GameDev Reincarnated into His Own Creation

Vol 2 - Chapter 20.1: Inheritance

Vel surveyed the other tables, noting how other groups had distributed their forces. Several noble groups had chosen an entirely royal army, while Church-affiliated students predictably loaded up on Church forces. The choices seemed less about tactical advantage and more about personal bias.

"Look...," Mira whispered, nodding toward Severin's table. "They're going with full Royal Forces."

"Tactical familiarity, maybe" Vel countered. "They're playing to what they know."

He glanced at the other unstable attunement team nearby and noticed them observing his group's choices with interest. After some hushed discussion, they began selecting the same balanced approach—Royal, Church, and Adventurer forces.

"They're mimicking our approach," Tomas observed, his tone carrying both astonishment and pride.

Vel understood their motives. When Rohen looked over with uncertainty, Vel caught his eye and gave him an encouraging smile and nod.

"Let's hope our strategy proves worth imitating," Vel replied quietly to Tomas.

"You don't sound too sure," Mira observed, studying his expression.

Vel's smile faltered slightly. "I just hope I know what I'm doing. They're trusting my judgment."

The weight of that responsibility settled on his shoulders. It was one thing to make decisions for himself—quite another to influence their choices. If his strategy failed, it wouldn't just be his team that suffered the consequences.

An instructor strode to the center of the room, raising her hands for silence.

"Your objective is to claim victory by controlling more than half of the strategic points on the battlefield, or by eliminating all opposing forces within the allotted time."

She gestured toward glowing markers scattered across the landscape. "The battle continues until these victory conditions are met or a stalemate occurs, at which point we instructors will intervene to determine the outcome."

Vel studied the miniature battlefield intensely as the instructor concluded with, "Let the final assessment begin."

The war table hummed with magic, and small figures materialized across the landscape according to their selections. On Vel's section, four distinct Adventurer units appeared.

Mira's Royal Forces emerged as neat formations of infantry, cavalry, and archers—dozens of units arranged in disciplined ranks. Tomas commanded smaller squads of Church forces, their robes and cloaks billowing with magical energy, even their crusader swords glowing with holy light.

"So it begins," Vel murmured, examining the fog-shrouded battlefield and the distant enemy forces barely visible through the magical mist.

Unlike the other students who seemed eager to rush into battle, he recognized the need for a solid foundation.

"We need a good starting point, somewhere to preserve our troops. " Vel explained, his finger hovering over the miniature landscape. "If a confrontation breaks out, at least we will have our full forces combined."

He pointed toward an open area surrounded by natural barriers that created multiple potential choke points. It wasn't the most obvious position, but Vel recognized its defensive value.

Tomas leaned forward eagerly. "Should we start moving our forces to the strategic points?"

"No, not yet," Vel replied, studying the fog-covered map. "The key to any army is a good foundation. We need stable resources and manpower, accounting for unit losses, ready to expand."