Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Abigail

Frostheim

"Annabeth, sweetie, I'm telling you that he'll be back soon. He should already be on his way." Abigail said.

"Why does he have to be gone for so long? I wanna show him how strong I am now." Her daughter punctuated it by showcasing her flexed bicep.

Abigail had to admit that her daughter was in much better shape than she had been at that age. While part of that was because of her newly gained stats and the System, it was also because of her many years of training paying off.

At first, they had worried about it messing with her growth, but with regular healing and spells to alleviate that kind of stress, it kept her in the best shape possible. Now, with a couple of levels under her belt, it was a stark difference from where she had started. At only fourteen, she could preform some miraculous things.

Annabeth's stats from training alone were something none of them could match. Austin and Chris probably had the most gained manually like that, and even their efforts combined couldn't match up to how many Anna had piled up. The amount wasn't much, Abigail herself gained more from just a few levels, but it was everything to someone of Anna's level. If she could use that and push for a Rare Class evolution at level 10, she would do something none of them had. The best any one of them had done was Uncommon at level 10.

"Why don't you go play with the other kids getting ready for the Festival?" Abigail said, only for Anna to pout at being dismissed.

"Ugg, fine..." She sighed.

Abigail couldn't help it; this time of year was one of the busiest, and with the Harvest Festival set to kick off in a few hours, she had a lot to do. Without Sophia, who was still making her way back with Rachel, even more of it fell onto her shoulders. One of the only good things to come out of it was that her Profession was gaining essence swiftly. Ever since her evolution, it was like the stuff was getting injected into her; her level was rising so fast.

That was even after she had unraveled her Profession and had chosen a different one. Baron's Seneschal didn't make much sense when one, Chris was a Viscount now, and two, she was a Baron in her own right.

She wasn't as bad as Rachel, who was planning to go all the way back down to nothing, but tearing out the few levels she'd managed to gain wasn't pleasant. It had also gotten rid of the Profession skill she'd gotten after evolving, ripping it straight out of her Spirit.

That wound alone took over a month to heal.

The price was high, but the Profession she got instead more than made up for it in her opinion. Baron's Seneschal was good, but it was too heavily dependent on being someone's Assistant, rather than standing on her own two feet.

Administrator Baron fit her a lot better, and the skill it had offered was leagues ahead of the one that had been ripped out. It was still Epic, the same as before, but it suited her better.

[City Management] was perfect for keeping track of all the ongoing projects and developments happening all at the same time. Her previous skill [Baron's Directive] was good, but it didn't compare to the new one at all.

The skill had helped speed up and buff certain work crews that were assigned to tasks that the City Owner designated, which had lately been the roads. The boost wasn't large, but it was consistent and without any drawbacks. It didn't overwork the builders or draw on their strength to give them a boost; it came from the city itself, somehow. It had something to do with the Pylon, that much Abigail was sure of, but anything more than that, she didn't know.

With the essence gain being what it was, she would see level 120 at the turn of the year, maybe a bit earlier depending on how well the harvest turned out to be. Preliminary numbers were already in, and things were looking perfect. The large influx of refugees had settled, and the numbers they projected had a lot more weight to them now that things weren't so up in the air.

They had already hit their numbers for crops, and that was without the tithe from Frostfall and Snowbrook. Emberhold was a drain, rather than a provider, but even with the needs of both cities taken into account, they had enough for the year.

The amount of food one Farmer could take in was mind-boggling at times.

Now, instead of importing food from Velmara, they could export it. They wouldn't cut off all imports, as there were things Velmara had that Frostheim didn't, but it would even the balance sheet without having to rely on Frostheim's other resources.

Based on what she was hearing, it had come at the perfect time. Abigail wasn't sure how much longer the trade routes to Velmara would stay open. Alaric had already sent a missive stating that he would comply with any order to cease trade with the Twins and Frostheim if it was issued.

His headquarters was based in Velmara, so Abigail didn't fault him too much. She was getting ready to give the same orders to her own Merchants and Traders, even though they were smaller in scale.

War.

It was coming, and there was no more putting it off. It wasn't even a secret at this point. Everyone in the city knew, from the Order Captains all the way down to the regular citizens.

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She didn't keep it secret.

There would be no hiding it even if she wanted to. There were too many people involved. Thousands made up all of the Orders, not to mention everyone else who would be affected.

Hal and Elliot were already drawing up plans just in case. Scouts were out mapping the land between the three Factions. Sioux Falls, Velmara, the Twins, everywhere a potential battle could take place. They were working around the clock to get as much information as possible.

Which was her next meeting of the day.

As soon as things looked certain that a confrontation with the Heartlands and the Reservation was inevitable, Hal had come back to Frostheim and left Emberhold in the hands of Austin's mother, Carrie, who made the trip out there to replace him.

Now, they were sitting in the Great Hall they used for Council Meetings, waiting on Abigail to show up. Having this talk on the day of the Festival wasn't ideal, but it wasn't like they could put it off either.

After sending Anna on her way to play in the city, Abigail made it to the Hall to the sight of maps strewn over the table and both men standing over it and pointing.

"We need to hold here, or else the Reservation will just go around us like we aren't even there." Hal was in the middle of saying.

"Yes, but we also just can't give away Riverfront like that. It may only be a village, but it holds one of the two bridges across the river. If we can keep them from crossing, they will be forced to attack from the west," Elliot defended.

At the sight of her, both men stood and greeted her, "Abigail,"

"Elliot, Hal," she responded, "Where are we?"

Hal took the lead, "We're still trying to decide on where we will defend. I think we should defend here," he pointed to a narrow strip of plains between two forested regions, "They have to come North, and there are only a few routes they can take that aren't wooded or blocked by lakes. Marcus already has most of them defended, but this one is too wide for the types of Outposts he has set up."

Elliot jumped in after Hal finished, "I think we should defend Riverfront, just in case they aim to sweep east and go around us. Nearly all of Marcus's efforts have been in fortifying the southwest of his territory. If they manage to get around it, that will make things difficult for him."

Abigail saw both sides, but there was something that both of them were forgetting, "Marcus has still made his stance clear. He aims to face them both alone."

"He will lose," Hal said simply. "The Heartlands have too many people, and the Reservation has too mobile an army. If he wants to face them in the field, he risks being flanked; if he holes up, he faces a siege. I understand the urge to go at it alone, but he will lose."

Elliot nodded, "I don't see how he can win alone. We don't have exact details on the power of his army, but he's at a disadvantage either way. Depending on how many the Heartlands send, he may be outnumbered three or four to one."

"Marcus is strong, Epic Class most likely, but that was at E-rank. I have no idea what his evolution was like, he may be at Legendary for all we know," Abigail said, "If he wishes to hold out by his lonesome, he must have something up his sleeve. He has the same information that we do and would draw the same conclusions otherwise."

"They have a Viscount and two Barons," Hal said.

"Which won't make it back until winter begins." Abigail said, "Do you think they'll march through the snow?"

Elliot chuckled, "With stats, a winter offensive isn't what it once was."

Abigail nodded, "Yes, it may not be, but what if they were to face us in winter? Over a quarter of the Orders have a cold-related affinity."

That lead was only growing as well. The Glacial seed was reserved for only those in the Order, which made it a massive draw for people with the related affinity to join up and swear the Oath.

"That's assuming they think we'll join." Elliot said, "Marcus hasn't officially asked, and we haven't officially said we would."

It was Abigail's turn to chuckle, "Oh, Rachel made that abundantly clear at the Assembly. If Mikayla and Tasunka still think we won't help, they are dumber than I give them credit for."

"That still doesn't get us anywhere," Hal said, "If they wait, that just gives everyone more time. Marcus still won't ask until he has to, and we will be up here twiddling our thumbs."

"They won't wait," Abigail said, "I'm surprised they've waited for as long as they have. The River Heart gives Marcus a massive advantage the longer they delay. Every day is another his army grows in power. A Body Refinement, a Mana advancement, or a Law realized. Time is not on their side."

"Is it truly that valuable?" Elliot asked.

It was hard for her not to look at him oddly, until she remembered that neither of them had experienced what a treasure was like. Hal had a Wind affinity, and Elliot had Metal. Neither were affinities that they had seen, heard, or knew of treasures for.

They didn't even know of any areas where their affinity was dominant, not like Ice or Fire. What they'd gained was through sheer effort and force of will.

"Yes," Abigail said, "It's that valuable. Mikayla may not have the Water affinity, but there are those in her Faction that do. The same with Tasunka."

"I still don't get why this can't be settled peacefully," Hal muttered.

"I didn't think that comment would come from you, Hal," Abigail turned toward the man, "If anything, I expected it from Gabriel."

Gabriel, while the Captain of the new Mage Order, was still uncomfortable with the thought of war. He would participate, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it.

"It's not because of the potential bloodshed. It's because this is in the wake of the Assembly. I figured with all of them meeting, they'd work something out." He said.

"Rachel said that Marcus was offered something, but he turned it down. I don't know what it was or what the offer was worth, but I don't think they'll come back with another." Abigail said.

"You didn't ask?" Hal questioned.

She shook her head, "No, that is his business. If he wants to tell us, fine, but I will not be the one to ask."

"Even if it's the reason we're dragged into this?"

"Marcus isn't stupid. If he said no, that means he had a reason to." Abigail defended, "Just like he has a reason not to call on us right away."

When Hal didn't come back with anything, Elliot shuffled a few maps around. Maps detailing the region around the Twins were moved out of the way for maps of Flame Falls. Instead of placing the new map on top of the old one, Elliot placed the two side by side on the table.

Hal raised an eyebrow, and Abigail waited for the Order Captain to speak.

"There is a possibility that both Factions might be attacked at the same time." He said slowly, "Or, if not at the same time, then close enough that the first conflict may not have ended before the other one starts."

She had known that this might be a possibility, and she was praying it wasn't.

"While we can hope that doesn't happen, yes, I agree, we need to plan for it just in case. Splitting our forces... isn't wise." She said the last part slowly.

Of all of the projected army size and the preliminary information they had on the numbers the various Factions could field, Frostheim was at the bottom. Only the Reservation was close in how many they had, with the Heartlands and Empire city having numbers that were well above theirs.

Empire City alone had a force that numbered more than Frostheim's entire population.

Splitting them wasn't feasible.

Elliot shifted in place, "If it comes to that, we may have to choose."

"Chris won't like that," Hal said.

"It is not a matter of what he will or won't like. It is what's possible and what isn't."

Hal sighed, "I know, but I'm not gonna be the one to tell him that."