Tommy and I walked around the village, listening to rumors, analyzing the state of the defenses, testing the spirit of the people...
Despite my terrible initial experience, I don't consider the goblins to be much of a threat. A trained army can crush thousands of them without much effort... We don't have any army available, but maybe I'll find a 'Thermopylae' somewhere, where the number of enemies doesn't matter and so on. Unfortunately, I can't fill the role of Leonidas, as I lack height and a beard, and a bit more muscle. But I think I've found someone who fits the role perfectly.
"Good morning, sir, we wish to join the militia and help defend the village" I say as loudly as I can without having to start shouting. And I manage to get the attention of the people around me, and the big, burly, bearded brute.
"I commend your courage, but you're wounded and your brother is very young. You can be useful de-"
"My cousin may be young, but a few days ago he killed a dozen goblins, not to mention a level 05 direwolf. And my injuries came in the same battle, where I myself killed a level 07 wolf rider... sir, I promise we'll be useful against the goblins"
Declaring our deeds - somewhat exaggerated - attracted even more attention, and now the small crowd awaited the brute's response.
"I-I have to report this to the captain"
'This Leonidas project isn't as bold as it needs to be...' I follow the soldier through the village, until he meets the captain, and the man looks broken.
"Captain, the children you rescued are wanting to join the militia..."
Robert raises an eyebrow and looks at us, then shrugs and says, "Put them in the reserve unit."
"Eh... Captain, sir... I'd like to show you something" The captain looks at me exasperated.
"Ehh, could I borrow your weapon?" This time the reaction is much stronger, if I hadn't been injured, I would probably have been slapped.
I raise my hands in a quick apology, and then a dark energy surrounds my hands. The energy resembles fire, but of a dark gray color, and emits no light or heat.
"During the attack on our house, I received a heroic mission and ended up succeeding... I received a heroic class as a reward, and this is her ability..."
I watch the expressions of the people around us change, and then my cousin and I are dragged away by the captain.
"How did you do that?" The captain awaits my answer with a mixture of fear and hope.
"I told you!" I reply angrily, as I take a step away from the man "I received a mission during the attack, and the reward was a hero class, and that's the main skill"
"Hero... hero... you, a hero?"
"You're starting to annoy me! Will you let me go, please?" I try to push the bastard back, but he doesn't move. Fortunately, he comes to his senses and backs off.
"What does this skill do?"
"Imbued weapons with magical fire that deals more damage, also ignores part of the defense and resistance"
"Igor, tell everyone in the village that we have a hero on our side. And ask Sandro and the others to come here immediately."
"What's your name, kid?"
"Jon, and this is my cousin, Tom"
"Brito's grandchildren... I'm sure he'd be proud of you, kid... Sorry if I sound a bit impatient, but I need more details about your abilities."
"Right... I have a healing ability, an aura that increases speed, another that summons a creature, and one that allows me to recruit people to be soldiers, with the current limit being 8 superiors and 1 elite."
There's not much I can hide, given the situation we're in. Even so, I've decided to keep the magic shield as a card up my sleeve. And obviously, I don't reveal all the details about the skills, especially about Foundation, of which I reveal practically nothing.
Robert starts asking a series of increasingly specific questions about the skills, wanting to know about casting time, mana cost, range, etc. I answer everything with a solid and clear 'I don't know', because I really don't know.
A few minutes later, other people begin to arrive, one of the most notable being Sandro, a grumpy, balding old man who looks like he's eaten shit. Another exalted figure in this border town is Mrs. Brenda, a nice overweight lady with rosy cheeks and a gentle smile on her wrinkled face. The last person stands out like a beautiful flower in a swamp full of frogs and snakes. A young woman called Iris, with short hair and rather broad, defined shoulders... this girl is somewhat reminiscent of a feline in the way she walks and acts. What I mean is that she emanates a certain predatory aura, the kind that plays with its victim before killing it.
After a few presentations, changes to the defensive strategy began to be discussed, taking my skills into account. Something I expected was a certain conflict to decide who would be 'recruited' to my army, the discussion on this point was much worse than I imagined.
"YOU!? You want to choose these soldiers? The whole village heard you begging your daughter to abandon us all and run off with the cowards you trained, and now you think you have the right to decide something? You betrayed your oath once, what's to guarantee you won't do it again?"
"Sandro-"
"He's right Robert"
"There are nine vacancies, why doesn't everyone choose three?"
The hesitant voice of reason is heard among them
…
"And who chooses the Elite?"
"Let me help you with that" I stand up from where I was standing and look briefly at everyone in the room" I, and I alone, choose who will become a superior or elite soldier."
Obviously, my statement is met with explosive indignation. I wait patiently while they argue, swear and curse, and finally I say: "Let's get something straight to avoid problems now and in the future, I'd rather see every person in this world get their ass kicked by a goblin before I'm forced to do something I don't want to do. So save your saliva and your neurons, my decision cannot and will not be changed."
"Listen here, brat, it's not because you-"
Diiiinnngg! Diiiinnngg! Diiiinnngg!
A loud, clear sound interrupts Sandro's furious response. His swollen, red face drained and paled, the man himself slumped in his chair, sheer terror in his eyes.
"That's the signal to gather the soldiers, the goblins are close... boy... Jon, I can gather nine brave and skilled soldiers, who would certainly make a difference if they had access to superior skills..."
"If they're brave and skillful, they won't need anything else to kill those goblins," I reply without flinching.
'Those old men see a child and try to take advantage of it... not me, you bastards!'
Iris watches me intensely, with an unknown emotion lurking behind the emerald green of her eyes.
Robert, Igor and Sandro rush off to organize the ensuing chaos, while Madame Brenda stares at me, a strange smile on her face.
With all the time that's passed, I've managed to heal myself twice more, leaving my health at 41%, a long way from the ideal, which would be 100%. Tom and I leave the room, if there's a battle coming up, we're going to need some weapons, and fast.
I watched the chaos of the village transform with the simple ringing of the bell - which was still ringing, by the way - soldiers ran to the walls, people ran aimlessly.
Robert shouted orders, Igor echoed them, but no one seemed to listen.
And I finally get my weapon, a rusty old machete, with a patched handle and a blade that urgently needs sharpening. And I didn't have time to implement my Spartan strategy, but I doubt I would have been heard.
An icy breeze heralds the arrival of night and large bonfires begin to be lit and a wreath of fire surrounds the village. Crashes sound outside the village, along with the sound of laughter.
"This isn't going to work..." I mutter as I observe how the defenders are arranged.
"What?" Tom asks, after imitating the way I looked at the soldiers and finding nothing.
"They're too spread out... They're not exactly soldiers, they need to be gathered in large numbers to keep up their courage... but the village is too big for the number of defenders. We'll be drowned in a tide of blades and bestiality, and they'll run away, and we'll all be dead."
"Cousin, why didn't you do what the people said?"
"It's no use. In this situation, we'll need quantity and not quality... I wanted to create some choke points, position trained soldiers in those places and hold out until I killed all the enemies, or they retreated... but I didn't have time..."
"And now?
"Now we try to survive"