Chapter 43: Mapping the Path (2)
The meeting ended with Malcolm and Kate coming up with the detailed plan of the rescue operation. The base idea was rather simple. Reidar would need to be part of a forward group that would open the way to the others. This way they would be able to not only go through the hordes of monsters, but the following groups would also be able to clear the area by killing stragglers and then smaller groups roaming the area.
The idea was for this group to be the strongest and take care of the larger clusters of monsters so that the survivors would fight against fewer of them and hopefully level up safely.
Only a handful could join the rescue right then. Most of the people in the Three Lakes were hurt, while the others weren’t strong enough. Ten people would be heading out with Reidar.
Malcolm hadn’t asked Reidar’s group to join yet, and he left him with the task. Although George and the others were lower level, they survived the forest, which was inhabited by much stronger monsters, so reaching the school despite the Rift Sprites shouldn’t have been a problem.
The spear group Reidar would join had another job besides clearing the way. Malcolm wanted Reidar to help power-level the ten people with him, including Malcolm and Kate themselves. Malcolm could already join Reidar’s party, but Reidar explained how he’d helped George and the others earn C.L.A.S.P. points by letting them finish off monsters and how he was planning on making the others get more levels doing the same thing.
Malcolm’s group had plenty of folks nearly at level five, so hitting that mark shouldn’t be too tough.
Once Reidar and the others reached the school, they would need to wait for the others, who should have leveled up too in the meantime. Of course, the central role would be taken by Reidar and his group since they would end up as the strongest.
If even ten people got to level 10, clearing the city and power leveling the others would become easy.
Reidar excused himself, leaving Malcolm and Kate to complete their plans, and headed to the infirmary, or so he hoped. He didn’t really explore the place, so most of the building was unknown to him.
After much time wandering the area, he found a couple of survivors resting on the meeting room’s floor.
"Excuse me. Do you know where I can find the medical bay?"
"Second floor," one of them said. "Follow the corridor past the armory."
Reidar nodded and thanked the man. Then he excused himself.
The second floor was quieter; the air smelled of antiseptic. He found Margaret and Linda waiting in front of the room he assumed was the entrance to the medical area. Frank, George, Mike, and Sarah were nowhere to be seen.
"Linda, Margaret," Reidar greeted. "Where are the others?"
Linda’s head snapped up. "George found Marie. He’s with her in the medical bay. She couldn’t leave; there are still several wounds to tend to."
"That’s great news," Reidar said, genuinely happy for George.But he couldn’t help feeling a little envious. His own family was still so far away—his wife, his son, and his parents—and the thought of them was eating him up inside. He sighed, knowing it’d be a long time before he could do the same.
"I spoke with Malcolm and Kate. They’ve mapped out a route to the school."
"What’s the plan?" Margaret asked.
"We’ll move out tomorrow morning. I will lead a spearing group and let the others follow. Malcolm asked me to level 10 people up so that they would be able to do the same with the rest of the settlement." Reidar looked at them both. "Will you be joining us?"
Linda nodded. "Of course. We must save those children."
Margaret, instead, hesitated, a crinkle forming around her eyes. "I... I’ll come, but I have to say that might be difficult for me. I’m not exactly young anymore, you know?"
Reidar chuckled. "Margaret, you fought like a banshee in the forest. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You were better than some of the others during that ordeal, that’s for sure."
Margaret scoffed, a trace of a smile playing on her lips despite herself."You’re exaggerating. But, fine. I’ll come."
Reidar’s expression turned serious at those words. "Listen closely, though. This isn’t a stroll through the park. We’ll be facing hundreds of sprites on the way. The school itself? Expect even more."
Linda nodded. "I’ll speak with them."
Reidar stopped at the medical bay entrance. He hesitated. George and his wife were probably having their reunion in there, and he didn’t want to interrupt. Besides, showing up now might just add to the weight on George’s shoulders. So he turned away, letting them have their moment, even with all the injured people around them.
He reviewed his recent purchases from Keth’moran in his mind. He’d considered a few healing spells that would work on everyone, and it would have been good in this situation where there were people in need of healing, but their mana and survival point cost didn’t make it any good. Besides, Reidar was going to go solo after he was done here at the three lakes.
Mending Touch, while only self-healing, was efficient and cheaper. He checked his status screen again.
—[«STATUS»]—
Name: Reidar Miller
Level: 14
Health: 180
Mana: 600
C.L.A.S.P.: 1385 / 5200
Available Attribute points: 0.50
Skills: Summon Rift-Sprite Squad, Fireball, Aqua Pistol, Stone Bullet, Wind Blade, Summon Guardian Shade, Summon Bone Militia, Mending Touch
Equipment: Rift-Sprite Conductor, Ember Sprite Bracers, Stone Sprite Gauntlets, Aqua Sprite Circlet, Wind Sprite Boots, Rift-Touched Cloak, Rift-Woven Leggings, Sprite-Touched Armguards, Wind Sprite Sash, Aqua Sprite Pendant, Ember Sprite Ring
Proficiencies: Basic Combat
Attributes: (S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1,8), (A.C.U.M.E.N.: 7,3), (F.L.A.I.R. : 1,6), (F.L.I.P.: 2,1)
Minions: #N/A
Survival Points: 20.609
Trait: Skill Sharing
Perks: Arcane Potency (1/6), Arcane Leech (5/5)
Perk Points: 0
Titles: The First Killer, The First Apprentice, The Pioneer, Creature Slayer IV, Rift-Sprite Hunter IV, The Exterminator
Profession: #N/A
—[«END»]—
Reidar traced the lines on his status screen. Fourteen was an impressive number considering the others were at less than five. The problem was that he would need to kill a thousand sprites, and likely even more than that. While he killed quite several Rift-Sprites during these two weeks, he never fought groups larger than 100 at once.
Even with his new skills, the sheer number of monsters he had to kill was daunting.
Malcolm wanted to get this over with, so, despite Reidar having asked him to wait at least two days during their discussion, the Three Lakes leader still decided to try the rescue the following day.
Reidar ran a hand through his hair, feeling the grit of days spent in the wilderness.
<I should get a shower.>