( Meanwhile Luke )
Luke's first choice of what game to play was the same as Leo.
Just like his brother, he too chose 'Strategic Battle' as his first game; however, unlike Leo, he had proper knowledge about battlegrounds and strategies since he had studied it as a subject in The Royal Knight Academy.
Standing at his elevated vantage point, Luke surveyed the battlefield with a critical eye.
Unlike Leo's enthusiastic but chaotic charge, Luke actually took his time to study the enemy forces composition and shape before contemplating about a method to approach the battle.
Having spent countless hours studying historical battles, learning about formations, and perfecting the art of war, Luke knew that he was more than equipped to devise a winning strategy, as he decided to go for a safe yet secure approach, which while cumbersome and life intensive, was going to guarantee him victory.
Unlike Leo, Luke arranged his forces in neat, disciplined lines.
The infantry stood at the forefront, shields locked together in a defensive wall. Behind them, the archers waited with arrows notched, ready to unleash a devastating volley. The cavalry units were stationed on the flanks, poised to strike at the opportune moment while his siege engineers were positioned strategically at the back with their catapults ready to fire.
"Patience is key," Luke muttered to himself, tapping commands into his high-tech interface. "We will take the hill, but we will do so methodically."
As the enemy forces came into view, Luke began his plan. He instructed his archers to release a precise volley of arrows, targeting the enemy mages and archers on the hilltop.
These arrows flew in perfect unison, striking down several key enemy units.
Next, he ordered his infantry to advance slowly, maintaining their shield wall as he had been taught to do within the textbooks of the Royal Academy.
As per his commands, the soldiers moved forward with disciplined steps, their shields deflecting incoming arrows and spells, ensuring that a large number of them survived, although a few still fell through the gaps in the shield wall.
At the perfect moment, Luke ordered his siege engineers to fire their catapults, their boulders smashing into the enemy fortifications and creating openings in the defenses.
However, the enemy was not idle either.
Seeing Luke's careful approach, the enemy commander adapted quickly.
Ordering his mages to cast powerful spells, the enemy commander created barriers and summoned fireballs that rained down on Luke's advancing troops.
The pikemen, instead of waiting for the cavalry, moved forward to engage Luke's infantry directly, forcing a brutal melee.
Luke's forces began to take heavy casualties. The disciplined shield wall started to falter under the relentless assault, forcing Luke to order his cavalry to flank the enemy, but the dense forest and natural obstacles made the maneuver slow and cumbersome.
The cavalry units struggled to navigate the terrain, losing their momentum and effectiveness.
"Stay the course!" Luke commanded, his voice steady despite the growing chaos as he ordered his archers to provide cover fire, picking off enemy pikemen and creating openings for his infantry.
In the end, despite the setbacks, Luke's strategic mind kept working.
He spotted a weak point in the enemy's defenses and directed his infantry to exploit it as his soldiers finally managed to break through, reaching the enemy's core forces.
From that point onwards, the battle became a fierce, close-quarters fight, with heavy losses on both sides.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Luke's forces managed to breach the hilltop. The enemy commander, realizing defeat was imminent, ordered a retreat as Luke's soldiers raised their banners in victory, the hill now under their control.
[ System Notification :- Congratulations to the player 'SkyLion' for winning this round.
You have received guaranteed 2x rewards.
+10 levels received.
Calculating additional performance based rewards….. ]
[ System Notification :- Calculation complete.
•Achieve victory in under 10 minutes (Fail)
• Capture and defeat enemy leader (Fail)
• Lose no men during the attack (Fail)
Final evaluation - C
No additional rewards issued. ]
As the system notification confirmed his victory, Luke couldn't help but feel a mix of triumph and exhaustion.
He had relied on strategic maneuvers and careful planning, but each calculated move had come with significant trade-offs and unforeseen challenges which seemingly made him ineligible for additional rewards.
Luke sighed, wiping sweat from his brow.
"A victory is a victory, though receiving a C grade evaluation just goes to show how much I'm lacking as a commander–" Luke said smiling contently, as he felt satisfied with the +10 level rewards and did not bother about the additional rewards that he missed.
Since he was alone and hadn't discussed his victory with Leo, he felt extremely proud of himself for winning. However, if he learned how Leo achieved his victory and how effective his unconventional strategy was, he would undoubtedly reconsider the impressiveness of his own triumph.
*********
( Meanwhile Cervantez )
Cervantez's first choice was the game 'Monster Battle' where he fought against another player for the win.
Apparently, 'Monster Battle' was a PvP game where one was matched against a player and not a system generated opponent, with there being one winner and one loser in the fight, with the winner taking all the levels put up as a wager and the loser losing the same amount.
For the first round, both Cervantez and his opponent had wagered 1 Free Pass which was equivalent to five levels, which meant that the winner was to gain +5 levels.
The fight lasted for a total of 20 minutes, with Cervantez winning by the skin of his teeth with his last 'Fire Type Monster' the 'Fire Fox'.
Overall, it was more of a fun experience rather than a serious leveling gain.
At the end, there was an option of whether or not a candidate wanted to do a rematch, with Cervantez's opponent putting up the last 2 fast passes of his as a wager, technically putting up 10 levels on the line.
Cervantez, confident of winning the fight twice, accepted the battle, putting 10 levels on the line from his side, as the duo engaged in a rematch, which Cervantez won convincingly this time around, gaining a total of +10 levels from the second fight, bringing his aggregate winnings to +15 levels.