The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop

“Alright greenhorns! This’ll be your first fight in the line of duty!” a sergeant barked, before him, a line of fresh-faced recruits holding various weapons. “Whatever silly soldiering they taught you in boot camp, forget most of that frilly pomp! Here, your life dances on the edge of a razor blade! Fighting a few wolves and slimes during training ain’t worth the dirt under my boots in Anthus!”

Given that Anthus’s last casualty on defense duty was a few months ago, Orodan doubted the veracity of that statement. Furthermore, these new recruits, as part of their initiation and travel into the city, had been ordered to stand and defend their inbound convoy alongside the escorting veterans. The tough and valorous ones among them who’d stepped up then, had already seen combat and been noticed for it too.

Then again, senior troops trying to rankle the nervous new blood was a tradition as old as civilization. And this display was meant to coax and identify those recruits who’d shied away or hid behind the veterans during the numerous fights the inbound convoy had faced.

“Now then… let’s give you lot a taste of the sorts of monsters braying for our blood outside the walls of Anthus!” the sergeant declared. “Let a giant spiderling up!”

“One giant spiderling coming up sergeant!” the overseer for that section’s defensive ballistae replied.

[Lightning Bolt 15 → Lightning Bolt 17]

[Surprise Attack 45 → Surprise Attack 46]

A loud boom. Though, masked over the sound of the various artillery pieces already firing.

“Corporal! Where is my giant spiderling?”