Chapter 116 Rivalry (2/2)

Outside the tents, the mercenaries that heard the command had finished the preparation. They put out the fire, recovered the trap, and turned everything back to normal. Marlene and the others looked a little bit bored at the moment. Looking at the beautiful girl who was enjoying the scenery, the others also didn't object to letting her enjoy this rare vacation.

”Sir, everything is ready.”

Seeing that Rhode has came out, Shauna hurriedly walked to welcome him. In this moment, her attitude was more respectful than before. Before, she called him ”leader” just out of obligation. After looking at Celia, she no longer had that kind of thought. It was just natural to call him ”Sir,” since he could even make an angel his subordinate.

Rhode also realized that the other newcomers also showed similar changes. Their tones and attitudes were more respectful, and there was a trace of awe in their eyes when looking at him. Even Lapis who was always cautious towards him and always hid behind her brother back had begun to act like a fanatic fan, looking at him with worshipping eyes.

Of course to Rhode, that was a good thing. He used to have to pretend to be a noble by relying on his knowledge, the way he talked, and his demeanor. But now, he seemed to have nailed his noble status. There would be no person who would doubt him. After all, would any ordinary person have an angel as a subordinate? It was basically impossible!

On the contrary, Lize's attitude was rather weird. Several times when she tried to talk to him, she seemed to have something to say. Although Rhode asked whether she had any problem, she only shook her head. Facing this kind of Lize, Rhode didn't know what to do, so he could only let her be.

Rhode obviously was very familiar with the Twilight Forest. Not too long after they left the base camp, Rhode brought them to a valley.

”I think all of you are already familiar with the training before.”

Facing Rhode's question, the mercenaries nodded. Since Rhode's training program wasn't too complicated, they could already use those skills in the first place; it was just that they never expected those skills could be used in such a way. Now, they had memorized those combinations. Next, they just needed to see how well they mastered it.

”Very well.”

They nodded and Rhode also didn't say anything more and waved his hand, pointing towards the valley ahead.

”This is the second part of training. The content is very simple. I want all of you to enter this valley. At the end of the valley, there is a clear spring and an ice stone that can only be found there. I want you to bring back those stones to me after entering the valley. Of course, I'm not afraid to tell all of you that there's some wild beast that resides inside the valley. They will attack any enemy that invades their area without permission. Be careful, the time limit is 3 hours. I hope you can get back here before dinner. Now, go!”

Although the mercenaries were a bit panicked and felt overwhelmed after Rhode issued his order, they bit the bullet and entered the valley. Soon, their shadows disappeared into the forest. Only Rhode, Anne, Lize, Marlene, and Lapis were left standing outside. Seeing that her brother's figure had disappeared, Lapis was a little bit worried, but she knew that based on her current strength, it was impossible for her to join them, so she could only patiently waiting outside.

Lize also anxiously looked at the valley, and walking towards Rhode, she asked, ”Will there really be no problem, Mr. Rhode?”

Anne sat in the big tree beside Rhode, and nibbling the apple in her hand, she asked, ”Does Anne need to help them?”

”No need.''

Faced with their inquiries, Rhode shook his head. Since he dared to bring those newbies here, he must have already thought about it. This was one of the newbie group quest. Although it was a group quest, but the number of the monsters weren't too many; there were only wild wolves, dogs, and such. It was basically not too dangerous—at least compared to formal dungeons, the danger level of this group quest was a lot lower. If those newbies couldn't even get away from this level of danger, then Rhode would really consider whether or not they were really suited to join his mercenary group.

”It's not too dangerous inside, so there should be no problem. It's said that even a lion will push its own cubs to the abyss and let them climb on their own. If they can't even pass this kind of test, then it is useless to let them stay.”

”Leader… That's a lion and its own cubs…”

Facing Anne's grin, Rhode's face was still emotionless. ”In my hometown, there's a saying: once a teacher always a teacher. I already can be considered as their half teacher,” Rhode calmly answered.