Elder Cultivator

Most of the Alliance forces were able to resist the majority of the deleterious effects from the Heartcursing Hail sect, but in large scale battles there would always be some who survived attacks but little more. That was where healers came in- though in this particular case the more important healers were those who could counter energy infiltration.noveldrama

Yuval struck out at the sky, blasting away as much of the concentrated hail of arrows as he could. He wasn’t that great from a distance, with the best he could manage with the aid of his squads being merely reducing about a third of the incoming attacks. The healer they were focused on had to endure the remaining attacks herself. Fortunately, it wasn’t possible for all of the arrows to strike her even if they could be redirected- not without leaving openings for her to dodge completely. Thus, she only had to defend herself against a few dozen strikes, most of which were from Essence Collection or weaker cultivators.

Her defenses mostly protected her against the first assault as Yuval led his company back through the ranks of the local defenders. She did receive a few injuries, and even from a distance Yuval could sense the lingering curse effects. The healer rapidly expelled the energy from herself, but that meant she didn’t have the time to rebuild her energy defenses. Whatever defenders she had once had around her had already fallen to previous assaults.

Yuval blasted a number of weaker cultivators out of the way, his company meeting up with the ranks of Alliance cultivators who had been keeping a more measured pace. With no more enemies blocking his path, he covered the remaining distance in a few instants. His company would take a bit longer to catch up, but they were in a safe position at the moment, among friendly cultivators.

Another rain of arrows came in. It was clear that Heartcursing Hail cultivators had picked out how effective this healer was, just as Yuval had determined. There were a couple Integration cultivators among them, but Yuval concentrated his flames in a small shell that covered just himself and the healer. All of the arrows around them burned away, including those from the stronger cultivators. If Yuval was just defending, he could withstand such long range attacks for quite a while.

“Are you alright, healer?” Yuval asked.

The woman responded by twirling her gun, taking several shots at allied cultivators. She was, of course, shooting some sort of energy transmitter that allowed her to dispel the energy in other cultivators. She was focusing on the most powerful allied cultivators on the battlefield, where the different curse effects would cause the most problems for the Alliance. That included a few Augmentation cultivators that had barely been scratched but didn’t have the expertise to purify external energy safely and quickly.

“I’m much better now, thanks,” the healer said. “I’m Inaaya. Unfortunately, as I tried to move my squad into a better position for my healing…” she had stopped shooting for the moment, but Yuval felt her flexing her energy in the distance. “I ended up getting us in a far worse defensive position.

“You should have been assigned…” Yuval didn’t want to say better guards. “Higher phase cultivators.”

Yuval then felt Alva’s arrows striking those very same cultivators that launched the attacks, appearing suddenly in front of them- or behind. He’d somewhat wanted to take them out himself… but that was a bit selfish. Obviously she’d want to take down the foes with the best target priority.

Besides, he couldn’t defend the healer Inaaya and push deeper into enemy lines. He called forward his company now that they had half a moment to organize. Yuval could cover them all, it was just adjusting the scale of his defenses in the moment that would have been a problem.

“Is this distance good?” Yuval asked. “Do you want to get closer?”

“I’d really prefer a better vantage point, if possible,” Inaaya said. “Though that would also place us more at risk.”

“How about atop the walls?” Yuval suggested. Their front lines were just reaching that point- except for a few groups that had the confidence to strike deeper. Currently, Fuzz and Spikes were terrorizing the central area of the local branch. That was taking a lot of pressure off of the rest of them, despite what it seemed like. Fighting people on their homeworlds wasn’t that simple, and many of the Alliance fleet also had to deal with incoming ships.

“If you can get me there,” Inaaya nodded. She took another shot, bolstering a member of the Hardened Crown. Even if their bodies and defensive energy were tough, it was possible for it to be pierced through. The man had nearly toppled over as curse energy sapped his strength. Now he was able to stand straight, and if something happened again Inaaya could probably continue to remove harmful energy. Quite efficiently, too.

Yuval might have asked why they didn’t simply place transmitters on everyone… but he doubted they had many thousands of them… and they could likely be a weakness. However, if someone was already negatively affected it wasn’t likely they would get worse.

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“Pick a comfortable pace and we’ll match it,” Yuval said.

Inaaya picked a pace that got them to the walls in a few minutes. Somewhat leisurely for a battlefield, but she couldn’t focus too much of her energy on movement. As for defense, however, she trusted that to Yuval and the company around him- mostly One Hundred Stars cultivators.

While a group of a hundred was more vulnerable to wide area bombardments, they were also better able to come to mutual defense. The company followed Yuval’s lead, keeping a tight formation and blocking for each other. Yuval and the strongest squad leaders focused on any of the more powerful incoming attacks.

The walls weren’t made for people to surmount from the outside, obviously, but they weren’t much more significant than a bump in terrain. Yuval lobbed a few fireballs onto the top of the walls to make the defenders there scatter before he melted handholds into the surface as he climbed up, several others mimicking his actions to either side.

The wall obviously had a barrier meant to keep people from taking either of those actions, but with others attacking and weakening it Yuval didn’t find it difficult to pick a proper assault position. If he couldn’t read the flow of such a simple barrier, he wasn’t sure if he could show his face to his family. It was unlikely he’d ever be a formation master, but there were basics any cultivator should know. Or at least ones of a certain position.

Once they reached the top of the walls, it didn’t take long to wipe out the Heartcurse Hail cultivators around them. They were rather weak in melee combat, after all. They really needed the support of, say, the Fearsome Menagerie. Yuval did actually feel some of them in the core segments, getting punctured and burned by Spikes and Fuzz, but it wasn’t really as many as it should have been. Especially since this was ultimately to defend the Fearsome Menagerie, he felt like they should have contributed a bit more.

After that, Yuval just… stood there on the wall. Once they were out of the shadow of the wall Inaaya continued to be targeted by many of the locals, but Yuval couldn’t meaningfully attack anyone. He wanted to take down enemies, but he also recognized it was important to defend one of the best healers on the battlefield.

“I can read your face, you know.” Yuval grimaced slightly when Inaaya said that. “I just want to reassure you that this is the tactically correct decision. See over there?”

Yuval looked where she was pointing her gun. There was a group of Dancing Slayer Sect cultivators, one of whom had been the target of many attacks. They were fighting their way through a large number of enemies, cutting them down like wheat.

“You could be doing that with your company. But then that guy wouldn’t also be on his feet,” she gestured to the Hardened Crown cultivator who had just tackled someone through a building. “And over there…” she shrugged. Never did she stop scanning for targets that needed her aid. However, a simple conversation was so minimal for cultivators that it didn’t matter. “Well, ultimately you and your group could outdo one or two of these other groups. Maybe three or four, with you at the peak of Integration.”

Yuval built up a surge of flames for the next incoming volley. He and his company launched a simultaneous burst, providing more time to burn up the incoming arrows, and of course the deadly energy they carried. They weren’t inactive. It just felt like they were.

Yet even so, Yuval knew this was the right thing to do. And he really wanted to be the person who made the correct tactical choice, instead of the one who got the most recognition on the frontlines. Earlier, he had thought that he wanted to take down the most quantity of enemies… and that was still true. But maybe he didn’t have to do it with his own hands.

He recognized that, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t take some adjustment to his mentality. The Alliance wasn’t so focused on individual contributions that he should think like that, but it was easy to fall into it. Especially with his family, who tended to manage taking down high profile cultivators or hordes of enemies while at the same time fulfilling other tactical roles. Timothy was known primarily as a defender, but he also took down powerful opponents.

Yuval surveyed the battlefield. This particular battle would be over soon. Then they would move onto the next. What should be their goal? Inaaya needed a squad that was capable of aggressive positioning. It didn’t necessarily have to be Yuval, though. She had just been one of the priorities in this battle.

Should he work on increasing his range? He’d never be close to Alva in that regard. He’d never outclass his mother at wide area battlefield control. His father’s defense was unbreakable. Chidi had made himself capable of taking down Domination cultivators. Yuval was never going to be better than any of them… but perhaps he didn’t have to be.

Range might be good. Maneuverability was big, and not just his personal abilities mattered. If Yuval couldn’t be the strongest, he needed to be able to bring powerful allies along with him.

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After centuries of trying to find his place, Yuval had… taken a single step towards something more. He didn’t suddenly gain any massive insights into cultivation. However, the war still continued. From one world to the next, he led those around him to the best of his capabilities.

System after system, they were only a tiny part of the entire war effort. Most likely things would have gone more or less the same without them. More casualties would have been suffered, but the Alliance would have ultimately still been able to push into Fearsome Menagerie territory. Especially with Domination cultivators involved.

Yuval wanted to do more… but that didn’t require him to reach Augmentation. That said, it sure would be a huge leap forwards if he did. With his personal power multiplying severalfold, even when he acted suboptimally he’d have a stronger effect on the overall battlefield. And he really might make it to that point… though not necessarily during the current campaign. He might do better with peaceful meditation, absorbing the experience he was gathering.

Especially after he saw another Domination level fight. He just needed to make sure he didn’t let it distract him from his current role.