The next day started smoothly. eting 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 mbers; every positioning and every formation would be decided by . 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 mbers were directly under threat from my squad mbers.
The next thing I did after the eting 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 statent earned a few smiles. “I had a eting 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 an we can expect the sa 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 ti in team sparring and increase ti for individual sparring, but this ti it will not be a competition; it will be one-on-one training.”
“Assuming Oren will have the sa trial as Brakk, while Rokan and Daren might get sothing related to hamr-based classes. Silas, I am sorry to say I could not predict what class you will get. There are ssengers in the army, so maybe a class related to that, but I hope sothing related to cooking,” I joked.
“Please kill , 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 . 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 pumling 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 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 ,” 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 ssenger] 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 rember correctly, you have [Direction Sense] and [Sound Sensitivity], right?” I asked, rembering 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 lifeti while enjoying it the whole ti.
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.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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 ant 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 ti it was a rhino with a tal horn. The fight was tough, but after facing so many Tier-3 targets, sohow 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 ntally 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
Na: Edward
Class: Battlefield Coordinator
Rank: Initiate (T2)
Level: 28 / 50
EXP: 2900 / 8400
Elental 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 Reinforcent (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 excited.
Because one thing this expedition had proved was that I needed to increase my combat power.
While I was exceptional when it ca 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 ca from Varric and his team, while I was able to block its blows thanks to the new shield that was given to by the lieutenant.
The sa 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 with far lower-quality equipnts.
But the thing that bothered 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 elents they could create so many effects and affect the combat rhythm, making it hard to match up with them, especially for soone like who had no elental affinity.
There was only one person I knew who could help increase my combat power, and that was Lieutenant Cicero. So the first thing I did after reaching Fort Darrow and freshening up was to et with Lieutenant Cicero to report on the mission and then bug him to train .
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