"The Akashic Battlefield…" Hearing Valyr mention such a place, a frown swiftly crept up onto Julian's lips as he went silent. In response, the young man slightly tilted his head in confusion, wondering if there was anything about the Akashic Battlefield or his request that made the man before him frown.
"Is there anything wrong with my request?"
"No, that's not it." Julian shook his head. "I could give you the directions to the Akashic Battlefield no problem. It's just that…"
"There's something going on in the Akashic Battlefield?" Valyr raised his eyebrow in curiosity as he posed the question to the man, only for his curiosity to intensify once Julian nodded in response.
"Though it would be more apt to say that we're just preparing for the worst case scenario, the Akashic Battlefield isn't really a good place to enter for the meantime, even with the level of strength you wield at your current rank." At those words, Valyr went silent, wanting to know what the other side meant by what he said.
Fortunately, Julian had picked up on what Valyr wanted him to do, prompting him to faintly nod as he continued where he left off. "Well, if I'm being honest here, the Akashic Battlefield is still running the same way it used to run all this time, being accessible to those who wish to gain a lot of XP alongside combat experience."
"However, the problem has something to do with the orc outbreak the kingdom is currently trying to push back." Saying these words, Julian picked up his forging hammer before proceeding to hammer out a few more of the imperfections he could find on the equipment he was working on. With a slight frown on his face, he then chucked the equipment into the furnace before him, giving it time to become more malleable.
"Since the orcs could not push through the point where their offensive first began, a considerable portion of the orcs decided to separate from the main group, heading to other points in the kingdom that would give them a greater chance at success." Turning around to look at Valyr, Julian adorned a solemn expression. "One of those points would be the northwest section of the kingdom."
Noticing that Valyr squinted his eyes in slight confusion while his eyebrows remained raised, Julian decided to elaborate on his explanation a bit more. "The strongest defensive lines of the kingdom could be found within the four cardinal directions. North, south, east, and west. In fact, the orcs choosing to strike the east defensive line for their first offensive is one of the main reasons why the orcs haven't been successful in infiltrating the kingdom yet."
"However, the same could not be said for the directions between the four cardinal ones." Briefly flashing a bitter smile at Valyr, Julian took out the equipment he chucked into the furnace earlier, placing it on his anvil not long after. After that, he swung his hammer a couple of times to remove the imperfections that were made obvious through heating the equipment, causing him to faintly nod in satisfaction.
"Where was I? Oh, right." Feeling like he had more or less removed all of the imperfections that were on the equipment he was working on, Julian gave the equipment time to cool down as he continued where he left Valyr off in his explanation. "Compared to the defensive lines on the four cardinal directions, you could say that the defensive lines on the ordinal directions are only there to serve as a deterrent for those with ill intentions."
"Of course, due to the orc outbreak, the kingdom has doubled down its efforts in fortifying all of the kingdom's defensive lines, starting their reinforcement plan with the defensive lines in the ordinal directions," said Julian, only to ask the young man after if he was still listening. Obtaining a nod from Valyr in response, Julian nodded back as he continued.
"At the moment, the southeast and southwest defensive lines are more or less on the same level of defensive prowess as the cardinal defensive lines, while the northwest and northeast defensive lines still have a ways to go before reaching that same level."
"The orcs won't attack the northeast defensive line since it's in close proximity to the east defensive line." Julian let out a faint sigh. "If they did decide to attack it, the forces from the east defensive line would just send reinforcements to the northeast defensive line."
"In other words, nothing significant would happen."
"However, if they were to attack the northwest defensive line, then there's a chance that something different would happen." At these words, Julian looked at Valyr in the eyes. "Though the north and west defensive line have already gotten a heads-up regarding the orc outbreak to the east, they still think that the outbreak would be contained in the east side at most."
"Aside from that, a great portion of the noble authorities within the kingdom thought the same way as well, only sending a few patrols to the northwest defensive line at most as a show of compromise to those who believed the orcs would attack the northwest defensive line." Julian let out yet another sigh as he shook his head. "An incredibly stupid decision to make if you'd ask me."
"In any case, that's pretty much the reason why I don't advise you to head to the Akashic Battlefield in the meantime," said Julian in conclusion, taking in a deep breath after having to speak for so long. "Though… I guess it would be fine if I were to have someone accompany you to the Akashic Battlefield. After all, what I've told you so far is more or less speculation on my end."
"Is that fine with you, though?" asked Valyr in response, to which Julian shrugged his shoulders.
"I wouldn't be able to have someone accompany you right now," replied Julian. "However, if you're fine with postponing your session in the Akashic Battlefield to tomorrow, then I can probably arrange someone to escort you."
"I mean… I'm not really in a rush." In response, Valyr shrugged his shoulders, not minding the delay. "I'll just do the other tasks I have yet to finish in the meantime."
"Speaking of which…"
"Do you know if Elder Noel is currently in the Spearman Guild?"
