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Chapter 27 - The Hill's Top
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 23:33:00 +0000 UTC"Wake up, cadets! The Second Incursion will begin in 30 minutes!" Musk announced.
Oliver was already prepared, but much of the camp wasn’t. The calm that had reigned among the tents turned into chaos in seconds. Cadets could be seen everywhere, rushing to the bathroom, trying to shower, eating their rations, or putting on their uniforms.
Meanwhile, Oliver was walking toward where the Captains were waiting. Far from the camp, in an open field, ten captains were discussing the next steps and how the second incursion would proceed.
He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but he knew that, at some point, the orders would come from them.
'It’s better to wait here than in the chaos of the camp.' The boy thought.
Other cadets slowly started gathering in the clearing. One of the first people Oliver recognized was Astrid. She was walking again and seemed to have regained the energy she always had during class. But she looked a little different. Her braided hair was tied up, giving the impression of being short, and she seemed more composed than the day before.
Astrid recognized Oliver as he walked toward her. "Up early?" The girl asked.
"Yep. Yesterday, I just passed out in my tent." Oliver replied.
Although the two had faced challenges the previous day, they still struggled to talk to each other.
"Are you feeling better?" Oliver asked.
"Much!" Astrid replied, her voice full of energy as she moved her leg. Oliver smiled at the girl’s excitement but didn’t expect what she would do next.
Without hesitation, Astrid lifted part of her shirt to show where her ribs had been lacerated, but now there was no longer a wound, just a faded scar. She didn’t seem to be ashamed, but the same couldn’t be said for Oliver, who felt his ears heat up. He didn’t need a mirror to know his face was bright red.
"Thank you so much for yesterday. I promise I’ll repay you one day!" Astrid thanked.
Oliver nodded, still too nervous to say anything without stuttering.
"By the way, the advice I gave you in class still stands. You need to be more aggressive. You have what it takes to climb the rankings, but you’re still holding back. Think about it." She left, letting her words linger in the air.
Oliver continued pondering what Astrid had said. Soon, more cadets gathered in the area. At first, a few hundred, but as the 30 minutes neared their end, the space was filled with thousands of students.
At the end of the 30 minutes, Captain Musk stepped ahead of the other captains and walked toward the cadets.
"Cadets! Today’s exercise will have some changes. Our second incursion will no longer be conducted in small, isolated companies." Musk explained.
The captain continued walking in front of the students, who were still organized into companies.
"Yesterday, the severely injured students were withdrawn from the exercise and will not be participating in the second phase. There are close to twelve hundred of you remaining. Therefore, today, you will operate as a single battalion divided into six companies. We will return to the river north of this settlement and eliminate the remaining Crabit hordes. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" The cadets responded almost in unison, making the air tremble slightly.
At the end of the mission’s announcement, the other captains began to report which groups would merge into new companies. Oliver had no trouble finding his group, quickly recognizing familiar faces like Katherine, Astrid, and the boy who wielded a mace.
‘I think I remember his name… Hmm. I saw him in the rankings. It was Kyle?’ Oliver pondered.
Oliver muttered, "So this is the invincible trio? Let’s see if it stays that way after this expedition." He had seen Kyle’s fighting style but had yet to face him in the ring.
Once the companies were complete, the march began. The battalion knew where they were headed. Each company had operated separately at different levels the day before, but all had marched two hours away from the settlement to the river.
They quickly passed the areas where they had fought the Crabits the previous day. The carcasses had mostly been cleared, and there were no signs of new Crabits in the region. They continued marching across the plains until they began climbing the hills, a key sign they were approaching the river.
During the entire march, Oliver sensed something different from the previous day. It wasn’t the march itself but the people around him. He didn’t need to use [Observation] to notice that some people were staring at or glancing at him quickly. The boy just couldn’t figure out why. He had already checked his hair and uniform for anything out of place, but the feeling that people were watching him persisted.
After nearly two hours of marching, the cadets weren’t tired. Unlike the previous day, this group consisted of the best recruits, and the experience from the day before had prepared them for what to expect.
At the top of the hill, the five companies finally saw the river. The river’s current seemed stronger than the day before, and the rain from the previous night had spread even more mud along the riverbanks. The number of Crabits seemed to have increased as well. While there had been hundreds on the last day, today, there were at least two thousand.
"Sir, does this change anything in the plans?" one of the captains asked Musk.
Although they were of the same rank, Musk had enough experience to oversee this expedition.
"Let’s check the territory and see if there are other herds nearby, then we’ll discuss further," Musk explained to the other captains and assigned two of them, one to explore upriver and the other downriver.
"Rest! Cadets, you will wait 10 minutes while we check the perimeter." Musk explained to the companies.
Most cadets couldn’t see what was happening, but after observing the number of Crabits, they could imagine something was off-plan.
A few minutes later, the ten captains returned to their posts.
"Huff huff! I went up the river, and things didn’t look good. From the terrain, it looks like there was heavy rain yesterday. There are several muddy areas, and the river is stronger. Some parts to the north have flooded, forcing the Crabits to come down to this level. Still, two or three thousand Crabits are moving upriver. If it rains again and they are forced to descend..." The captain didn’t need to finish; his comrades understood the situation.
"It’s a bit better to the south. There doesn’t seem to have been any flooding, but there are still a few hundred Crabits. Nothing out of the ordinary." The other captain explained.
The group was divided. Some wanted to cancel the exercise, while others understood that dealing with the unexpected was crucial to the formation of officers of the New Earth Army.
"Enough! I hold the same rank as all of you, so I can’t order you around. But this exercise is under my command. We are not turning back. These students need to learn how to handle impossible situations, and this will be one of them. Better that they learn it with ten captains able to support them." Musk ended the remaining discussion.
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Musk returned to the front of the companies and prepared the cadets.
"Cadets, the situation has changed. We originally expected to encounter 700 to 800 Crabits. Due to yesterday’s storm, we will have to face between 1,000 and 2,000 Crabits, and the terrain won’t be in your favor."
Many students' expressions became grim. Yesterday, the average was one Crabit per cadet on solid ground, and even then, they had to retreat. Today, they would face more enemies on more challenging terrain. Accidents seemed inevitable.
"However, facing unpredictable situations is part of your training and your daily life in the New Earth Army. So, we will not be canceling the Second Incursion. Prepare yourselves. We begin in 10 minutes!" Musk finished the announcement.
Oliver's situation had gone from bad to worse. Yesterday, his biggest hardship was the muddy terrain, nearly killing him. Today, not only would he face that same challenge again, but he would also have to fight more creatures.
‘Hmmm huff...’ He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
He activated his Artificial Ranger Armor and held his Energy Pistol. His fingers drummed nervously against the side of the gun, a tic he had developed in the past few days.
‘I’ll have to take a risk,’ he calmed himself, trying to reassure himself that his plan would work.
Oliver understood that if he didn’t take a risk, his chances of being injured were high, possibly even facing another threat to his life. He wouldn’t be surprised if some of the cadets didn’t return to the Academy after this.
He continued to calm himself, focusing on his plans. The ten minutes passed quickly, not giving him enough time to be sure of what he would do.
"Prepare! Prepare! Begin the incursion!"
