《Refining the Heavens》Chapter 13: Horde Suppression
Advertisement
At this very moment when both commanders are in their respective war tents, they heard their messenger shouting, “Report!”
Luciette and George, in turn, acknowledged for the report. Those who heard it turned bloodless; all except Calculus.
"Over a 100 Orcs have been found close to our proximity. They are spread out and attacking every human they met indiscriminately. We have confirmed this to be true for the other team as well.
I’m afraid that... the Orcs are hunting humans", a scout says fearfully.
Hearing this, Calculus stomached his urge to smile and instead expressed in a serious tone, "Luciette, I know that it's my failure that caused their deaths. I am willing to redeem myself. Let me go out and slay those Orcs to avenge them!"
Seeing a high-noble like Calculus bow his head down to ask, Luciette softens her heart and calls, "Alucard! You will join Calculus and assist him in slaying the Orcs with your team.
Do not venture too far into the enemy's lines.
Their race might have degenerated after their God is long dead, but they were once a powerful military force, and even in their blood they still remember how to do war.”
Alucard and Calculus bowed their acknowledgement with their right hand over their heart and then exited the blue team's war tent to gather their teams for this operation.
This time, Calculus switched out his injured squads and replaced them with four teams filled with noble heirs.
With Calculus' family as one of the most prestigious houses, many families wanted to form a relationship with them. Since Calculus was a tender age, he is already surrounded by playmates who are heirs apparent of their own family.
In their Blue Team, where it is mostly filled with aristocrats, it is easy to pick out a strong group that would do his bidding. And with their background, they have better training resources and much higher cultivation than the average practitioner.
Advertisement
However, he did not bring them for the Orc village’s raid. What he had planned to do then was a dangerous mission, and such tasks are best left for commoners to be his sacrificial lambs.
The result of his expedition is observable as well. Having almost half of those under his command incapacitated after that battle at the Orc's village.
For his new mission, however, he ensured that the teams under his leadership are all armed to their teeth, and with Alucard’s team joining, there will be a total of six teams with 30 people for the Orcs suppression.
Although 30 people may seem quite little against over a hundred Orcs, everyone is at least F rank. Considering their age, they are definitely the elites.
Calculus' crew are even more choice compared to the rest, being a full team of E rankers, with Calculus himself at the top as a Peak E ranker.
Being above F rank also means that Calculus' team has already been allowed an official name. Unlike Alucard's team which is named after himself as Dracula team, Calculus' team is named the Maths team and the four nobles' teams that he leads are called A Maths, C Maths, E Maths and F Maths team. However until this day, whatever Maths means is still a mystery that no one knows.
And also, why is Alucard's team Dracula? ...well it is because of how rowdy his bunch of teammates are, and they are always doing what he asks backwards. Therefore one day in a fit of anger Alucard announced that he should name his team's name after his own name spelt backwards. That eventually caught on, and it became far too late for him to regret.
Under Saint Empire's tier classification, at the F Rank, a person is able to match five G rankers in combat. While E rankers are the equivalent of at least three F rankers.
Taking on a group of mindless Orcs is far too easy for them. But to reach such a cultivation level and become top of the first year students isn’t an easy thing to achieve, especially for E rankers. Without talent, it is impossible.
Advertisement
However, no one is surprised that Calculus’ team is made up purely of E rankers. It is well-known that the Devilheart family has cultivation resources that few can match, and along with their family trades, they control the majority slave markets.
Not only do they pour in large amounts of funds into training their young, but they also select talented battle slaves with superior tendon and bone structures to become the bodyguards of each heir.
As the only son of the family leader's main wife, Calculus is more than an heir. His status as the direct inheritor of their noble house grants him with much more privilege than most others.
It is no surprise that only Calculus' group were able to retreat from the Orc Village without many injuries when the rest took substantial amounts of damage.
At the same time, the Red Team also sent out a group to slay the Orcs. Like before, George selected Kairos' squad to be on the frontlines, while he arranged others to move behind the scene.
Officially, this arrangement is made because the five of them are now the Red Team’s trump card, and when they march into battle, the unease their side feels decreases significantly.
For their side that is mostly filled with those of lowborn families, they knew they are castaways. Made to join this exercise only to become the training partners of those wealthy young successors, and their morale easily waned.
In addition, Kairos had shown an uncanny ability to keep his men safe; a most valuable trait against wild Orcs.
However, privately, George's command is motivated by his desire to sate his curiosity; this nameless squad that had emerged like a brightly burning meteor.
When George wanted to assign four F ranked teams to Kairos because of how dangerous this mission will be, yet the offer was instantly rejected. Instead, Kairos chose the same teams that had joined him previously, even though they are all only ranked G. To help them cope with their internal injuries, George gave every person precious medicine that could significantly speed up their recovery process.
The five nameless teams once again set out as the champions of the Red Team. The suppression parties of both sides set off at the same hour, but their progress was slow without mounts. With the Orcs actively out in their hunt, the commanders worry for the safety of their people still in the field.
With an organised march, both groups set their destination as the Orcs village, where the primary source of attacks originated from. Their mission is to force back the Orcs, and hopefully ending this monster raid.
At Calculus’ side, after they are a short distance away from camp, he gave a knowing glance towards the four teams under him, and they changed their routes away from their target, towards East Hill.
Alucard immediately demanded answers, but the other team captains quickly overwhelmed him. Their excuse is this path, though slightly longer, is a much safer passage. With Calculus claiming that he knows the best way to lead them to their destination from his experience, Alucard could only follow.
Without saying, both Alucard and Calculus knows that the purpose of Luciette sending the Dracula Team on this operation is to keep an eye on Calculus. Since after the Orc village raid, Luciette has already lost trust on Calculus, she could see his disregard for his men.
Unfortunately, she did not count on Calculus’ subordinates supporting such a dangerous idea that would endanger them all.
Advertisement
- In Serial154 Chapters
Silhouette
WARNING: THIS STORY HAS A SLOW START. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. We all grew up hearing stories about heroes and villains, but what would we do if we were to be part of one? One night, a bioweapon escaped from its laboratory in Zalcien, only to die in a dark alley. One night, a young man lent a helping hand, only to die alone in the dark. One night, a deity of death saw two lost souls and offered one a second chance in the other's body. Now a strange creature made of darkness, James has to deal with his new form in a strange new world where superpowers, heroes and villains are commonplace, far away from his home. Watch as he learns how to use his powers, as he meets allies and enemies and how, when facing the paths of heroism and villainy, he chooses a third way somewhere in between. Follow the story of James, a lost Earthling soul, as he becomes Silhouette, the mysterious power in the shadows. Greetings fellow humans. This is my first story on Royal Road and my first long-term project written in English, so I do hope you will have some mercy in your heart when reading. So, as you may have understood, this is a story with super-heroes - which is quite ironic for my first story considering all of the other ones planned are fantasy - and as such will take place in a modern-like setting. Despite dark themes and gory scenes making their way into the story, it is still a super-hero world with the logic that matches, so expect characters to survive nuclear explosions without a scratch and yet to get defeated by a rubber ducky - as well as similar dark humor, thus the comedy part.
8 353 - In Serial11 Chapters
Destiny Online
Welcome to Project Hope. Listen and live through the adventure that was and will be the rising hope of survival for you and the unaware rest of humanity.Watch a hard-bitten young man struggle through the data streams of Destiny Online a SCI-FI/VRMMORPG while creating and expanding human knowledge while blissfully ignorant of so much resting on his shoulders. Unbeknownst to him, his brother and the greater population of Earth he is the progenitor of the species survival. He is not alone, he is just at the forefront of millions increasing into billions of minds. All unaware that for once so many people have come together for a single purpose...Survival! (((---Warning if you under 18 YEARS OLD YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO VIEW---)))(((...Warning 18+ Extreme adult content...)))(((...Warning Extreme content. It is advised if you have a heart condition to view at your own risk...)))(((...Warning Extreme content. If you are squeamish view at your own risk. This is a work of fiction based on the unedited view of some of the worst and best of humanity through-out history and that continues to this day. This work of fiction does not support or condone humanity's flaws but will describe MOST of them unedited including Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexism, Drugs, Prostitution, Slavery, Gore, Violence and others possibly forgotten to get listed...)))
8 142 - In Serial115 Chapters
Rifts in the Weave
Jes is a normal twenty-something American dealing with a 2020 that just keeps getting worse. She's driving home for the latest in that series of awful events when she runs headlong into something unexpected. Nearly 400 years ago, the continent of Charan was embroiled in a terrible war. To stop the war, its inhabitants literally tore a hole in the fabric that holds their world together. The Weave, the magical lines of reality that shape every part of Charan, were torn by great magics. Those magics left a hole in the weave that has since consumed nearly a third of the continent, creating a vast and magicless Outalnds. The Wild Weaves at the edges of the Outlands are a dangerous place. Archmagi, pushed to the edge by a pursuing army, enter the Wild Weaves and seek to repair the very fabric of reality. Howard and Clark Franklin, returning soldiers from the Civil War, come back to a home that isn't quite theirs anymore. Restless, they depart again for the West, a new frontier. They get more than they bargained for when one moment they're crossing the prairie and the next they're stepping into a whole new world. As the unraveling edges of reality fray, two worlds may never be the same. >
8 126 - In Serial15 Chapters
The Varangian Guard
Many fear the Varangian Guards for their elite prowess and skill on the battlefield. Meet one in battle, and death will soon follow. And none is as devastating and ferocious as he is. He is hel's chosen, the greatest Varengian Guard. - This is the story of an impossibly strong, superhuman soldier in a sci-fi future that is not as it seems. Dropping onto planets to do what he must do to complete his orders. Come and enjoy the story of a man that will not be killed.
8 162 - In Serial39 Chapters
The Hero's Prophecy
In a town in a world called the Imaginarium, a man appears to their aid. With his flaming courage and gleaming shall he face the evil of Prometheus' machinations. The people believe him to be the end to ultimate menace. For that is the Hero's Prophecy. Also on Wattpad. Updates Tue/Fri.
8 162 - In Serial179 Chapters
Modern Phantasia: siVisPride (Original!Urban Fantasy, Survival Thriller)
Updates Thursdays! Reader Beware: Original!Urban Fantasy, Survival Thriller, Harsh Progression. Constant Struggle, not Weak-to-Strong. This is a reality eerily like our own. This is a reality that's complicated further by fantasy. Contemporary times have finally ended, and the Phantasia era has begun. Due to the cosmic, reality warping Shift Noumena, life as we once knew it is now defined by things we once thought were fantastical. Instead of monsters, we have the Nulgarrt. Instead of ancient, hidden cities--Terminsys Cities are what's left after celestial space waves broke reality, once people's home towns. And what they got instead of magic? siVis. Enlightenment that reveals far too much, all at once. Forced to figure out a way to survive against what-once-was fictional tropes and plots. Living during confusing, turbulent when not only life never made sense, but is falling apart. Growing through out all of this, and growing to become just as weird. This is the story of those youths, not another heroic tale.
8 775

