Lee continued watching Neia fight her way toward the monster leader for only a few moments. He was stopped because someone asked him a question. Someone he did NOT want to talk to at the moment. Nitis.

“So, what do you think?”

Lee shifted his eyes from the Aquavista to Nitis. Nitis stood a few feet from him with his hands behind his back. His face, an emotionless mask, as he surveyed the battlefield.

“What do I think about what?” Lee replied.

Nitis glanced his way for only a moment before staring back into the battlefield, presumably watching Neia.

“What do you think about Neia’s performance so far? What do you think about Pallesia? What do you think about monsters? What do you think about death? What do you think about Dark Elves? What do you think about this monster siege? I can continue on if you’d like. Or perhaps you’d like to pick from those I just listed.”

So that’s how you're going to go about it. Two can play this game.

Lee continued viewing the Aquavista as he answered each and every question.

“Neia is doing much better than I thought. She apparently held back severely and pretended to be much weaker than when we were together in the Shadowgrove. Pallesia is both wondrous and fucked up at the same time. I’m currently undecided on which one I'm leaning toward ‘fucked up’ until I view and learn more about this world. Death isn’t so bad. Actually, I talked to him in the temple or cathedral. Not sure what the place is actually called yet. As for the Dark Elves, you are all different. I would be a fool to say you’re all the same. I see mostly good within all of you so far. The monster sieges are fucked up to the utmost extreme. If this is a common occurrence, I struggle to see how you all have survived this long with the number of needless deaths you singlehandedly cause your people with the tactics you choose. I understand that you had mere hours to rally, but even I myself could have done significantly better in hindsight. If this is how you do each and every single monster siege, then I don’t know what to say to you other than maybe you shouldn’t be apart of a place that teaches others.”

Lee turned his eyes to Nitis and stared at him until Nitis stared back. Lee refused to blink.

Nitis kept the staring contest going as he spoke with an even voice.

“Let us skip the pleasantries and talk about the monster siege. I had heard you had an argument by the medical tent about it. Now I can see why.”

Lee couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer and blinked. Nitis gave him a rueful smile.

“You know not about what a true siege is. This is one of the weakest I’ve seen in a hundred years, and we are lucky for it.”

Lee gave a false smile in return.

“Oh yes. How the low levels would hold off the swarm while you struggle with a level 300 or perhaps a level 600? Seems to me that this isn’t the case though? Could you not have single handedly solved this siege yourself? What will you tell the families of the deceased? Will you even talk to them? If I compare your tactics to what that Troll is doing it looks awfully similar doesn’t it? Send in the weak to cull the numbers then have the strong fight at the end? You using monster tactics Nitis?”

Nitis seemed thrown back by the reply, not having thought Lee to be this aggressive with words. Before he could respond, Lee spoke over him.

“Where were the fortifications before? When I arrived, there were none. It was just an open field. Why not permanent fortifications? Where are the traps? I’m sure you know of them, even goblins ambush. I saw maybe three volleys of arrows during the hours of battling while I was down there. So few? Where are the siege spells? I’m sure you could enchant some walls or something with a spell that would fire on command or something like that, right? You burrow underneath your city to expand. Where do you put the stone? Why would you not build permanent stone defenses? Do you know of siege weapons? Balista? Trebuchets? Possibly a cannon? Were the arrows during the volleys even poisoned? Did you form groups on the ground to be balanced? Was there supposed to be any sort of command structure or leadership down on the ground? I saw one person who might have fit that description, but I lost him after five minutes. Look me in the eyes and tell me you prepared and tried your best. I dare you.”

Nitis, wide-eyed, angrily opened his mouth to respond, and no matter how much he tried, no words would come out.

Lee glared, nodded, then snorted dismissively. He turned back to watch Neia’s battle through the Aquavista.

“That’s what I thought. This is where you come up with excuses to defend yourself, by the way. I’ll wait.”

This was an unconceivable conversation to Nitis. He had expected to lecture Lee on how monster sieges usually played out and why they sent out the lower leveled volunteers first to level off the weak so that they could become a future foundation to stand upon. Instead, he was the one lectured on how the monster siege should have been done. And while he was afraid to admit it, Lee’s questions held merit.

Nitis began to think of why they never had fortifications. He was over a thousand years old and never thought of permanent fortifications. He’s the leader of the Consortium of Magical Scholars and the highest-level individual in Neldam. Why did he never consider primary defenses? Soon he found the reason.

Ah… I never needed them.

Nitis himself never needed robust fortifications. If the highest-level monsters got close enough to besiege these wooden battlements, the battle was probably already lost. He did not need the defenses they provided. The people around him did.

Was I that conceited? Am I a fool? Someone else would have brought this to my attention. Anix would have, surely? Nitis thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by Lee.

“I would recommend doing what I did. Answer each question one by one. If the answers disappoint you or don’t make sense, it means you made a mistake. Ones that have cost over a hundred lives so far. I would hurry too. Neia and the leader are about to clash soon.”

Nitis’ eye twitched, and his mouth began to spew words.

“The fortifications weren’t permanent because I personally never needed them. If the fighting got this close, it was probably over.”

Lee calmly responded without moving his gaze from the Aquavista.

“Mistake.”

Nitis warily continued.

“Traps are feasible but would require everyone to know their exact location to prevent accidents from our side.”

“Mistake. Make traps that only operate from their side.” Lee calmly responded.

It was Nitis’ turn once more.

“Seige spells are an interesting idea. I do not know if Delora could make it happen, but it is indeed a good idea. I concede this point to you.”

Lee nodded this time as he spoke.

“Fair point. I just assumed it was a possibility. If it doesn’t exist, then I can hardly fault you for it.”

“The expansion of Neldam was mostly wood until we branched for the housing tunnels. The stone was used to change buildings within the city to stone for better stability.” Nitis said.

“Mistake. The stone buildings I saw would have been fine as wood. The massive buildings are carved into the stone itself, just like the consortium. This was simply a poor allocation of resources combined with a disregard for fortifications from the first question. I would have taken fire hazard as an okay response.” Lee responded.

“I do not know of siege weapons. I have never heard of them.” Said Nitis.

Lee raised an eyebrow, then looked at Nitis. He failed to find any hints of deceit.

“I find that hard to believe, but maybe this is just a difference of our worlds—valid point.”

Nitis continued on and spoke again.

“Poison was not used because of the cost of production, the alchemy ingredients are too few, and we have little use for poison in Neldam to begin with.”

Lee gave a slight nod once more. “Hmm. How much does poison cost to make? If the poisoned arrows saved one of the people who died, would it be worth the cost? Remember what you spent on this siege as well. Lives.”

Nitis did not like how this conversation was going.

“We… we should have sorted everybody into balanced groups. We also should have had some leadership positions to coordinate. I will admit that it was done poorly this time. We had scant hours to prepare. Who was it that you found to be a leader? I will look into them and look to have them do the same if they volunteer next time.”

Lee replied. “The same who told me that monsters could become people. His name is Jud. He’s at least level 83 or had some sort of enhanced identify because he told me the leading Troll was level 87.”

Nitis paused, face full of shock, which slowly transitioned to despair. He whipped around and harshly grabbed Lee by the shoulder. “We do not have a high-level elf named Jud. DESCRIBE HIM, NOW!” Nitis yelled in a panic.

Lee was confused and extremely frightened by Nitis’ outburst. He began describing Jud’s ornate spear, bland leather armor, and white top-knotted hair as fast as he could.

Nitis appeared horrified for a whole second before he let go of Lee and jumped into action. Nitis hastily cast a spell, and his voice echoed across the battlefield and even Neldam itself. “Nitis Sindris city alert. An unknown high-level monster has passed the barricades. Shapeshift/illusion spells or artifacts. Most recent known description: Dark Elf, white hair in a top knot, ornate spear, un-darkened leather armor. Highest Level Alert. Stay in your homes or the closest building available.”

Lee let that sink in for a few seconds before a single thought arose.

What?