Isabella exited the fort first, her team following close behind. She strode forward with purpose, getting out of the fort’s walls through the large metal gates.
Beatrice and Lev shared a glance. It wasn’t unusual to see Isabella busily roaming the fort before they went to the mountains. Right now, however, he couldn’t even begin to guess what she needed to do so immediately after a meeting.
Her team also left the fort with her, so it was likely an important task. There weren’t many possibilities that demanded a full Master team.
“So she’s the fire princess, huh?” Beatrice began, suppressing a smirk. “I heard you accompanied her and her team on an adventure.”
“More like they accompanied Melvine and me,” Lev agreed, completely ignoring the implication. “That almost turned out to be a disaster.”
“What? Really?”
He settled for a nod, and she took the hint that he couldn’t say more.
The time passed in silence after that. Hundreds of Adepts left the fort over the next hour, most of them in groups as large as twenty combatants.
It was one thing to remember Varun’s words about how they had more than enough people, and another thing entirely to see it in action. Lev hadn’t seen so many fighters even when defending against waves. Just where had all these Adepts above level 150 come from?
He asked Beatrice as much, and she happened to know more.
“There were several huge training programs in Timberhold,” she said, crossing one leg over another and leaning back. “Last time I was called to enhance the regeneration of the trainers, I saw at least five thousand combatants just engaged in sparring, studying, and relaxing.”
“That doesn’t explain all of these people, though,” Lev pointed out. “The great cities still need a lot of people to defend against waves. Surely they didn’t send most of their forces.”
“You also underestimate just how many people are constantly on the move. Did you know that there are three different settlements present in the top five layers of the pit? There are also some massive final caverns below Runespires that are home to multiple towns.”
She had more to say, which boiled down to all the scouts that preferred to be away from the cities, and all the platinum hunters that didn’t want to be in public. Lev had even discovered one such place for himself, back when he had first met Mel.
“Hmm,” he grunted, thoughtful. “Our orders should come in soon. Are you ready for some carnage?”
“Born ready.”
Lev chuckled. She really had changed, even if it wasn’t outwardly noticeable. Back when they were still delving dungeons together, she would’ve hesitated.
Which reminds me…
[Aura Mage - Level 268]
A precise result, meaning she has a class truly focused on buffing others. Must be a strong one, because even other Masters show Healer or Mage instead of Aura Mage.
That was a good sign. Given how often they had delved into platinum dungeons, and how many second-threshold monsters they had killed, the evolution was likely pretty potent.
More importantly, she had gained another 17 levels after evolving. Given the low danger rating of Timberhold, she must have sought out dungeons and dangerous monsters by herself.
Good, good.
Lev approved, because of course he did. Getting stronger had little to no downsides, and for an aura mage, it meant the increase in strength would empower many more people in return.
It took another half an hour for someone to ping his communication tablet. Bringing it out of his ring, he sent a tendril of mana inside.
“Hunter Lev,” came Grand Strategist Wayne’s voice. “We now have time to discuss your task. Do you object to remaining near the fort?”
“I do not.”
“Very well. I have been informed that Beatrice is already with you. Your task is shared by five Master teams. Since you are, frankly, in possession of higher firepower than the other teams, you will be assigned to the East, from where the Wave will arrive in less than six hours.”
Simple enough, Lev mused. Further instructions revealed what exactly the task was, and also its simple yet daunting nature.
Each group of Adept he had seen earlier had devices that could sound out stress signals. Lev’s job, along with all of the other Masters, was to respond to the calls as soon as possible.
It seemed straightforward, and it actually was, but given the number of combatants tackling the incoming wave, Lev knew he wasn’t going to be afforded a single moment of respite when things got too heated.
“Time to make a name for myself,” he mumbled, then took a deep breath. Beatrice just shook her head slightly. Left unsaid was that she would make just as much of a name for herself as him.
With the bubble as high as it was, Lev had no problems seeing the extent of the formations. Humans had adopted small defensive lines all around the fort, though the number was way lower towards the West. The wave was approaching fast from the East, and the South and North were going to be hit just as hard. At the end of the day, the fort walls only covered a few hundred meters, much smaller than the area the wave was going to be spread over.
While he could see most of the humans, some of them were far enough that he couldn’t distinguish between stray monsters or combatants. Flashes of different elements were visible, and he could even see torn limbs being flung around by a small tornado, but that was all.
“See anything?” Beatrice asked, similarly focused on the formations.
Instead of answering, Lev powered up the driving formations and flew forward. The East was still relatively calm, though that was swiftly changing. His presence, despite the aura and mana cloaking enchantments currently active, had a visible effect on the monsters.
For once, the creatures didn’t understand what was happening. Lev attributed that to his deepening connection to mana and improving control over his aura.
On the ground, a group of strong trolls became enraged, pushing themselves harder than before. The defenders still outclassed them, but now, they had to backpedal to play it safe.
It was the first time Lev had seen monsters react to his presence without him being noticed.
“… Should I ask?” Beatrice tossed out, not actually expecting a proper answer.
“No, you shouldn’t.”
“Thought so.”
There was no need for him to intervene, so the bubble returned to halfway between the formations and the fort. For now, the duo just waited as Lev’s mana regenerated in Beatrice’s passive buffs.
Several hours later, when most of the day had already passed, the world finally changed. As was the case with every wave, the very air became hostile, at least in everyone’s senses.
There was still no explanation as to why that happened. Some believed that waves were a trial for humanity to persist against, while others said that a threshold was reached when too many monsters spawned in the plains, leading to a collective assault.
Lev didn’t think either of those theories was correct, but he also didn’t have any other explanations. The world at large was a mystery of endless depth. Who knew what was possible when godly entities put their mind to it?
Along with the widespread sense of dread came the first signs of the wave. Monsters approached in a huge line that extended for hundreds of meters from side to side. At the front were trolls, somehow imitating a crude formation by using their tough bodies and regeneration powers to shield the other monsters.
Unfortunately for them, Beatrice had already cast her buffs on Lev. He didn’t opt for anything fancy, only hundreds of arrows that received a uniform input of lightning mana.
The monsters were far enough for him to leisurely enchant each construct, except that there was no need to. He didn’t have any formations meant to empower explosions yet, and that was what mattered for the barrage.
When each arrow was ready to burst, Lev spent a moment to appreciate just how insane his regeneration was with Beatrice’s buffs.
What once used to be a trickle when he was a Classer running around in the pit, was now a small yet roaring stream. The difference was awe-inspiring when he thought back to those days. It was so easy to ignore the sheer scope of improvements when increases came in small doses, and only after particularly dangerous battles.
Still, he couldn’t afford to get lost in his musings. Not yet. With a thought, arrows were fired in quick succession. Along the length of the monster line, explosions rocked the crude formation, eviscerating trolls and orcs that were at the front.
The whole wave faltered for a moment before the first survivors pushed through the crackling flames. Unsurprisingly, felines were at the front, accompanied by wolves and other quadrupeds.
Thornlings followed close behind, and that was when Lev decided he would rather be involved instead of hoping he made it to struggling teams in time. There were too many monsters to take any chances, and with thornlings added to the mix, things could get dicey in a blink.
Within seconds, the first monsters hit the teams at the forefront. Platinum hunters held admirably, not wasting any mana on skills and simply tackling the fastest monsters with raw attributes.
Below Lev, a Master strategist looked at his bubble. Lev sent her a pulse of mana, which was recreated by several barrier plates, orbs, and other constructs currently digging through the ground and circling the human defenders.
Fortunately, she understood his intentions quickly and sent orders to several formations to make his task easier.
Some of them spread onto a wider area, whereas others clumped tightly together. Lev took a moment to assess the changes, then redirected his constructs according to the strengths of each formation.
The ones that spread wider were comprised mostly of warriors, and if he wasn’t mistaken, they were accompanied by a taunter. That person’s job was to attract monsters, and warriors were best suited for the ensuing chaos.
To complement that, Lev dug underneath them with disks, then slowly expanded them into both spike plates and walls. The former took were enchanted to form in a blink, and given how large they were going to be, Lev expected them to skewer anything below the third threshold easily.
For the tighter formations, which were primarily mages, he sent orbs digging in a large radius around them. While the mages could easily destroy anything from afar, his job was to keep monsters from getting too close. They had a few Shields for that situation, but Lev would still keep an eye on them.
“What are you doing?” Beatrice asked, feeling his mana dip a little due to the rapid enchanting.
“Creating little surprises for the monsters,” Lev answered, eyes trained on the first real threat.
A large monster resembling a turtle with earth spikes on its back ran towards a platinum team. Its short, stubby legs didn’t let it go too fast, though Lev was curious how the team would fare against it. It also happened to be the team with the strong wind user who was creating tornadoes earlier, and he wanted to see the skills in action.
[Stoneback Roller - Level 375]
As expected, a gale was the first response. It was backed by several skills, a small part of the move wrapping around the team’s warriors. Instead of hindering them, the wind empowered their movements, improving speed and momentum.
That was pretty strong already, but then the mage also conjured a tornado. From up close, Lev could see that it was filled to the brim with small wind blades, not unlike the ones he had used at one point.
When the turtle was only a few dozen meters away, the tornado roared forward, carving a groove in the ground as it went. The target was the turtle’s face, and the effect was immediate.
It wailed in pain, eyes torn to shreds, and face riddled with cuts. The monster’s long neck retracted inside the shell. It bent inwards, turning into a spiked ball ready to roll over the humans.
A hammer landed on the side of its shell, completely derailing that plan. Wind pressure visibly increased, pushing the monster into the ground. The final warrior’s sword radiated mana, glowing with the full, overloaded might of a skill.
It cut through the shell with difficulty, but continued all the same. Blood spurted out of the wound, along with a roar that sounded like a dinosaur’s. Lev had to blink twice at that. It really did sound like it belonged in a movie.
The platinum team didn’t care about that. A healer stayed behind and sent a weak buff towards the warriors that put down the turtle within seconds, showing a level of efficiency that betrayed their decades of experience.
“That’s a strong team,” Beatrice commented, impressed.
Lev nodded. “The wind mage has a strong class like mine, but without the mana advantages. He will be extremely strong after the Master evolution.”
The bubble remained above the battlefield as more such instances played out. More and more, Lev could see that no one present so far ahead was a slouch, and also that he wouldn’t need to intervene anytime soon.
That was fine, for the wave was only beginning. Sooner or later, he would need to take action. All the better if he would remain topped up on mana in the meantime.