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"What do you mean?

" Markus approached his old friend and asked.

nLayn looked at his friend's face only for the realization to appear in his mind.

n'He is perfectly capable of understanding my plan just from those few words I spoke. This question was not for his sake, but for the sake of everyone else,' he thought, nodding his head to convey the gratitude to his friend.

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"Before I explain what I meant, I need to know some things,

" Layn instantly turned his mind towards hatching the details of a new plan.

"Irea, dear, how far behind are the cultivators?

" he asked.

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"One to two days of a forced march. But if they detach the people with mounts, they could reach us in just a few hours' time,

" the girl replied instantly, proving that her actions weren't limited to just burning the camp as she left it.

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"Good,

" Layn muttered before raising his hand and rubbing his chin for a while. He also squinted his eyes almost to the point of closing them as he turned silent for a long while.

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"Okay, here is what we are going to do,

" he said, turning his face back up and opening his eyes.

"I need twenty of the fastest people to act like scouts. Ten of them will go east, towards the cultivator's army, make themselves seen, only to start running towards the rendezvous point,

" he said, turning around as if in an attempt to scout out who would be fitting to fill the role.

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"What for?

" Markus asked, giving Layn a way to explain his thoughts in a deeper manner.

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"Right now, we have three groups of enemies. Slavian faction that doesn't like us and that we managed to antagonize properly, the monsters and the cultivators,

" he repeated his previous point.

"While we could deal with one or two of them separately and with some casualties, three forces like that? That's the limit. We can't fight them on our own,

" he said openly, unwilling to sugarcoat this point.

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"What are we going to do then? Run? But there is nowhere to run anymore!

" someone from the crowd protested, pointing out the apparent flaw in Layn's plan.

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"No, we are not going to run at all,

" Layn smiled, actually grateful for that point.

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"Back when we were going to scout the situation with Slavians, I noticed a particular geographical point,

" Layn said out loud. He then used a tiny bit of his magic to lift up a huge amount of earth from below his feet, only to model it into a relatively flat and simplistic cube above everyone's heads.

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"On that place, we have two massive plains and a sharply inclined ridge separating them,

" he said, turning the flat surface of the cube into the image of what he was speaking about.

nIf one were to look at it above, it would seem like a plain on which some enormous giant left an imprint of their ass, with two depressions where its buttcheeks pressed and the elevated ridge that would be a remnant of the free space of its row.

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"If we position ourselves on that ridge, we will be able to separate the cultivators' army from the monsters and slavians on the other side,

" Layn explained, remodeling the image to add two squares representing each of the three opposing forces.

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"What would we do that for?

" Irea asked after receiving a small nudge from Markus.

nLayn nodded his head towards the girl in gratitude.

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"Look,

" he said, once again turning towards everyone.

"If we manage to pull everyone towards this ridge at the same time, we will be able to make them think we are up for a pitched battle, one fight to decide the victor of the conflict,

" Layn explained his idea.

"But look at this,

" he said, directing everyone's attention towards the cube above their heads.

nOn it, the squares representing the forces of their enemies turned into rectangles, representing the battle formations. And as they all started to advance at the same time, the single square remained on the top of the ridge.

nFor a few more moments, Layn operated the show in silence, not bothering to utter a single unnecessary word.

nThe imaginary battle formations of their enemies continued to climb up the ridge... Only to reach its peak. Then, Layn stopped the projection and looked at his people again.

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"I ask you all now to imagine yourself being the soldiers of either side. You are tired after a long march, going to fight an enemy who has galls to oppose you despite insane numbers disadvantage,

" Layn described the situation from the perspective of either of their enemies.

nWhat was important, though, he never pointed out which of the perspectives he wanted them to put themselves in the shoes of.

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"You reach the top of the ridge, ready to fight,

" Layn continued his explanation, only to point his hand at the frozen situation of his projection.

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"They see a massive army rushing to ambush them right as they reach the most vulnerable yet advantageous position,

" someone in the crowd answered.

nLayn looked towards Markus, expecting him to give him a meaningful smile... but his friend only shook his friend.

nThis guess of what Layn was planning didn't come from any hidden helper of the two of them. It was an honest response to all of Layn's suggestions.

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"That's right,

" Layn cleared his throat before agreeing with one of his people.

"They reach the top of the ridge, ready to slaughter those few whose defiance forced them to go through all those efforts... Only to realize that they were pulled right into a trap!

" he shouted, finally revealing the crux of his plan.

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"But what if they just go back?

" someone voiced their doubt.

"I mean, if they will realize that they are in a trap, why would they keep going forward?

"

nLayn smiled.

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"Imagine yourself as someone standing in the front line. You reach the top and realize it's a trap. But now, in that imagined picture of yours, try to look back. What do you see?

" he asked.

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"Rows upon rows of my fellow soldiers, all ignorant about what I saw past the ridge,

" the man replied, a look of terror appearing on his face.

nJust putting himself in the shoes of a random soldier of the other party was enough to make him cover in fear.

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"ANd that's why they will have no other choice but to wage the battle, despite being at a disadvantage,

" Layn explained, spreading his arms and shaking them up and down.

"So while all three groups of our enemies will start fighting with each other, all we will have to do...

"

nLayn cleared his throat and took a deep breath to induce a bit more passion and tension to his next sentence.

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"All we will have to do is to survive the battle.

"

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