Chương 124: Chapter 121 - Arrival

"You fucker, you cheated in the fight! I don't consider you the winner! Hammers are too powerful. They shouldn't be allowed in sparring!" said Oren, throwing a stone at Rokan. Both brothers were teasing Oren and Brakk about losing the sparring session. This had become a common sight over the past week. All the new members had developed strong friendships. Initially, Oren and Brakk interacted only with each other, and the same could be said for Rokan and Deran.

But the constant fight for survival had brought them all together, and they had formed genuine bonds. They even included Silas in the group, reminding me of my friends back at Stonegate. With the attacks on us decreased, the pressure on the squad members was also reduced. We once again started focusing on training and sparring. The rest of the days passed without any major events. This month or so had transformed our squad into a well-oiled machine.

I was confident that now my squad could give a proper fight to any standard infantry squad, maybe even come out on top. Varric, Garran, and Barry had grown into their roles as team leads. Barry's team had lost one member, yet Silas and Barry had developed great coordination. Barry had even taught him knife throwing. I also took some time practicing knife throwing, though I was nowhere near as good as them at it.

The biggest achievement, however, was that Peter and the other tier-2s had talked a few times in the past week. It's not like they were friends or anything, yet I will take solace in stiff, work-related conversations. Today, I was resting near the campfire, trying to ignore the sounds of the new members fighting, and enjoying the sunlight and a slow breeze in the forest. Then suddenly, I heard a branch break.

Within a second of hearing that sound, the whole squad stood up and got into formation in under two minutes, as we had been waiting for such a sound. Even a week after the ape's attack, the memory of it had not left us. We were always on constant vigilance, and this sound felt almost deliberate.

"Do not attack! It's Vanguard," came the voice from the forest. We all sighed in relief, but we did not break formation or let our guard down until we saw two people step out into the clearing, both carrying bows and wearing proper metal armor. In the past, I would have been in awe of their equipment, but now, even if my squad's equipment lagged behind and appeared crude, when it came to utility, we were not that far behind.

More importantly, with warhammers made of bone, armor reinforced with beast pelts, and large shields used by Garran's team, combined with the height of half my squad, we presented an intimidating sight. Both Vanguard members saluted me lazily with smiles, but I ignored their disrespectful attitude. Vanguard were known to even disrespect lieutenants. A lazy salute might be the most respect they would give an infantry sergeant.

"Quick reflexes, Sergeant," one of them commented.

"Sloppy sneaking, Private," I replied without missing a beat, earning a smile from both of them. I was sure that if they had wanted to, they could have ambushed us. Both of them were high tier-2. The same person who commented took out a whistle and blew it twice. Within five minutes, people started coming out from the forest. My squad also dispersed, but I asked Barry, Kael, and Garran, who were initially keeping watch, to continue with their duty. Finally, the Vanguard sergeant came out.

It was someone I recognized, and I instinctively saluted him.

"Sergeant Cole!" I said, performing a proper salute, earning a few curious glances from my team as well as from Vanguard.

"You know we are the same rank now. You no longer have to salute me," he said with a smile. I also smiled, realizing that.

"It is almost instinct, sir," I said.

"Good job defending the clearing. Would you mind giving me a report? That would allow us to plan our next steps and defenses for our squad while we are still here at the clearing," he said, getting straight to the point. I nodded as we started walking toward the supply cart to discuss things a little away from our squads. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where is the supply squad? I thought they were supposed to be with your team," I asked. I found it odd that they left the supply squad they were escorting unprotected.

"For the last mile, we had not been attacked by beasts. Now that I look at your squad, I think I know the reason why," he said, almost amused. I was not surprised beasts had stopped attacking them. With the amount of predatory beasts we had killed, I don't think any beast would approach this clearing for at least the next month.

"But we had concerns that there was a possibility that a tier-3 of the area was still alive, so before bringing the cart and endangering supplies, we came ahead to check and deal with any threat present," he continued. Whoa, he thought my squad was wiped out, I thought.

"What happened to the watchtower?" he asked.

"We were attacked by a tier-3 ape. It destroyed the tower," I replied. He frowned.

"If I remember right, the report mentioned that the clearing was occupied by a tier-3 mammoth. The second attack happened faster than we expected," he said, mostly talking to himself. Then he looked at me.

"Good job, Sergeant. This will save a lot of effort and time for this expedition. The Intelligence Division had predicted a second tier-3 attack would happen after we arrived, but it looks like once more they were wrong," he said. I frowned, listening to his words.

"Predicted?" I asked.

"I was not informed about that." If I had been informed, I might have brought some ropes or wire to at least make an early warning system.

"Hmmm, that is unusual. We should report it to the Captain, but it could also be that they did not expect the beasts to start attacking this early," he replied casually, as if it were not vital information but merely a minor delay in communication. Or perhaps he was simply so used to receiving unreliable information that it no longer affected him.

"Are mission details always this unreliable?" I asked, unable to hide the irritation in my voice.

"More often than not," he said, giving me a sad smile. Perhaps he noticed the frustration on my face, because something shifted in his expression. He straightened slightly, and for a moment he wore the same look he had on the first day he taught me how to salute.

"Most of the time, mission details are accurate. But certain factors cause discrepancies. Two of the most common ones are environmental conditions and threat level. Our current situation is a perfect example. After the beast tide, when the remaining beasts dispersed, it created uneven density across different regions. If I had to guess, the density in this area was higher than the Intelligence Division predicted.

Once we killed the Tier-3 that occupied the territory, competition for control likely began much earlier than expected." He paused briefly before continuing.

"The second reason is threat level. Anything classified in the higher Tier-3 range will have some degree of inaccuracy. I follow a rule of thumb: if they say the target is mid Tier-3, prepare for late Tier-3. Unfortunately, the types of missions assigned to your squad and mine usually fall into that category," he explained, patting my shoulder. Taking a few deep breaths, I had to admit that much of what the sergeant said made sense. Still, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. There was little I could do about it.

This was the reality I would have to operate in.

"Was Ape killed?" the sergeant asked, bringing the conversation back to my squad's encounter with the ape.

"No, sir. It retreated after getting injured," I replied. There was no hint of apology or regret in my voice. My mission was not to kill every beast in the clearing, but just to hold it. And honestly, if the ape wanted to escape, I don't think there was anything my team could have done. The sergeant did not comment on that. He just nodded.

"I will send archers from my squad to see if they can deal with it. Provide me details on it and the direction it left," he said. We carried on our conversation. First, I started by providing details on the ape, then we moved to overall details, where I reported everything: the types of beasts that attacked, their frequency, and the time of day they attacked. Once we were done, we started making our way back toward our squads.

"When are we leaving for Fort Dunvale?" I asked as we walked.

"As soon as my team locates that ape that attacked your squad and we deal with it," he said.

"When—" I stopped mid-sentence as I heard shouting.

"WHAT do you mean this is their job? They will do what I say!" someone shouted. I picked up the pace. What I saw only increased my confusion. Three supply carts had lined up. The sergeant of the supply unit and his unit were facing Peter. The supply sergeant was shouting at Peter while Kael was lying on the ground. Oren and Brakk were holding a large crate taken out from one supply cart with resigned expressions on their faces, whereas the rest of my squad were also holding their weapons, ready to fight.

"What is going on here?" I asked, a little anger in my voice.

"You are the sergeant of this squad?" the supply sergeant asked, turning toward me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Is this how you run your squad? Your private is questioning my orders, and these criminals have the balls to refuse my command?" he said, pointing at Kael. I understood what was going on. I turned to Oren and Brakk.

"OREN, BRAKK, DROP THE CRATE!" I ordered. They followed without hesitation, dropping the crate immediately. Then I looked at the sergeant. My squad had been fighting for their lives for the past month, and here he was, ordering them around and disrespecting them. I was furious beyond belief at the way he was conducting himself. As I saw him reach for his mana oath badge, my anger only increased. Before he could use it, I channeled mana into my spear.

It lit up with a white glow, and I released my mana to cover the entire supply squad.

"You use that badge again," I said very slowly, "and I will arrest you for breaking the chain of command with malicious intent while in the wild."