25 Athra 3 (1/2)

After all the shouting, silence returned to the forest. Then Kai closed his eyes and retrieved the mental image of how the aura affected the privates, ”If you couldn't stand the aura and pa.s.sed out, move to the right. Those that were on the ground, move to the left. If your legs were bent, move to the bottom and if you were standing, go to the top.”

The privates listened and moved to where they were called. Kai looked around then he cross-referenced his mental image to the one he was seeing. There were a few who tried their luck however, he called them out and then they moved to their correct positions. Once he was sure that his mental image was congruent to reality, he nodded his head, ”I have arranged you in this order but don't think that because you have been marked as talented or not that you are any better or worse than others. You might not excel in combat but your talents are needed elsewhere. Here we are all equals. Everyone's role is important and how you perform it will decide our result.”

Hearing this all the talented privates gulped and those that were marked as ”untalented” had the shame lifted off of them, ”I am going to be creating seven different divisions. First Division is the attack force. I and Lexi will be heading this division. We are also the head of all the divisions.” Then he looked at Lexi and wanted to say, 'My words are her words, treat her as you would me,' but he decided against it. They would soon know that she wasn't just some beauty.

”The second division is the scout's division. Your job is to map the positions of everything. If there is a distorted s.p.a.ce, map it on the shared map. If you see a five-meter Zolma or even a mutated beast, map it and its estimated path. Once you map this move on and scout the other things. You don't need to relay it. That is the job of the third division, the communications division. You are in charge of relaying important information to all surpa.s.sers. Set up the multiple channels. I want a direct channel between Lexi and myself. Lexi and I with the heads. Inter-Division channels and Broad channels etc. Also, your job is to keep senseless chatter out.”

”The fourth division is the Caddies. Your job is to return all the meat that has been killed so it can be tallied. The fifth division is an independent squad slash covert infantry your job is to scout, map, attack alike. If you see your surpa.s.sers need help, provide back up if not keep moving. The sixth division will remain here at HQ. Your job is to look at the map and position the troops. We want them split apart to cover as much ground as possible but close enough that all the independent squads can help out in a moment's notice.

Then the last and seventh division is the... Please move to your a.s.signed positions. Lexi and I will give you a detailed explanation of what your job entails.”

When he said that the group split apart and went to their positions.

Then Lexi looked at him, ”You change when you're leading?”

”I do?”

”Your aura, it's more domineering.”

”Is that a good or bad a thing?”

”I like it.”

”Oh, you like domineering?”

Lexi rolled her eyes and then Kai laughed. Then they went to each division and gave them a detailed explanation of what they wanted from them. Once that was done, Kai let them talk and get familiar with those in their division. They talked until they heard the sound of a horn blowing. That deep sound was the sound of war. The sound that put b.u.t.terflies in the stomachs of everyone present.

When the horn blew a circular holographic barrier rose into the sky creating a dome. Then in the sky, six banners appeared. On the one banner was the lightning clan's emblem and above it showed the number of points they had and how much contests they had left. The other clans had their symbols on a banner and the number of points and contests they had left too. The last banner was a s.h.i.+fting screen, it s.h.i.+fted between the categories: Top Killer, Top Haul, Most Points Successfully Contested, Most Points Lost and Points Lost.

After the stage was set Kai called everyone together, ”It's time to show your worth. You know what to do. You know how to do it. Believe in yourself... Oh, and the person who performs the worst in each division will be doing tonight's dishes.” He was sure this would put extra lightning in their step. And looking at their expressions, he was correct. Once everyone was ready they moved out.

Inside the tent, Astella Bianchi looked at Lazarus, ”It has begun. Do you think he has what it takes?”

He lifted his shoulders, ”I don't know. We will see...” Then he closed his eyes.

The expedition ground had a diameter of two kilometres. The territories of each were a chord of equal length on the circ.u.mference and a circle in the middle. Thus within the big circle was a square of equal sides touching the edge of the circle. What was outside the square yet in the circle was their territory and inside the square yet outside the mini-circle was shared territory. Lastly, there was a circle within the square; this was the territory of the wind clan.

Kai marked off the ninety-degree angles of the square as contested areas. There was a high chance to see another clan there as it was the direct link between the two. The rest of the s.p.a.ce inside the circle was called the shared zone. Here it was possible to see more than one opposing clan; it was also possible to see none.

When they moved out the second division moved out first as their job was to scout and map everything so that it appeared on the shared map. Important information would be relayed to HQ. Then HQ would let the communications division know and then they would relay the information to all relevant surpa.s.sers.

On the shared map certain things were colour coded. A blue dot meant the water clan was there, red fire, green earth, white wind, purple lightning. A black dot meant there was a Zolma. The size of the dot correlated to the size of the Zolma. Grey dots were the position of mutated beasts. Lastly brown was marked as distorted s.p.a.ces.

Kai touched his genome watch and looked at the map in front of him. Slowly but surely dots of different colours were popping up everywhere. Then they switched from dots to X's. This meant that they were engaged in battle.

Kai took this as a sign and then he and his squad moved out. Kai's job was to fight in the contested area on the right of them. This was the link between the fire clan and the lightning clan. He saw a small black marker twenty meters away and that was their first target. It was only a two-meter Zolma but this was the first Zolma. He didn't want to bite more than he could chew. If something went wrong while fighting a bigger one, it could have adverse effects on their confidence and spell their loss.

Kai and his team moved at speeds that only the lightning clan could. They zig-zagged past the trees until they were out of their territory. Now they were in the region of a fallen city. They stopped and looked at a long road with green gra.s.s. There were destroyed buildings on the side. Kai surmised that this was a street or at least what was left of it. The cause of this atrocity was the creature in front of them and its kind... It had pitch black skin with water flowing around it. Its eyes were red standing on all four dagger-like feet. It stood two meters tall.

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When it saw, Kai and his group its mouth curled up and then it charged at them. As the Water Zolma ran towards them, Kai gave his team one last boost, ”This creature in front of you does not care about you. It only wants to kill. It has no feelings. So don't hold back. Don't let the guilt of killing hold you back because this creature will not hold back on you.”

They all nodded their heads and then prepared to take down the Zolma. Kai stood at the back with his bow and arrow in his hands. He took his bow and pressed the embedded kickstarter inside and charged up to full. Then he pulled back his bow as far as he could and coated all his essence lightning onto the arrow. He was going all out with this attack. He didn't know how much damage this arrow could do or how much it would take to kill a Zolma. At the very least, he wanted to injure the Zolma before they got there; this would give his squad an easier first kill which should rid them of their nerves.

Kai took a deep breath and concentrated on the Zolma in front of him. Luckily it wasn't too far away because Kai couldn't use ocular overdrive as the scouts could. Ocular overdrive was the ability to turn essence lighting into a nerve impulse which would then be sent to your occipital nerve boosting your sight. This allowed you to see in the dark and in more colours. It also allowed you to see further than normal. Although he couldn't use ocular drive, his form was impeccable as he held the bow. He pulled the bow back and narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the Zolma in front of him. Then he let go of the high tension string slinging the arrow forward.

The arrowed launched forth with a loud whizz as it cut through the air. Its piercing power further enhanced by Kai's essence lightning's attributes. Through the air, the arrow whistled moving at a frightening speed. The Zolma saw the arrow and tried to move out its path but as soon as it recognised the threat, the arrow had already done its damage.

The arrow pierced the Zolma in its right eye, right where Kai had aimed. However, the arrow didn't embed itself in the Zolma instead it went straight through ripping half its head away and travelling through the body. Then the arrow travelled through its body and disappeared in the far distance. In the next moment, the Zolma fell to the ground with a thump. Black blood leaked out as the water around it fell to the ground.

”Tsk! My arrow is gone now I only have 19 left.”

His teammates were dis...o...b..bulated, 'He just killed a Zolma with one arrow and he isn't satisfied.'

'He is more concerned with the loss of an arrow than what he just did.'

'Uwa (1)! As expected from an elite.'

'I wonder if I'll ever be as strong as him.'

After Kai lamented the death of his arrow, he looked at his team's shocked faces and frowned, ”Come let's move on! No time to waste.” Then he marked on the map that there was a dead two-meter Zolma for pick up and off they went to their next two-meter Zolma. While they ran to their next target Kai processed what just happened. Although he was frustrated he lost an arrow; knowing that he could take out a two-meter Zolma with one arrow was something that made him feel proud. His mouth curved upwards in response.

Then they reached the next two-meter Zolma but this time Kai didn't interfere. He let them do the work because ultimately the goal was to rid them of their nerves. The next Zolma they encountered was a fire Zolma. Its body was pitch black but was set on fire. It had fissures running through its skin. Those fissures shone with a bright molten red colour. Seeing this creature that looked like it belonged in h.e.l.l, the surpa.s.sers gulped. However, Kai encouraged them and then off they went. They all took out their spears and coated them while they charged in.

The Zolma began spitting fire at them which they dodged. Kai told them to stay mobile and never be in one position for too long this made the Zolma angry as it kept missing. Once they Zolma had missed they moved in and stabbed the Zolma with their spears. They targeted all the weak spots and whittled it down. They cut its legs so that it could no longer move and then they stabbed it in the head killing it. Once they had killed the Zolma they roared with pride. Kai congratulated them and then told them that they would be fighting a three-meter Zolma next. Hearing this they felt fear but there was this excitement in them too. He smiled and then marked the death of another two-meter Zolma then off they went to go find the next one Zolma.