Chapter 1011 Dark Cave
Squads soon formed, either through bribery or extortion. Arthur never attempted to form a squad and chose to sit down instead. Throughout the entire hour of hustle and bustle, he remained absent-minded, as if he was sleeping.
"Everyone knows how strong you are, but no one wants a troublemaker," said Jia Huang while standing in front of him. Arthur raised his head and saw the man stare daggers at him. "If you want to be promoted, you have to bow down and accept my commands."
"The difference between you and me is not strength, but how much time we spent on the second floor," said Arthur with a threatening gaze. "We are not a real army, nor are you really my superior. You can hinder me… or make use of me. The former has a less appealing result."
"Are you threatening me?" asked the Lieutenant with a wrathful face as he shook with anger. "Even if you are stronger than I am, the entire army of Xeloria has my back! With a single command, you will be imprisoned!"
"Let's not grow hasty," someone intervened from behind the Lieutenant. Joey walked forward with his hands in his pocket and a wide smile on his face. "You know how youngsters need a little taming, Sir Jia."
"Who are you?" asked the lieutenant with a frown. Joey strolled over and even placed his hand around the man's neck, making his frown deepen. Arthur was even surprised to see him so casual with a superior officer.
"My name is Joey. I came here through the recommendation of Sir Lanka," said the muscular man with a grin. Hearing the name of a titled knight, the lieutenant's expression changed. "I wonder if you've heard about me?"
"I recall that he mentioned a man he found in the wilderness," said Jia Huang with a nod. "Since you are an acquaintance of the esteemed knight, I will forgive your impudence. However, never act casual with me."
Jia Huang then shook off the arm around his neck and walked away. Arthur and Joey watched him leave with similar expressions of amusement. Then, Joey turned toward Arthur, and his smile faded.
"You are a real pain in the ass," said Joey, making Arthur raise his brows with a chuckle. "I thought you were a good man when we met outside the registration office, but you seem to cause havoc wherever you go."
"A free spirit cannot be restrained," said Arthur with a smile. "You seem to have a few secrets of your own, Wilderness Man. What makes you act so cautious when you are stronger than these men?"
"Strength is not absolute. Numbers are what win wars," said Joey after a moment of pause. "If you cannot understand that, then you have not been in a real war before. No matter how powerful you get, you cannot win against an entire army."
"I don't need to win against an army," said Arthur with confusion. "I just have to defeat a single man."
The words left Joey shaken, and he had to pause for a few seconds before giving a smile and walking to sit beside Arthur. The man stared at the ground for a while before turning toward Arthur with a grin, "That happens to be something I believe."
"Is that so?" muttered Arthur without much thought and turned his head forward.
Joey remained seated beside him until the time was over. Out of the fifty soldiers, forty-five split into nine squads. Arthur was among the five who remained, with one of them being the weak man from his room. As for the remaining two, they were twin sisters who were not part of the new recruits.
"I see that we have some leftovers," said Jia Huang with a disgruntled mocking expression. "You five can form the last squad. The first squad to form can come over and draw from the box."
Arthur turned to stare at his group. Joey and the frail man were people he knew, but the twin sisters seemed to be the weirdest among the five. After all, they were identical except one had a mole under her left eye, while the other had it under her right.
Joey rose from the ground as the squads began drawing from the box. It was soon their turn, and the other four stared at Arthur. He gave a frown but didn't mind being the one to draw their task. As he walked toward the box, he felt runes activating within it.
Arthur placed his hand in the box with a smile before pulling out a small piece of paper. Jia opened his palm to receive it, and a smile appeared on his face once he read its content.
"Your first task is… Dark Cave."
"Impossible!" said one of the sisters with shock, while the other one seemed to be shaking. "Lord Marshal said that no one in the Newbie Division would be sent there after the… the… last incident."
"There have been sightings of people going into the Dark Cave. We want you to see if anyone has been visiting the altar and make sure that no monsters have spawned from there. Your job is to scout, not to fight any monsters."
As the lieutenant explained, the sisters could no longer object. However, Arthur could feel their deep fear once they heard the name Dark Cave. Thus, he suspected Jia Huang to have done something underhanded and manipulated the results.
"Is it a dangerous place?" asked the frail man with fear. Arthur and Joey stared at the two sisters as well, looking for answers. Then, while the rest of the soldiers began leaving the field to do their tasks, one of the twins spoke the truth.
"Dark Cave… is a death trap," said one of the two. "We were there a week ago and ended up losing three of our squad members. I understand your confusion when I say we lost, but it's true. That cave… has demonic creatures capable of killing us with no chance of revival."
"How can they assign us to a place like that?!" shouted the frail man in a panic. Arthur noticed that he was genuinely more scared than the two sisters, who already seemed traumatized. "I'm not going there! No way!"
"We have a day to finish these tasks. If we fail, we can no longer remain in the Xelorian Army. That means we would have to travel through the wilderness for days in hopes of reaching another city," explained Joey.
"How did the two of you survive?" asked Arthur with interest. The two women did not seem particularly strong, but they were the ones who survived against demonic creatures.
"We have a special skill," said one of the sisters, and they elaborated no further. Arthur nodded with understanding. "In any case, we cannot go underprepared. Scouting might be a different story, but if we encounter even a single demonic creature… we would all die."
"I would like to meet one," said Joey, and Arthur could not help but nod with a grin. The other three had their jaws drop at the same time, before staring at one another.
"We have to prepare tonight! Everyone should buy as many runic cards as they can, and we will depart early in the morning," said the frail man, and the sisters nodded. Joey seemed to have a different opinion, so he hurried to object.
"We cannot waste half a day," said the muscular man as he stroked his chin. "I think Jia Huang sent us there on purpose. We have to spend
whatever time we have studying the Dark Cave before we go inside. We'll depart in an hour and spend the night in the wilderness. Then, we'll take turns monitoring the situation outside the cave."
"But…" muttered one of the sisters, but the other one grabbed her arm and nodded. In the end, the two agreed and left to prepare, but the frail man refused.
"Have you lost your mind?" shouted the thin man as he pressed his index finger against Joey's chest. "We cannot prepare that amount of gold in such a short time! We have to spend a day… two days, just to get enough life-saving cards!"
"Why did you join the army if you are such a coward?" asked Joey with annoyance as he slapped the finger away. The man seemed offended and even took several steps back.
"Did you just call me a coward, you bastard?" the man seemed to flip, surprising Arthur and Joey both. "I am not a coward! I just value my life and my preparations! I dare you to call me a coward one more time!"
Arthur stared at the man in amusement as he pushed his frail body against the tall Joey. He even tried to puff out his chest to make himself look bigger. It made the two men laugh, and the man started shouting at them.
After he calmed down and resigned to his fight, the man introduced himself. His name was Koby and he had been on the second floor for a month. Koby tried to persuade them, but Arthur backed Joey on this one. He wanted to depart sooner rather than later.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l