Chương 654: Chapter 653: Seventeen

Orok Uram"… we need to be prepared because the enemy will be prepared when it comes for us," said General Azalia. I am in a weekly meeting called by the General. As usual, I am the only Lieutenant Colonel in the meeting; the rest are colonels. This is a privilege due to leading the first elite battalion. I may have privilege and position, but I do not have strength. All of these people are stronger than me, with much greater experience. It always makes me feel lacking.

"We seemed to have credible intel of the undead attack?" asked Colonel Axseer. She had been in the Nakar forest until last week before being sent here. In the past few months, there has been quite a lot of talk about her. Her promotion had caused quite a quake, more than mine. However, it died down as instantly as she proved her mettle in the first battle and the battles after.

"Yes, the undead are going to attack in the next three weeks," she replied, turning everyone somber. The shadow of the undead attack has been there for the past half a year. The general's words about them not attacking were as certain as she is right now about attacking.

"They have been steadily building their forces in the past half year. So, when they attack, it will be very powerful," said Colonel Trask.

"Their attacks were always powerful, but we dealt with them every time, and we will deal with them this time as well," replied Colonel Irab. Everyone nodded, but I could feel the weight behind their eyes. They are worried. I am worried. I understand that the attack will be the strongest to date, and I wish I had more time to prepare for it. The meeting lasted for forty more minutes before it was over.

"Lt. Colonel," I was about to leave with the rest when the General called me. I turned to her and sat down. Soon, only two of us were left in the conference room.

"How is your battalion?" she asked.

"They are ready for the war, general," I replied. I have been training them hard for half a year. Battalion 17's official training period is nine months, but my people are ready. I have been training them for it every day for over six months, though a few more would have made them even more ready.

"The army has invested a lot in your battalion, Lt. Colonel, and we will be expecting the results in the coming battle," she said.

"You will have it, General," I replied.

"Good," she said, lifting a wooden case before sliding it to me across the table.

"The headquarters had sent this for you," she said. I looked at her for more explanation, but she said nothing. Seeing that, I turned to the case. It is long, with a clean finish. I could tell by the look that it was made of rolan wood, which is rare, even in the forest. Click! I admired it before opening the case. To my surprise, I saw an axe there. It is a long ax with a blue metal handle and a dark red moon blade attached to it, both of which are covered in runes.

"This?" I asked, turning toward it. This is an enchanted weapon, but it feels more powerful. The blade looked so sharp that I felt it would cut through me with the touch.

"They had especially made it for you," she replied. I wanted to say that I already had an enchanted weapon. It is one of the best, with three enchantments, but this one feels even more powerful. I picked it up and felt its weight, which was perfect. It is also long, which is the way I like it. It is likely why they asked me so many questions about the weapons and tested me a few months ago. I thought it was about the enchanted ax they had given me the next day, but it seemed like it was for this.

"Thank you," I said. To that, she smiled. I nodded and walked out of the conference room. Once more, I left confused by the feeling I was getting from her. I do not have dangerous skills, but my instincts are very good. Until half a year ago, I had a feeling that if I fought a General, I would last at least a minute, but things have changed drastically in the past few months. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Now, there is no chance against her.

She will crush me instantly. Since then, I have thought about the reasons a lot, but I haven't been able to see the reason for such a threat. Still, I became more cautious of the woman. I got out of the admin building and mounted on my horse. I have been a carriage and driver, but I like to ride. It makes things faster. Soon, I reached the section of the base that is designated for Battalion 17.

"Lt. Colonel," greeted Ben, casting an eye on the box. The human old man is an adviser. He used to be a member of the empire's most elite region in its younger days before the emperor had split it. He then becomes a war historian. Lord Silver had sent him to me within a week of giving me the responsibility of creating an elite battalion. He is the one who designed all the training.

"Ben," I said as I dismounted and walked toward the large training ground where several groups were training. Some are running with weight plates attached to them, while others are sparring with bloody marks appearing on their bodies. The training is harsh, but it is effective. Ben designed it, but I have added some things I learned in the forest. I believe some of it could be valuable to the battalion.

"The undead are coming in the next few weeks," I informed him. It is confidential information; the General had asked us to inform the officers under us.

"They could fight, but I wished they would have gotten the full nine months of training." He replied, looking at them.

"All of them," he added and sighed. Not all of them started training at once. We recruited them in batches. So, some have been training for over six months, while others have been for only two, but they will all fight when the enemy comes for us. We had a sanctioned strength of twelve hundred, but I only have one thousand and twenty-one people. These are the only ones that could pass the tests. I am training them to be the best warriors, using the same standards as the best elite forces in the world.

I could have used the imperial standard. They are one of the best, but not the best. If I had used them, I would have chosen two thousand already. The general indicated. If enough met the requirements, I could take the numbers to sixteen hundred. With lowered standards, at least four thousand would have made the cut, but I didn't. I want the best and, most importantly, small numbers suitable for the strategy I plan on using. The number of enemies would be at least five to ten times larger than ours, even more.

With such a difference, a slightly bigger size didn't matter. Besides, I do not need the bigger numbers with the strategy I chose for my battalion. Thousand to twelve hundred would be more than enough.

"Yes, more time would prepare us better, but we had more time than we had expected," I said to the man, smiling. I had thought I would get three to four months at most.

"That's true," he replied, but his expression turned serious a moment later.

"You should have listened; it would have made us more ready," he said, and his voice pointed. He is talking about the offer the General had made to me a few months ago. She wanted to send me and my forces to the forest to give the battalion a fighting experience. 70% of the people had battle experience but had never fought as an elite unit. I had considered the offer, but in the end, I rejected it. This was out of selfishness, but also for the battalion's future.

If I had taken the battalion in the forest, there would have been a good chance that I would have reached Lv. 30, which I desperately wanted, but it would have taken my main class in a direction I didn't want. I love the Dominion—the order, the people, my church, and everything else—and I want to protect it. I cannot do that if I take my class in the direction it wants. In it, I will constantly face resistance as I face it now, and I wouldn't be able to use my full power outside the forest.

This is not what I want, and I am willing to give up my inheritance skills for that. I could already feel my men getting affected by my Officer Class, even when it had not reached Lv. 20. Some had even started to get the same skill as me, with a similar flavor. If the Officer Class is swallowed by the Wildlander Survivalist, a very powerful class. Then, it will begin to affect the classes of others, and those classes will begin to suffer from the same restrictions as I do.

Some people prefer that, and I had been advised by some to pursue that path because environment-specific classes are powerful in their environment. A whole battalion suitable for that specific environment would be a great asset, but I don't want it for myself or the battalion. I want my battalion to be capable of dealing with any threat from any environment. So, there is no way I would take my class in that direction. I didn't reply to him and walked toward my men. Watching their progress, noting things.

Soon, it was two in the afternoon, and I could feel the spells and tools activating around the ground while the battalion gathered in front of me. All of them are equipped with the best armor and weapons. This is an elite battalion; it had the best equipment in the whole army and the highest percentage of enchanted weapons. They are expensive to buy and to maintain. On the other side is an army of ten thousand.

We practice against the army twice weekly under the powerful protections of anti-scrying spells and skills. Ten thousand isn't big, but it is enough for us to practice. I took my position, which was in the lead. It is the most dangerous position, but I am the leader and need to lead from the front for it to work. As I did, the shamans moved forward, and the power of shamanic spells and rituals began to cover us. I have shamans, as I have mages and warriors. They are a necessary part of the battalion.

Half of them are from Mayhurst Island. To them, the colour of my skin didn't matter. The other half are from the forest; they greatly cared about my skin color. So, I was quite shocked when they came for the recruitment. They are the ones who hate me the most. These aren't the old ones; these are new shamans. Most are in their teens and twenties and belong to small tribes. They hate me, but they like the salary and prestige of being part of the elite battalion, which is enough for them to look past their hate.

Soon, they are finished with their spells. I could feel their protection on me and the whole battalion.

"Attack!" I roared and activated the Thunderous Charge as I moved toward the army of the ten thousand. My people moved with me, while hundreds of spells activated around me. The enemy didn't waste any time launching the mock spells, arrows, and even cannonballs, but our mages reacted swiftly. They began dealing with the arrows, cannons, and spells as we approached the target.

"Wolf Lance formation!" I commanded, and immediately, my people acted like a well-oiled machine. They began to move smoothly without affecting our charge. It took mere seconds for my men to form the wolf lance formation. Half a minute later, we clashed against the army. We practiced for three hours, reviewing every aspect and fixing the problems we saw. There used to be hundreds when we began, but now there are barely any.

After the practice, they dispersed while I gathered my officers to discuss the finer points before going to my own class. There is a class for the officers. I attend the class with Lt. Colonels and a few Colonels. Learning history, etiquette, strategy, and other things. It is mandatory, not only for the forest orcs but also for many island orcs and human officers. However, they have to attend fewer classes than we do.