Frostbound

Chapter 267 - Sections

Chris

"We need to put all our manpower towards defenses. We have less than 72 hours to build as strong a Wall as possible to help us hold our ground."

"Why should I have my men help you? Pooling manpower just because you didn't bring enough people is hardly our fault. Why should we take the hit to help you?"

"We should focus on building a trench rather than a wall. It's the better use of our limited time."

Abigail leaned over from next to me and whispered, "Is this how the previous one went?"

The meeting had kicked off much the same as the previous one had. People wanted their opinions to be heard and differences between them led to arguments over who was right.

It didn't help that the type of people at the meetings were the type to be so self-assured that they were right that listening to someone else was a foreign thought. There were a few outliers, people who were content to sit back and watch the show happen, but those were firmly in the minority.

There were also those who just liked to hear themselves talk.

By far the worst were the ones jockeying for superiority. They kept trying to leverage themselves as above others or tried to establish a pecking order. It was sad.

"Yes," I whispered back using my aura. The practice with Gabriel really helped keep the volume contained.

"Oh, cool. I didn't know you could do that." Abigail... she... I wanted to cry.

Fuck me.

Seeing me use my aura like that she responded back in perfect volume in my ear like it was nothing.

It was bullshit.

I pointedly ignored telling her how long it took me to figure out. I knew she had a better control over mana than me but I didn't think that it would extend to auras too.

Maybe mine's harder to control because it's bigger. Yep, I was going with that to keep my dignity intact.

Now that our conversation was a little more private, I went into a little more detail about what was happening. "The one who wants the Wall is from Kentucky I think. They didn't show up with a lot of people from what I've heard and the person denying him help is from New York. She has a lot more people than him but isn't willing to give them up."

"All this talk is only going to end one way." A voice cut through and overpowered those who were speaking. I turned to see it was my fellow Canadian who spoke up. The woman's expression was tired and angry.

"Talk of combining forces is all well and good but we all know that's not going to happen. We should establish that now so we stop wasting time. The longer we stay here bickering like children the less time we have to do what we should be doing." She wasn't yelling but her voice was firm.

"And what should we be doing." The man's name eluded me but I knew he wasn't a Noble. He didn't have the power for it.

"Is that the leader of Mountainside?" Abigail whispered.

"Yes."

"I like her."

"I don't know about you," Jayla, I remembered her name as she was close by, wheeled on the man who tried to confront her, "But I will be doing everything I can so my people survive. Walls, trenches, traps. Everything we can before the timer runs out."

"I agree that's what we should be doing," the Admiral said, "But we should consider those who aren't in the same position as us."

His words were nice, but the way he said them annoyed me. I wasn't sure if he actually believed what he was saying or if he was just doing that to gather public sentiment.

I wasn't good at differentiating the bullshit from the truth.

"Whatever it is, we should get on with it," The 'Stormbringer' said dismissively. There was no way I was calling him that. I was pretty sure his name was Nick from what Tracy told me.

"Why don't you speak up?" Abigail asked.

I wanted to chuckle and shake my head but I kept myself from showing anything externally. "It's a waste of breath. Whether I say something or say nothing, it will not change anything."

"Can't you do what you did to Ashton at the mine? Intimidate them into making a decision." She asked earnestly.

"I could only do that because Ashton was weaker than me and already didn't want to fight. Some of the people here would become confrontational straight away if I did something like that if they were weaker or not. And that doesn't mention the fact that I may not be the strongest person here. Some of these people feel threatening and I know I'm not getting the best assessment. It's best to let this play out without interfering," I said.

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"Someone here is stronger than you?" She sounded so surprised by that which was confusing.

"Probably." I stated, "There are nearly a dozen people who have the Baron title here, or at least a dozen that I suspect have it. I may be strong, but I'm not the only one who has thrived in this new environment. It's impossible to tell without fighting and that isn't something I want to do right now."

"Wow," she said bewildered.

"I kept telling you guys that I've done nothing special. This is only the Eastern North America too. I wouldn't be surprised if there were dozens of people stronger than me in the world. Maybe hundreds." I said.

"But... but... you're you," she said. It always confused me that they were so assured by my strength. It made me consider when they started elevating what I could do in their heads.

"Yes, but I am one man on a Planet of billions. If I did it, others have too. It is unlikely that I am the strongest in the world." I wasn't sure how many people survived the Change but that didn't change the statistics.

Over 7 billion people were given the chance to level and gain power and it would be delusional to believe that out of that many people, I did the best.

Sure, I believed in my strength and knew what I'd done to accomplish it, but I also knew of the drive some people would have. If they disregarded ruling and chose not to own a Pylon and spent every waking moment in a dungeon or out hunting down strong beasts, I wouldn't stand a chance.

"If someone here was confident that they were the strongest it wouldn't be a surprise if they did exactly that. But since it hasn't happened, that means no one here believes themselves to be the strongest or isn't confident enough that they are." I said before focusing back on the conversation outside as it was finally getting somewhere.

"I propose we section out the area around the obelisk into segments and assign a Faction a portion to defend. Alliances or allies can have adjacent segments or combine and be assigned a larger segment." Another person I didn't know the name of said. "That way everyone can be happy in that they're in control while also covering the obelisk as best we can."

Of the ideas thrown out so far, that was by far the most reasonable and likely to happen. It took away the need to choose a leader and that was the main hold-up for any other plan proposed so far.

No one was willing to be under someone else which made any plan that required firm central leadership a pipe dream.

I knew the 'every man for himself' idea wasn't the most tactically sound or even the best given our circumstances, but it was the only one that everyone here was going to agree on in the time we had remaining.

"I agree," Nick said loudly. He was one of the firmest refusers when it came to the idea of taking orders from someone else.

"I agree as well," Jayla said. Most likely because it was the only way we were going to get out of here in any reasonable time frame.

There were some grumbles by a few of the leaders but the quick agreements gave the idea enough headway. The ball was rolling and it would be hard to stop now.

"I agree," I spoke up this time adding steam to the idea. The proposed plan would let my Faction do what it did best without having to rely on people we didn't know. It also gave my people the best chance of surviving.

The section we were given couldn't be too large as there were over two hundred thousand people gathered. Even standing in a circle hundreds of yards in diameter wasn't that much space per person.

I would be able to head off the worst of it with Jonathan and Austin while those behind me could stand tall on the wall we would build. It wouldn't be as strong as the one at home but it would be better than nothing.

Marcus would position next to us hopefully and that would be another person to rely on. The man was stronger than I gave him credit for. He showed it as he cut apart anything that neared his boat with relative ease.

The Faction that would be on our other side would be an issue, but only worrying about one side was better than having to worry about two.

The Admiral didn't seem happy about the proposed solution but it was out of his hands now and he had to roll with it to keep his momentum, "Then it's agreed. Someone bring a map so we can section it out."

Someone behind the Admiral ran off to fetch one. The man was either an aide or someone under him as his deference was clear.

He came back within minutes of a detailed map of the area. It looked hand made too, and not like it was bought from the store. Maps were only available in the Reward Store so getting them store-bought wasn't possible anymore but it was still a surprise to see a man-made one.

Cartography Profession?

Another Profession that would be useful that we didn't have. That and Curator were at the top of the list. In addition to more Artificers.

Miles was still tinkering and figuring out how magic could combine with technology but he was confident in working it out. His main hang-up was we didn't have the manufacturing capability to make anything intricate like electronics. If it was machinery or metal pieces large enough that Vinny could forge it, we were golden, but computer chips and detailed electrical work was beyond us.

That was where we were hoping magic would take over but that was still being researched. The hope was to replace electronic signals that were reliant on technology we didn't have with magical ones we had to reinvent.

I was still awaiting a breakthrough but it wouldn't be long until he did.

Let's just hope he doesn't die.

The thought came suddenly. Miles wasn't the only one we had working on researching but he was the only Artificer. It would be a blow if he ended up dead.

"Choose somewhere near the river," Abigail said, "I'll go see what the Scouts gathered."

I was a little jealous that she got to leave while I had to stay until the segments were divvied out but I held it in. She would be able to sort through the reports so I wouldn't have to.

Taking part in these meetings wasn't the only thing we had going for us right now. We decided on a three-pronged approach to gathering information.

The first prong would be the obvious. Scouts that spread through the Factions gathered looking for information. It was obvious because everyone was doing it. We saw a few lingering close to our camp most likely using skills to see into places we didn't want them to.

We drove them off but there was nothing stopping people from trying. It wasn't worth it to set up Wards to stop it as that was a waste of time, effort, and resources. We didn't have anything 'secret' anyway.

Seeing everyone else do it wasn't a surprise and we had some members of Hal's Order out and about.

The second prong was through Trade. We had Merchants and traders going around with some of the surplus goods we brought seeking to trade or barter. That was mainly to see the resources everyone had access to and what they were willing to part with but it was all information we could use.

It was also an in. Traders could get closer and see behind the curtains so to speak.

The last prong was espionage. Scouts with the best stealth skills or those with the best sneaking ability were going around gathering information the other prongs wouldn't have access to.

All three would come back with reports of what they found and all of it would have to be compiled together. That was mainly Sophia's job. She and Abigail's assistant, Grace.

The two of them were in charge of sorting through and picking out what was useful. Abigail, seeing that she wasn't needed here anymore chose to go help them rather than stick around.