"Can we have a break?" Rufian whined for the thousandth time.

He had only stopped complaining while they had been diving the Stoney Fields Tower rifts, but while their quick victories against some of the worst teams in the training legion had been unmemorable and unsatisfying, the tense time pressure of the situation had taken its toll on the team's mental state.

"Can you shut up?" The whole team snapped back at him. Palinus was surprised to hear Bruchts joining the chorus, the complaining getting to the normally stoic and patient boy a strong indication of the exhaustion of the day.

"We can't win… I don't even see the point-" Rufian's justification was cut off as they stepped out from behind a boulder to get a full view of the Hill Fort.

It was enormous.

The fort dominated the mustering fields from its position on top of the hill. It's thick wooden construction was extremely unusual for an Erulean fortification and Palinus was transfixed by its oddness. From the bottom of the hill it looked like an enormous square, but from up close it revealed its true shape. Constructed of a tall square tower at the far corner it projected three thick walls towards three bulbous towers.

"It's a replica of a Silvanian Hill fort, specifically of the Duroglenn southern road fort." Centurion Austo appeared out of nowhere and practically read Palnus's mind. "It's rare that it actually takes part in the intercohort battle! We mostly use it for siegework training."

Up ahead they could see the 9th century scattered into several groupings manoeuvring trying to block or avoid the attacks from the fort. From hundreds of meters away they could already see that there were only scattered defenders, probably less than half of a century. The defenders were making themselves known despite their small numbers as they manned the essentia cannons that shot massive concussive blasts at the attacking conscripts.

They weren't often hitting but they were forcing the 9th century to slow down and defend themselves rather than running directly towards the multiple rifts that were already open between themselves and the fort.

"Three rifts!' Palinus quickly counted.

"Yeah, things are a bit different for a fort conquest." The centurion commented.

"That seems… excessive. Do we need to win all of them?"

The three open rifts were spaced out in front of the fort. They each stood in front of one of the towers of the hill fort and roughly lined up with the towers at the bottom of the hill.

"We will need to win as many rifts as it takes to overwhelm the nexus which is bolstered by the number of towers standing.That is one of the few things that has slowed the 1st cohort with their direct attack strategy. Now it has come back to bite us and we are going to be slowed in turn." Centurion Austo explained patiently. "If we could attack the fort we might be able to speed up the process, but…"

The centurion gestured at his century who were scrambling around the hill side and were starting to look more than a bit ragged. It had been a long day and they had been constantly skirmishing.

The team stood for a moment and watched. As they considered the size of the fort Palinus could feel himself getting overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. He considered joining Rufian who was currently lying on the ground complaining about cramps.

"Thanks for saving a rift for us!" Vesuvia said brightly as she dragged Rufian up, she was still in a good mood despite the length of the day.

"It's not like he had much of a choice." Seline snapped, seemingly as irritated by her good mood as Palinus was. "Let's go then."

She didn't acknowledge the pout she got in response.

The team were escorted to the rift by two decios from the 9th century. They ran in a formation with shields held up in front and above them and several defensive and buffing ars running concurrently.

It was thrilling to see the testudo formation in use and Palinus had to begrudgingly accept that there might have been some value in practicing it as they surged towards the rift.

The fort had noticed them as soon as they came into range and the size of the formation and their direction towards the open rift made them a primary target. One of the conscripts acted as a spotter and would call to the formation whenever a bolt was heading their direction and it was frustrating the whole group as they needed to stop and brace twice a minute.

The firing pattern of the essentia cannons made them hard to predict, the essentia bolts didn't travel in a straight line but would be fired upwards to drop significantly the further they were fired. They also spun and reacted with essentia in the environment making them difficult to judge, so the spotter had to be more cautious and call to brace for anything remotely close to them. The frustration of the frequent stops was irritating.

A well aimed bolt from the hill fort soon put the delay into perspective.

"Brace!" The spotter cried with a bit more verve than the near misses he had been calling. The urgency in his voice caught Palinus's attention as he peered up at the bolt

It had reached its zenith and was directly in line with their formation. The shields went up even quicker than usual creating a solid wall of the painted wood and leather that the training cohorts all used. One of the 9th century conscripts channeled an ars to add to the several more passive shields that they were already running with.

The ars made a shimmering wall of pearlescent light which was the first defence that the bolt struck. The bolt struck the wall and exploded with a deafening crash that made the group's ears pop.

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"Forward!" The spotter yelled and the formation was quick to start running.

Surrounding Palinus as they ran the team shared their appreciation with a murmur of encouragement to the conscripts around them.

Beside him in the middle of the formation Seline was having a whispered conversation with the spotter as they ran.

"Brace!" The order came again as the boy spotted another bolt heading their direction.

"The defenders have an arcanist overcharging at least one of the cannons and after this the formation is out of big defensive ars. Get ready to make a run for it!" Seline whispered to the team.

This bolt was stopped by an ars that created a giant shield of flame. It was an impressive display and it even cast a bolt back towards the defenders to splash ineffectively against the wall of the fort..

The team didn't take the time to watch the display as even before the order was given they had started running.

"Scatter!" The spotter yelled. It was not a formal command that had been practiced but the conscripts knew what to do as they spaced out as much as they could as they continued to run towards the rift.

They had made it most of the way under the protection of the testudo, but there was still a long sprint ahead of them. Palinus was grateful for the 9th century conscripts running with them and trying to disguise the rift team. As they got closer to the rift arrows and smaller bolts from wand and staff at maximum range joined the cannon fire.

Around Palinus three conscripts ran with their shield at the ready and they wove in and out in front of him trying to block projectiles heading his way. They ran in a serpentine pattern to misdirect as they moved and he could see Seline a few meters away moving similarly.

He got a bad feeling as they approached the rift as he realised that he hadn't heard any big explosions of cannon fire. With a few dozen meters between themselves and the rift Palinus gulped, Seline yelled something at him and he knew that he needed to act.

With a quick flash of essentia he cast his Saturnine Veil and obscured the area around the rift. He felt instantly at home in the smoke and the speed boost made his steps feel lighter. They just had to hope that the obscuring smoke would be enough to protect them from the cannon fire.

A few moments later the quiet of the battlefield without the cannon fire was broken as the defenders fired despite no longer having vision. The blast from multiple empowered canons rocked the area and created a cacophony that burst the eardrums of all of the conscripts in the area. They had all paused their run as soon as they were under the cover of the veil to avoid the salvo, but the number and power of the canon bolts was unexpected

"Womp,womp, womp-!" Seline yelled from where she had been standing away from the rift. Palinus couldn't understand what she was saying but got her intention as he ran towards the rift with her

"Wompwomp womp-!?" He couldn't hear himself ask if they shouldn't wait for a bit longer.

Seline just shook her head in frustration and shrugged as they ran, he could see blood dripping from her ears. Something warm dripped down his neck and as he wiped it he discovered his were too.

They were joined in their run towards the rift by a wild eyed Rufian yelling at them. It took him a few moments of vigorously miming something before he gave up and tugged them away from the rift.

Through the smoke they could see a cluster of conscripts and as they approached they found Vesuvia standing over Bruchts trying desperately to cast her ars to heal him as he writhed on the ground clutching at his stomach. She wasn't in much better shape as her leg looked like it had been hit too.

Quickly Rufian and Palinus picked up the big blonde boy and ran with him towards the rift as Seline helped Vesuvia run with her injured leg.

As they were just about to reach the rift Palinus thought he could hear someone shrieking something and sensed an ars cast quickly behind them, but he and Rufian didn't stop as they sprinted towards the rift and the safety that it offered.

With the tendrils of the rift reaching out towards them he felt Bruchts stiffen and tug at his arm. The injured boy said something with urgency, but Palinus couldn't hear it as he felt himself pulled into the rift.

The sensation of assuming his avatar was beginning to feel familiar to Palinus, finding himself once again in the confines of the column as it opened itself up to disgorge him into the rift.

Rufian was quick to step out of his own pillar and he felt a wave of nostalgia as he noticed Bruchts gingerly climbing out of his own.

"Womp wompwomp?" Rufian said something and Palinus instantly panicked as he realised he still couldn't hear what he was saying. He checked his avatar's condition, but he instantly knew that they might be in trouble.

Palinus 554/554 | Level 0 [Deafened]

Smoke Mage - Flagellant / Smoke Mage / Mage

"Womp!" Palinus swore.

He remembered that he wasn't even the worst injured of the group as he turned to inspect Bruchts.

Bruchts 510/510 | Level 0

Runebound Warden - Swordsman / Runebound Warden / Defender

He was down around 25% of his normal hit points, while Palinus was down around 15%. He was glad to see that Bruchts didn't have a status effect and realised that the ars that was cast before they went through must have been a desperate heal from Vesuvia to get the tanky teenager up to a better condition.

Scratching his head and grimacing, Rufian was saying something and Bruchts replied with visible frustration as he scolded his friend and punched Palinus on the shoulder.

It was half a minute or so before the girls joined the rift. They were in near perfect condition as they took the time to wait for Vesuvia and nearby 9th century supports to heal them to full. Palinus was grateful for his [Deafened] status as Seline did not hesitate to yell at himself and Rufian.

She didn't have the opportunity to fully express her frustration as the nexus began to summon minions as the 5 minute prep time ended and the rift truly began. There was a tense conversation with a lot of gesturing to Bruchts and Palinus as the rest of the team tried to figure out how to approach the rift with the disadvantage of the injuries they came in with.

After some back and forth it looked like they came to an agreement and everyone looked at Palinus as if they were waiting for his response. Not understanding he simply shrugged and they all laughed at him before they started running off to their assignments. It looked like it was going to be new lane assignments for them with Vesuvia running up towards the top lane and Bruchts heading towards the bottom with Seline. Rufian grabbed Palinus and steered him towards the middle lane.

Once they neared the tower Rufian stopped him and tried to explain something. With some gestures and miming which included two fingers running and a vigorous version of peekaboo he realised that Rufian was trying to explain that he would be back for a gank from one of the side bushes.

He nodded his agreement to the plan and tried to focus as his friend ran off into the forest.

This was going to be challenging.

A buzzing in his ear felt like someone was trying to talk through the team chat.

"Wompwomp womp womp?" It sounded like Seline asking something.

"Womping womp." Palinus swore again.

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