

    “Sure. I’ll support you. Just do what you’re good at.”

    “Thank you.”

    I smiled at her, and after getting a smile in return, I turned around and focused in.

    A moment later, I heard the surrounding noise turn muffled. This was the normal effect of her sound spell, especially when she confined it to a small space. After all, I was the only person she needed to muffle.

    The windows in this tower were placed nicely. I was actually able to lay down and aim through some windows near the floors. These windows were meant to provide a line of fire down toward the base of the walls.

    Steadying my weapon on the ground and pointing the barrel through the window, I took aim at one of the big enemies. It was several meters tall, towering over the others nearby, and making it a large but tough target.

    And without empowering any of my shots, I fired.

    *Zip*

    My subsonic rounds produced untraceable sound as they pierced into the face of that behemoth. The massive beast had naturally tough armor that almost looked like rock, so I aimed for its only vulnerability.

    Several spells had already exploded on its body harmlessly, the beast continuing to truck forward.

    But as soon as the bullet landed, it recoiled in shock.

    *ROAR*

    It let out a pained bellow as the round scrambled its fleshy face, shattering what little armor it had around its eyes and mouth. However, it didn’t do any real damage, that much I realized.

    So with that shot as the gauge, I empowered the rifle and corrected my aim just slightly.

    *Zip*

    *SCREE*

    This time, the beast let out a scream as the bullet accurately hit its eye. Blood exploded from the wound as it thrashed around in pain.

    I didn’t let up, firing more into its face with increasingly powerful shots.

    And after around a dozen more bullets, the beast finally fell, crashing into its surrounding army and crushing several of its kin.

    I took a long breath after that, settling myself before finding another.

    As time passed, the army in the distance only grew. Even though I could see the end of it, there were still thousands of these beasts moving toward us.

    And among those armies were a few dozen massive behemoths. They marched alongside the smaller ones, giving off a grave presence.

    That one behemoth I killed took a good amount out of me. Empowering that many shots, especially ones that could kill a beast such as that, consumed great amounts of my Psyka. But after I had created the Spark with my cultivation in dreamland, I had gained a great amount of passive Psyka regeneration.

    The Spark initially only seemed to boost my cognitive power. But Psyka was directly tied to the mind and its thoughts. This meant that, the more powerful my mind, the more powerful and plentiful my Psyka. So the Spark, which acted as an engine for my mind, afforded me greater power regeneration.

    I hadn’t gotten the chance to really test it since I immediately left for this trip, but now, I would be putting it all into action.

    Without much rest, I took aim and fired at another behemoth, working to bring it down.

    And without realizing, I happened to be helping this base much more than I initially realized.