Simond stood up and glared at them. He clenched his fist and snorted. “Women don’t belong here.”

“Well, I’m staying. What you gonna do about it?”

Aldred smiled. That punch was so satisfying. If he could, he wanted to punch Simond in the face personally. But he was fine with Mareona doing it for him.

“Good luck surviving on the battlefield,” Simond said before leaving the inn.

Mareona put her hands on her waist. “That guy pissed me off.”

“Believe me when I say he pissed me even more.”

“Pongo.”

“If he dares to ruin my date again, I will skin him alive.” She sighed. “It’s noon. I have to train with my platoon. Why don’t we leave?”

Aldred nodded. They both exited the inn. The music and songs were muted by the wall and door. They went to the southwest gate and stood still on the pathway._-.

“It’s time for us to part way,” Mareona said.

Aldred nodded. “I guess so.”

Mareona hugged him. “That was a good date. I am happy today. Let’s do it again.”

“Sure.” Aldred smiled, returning the hug. She smelled nice.

Mareona released the hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running away and waving at him. Aldred waved back before he turned around and jogged back to his barrack.

His comrades had both of their arms on the ground, doing push up. He had never see them going to the inn, or having fun. All they did was train, eat, sleep, and repeat. Even after a battle, they would train the next day. He did not see the other soldiers doing the same thing as them. Was that why they could ram through the enemy formation so easily?

“Aldred,” Mary called. She caressed his head. “Where have you been. When I woke up, you were gone.”

“I went and play with Mareona.”

“Do you like her?”

Aldred blushed, recalling what he did with her in the inn. It wasn’t that dirty, but the music, the vibe, and her seductive dance made him shy nonetheless.

“She’s nice to me.”

“That’s good.” Mary smiled and kissed his forehead. “Then be nice to her too.”

Aldred nodded. “I will.” He smiled and tell her about the event earlier. “Simond was punched by her earlier.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Mareona was so fierce. Simond couldn’t even react before he fell on the floor.”

Bartrem overheard their conversation but said nothing. Aldred thought it was weird. He expected the man to say something like ‘serve that man right.’ Or maybe Bartrem would laugh about it. But he kept his calm and continue to train with his men.

A few days more passed, and another battle came. This time it was within the thick forest. The leaves blocked the sunlight, casting shade upon the army as their armor rustled against each other.

The army slowly moved in, using the bushes and trees as disguises. Bartrem looked ahead, his gaze serious. His bulky armor was much left to be desired in this covert battle. The army was currently in the Melanian Forest, located to the south of Ruandeurtin. Their mission was to find and ambush an enemy camp that was said to be nearby. Because they wanted to surprise the enemy, they had to do this slowly and carefully.

But, being sneaky wasn’t the only problem.

“Kakk!

Bartrem stopped. The other platoon also stopped in their track. Bartrem narrowed his eyes, and whispered; “Don’t make any noise.” Sweat trickled from his forehead.

Sloth-like creatures hanging on the trunk and branches of the trees. They tilted their heads and smiled. Their face looked cute, but their long limbs and claws were nothing of the sort. They might be the most terrifying creatures if they were quick. But why was Bartrem so worried about these sloths?

“Pongo,” Pongo said, wondering why everyone was so quiet.

“Shit.” Bartrem brandished his sword. The other soldiers also looked up and pulled their swords out.

The sloth-like creatures smiled at first, but then their expression turned vicious.

“KAKK!”

They leaped like monkeys on steroids, reaching out with their long limbs. Their face looked scarier than a lion hunting its prey.

Pressure Platoon II gritted their teeth and cut them down. Blood splattered on the tree trunks as more creatures jumped from the trees.

“There’s too many of these lekidaes.”

So they were not sloths, but lekidaes. A weird name for a weird creature. The sloth crawled on the ground. Their movement resembled those ghosts in horror movies.

Aldred summoned his undead army. Twenty undead comprised of wolves, ogres, and humans rushed forward, brandishing their weapons of choice and slamming them to the lekidaes.

The lekidaes screeched in pain. Aldred did not stay still. He aimed with his fingers and shot fire bullets at them.

“Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew.”

The fire bullets shot them down. A small burnt hole leaked out blood as the lekidaes fell down. They looked at Aldred with unwillingness and despair.

‘Sorry little guy, but you left me with no choice,’ Aldred fired a fire javelin at a target. The javelin went through a lekidae, then stabbed through another one before it got stuck into a tree trunk. He shot a fire arrow and it pierced through a creature’s head.

The javelin had more damage than the fire bullets and arrows, but its range wasn’t that far. The fire bullet was more effective at close range, but it wouldn’t kill an enemy if the target was too far. An arrow had a longer range and more damage, but it was hard to be accurate.

And because it was slower than the bullet, it could be dodged more easily.

But Aldred used the skill interchangeably. When the enemy got close he sprayed them with fire bullets, when they were in mid-range, he fire javelin at them, and for long-distance, he used fire arrows.

He spun around, aiming both fingers, summoning fire bullets, arrows, and javelins. The lekidaes fell one after another.

Bartrem looked at him. The boy grew in strength so fast. It was around two weeks ago the boy just entered the Copper Rank, but he increased exponentially after that. He also noticed that the boy learned much faster during battle than in practice and training.

What a terrifying talent, no wonder Mary, a Gold Rank, was sent here to protect him. He looked at the little creature that Aldred brought. Where did he find it?

“Pongo pongo pongo.” Pongo raised his weapon, a baguette, and slammed at the creature’s head, blasting it to pieces.

“PONGO!” he roared at the group of creatures, making them look at him in fear.