Chapter 26: Chapter 25: Training
"Hahaha, Brother Harold! My granddaughter is going to the Southern Military Region, and I'm entrusting her to you, haha," said Arthur Baine, commander of the Northern Military Region over the phone. He laughed heartily and the sound resonated in Harold Carter's quiet office.
"She is a bit unseasoned and needs experience. You should treat her well. Sufficient training to toughen her up will be fine, but no dangerous situations."
Harold pinched his forehead in exasperation, what a ridiculous request. Arthur's granddaughter, Tina Baine, was a beginner mage at best; she would only need a regular deployment with any capable officer. But Arthur insisted on making it personal, entrusting the matter to Harold himself, the southern commander.
"Don't worry; everything is calm in the southern military area this year. Other than that Silvercrest City incident, it's not nearly as chaotic as what you're facing with those incursions of the feathered demons."
Arthur chuckled. "That is wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you, Brother Harold. Keep my Tutu well and I will owe you one. Next time we see each other, I'll bring some rare Russian vodka."
The line went dead before Harold had another chance to respond. He put down the receiver, his mood clouded with exasperation. Arthur's persistence was legendary, just as his ego.
Arthur turned and looked down at his granddaughter, Tutu-Baine-Tina, who was tugging at one of her pigtails excitedly with shining brown eyes. Her hands were twitching nervously.
"Tutu," Arthur began, puffing with pride, "I have talked to Commander Carter. You are due to set off to the Southern Military Region. That will give you a good tenor against real demons in preparation for university."
She was practically jumping for joy, gleefully clapping her hands. "Grandpa, you are wonderful! Thank you!" She hugged him fiercely and turned back with a cheeky grin. "But may I take a friend with me? Marissa Jones. She wants this as much as I do."
Arthur rubbed his chin pensively. "Marissa Jones? The Jones girl, huh? Why not? A companion is always good."
Once more getting his phone out, Arthur called Harold again. With a brief pause, Harold agreed to the request and sent the girls to Snowpeak Mountain Station-a very vital outpost really on the front lines near the Southern Military Region.
Captain Chloe Carter, the niece of Harold, was at Snowpeak Mountain Station and was walking impatiently to and fro. Even though she belonged to high-level mages, this job of baby-sitting the two greenhorns was less than absorbing for her.
"Uncle, come on," Chloe said, the irritation obvious in her voice as she squeezed her rage at Harold. "I am babysitting two rookies? You put me in charge of two rookies when I am a third-tier high-level mage with three elements under my belt? Come on!"
Harold remained unfazed at the outburst of the girl. Rather, he turned his finger toward the map on the table, depicting the surrounding regions of the Nanling Mountains. "Your first mission isn't babysitting," he said with a neutral voice. "You're also setting forth to investigate some unusual event in the Inferno Wolf clan. Their recent movements suggest something-or someone-has been rousing them."
Chloe raised her eyebrows; she could not help herself. "The Inferno Wolf clan? But I thought they were scattered and uncoordinated."
"Exactly," Harold replied. "That behavior is indeed unprecedented. I want you to find out if it's a monarch-level demon. If that's the case, get back to me. There's no way we'd send in superlevel mages without any accurate information."
A sense of gravity now entered Chloe's thoughts. "Got it, Uncle," she replied, straightening up.
So far from the military operations, life in the Winged Blue Wolf Tribe was peaceful for Luke. Days went by in the kind of growth and production that came only through the examples Zach vividly set in training the demon wolves to be a force of discipline. Nights were occasions for celebration, with Tanya Reed and Zoe Miller coming together to celebrate their uneventful pregnancies.
Occasionally Luke went out hunting demons, collecting spirits to increase his soul power. Beneath his calm demeanor, a silent fear he held was definitely bordering on frenzy: how silent it has been from the Inferno Wolf Clan. It has been weeks since he defeated the Inferno Wolf, yet there had not been a counteraction. No scouts, no challenges, and nothing-in short.
"They haven't made a move?" Luke mused as he paced back and forth, near the closed entrance to the Flame Vein. "Could they mean they're regrouping? Or I've failed to note another aspect?"