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Head Commander Bodley might’ve not said it out loud, but he thought it was a shame that Head Commander Antonio didn’t give Abel a chance. He could’ve known Abel better by joining his squad. Still, the man made his own decision.
Head Commander Edi announced, “Alright, time is up. You are no longer allowed to choose your own squad.”
He then smiled at Abel, “Wizard K3516, if you’ll allow me to be frank, your squad isn’t very strong. I would recommend you to do some adjustments.”
Edi said it with respect. Apart from Abel, he had full knowledge of what each of the men was capable of. It was very easy for him to come up with an assessment of the squad’s capabilities.
Abel shook his head in confidence, “No, thanks. I believe this is enough.”
Head Commander said as he saw K3305 and K3308 nodding as well, “Very well! My squad will be in the middle. The Gloger squad will be on the left. K3516’s squad will be on the right. Let’s disperse now, men!”
“Let’s go!” Abel told his squad members. Soon the three squads formed a massive triangle on the battlefield. It might be the first time Abel’s been a part of something like this, but with Head Commander beside him, it was not like he was going to make any big mistakes.
Head Commander Bodley explained at the front, “Master K3516, we don’t have to be too fast. The point is to travel over a long distance, and always preserve the stamina of our mounts.”
Abel nodded, then said, “Yes, sir. Um, I didn’t really ask to be the leader, and to be fair, I don’t think I have the experience. Maybe you should take the role instead.”
K3305 agreed, “Yeah, why not? Just take it, Bodley. K3516 is a fighter. Let’s not have him be distracted with strategies and all that.”
Head Commander Bodley accepted immediately, “Fine, then. I’ll take the lead from here, then.”
The whole squad started jogging with their mounts. They were doing a very standard form of their knight’s training. By having the mounts’ having one leg off the ground all the time, they were basically training them to have a disciplined form when they were moving in line.
Instead of being speed focused, the point was to make sure that the mount could run for more than a day and a night. Usually, even with the enhancement of a knight’s combat qi, it’d be hard for a war horse to run over five hours. Also, with all the weight that came with the armor, jogging was still the preferred choice if the squad was to make haste to their destination.
Unlike the knights, the horse deers that the wizards were riding didn’t need any training. They were just as fast, and probably better in terms of their durability. If it wasn’t for their rareness the horse deers, they would’ve been an excellent choice for a mount to purchase.
There were also the mount wolves Abel and K3308 were riding. There wasn’t that much to say about them. If there was, it’d be that “mount wolves were the best mounts on land.”
After two hours, Abel’s squad still didn’t find any orcs.
Abel asked K3303, “Are we at the wrong spot, K3303?”
K3303 laughed as he replied, “Ha, you’re funny, K3516! It’s day time right now! The orcs only come at night because that’s when we can’t see as well.”
“Oh, alright,” Abel nodded. Come to think of it, the last time he eradicated orcs was during sunset.
K3308 joined in the chat, “If it was up to me, I would just tell the whole squad to fasten our mounts. Like, what’s there to be scared about? We can just sweep the battlefield with K3516!”
Head Commander Markham shook his head, “That won’t do, K3308. I’ve told you before; humans aren’t just stronger than the orcs because we have better equipment. Disciple, Coordination–That’s what really sets us apart from them.”
Suddenly, Abel felt something watching over them. He looked up towards the sky, and a few birds were circling over them. When he looked towards a higher altitude, he could see a tiny spot that was looking directly at them. It was a blue falcon. He was sure of it.
“The orcs spotted us,” Abel said with concern.
Head Commander Bodley asked, “You’ve found them?”
Abel pointed towards the black spot in the sky, “There. That’s a falcon that’s been circling over us the whole time. The orcs probably sent it over to scout on us.”
K3308 wasn’t afraid at all, “Ha, ha ha! There it is! My military point is ready for the picking!”
Head Commander Bodley believed Abel, “It’d be very troubling if we’re already spotted. That’s going to put us in a very passive position.”
K3305 didn’t seem to be too worried, “It will be fine if we are all careful. We just need to be closer. Once we do, K3516 will spot them.”
Abel smiled at the comment. K3305 was on the money with this one. If he could figure out where the orcs were, he could just tell Flying Flame to burn them into cinder.
Meanwhile, K3003 was still trying to figure out what’s wrong. He didn’t know how strong Abel really was, but from what he’s seen so far, everyone else had this unconditional trust in him.
Head Commander Bodley sighed, “If only that falcon can get closer.”
“Yeah,” Abel said. Both of them knew it. If the falcon came a bit closer, he could just shoot it down with his arrow.
After one hour, it was noontime. The falcon was still not leaving. This was when Abel’s military tag started ringing.
It was a message from Head Commander Edi, “We’ll take an hour break from here, men. Get ready for lunch.”
Abel said to Head Commander Bodley, “Bodley! It’s an order from Head Commander. He wants us to rest for an hour to make lunch!”
For this mission, they must stay in their best condition at all times. That being said, eating and sleeping were very crucial. It was the same, even for the mounts.
Right now, there was one mile of distance between the squad. They could all see each other. After the signal was given, they stopped together and started taking breaks where they were.
Abel got down his mount wolf king. Then, he started feeding it fresh beef from his portal bag. It was very hot in August, but the portal bag was chilly enough to preserve this meat for about three or four days. If not for this, it’d be impossible for mount wolves to last in a ten-day mission like this.
For the war horses that the knights were riding, K3305 got some hay and beans from his own portal bag. After handing them to Head Commander Bodley and Head Commander Markham, they all started feeding their own mounts.
By the way, since the portal bags were strictly under the control of the Wizard Union, the knights didn’t really have access to get their own. Abel kind of knew that a while ago. When he was just a knight, he remembered getting a new portal bag from every wizard he killed. Truth be told, that kind of gave him the false impression that it was easy to get a portal bag.
For lunch (for the humans), it was steaks and white bread that was prepared in the morning. There was also some honeyed water to drink. Of course, these foods weren’t going to last too long. After the third or fourth day, even with the portal bags, all they were going to eat would be smoked meat and smoked fish.
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