Chapter 205 - Nightsteel

The next day, once I had recovered, the first thing my squad did was meet Senior Lieutenant Torquatus to collect the sets of full plate armor we had been promised as a reward.

When I asked him about them, a complicated expression appeared on his face. For someone who had shown little emotion even after fighting Tier-4 enemies, this reaction was extreme. It made me wonder whether failing the mission had caused us to lose our reward.

Unable to hold myself back, I asked, “Sir, is there a problem with the armor?”

He let out a frustrated sigh.

“Your new armor has created a lot of trouble for me,” he said, pulling a set of armor from the crate.

After looking at it, I realized that it was not the usual silver-gray steel plate armor. Instead, it was shiny black metal armor.

“Because of your moniker, Caeso has been bugging me to give you this armor. If he had not involved Captain Petrae in this whole farce, I would not have given you these sets. They are far better than standard armor. Only three squads in the entire Petrae Battalion use this kind of armor.

“It is made of nightsteel, which makes it lighter and more durable than normal steel armor. Nightsteel is also an excellent material for runes. Unlike the armor used by the Petrae Battalion’s elite heavy infantry units, yours does not have any runes on it. Even then, it is still far superior to standard armor, and I hope your squad does not taint its reputation.”

He said that while passing the armor to me.

I took it, but instead of examining it properly, I asked him a question.

“Where are these elite heavy infantry squads?”

The lieutenant looked into my eyes and raised an eyebrow, probably not expecting me to take offense at his words.

Yet I was getting tired of hearing how great the Petrae Battalion was while average squads like ours were the ones being sent on suicide missions.

This was another aspect in which I felt closer to Caeso and even respected him more. He never boasted about how great the members of the Petrae Battalion were or how lucky we were to work with them.

Within the first few days, I had realized that the Petrae Battalion was no different from any other battalion I had seen or worked with.

The only things that made them stand out were their wealth, better equipment, greater access to knowledge, and prominent backgrounds.

But at the end of the day, they were normal humans who made normal human mistakes.

“The Petrae Battalion contingent that arrived here was not at full strength,” the lieutenant said. “The original plan was for us to analyze the situation and then meet the rest of the battalion at Fort Dunvale. Captain Petrae has more than just three Tier-4 senior lieutenants. Currently, the others are fighting Frosthallow’s main force while protecting Stonegate and the Count.”

He said it as if fighting the main force were somehow more noble than saving Velkar Town.

But I simply nodded.

I knew my limits. Anything more would be disrespectful to my superior officer. Moreover, I knew there was hardly anything I could do. Changing someone’s opinion was not an easy task.

If they still felt that the absent squads were better, even after every squad here had risked its life, then any conversation on that topic would be useless.

Instead, I focused on my reward, and the lieutenant was right. The material was much lighter. As for its strength, I would have to test it.

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Passing the armor sets to my squad, I let Kael, Varric, and Garran examine them.

Once they were satisfied, I looked at the lieutenant again.

“Sir, I know the order was for my squad to wear these armor sets from our next shift onward, but I feel that Barry, Silas, Peter, and I are not suited for them. Would it be all right if we wore our regular armor?”

Barry and Silas were agility-type warriors. Peter was an intelligence-type warrior, and heavy armor would greatly reduce his combat capabilities.

As for me, I had the stats to use heavy armor, but my combat style relied heavily on quick movement. The additional weight could hinder my mobility and slow the movements required to create mana shields.

The lieutenant nodded. “That should be fine, but wear the rune jackets over your normal armor. That should provide better protection. Both armies have already seen your squad in those jackets, so seeing some of you wearing them again could provide a significant morale boost for our army and demoralize the Frosthallow army.

“But be extremely vigilant. From today onward, the intensity of Frosthallow’s attacks will increase. They plan to inflict as much damage as they can to regain momentum. Yesterday saw the highest number of deaths on our side, and today, we are expecting even more.

“Provoking them could force them to make mistakes, but it also places your squad in danger. To counter that, I am increasing the number of soldiers in your section by fifty, bringing the total to two hundred. Do you have any more questions?”

“Yes. What type of units can I expect to encounter?” I asked.

Up until now, I had faced only mercenary units that used siege weapons such as assault staircases and leaping ramps, but I wanted to know what other units I might face.

“It is hard to predict, but no matter what unit you face, expect at least ten to twenty specialists to be present. Almost all of them will be at least the same caliber as the archer who has been targeting you since the first day. Simply killing your squad—or even just you—would be a great morale victory for Frosthallow,” the lieutenant replied.

Then he waited for me to ask my next question.

“Why are we not using the arrays we repaired?” I asked.

I had been wondering about that since the Tier-5’s domain had been lifted.

Slowly, I had realized that it was because the initial attacks were probing attacks. Using the arrays too early would sacrifice the element of surprise. But now that we were losing more and more soldiers, and Frosthallow was looking for a small victory, using the arrays could push them back even further.

The lieutenant simply shook his head and replied, “It is not the right time.”

Knowing that I would not get any further explanation, my squad and I moved out and started preparing for our next shift.

Our shift on the wall would begin in five hours, and I wanted to use that time to test the new armor.

Now that I saw them wearing it, I could understand why the Captain wanted my squad to wear this new armor.

Even though I knew them, they looked intimidating in it, especially Varric, Garran, and Kael. The three of them already towered over most soldiers, with Garran standing seven feet tall. Now, with this armor, they looked almost like giant metal golems.

While Rokan, Daren, Oren, and Brakk were a little shorter than them, they were no less intimidating. All of them had powerful builds, and the armor only magnified that.

After ninety minutes of practice, they easily adapted to the armor’s additional weight, which was not surprising.

Their physical stats were high, with the Tier-3s having stats well above one hundred. Adding an extra twenty-five kilograms to their load would be like adding an extra two to four kilograms to an Earth soldier’s backpack.

It might cost them a little stamina and make them slightly slower, but the additional protection, which would allow them to ignore most arrow attacks, made up for that.

When it was time for our shift on the wall, my squad and I made our way to the top.

Today, we were guarding the western wall, most likely because the soldiers on this side of Frosthallow’s camp had experienced the damage my squad had caused firsthand, and seeing us alive and standing atop the wall in our new armor would amplify the demoralization the lieutenant hoped to cause.

As soon as we arrived, silence spread among the soldiers in my section and the sections adjacent to us. Every soldier looked at my squad in awe.

A completely opposite reaction could be seen on the other side.

Our arrival drew awe from the defenders, but we had barely settled into position before warning horns sounded along Velkar’s wall, signaling an enemy raid.

Taking this as an opportunity to motivate the soldiers, I activated [Battlefield Command].

“Just yesterday, seven men from Avalon showed what we do when we are cornered and fighting for our survival. Now let us show them what seven hundred men can do when it is not just their lives but also their loved ones and their land that are threatened!”

“ARE YOU WITH ME?”

“YES!”

“ARE YOU WITH ME?”

“YES!”

Then the cheers spread throughout the western section of the wall.

The lieutenant leading the sections adjacent to mine gave me a nod of acknowledgment before he started issuing orders to his soldiers.

Yet all those cheers died down when we looked at the soldiers approaching my section.

This time, we were not facing a mercenary unit.

Instead, it was Frosthallow’s own force.

And they were coming in huge numbers.