BXBX NOVEL Chapter 69 - Conflict (1)
When they dueled again, Natalie was even slower than before. Still, at least the weapon was absorbing the damage properly, and she no longer looked cornered. She was actually using their weight to her advantage… she was probably doing that unconsciously since she was a muscle head. Still, Billy couldn\'t help but be impressed.
After a while, Billy and Alexander decided to practice as well. It has been a while. Still, Billy already knew that based on status alone, Alexander had the advantage. He was older, taller, and trained daily with the spear more than Billy. Still, by focusing on counter-attacking, Billy managed to hold his ground.
"I wish I could train by fighting as well," Lily said. "Not in serious fights, but I don\'t plan on using anything aside from a bow."
"It isn\'t the same thing but you can train your evasion maneuvers against magic," Billy said. "You should ask Alexander and Natalie help you with that, their attack power with magic still is relatively low and they need to practice theit accuracy."
While Alexander nodded at that, Natalie looked a bit annoyed. It didn\'t matter which aspect she disliked to hear that she was weak. Still, she decided to help Lily with that. Alexander was hesitant to hurt Lily, but he also decided to cooperate. It looked like they had returned to the good old days… that actually weren\'t that old.
In any case, the next month passed in the blink of an eye, and ninety percent of the pillar had already been put in the river. Before allocating the last two, the tribe leaders decided to start forming the actual body of the bridge because the remaining two pillars would give a chance to the people on the other side to reach them as well.
"I suppose this should be enough to make them realize that we don\'t want to invade," Billy thought.
Despite that, as soon as the group began to create and put the remaining parts of the bridge, the group that they had mentioned earlier finally showed up and assumed a battle formation. They really looked like a medieval army, just like Billy had imagined. Ignoring them didn\'t seem like a good idea, so the tribe leaders reunited to discuss about what they should do.
"We should at least try to talk with them," Drew said. "It will be better if the tribe leaders go as well."
"We will be exposing ourselves to danger and we won\'t have much back up since only a few of us can cross the river by jumping over the pillars," Leo said. "Their spears don\'t seem the trowable type, but it wouldn\'t surprise me if they have some hidden weapons around."
"Can\'t you and Sarah cover us if things go downhill?" Drew asked. "Not against that many enemies."
"If your son comes with us, we might be able to pull it off," Sarah suddenly declared. "While he doesn\'t show, I am certain that his magic powers already surpassed mine."
"Hmm… all right, I will talk to him," Drew said.
Billy frowned when his father told him about the contents of the conversation. Sarah was sharp, but not sharp enough since she didn\'t realize that Billy\'s magic power only increased due to the rings.
"Not fair! Why is Billy getting special treatment?" Natalie protested after she told his friends what he was going to do.
"Well, if you think logically, Billy is skilled enough to make a difference with his set of skills," Lily said while forcing a smile.
"Still…" Natalie said.
"You sure are bloodthirsty," Billy said. "9f you keep acting like that, then it will be hard for you to participate in this kind of situation in the future. You are too reckless, after all. In any case, I am off."
The leaders of the tribes and Billy had their weapons with them, but they were on their backs. That was another way of them trying to say that they were there to talk and not to fight. In any case, they began to jump over the pillars, but Sarah used some wind magic to help her since her physical strength wasn\'t that high. Once they did that, the army on the other side began to move as well. Their weapons and shields were ready to be used in the blink of an eye. Despite that, the tribe leaders didn\'t stop.
When they reached the last pillar, they took some time to look around the army. As for Billy, he used Appraisal and confirmed that the overall level of those soldiers was fifty. They weren\'t shockingly powerful, but their strength wasn\'t something to laugh at. Neither of them had magical skills either, or even bow skills. So, their strength was in melee combat, and considering their high HP, they would take a while to fall.
"Hello… we are the soldiers of lord Edward and we came to negotiate," Drew said. "If you have a leader or a temporary commander, could you please call them?"
"I am the Captain of this unit, my name is Pierre," a single soldier stepped forward and said. "State your name and business here."
"We didn\'t know that the lands beyond the river were populated, so we received the orders to build a bridge and explore the other side," Drew said. "My name is Drew, so at the orders of our lord, we would like to start amicable negotiations with your people."
"... I can\'t decide that on my own," Pierre said.. "We also have a feudal lord, your own lord can come to negotiate with him, until that happens, it would be better if you are to stop the construction of the bridge."