Chapter 404 - Mobility Wins Wars

Zeke dropped the head of his hammer to the ground and let out a sigh as he looked out over the latest battlefield. The fight hadn’t been more than a skirmish, but when the opponents were hill giants in their natural habitat, even that was potentially deadly. Fortunately, Pudge had sensed them far before they’d reached the site of the ambush, which meant that Zeke and the kobolds were ready when the trap was finally sprung.

“Lucky,” he said, glancing at his companion. He and Pudge hadn’t spent nearly as much time together, of late, and though he knew it was the result of unavoidable responsibilities – on both sides – he still regretted it. So, as frustrating as progressing into the mountains had been, it had at least given him some quality time to spend with the former dire bear. “What is that new skill you got, anyway?”

“It’s called [Bestial Senses],” Pudge replied in his gravelly voice. Sometimes, Zeke was still surprised at his ability to speak. He still wasn’t the most articulate or verbose person, but he’d made huge strides in that arena. “It passively enhances my senses.”

“Useful. What other options did you have?” Zeke asked. Pudge had recently reached level forty-five, which had come with the choice of a new skill. “I usually get at least three.”

“One was called [Hell Infusion]. Like the kobold body enhancement, but with Hellfire. The other was called [Shadow Evisceration]. Stealth attack. I thought better senses would help more.”

“Smart. It definitely saved us here,” Zeke said as he grip Pudge’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The former dire bear was enormous, so Zeke, who’d let [Triune Colossus] lapse the moment the battle ended, had to reach up. “What made you pick that one, though?”

Pudge shrugged and answered, “When I came…here, my senses were dulled. I gained so much, but…the lack was disorienting. Besides, I’m a scout. And scouts need to know what’s out there.”

It made perfect sense. So, even if Zeke probably would have gone in another direction, he could at least understand Pudge’s reasoning. However, the brief exchange had highlighted the fact that Pudge had gone through quite a lot of changes since his ascension. Not only had he taken on a human form, but he’d also gained sapience. As a result, he wasn’t just forced to adapt to a new body, but an entirely new mind as well. Fortunately, he hadn’t had to do so alone.

Idly, Zeke wondered what would have happened to Pudge if he hadn’t found Sasha or the other beastkin. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he very well could have died quickly and without anyone to mark his passing. Or worse yet, he may have fully embraced his bestial side and descended into monsterhood.

If such a thing was even possible.

Zeke suspected it was. After all, it had happened with people back on Earth who’d lived their lives in isolation. There was nothing to suggest that the same wouldn’t occur, even in such a magical realm.

Suddenly, Zeke realized that he’d done Pudge a disservice. Due to his selfish desire for power, he’d left Pudge all alone in a new and confusing world. That the former dire bear had survived – and even thrived – was a minor miracle.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” asked Pudge.

Zeke sighed. “For everything. I mean, I didn’t think about how my decisions would affect you when we ascended. I should have, and I’m sorry I didn’t,” he said. “I mean, at the time, I convinced myself that you would be fine. You’re as well-equipped for survival as anyone else I know. But…”

Pudge cocked his head to the side, then said, “It’s okay. It worked out.”

Zeke shook his head, then rubbed the back of his neck before saying, “No thanks to me. Still, I’m sorry, for whatever it’s worth.”

After Pudge once again insisted that everything was fine, the awkward moment passed, largely because Pudge made an excuse about needing to scout the area. When he disappeared into the surrounding forest, Eveline said, “That was painful to watch.”

“Shut up. It needed to be said.”

Thankfully, Eveline didn’t press the issue, which allowed Zeke to scan the area. Already, the kobolds had gotten to work. A few had begun dragging the slain giants’ bodies away, while others had gone back to their primary task: carving a series of roads through the mountains. For any other race, it was a project that would have taken years. But the kobolds were perfectly suited for digging through rock, and that, combined with their tireless work ethic, meant that they made significant progress with every passing minute.

Still, the mountains were expansive, and making them fit for centaur traversal was a massive undertaking, so even though they’d been at it for more than a month, they’d only barely made a dent in the endeavor. Even so, they’d reached the staging point for the next attack, which was gratifying in that it was verifiable progress.

He watched as the kobolds used their natural gifts – incredibly sharp claws and a subtle ability to manipulate earth man that he wouldn’t have even noticed if it weren’t for his own attunement – to gradually flatten a wide area. He pitched in where he could, hauling away huge chunks of rock, but because that made the kobolds uncomfortable, he only did so when absolutely necessary.

Either way, over the course of the next couple of days, he and the army of kobolds managed to create a staging ground from which the centaurs could advance their cause. It would have been so much easier if Zeke could have just loaded them all into his tower, but they’d so far refused such offers. Which was probably for the best, considering that, while they were allies, he still wasn’t entirely comfortable trusting them with his secrets.

So, once the centaurs had advanced along the network of roads Zeke and his kobold army had carved through the mountains and settled into their temporary campsite, the project continued.

The next month was more of the same. It would have been easy enough if they’d been content with carving a path straight to the giants’ main stronghold – which was called Berghem – but there were two major problems with that strategy. First, the mountains were pockmarked with various hill giant settlements. Some were large enough to be considered cities, but others were little more than outposts. But given the giants’ natural power, even the noncombatants – if any hill giant could be considered such – were dangerous enough that they couldn’t be ignored. So, if they were ever going to stand a chance of winning the war, they needed to take care of those settlements. And that meant easing the burden of travel for the centaurs, which in turn necessitated a huge webwork of roads.

The second issue with simply going straight to Berghem was a little less simple. The centaurs were unused to fighting in the mountains. They could do it, but their physiology simply wasn’t suited for the task. That was why the roads were necessary in the first place. Steadily clearing those giants’ settlements offered a perfect opportunity to acclimate themselves to the unfamiliar terrain as well as, hopefully, gain a few levels along the way.

Even if they only raised the average level of the army by a level or two, it could represent a huge overall increase to the force they could bring to bear, given the sheer numbers at play. So, as a training tool, sweeping through the mountains and eradicating the giants’ settlements was extremely valuable.

Though looking at it through such a lens definitely left Zeke with conflicted feelings.

There was nothing to do about it, though. The realities of war dictated that he couldn’t concern himself with collateral damage, much less the deaths of his enemies. Doing so would only ensure that he and his allies lost, resulting in many more deaths.

Or that’s what he kept telling himself in an effort to stay the course.

In any case, Zeke and his people played their part. He didn’t participate in all of the battles, largely because his contribution simply wasn’t necessary. The kobolds and centaurs were more than capable of dealing with the hill giants via the sheer weight of numbers. However, he was forced to act on a few occasions, and when he did, the results were assured. With [Triune Colossus], he was more than a physical match for any but the strongest hill giants, and his skills – both new and old – were incredibly effective. The moment he stepped on the field of battle, the giants’ fate was sealed.

In fact, due to a few that managed to escape and spread the word, his reputation among the hill giants had steadily grown until, when they caught sight of his colossal form, they had begun to sound the retreat. It was frustrating, seeing his enemies escape into the unsettled mountains where he and his allies couldn’t hope to keep up, but there was something gratifying about being a source of such terror among the giants.

“You’ve come a long way from worrying about whether you were becoming a monster,” Eveline said as he stared at yet another ruined hill fort. It had been home to a few hundred giants, many of which had perished due to a targeted use of [Hell Geyser]. None but the strongest among them could survive the skill’s effects, and there were none of those in such a remote outpost.

So, it had been a massacre even before the kobold and centaur armies had swept in.

“What’s the point? In war, we’re all monsters, right?”

“So edgy.”

He sighed, but he didn’t respond. Eveline went on, “Seriously, Ezekiel. War is war. It happens, and it’s ugly. But right now, you’re saving more lives than you’re taking.”

“That’s blatantly untrue. But it’s fine. Their lives are worth less than my people’s.”

That was the fundamental truth of any war, and it was the only way to justify such slaughter. The reality was that the giants needed to be dealt with, and for such a vicious enemy, the only viable way to do that was to exterminate them.

“Whatever the case, I’m fine with it. Killing is part of life, especially in this realm,” Zeke said. “If I worried about my enemies’ lives, I’d end up going insane. Or just giving up.”

“I know.”

With that, Zeke turned his attention to the cleanup efforts and began planning for the next stage of their advance through the mountains.

It ended up taking another two months of constant work and consistent battle before they finally reached their ultimate destination.

“So, that’s Berghem, huh?”

Jasper, who was standing beside him, said, “It is. Impressive.”

Indeed, it was. The hill giants’ stronghold was a massive fortress built into a mountain peak. As was the case back in Hvitgard back in the Radiant Isles, Berghem all straight edges and geometric designs, and it reminded Zeke of a combination between traditional Viking architecture and brutalist themes reminiscent of Soviet era structures. The result was an incredibly imposing fortification protected by a massive wall whose height reached at least a hundred yards and was probably just as deep.

Atop that wall were hundreds of hill giants, many of whom were armed with giant crossbows that were probably better categorized as ballistae. Zeke and his people were more than a mile away, but he suspected that they were only barely out of range of those weapons’ deadly projectiles.

He looked around at the budding camp. The centaurs had already arrived, and they were in the process of raising their tents. The kobolds, by comparison, were passing in and out of the gate Zeke had summoned. That they’d grown so accustomed to the tower and its amenities was a source of great pride for him. He took his role as their benefactor very seriously, and the fact that, even in the middle of a war, they had everything they needed was extremely gratifying.

Zeke busied himself with some on-the-move meditation – he was already thinking of how he intended to build his next skill, even though it was a long way off – until a centaur he didn’t recognize approached him and said, “The Mistress of the Herd requests your presence, Ak-Toh.”

That title was certainly getting old, but the centaurs, who’d been spending a lot more time with the kobolds who’d coined the term in the first place, had already adopted it.

“You love it, and you know it,” Eveline remarked.

“Accept it as something I can’t change and loving it are two very different things,” he responded in his own mind. Meanwhile, he crossed the camp – which had been built upon a flat surface carved out of the mountain via the tremendous efforts of the kobolds – and to Rasa Tamaki’s command tent. He passed the pair of guards, then ducked inside, where he saw a few familiar faces.

A couple were the centaurs’ generals, but Silik, Jasper, Kianma, and Pudge were already there as well. Of Zeke’s inner circle, only Sasha and Eta were missing, but that wasn’t too surprising. Eta had taken a step back from a combat role in order to focus on her new job of running the farms within the tower, and Sasha typically had little to contribute to any strategy meetings. So, she usually sat them out, preferring to turn her attention to her efforts in spellcraft.

Her power was impressive, and it could turn the tide of most battles. However, she lacked control, and often enough, her spells would prove just as dangerous to her allies as they were to enemies. So, she remained a secret weapon to be unleashed at the most opportune time.

As for the others, they’d all contributed to the war efforts in their own ways. Silik had cemented himself as the kobolds’ military commander, and Kianma had set her spiritweavers up as the force’s primary healers, but the real star had been Jasper, whose songs had proven valuable in a thousand different ways. It was no exaggeration to say that without him, the invasion would have taken months longer and the losses incurred would have been far more numerous.

Zeke approached the circle of advisors and leaders and said, “So, what are we looking at?”

At this, Pudge, who had taken charge of the army’s scouts, described the defenses. None of it was surprising. The wall was a nearly insurmountable obstacle, and it had been enchanted to withstand more force than they could hope to bring to the battle. More, the defenders with their crossbows were the least of the active defenses. There were other siege engines as well as a cadre of hill giant mages that were supposedly adept at manipulating earth.

“What about the gate?” Zeke asked.

“More durable than the wall itself. The enchantments are powerful.”

Zeke rubbed his chin. “And if that gate falls?” he asked.

Rasa spoke up, “Then the whole thing unravels. If that happens, the walls will be nothing more than mundane barriers, easily torn down.”

“Alright, then. Here’s what I’m thinking…”