Chương 140: Chapter 137 - Back to Fort Darrow

The next day started smoothly. Meeting Sergeant Darric and Sergeant Cole went far better than I had expected. We decided that I would have full authority over security on the way back. Sergeant Darric would not be allowed to order any of my squad members; every positioning and every formation would be decided by me. The only negative thing was that he still got to keep the oath badge, but he could use it only if he or his squad members were directly under threat from my squad members.

The next thing I did after the meeting with the sergeants was gather my squad.

"Good morning, everyone. I don't know about you all, but I am happy to announce that we will be leaving this fort tomorrow morning. It was a short stay, but I already had enough of this place." My statement earned a few smiles.

"I had a meeting with the other sergeants. We have established that Sergeant Darric will only be allowed to use his badge in case of self-protection, so try to avoid harming the supply squad on the way back."

"Now, onto the thing I wanted to discuss. Yesterday I had a discussion with Brakk, and after that I have decided that we Tier-2s will help all Tier-1s in training in the best possible way we can. Tier-1s are close to their class trials. Brakk, can you please inform us what class options you got for your [Laborer] class? Were all the options you got combat-related? Sharing this information can help us predict what classes others could get."

Brakk nodded and said, "I was offered a direct upgrade to my class, or more like an army upgrade to it, [Militia Worker], and then the class I told you about, [Shield Barrier]."

"Hmm, that would mean we can expect the same for Oren, Rokan, Silas, and Daren—one option for non-combat and another for combat. I am hoping this is what everyone here wants, a combat class?" My question received enthusiastic nods from all four of them, with smiles on their faces.

"Okay, so this is what we will do. We will reduce time in team sparring and increase time for individual sparring, but this time it will not be a competition; it will be one-on-one training."

"Assuming Oren will have the same trial as Brakk, while Rokan and Daren might get something related to hammer-based classes. Silas, I am sorry to say I could not predict what class you will get. There are messengers in the army, so maybe a class related to that, but I hope something related to cooking," I joked.

"Please kill me, Sergeant, if I do," Silas said.

"Okay, so Tier-2s—Garran, you will partner with Brakk; Varric with Oren; Rokan with Barry; and Daren with Kael. After reaching Fort Darrow, we will switch so that you all get comprehensive experience." I decided on these pairs as a starting combination because Varric and Kael would push the defensive abilities of Oren and Brakk, while Barry and Garran would push Rokan and Daren to innovate with their attacking capabilities.

"Sorry, Silas, you are stuck with me. I have never had the opportunity to teach combat to anyone," I said, cracking my fingers and giving a smile to Silas. I was really looking forward to pummeling him, but I also felt Silas had the potential to be a good scout for our squad. And this expedition has shown how important a role vanguard scouts played, especially while tracking the patrol squad. Adding even one scout to my squad would increase my squad's flexibility.

Working with him might give me an opportunity to train him in that.

"I hardly need to say this, but do not go easy on Tier-1s. Make sure they clear their trials in one go, but also make sure they are not injured."

"Peter, you will be monitoring all of us. Make sure if you find problems in techniques or see if you could suggest things that could help with the class selection of our Tier-1s."

"Silas, with me," I said, finishing the conversation as we made our way to the training yard. As Silas and I faced each other, I asked him,"What class are you hoping for? I know there is a [Battlefield Messenger] class, and you could also get a spear-related class with the amount of combat you have taken part in, or even a scout class," I asked.

"Scout class would be a dream," he said as I thrust my spear, catching him by surprise.

"For a scout class, you will need sensing ability. If I remember correctly, you have [Direction Sense] and [Sound Sensitivity], right?" I asked, remembering skills from his file as we exchanged a few more spear strikes.

"Yes," Silas replied.

"Great. If we upgrade these skills, we might get a scout on our squad." I said, and then gave Silas the beatdown of his lifetime while enjoying it the whole time. No wonder Walter liked to do it. During this sparring, I also tried to stay out of Silas's sight, making sure he used his [Sound Sensitivity] skill as much as he could. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Finishing the sparring and after healing my squad, we had lunch with the Vanguard squad and finished the day with one more spar. Next morning, we left for Fort Darrow, and the journey to Fort Darrow went without any problems, which meant we did not encounter any barbarians on the way. We did encounter beasts, mostly herds of Tier-2s. We also took a two-day stop at the clearing to eliminate beasts surrounding the area, which included eliminating a Tier-3 beast. This time it was a rhino with a metal horn.

The fight was tough, but after facing so many Tier-3 targets, somehow the only thing it cost us was our stamina. On the way, Oren also brokethrough to Tier-2 and was eligible for an Initiate class, while Brakk also wanted to attempt his Initiate trial. He was feeling confident after 10 days of preparation, but I had stopped him and anyone else from taking the trial.

I had started seeing the benefits of one-on-one training sessions and wanted to train them with other Tier-2s in rotation after we reached Fort Darrow so that they would feel mentally secure, reducing the chances of failing another trial. After 15 days of the journey back, we finally reached Fort Darrow. The first thing I did was check my status. +10, 000 EXP Name: Edward Class: Battlefield Coordinator Rank: Initiate (T2) Level: 28 / 50 EXP: 2900 / 8400 Elemental Affinity: 0. 1% Wind Mana Cultivation: Tier 2 (28. 5/100) (+1. 5) Mana Nodes: 2 / 7 Physical Attributes Constitution: 58. 8 → 61. 3 Strength: 44. 9 → 46. 4 Agility: 43. 8 → 45. 2 Spiritual Attributes Intelligence: 69. 7 → 74. 3 Wisdom: 57. 9 → 61. 7 Willpower: 59. 5 → 63. 9 HP: 613 / 613 HP Regen: 152. 9 (+5. 4) per day MP: 2500 / 2500 (+84) MP Regen: 250. 4 (+12. 8) per hour Class Skills [Operational Cognition (A)] – Level 12 → 22 [Unbroken Stride (UC)] – Level 41 → 45 [Flowing Spear Style (UC)] – Level 50* [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] – Level 37 → 44 [Vital Restoration (UC)] – Level 33 → 41 General Skills [Battlefield Command (UC)] – Level 9 → 21 [Triage Ward (UC)] – Level 15 → 25 [Rune Analysis (UC)] – Level 20 → 22 [Fortification Planner (UC)] – Level 3 → 6 [Logistics Routecraft (UC)] – Level 12 → 14 [Mana Manipulation (UC)] – Level 46 → 50* [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] – Level 50* On this trip, I had gained an overall 5 levels.

I was level 23 when we left, and now I was level 28, and one more uncommon-tier skill had reached its threshold. More importantly, it was [Mana Manipulation]. It was one of the skills I was looking forward to exploring. I wanted to see what its evolution would be. From what I knew, [Mana Manipulation] was one of those skills that had direct upgrades up to Rare-tier without needing to be combined with any other skill, just like spear skills, but it could also be combined with other skills.

Just thinking about all these possibilities had me excited. Because one thing this expedition had proved was that I needed to increase my combat power. While I was exceptional when it came to sensing abilities or decision-making during combat, the thing I lacked was brute combat power—the ability to go toe-to-toe in direct confrontation with powerful opponents. Against the mammoth, we were lucky because Corvin betrayed and created an opening.

Against the ape, most of the damage came from Varric and his team, while I was able to block its blows thanks to the new shield that was given to me by the lieutenant. The same shield made the majority of the contribution against the barbarian and the rhino. It felt like the spear and shield were the only reasons I survived this expedition, while my squad contributed far more than me with far lower-quality equipments. But the thing that bothered me most was my inability to match up with vanguard privates.

They had mana capacity comparable to mine, in most cases less than mine, yet with their elements they could create so many effects and affect the combat rhythm, making it hard to match up with them, especially for someone like me who had no elemental affinity. There was only one person I knew who could help me increase my combat power, and that was Lieutenant Cicero.

So the first thing I did after reaching Fort Darrow and freshening up was to meet with Lieutenant Cicero to report on the mission and then bug him to train me.