POV - Excerpts from the journal of an unknown human soldier during the Vampire Wars
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My dear Mary. I can't thank you enough for this journal. I'll keep it with me always. Know that I will think of you whenever I see it.
As you asked, I will briefly write in it periodically, and keep a record for our future child of their father's adventure. I can't wait to return to you and meet our child. Were it not for the Holy Service we were called for, know that I would be right there with you during the birth. I'm certain Sol will be watching over you during these final weeks. When the day comes for my return and you read this, just know how much I love and miss you.
We're still on the carriage to the capital. The others from the village are doing well. We can't wait for the Crusade to end so that we can see everyone again.
Be well until then. May Sol be with you.
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We arrived at the capital a few days ago. It took them time to organize and check us in. There are so many people! It seems as if everyone from the other towns and villages are all coming here. There isn't even room for us all inside of the glorious white walls. Instead, our training started with learning how to set and break camp with our squad mates. The entire city is completely encircled by tents. I can scarcely believe that these are all men and women that will be trained as mages. There must be at least a hundred thousand people!
The others from the village were moved to their own squads. The seven of us that will train as light mages are all camping at the capital while the others continued to one of the two cities that are governed by the two Dukes and that have their own dungeons.
The word in camp is that those cities have hundreds of thousands of soldiers cycling through them as they are trained. This is truly an amazing sight to see, Mary.
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Things have gone well. The supplies we receive every few days aren't nearly as delicious as your cooking and are all preserved, but we're all being cared for. It took a few days before the trainer came to our squad. They gave us an explanation of what we will be doing and how to prepare.
As a future light mage, they taught me two things to practice. I was instructed to imagine my love for Sol bursting into a bright flash of light, and to picture the warmth of Sol focusing and coming out of my hand in a beam of holy power. They call these 'flash' and 'beam.' It is hard to look around during the day as everyone is practicing when we have the mana.
The trainer gave my squad mates and me a paper for entry into the city in a few days, and to give us access to the dungeon. I'm excited to see a dungeon for the first time!
I love you, Mary.
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We completed our training in the dungeon today. It wasn't necessarily what I expected, but with so many people coming and going, that's understandable.
My light squad was teamed with a shield squad and a mage squad and directed to a floor by a trainer. The shield squad would be in the front, the mage squad behind them, and the light squad in the back. Inside of the dungeon, we were faced with dozens of orks running towards us at once.
Half of my light squad was instructed to alternate our flashes, creating a constantly alternating strobe. The other half were to fire beams in sweeping motions across multiple orks. We were to never aim directly at one, and to always aim so some beams were higher than them and others were to the sides.
Meanwhile, the mage squad would launch rocks, fireballs, and wind blades at the orks with a focus on attacking the area around them as well. The shield squad would block the few orks that made it through this gauntlet of magic, and they would stab the orks with short spears.
Their levels were much higher than ours, but with so many of us attacking, we were able to do it! I have already leveled up a few times. As the light squad, we were instructed to always place our points in INT and WIS. I had always wanted to be stronger to help with the fields, but to best assist the Crusade for Sol, it is what we must do to be victorious.
The trainer told us that the vicious vampires are fast and cunning. By aiming all around their position, we limit their chances of dodging our assault as a whole. The cycling mages will also weaken their dark magic protection.
We trained until we're all out of mana, switching between the cycle and beam team. We were told that in a week, we could enter the dungeon again and would be fighting tougher opponents. We would use their training tips to continue practicing on our own in the meantime.
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I haven't been able to write recently. My squad's training has become intense, and I fall asleep as soon as possible each night.
It has been two months, and I have finally finished with training. As squads finish training and move on, they are instantly replaced by new people called for their Holy Service. I have leveled up significantly, but the only two things I was instructed to ever use are flash and beam.
The rest of the time here is spent using up my mana constantly. Our child should be born by now, and I can't wait to meet them.
May Sol be with both of you.
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The word from our superiors is that we will march out tomorrow. Everyone, even those that recently arrived, will be marching to attack the vampires.
It's finally time to do my duty to Sol, Mary. I will admit that I am frightened and nervous, but with so many people here, I don't see any way that the Crusade won't be successful.
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We are approaching the border of the Empire. After tonight, we will begin to march all around the vampire lands, exterminating the vile creatures whenever we can.
Pray for our success, Mary.
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I haven't been able to write recently. Today was another day in Hell. On the march, our regiment used up its remaining supplies. With the others flanking us, there isn't any way to hunt or gather more. The damn vampires have been targeting our supply route, so only Sol knows when we'll get resupplied. Another day of going hungry.
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I just want to go home. I'm a logger and farmer, I'm no professional mage. Asking around, a bunch in my company of the regiment got the same half-assed training as me and only learned one or two spells. What do they even expect us to do with so little training? We haven't even seen a vampire yet.
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Rumor is we lost a company of elven mages last night. Apparently an assassin snuck in. They're heightening security tonight. We're still marching to our first destination.
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More attacks last night. It seems that they're targeting the stronger mages. Maybe being in a slapped together team of villagers isn't so bad.
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Explosions and shouts woke up the camp. Reports that got to us said an entire battalion was wiped out by a surprise vampire attack. What in the world are we even doing here?
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So many died on the month-long march in the vampire lands. Vampires attacked different groups at night. Even so, we're arriving at the first target tomorrow. Orders will be given in the morning, they said.
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Mary, I don't know how I can look at you anymore after that. What have I done? What are we even doing here? I killed so many of our own men and women. I even thought I saw Alex. Why? Why have us do that? Just for a couple vampires?
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It took a week of daily pushes but we've broken through the wall. We are sieging the castle now. It's still the same strategy of killing so many of our own to kill one of them.
Waves of shield soldiers move forward as the mages blast the walls with magic, attempting to break through the enchanted stone. Every so often a vampire would drop down and begin attacking. The mages and light mages were all ordered to fire large spells and sweeping beams, even with our soldiers being right there.
Even with all of that, those vile vampires avoided most of the attacks, forcing us to continue killing our own. I don't think I've killed a single vampire, but I've lost count of how many humans I've killed.
The mages that refused were all chained to shields and put on the front line with hundreds pushing them forward. The infantry that refused lost their hands and had the same done to them. Is this what war is? Who is in the right here? The mage companies have been separated from the infantry in camp. They don't want us to get too close with the people we might kill.
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The vampires launched a final offensive tonight. There were only five of them, but they were different than the others. The others took over a hundred men to kill. These took almost a thousand to kill. I was on light rotation when they attacked. One had a greatsword that cleaved through dozens in a single strike. Estimated losses are at 4,000. But we took the castle. Maybe now we can rest.
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We marched out the next morning. Nobody is even staying at the castle. The priests looted it and returned to the rear as we marched on. What are we doing here? This isn't a war, it's a mutual extermination.
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Our battalion had to merge with another on the march. Both had lost too many from the nightly attacks. How much longer until it is my turn to die?
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More marching. More death. Do I even want to go home anymore, Mary? I can't look at mom again. Who is the most evil in this war?
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A pack of four wyverns flew over us today. They were moving south, seemingly pushed from their territory by the sea of soldiers. Hundreds of men died and we couldn't kill a single one. Arrows and swords were ineffective, and our limited spells were laughable to the monsters. They must have gotten bored of the blood and decided to move on.
There are rumors that some regiments have encountered giants or wyrms. I want to leave this accursed land so much, Mary.
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Between the chaos of the attack yesterday and the nightly raid, our newly combined group has to merge again. More marching with little sleep and limited supplies.
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Two weeks of being glad to wake up alive, just to see if any groups will merge. But they say the next target is getting closer.
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We're approaching another castle. We were supposed to join up with one of the two elven divisions, but all but a few of the elves fell during their own battle. We joined with the half of the dwarves that survived their march here.
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We took the walls, but the dwarves refuse to be on the front anymore. They lost more to us than to the vampires. The entire camp could hear one dwarven general yell that their shields would be more effective being worn on their backs. How many people have I killed so far? I'm not sure if I've even killed a vampire.
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Almost two-thirds of our forces were eliminated to take the castle. A vampire mage was launching magic larger than I have ever seen and killed thousands before he succumbed to our magic. Again, we marched out after the priests cleared the buildings of valuables to be offered to Sol. Apparently we are almost done. All remaining forces are to converge and attack a final castle.
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As we marched over a hill, I saw a sight I will never forget. The land as far as I can see is filled with men and metal. The armies of the world are converging. A saying is floating around camp. 'One vampire is worth a thousand men.' If this really is the last battle, how many of the people I see are going to die? If this is how many survived to get here, how many have already died?
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We are to attack in a week when the remaining forces arrive. The enormous walls are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of bodies. If I survive our own people, I might be able to leave this hell.
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The ground shook from something last night. Nobody around me knows what it was, but it sounded like something to the west. Sol help us.
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The offensive is delayed a few days. Last night, most of the leadership and a large number of the remaining elven mages were killed. Not to mention the few thousand human soldiers that died to kill the handful of vampire assassins.
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I almost died again today as we continued to attack the fifty-foot wall, slowly chipping away at its enchantment. The Mage of Death has shown up on the wall for the last week. He appears from nowhere, night or day, and launches massive attacks before he disappears again.
Thousands have already fallen to him. Yet, our strategy doesn't change. We are as replaceable as the leaves in a forest to the leaders behind us.
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Mary, this is almost over. On cycle duty I heard that at the current rate, the walls will be breached in two days. I pray to Sol that I survive until then.
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We took the wall and razed the empty buildings. What a beautiful city this was. Why did we even have to kill the vampires in the first place?
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It's over, Mary. It's finally over. There's no real cohesion to any of the survivors tonight. Nobody knows who is in charge of what groups or even what groups survived. So many tens of thousands died. I don't think it even matters who's in charge anymore. Everyone just wants to go home now. I've never seen so many bodies. A city filled with more dead than living.
Over a hundred vampires, stronger than any of the others I saw, all rushed out of the castle at once. They left a sea of bodies in their wake. We did as well, as we killed thousands of our own just to weaken them. This entire time, I don't believe I killed a single vampire.
Please wait for me, Mary. I'll be home soon. Thank Sol I survived this Hell. And may he have mercy on my soul for what I've done.