The camp’s patrols let them through without questions when they saw the scout team leading Karl’s white cloaked menagerie toward the base. The first thought of everyone that they passed was that this was an extreme Church Guard unit, thanks to their bright white outer layer, which they had pilfered from the Frost Giants to blend in with the snow.
But once they saw who was underneath, they were simply confused. Those didn’t look like church guards, and the rest of their armour wasn’t covered in white. Nor did they have any sort of church insignia on them, except for the two Clerics, one in green and one in red, under their white cloaks.
Karl shouldered the bags of loot and let Thor take a break in his space, in case they encountered a fight on their way to their sleeping spot tonight. The bags were nearly dragging on the ground as they hung from Karl’s shoulders, a sign that they might have gone a bit overboard with their loot hoarding. The fact he had to turn sideways to get between some of the tents was another solid hint, but nobody was too worried about it, as long as the contents of those bags were for them.
To the soldiers, it looked like they had gotten an unexpected supply run. They had no way of knowing that it was just a bunch of hoarders assembled into an Elite team.
The General, a Royal Rank warrior with a large shield strapped to his back and an axe at his hip, strolled out of his tent to meet them, then did a double take as he saw the bags on Karl’s shoulders.
Karl greeted the steel-eyed warrior. “General, my apologies for the strange appearance. We had the Lightning Cerro carrying the loot, but he wouldn’t easily fit through the camp.”
“Not a problem at all. The scouts informed us that you had collected some gear from the Giants that we should be aware of, but we didn’t expect that it would be so much.” He replied with a smile that said he had just made a new friend in Karl.
Anyone who brought that much loot back for his soldiers without being asked, and while fighting their way through the enemy lines, had to be at least a half decent person, in his mind.
“Yes, check these out.” Karl replied, before removing all the identical swords from the bag.
Not identical in appearance, that actually varied wildly between weapons, but the enchantments on them were all exactly the same.
It only took a second for the General to realize that as well.
“Interesting. We have known for a while that the Giants aren’t big on variety, but I think you might have just found proof that they’re using a very limited and precise magical tool to do all their enchanting. It may only be capable of a few different abilities, and that is why we see all the frost giants with rings and bracelets of Giant Strength, and then the rest of their gear is usually only magical because it is made of magical beast hides.” The General pondered.
“Not only that, but it’s also proof that they can make a lot of it. We have thirty identical weapons taken from the survivors of one assault, all Commander Rank swords. That will be useful for your troops, but it suggests that you might soon be facing them from the other side as well.
Not all of these were taken from Commander Rank enemies, some of them were on the higher side of Ascended.” Karl explained.
“That’s not good at all. The reason Ascended Elites can so easily go two on one against a Frost Giant of the same rank is because it can’t quickly get through their barriers. But weapons like this wouldn’t have the same problem.
How did you deal with it? I see that your mage is still Ascended.” The General replied.
“The Commander Rank Lightning Cerro has the ability to spread his barrier to everyone in the group. Between that and the Circle of Protection, we don’t have too many issues.”
The General nodded. “You have a solid group. I’m not certain what we are going to do about large numbers of those swords showing up in the next charge, but we will be able to make good use of the ones you brought us.
As you have likely already noticed, despite your status as a student, Commander rank gear is hard to find. There might be a piece or two at every depot, but that’s about it. When we’re fighting against dozens of Commander Rank Frost Giants at a time, every weapon counts.
The mages can bring up barriers for us, and the Priests can issue blessings, but nothing truly replaces a good weapon.”
Karl smiled as he gestured to the bag. “Those aren’t the only weapons in there, it was just noteworthy that they were all identical. There are a number of Giant Strength items in there as well, and some Commander Rank and Ascended Rank armour.
We grabbed everything that looked decent and wasn’t destroyed in battle.
Now, on to the important parts that I couldn’t put in a radio broadcast. The survivors of the battle at the other front line are headed for a Frost Giant city off in that direction, but the wave of intense Ice Magic that attacked the other line came from further that way, deep within their borders.
It wasn’t cast close to the border, we were already in their territory when we felt it coming on the horizon.”
The General hummed as he considered the new information.
“I think I might know where it is coming from. There is a Crystal Mountain, a massive block of pure ice, that keeps their nation frozen, right at the centre of the Frost Giants’ territory.
The area it could keep cold was always the limits of their borders, but now, I have reason to believe they found a way to access and enhance it.
That’s not official, by the way, just this Elite’s thoughts on the matter. But I’ve been in combat for ten straight years now, and I’ve seen some things.
The problem is that we don’t have any more information about it than some old drone footage and a team who saw it once a few years ago. Until someone actually goes there, we can’t know for certain, but it would be suicidal to ask anyone to actually do it, and we can’t spare the Elites who would have a chance of survival.”
Karl chuckled. “Well, I know it’s not going to be me unless I’m taking your army with me.”
The General laughed. “It would have to be an Overlord. That’s the only combat force we have that could logically survive both the intense cold, and the powerful Frost Giants who patrol the region around their sacred mountain.
Notice that you haven’t seen any of their Monarch Rank Giants? Or even any of their Royal Rank Giants on this front? They’re all still guarding the holy sites, according to military intelligence. So, we deal with the soldiers, while their Generals stand back from the fight.”
The General gave a rueful chuckle, as his rank hadn’t saved him from a front-line posting. They needed the fighters, and he was a soldier through and through.
“I know it’s outside our deployed area, but plans change in the field, so if there is somewhere that you need us to be, we can render some aid tomorrow before anyone complains that we’re out of position.” Karl suggested.
The General gestured back into his tent. “There are some spots, but don’t worry about your position, I will have your status updated to roaming forward scouts, so you can be anywhere along the border that suits you.
If you’re going to collect weapons like this every day, I don’t think they would even care where you got them from, we need them that badly. Especially Commander Rank blades and Giant Strength rings. Those can be used by almost every warrior class.”
Then he led them inside and stepped to the far side of a table with a collection of stones set on top of the map.
“I know it looks sketchy, but it’s the easiest way to update troop movements, and if there is a chance that the camp will be overrun, the first thing we do is knock it over. It means we have to restart our map placements later, but it also means that the enemy won’t be able to use the map to track our troops.” He explained.
Karl nodded. “We’re familiar with the trick. And the fact that most officers don’t put all the assets on the map. We got a rather shocking wake-up call when we landed here and saw the discrepancy.”
The General smiled sadly. “See, that’s an executive level issue. They always think we’re overstating the situation in the field. Perhaps it’s hard to hear with their heads that far up their arse.”