FIFTY-SEVEN: MIGHT OF NOBILITY

  Lady Flavinia was an avatar of war trapped in human form. Cassius felt his jaw slowly lower as the noblewoman led a charge out of the edge of the forest and across the purple grass. Light reflected off the dozens of armored mounts and nobles, their long lances high in the air as they cantered forward while a horn blew in defiance.

  Across the entire hill that the dungeon was nestled inside of, dozens if not over a hundred imps turned to look at the feast that rode toward them. With bestial screams of hunger they lunged forward and came down like a dark sea of chitin and teeth. It was a wave that threatened to swallow the wedge of knights.

  Cassius felt his mouth grow dry as he looked at the numbers arrayed against the two scores of nobles, outnumbered easily two-to-one. The horn blew again and as one the forty nobles lances lowered as they kicked their horses into a gallop. Imps raced off the cairn and onto the plain just as the nobles reached their full speed.

  “They're hollow. The lances I mean. [Reinforce] is one of our skills as well, allows us to field oversized lances,” Vira said. There was a hunger and desire in her voice as she watched her family smash into the imps.

  Crunching bodies were loud as the sound of the impact reached them as lances speared through lines of imps, the oversized lances piercing two or three of the creatures before the nobles simply dropped the lance and drew swords. Steel shod horses trampled the smaller imps while their riders provided mana in a strengthening wave that covered the entirety of the horse’s armor. Dozens died in the first contact and the numbers only ramped up as the wedge of nobles split half way up the hill.

  Instead of riding higher up the hill, they broke apart with another horn blow and wheeled around to ride through the flanks of the imp horde. Slaughter followed as the nobles leaned over their saddles slashing with swords and hacked apart imps in sprays of body parts as they came back toward the forest line.

  “How…how many did they kill?” Cassius asked with awe as he stared at the ruined base of the hill where the cavalry had hit the monster horde. Bodies were piled up in a mountain of corpses, the slope strewn with more, and the nobles had not seen a single member of their charge fall.

  “There goes mother,” Vira said with a sigh. Cassius followed her gaze and saw the powerful [Knight] leap from her horse and slap it on the rear to send it running toward them as she turned back to look at the hill. Even with the charge of the cavalry having reduced their numbers, there were dozens still left alive. Broken and shattered, scattered across the hill they slowly turned to look at the only human left on the hill.

  Lady Flavinia raised her gore soaked sword in a salute before she moved in a blur of steel. Crimson mana burst from her like a blaze, thicker and richer than any skill Cassius had seen before. The leader of the Agricola family was death upon that hill, darting forward and striking once to split apart another of the beasts before she was gone again.

  Each time she moved the earth exploded behind her as her sword sent beams of mana with every swing. Imps staggered and fell as those mana attacks drilled holes through them as if they were made of wet tissue, the noblewoman never slowing as she rampaged through their numbers.

  “What skills is she even using?” Cassius asked finally.

  “[Reinforce] to protect and enhance herself. The sword skill is [Cut]. It is generally a [Duelist] skill but I know the [Praetorians] have it as well. She is overcharging the skills with mana, pushing more out than needed to run the skill and that is what is causing the overflow,” Vira explained.

  “To see how versatile the skills are is so pleasing. Hard to find this level of mastery in the republic. At least not on open display,” Basilides said. He had washed himself and stood watching the fight with rapt attention.

  The rest of the nobles slowly cantered toward them, letting their horses cool down as they reformed into another battle line at the edge of the forest. None of them tried to push forward as Lady Flavinia continued her exercises.

  “This is the peak of tier two?” Cassius asked.

  “I believe so. Mother does not widely spread her true strength, but she has been the head of our house for a long time and conquers our dungeons frequently. The dungeons required to push into the third tier are closely watched. I have no doubt mother and Lady Victoria will both be active in searching for one of the appropriate strength. As well as those who would be strong enough to support her,” Vira said.

  “Another reason for her interest in me,” Cassius whispered under his breath. Every hour seemed to uncover more reasons why his strength was sought after. If both of the family heads needed a party to support them then the handful of second tiers in the camp would be of massive advantage for them to have in their camp.

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  “Should we go and try to gain some experience from this?” Cassius asked. Flavinia had nearly finished the hillside in only a few minutes, leaving smoking corpses behind her as she reached the summit.

  “Forward the legion,” Valeria said sarcastically as she started forward without waiting for Vira’s answer. Cassius chuckled as he followed after her with his spear held in both hands. Their small party started up the slope while the nobles just rested on their mounts, cleaning their armor or checking the beasts to ensure that none of them had been injured by the caustic blood.

  Purple grass had been turned into a blackened slurry on the ground, squelching under their feet as they started forward. Cassius saw the lances they’d used and how the wood was already breaking apart under the effects of the blood or snapped from the weight of the killed imps now that no mana reinforced them. A few imps mewed pitifully, snapping their teeth at them but Cassius didn’t bother to finish them. What little experience earned wouldn’t be worth having to clean his spear or waiting for his mana to recharge.

  [Reinforce] ran through his boots and filled the air with a constant sizzle as acidic blood at the mana but not the leather as they reached the top of the hill. They had left the camp in poor condition and the imps had done nothing to aid in its reconstruction. Every single one of the ancient stakes had been broken and the hard packed ground was soft and torn up from where the imps had fought each other.

  Horns blew behind them and Cassius turned to see a century of legionnaires marching out of the forest in a hurry. [March] wasn’t as effective without a road, but they still used it as they flew up the hill, mana reinforced boots trampling and killing the remnants of the dying imps.

  “Cassius!” Marcus’ voice rose above the clamor as [Cohesion] fell from the group of legionnaires. Men and women staggered as they panted and grabbed at canteens to drink quickly as Marcus pushed to the front.

  “We must enter the dungeon now. Lead me and the first group to it,” Marcus said in a huffing pant. His face was red and covered in sweat as he waved forward a line of legionnaires to him.

  “Begin preparations for siege!” Marcus yelled at the others before he pulled his own canteen free and drank swiftly.

  “Siege?” Cassius asked. He looked back toward the forest but there was nothing to see from here.

  “We have begun to encounter more imps and they are growing in strength. All coming from the west,” Marcus explained as he pointed toward the distance. Cassius swallowed as he remembered the battle on top of the hilltop and the blood-red runes that had lit the air as the witch’s anima had been consumed.

  “Marcus, we killed creatures that were second tier. They were called parasites that follow larger predators from the plane of gluttony. Like that devil we killed.”

  “The summoner sacrificed its guards to summon that creature. The witch you fought was much stronger,” Marcus muttered as he followed the train of thought that Cassius had had.

  “Basilides will need to lead you, unless you have someone with a sight skill?” Cassius informed him.

  “Not enough of them and we do not know how many the dungeon will accept at a time. It has been scarce a week since you conquered it and what they tell me the dungeon should not have had time to reinforce itself to the degree it had when you entered,” Marcus said as he grabbed Cassius’ shoulder and started toward the far side of the hill where Lady Flavinia was finishing the last of the imps.

  “It was purely luck that we managed to kill any of them and we took losses. Valeria should go with you to make sure none perish,” Cassius insisted. Marcus grimaced as he looked at the line who followed him and Valeria and Basilides.

  “The more I take the more trips it will take to receive the blessings,” Marcus fretted.

  “Better more trips than funeral pyres. Clean it out once or twice and I am sure that you will be able to push through the men faster,” Cassius said. Marcus nodded and turned to Valeria and waved her over.

  “What happened to your shields?” Marcus finally asked as he looked them over.

  “Weak materials compared to our foes. They broke under the strain,” Cassius said while Valeria nodded in agreement.

  “Valeria, you will go with Marcus and the first wave and Basilides. We need more people with sight skills to see through the mists,” Cassius said.

  “So easily you take command,” Basilides whispered as he passed by Cassius, his words freezing Cassius before he could say anything else. Already they were moving to follow his suggestions, Valeria leading them to the backside of the hill.

  “Cassius, oversee the beginning of the camps. The Imperator is not far behind. Clear the bodies and begin entrenching. We will need to send harvest teams to the forest for fresh stakes and reinforce the ramparts,” Marcus said as he turned and hurried after the others.

  “Command looks good on you,” Vira said after a long moment of silence as the party of legionnaires disappeared. Cassius shook his head, but turned around and began to bay out orders without thought and to his surprise the veteran legionnaires hopped to obey without complaint.

  “It looks like mother has finished her exercises,” Vira said and pointed to the blood spattered Lady Flavinia as she walked toward them with her sword on her shoulder.

  “Good, we need more hands and I doubt your kin will listen to me,” Cassius said as he shrugged off his own pack and looked for the entrenching tool that he kept inside. A simple spade with a short handle that was attached to the outside of his pack. It had survived its many adventures and Cassius quickly moved toward where legionnaires were working to deepen the ancient fortifications and threw himself into the work with a vigor. At least while digging he could feel like a normal legionnaire instead of whatever it was he was becoming.