The total population of Lam City is around 2,000. It's quite the small amount for a place that's called a city, but that's just me thinking in terms back on Earth.
Out of the entire population of this place, only around 300 people had come out to fight the monster horde. In terms of numbers, we were at a clear disadvantage.
What's more is that these people were not even a proper army. There was no cohesiveness or cooperation that can be found in a troop of soldiers between these guys. People and Adventurers just grouped up with their usual party members. They were fighting individual battles separate from the other parties.
"Adventurers on the wall! If you have a party that's fighting down there, go ahead and join them. Everybody else, aim your skills and attacks away from the melee below and more towards the forest where the monsters are coming from! If any friendly fire occurs, your reward will be deducted and you will be punished accordingly!"
Argo stayed on my wall and continued giving out orders. He looked over the situation and gave out commands to the scattered groups to make the fighting more efficient. Occasionally, he would launch ranged attacks with his fists to support people who looked like they were in trouble.
I was doing the same.
I recreated Shasha in the form of an "Earth Golem" from the Jungle Maze dungeon. Some people saw me creating this big thing and got scared.
I let her go on autopilot to help out on the battlefield.
"I want some healers without parties to go out and support the groups that don't have a healer! Others can stay behind and treat the critically injured within the fortress!"
I recalled an MMORPG game I played before. There was a raid dungeon where 100 players gathered and attempted to clear. I was one of them. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a capable leader, the attempt ended in failure and I had to wait a week before I could try again.
I'm sure that if Argo were part of the raid team back then, the raid would have succeeded smoothly.
People and Adventurers I've met and partied with are fighting while scattered all over. There were some reckless idiots who charged alone into the frontlines and got grouped on. I had to give support with Shasha so that their party members can go over and drag them back to the healers.
The fight continued and more people got injured. But more monsters died than the people going down. Overall the fight was going well. Soon enough, the 5 Steel Turtles made their appearance from the forest.
"Shit, there's five of them!" Argo cursed when he saw them. "Elite squad move out and divide three of them among yourselves! Nat and I will each take on one!"
The high leveled Adventurers that had been staying behind and supporting while waiting for the boss finally made their move. Among them was Suzuna, the Feline Beastman Archer, and Eduardo the Wind Mage. Alfonso wasn't here, probably because he went to the Cockroach Cave with my classmates for their test.
They headed out with Argo in the lead and split up to take on the Steel Turtles. I stayed behind to continue giving support.
"Everyone! Retreat and continue the fight near my Earth Fortress! The Adventurer Guild Master has gone out with the elite squad to fight the bosses so it will be harder for me to give support if you all continue to stay scattered!" I yelled while enhancing my voice with mana.
People heard what I said and started to move their fighting to the wall. Some people had lured over a big group of monsters so I had Shasha go over to deal with them. Throughout the fight, I controlled Shasha to secretly capture and [Dissolve] a few of the new Lizardmen species. Hopefully, I can get some new skills once I remerge with her.
*Bam*
A loud noise could be heard from where Argo went to fight with one of the bosses. Through my scouts, I can see that the Steel Turtle he was fighting had holed up within its shell and refused to come out. Argo made a punching bag out of it but the defenses were hard even for him to break through.
Nat on the other hand was swiftly dodging the mana spheres that the boss he was fighting launched. He continuously disappeared and reappeared at its blind spots and attacked the less defended flesh of the boss. Looks like things are going well on their side.
Out of the 2,000 monsters of the horde, only about half were left. On the Lam City defenders' side, no one has died yet but a third of our fighting force is out of commission due to their injuries. The healers could barely keep up and had to continuously chug down mana recovery potions just to make sure that nobody dies.
"Watch out!"
Just then, an Adventurer who was fighting with one of the Steel Turtles shouted. A mana sphere had been shot towards a group of retreating Adventurers.
"Damn, do you guys not know how to manage monster aggro?! Earth Wall!"
With my Wooden Wand in hand, I used Shasha as a medium to quickly create a mud wall between the Adventurers and the incoming mana sphere. Since the attack was so sudden, I didn't have enough time to make the wall thick.
"Disturb!"
When the mana sphere was an inch away from coming into contact with my wall, I hastily used [Mana Disturb], which is a skill I got from the Dark Swamp boss, to try and weaken it.
The sphere visibly shrunk in size as a result of my skill. It collided with my wall and destroyed it immediately. Its direction was only shifted slightly upwards.
Unfortunately, a few Adventurers were hit by the mana sphere and parts of their bodies disappeared. Some people were quick enough to duck and narrowly avoid getting hit, only losing some hair. A not so lucky guy's head had been erased without a trace and his body limply fell to the ground.
The mana sphere continued until it struck the middle of my mud fortress. It left a dent on my wall before disappearing.
I looked over to the boss that fired that mana sphere. A few elite Adventurers were attacking it but their tank was nowhere to be found.
"Did he get hit directly by that attack just now?" I controlled Shasha to go over and replace their tank.
Since quite a few Adventurers were on the verge of dying from that attack, I jumped off from the wall and headed over to heal them. The dead ones were a lost cause. I don't know if resurrection magic exists in this world, but I bet no one here would be able to use it.
"Since I'm down here already, I might as well kill a few lizards."
I put away my wand and took out Blood Bane. Because of my buff skill, [Boost], I can kill a level 20 mob in just one slash. I rushed out to intercept a group of them and started going on a killing spree.
###
The battle ended two hours after it began. A total of 17 people died which was much less than what I expected. It was probably thanks to Argo's commands in the beginning which led to these results.
The friends and party members of the deceased mourned but didn't put the blame on anyone. Death in this world wasn't as big a deal as it was in my world. In a world where monsters and demons constantly threaten the lives of people, I guess they are bound to become numb to death.
[Skill Novice Weapon Master has evolved into Intermediate Weapon Master.]
After the fight, I walked around and healed the people who were injured. I also took this chance to discreetly reabsorb Shasha.
"Earth Ranger! The Guild Master is calling for you." An Adventurer called out to me and said.
I followed him as he led me to where Argo was. Standing next to Argo were two men. One was Dawn's brother Nat who was wearing edgy black clothing. I glared at him a bit. We were still on bad terms.
The other person, I've never met before but he was dressed in elegant clothing. He was probably some sort of noble.
"So this is the famous Earth Ranger I've been hearing about recently." The man spoke up.
"Let me introduce you. This isthe City Lord of Lam City, Haim Elric." Argo said.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Haim extended his hand out. I guess handshaking is a normal custom in this world as well.
"Hello. My name is Krim Son and I'm actually an Earth Magician." I shook his hand and used [Appraisal Analysis] on him.
---
Name: Haim Elric Lv. 42
Job: Noble
Race: Human
---
Noble is a job? And he is quite a high leveled one too.
"I heard that you played a key role in defending the east gate and defeating the monster horde. Allow me to express my deepest gratitude to you."
Haim gave me a formal bow with his right hand on his chest.
"It's no problem. I'm going to get paid for it after all. I just wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't complain about not getting your money's worth." I said.
"Hahaha. How admirable. If only my adopted sons were more like you, I could pass down my position to them and retire peacefully."
So Alfonso and Eduardo were only adopted. I guess that's why I didn't see a last name when I appraised them before. Does that mean that Argo is also a noble since he has a last name?
I talked with them for a while and it was decided that my reward was going to be a small plot of land with a house in the north district of Lam City.
Since I'm going to leave soon, I guess I can leave it to my classmates as a graduation present. They have to move out of the dorm after graduating but still have to stay in this city to finish the knowledge courses and level up more. It's a perfect setup.
After the City Lord left, memebers from the Craftsman Association and the Merchant Guild came over to clean up the battlefield and distribute the rewards given by the City Lord.
The city entered a festive mood and a celebration was held to honor the people who bravely defended the city.
Different kinds of food made from lizard meat was served and distributed for free.
My classmates got back later in the evening after successfully completing the exam. They joined in on the festivities along with the other Adventurer friends that they had made like Blake's party.
Alfonso went on a rampage after learning about the horde and not being able to participate in the fight.
The festival continued all night until the sun came up.
CHAPTER END.
Name: Ruby Sen Lv. 15
Age: 17
Race: Half-Human?
Class: Half-Magical Creature
Job: - Lv. 15
HP: 15 [84%]
MP: 16 [80%]
STR: 15 <+1>
DEF: 14 <+1>
INT: 21
WILL: 17
SPD: 13
<
Assimilate
Mana Manipulation
Physical Resistance
Foresight
Shapeshift
Mana Absorption
Novice Magic Caster
Poison Resistance
Sleep Resistance
Regeneration
Intermediate Weapon Master
<
Dissolve
Sensing
Sculpting
Detonate
Appraisal Analysis
Cloning
Mana Designing
Mana Disturb
Heal
Boost
Stealth
Engraving
<
Tongue Enhancement