Chapter 40: Chapter 40

The moment Ron took his first step off the territory’s stone-paved road, he felt an unprecedented sense of freedom. The mental pressure he had just felt within the territory’s bounds seemed to have vanished entirely.

This sensation of liberation actually made him want to let out a long howl!

Just as Ron’s emotions were running high, Morris’s voice suddenly sounded by his ear: “We have left the territory’s borders. Maintain your formation and keep an eye out for potential enemies.”

Enemies?

The moment he heard there were enemies, Ron’s surging emotions felt as if a bucket of cold water had been splashed on them. He immediately scanned his surroundings tensely, simultaneously gesturing to his other companions to confirm their alert status while inquiring about their findings.

“No enemies spotted!”

Justin and the others quickly responded, and Ron finally exhaled slightly, though his mind remained on high alert. He then also realized that his state just now might have been somewhat off.

How could the mental pressure outside the territory be weaker than inside?!

It wasn’t weaker, but rather had changed its mode of effect. It was just like how cold could keep a person alert, while heat would make one drowsy.

What he was experiencing now was precisely this kind of “heat” mental pressure.

The outside of the territory was indeed more dangerous than the inside, even speaking solely of the environment itself!

Furthermore, Ron made another new discovery. Earlier, on the north-south main road between the territory’s farmlands, when he felt the immense mental pressure from the outside world, right as his consciousness was growing hazy, he had actually seen 【Pollution Secret Patterns】 on the snow.

It was precisely because of these mysterious patterns, which originally only appeared on the surface of his Light Orb, that he connected them to his true form and his real identity as a transmigrator. That connection gave him a jolt, allowing his will to momentarily coalesce, which led to the later, genuine firmness of will born from conviction.

But prior to leaving the territory, Ron had always believed it was an illusion born from his hazy consciousness. He thought that having seen Pollution Secret Patterns on his Light Orb, he had projected them onto the real world when his mental defenses were nearly breaking down.

Those Pollution Secret Patterns on the snow didn’t actually exist!

That was indeed what he had thought.

But when he truly left the territory’s borders, after a brief moment of haziness, he actually discovered those 【Pollution Secret Patterns】 once again.

And they didn’t just appear on the snow, but also on tree branches, in the sky, and even in the very air.

They were simply everywhere!

It was just that their presence was extremely faint, much like the constantly writhing crystalline snakes seen by those with visual floaters. Without investing sufficient attention, one could easily overlook them entirely.

But Ron noticed them!

He repeatedly verified his own condition, confirming that he was in a fully awake state, yet he could still see the omnipresent 【Pollution Secret Patterns】.

“Could this be the true face of the so-called 【World’s Truth】?”

Until someone else brought up this question on their own initiative, Ron didn’t dare consult Morris about it, fearful of being treated as an Evil Spirit Invasion and dealt with accordingly.

But he had a very strong premonition:

Most people probably couldn’t see these 【Pollution Secret Patterns】!

“Did I actually get the name right by pure coincidence?”

Judging from the fact that they were obvious outside the territory and unnoticeable inside, the mental pressure of the so-called world’s truth could be perfectly correlated with those 【Pollution Secret Patterns】.

Although there was no conclusive evidence or more rigorous proof yet, Ron’s intuition told him he had very likely guessed correctly.

And hadn’t the instructor told him to trust his intuition? In the absence of other explanations or new discoveries, he decided to trust this intuition.

…

Less than 500 meters after leaving the territory’s borders lay their destination: the Blackstone Sentry Post.

Because there was a quarry near the sentry post, and the black stone slabs used to pave the territory’s roads were sourced from there, this nearest sentry post came to be called the Blackstone Sentry Post.

The sentry post itself was also constructed from black stone with a wooden roof, looking from a distance like a black dot in the snow.

Upon approaching, the sentry post didn’t turn out to be much bigger either. The thirty men from their six squads couldn’t even all fit inside the post, so they simply stayed out in the open within the wooden palisade surrounding it.

“Instructor, what are we training on next?”

“Wasn’t the journey here just now training?” Morris said meaningfully.

Ron immediately understood. But since they had come all this way, it clearly wasn’t the instructors’ style to not stir up some activity. They had dared to show apprentices an Aberrant Beast’s horn on just the second day; after a whole month, wouldn’t they worry about the apprentices forgetting if they didn’t bring out something harsh?

…

Sure enough, Ron soon saw the Lord’s eldest son Waynes, the territory’s Chief Instructor Pierce, and the Chief Instructor of Apprentices Arnold gathered together discussing something.

A moment later, three Knights rode away from the sentry post on horseback under Waynes’s orders. Then, Arnold assembled Morris and the other instructors to relay the superior’s commands.

Finally, the instructors would pass the orders down to their respective squads, and the command Ron heard was:

“Young Master Waynes wants to see the results of your one month of training. He has ordered Knights to drive wolf packs to attack the sentry post. How those wolf packs are handled is entirely up to your six squads to decide. Every member of the best-performing squad will receive a vial of Ignition Potion as a reward.”

“Wolf packs? How many wolves?” Ron immediately asked.

Although the Blood and Fire Squad was assembled by Karel, and Karel was still the captain at the Territory Guard level, during this month of training, Ron had also earned everyone’s trust and respect.

Because of this, he was the de facto captain much of the time.

But to Ron’s inquiry, Morris had only one response: “I don’t know. All situations require your own judgment, all decisions must be made by yourselves, and I will not interfere in any way.”

“This…”

Hearing this answer, Ron felt somewhat dissatisfied. Couldn’t he give even a hint? Making a group of apprentices who had never seen blood handle a wolf pack attack, was that really wise?

Were people in this world really that nonchalant?

Before today, these teenagers might have never seen a real wolf, and even if they had, it was most likely a dead one. Being made to fight something they didn’t even understand didn’t quite align with Ron’s thinking.

By reckoning, he was probably the one among these six squads who understood wolf packs the best. After all, he had watched plenty of nature documentaries and the Discovery Channel before his transmigration. His understanding might not be deep, but at least he had some knowledge.

“Are those wolves Aberrant Beasts?” Even though Morris had already made his stance clear, Ron still asked one more question.

“No, you would definitely recognize an Aberrant Beast at a glance. They’re just ordinary wolf packs. If you spot an Aberrant Beast, I permit you to abandon this mission.”

Just as he finished speaking, a high-pitched howl echoed from the distance. Ron had no intention of wasting any more time with Morris. He gestured to his squad members, and together they headed toward where the other squads were resting.

“Laurie, what plans do you have for this mission?” Ron looked at the other person and asked with a serious expression.

As the captain of the ninth squad of the recruit training camp, Laurie didn’t hesitate either, immediately stating his squad’s plan: “We plan to defend and counterattack from behind the palisade. Depending on the specific situation of the wolf packs, we’ll then decide whether to go outside the palisade to pursue.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking!”

Ron then extended an invitation: “Let’s go find the other squads together! Judging by the sound, the wolf packs will be here soon. We need to determine each squad’s responsibilities as quickly as possible.”

“Alright.”