[Aura of ???: 10 (+10)]
[Crystals : ~1000]
[Ghoul mother cores : 10]
The gates of the elevator opens.
A larger force including several knights.
They were greeted by the sight of a giant pile of red crystals.
The giantess knight sits beside it resting.
The rest of the troops that descended with her had gone.
All that's left is their armour.
Pieces of it.
The captain cautiously approached Hikari who was meditating.
His hand on his musket.
The giantess opens her eyes.
He froze.
It was like staring into the abyss.
"Greetings."
It was as gentle as she could say it.
"What happened here?"
"Ghouls."
The captain looks at the pile of crystals.
He stayed quiet.
He signals for the Silora priests.
They set up lantern poles around it.
The collection party will arrive with the next elevator.
The troops take their positions along the half built walls.
Parts of which had been knocked down.
The builders will come with the later elevators.
The troops pulled a wagon towards Hikari.
She takes a look and stands up.
A fresh crate of throwing daggers.
Her old ones had lost their enchantments.
The giantess knight had collected them back into a pile.
Her new daggers float towards her and insert themselves into her belt slots.
Half of her full complement.
Enough to hold the next wave.
"Incoming."
She announces.
The captain was startled.
She strides towards the wall.
Bang! A musket fires.
"Ghoul!"
The rifleman shouts.
"Formations."
The troops scrambled to form a line.
Ghouls emerged from the mist.
Bang! The muskets fired.
They were shot at point blank range.
The giantess knight jumps over the line.
Thud! Thud! Her heavy footsteps against the ground.
She dashes into the mist.
The sound of steel hitting the stone.
The troops shoot down the trickle of ghouls.
A loud sound.
The snarling of a ghoul mother.
Thud. Thud.
The trickle of ghouls stopped.
Thud.
They could see spots of lantern light through the mist.
The chattering sound of crystals on the ground.
Thud.
The troops kept their muskets loaded.
The giantess emerged from the mist.
One of her fists clenched.
The glow of a ghoul mother core through her fingers.
The troops made way for her to enter the camp.
They turned around and watched as she dumped the ghoul mother core and emptied her harvest sack into the already large pile of crystals.
[Crystals : ~1000 (+50)]
[Ghoul mother cores : 11 (+1)]
She continues her meditation.
The troops stared.
"Man your posts."
After a pause, the captain gave the order.
The camp was quiet.
Soldiers took turns sitting down.
They stayed in their steel armour.
The tentage equipment was still sitting in the crates.
They didn't have the numbers yet to properly hold the camp against a large wave.
The elevator shaft was silent.
It was a very long way up and down.
The troops took periodic glances at the empty shaft.
Hikari continues her meditation.
She cannot eat until the camp is done and the lantern barrier is set up.
The full meal plus a little extra she had before the delve will have to suffice.
She still has the energy.
It is still long before she couldn't fight without another meal.
The elevator shaft rumbles.
The troops turned their heads in relief.
"Eyes forward."
Their captain barked.
It felt like forever since the elevator disappeared upwards into Carla.
They had witnessed two batches disappear down the shaft and yet they are now the first ones holding the line.
…
The elevator landed.
The gates opened.
Another batch of troops.
There were five builders and three cannon crews in the mix.
The cannon crews hastily pushed their cannons towards the half built wall.
The troops eagerly made way.
The builders began again.
Bricks with tar.
The stone below the depths was either too hard to mould by hand or too flaky to build a sturdy wall.
They removed the broken bricks.
The captain began instructing some of the extra troops he had to dig trenches.
They hesitantly began digging in front of the line.
It was hard work in their heavy armour.
The stone was uneven.
Their shovels couldn't make a dent in the ground.
After a while, their captain asks them to stop and conserve their energy.
.
Another elevator landed.
More cannon teams this time, bringing the total up to seven.
Crates of cannon balls and gunpowder banks were towed to the front.
Gunpowder doesn't suffer the effects of the mist.
They are plenty effective against ghouls.
But their supply beyond the elevator shaft is unreliable.
Two priests of Silora accompany a crate of lanterns.
Another shipment is still needed to cover the camp.
A crate of bricks and tar for the builders.
Not enough to finish the wall.
But enough to keep them working.
A wagon was pushed to Hikari.
Her ballista bolts.
Fifty in the crate
She had run out of bolts completely.
She stands up just to load them behind her back.
Just as she sits back down.
Her lodestone turns green.
She responds.
Her lodestone turns green again.
She looks at the lodestone for a moment.
She remains standing.
Looking further into the mist.
It was quiet.
She looks.
It was still.
…
She notices movements.
Another wave.
She draws her bow and fires.
A ghoul roars.
It was larger than the others.
The troops sprung back into formation.
The muskets fire.
The normal ghouls were shot down.
Hikari stood still, looking into the distance.
The troops can handle single ghouls.
She watches.
She could see a blurred shadow lumbering towards them.
Without hesitation, she draws her bow.
Release.
Roar!
A giant was approaching.
The shadow flickers.
Release.
The shadow flickers.
It got closer and closer.
Release. Release.
Five bolts.
The shadow was staggering towards them.
The ghoul wave got more dense.
The cannons fire level to the ground.
Tearing through several ghouls at a time.
As they reloaded, a mass of ghouls emerged from the mist.
A volley of throwing daggers from Hikari thins them out.
The remaining charges the shield wall and were speared down.
Hikari retrieves her daggers.
Thud. Thud.
The ground shakes.
A golem ghoul standing on its hind legs emerges from the mist.
Thud.
It lumbers towards the line.
Hikari's ballista bolts sticking out of its chest.
The cannon teams scrambled to increase their elevator.
Boom. Boom.
They fired.
The golem was knocked off balance and fell backwards onto the ground.
A mass of ghouls appeared behind it.
The muskets fired but there were too many.
A volley of throwing knives skewers them.
The ghoul golem slams the ground with its fist.
It smashes a patch of rock and kicks up dust.
Thud. Thud.
As it lifts its head, it sees the soles of a boot crush down on it.
Crunch.
The steel reinforced studs on the bottom crushes its flesh.
But the giant still moves.
The giantess knight clenches her fist.
The sound of wood splintering into pieces.
The salt coated tips punches deep into the golem's chest.
She could feel the golem spasming.
The grey salt breaks its mana flow.
She pulls out another bolt and stabs it deeper into the chest.
The wooden shaft snaps.
She plunges another.
The golem stops moving.
She stands up and retrieves her throwing knives.
Another wave of ghouls shows up.
They scratched away at her boots.
They tried to grab on but couldn't.
"Skin of wyvern."
Their claws could sink in.
Crunch. Crunch.
She walks, crunching them below her boot.
The ghoul mothers must be not far ahead.
She advances into the mist.
She had already mapped out the terrain ahead.
Crunch. Crunch.
She advanced.
Ghouls steam to either side of her.
Thud.
Another golem.
It lifts its arm and swings.
Hikari darts to its blind spot, catching the clumsy golem off balance.
She stabs a dagger into its hardened back.
It falls forwards from its own momentum.
She lands, anchoring her foot for a follow up attack.
Crunch. Her boot crushes another ghoul.
She almost loses her footing.
Fist clenched, she knocked the dagger into the golem's chest.
She feels something shatter.
A surge of energy leaves the golem.
She backs off.
The golem disintegrates.
Splatters of acid hit her back.
"Telekinesis."
A pulse of telekinetic energy pushes the acid away.
She can see the jaws of the ghoul mothers through the mist.
She draws a dagger, impaling the mouth of a ghoul mother so it couldn't spit acid.
Broken snarls and hisses.
The ghoul mothers began to scramble away.
She chases.