Gravis scratched his chin as he tried to think of a new plan. Initially, he had expected that the territory would be around 50 to 100 kilometers wide. With these specifications, his plan would have worked pretty well. Sadly, reality didn't always conform to one's wishes. He had to create a brand new plan now.
"In order to make a better plan, I need some intelligence from you," Gravis said.
"What do you want to know?" Shira asked back with boredom.
"How many beasts do we have, and how many of these beasts are Water Makers?" Gravis asked. "Please also tell me about how strong each beast is."
"According to your specification for power, we have 88 beasts that you would call mid-rank Spirit Beasts and 20 late-rank Spirit Beasts," Shira explained. "As for Water Makers…"
"We have none," Shira said, making Gravis furrow his brows.
"You said you wanted to use them. How are we supposed to use them if we don't have any?" Gravis asked with a bit of annoyance.
"Because we can't start the invasion without Water Makers anyway," Shira answered. "We need Water Makers in order to commence the invasion. We would need to search for them anyway, and then we would have them. Then, we can also use them."
"And how do you intend to gather them? You said they are very rare," Gravis asked.
Shira seemed to smirk again. "You are the one that wants to invade the land. I can plan the invasion, but I can't find them for you. You must find a solution to this, not me."
Gravis sighed. "Okay," he conceded. "What about our enemy? How many enemies are there, and what's the terrain like?"
"Normally, we have the number advantage," Shira said, "but since you so graciously let so many beasts leave, we are actually at a disadvantage in that category as well. The enemy should have about double our numbers right now. This means you also need to scout more beasts if you want to invade the land."
Gravis fell into thought again for a few seconds. "And their terrain?"
"The land dwellers' territories are nearly identical to one another," Shira said. "I'm pretty confident in their land's layout."
Seeing that Shira paused, Gravis snorted. "Just tell me. You don't need to show the worth of your knowledge."
Shira was a bit annoyed at Gravis' direct answer but started to explain the terrain anyway.
"The beasts on land not only have to defend from beasts from the sea, but also from other Tribes. The best way to do that is to create some mountains at their borders. Of course, these mountains aren't directly at their border, but about ten kilometers away from them."
"Since the other land dwellers use the same defense, you can generally see two mountain ranges around 20 kilometers away from each other with no beast living between those. The walls act as buffers. You could say that the area between the two walls belongs to none of the Tribes or both of them. It depends on your viewpoint."
Gravis continued scratching his chin. "So, our enemy's territory is surrounded by a tall mountain range. How many of the beasts are stationed at these borders?"
"About 10% per side," Shira explained. "They, obviously, also have a mountain range that blocks access from the sea. We basically need to invade a land that has mountain ranges blocking every entry point."
Gravis nodded. "And flying creatures? How many do they have?"
"It depends on the tribe," Shira explained. "The Sand Tribe is a group of ground beasts. I don't think they have any flying beasts."
Gravis' brows furrowed. "No flying beasts? This sounds like an obvious oversight."
"Their Tribe is the Sand Tribe. They are proud of their kind and affinity towards earth. If they had flying creatures, they wouldn't call themselves the Sand Tribe anymore," Shira explained.
"So, it's a matter of pride and purity for them," Gravis commented. "That's pretty stupid in my eyes. However, I shouldn't complain. After all, this should make the whole invasion much easier. Do they have a central hub or headquarters or something similar?"
"Generally, land-dwellers create a Spire in the middle of their territory," Shira explained. "It's a singular, very wide and very high mountain that stretches deep into the sky. It acts as a status symbol and fortification. They can fight from a height advantage while everyone else needs to fight from the foot of the Spire."
"Hmm," Gravis hummed. "Destroying the Spire probably also isn't easy?" Gravis asked.
"Of course, it isn't easy. The stone they use is mighty, and, contrary to expectations, it takes more power to damage it than to repair or build it. The only ones that can damage the Spire effectively are Water Makers. Yet, since the enemy has more Water Makers, they will easily counter our efforts."
Gravis continued thinking as a plan was forming in his mind. Now, he actually knew what kind of territory his enemies occupied. The territory was very well defended and could withstand an incredible attack from land, sea, and sky. The walls, or mountain ranges, were a significant hurdle for any attacker.
After some minutes, Gravis' eyes shone as he finalized his plan.
"We start our preparations right now," Gravis said to Shira and Orthar.
Shira narrowed her eyes. "We don't have any Water Makers, and we are at an environmental and numerical disadvantage."
"I know," Gravis said with a smirk, "but we don't need any more beasts. As for the Water Makers…" Gravis smirked.
"We already have some."
Shira was a bit taken aback. "We do?" she asked.
Gravis pointed at Orthar. "Orthar has an affinity towards earth. Therefore, he counts as a Water Maker."
"I guess I do," Orthar commented from the side. "I haven't known the concept of a Water Maker up until now, but I do have an affinity towards earth. Moving some ground from A to B isn't an issue."
Shira looked at Orthar with interest. After some seconds, she looked at Gravis again. "You said some, not one."
Gravis only smirked.
The Horde went to work immediately. Gravis informed them of the rules and tactics of the invasion. This was not one of the typical invasions where they would just send beasts at the opponent until either side collapses. These beasts were willing to follow him, and he was already seeing them as part of his Horde.
After a lot of explaining, most of the beasts understood the plan. They also grew more confident in the fight. After all, if Gravis' plan worked, they would be able to fight the land beasts inside water, giving them a great advantage.
While Gravis and Shira explained the specifics to the beasts, Orthar went to work around the environment. The ocean wasn't very deep this close to the continent. It was at a natural angle that ended in a shoreline.
If one moved earth around, the earth wouldn't just disappear. The enormous amounts of earth had to be moved somewhere else. Thus, Orthar started moving the earth at the shallow coast further into the ocean, creating a vast and deep abyss, ready to swallow the earth in the war.
The preparations took over a week until they were finished. Now, every beast knew exactly what to do, even the stupid ones, though, not directly. Explaining the plan to the stupid ones had basically proven itself to be impossible.
So, Gravis decided on a different system. He found the smartest beasts in the Horde and assigned the stupid beasts into their teams. Of course, the Team Leaders would receive part of the loot, and when Gravis officially established his Tribe, they would have a higher position than other ones.
These smarter beasts were smart in regards to beasts, but not smart in regards to humans. It still took a lot of effort to explain the plan to them, but they understood it at least. When they finally understood the advantages of the plan, they felt like a new world had been opened before their eyes. With these tactics, they had a high chance of winning.
The loyalty of the followers increased as they realized the, to them, brilliant plan. As long as they followed Gravis, they would have a high chance of becoming powerful.
Meanwhile, the environment before the coast had utterly changed. Orthar had moved a ridiculous amount of ground into the ocean. When one entered the ocean from the coast, everything looked normal, at least, until they reached the ten-kilometer-mark.
At that point, they would notice a cliff. From a depth of around five kilometers, the ocean immediately deepened into a depth of nearly 100 kilometers. At one point, they were still near the shore, and at the next moment, they would be right above a seemingly bottomless abyss.
Of course, it wasn't only Orthar that accomplished that. The mysterious, second Water Maker had done even more work than him.
Like this, everything had been prepared for the invasion.
All beasts swam behind Gravis as he looked at the continent with shining eyes. Gravis had already eaten the former chieftain and had reached the high-rank Spirit Beast level. With his new size of about 50-meters, he looked incredibly intimidating. Yet, all the other beasts still dwarfed him. Now, Gravis only needed one more Unity Beast to regain his Unity. At that point, he would also have this perfect body.
"Everyone knows what they need to do?" Gravis asked the beasts.
"Yes," the Team Leaders answered directly. They had been drilled thoroughly until they could recite the plan even in their sleep. Though beasts at that level don't really sleep.
"Are you ready, Orthar?" Gravis asked.
"I've never done this before, but I think it shouldn't be too hard," Orthar answered.
Gravis nodded with a smirk and turned back to the land. "It's time to claim my first territory," Gravis said with fiery eyes.
