"You know who I am." TJ began. "I don't think that I'm a great leader, and I wouldn't be here if I couldn't help out. If you decide to follow me, then you'll get a High Morale buff that'll keep you from spending quite as much Stamina and MP through this upcoming siege. That's the main reason why I'm 'in charge'." TJ motioned air quotes when he said it. A couple people let out half-hearted laughs, but he didn't care.
"That said, there is something I want to say in these last ten minutes before the Tutorial ends. Many of you probably know why I'm fighting so hard—it's for my son. He's just two, almost three, and the System says that, if I do right by it, I'll see him again. For now, that means killing a lot of monsters. Thank you all for helping me with that. I'm grateful for people who've kept me safe through this, so that I have some measure of hope to see my son. But now, we have the final day, the last hours of this hellhole we've been pulled into, so I just have a last request.
"Fight like hell. Fight like Satan himself is trying to yank you to hell, or whatever else motivates you. You're almost there. Near as I can see it, we have three different options of what to fight for, and I don't care which of the three you choose.
"The first is for yourself. Be selfish—fight because you don't want to die. Fight because it hurts to lose. Fight because if you don't, a monster's going to eat you and you don't want to be pukwudgie shit. Fight because you want to get home to your comfy bed. Fight for whatever selfish reason you've got. That's the first option.
"The second is for the person at your side. Look at them, remember their name and everything they've done for you. Remember the laughs and the rough times. How you've saved their life and they've saved yours. Remember the times they've told you about what they want to do with their lives, about what matters to them. Fight for them, to protect the future they have, to save them from pain." TJ felt himself looking at the youngest people in the audience and felt himself lament their loss of innocence and safety.
"The third is for the people you've left behind. Maybe they're a sibling, parent, or child. It could be a friend, a pet, a spouse, anything. Think of the dozens or hundreds of people who you want to see again, and how they want to see you again. Remember all the ways that the people from your past have impacted you, how they've blessed you and been there for you. Remember how you feel when you're near them, and fight to the last bloody breath for them, because they're fighting for you.
"I feel privileged to have so many people who've fought to survive this far. I'm seeing warriors and leaders and friends and supporters here, and I appreciate every one of you. Fight hard, because we're at the final step, at the final obstacle before we can go home. So rise, fight, and win!" TJ roared the last sentence, and cheers rose up from the people in front of him. He raised his spear overhead for a short moment as a rallying symbol before stepping back and away from the limelight.
"Pretty good speech there." Stanton said as he made his way closer to TJ. "Got me a Moderate High Morale buff."
"Same here." Farid grinned. "You are a good leader!"
"Nah." TJ shook off the praise. "I'm a good speaker, but not a leader. I can run my mouth when I have to, but I'm not a great planner or anything. Still appreciate it though."
"Suit yourself." Stanton answered. "Did a fine job."
The conversation continued for another minute as they walked up onto the walkways of the walls surrounding the story. The outer walls were about six feet tall with walkways about three feet tall behind them. As soon as they'd settled into position, though, the System interrupted everyone in the Tutorial from whatever they were doing.
In this Tutorial, Tutorial 107.48.891, the Quest Goals are as follows:
Within two weeks (336 hours) of Integration, enter the city limits of the city Pine, Arizona. Time remaining: NA–you have entered the designated area. Total elapsed time: 336:00:00Within 18 hours of the end of the second week of Integration, defend the Pine, Arizona general store from assault.Defeat the assigned Tutorial Boss.
Congratulations, you have completed the first of the three Quest Goals! Please complete the second of the three Quest Goals. Calculating bonuses to provide to all Participants due to the success of the Participants in Tutorial 107.48.891. Base combat missions completed:
Slay 25% of all basic monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 62%. COMPLETE. Experience gained.
Slay 50% of all basic monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 62%. COMPLETE. Experience gained.
Slay 75% of all basic monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 62%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 100% of all basic monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 62%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 25% of all the original Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 55%. COMPLETE. Experience gained.
Slay 50% of all the original Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 55%. COMPLETE. Experience gained.
Slay 75% of all the original Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 55%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 100% of all the original Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 55%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 25% of all the additional Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 10%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 50% of all the additional Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 10%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 75% of all the additional Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 10%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 100% of all the additional Elite monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 10%. INCOMPLETE.
Slay 100% of all the Copper (I) tier monsters in the Tutorial. PROGRESS: 0%. INCOMPLETE.
Final additional monsters for Tutorial 107.48.891 spawned. Wave 1 of 3 of assault on the Pine, Arizona general store, begin. WARNING: During the next 24 hours, any levels gained will not refresh or refill any spent resources.
There wasn't any time to understand what the System was saying, though TJ didn't gain any levels from the experience he gained. A wave of pukwudgies flooded from the tree covers a couple hundred yards away from the fortification. Hundreds ran forward, the only sign of their passage were the footprints left in the slightly muddy dirt.
"OPEN FIRE!" TJ shouted. "Don't exhaust yourselves, but don't let them in!"
No sooner had he spoken did arrows, spears, bolts, and rocks fly out of the fortress. Though he wanted to experiment with his newly Silver tiered Wind Manipulation, TJ didn't activate Divine Transformation. Instead, he slashed his spear several times through the air and created a series of slashes of wind in the air. Each one whipped the falling rain in every direction, and TJ felt the amplified strength of his Skill through his Divine Authority. As soon as they were ready, no more than 200 MP used in each, TJ sent the ripping winds through the air towards the approaching pukwudgies.
The blurry creatures tried to dodge his attacks, but TJ didn't allow them to. He curved each attack to slash through a dozen pukwudgies, their dead bodies returning to a visible state as they were bisected. With his three attacks, the majority of the pukwudgies on this side of the wall were immediately killed. He wanted to rush to the other side, to help stave off the attack there, but he held himself back. This was the beginning of a preliminary wave, and all the monsters here were pukwudgies. He spent a full quarter of his MP on that opening attack, and even though it would recover all by itself over the next hour, given Storm Soul and Divine Authority, he needed to conserve his resources.
As soon as he made that decision, he heard shouts of concern on the opposite side. He tried to listen to the wind about what was happening there, but before he could turn to look back there, Stanton spoke.
"I really should be on the other side. You go north if they have problems, I'll go south. Got it?"
Though he asked for a response, the old cowboy sprinted away long before TJ replied. Even so, he looked to the north, seeing their reply to the initial assault. Nobody there was so capable as he was at dispatching the majority of the attackers on their section, but on the east side, TJ heard Stanton's Suzie coughing bullets at an insane clip, several shots a second. There must have been a change there, TJ mused to himself, if the old man was willing to use so many shots so quickly.
On the north, the pukwudgies were already in melee distance, having closed the distance in record time. TJ watched, helpless to react so quickly, as a hail of javelins flew through the air towards the defenders. With there being so many more of the goblins than the defenders, their opening salvo of spears struck several bloody wounds. Then, while the defenders recoiled and fought to drive off the attack, the furry beasts pressed into and through the boughs of pine branches to reach the wall proper. Drying branches cracked explosively as a dozen pukwudgies launched themselves wildly at the defenders. The Zealots on the wall held strong, striking down with their weapons to stop any errant attack, but nobody expected a second wave of pukwudgies to strafe past.
Riding in a fog bank created by their mounts, a dozen wendigo-bred coyotes, the cavalry hefted their spears and threw them with blistering speed. Though he noticed and used Wind Manipulation to try to knock the attack off-course, the spears thrown by pukwudgies with atlatls flew too fast and too far for him to do anything but turn several deadly blows into mere live-threatening ones. Two Acolytes and one Zealot fell from their posts and were swiftly collected by Disciples waiting, hunched behind the safety of the thick wooden walls.
TJ wanted to send a blade of wind to cut the cavalry into pieces, but he held himself back, again. If he did, he knew that he'd be lucky to kill even a single one of them from this far away. If he missed, then he'd have wasted the precious MP that he spent. He growled low under his breath as the cavalry continued circling.
"Eyes on the coyotes!" He called out as the monsters eyed his side of the wall. "They're quick and have a longer range than we're used to!"
The call went up as others noticed what he was pointing out. Though they made another attack, with a warning from someone on the south side of the walls there were no serious wounds. Sarah, who stood on the south side, raised her shield and took three of the spears without any apparent worry.
"They're strong! Better at shieldbreaking than the other thrown spears, but not as good as one of the brutes. Block if necessary, but better to dodge if possible!"
The rest passed the message of the threat that the cavalry posed on to the rest. Nobody had died, though several wounds had popped up on every side of the wall except his own. With Wind Manipulation killing more than half of the initial attackers, the west side had disposed of the opening wave without difficulty. TJ allowed himself a grim smile as the worst of the sounds of battle on the other sides of the fort died down. He turned back to look at the wounded who were quickly being patched up.
"Hold strong!" TJ called out. "We can do this, just stay focused!"
Of course, as soon as he shouted that was the same moment that the heavy cavalry arrived.