What about the troops? Are they still in good condition?" Chronos asked
"There are only 400 still capable of fighting in the fortress and just over 1000 doing hit and run tactics in the swamps. The others are all injured and receiving treatment here. Each group outside of the fort is being reinforced by a naga Matriarch but the troll shamans are doing their best to counter us." Vessin replied.
"Is it possible to instigate a battle between the merfolk and the troll army?" Gregory suggested.
"Not right now, the merfolk seem more interested in building whatever it is they are working on. If we could somehow attract the trolls to them then a battle would start but it is unlikely to spread."
"What about the dark beasts? Where are they and what are they doing?" Lyla asked.
"Most of them went north but there are some close to the southernmost battle lines along with a tear. Do you think we can make use of them?" Vessin responded.
"No, I think we should close that tear. I don't want to see what would happen if a troll became a dark beast." Chronos said.
"Is fighting the dark beasts that bad?"
"It might just make a troll unkillable unless you are a rank above them."
Grimacing Vessin abandoned the idea of using the dark beasts. For several hours they discussed possible plans and counters to the invasion, in the end it came down to the enemy having too many troops and them not having enough.
"For now, my group will focus on closing the tear while the lizardfolk gather more information. They must have more than a few hundred trolls in order to hold 1/3 of the swamp. We also need to know how many weaker monsters are with them." Chronos stated.
"You should wait for the other Matriarchs to gather before you leave, they will want to know what is happening. Also, if the inside of a tear is composed of the surrounding area, then you will need a proper boat. They can provide you with one. That little raft you came in on won't hold up against the waves that have fallen into that tear."
"Alright."
With the meeting adjourned, they split up to take care of their own matters.
Chronos went to the surface for some fresh air and to take a look at their defenses. Arriving at the surface the first thing he saw was the keep. When it had been complete it would've held a few thousand soldiers but the floors above the second were missing and a section of the second floor had collapsed.
The Lizardfolk were fixing it up and adding a bit to the third floor, using trees and bushes for camouflage. The walls around it were low, but they seemed more like they had sunk into the swamp than been built that way.
That would prevent any tunneling attempts, not that it was a good idea to tunnel in a swamp, but where magic was concerned you could never be too safe.
There were towers at each corner and in the middle of each wall. Those were also being repaired and camouflaged to look like the surrounding swamps, once they were finished it would be difficult to find this fortress again.
He assumed the lizardfolk must have some way to locate it in case of a retreat.
Calling out to one of the lizardfolk he asked him, "Are your shamans going to enchant the entire fortress?"
"Yes, the tribes will be taking turns caring for it from now on. That way we are prepared in case we are invaded again." He replied.
Good, it was never a good idea to rely on others' kindness for your own safety. Still, it would be better to have more than one place to retreat to, he would suggest rebuilding the watchtowers they had talked about in the meeting.
Jumping onto the roof of the nearest tower Chronos looked out at the swamp. The entire fort was built on the largest island in the area; all of the other islands could only hold a couple hundred before you would have people standing in water.
If the naga matriarchs could keep this island from being eroded any further than they could build walls on the edge of the island and turn this place into a proper large fortress instead of the mid-sized fortress it currently was.
It would also make the fortress much harder to capture if the enemy had to fight from boats and unstable river water.
On the other hand the shamans, who were skilled with nature magic, could defend this place against a force several times their size. Add the aquatic lizardfolk to the shamans magic and very little could threaten this fortress without 5 times their number.
Even then the enemy would be hard pressed to take it.
Finding a dry spot of land outside of the walls Chronos started to practice his bloodline abilities. The descriptions only told him what they did but not the cost or other ways of using them.
Starting with [Sever] he coated the spare dagger and swung it at a small boulder nearby. A shimmering blade extended from the dagger only to vanish after a couple meters.
"That was strange. Let me try that again."
Swinging the dagger two more times the shimmering blade vanished at the same spot. A knight could reach 5 meters with an aura blade, but [Sever] only seemed to reach half of that distance. He would need to test this again when he reached the fourth rank.
It would be slightly troublesome if he could only reach half the distance of others at the same rank.
Stepping closer he swung again and the boulder was cleanly severed in two. Both sides shone like a freshly made mirror.
"Okay, the description wasn't lying about it being able to cut almost anything. It looks like it even cut the ground under the boulder with the same sharpness."
Normally the blade would affect the sharpness of the aura being cast through it. The sharper the blade the sharper the aura but [Sever] ignored the blade and cut anything in front of it.
He might be able to use [Sever] on its own but that would take practice. It might also cut his hand off as he didn't see anywhere to grab a [Sever] that wouldn't cut you.
He did have claws and fangs that could be coated as well but he didn't want to risk seriously injuring himself in the middle of a war. He would have to test that once he was more familiar with [Sever], if it worked well, it would somewhat change his fighting style.
After using it three times he sensed his energy levels. It hadn't used much of his total energy, but it had clearly used three times the amount of a regular [Aura Edge].
That wasn't too bad, especially for the effects it gave. Next was [Isolate], this one should create a barrier around himself or a target.
With a thought a half circle of shimmering energy appeared around him. No, not a half circle, it was cutting into the ground. It must be a full circle completely cutting him off from the outside world.
Activating it took twice as much energy as [Sever] but once it was activated it barely took anything to maintain. He would have to be careful how many he activated in a row or risk passing out from exhaustion.
Reaching out to touch it he felt a solid wall as durable as a castle wall or stronger.
At this time Lyla had been walking along the fort's walls and saw him experimenting.
"Is that a new technique?"
"No, it's one of my bloodline abilities. It's called [Isolate] and it can block almost anything from the description; it's not supposed to have any weaknesses either. Want to help me test it?"
Whack!
He didn't need to ask; she had already swung her mace. There was no damage to the barrier and no additional energy cost either. Some barriers would block an attack according to how much energy you paid, however, [Isolate] would support itself until it was dispelled or broken.
Chronos was about to suggest she use [Blessed Flame] to test it next, but Lyla was already casting it. Holy flames covered her weapon right before she swung it at the barrier.
Whack!
Just like before the flames weren't able to damage the barrier. Likewise [Holy Gavel] only added to the number of attacks but couldn't cause any harm.
Finally, she used [Edict of Restraint] a spell that summoned chains of light to bind Chronos, only to be stopped by the barrier again!
"Looks like [Isolate] can block anything without the power to break it. Only problem is I can't move; the barrier extends into the ground and won't shift at all." Chronos said.
"That's still really amazing. If you cast it for just one second then nothing could harm you or those you protect. Then you would be free to attack right afterwards. We should also test whether or not a mage can cast spells through the barrier."