When they first entered the Spider Swamp, everything seemed rosy as together, they were able to keep all the threats at bay but their first encounter with a swarm of Swamp Spiders ended up being a nightmare.
It all happened in just a few minutes and they were still shaken.
Most of them, even Rex, this was their first time witnessing a close companion dying in action. Rex's original teammate was the 3rd soldier that died.
Though he could not refer to him as a friend, he already saw Gundogan as a fellow brother in arms so he was affected by his death.
They may have already undergone months of experience and training in the army, but this was still a lot to take in.
Despite the difficulties of accepting the 3 deaths, none of them stopped to mourn their deaths, they were soldiers and they were obligated to fulfill orders.
Discipline as emphasized by Sergeant Stones was one of the core traits of a good soldier, Rex and every other soldier here strived to develop this trait daily.
Now that it was needed the most, they proved the reason why they were the best performing soldiers of the past 2 months. None of them broke, they held strong like a turtle's shell as they continued their journey deeper into the swamp.
Shortly after escaping the deathtrap of the Swamp Spiders, they encountered another one but Crane proved why he was the leader of this team.
This veteran soldier was a prime example of 'I won't fall for the same trick twice. Once again, he proved why Turan held him in such high regard.
While he led his soldiers deep into the swamp, Crane never spoke much and this was because he was busy studying his surroundings for signs.
As a kid, he never had it as easy as Turan who was a privileged nor Rex who had the privilege of getting a scholarship. He worked his way from the ground to the top as a hunter of beasts in the most dreaded forests in the region.
This was one of the many traits why he was recruited into the army.
Having spent hours in the swamp, he already figured it out completely. After the Spider Swamp disaster, Crane seemed to turn into a moving computer.
His orders were as precise and as accurate as the readings of a scanner.
"There are mud Pythons ahead, take the left!"
"These snapped leaves are traces of mud ants, there are also marks of Swamp Spiders here, we'll go past here!"
His leadership qualities were fully embodied as he led the soldiers to escape a lot of dangerous situations even as they stepped up their speed.
Despite his observation abilities and leadership qualities, he was not omnipotent, he slipped up at times. In these rare times that he slipped, he did well to warn his soldiers beforehand as they bombarded the beasts with vengeance.
Rex's set of graduates of the Obedin City was called the Golden generation, this was because their standards were much higher than previous sets.
The fact that over 50% of this group were comprised of them spoke a lot, and this was why together, they were able to annihilate every obstacle that appeared before them with relative ease.
The only times that they had it rough was when they encountered intermediate mystic beasts, and oh boy, the danger was real then.
The first intermediate beast that they encountered was a mud Lizard. The beast was much faster than them so they had no choice but to fight it.
This time, they all revealed their full abilities. Crane showed why he was the strongest again, he could summon 3 Cranes who all had 8th tier basic mystic strength. With these 3 taking the lead, they were able to injure the lizard.
Once they did, they escaped, the swamp was not safe to elongate the battle further. Their 2nd intermediate mystic beast encounter was against a Swamp Spider, this tricky beast almost claimed another life but Crane stepped up again.
Perhaps, Crane's most significant achievement in this mission was that they never fell for an ambush of Swamp Spiders again. They always discovered them ahead of time, Crane was like a fictional ranger character.
In this manner, an additional 6 hours passed without them finding their targets though they kept on meeting their trail and seeing hints left by them.
This frustrating situation was supposed to make Crane order them to increase their speed further, but Crane rather gave a surprising command.
"Stop! Let us rest".
"What?" Turan spoke up first. "What of the Commissioner? Who knows if the little time wasted here would result in him being killed?"
Crane turned to face his teammate calmly. "If the Commissioner was to be killed, he would be dead long before we even got to the swamp".
"This was a gamble from the beginning. If they already killed him, then our mission already failed from the beginning but if he's still alive, to give him a chance of survival, we need to be at our best so rest".
"But…" Turan was about to speak further but he succumbed on seeing the look on Crane's eyes, the rest of the team settled down to rest also.
As they sat down to rest, Crane closed his eyes in thought. Whereas his teammates were still kept in the dark, he already had a vague idea about the plan of the marauders, and that was why he ordered them to rest.
His real purpose for telling them to rest was so they could get to their destination when the sun was already setting.
The dark of the night could prove very useful in chaotic circumstances.
While all his teammates settled down to rest, Rex did the same but his attention was totally focused on his system.
[1st Sub-mission: Kill 20 marauders!]
[Mission Progress: 0/20]
[2nd Sub-mission: Kill 100 mystic Swamp Spiders!]
[Mission Progress: 8/100]
[Mission Status: Not completed!]
Whereas the others had only one rescue mission from the army, Rex had that and his system missions also.
Of the 3 missions, the first was still static, the 2nd was stagnant since they evaded every Swamp Spider after their first encounter with them.
The 3rd and main mission were still pending.
Rex was most motivated to complete the main mission, the rewards were too tantalizing. 50 mystic energy limits could basically take him through a full tier.
What worried him was that with great rewards came great requirements.
…
Despite the words from his teammates, Crane stuck to his decision as they all got to rest for 4 hours before they stood up to continue their journey.
By now, they already spent almost 24 hours in the swamp forest as their smartwatches now indicated that the time was around 5:00 pm.
When they stood up to leave, Crane took other crazy decisions. Instead of leading them to follow the trail, he instead led them in an entirely opposite direction. They didn't understand his plan but they trusted him and followed.
Crane led them almost a kilometer in the opposite direction before he suddenly threw one of his daggers upward without looking.
When the dagger fell, a tiny thread of web followed it.
"Run!"
Without hesitation, Crane turned and started sprinting away. His teammates were confused but they dared not look up as they sprinted after him.
They sprinted non-stop for 30 minutes after which they appeared in a region of the swamp that was clearly more organized than the other parts.
The trees here seemed to have been organized in a way where they formed a pathway through their middle. Crane did not stop on getting here, so his teammates followed as they sprinted through the middle of the pathway.
2 minutes later, they arrived before a tree that was far more massive than the others. Below this tree stood 2 individuals, the commissioner and his daughter, their feet, hands, and mouth were tied.
"That's our target!" Turan intoned but like the others, his expression turned grim, he already figured out that something was wrong.
Whoosh!
The next moment, the mud surrounding the pathway of mud trees rose as they formed a blockade around the soldiers then the next moment, holes opened from the mud on the ground as warriors in brown clothes and masks came out.
Everything was natural, it was like this was the home of the marauders.
"As I suspected, they are a tribe and this is their lair". Crane said while unsheathing 2 of his daggers as he looked calmly at his surroundings.
The other soldiers finally reacted, stunned. "This is an ambush!"
Crane replied. "Yes, but remember, rescuing the commissioner is the priority, any sacrifice is acceptable so long as he is safe".
"Do not forget my plan, move!"
The other soldiers were shocked by Crane's nonchalance. The marauders outnumbered them by more than 5 to 1, there was no escaping sure death here but perhaps feeding on his confidence, they also got ready to give their lives.
They all unsheathed their weapons and sprinted towards the commissioner and his daughter as their eyes burned with zeal and confidence.
The clan head of this marauding tribe who already prepared a speech to give the soldiers when they experience the despair of being outnumbered was stunned, this was not within the script.
Before the marauders could react, Morgana who was the fastest already arrived before the commissioner. Her daggers moved like the wind as they rapidly set the commissioner loose, then she threw him towards Crane.
"Save my daughter…"
Bam!
Crane slapped him unconscious before he could complete his sentence, then he yanked him on his shoulders as the rattle of a Crane reverberated the next moment. Crane jumped on his summoned beast as he prepared to escape.
"Stop him!"
The marauders finally sprang to life as they erupted at the soldiers with the intent to kill them, but this was when the beta finally made known her presence.
HISS!!!
Every marauder froze. "A Beta Swamp Spider!"
The massive Swamp Spider set her massive butt forward as her tail appeared and started shooting her load of poison at the intruders of her kingdom.
And oh boy, they were massive!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Chaos ensued.
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