Negotiations For the Battle 1

3rd Person POV

In an exclusive room in Mac and Max's parents' restaurant, Connor found himself in front of a group of older people who had just presented a suggestion for an alliance to achieve an objective that would be unthinkable under unusual circumstances.

"You want just 40 people to fight against the entire village of demo-, I mean, goblins?" the middle-aged man asked, half-astonished, half-disbelieving at what he had heard.

"Exactly, Mr. Piqval," Connor replied without taking his eyes off anyone at the table.

Piqval was the owner/master/chief, of a traveling entertainment troupe. In the world where they live, traveling is not comfortable. They have to worry about hungry creatures at night, and during the day they have to avoid areas infested with animals prone to attacking unprotected humans, not to mention the thieves and bandits that existed. Like the Cursed Beasts, they could attack anyone with every step they took.

This was for normal travelers, going from one village to another, just carrying information or perhaps some goods. Imagine having to live in an environment like this for your entire life, this was how traveling entertainment troupes lived, constantly on the road under the risk of attacks with every loud breath someone took at the wrong time, often being their last.

Many didn't even consider something like this as living, and they were right, most troupes rarely traveled beyond the main cities, where they could count on patrols of knights and roads in good condition, although this still didn't always prevent attacks, it certainly helped to reduce them considerably (from 8 lethal attacks, it decreased to 3 on the main roads between the largest cities).

A troupe like Piqval's venturing into a small village almost in the corner of a kingdom was something quite unusual, not only because of the dangers but also because places like this rarely had enough money to pay for even a simple performance, perhaps of illusionism but of real magic? Not a chance.

So why did his troupe, which had martial artists, magicians (of very low level), clowns, illusionists and dancers, do this? Or even how did they manage to get there in one piece?

Simply because it was not a normal troupe, after all, as I said before, they have martial artists, magicians, illusionists and dancers. A troupe can be considered extravagant for having only illusionists and dancers along with clowns and other "common" members in its midst. But adding a varied group of martial artists (like the monks of the temples that Cali is part of), with magicians (even if of the lowest possible level) showed that this troupe had something more to its story.

But that was not important now, the important thing was that they had come to this village to profit from the mythical Ordeal. Even though it had only been a few months, stories of this mysterious construction were already spreading outside the kingdom and before things got too crowded, Piqval's troupe came to see for themselves if the stories of strange creatures, herbs, minerals and foods never seen before were really true.

Everyone had doubts about the veracity of the stories, after all they were too unbelievable to be believable. A construction that appeared in the middle of nowhere on a plain?, with strange creatures that when they died left some strange things on the ground, including gold coins?, that had an entire environment inside it with edible plants and fruits never seen before?. How could something like that be possible?!.

But the stories did not stop and after the report of the decimation of a joint force of wizards and knights of more than 200 men being eliminated, many decided to risk their luck and see the place with their own eyes and those who managed to do so were not disappointed, just like Piqval's troupe.

They planned to stay only 4 days, see the place, restock and return to the main cities as usual, but with the increase in the general strength of the troupe, even the cooks and musicians, the extra income obtained from the sale of materials found in the Ordeal and the unexpected income coming from the village itself (which thanks to the Ordeal became richer every day with groups of merchants who bought from the newly formed guild, although it was not called that), made them not even realize that more than 2 weeks had already passed.

The fact that the people of the village were kind and welcoming to strangers (a great rarity), had extremely tasty food and a source of entertainment never seen before with the tomes, also helped considerably. By the time Piqval went to see everyone in his troupe they had become one of the strongest groups in the area which leads to the discussion happening at the present time.

- I don't want to offend you young Connor, but do you really think that such a small group could do what a group of 200 with knights and wizards couldn't? - asked delicately a man with a gentle voice that contrasted greatly with his truculent and muscular body, the kind that you are sure he would be able to break a bear's neck with a punch.

- That's exactly why I'm suggesting we go in a small group, Mr. Mattis, I was there that day. The goblins took advantage of the numbers and the lack of a strong chain of command to make quick attacks that divided us, soon surrounding us in smaller groups and taking us to ambush sites. Not to mention that giant bear. – Connor said divided, briefly remembering the night his mentor was almost killed.

Mattis was a large man, almost 7 feet tall (2,2 meters tall), with a strength that justified his reputation as one of the strongest mercenaries in the kingdom. Mercenaries were generally frowned upon, since when there were no wars for them to join, many of them turned to banditry.

However, Mattis's mercenary group discovered a business that was just as profitable: guarding villages and hamlets. He had a contract with the village long before the Ordeal appeared and honored it almost religiously, in part because the people of the village had helped him and his men when they had been badly injured in the last war over 10 years ago.

"Some of my people said they had seen this bear, but he never did anything, just stared at them and then disappeared shortly after. Do you really think he would be a problem if we attacked?" asked another man to the right, this one already having more... "refined" mannerisms matching his blue and white tunic.

– Honestly, I don't know, Mr. Alera. I don't remember much about him, only that he suddenly appeared in the rearguard and caused great damage to the supplies... and that he also managed to easily kill an advanced knight and at least 4 medium knights.

Everyone in the room was momentarily perplexed, especially the wandering knight Alera. Having been trained in an order since he had been taken from the orphanage, he knew how difficult it was to promote between the knight ranks. Knights were separated into ranks from lowest to lowest: inferior, low, medium, advanced, superior, master, advanced master, superior master, grand master and finally Supreme.

A low knight would have the ability to eliminate 5 villagers armed with axes, pitchforks and hoes, while a medium would generally be able to defeat 3 lightly armed low knights. An advanced knight would have the ability to eliminate 5 medium knights with light armor and common weapons.

They had all heard that the group of 200 had been annihilated, so they knew that several salaries had died, but they didn't expect that a single creature had killed not only an advanced knight but also a group of medium knights.

"Is this supposed to help us feel more confident with fewer people, Connor? Because I guarantee that's not the effect it's having." said one of the 2 women at the table.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Margo, but I can only explain my idea this way." Connor took a deep breath and looked at everyone at the table, 3 men and 2 women.

These were the leaders of the 5 strongest groups in the village at the moment, all members having an average strength of an average knight (between levels 15-30), with the leaders already being at the same strength level as an advanced knight, as well as Connor's own group.

Many would not believe that someone as overweight as Mr. Piqval would have the strength to fight on equal terms with an average knight, but that was the truth, as was the case with the woman who had just spoken, Margo. Although she was more specialized in making potions, she could still fight well using a combination of a shortbow and potions.

Their overall strength was much smaller than the group of 200, but Connor believed that they would have a better chance this way because they were a smaller group, everyone knew and respected each other (most of the time), and they had a much closer relationship with their teammates than the group from the previous expedition.

From what Connor had learned in the last few days, the best chance to defeat the goblins was not simply with large numbers but with effective and reliable coordination. The moment they didn't have that, they would all end up the same way as the 200, in the goblins' stomachs.

– In these last weeks my group went with several of yours to various places in the Ordeal, we showed what we knew and you showed us what you know. With that we were able to reach a greater understanding of our capabilities than the group from the previous expedition had. From what my master had said, they were all essentially small, individual groups from various orders of knights who pretended to act together when in fact they only wanted to be ahead of the others and do what they could to weaken a rival. – Connor told what he knew to make his point clear.

– That is not the case for us, we have no reason to do this, we all know that money is important, but above that, we know that our friends are even more important. If we use this desire to ensure their safety while we fight, we can win even if the goblins do not outnumber us 3 to 1!