A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

"Here." Theas thrust a mug into Vivian's hands, along with a plate of grilled reaver. Food that has quickly become the staple for the battlefield, especially since so many reavers were already cooked thanks to Vivian.

"Disgusting." Vivian accepted the offered plate, although not with any sort of enthusiasm. First, she downed her mug of ale. It somewhat made the reaver meat bearable. Not that it was of any quality, either.

"Then put more thought into it when you are cooking them." Theas grumbled in counter.

"I don't cook them." Vivian mumbled, playing with the meat as she did. Not at all interested in putting the rubbery meat into her mouth. Even after days of living off of it, it was still disgusting.

"Well, that's your word against the evidence. At least add some spice — I guess we don't have any..."

Silence settled as the two ate their lunch, albeit with a great deal of struggling. "Any news on when we are going to be relieved?" Vivian asked, simply wishing to dispel the silence. Silence which only amplified the horrid taste of charred rubbery reaver.

"Not soon. Things are chaotic. Most of the front lines are in a similar situation to ours. We have the passage, though I wish we also had some walls to fall back towards."

"That reminds me..." Vivian paused as her face scrunched up as a particularly bitter part of her lunch entered her mouth. "I heard this used to be part of the Ganalin Dwarven Kingdom. What was it, under the—?"

"It was under the Brax clan. Though, when we rallied, all that the clan had left was Braxhold."

"I've heard that many cities were lost. But that doesn't make much sense. How was it possible to reclaim so much land?" Vivian asked. This was the most confusing part to her. She knew Boran returned, but she couldn't see how his return alone could make such a massive difference.

"It started with Lord Boran's return. Though, honestly, his return wasn't in itself what helped us rally. Rather, it was his prowess in battle. Much like you, when he charges into a battle, he is surrounded by flames. And everywhere he moves, his flames turn to ash our enemies."

"His return allowed us to stabilize as he stopped many armies on his own... When he enters the fray, he becomes a beast, a dragon even." Theas paused. "In battle, it is like he is possessed, but this possession disappears when he returns."

"He calls for the rarest material, taking the spoils of war to modify his own armament. And I've heard, his right arm is as hard as mithril." Theas paused again. Forcing a rather large piece of the reaver meat into his mouth and chewing it with great difficulty.

Vivian watched his struggle and held in her laughter. At least everyone was being treated the same. Be they of noble birth, a commoner, or a foreigner like her. Everyone partook in the plentiful bounty of reavers. Enjoying the bitter, rubbery texture of these spire-like monsters.

Despite its horrid taste and texture, however, the meat was great for an army. After all, reavers were bloodline monsters. The value of their meat could not be underestimated. Besides doing wonders at refilling a person's energy, the first few times eaten, it even gives a small boost in strength and agility. Not a large increase perhaps, but still useful when given to an entire army as a whole.

Then there were also the eyes. Reserved for the officers at first, Vivian had been lucky to be offered an eye as her reward for killing a queen. Though, she would never call eating it a reward.

It had increased her nightvision. While it did not give her perfect vision in the darkness after consuming it, she could make out the silhouettes of everyone and everything inside, even the darkest of caves.

This, however, was a side benefit. The main boon was that by consuming it, it reduces the effect of the reaver's ability to induce nightmares into their victims. Of course, normally the eyes would be used in the crafting of rare weapons. But as things are currently, the soldiers needed every advantage they could get.

Having the officers consume the eyes to keep the line of command from falling into chaos was of utmost importance. It was now being given to everyone who showed claimed great achievements in the battles.

"Even if Boran is that strong. I still don't get how he allowed you to reclaim all the land you lost." Vivian said, after thoroughly enjoying Theas' struggle to swallow.

"That alone wasn't enough." Theas admitted, "Near the same time, the abyssal guards also joined us in the defense of our homeland. No lord can command them to action, so normally they were not considered a part of our strength. But, for some reason, they are following Boran's commands."

'Is that the dwarves who shadowed Eldrian?' Vivian wondered, recalling the events in Pyknos forest. It felt like a lifetime ago to her now.

"And then later, we also learned of a new magical item called cannons. It was with its introduction that we could finally push to reclaim our lost lands."

"Ah, right, cannons... Wait! But why don't we have any here?! Even just a few would make a massive difference!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Theas countered rather heatedly. "Sorry," apologizing, he quickly calmed himself. "I am getting a lot of heat from the captains about that. The truth is, we rushed our advance to time with the other advances."

"We had to secure the passage so the others could secure their locations without worry of tunneling from the reavers. But as a result, we hadn't been supplied cannons."

"Why did we need to rush?" Vivian asked. Rephrasing quickly after, "Rather, why weren't we prioritized as we are keeping the reavers in check? They are the ones most difficult to guard against, aren't they?"

"If they are able to tunnel, then yes. But otherwise their numbers don't amount to too much. Compared to some of the other enemies, they are easier to deal with. Especially if you have something like a passage to bottleneck them."

"And how does this passage block them all from tunneling? I get that the surrounding stone is hard, but that can only expand so far..."

"Indeed, this only protects a certain part of the kingdom from their tunneling. But the beauty is, while all the monsters are attacking us, they are not cooperating."

"Oh, I see." Vivian smiled, finally having finished her meal. Theas still had a few pieces left. She was looking forward to seeing him struggle to finish them. "So the passage prevents them up to the territory of another monster?"

"Precisely so. To reach us, the reavers have to traverse through another's territory. Which means those two will fight. We simply need to hold on until they find another enemy and food source."

"What if they do not fight the others they come across?"

"They aren't a sentient monster. The queens have some intelligence, but nothing near enough to communicate. It will be impossible for them to work together with others."

"Perhaps..." Vivian did not agree. It was impossible for the monsters themselves to reach an agreement, but they could be ruled.