Dante returned to his residence and lay on his bed before choosing to enter the world in question. He was whisked away through the Quantum World's special mind tunnel and deposited into the body of a young man with the same name and build as himself.
When Dante landed, he realized he was standing at a rally with many soldiers surrounding him.
Dante's senses adjusted to his new surroundings as he took in the scene around him. The air was filled with a mix of anticipation, determination, and a hint of tension. The soldiers gathered around him were clad in a mishmash of armor and attire, each representing different factions and banners.
Before him stood a raised platform, upon which an imposing figure clad in ornate armor addressed the assembled soldiers. It was clear that this was a prelude to an impending battle, and Dante's heart raced with a combination of worry and curiosity.
After all, he had watched many thrillers like Game of Thrones, Narnia, The Lord of the Rings and co where there were huge medieval battles that were full of blood and gore, showing the brutality of close combat war back then.
The figure on the platform, presumably a high-ranking officer or perhaps even a general, spoke with a voice that resonated through the crowd.
"Soldiers of the Indra Kingdom! Today we stand united against the forces that seek to challenge our sovereignty and dominance. Our King's ambitions have set us on a path to conquer the entire continent, and it is our duty to carry out his will!"
The soldiers cheered in response, their spirits lifted by the impassioned speech. Banners fluttered in the wind, displaying symbols that represented the different armies and troops within the kingdom involved in this campaign.
Dante's gaze shifted from the rallying general to the fellow soldiers around him.
He could see a mix of emotions in their eyes which were determination, fear, camaraderie. Some soldiers clutched their weapons tightly, while others exchanged nervous glances.
It was clear that each individual had their own reasons for being here, their own stories and motivations that had brought them to this pivotal moment. Dante was moved by how deep this world was in terms of background just from this scene.
As the general's speech continued, outlining the strategy for the upcoming battle, Dante couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity and excitement.
This world, styled in a medieval setting, was a far cry from the futuristic landscapes and high-tech environments he had encountered before. It was a breath of fresh air for sure!
"Dismissed!" The general cried out as he was done with the speech and the battle was coming up soon.
The soldiers moved quickly through the camp, collecting their armor and weapons for the battle while Dante also followed them. Here, he was given a choice of which type of weapon he wanted.
Dante chose to go with a halberd once more, though it was not the wisest choice. The quartermaster glanced at him strangely and gave him an averagely crafted halberd that was one tier above trash.
When the other soldiers saw Dante's arm droop, they sneered at this foolish recruit who chose a fancy weapon to try and look cool on the battlefield. His fellow men were mostly choosing spears for their efficiency, and yet he dared to choose this?
They expected him to die in seconds, but no one stopped or advised him. They just glanced away and focused on their own situations as their expressions became somber.
Dante was confused and checked his SDI in this world using its given format.
Player Name: Dante
Player Race: Human
Kingdom: Indra
Rank: Recruit (10 kills to next level)
Morality: Neutral
Strength Index: 1
Agility Index: 1
Dexterity Index: 1
Intelligence Index: 1
Constitution Index: 1
Vitality Index: 1
Bionic Level: 0
Psionic level: 0?
Ah, Dante understood. The world reset all stats to 1 point in the beginning, but he doubted it remained that way. As he expected, there was soon a moment where the entire world seemed to pause like a still frame, and the AI spoke to him.
[Hello player, you can choose to use the default SDI settings of the world or apply your own SDI to the world. Note: In order to ensure balance, everyone of the same rank as yourself will possess the same exact SDI as you.]
Err… Dante was speechless.
He already knew that his stats would be applied throughout the world, but now that he was in it, he understood how ridiculous that was. His 250 points in all fields would go for EVERYONE, regardless of friend or foe that was at the Recruit Rank.
Those of higher ranks would have even higher SDIs than that.
What would be a simple medieval fantasy world would likely become a high-level martial arts world where everyone moved at flash speed, struck with enough force to crater the ground, had bodies thick enough to withstand bullets, as well as vitality so high they regenerated in seconds.
Dante understood that the idea was to balance everything so it did not come down to brute force or raw power but skill and combat awareness. However, if everyone had his level of power, it was more likely to die from an environmental hazard than from a blade.
However, Dante had little choice in the end. If he chose to use 1 point in everything, it would be more stable and believable, but utterly useless in training his skills.
The idea that by limiting one's own natural power to a lower level and training at that level would make one stronger when they released it was utter rubbish of fantasy.
What would happen was that you would be used to (and fully efficient) at fighting at that lowered level, so when you released yourself, it was more likely that you would become clumsy and unbalanced, forced to adapt to this new level of power.
Not to mention the insights you had at the lower level would only apply somewhat to your raised level depending on the gap between them. Making the flash run at Olympic speeds would not make him more efficient when he regained his mach 10 level speed.
He was more likely to trip over himself and leave a huge blood spot on the road made of what used to be his face and skin.
As such, Dante chose to use his natural SDI in the world. Immediately, the world seemed to retexture itself and many things changed. The equipment became heavier, the soldiers became leaner and more visually attractive while their armors also became sleeker and more defined.
When things resumed, Dante realized he could hold the halberd with ease, and he was ushered away. He saw that soldiers were zipping up and down the camp at shocking speeds, looking like this was the norm for them.
Many of the tents had disappeared as soldiers simply lay on casual beddings and rested. After all, with their strength, the slightest mistake could rip apart such fabric while their current constitution did not fear rain, snow, or sun.
Their marching times too were nil because they could rush through hundreds of kilometers in mere minutes. The only thing that remained and had changed was the food tent which occupied half of the camp's land, as well as the stored food.
With great power came great energy consumption and the food that could feed a normal army could not easily feed men with such power. This world did not have technology like energy bars which could solve the problems so the soldiers had to consume volumes of food, more than elephants.
Even this could only have them fighting at full power for a few hours before they flagged and needed more energy. Dante understood that this was the way the world balanced out the high stats of everyone, and now the general's biggest worry was not powerful troops, but powerful food.
Whether it was Dante's side or the enemy side, they likely spent sleepless nights calculating the food budget as well as requisition food from everywhere they could. It was likely that in the kingdoms like this, every acre of fertile land was worth millions and qualified farmers were the nobles while bakers, accountants, and the others were the commoners.
This made it such that the supply line was not just crucial, but literally the life and death of the army. A single day of it being cut was enough to cripple the entire army, so warfare in this world must be more about how to protect and make the supply line more efficient rather than how to outmaneuver the foe.
Dante could imagine that the generals of all armies treated the supply lines with more love and care than their own children, and would probably dive in the way of a bullet - or in this case, a sword slash - to save it while leaving their own family free for the killing.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com