Twenty soldiers of the Leonardo Barony lined up in the private training hall.
They all stood there and looked to the one person whom will be leading them to Stonewall for the gargoyle extermination quest.
Bryce and his five knights were standing on the sideline to monitor how the briefing will unfold.
Evelyn began the strategy meeting by telling the knights a story.
"In the year 536 of the Great Bara Calendar, the king of the Anakton Kingdom in the center of the continent sent 500 soldiers to reclaim the fallen Tsihir Castle from 300 demonic gargoyles."
Evelyn constructed a miniature dust replica of Tsihir Castle, the 500 soldiers, and the demonic gargoyles through magic for the Leonardo Knights to see.
"As there were also demonic hordes infiltrating the kingdom from the Desert Valley region southwest of their border, the king's army was only consisted of 30 archers, 20 mages, and 450 swordsmen."
The soldiers watched on as Evelyn told the story.
"In the end, the Anakton's army was able to reclaim Tsihir Castle. But only 133 soldiers came back alive: 26 archers, 14 mages, and 93 swordsmen survived. Meanwhile, 4 archers, 6 mages, and 357 swordsmen died." told Evelyn.
She now made another magical miniature construct of carriages led by numerous hunters.
"Then in the year 614, a caravan of 50 bow-wielding hunters from the Shenlong Empire in the far east was ambushed by an estimate of 250 gargoyles as they made their way to the center of the continent."
Evelyn picked up a bow from one of the soldier's array of equipment.
"47 hunters were killed. 213 gargoyles were exterminated." told Evelyn.
She then looked to her soldiers, knowing they had been listening to the story.
"What lesson could be learned from these two events?"
The soldiers thought about the different factors between the two stories and decided that the casualties occurred in both stories to be the most important to be considered.
They all then came up with a conclusion.
"A mere 50 hunters were able to go up against almost as many gargoyles as the amount that Anakton's 500-men army faced." said one of the soldiers.
Evelyn tilted her head, she wasn't satisfied with the answer.
"Be more specific, is there anything that differentiate the two stories besides the number? Or something that ties the two together?"
"…the weapons." said another soldier. "In the Anakton's raid, the archers had the least casualty in comparison to the others. Or rather, the long-ranged soldiers were the ones with less risk of being killed against the gargoyles."
"As for the Shenlong hunters, they were ambushed. That would explain their high casualties." added another soldier. "But they were still able to exterminate almost just as much gargoyles that the Anakton's army took on with 500 men."
Evelyn smiled at her soldiers' observations.
"Excellent! Just like you've all concluded, a battle against gargoyles is won from afar. Gargoyles are killed by bow and arrows, not swords." said Evelyn. "And that's how we're going to exterminate the demons in Stonewall."
Evelyn snapped her fingers and a dirt replica of a gargoyle statue appeared out of thin air: A creature with a pair of muscular clawed-arms and legs of a lizard. Between its devilish wings was a hideous beast-like face with fangs.
The gargoyle statue was sitting with its legs and arms joined like how a dog would.
"This is how a gargoyle looks like in its dormant state. Gargoyles aren't one to actively search for their prey. They usually lie in wait in their hunting ground, hiding in the environment, until their prey comes close enough for them to pounce." explained Evelyn.
The young lady snapped her fingers and summoned a replica of a human. The gargoyle statue suddenly pounced on the human replica.
"But their hunting lust is also triggered by fear. If they hear a creature screaming or crying from a distance, any display of weakness, then the gargoyle will set out to hunt it. Often times, the gargoyle will actively induce this reaction by sounding horrifying howl to scare their prey."
The soldiers' faces turned worried as they heard Evelyn's explanation.
Although they were rallied up by the lady's story from the address earlier, when they saw the gargoyle replica and the scary details of the demon, they could not help but to develop fear.
"But not to worry, gargoyles have a simple weakness." said Evelyn as she went to the statue.
She then pointed to the eye of the gargoyle.
"The gargoyle corrupted core is just behind its eyes. If you pierce through one of the eyes with an arrow or something just as sharp, the core inside the gargoyle will be broken and the gargoyle will be rendered into a mere block of rock." said Evelyn.
She took one arrow from the pile in front of her and stabbed it into the gargoyle replica's eye.
"Considering the material used for building the gargoyle artifact, the current mass-produced arrow the Leonardo Barony is using should be able to pierce through a gargoyle's eye."
"How do you suggest we get our arrows to pierce through the gargoyle, my lady? You made it sound so simple. Aren't they just going to avoid our shot?" asked one of the soldier.
Evelyn shook her head.
"The key to this mission is stealth and precision. Like I said, unless gargoyles heard a display of weakness, they would just lie in wait for their prey. In their dormant state, they would be leaving themselves vulnerable to our attacks" said Evelyn.
Einsof's Chosen One grabbed a bow and arrow and summoned another gargoyle replica some distance away from her.
She took aim at the gargoyle with her bow and arrow.
"(When did Evelyn learned how to use a bow?)" thought Bryce.
"(The way she handled the weapon, it looked like she had been an archer her entire life.) thought the knights.
Bryce and all the soldiers there were impressed by Evelyn's immaculate form.
"As such, our plan is to get to a distance where our archers can aim for the gargoyle's eyes but not close enough for the gargoyle to detect the archers' presence."
Evelyn pulled the bow's string and let it loose. The arrow went straight through the gargoyle's eye. The performance made everybody in the room gasped in awe.
"That's how we'll exterminate the gargoyles in Stonewall." finished Evelyn.
The soldiers nodded in agreement to Evelyn's plan. They all thought the tactic was sound and logic.
"My lady, how will we know a certain distance is safe enough from the gargoyle's detection?"
Evelyn smiled at the question for the answer pertains her role in this mission.
"I will be the scout for this extermination quest. I will tell all of you where the gargoyles are located in Stonewall. I will coordinate the correct position and movement for the archers to strike down the gargoyles."
Evelyn extended her hand to the soldiers in front of her.
"I will guide you all through until the end, until we kill the last gargoyle." said Evelyn to her soldiers with a compelling voice.
Her face was full with determination. One that of a seasoned commander.
"All you need to do is put your faith in me. And I promise you that I will guide us to victory."