Chapter 116 - Rivalry
“Psst.”
The blood-stained sword pierced through the man’s head and a trace of fear flashed through his eyes, but his expression then turned empty.
Rhode stood up and swung the blood-stained sword. After that, he looked at the surrounding forest with serious expression.
What that man said and what he thought were almost exactly the same. The Jade Tears mercenary group didn’t just send one unit here. According to that unlucky worm, this time the Jade Tears mercenary group sent two-thirds of their forces. They were divided into three units to follow and attack Starlight when necessary. Strictly speaking, the team that Rhode attacked wasn’t even considered as a combat unit. They were only responsible for reconnaissance. According to the Jade Tears mercenary group arrangement, some were responsible for scouting while the combat unit was supposed to surround their target. The last unit disappeared just after they entered the Twilight Forest; they were reinforcement, but the man Rhode asked didn’t know where they were located.
Originally, these two units shouldn’t have been too far from each other because if something happened, it would be easier for them to back each other up. However, the situation was completely the opposite. According to the report, the person that led the main force was someone that just recently joined the Jade Tears, and Bell wasn’t willing to follow the command of such a person. That was why after they entered the Twilight Forest, two sides became hostile towards each other, so Bell took his own unit and left. Clearly, they weren’t planning to meet each other anymore. In Bell’s opinion, he only needed to wait until right before the attack began and then send people to notify the main group. If not for him, it was basically impossible for all those fools to find their target all the way out here!
Although Rhode knew from the beginning that the Jade Tears was a group of trash, their extent of trashiness really made Rhode quite surprised. He even began to wonder whether the opponent was deliberately acting weak to lure himself into falsification. Otherwise, didn’t that mean that their move was very suicidal?
What caught Rhode’s attention wasn’t where the main force whose location remained unknown was, but the reinforcements.
No one lived in the Twilight Forest and the only things that passed by were floating airships. Naturally, thieves and bandits didn’t exist, since they didn’t have wings to fly and snatch goods. That was why from another point of view, it could be said that the Twilight Forest was deserted. Perhaps, there would be some adventurers at times, but no normal people would choose to live here for long. However, to actually seek reinforcements in the forest? Were they planning to talk with those wild beast or something?
As for Rhode’s understanding towards Frank, he believed that Frank wasn’t an extremely stupid person. Most likely, the so-called reinforcement was the real main force of this attack and these mercenaries were just a pretense. Else, they wouldn’t need to wait until the reinforcement arrived to attack.
“Very well.”
They nodded and Rhode also didn’t say anything more and waved his hand, pointing towards the valley ahead.
“This is the second part of training. The content is very simple. I want all of you to enter this valley. At the end of the valley, there is a clear spring and an ice stone that can only be found there. I want you to bring back those stones to me after entering the valley. Of course, I’m not afraid to tell all of you that there’s some wild beast that resides inside the valley. They will attack any enemy that invades their area without permission. Be careful, the time limit is 3 hours. I hope you can get back here before dinner. Now, go!”
Although the mercenaries were a bit panicked and felt overwhelmed after Rhode issued his order, they bit the bullet and entered the valley. Soon, their shadows disappeared into the forest. Only Rhode, Anne, Lize, Marlene, and Lapis were left standing outside. Seeing that her brother’s figure had disappeared, Lapis was a little bit worried, but she knew that based on her current strength, it was impossible for her to join them, so she could only patiently waiting outside.
Lize also anxiously looked at the valley, and walking towards Rhode, she asked, “Will there really be no problem, Mr. Rhode?”
Anne sat in the big tree beside Rhode, and nibbling the apple in her hand, she asked, “Does Anne need to help them?”
“No need.”
Faced with their inquiries, Rhode shook his head. Since he dared to bring those newbies here, he must have already thought about it. This was one of the newbie group quest. Although it was a group quest, but the number of the monsters weren’t too many; there were only wild wolves, dogs, and such. It was basically not too dangerous—at least compared to formal dungeons, the danger level of this group quest was a lot lower. If those newbies couldn’t even get away from this level of danger, then Rhode would really consider whether or not they were really suited to join his mercenary group.
“It’s not too dangerous inside, so there should be no problem. It’s said that even a lion will push its own cubs to the abyss and let them climb on their own. If they can’t even pass this kind of test, then it is useless to let them stay.”
“Leader… That’s a lion and its own cubs…”
Facing Anne’s grin, Rhode’s face was still emotionless. “In my hometown, there’s a saying: once a teacher always a teacher. I already can be considered as their half teacher,” Rhode calmly answered.