Chapter 598
After lunch, Ormunda's "Special Forces" continued their march toward the kingdom of Mendoza to join two armies from two kingdoms to fight the undead invader. This time, Anton was walking with his team members since the Dire Bear was borrowed by Major Mason to "examine" it.
Captain Leonard grumpily admitted to his team that Major Mason started riding Anton's Dire Bear while exclaiming that the ferocious animal was fit to be ridden by someone like a major from Ormunda's forces.
If Anton was being honest, calling their ragtag army of newbie adventurers, sons of merchants, and farmers was too green to be called "Special Forces", since the name invoked elite forces instead of something like their group.
At first, Anton's team complained about him for being so high-profile. He was supposed to be their hidden weapon, which would enable their team to earn untold amounts of merit, but Anton reiterated that his main purpose for joining this army was to fight against the undead and that he had no intention of hiding. As long as there was a need to fight, he would fight.
Captain Leonard already told them that if Anton wasn't there, the army had enough powerful people not to worry about two undead dragons. If the dragons reached the army, hundreds of spells would have met the undead dragons mid-air, causing them to be destroyed almost immediately. There was a chance thought that if that were allowed to happen, the two undead dragons would have caused some damage to the Special Forces, and General Rumbert, who was the head of the army, did not want to allow something like that to happen to his pet project.
The twenty mages who flew behind Anton to meet the dragon were also powerful enough to destroy the two undead dragons. It was just that Major Mason wanted to check out Anton's power since the upper echelon of the army was curious about the description in his profile of someone capable of soloing the 65th floor of a high-level dungeon.
Anton didn't care about the higher-ups' plans or whatever shenanigans they were scheming. The only thing that would cause a rise in him was if he wasn't allowed to fight.
By late afternoon, everyone became a little miserable. A fierce summer rain fell upon the army, and those who did not have a spell to prevent rainwater from getting everywhere became wet to their bones. Unfortunately for Anton, he did not have a direct spell that could allow him to avoid the rainwater, and he didn't want to spend the whole afternoon until evening wet, so the only thing he could do was use his Telekinesis and control a huge tarpaulin to hover on top of him. At least the tarpaulin was big enough to cover his whole team.
Major Mason did not return Anton's Dire Bear even when the sun had set. Both he and Captain Leonard accepted the fact that the Dire Bear was requisitioned by the major.
"Can't you summon a second Dire Bear?" Captain Leonard asked, and Anton simply shook his head.
At least the other squads weren't eyeing their team anymore since no one was riding.
The rain did not stop even when evening arrived, which was a little unusual for a summer rain because normally summer rains do not last long. That meant that everyone had to set up a tent to avoid the rain.
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Anton simply retrieved his tiny house from his inventory and, without further ado, entered it, ignoring the glares given to him by his team member and from the captain as well. He did not even have to share his bathtub with anyone since the army would construct a bathroom using magic a little later, and everyone could use it to take a bath and do their toilet business.
Since Major Mason took his Dire Bear, Anton felt that it was just right for him to use his tiny house, its bathroom, which had a toilet, and its tiny kitchen. He prepared himself a hot bath and wallowed in hot water for a good part of an hour. When someone knocked on his door, inviting him to dinner, he shouted that he had already eaten.
Anton planned to eat one of the prepared foods already stored in his inventory. They were much better than what the army cooks could produce anyway. He also set up his Firewall Stove to make sure that the inside of his tiny house was comfortably warm. Hearing the rain outside while lying on a comfortable bed inside his tiny house made Anton sigh.
Since he was walking from lunch until evening, Anton wasn't able to enter his Diablo II system to level up his newly created ladder Paladin character. He had no intention of leveling up his character that evening. He just wanted to rest since, after his intense fight with the two undead dragons, he had walked endlessly for several hours, and even though he was physically felt, he still felt a little tired.
Anton started reading the eBook series that he recently purchased, which was The Heralds of Valdermar by Mercedes Lackey. Thankfully, his system allowed him to make online purchases using his Diablo II gold. How it worked, Anton didn't know, but he tried not to question things related to his system.
He only intended to spend about an hour reading the new eBook series, but he got hooked on it, and when he checked the time, it was already midnight. Thankfully, he had the Pearl of the Ocean, which would allow him to get a full night's rest even for just a few hours, so he resolutely closed his eBook, set up his Pearl of the Ocean, and slept.
Anton woke up the next day at around four in the morning, and he felt completely rested. He exited his tiny house and stored it in his inventory. Thankfully, the rain had stopped, but unfortunately for his team, since they had to set up tents, the only ones affected by his Pearl of the Ocean were the two nearest tents, which were occupied by Captain Leonard and the three girls. The girls decided to squeeze into one tent since they were aware that being near Anton's restful magic item would allow them to have a complete night's rest; they sacrificed space for a full night's rest.
The other squad members glared blearily at Anton, and he just ignored them. It wasn't his fault that it rained. To pacify them, he offered to cast the Cleaning Spell on them.
After breakfast, the march towards the kingdom of Mendoza continued. According to Captain Leonard, the army would arrive in the vicinity of the kingdom in around 14 more days.
"I thought the travel from Ormunda to Mendoza was just ten days?" Anton asked.
"This is an army! Of course, we are slower compared to those that consisted of just a few men," Captain Leonard replied.
One advantage of experiencing a summer rain was that everything smelled fresh. And since their army consisted of magic users, there was no awful smell one would expect in a gathering of a thousand men, since cleaning spells were constantly in use.
It was Mauri's turn to help the cook, but after breakfast was served, Captain Leonard received a complaint from one of the cooks regarding Mauri's actions while cooking breakfast. The cook said that Mauri was hopelessly incompetent in the kitchen, causing minor accidents that could have caused delays. Everyone was highly amused when they heard it, and Mauri just glared at them while playing with the handle of her sword as if daring them to tease her.
Captain Leonard promised the cook's messenger that somebody else would be assigned to assist them during lunch and dinner.
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