Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Ron didn’t know what they would encounter next. He only knew that regarding the arrangements from above, the only thing they apprentices could do was adapt, and furthermore, perform well.

And before that, exterminating all the wild wolves in front of the sentry post was the most important thing they should be doing right now.

“Laurie, have those few men in the back come over and help slaughter the remaining wild wolves.”

Ron was referring to the temporary seventh squad, formed earlier when each squad had contributed one person for lookout duty. The Blood and Fire Squad had also sent out Dimi, but he had already returned to the squad before they charged out of the sentry post, so the temporary seventh squad only had five men left.

Just now, while their six squads were charging and slaughtering the wolf pack head-on, the temporary seventh squad had held the gate of the sentry post and had indeed killed quite a few wild wolves. However, compared to those who had charged into the thick of things, they had missed out on a fair amount of experience.

The other squads had no objections to Ron’s proposal. After all, they had just been through a round of charging and slaughtering, and were in dire need of rest.

The several squads gathered together. Smelling the blood on one another, some frowned, some were excited, but most had already adapted to this state, appearing exceptionally calm and unperturbed.

“There should be more trials next. Does anyone have any information on this?” Ron took the initiative to broach the topic.

“No. Before coming, I sought out my uncle in the Territory Guard. He just told me to be myself. Thinking about it now, he must have known what we would face, but because it was a trial, a real trial, he wasn’t willing to reveal even a little more.”

“Is that so!”

Ron looked at the expressions of the others, and they all had similar reactions. He didn’t pay too much mind to this, though. Asking these questions was just a way to pass the time during their rest, so that a group of people sitting here idly wouldn’t make for an awkward atmosphere.

Since it was a trial, they just had to accept it. Since such a trial existed, it was bound to be something that they, a group of apprentices who had only undergone a month of training, could handle.

Take the wolf pack just now. They seemed ferocious and were indeed very powerful, but that was for ordinary people. For a group of quasi-soldiers who had already set foot on the path of transcendence, they were really just so-so.

As long as they could overcome their fear from the start and adopt the right strategy, a mindless wolf pack was nothing more than a mass of meat waiting to be slaughtered.

During their rest, everyone checked each other over and found that not a single person had been injured. Every speck of filth and blood on their bodies came from the wolves they had slain.

…

A moment later, Ron and the others finished resting. On the other side, the temporary seventh squad had also finished slaughtering every last wolf still standing on the field.

Looking out, hundreds of wolf carcasses lay quietly on the snow, which was dyed red and soaked into a muddy sludge from the blood.

Clack, clack, clack. A few rapid hoofbeats rang out as the three Knights who had left earlier returned. As they passed by Ron and the others, two of them reined their horses to a stop and began patrolling the outer perimeter of the group.

The remaining one rode straight into the sentry post without stopping. From afar, Ron watched him quickly dismount and report something to Waynes, who had walked out of the watchtower.

Immediately after, Waynes seemed to issue an order. Six or seven Knights stepped forward and quickly went inside the watchtower to don their armor.

By this time, horses had already been prepared for them outside. They mounted up and, following the Knight who had just returned to the sentry post, charged out once more.

Ron watched their retreating figures, feeling a vague sense of unease in his heart. But at this moment, all he could do was hope that nothing went wrong. The outside of the territory was practically a forbidden zone for their group of apprentices, stuck awkwardly between ordinary people and Transcendents.

Even against ordinary wild beasts, without the cooperation of companions to maintain the most basic Order system, it was very easy to make wrong decisions under the crushing weight of the external mental pressure.

“What do you guys think about the situation just now?” Shortly after the seven riders departed, someone asked this question.

“Hard to say. The wild wolves have all been slaughtered now. Let’s head back inside the sentry post first.”

“Agreed.”

But before everyone could actually get moving, Waynes had already led a squad of fully armed Knights outside. It wasn’t until this moment that Ron and the others heard Waynes’s voice for the very first time:

“The wolf pack just now was merely a small appetizer. The real enemy is coming! Open your eyes wide and see clearly, feel it with your hearts, and do not be deceived by the enemy’s disguise.

“Your mercy and hesitation won’t earn the enemy’s gratitude; it will only send you to your grave faster! Remember, kill every enemy that comes!”

After Waynes finished speaking, Ron muttered in his heart. What kind of enemy would disguise itself? What kind of enemy would make someone show mercy?

Humans!

Only human enemies, or at least enemies that looked human, could possibly make them feel compassion and stay their hands.

If that were the case, then the mental pressure they were feeling right now was far from being the truth of the world. Perhaps the truest side of the world was about to present itself before his eyes.

It wasn’t just Ron who thought of this possibility. The other members of the Blood and Fire Squad weren’t fools either; they naturally began to speculate about exactly what kind of enemy they were about to face.

Killing was indeed an extremely difficult choice to make, let alone killing without any reason. Any normal person would hesitate.

But Waynes had just said that those were the real enemies, and that mercy and hesitation would only make them die faster.

For a moment, the atmosphere among the apprentices turned extremely bizarre. Ron, however, noticed that the Knights, especially Instructor Morris, whom he was observing closely, had calm expressions, seemingly not the least bit worried about the impending encounter or the choice to be made.

What kind of enemy could it be?

Ron gazed at the endlessly stretching snow and forests in the distance, forcing himself to calm his mind. Before long, he seemed to hear the sounds of combat coming from the forest to the southwest.

Judging by the expressions on the other apprentices’ faces, they didn’t seem to have heard anything. As for the Knights, every one of them maintained a placid countenance, their eyes seemingly devoid of any fluctuation. Ron couldn’t glean anything from them.

Could it be an illusion?

The area outside the territory was covered in traces of Pollution Secret Patterns. For a moment, Ron couldn’t say for certain whether the sounds of combat he had just heard were an illusion or something else.

But soon enough, he became absolutely certain of the sounds he had just heard.

At the edge of the forest to the southwest, several black dots scattered out sporadically. Even from a great distance, Ron could faintly make out the humanoid outlines of those dots.

From the moment the first black dot burst out of the forest, dozens emerged in no time at all. Ron roughly counted them: twenty-seven in total.

And right on the heels of those black dots, larger black dots charged out. Those larger black dots were even easier to identify; they were unmistakably the seven riders who had departed earlier.

Wielding spears, they pointed and prodded, seemingly herding those walking humanoid creatures toward the sentry post.

Before long, wails, weeping, and curses traveled from distant to near, from faint to loud, reaching Ron’s ears and making his expression change drastically.