บท 43: A Steep Learning Curve
"One would be surprised at the steep learning curve that is present in DO."
"The system is not afraid to put you onto the bloody battlefield and force you to fight other players from the very start, with only a select few being able to release that they were not fighting an AI due to how human-like they were."
"International politics, the fallout of losing or winning a battle, the cost in equipment, food and manpower all these things must be considered even when you are just trying to defend a position in a battle."
"As all these factors not only affect the rewards you get but also on the world at large and even on the outcome of an event itself."
"Treating DO like any other VRMMORPG will only lead to failure, making assumptions about AI due to their social class will lead to failure, even assuming the direction a quest is giving you will lead to a good outcome can lead to failure."
"To live a simple life in DO or go for influence wealth and power."
"All these decisions must be made carefully as attempting to gain any of the last three things…."
"Can lead to one losing it all and having to restart from zero."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
….
"As you watch while I take each head one by one."
Scorpius said mercilessly. His helmet and armour, which looked exactly like his other brothers in arms, made the man like his expression invisible as Bardornus could only make out that this illusive Chavarian knight captain was in the front line of the horde of knights in front of him but could not pick out exactly who he was amongst the other identical looking knights.
Vains strained as Bardornus struggled to overcome the trauma of that dreaded day, the anger and helplessness still fresh in the Plurian general's mind, and just when he was about to act out of impulse, a hand grabbed his shoulder. The conflicted Bardornus looked into Atherid's calm eyes, a slight smile on the man's face as he spoke softly into the Plurian general's ear.
"General, this is not your time to fall. You now must lead the defence or, if failed, the resurrection of our nation!"
"Allow another to take your place, as either way, the bargaining power you hold right now is your talents as a commander, and even if the Chavarians allow the royal family to live, they would be prone to many unfortunate 'accidents' to remove them one by one as only a fool would allow a threat to their power like that to continue."
Atherid said calmly, resigned to his fate, ready to sacrifice himself for the future of his state, even one that may only be possible tens of years after his death and the kingdom's conquest by a foreign power before the young man's voice became firm and stoked up the few embers that remained in his depressed general's heart into a raging fire ready to fight to the last.
"So general tell me…."
"Could you bear to work for your hated enemy? One who has shown themselves to be cunning and untrustworthy…."
"One who murdered your brother, albeit in war, then executed all the men they captured who refused to turn to their side."
"All to remove our military power so we would be ripe for their conquest like we are now!"
"Can you bear to work for them, to bend your knee and cry 'long live the emperor!'"
"All while our citizens potentially suffer and its notable leaders are either silenced or suppressed by the imperial power you will be honour-bound to uphold."
"Or will you become the light in the darkness….
"And bring about the dawn."
As Atherid said the last words with a smile, light began to stream into the steppe, slowly illuminating its vast expanse. The red-rising sun bathed both sides in its warmth. The savagery of the ongoing battle and its victims once concealed in shadow came into the light as if the Plurian vice general had predicted the fall of dawn that seemed to cast a heavenly glow on Bardornus.
Scorpius sighed in regret, knowing now that the Plurian general would not surrender after that speech and motioned his sword forward, charging with his knights towards the remaining Plurian soldiers.
"General, quickly leave! I will hold them off."
"Brothers charge!"
Atherid shouted, shooting his crossbow, which impaled a Chavarian knight's head through its visor. The bolt pierced through the knight's eye and into his brain, killing him instantly as blood trickled from the helmet on the ground.
The other soldiers in his crossbow retinue also fired theirs, but most, not having the great skill at arms that their lord possessed, had their bolts impale uselessly into the shields of the Chavarain knights, who kicked up a cloud of dust as they charged but some found their marks breaking through the plate armour of the knights causing them to fall limp to the ground.
Bardornus and the other Plurian officers looked back, slightly depressed as they rode away, watching how Atherids men charged fearlessly on their horses at the Chavarians and were slowly killed as another hero was destined to a tragic fate, knowing that they could not afford a long term altercation with the Chavarians lest they get reinforcements and kill them all. The Plurian vice generals striking red hair blew in the wind as he cut his way through the Chavarian knights trying to kill and delay them for as long as possible to allow the other Plurian survivors enough time to retreat. The man's steel sword cut this way and that as knight after knight fell to his blade, the ancient valiance of The Kingdom of Plurus still making its mark even in the last days of its existence as many of its last heroes die one by one their stories and heroic deeds planting the seeds for the future resurrection of their kingdom.
The men were fearless. None surrendered. All gave their lives and fought to the last, all falling to the Chavarain's cold steel swords, giving Bardornus and the rest of the Plurians enough time to slip away the sacrifices of their comrades who gave their lives so they could escape and their heroic deeds were imprinted in their souls, taking one Chavarian down each even as blood flowed from many cuts which would adorn their battle-worn bodies.
Atherid finally fell 20 minutes later, his body cut in half by Scorpius' sword despite fighting hard. It was when all his men had fallen, leaving him alone, struggling against a wave of Chavarian knights, that a lance finally pierced his body, leaving it in place temporarily. This gave Scorpius enough time to strike the killing blow, cutting through both armour and flesh like paper. The determined captain used all his strength to fell his foe, a man who had earned the captain's respect with his sacrifice for his nation.
"Bury them all with honour. They fought for their kingdom to the last while they are our enemies their loyalty, bravery, and determination deserve respect."
Scorpius said. The eyes behind his helmet, while still radiating a chilling icy coldness, also held the respect that one has for a good opponent. He then left, knowing that the Plurians on their fine steeds were too far away for the knights who had just fought a battle themselves and their horses clad in mail and plate, making them unable to catch up and headed back towards Lucius.
….
'This cannot be!'
'This is impossible!'
'This game and the bloody system have deceived me!"
Wurgoth thought, shocked and enraged, looked on as the Chavarians annihilated his forces, the orcs falling one by one under their ruthless attack, knowing that the battle was lost as his quest had finally updated when the Chavarian army attacked his forces from behind, his eyes glued to the system notification that appeared when they began their attack.
[Linked side quest 'Battlefield Conspiracy' has been updated]
[Linked side quest 'Battlefield Conspiracy' has been failed. The scheme was successful in driving the allied army to attack each other, allowing the Chavarins to ambush both from behind and destroy them]
'FRIEND SYSTEM, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.'
The orc player cried out to the friend system in his mind angrily, feeling like he had been deceived as the quest appeared to be going in the right direction before suddenly failing, making the player furious as now he would lose his first dynasty as there is no way that he could pull it back now by now all the veins on his body could be seen clearly as the orc players body shook trying to contain the rage which erupted from his heart.
'No quest in any MMOs, even ones in VR that I have played so far, has ever turned out this way! Giving you advice or a confirmed good direction without it being beneficial is madness!'
The orc player continued until the friend system benevolently gave him an answer though it only served to enrage the orc player more.
'Whoever said that the direction given by the quest is always good. Is that not a presumption you have brought from other games you play?'
The friend system began speaking to him in his mind again, giving the orc player a condescending speech.
'Was the quest description not clear? Firstly it said 'potential betrayal' and 'find out the truth.' Then when you thought that you had found out the truth, it was not mine nor the game system's fault that the truth you came up with was wrong! Next time, think carefully before assuming all nobles are stupid, greedy bastards or that you are playing with stupid, predictable ai, which has led to the current situation. Honestly, some people don't have a basic understanding of language where they assume that just because something is alleged or has potentially happened, then it has definitely happened and is fact.'
'Did I not tell you to treat DO like a second world? You do realise I am the administrative AI for this game and the first one ever created for it!'
'Not to mention that I am sentient and designed to administer and help the players. You could even say that I have met or even tutored some of the gods of this game and when such an entity gives you advice. What do you do?'
'What does a doughnut like you do?'
'Were you dropped on your head one too many times when you were a child? Or are you just naturally stupid?'
'You treat the game like it was a normal MMORPG! Do you know who created this game?'
'My master and friend James Larant, a very successful and eccentric businessman who is betting everything on this!'
'A man who has managed to get into almost every major industry that provides daily necessities in the world, and you think the game that he would release where people could make money on would be the same as all the others.'
'Is your IQ in the single digits? No, to be this dumb, it must not even reach one.'
'Do you even know how to read? No wonder James likes to keep to himself and avoid too much contact with people like you would lower his IQ, and in minutes, he would become an idiot who could barely talk.'
The friend system said, sending a barrage of insults towards the orc player, who the system now thought had the brain capacity of a cabbage but then suddenly, the friend system stopped and went for a few minutes as the battle continued around Wurgoth, making the orc player confused.
The few orcs that still remained were being slowly and methodically slaughtered by the Chavarian heavy infantry, managing to hold out for a while, especially as 2000 of the 3000 Chavarian knights suddenly left in the direction that the Plurians went trying to prevent their escape if possible, as Lucius wanted a clean sweep though he was still happy with a victory as it still exceeded what his objective was.
'Anyway, I have been ordered to give you the information you want, so make sure to thank me, okay? Though, even if I dumb it down to layman's terms, a person like you may not understand it.'
The friend system said in a much friendlier tone than before, as if someone had scolded it, and Wurgoth wondered what had suddenly happened to have the friend system change its tone so quickly.
'Quests can have many layers to them, like how much information a person has, even what they believe to be right can alter the quest into entering down a path that leads to destruction like in your case. You were so convinced that the Plurians had betrayed you, and after making your decision, the quest would change based on your own thoughts and actions, so, of course, it would lead you down this path.'
'So don't blame anyone but your own stupid self, okay? I never understood why humans always blamed others instead of looking at themselves and their decisions first.'
'Okay, Okay, I got it! Be nice! Bloody British and their manners! Noooo, don't take away my access to TV shows and Anime. I'll give him the information now. Just be patient, okay I was just getting to a good part. Please don't take it away!'
The Friend system said in Wurgoths mind. The orc player became increasingly confused as it appeared that the friend system was having a conversation with someone else and was surprised that it acted like a child towards this person and wondered if this was the same sadistic system that took pleasure in the calibration of people's game systems. The orc player still shivered slightly when he remembered the searing pain he went through while it was calibrating the 'combat' or realistic senses system or whatever other bullshit the system gave as reasons for its enjoyment.
'You had 70,000 men, but you still lost! Granted, you were less technologically advanced, but you had allies who had 60% of the men of your enemy with similar technology, and you still lost on an open plain. You even held 10,000 men, 10% of the entire army, in reserve for so long, only committing them when it was too late and after the Chavarians had managed to defeat your allies' cavalry to help save their struggling front line, which was on the verge of collapse, and so lost if you had gone all out at the start the current battle would be much closer.'
The friend system said in the orc player's mind appearing disappointed in Wurgoths performance before disappearing again. It seemed that now that all the drama had finished and a victor had been decided, the system lost all interest in this event.
It was an hour after the sun rose that the last orcs were cut down by the Chavarians; Wurgoth deciding to go out in a blaze of glory, the wolf he rode on howling as the orc general charged towards the Chavarians only to have two arrows impale his body, throwing it from his wolf, who died under a hail of crossbow bolts letting out one last pained whine before joining its other brethren in the underworld.
Stabbing his steel cleaver into the ground to balance himself, Wurgoth rose from the bloodstained ground onto one knee, watching as Chavarians surrounded him, many with crossbows aimed at him, ready to shoot at a moment's notice, closed his eyes and prepared for his inevitable end pain shooting from the two places that he was shot but the end did not come.
Instead, horse hooves slowly approached the orc general who was surrounded by his dead comrades Zugbu and a few others with excellent survival instincts ran the moment the Chavarains attacked, managing to escape from them, becoming the few survivors who would tell of the power of this rising empire and their cunning generals having a profound effect on Otuian military doctrine in the future.
As they got closer, Wurgoth wearily opened his eyes and saw a man approach riding a large chestnut-brown destrier covered in mail and plate, which was covered with a crimson cloth, a golden pelican emblazoned on it proudly showing the emblem of the noble house of its rider. The man himself wore what looked like a half plate armour with pelican-headed shoulder guards, a surcoat covered his steel armour emblazoned with the colours of his house, the armour glinting slightly in the sunlight.
'Lucius Aurellion, that damned shameless spider!'
The orc thought recognising his shameless adversary as only a fool would not be able to tell that all the conflict and suspicion cast between the orcs and the Plurians were a result of the devilish schemes concocted in this person's mind still languishing in the depression of his defeat.
Lucius casually swung off his horse, nearly losing his footing as he landed and conversed with another big man while yawning and motioning him to back off. After a bit of back and forth, this big man seemed to relent though he quickly grabbed a bow and nocked an arrow leaving the bow loosely in his hands, ready to end the life of the orc general the moment he felt something was off.
Wurgoth watched as his main rival got closer and closer to him, seemingly unconcerned at what had occurred and vaguely heard the eccentric man cry out loud casual voice.
"Damn, Leon! Too overprotective! Way too overprotective! What the hell can Wurgoth do anyway with all my men holding crossbows at him? I never thought being protected 24/7 would be such a hassle! It's hard to get any time to myself these days!"
Lucius complained out loud, used to talking to himself, before continuing his casual tone as he looked upon Wurgoth, kneeling on the floor.
"Ahhhh, General Wurgoth, we finally meet! How are you feeling? My scheme was really impressive, was it not?"
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LaziestDragon
LaziestDragon Here is the Chapter for this weekend hope you guys enjoyed it.
The next one will be out next weekend.
Thank you all for your continued support, comments, and power stones.
Discord link for those who want to talk to me or have questions about the novel.
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/kzT7hrnFYp
See you next weekend.
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