Chapter 331 - Rhythm of War

Rhythm of War was a fascinating Skill. It was like a light had been turned on in a room that he had already walked into. Before, he could just barely see into the entrance, and everything else was shrouded in darkness, only being able to make out the outlines. The new Skill turned that light on, and he could see clearly now.

His Tactics Skill was typically something that affected short-term, small-scale engagements. The actual fights he got into. Strategy was more about coordinating multiple engagements together for a larger goal, including other things like scouting and logistics. He thought he was doing pretty well with both of the Skills, previously, with them both encroaching on the second threshold, but Rhythm of War put a whole new dynamic to it.

He already had all the information from the two Skills, but now it was packaged neatly together. Coordination was much simpler, and he found it easier than ever to multitask during a sparring session. His Ambidexterity gave him the ability to use his left hand almost as well as his right hand, but Rhythm of War told that left hand what to do. It wasn’t limited to just his hands, either.

His positioning, stance, legs, knees, feet, every body part was part of the calculations of the Skill. If Reivyn could do it, the Skill incorporated it into itself. And like how Strategy included other things like Scouting and Logistics, Rhythm of War had something for that, as well.

He was able to more easily parse the information he received from Divine Sense into his reactions and planning. He could plan further steps ahead for what was to come, and he already had subconscious plans and contingencies in place before he even realized it. Letting himself go with the flow allowed those subconscious plans to come to the forefront.

That’s something I’ll have to work on, Reivyn considered. It’s nice to enter a trance, but that creates tunnel vision. The new synergy between my Skills helps, what with the communication between Rhythm of War and Divine Sense, but I’ll need to work on bringing my planning ahead to the forefront while still hyper focused. A higher Skill Level will help with that.

Logistics were included in an abstract way, too. He found that if he was going to incorporate a Spell into his repertoire, the Mana was already waiting for him when he needed it. He didn’t have to stall for time as he coalesced and wove the threads of his Affinities together. The Skill facilitated the “logistics” of his resources for him.

“You’re quickly outpacing me in Skill these days,” Refix admitted, lowering his practice sword. He wiped sweat from his brow, something that Reivyn used to never see when he was younger. “That new Skill has really shifted your efficiency. I’m going to have to start unlocking more of my Stat advantage, soon, if I want to keep up with you.”

“Yeah, but you still haven’t been using your ethereal arsenal, either,” Reivyn pointed out. “I’m using more than one Skill, and they’re all high-Tier, to just kind of, sort of press you on your one Skill.”

“Hey! I’m allowed to be dramatic when I want to be,” Refix smirked. “Plus, it makes me happy to see you improving so much, and what kind of father doesn’t want to brag about his son? Pretty soon I’ll just be living vicariously through you.”

“With your love of training and nurturing others? Never happen. Maybe you’ll ‘retire’ to be an instructor and just train yourself and others all day every day.”

“That sounds like a good idea!” Refix replied. “Though, to be fair, running the Endless Dungeon and exploring the Upper Regions will keep my Leveling pace. Speaking of, we need to find a time to get you into the Endless Dungeon some time. I’ve been meaning to do that, but you’re constantly on the move.”

“Yeah, I kind of forgot about it, honestly,” Reivyn scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I haven’t really needed it, though. You used it when we lived in a Tier 1 Region, and you took your Party and Teilon and Kimberly through it as you moved up the ranks of the kingdoms. I still only have a Tier 3 Class, so I’ve been good with what’s been available to me so far.”

“That will change pretty soon,” Refix said. “Once you reach Tier 4, you’ll start seeing significant diminishing returns on Experience for what we have around us. The Endless Dungeon is unique in that it theoretically goes all the way to the tippy top of Tier 8. I doubt it goes into the Divine Tiers, but you never know.”

“That spatial key to the Endless Dungeon is probably your most valuable treasure,” Reivyn nodded. “It pretty much guarantees a steady Leveling speed no matter where you go.”

“Your mother and I got very lucky with it. It also isn’t too bad of a help with finances. We don’t really need much help these days, but there was a time when your mother and I were just scraping by.”

“I wonder if there are Skill Shards in the deeper levels?”

“Hmm, that’s a good question. We’ll have to go find out one of these days.”

After a short break, the two continued to spar, testing the limits and utility of Reivyn’s newest Skill.

---

“Amazing…” Reivyn muttered. He was standing at the highest vantage point once more, overlooking the lands laid out before him. The commanding general of the fortress rarely made his way up here. He was seen more as a local guardian than as a commanding presence in the war. The vantage point was criminally under-utilized in Reivyn’s opinion.

What was amazing, this time though, was another aspect of his Rhythm of War Skill. Just like how it synergized different Skills towards his Tactics, it also worked toward Strategy. Looking down on the vast landscape, Reivyn could feel the rhythm of the conflict unfolding. It was like he had his finger on the pulse.

His Skill wasn’t high enough to project further ahead than he already could with his strategic abilities, but it came more easily to him. More naturally. Before, he would have needed to stare at maps and reports for hours to put everything together to come up with an accurate prediction, and the new Skill took that middle step out of the equation. It processed all of that information in the background, letting him skip ahead to the conclusion.

He could look down at a position and understand the pressure being put on it from the opponent, the logistical situation of the position, where they could project force themselves, all instinctively. That knowledge compounded together with the knowledge from other positions, too, so the strength projection and pressure on one position factored into how it affected other positions.

From what Reivyn could see, the enemy invaders had failed. Even the powerhouse wouldn’t be able to turn things around for them. They were going to win this engagement. It only boiled down to how long it would take for them to accomplish their main goal, siphoning Providence, and how they would retrieve it. The conquest of the Region wasn’t going to succeed, even if they managed to route the defenders on the current large-scale battlefield.

“It’s a matter of attrition, now,” Reivyn muttered. “Our best bet is to slowly whittle their numbers down while reducing our own casualties as much as possible. The war is won already. Whether or not its decisive or pyrrhic depends on the commanders and their competency. We won’t be throwing the lives of our mercenaries away, that’s for sure.”

There was no reason to take any outlandish risks on their part, and they could capitalize on any risks the enemies took. Reivyn could tell that the invaders were slowly adjusting their strategy toward maintaining the status quo for a longer duration rather than overwhelming them with numbers, but if the Providence siphoning was taking too long, they would probably aim for temporary wins by taking strategic locations.

Reivyn retrieved a map of the Region and began marking down the positions he thought the enemy could target. Some of them wouldn’t make sense for an actual effort to win the war and conquer the Region, but it would make sense for them to temporarily hold those locations if his conjecture on the limitations of stealing Providence were accurate.

Their strategy would be completely different if they needed to actually control an area vs simply being able to apply pressure on it. From what it looked like, and his past experience in Vairo, he was confident it was the latter. They would just need to grab a few key positions to drastically expand their area of influence. Reivyn made special note of those key positions on the map.

If they were content with the speed of the siphoning, though, it was unlikely they would turn to such a strategy. It made sense to be prepared for it, though, either way.

Reivyn made his way back down the interior stairway, having seen and experienced what he wanted to. He was extremely happy with how his new Skill was so versatile.

He made his way to the central headquarters building of the fortress and signaled to the Aide that he would like to speak to the commanding general. The Aide nodded his head and motioned for Reivyn to wait for a moment. Reivyn obliged and happily sat at one of the desks. He could see with his Divine Sense that the commanding general was actually quite busy with a huge stack of paperwork. He didn’t envy the man, knowing that he would have similar stacks waiting for his perusal when he returned to garrison, too.

The general wasn’t going to make Reivyn wait forever, though, as they had built quite the rapport with each other. He finished a couple of crucial reports before setting the stack aside and calling out for Reivyn to join him in his office.

“What can I do for you this time, Major?” The man asked jovially.

Reivyn presented the map to the older man.

“I’ve recently had a breakthrough in my Strategy Skill,” Reivyn hedged. There was no need to get explicit about his Skills to the man. “I’ve analyzed the battlefield and marked what I think to be the most possible locations for enemy assaults if they get desperate or run out of time.”

The general accepted the map and perused it while listening to Reivyn.

“I see. And what leads you to think these are the most likely targets?”

“Considering what we know about them stealing Providence, these locations would maximize their threat projection. In a serious attempt at winning the war, they would need to supplement these positions with several others and establish lines of supply, but if all they need is square footage, these are the locations that would give them the most efficiency.”

“Hmm, I’ll be sure to pass this information along to the Supreme Commander,” the older man said with a nod. “I can’t guarantee he’ll adopt any strategies to take advantage of this information or not, all things considered, but it’s better to inform him than to withhold it. You’ve been pretty good with your overall grasp of the situation so far, so I’m sure he’ll take that and your experience into account.”

Reivyn shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s all I can ask for. This is your guys’ war to win, and I’m just here to supplement. Heck, the Supreme Commander might have already marked these locations already. There are plenty of other skilled commanders amongst our allies that I’m sure I’m not the only one to have spotted this.”

“We thank you, regardless. I’ll have my Aide include the information in the next daily report sent up the chain. Was there anything else?”

“No, sir. I’ll let you get back to your favorite thing,” Reivyn winked at the man as he rolled his eyes.

“Get out of here, you rascal,” the general shooed Reivyn away with his hand. “Oh, and I heard that you plan on taking a squad of my soldiers with you on your next delve into the Skill Dungeon. My Aide has a list of those I would appreciate you consider taking. I’ll leave it in your hands to make the final decision on who goes and who doesn’t, but I’m sure the list will help you choose.”

“Yes, sir,” Reivyn nodded his head. “I don’t have any reason to pick anyone over anyone else, so I’ll most likely go with most of the names you provide. I’ll be asking some of the troops their opinion, though. Sometimes those on the ground see things we at the top overlook.”

“True. I appreciate your help in this matter.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Reivyn exited the office, and to nobody’s surprise, the Aide was waiting with the list of names ready and held out to Reivyn as he walked by. Reivyn plucked the paper from the other man with a nod of gratitude.

I’ll ask Yorrik if he has any recommendations, but the true goldmine of information will be found with the NCO’s, Reivyn thought. I’ll ask a few corporals and sergeants from each unit their opinion, and I’ll cross reference that with the list. Any names that appear consistently on both will get a spot.

Reivyn wasn’t the only one from his Party that was going to lead a squad of soldiers into the Skill Dungeon. Refix had also volunteered to go with some of the local soldiers. Teilon and Kimberly were going to go with a squad of their own mercenaries, and Ameliyn, Kefira, and Serilla were going to team up to do the same.

---

Yorrik hadn’t been an NCO long enough himself to have a good grasp of who to recommend, but he was helpful in pointing out which other NCO’s would be the best to ask. Reivyn sought out the small unit leaders that Yorrik respected the most and got their opinions. There were several names that didn’t appear on the list the Aide had handed him, but for the most part, the list contained an accurate list of candidates who were worthy of a chance.

There were too many names for Reivyn and Refix to take all of them between the two of them. They made plans to make two trips with a different set of local soldiers each time, giving four squads’ worth of soldiers the opportunity. The first trip was still over a month away based on how often the Dungeon reset, and there was no guarantee they would be able to do two separate delves. They still planned on it, and hopefully nothing drastic would change in the course of the conflict that would prevent them from making good on their promise.

There were no hard credentials for choosing candidates, so Reivyn simply used the lists to create a well-rounded combat squad to take. It would be easier for him to give them the full benefit of the extended time if they were already a powerful fighting unit.

Reivyn notified the commanders of the men he selected and began training with them. Refix and the others were doing the same with their own squads. It wouldn’t do to face off against such a powerful opponent without being a cohesive unit. They didn’t need to work perfectly with each other, but they needed to at least be competent.

The soldiers had the Skills necessary, they just needed to work on their teamwork. Reivyn trained their Stamina in parallel to their teamwork skills. There was some grumbling about how exhausting it was, but Reivyn simply pointed out the benefits and how it was one of the reasons they were able to fight through the entire scripted engagement whereas the others failed a quarter of the way in. Knowing that there were real, tangible benefits to the suffering didn’t eliminate all of the complaints, but they were at least changed to general whining as opposed to legitimate complaints.

A complaining soldier is a happy soldier, Reivyn smirked as he watched the squad of soldiers sweat and groan. If they have the energy to complain, that means nothing terrible is happening. It’s when there are no complaints that you know things have gotten really bad.