Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Getting Ready

The scouts from Amazon confirmed Marion’s message, and the Worgen girl and Craftsman Dwarf received a warm welcome. They stayed temporarily to observe the Amazonians getting ready for battle.

The atmosphere was tense but calm, which Tasha found interesting to watch, like observing an ancient battlefield in the sky. The dungeon was functioning smoothly, and Tasha found herself with some free time on the eve of the big battle. She moved around the Amazon camp as if having a ghost’s view, almost like making a documentary with a cameraman.

Weapons did not need last-minute preparation as Amazonians were always ready for battle. The Craftsman Dwarf was busy making final improvements to the weapons before the war started. Despite his limited abilities alone, if all the dwarves from the dungeon joined in, the visible effects of the weapon upgrades could be significant. However, sending a group of short-legged dwarves across the forest was unrealistic, and Tasha did not want non-combatants in the potentially dangerous area.

All the warriors were females, some even younger than Marion. Unlike their composed elders, the younger girls appeared nervous and excited, wearing their armor unnecessarily until stopped by their guardians. They were then assigned to accompany Marion, who had nothing to do, which Tasha secretly thought was a way to keep them occupied. Initially reserved, Worgen girl quickly bonded with her similarly aged comrades, behaving like a chatty group of high school girls.

"My mom gave me this bow; she once hunted a bear with it," the largest girl said, holding up a tall bow made of yew, "Both limbs and shaft are made of maple, and I could only carry it since last year."

"A long bow is too early for me," the smallest girl shrugged, holding a short bow only a bit over a meter long, "My dad made this for me, but he always thinks I’m not ready yet. Maybe I can convince him after this time."

"I’ve never used a bow before," Marion touched her nose, "It sounds great to strike enemies from a distance… I’ve only been chased by arrows."

"If you stay, having an archer behind you can be reassuring," someone chuckled.

They noticed Marion’s eagerness, and an orphan took her bow and arrows, telling Marion how to make a bow and arrows, and how they work on the battlefield. She explained in detail how to craft a bow from suitable oak, how tight the bowstring should be, and how deer sinew and antlers make a piece of wood strong. They showed calluses on their hands and pieces of cloth wrapped around their fingertips, helping them grip the bowstring and protect their fingers from it, the high-speed thread could become very sharp. Someone mentioned an old legend, how Amazons used abyss spider silk to make bowstrings, enabling them to snap enemies’ necks in close combat.

They even let Marion try shooting, and her terrible shot almost hit someone’s foot. Marion was shocked, but the nearly hit blonde girl just laughed. "I can easily dodge such a slow arrow," she said. "You shoot worse than when I first started learning, I’m actually the worst among us in archery."

"I can’t be an archer," Marion said shyly.

Instead, she showed her weapons to her peers, telling them how she got these two daggers from the bodyguards of a slave trader. The girls gathered around, admiring her knives and listening to her story. They had all hunted animals to some extent, but none had fought outside enemies. "We just lack the opportunity, you know, we don’t go out much." The blonde girl made a face and gestured towards the adults in the camp behind her with her thumb. She said everyone would gain something after this battle, and she also planned to become a sword and shield warrior in the future, but she was not yet old enough—Amazon warriors engage in close combat with enemies, protecting the archers behind them, they have greater courage and a higher mortality rate, young children are not allowed to take on this role.

But young children shouldn’t be archers either, they shouldn’t be killing or getting killed on the battlefield. Tasha listened to the girls talking about battles as if they were discussing a spring trip, realizing that perhaps only she, as an outsider adult, would have so many emotions about it. The participants themselves sounded cheerful and proud, about having survived and the challenges to come. It seemed shallow to criticize these individuals for being bellicose, just as it would be to mock starving people for eating bark to stay alive, and pity seemed equally superficial.

"What’s in that bag?" Marion asked.

"Replacement bowstrings, in case it rains here and the ones on the bow get wet and need changing," the blonde girl said. "And those are Angaso lion’s teeth, pretty isn’t it! What about the one around your neck? A hunting memento? A wolf’s tooth?"

"It’s a memento," Marion pursed her lips, saying, "It’s my mother."

"Oh…" the blonde girl responded blankly, not realizing, until the oldest girl beside her elbowed her. The understanding of what that meant spread among the girls, numerous gazes returned to Marion’s upturned wolf ears, just like when they first met her. Marion gripped her necklace, looking down stiffly, starting to feel nervous again. The group fell silent for a moment, then the blonde girl suddenly took off the lion tooth ornament from the bag and handed it to Marion.

"Here, take it!" she said, "Don’t refuse, anyway I’ll get it myself in the future."

Marion clutched the pendant as if it were something burning hot. Tasha thought the look on Marion’s face was like a child being forced to accept a red envelope under their parents’ orders: torn between wanting it and wanting to decline, the conflict was evident to the point of freezing in place, unsure of what to do. So Tasha kindly took on the role of the generous parents, patting Marion’s shoulder and whispering in a voice only she could hear, "Accept it, remember to say thank you."

"Thank you," Marion said hurriedly, she started to look down at her pockets, trying to find something to reciprocate with.

"No need!" the eldest girl said.

"Yes, do!" the blonde girl said cheerfully, "Can I touch your ear?"

"Oh, sure!" Marion said gratefully. So the excited girls took turns touching her ear, each one content.

Compared to the relaxed atmosphere among the girls, the older group was much quieter.

The older warriors with scars clearly had fought not only against animals, they moved swiftly, with a sense of battle. Some men in neat leather armor were helping the warrior women with their gear, while others packed up quickly, almost everyone was busy. Tasha could see two types of warriors among them, one wearing light leather armor, with a longbow and a quiver; the other wearing chainmail, carrying a small round shield with iron edging and a sharp short sword. It could be inferred they had two types of soldiers, agile archers and close combat fighters, both looking very professional.

These Amazon warriors didn’t have flowing hair, most of them had short, clean-cut hair, and those with long hair tied it securely to not obstruct their view during jumping and running. Their helmets fit snugly with their heads, unadorned. The archers’ armor was lighter and more agile than the melee warriors’, but their tunics and leg wraps covered their hands and feet. While cloth wasn’t very protective, it could help in the forest against snakes and insects, and also slightly slow down any passing arrow. Their fully armed appearance was different from what Tasha had imagined, but upon careful consideration, it made perfect sense.

In the past, the idea of a jungle warrior woman was only seen in movies and game posters. Tasha thought, in real life, where would you see "male warriors dressed in armor, and warrior women running around in steel bikinis"? If a warrior really showed their thighs, belly, chest, and other vulnerable spots on a chaotic battlefield, with long hair flying in the wind and blocking their vision, then that person would most likely be in big trouble.

On the third day, news came from the human side that a huge army had arrived at the edge of the forest.

The army arrived later than expected, with infantry and cavalry dragging along a convoy, slowly reaching the entrance of Angaso Forest. Their presence was grand, with soldiers high in morale, outnumbering the Amazons several times over. Even in a frontal battle without cover, they would win even if the Amazons used overwhelming tactics.

But this was not a plain battlefield suitable for cavalry charges; Angaso Forest was not an easily navigable small grove of trees. Like Tasha and the Amazon scouts, it was puzzling – what use is such a large yet poorly maneuverable force against Amazons who could conduct guerrilla warfare in the forest?

They halted in front of the forest, throwing oil and torches into the trees. The hidden Amazons in the woods smirked, as expected, the flames quickly extinguished after burning for a short while.

Unlike the weather on the other side of Angaso Mountain, the air and land here were much moister; you couldn’t burn down a forest with numerous streams running through it. The commander quickly realized this and issued a new order: chop down the trees.

It sounded like a joke, but the army actually started doing it. Several soldiers took out axes and began chopping down trees within their sight, burning those that could be burned and cutting down the too damp ones. A third of the soldiers wielded axes, while the others set up camp and kept watch. The officers sat in their tents, sipping tea, smugly discussing the forest devil’s demise.

"Are they joking?" Tasha heard the Amazons say in disbelief.

From the human perspective, it was like destroying a forest to catch a few pests. The human army didn’t bother surrounding the vast forest; they believed that cutting down trees could disrupt the enemy’s advantage, ensuring victory and capturing all the enemies in one go?

There were so many problems that no one could even complain about them. Tasha and the Amazon scout lurking at the edge of the forest were speechless and could only watch as the soldiers diligently chopped down trees.