Liam singularly focused on the wall blocking the mines. It was separated into ten segments. Liam didn't hesitate to fortify each at the cost of 200 tons of wood and 100 tons of stone.
Cyclone looked at him in confusion:
"Expert, is this really alright? If we spend all our resources on the wall, we can't buy anything else. Look, there are so many options. From hot pitch to a magical cannon."
"Mhm. You're correct. The wall alone definitely won't be enough."
"Good. I propose only using half out resources for the wall."
Balm next to her nodded in agreement. But Liam showed a meaningful smile. He let his eyes wander over his friends asking:
"Does anyone have another suggestion?"
Liam's friends perked up. With the way he posed the question, Liam definitely had something in mind. Everyone stared at the map, pondering their options.
Thinking about her own task Silver Blade was the first to come up with an idea:
"Maybe our resources aren't fixed? Can we forage for more?"
Seeing Liam nod slowly the others understood. Their eyes focused on a forest to the east. However, according to the map the forest was already devoured by the mist. It was inaccessible as long as they couldn't get rid of it.
Noticing everyone's gazes, Liam decided to explain his solution:
"The forest is off limits unfortunately. But we have another source of wood and stone. And it's here."
"I don't get it..."
"The city? Are there some hidden stashes?"
Liam shook his head and continued:
"The town itself is a hidden stash. We will be demolishing houses and walls and use the materials to construct defensive structures."
Before Liam's friends could give their opinions, the local NPCs reacted first:
"What? We can't do that. Those are the homes of our people!"
"No, he got a point."
"Adventurer, is there no other solution?"
Liam glanced at Sephran Greypine and the clerk, who refused strongly, and gave a simple argument:
"If we don't do that, you soon won't have any people left to live in those houses."
The two NPCs sighed reluctantly but didn't speak up again. Liam was surprised that they were this easy to convince but attributed it to his significant charisma stat.
Meanwhile Liam's friends had had a second to ponder. Balm came up with a question everyone thought about:
"Do we have enough time to dismantle entire houses and carry the resources towards the wall and also construct something?"
"It's alright. We are still in a game, and we have two advantages. One, Fonor's bonus which reduces the time it takes to build military structures by 40%, which is a lot. And second, we have Bloody Edge buying us time.
Furthermore, we don't really have a choice. Don't expect this war to be easy. We need every advantage we can get!"
Looking at Liam's solemn face the others started to feel some pressure. Cyclone and Balm quickly accepted the expert's suggestion. They spent some time to plan out the rest of the defence.
If everything went well, they would construct three large towers. Players attacking from the walls had increased range and more damage and from the towers it was even more so.
Additionally, they planned to place two ballistae and one magic cannon on top of the towers. There was not much to be said about the ballistae, but the magic cannon was an absolute trump card with only three charges.
The towers were a boost for the ranged classes, but Dream Avenue had 600 melee fighters. It would be a waste for them to just sit and wait so Liam also planned to have crates with spears everywhere on top of the walls. Those could be thrown by anyone, dealing some damage. Although they were not easy to aim this didn't matter when facing a dense crowd of enemies.
With the defence planned out, there only remained the profession users to assign jobs to. Although they wouldn't fight, they also had an important task. They would remain in the back and use the town's various resources to produce all kinds of items.
During the war NPCs would accumulate fatigue, and their equipment would take damage, which gradually weakened them. Only the profession users could alleviate those disadvantages.
Liam looked at Serena who had followed him into the room. Earlier he had noticed how she was somewhat anxious, afraid that she couldn't participate in the war. But now that Liam explained the importance of profession users Serena balled her fists, her eyes brimming with determination.
Smiling, Liam patted Serena's shoulder in encouragement as he and his friends wrapped things up. Cyclone and Balm took deep breaths as they began to assign the guild members.
The guild was separated into various teams. Cyclone and Balm opened a chat where the team leaders were invited, using it to give orders. Immediately movement came into the thousand members.
Simultaneously the NPC leaders also began to order the town's people. They reluctantly began to dismantle the town's houses starting from the edge. The resources they won were loaded on carts and transported to the mines. There, others were immediately beginning the construction according to the plan.
The construction workers were surprised to find out that everything went unprecedently smoothly. They were almost flying, perfectly placing each piece even without the need to measure anything. As the first players arrived it looked to them as if time was sped up.
Meanwhile Silver Blade was taking a small team and lead it towards the pond. They had to fight through a few strange lizard monsters affected by the mist but there wasn't any real difficulty.
Soon, they reached a pond of crystal-clear water, forming a stark contrast to the surrounding grey and depressing mist. Above the pond floated a covetous woman with smooth blue skin and limpid eyes. Her beautiful face was filled with worry as she stretched her arms to both sides, using magic to hold back the invading mist.
The players instinctively felt great pity. After a short chat Silver Blade took out a luminous blue pearl giving of the refreshing scent of a sea breeze, elevating the spirits of everyone looking at it.
Floating in the air the woman, a water elemental, was instantly attracted, unable to take her eyes away. Silver Blade magnanimously handed the pearl over. As soon as the water elemental touched the pearl, she absorbed it into her body. A blue light suddenly erupted from her chest. With a cry from the water elemental her power erupted and pushed away the mist in a large area.
Immediately the scene was filled with life. The grey trees turned green. All plants grew and swayed joyfully. Dormant insects reappeared, filling the scene with a vibrant sound. But the biggest change appeared in the pond water which now emitted a powerful, revitalizing magic feeling like even a single drop could save someone close to dying.
Unfortunately, the players had no time to enjoy the scene. They went back to the town, reporting on the success of their mission. Immediately NPCs went to the pond to retrieve water and bring it to the alchemists for potion making.
As Silver Blade had already accomplished her task, Bloody Edge was still deep in the mines. He moved extremely carefully along the walls while doing his best to recall the path Liam pointed out for him.
In the mines the visibility was extremely low due to the thick mist. And, while one might think this was an advantage for a thief the opposite was unfortunately the case. Mist dwarves were sensitive to everything moving within the wind. Bloody Edge had to focus to only create a minimal disturbance as he moved through the mines.
After a while the surroundings changed slightly. From what Bloody Edge could tell the structures stabilizing the tunnels looked more intricately made. The walls were decorated by engravements, and the floor was smooth.
It appeared more like a place where someone would live, indicating that Bloody Edge left the town's mines and entered the part of the mines constructed by the dwarves.
Suddenly the thief's ears twitched. The sound of steps dragging along the stone reached his ears. He immediately jumped high up, reaching for a wooden beam. With nimble moves he swung his body onto the beam, sitting on it silently and with a shallow breath.
It didn't take long for a large group to come out of the mist. It was the first time for Bloody Edge to see the mist dwarves. They were a bit taller than their healthy brethren, reaching up to the average human's chest. Their skin was grey, and they didn't have many muscles.
However, eerily their shape didn't remain constant. Sometimes one of their limbs would suddenly fuse with the mist or new arms would appear behind their backs. Strangely when this happened their equipment wasn't affected. They wore strange chain mail armor. Each part was covered in miniature magic circles which seemed to harmonize with the mist.
Bloody Edge kept perfectly still as the mist dwarves passed below him and vanished out of his sight. But even seconds later he still didn't dare to move, remembering Liam's warning.
Half a minute after the large team passed the mist suddenly transformed into two dwarves who scanned their surroundings before disappearing again.
Bloody Edge was grateful for Liam's reminder. The mist dwarves were also preparing for a war and were thus understandably cautious.