I caught my breath soon after, but still, my stamina wasn’t building fast enough. As my group was halfway through our breather, a tremor rolled over the goblin army. There was a sudden tension in their ranks.
The battle cry of men sounded, not from inside the city but from without. What was going on? Had we won at the other gate? No, it couldn’t be. There were still thousands of goblins there; it would take hours to kill them all, even if they were winning.
Within moments, the goblins’ ranks turned from well-formed to every goblin for himself. The goblins started to fall easier, but they were also unpredictable. Instead of trying to break through our line to gain ground into the city, now they were trying to get past us to flee.
The men out front tired quicker as the pace turned frantic. My turn up front came.
“Where you think you’re going?!” Kline bellowed.
With only fifty percent of my stamina recovered, I ignored it and followed Kline’s enthusiasm. Grow, stats, grow!
I still limited my movements and emphasized my shield, but my spear found itself the busiest it had been during the entire battle. Forget pretty. Instead of going for killing shots, I stuck out my spear with little more than arm strength behind it and let the spear point do the work. It caught shin, knee, and thigh, using the chaos of the desperate goblins to my advantage. This helped me keep the goblins back and actually allowed my body to rest more than before. Blocking blow after blow was having more of an effect than I had realized.
Then the goblin line shattered with the surge of the player army outside trying to come in. The goblins had gone from pushing us back, to trapped.
Chapter 20 – Inspiration
Our forces were split into two fronts. The thousand men Cornelius had requested had first come as small groups, slowly strengthening our forces from inside the city. That had only been the beginning while Harrison worked his magic. A large force of five hundred or more players had broken off of the main force at the front of the city and marched around the city wall to attack the goblins from behind. It had stopped the attack and earned us all a couple of upgrades to our armor, but there were still thousands of goblins at either gate.
Within an hour we had set up a second barricade at the smaller gate. This one was smaller than the first, with a similar design, and much thicker obstacles. That was only the beginning. It was decided most of us would be purposely shut out of the gate as the gap was closed and transformed into a new section of the wall. This would be the last place the goblins would want to look for a weakness when the merchant-craftsmen were done. Once finished, we would form up and rejoin the rest of the player force at the front of the city. If anyone was left alive.
This didn't fix the problem of Sneak-Thieves being able to scale the wall and kill people in their sleep. We still had no idea how many people had died. Since the small population of NPC guards was nearly worthless, after this the players would have to come up with a plan to stop it all together.
It was only dumb luck that the goblins hadn't sent a bigger force into the breach. They were trying to make up for the missed opportunity now by sending at least double the size of our force to regain ground, but we had already dug in. A thousand players fought the goblins in waves. It was by far the bloodiest battle yet. With their advanced equipment, we were losing more players than ever before.
The third wave came. We were to the far west of the line, near the opposite side of the city from the main gate to the east. The new barricade was southeast of our position.
I had regained my endurance somewhat when the work began on securing the location and the first wave of goblin warriors attacked. Almost to level 17 and being forced to learn to better manage my endurance, I steeled my focus.
I braced for the slash from a short sword. This lot didn’t have the spears of the earlier goblins.
Kline to my right and Oliver to my left did the same against the onslaught. Peter was at our left flank next to a player group and another player group flanked Kline. Victoria was at our rear, trying to feel for kill shots when the opportunity came. She wasn't alone. A group we had agreed to switch with was at our backs and relieved us when we tired. There were other layers to the player line, but this partnership had greatly improved our efficiency.
My spear struck high, pushing up the goblin’s shield. A push from my shield set it off balance and I stabbed it in the leg above the knee. Another push and my spear found the goblin high on the neck.
Level 17
You have reached Level 17!
Your Creature Indicator range has increased by 2 to 40 meters!
Getting to level 20 would likely give me some pretty nice upgrades, especially if it was anything like level 10.
My years of gaming had taken over. The constant exhaustion had placed me in survival mode. My mind and instinct took turns, not knowing who was leading who.
I dipped low to catch a hatchet with my shield, leaving a good opening. A spear from the player behind me flashed forward impaling the goblin’s arm. It turned to face me with its shield and went into an annoying defensive stance. I started jabbing at its foot. I didn't have the range, but seeing it hop over and over again was worth the effort.
When it started to get the hint that I didn't have the reach, it stopped hopping and leaned forward, relying on its shield completely.
Okay then. Have it your way.
I lunged forward, confident its weapon arm was completely useless and drove my weight into its shield while jabbing down at its foot.
Score! I had hit my target, bloodying its boot, but realized I could have easily killed it with an overhead stab.
Blah.
It moved to retreat when I hooked my shield over the top of its own and pulled it to me while driving my spear into its neckline.
Who just got two undamaged chainmails? Now we're talking!
The next goblin pounded my shield with its club a single time before the horn of retreat sounded. It snorted as it faded back, a pathetic little snort at best.
No one followed. To pursue would bring you face to face with the rest of the goblin army.
A gurgling cry came from a player down the row to my right. A few of his friends knelt down to help. Blood streamed from under his hands, which he held over his neck. There was nothing that could be done for him.
An uneasy air settled around the men as they watched their friend pass out and a few minutes later dissolve into mist. It wasn’t a terribly difficult death considering. Is it wrong for me to think that way?
The players that died here would respawn inside the city and head back to the other side of the construction behind us on the wall. If for some reason we failed, everyone who died would respawn and be waiting for them a second time after they destroyed the barricade. That is if everyone found the heart to carry on.
With them gone, I knelt down and looted the two corpses. Immediately I equipped an average quality iron long-sleeved chainmail. It was rare even now among the sea of bronze.
Turning to the player behind me, I offered him the bronze one. It was fine chain, so the difference between them wasn’t much. His eyes went wide at the offer.
“Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. You basically handed the last one to me.”
“Thank you!”
With them gone, for now, we pulled back to a makeshift camp we shared with many other groups. There were a few stumps, but it was mostly a fire and a bunch of spread out blankets.