It was Sol’s first time truly being in a position of leadership, and though Commander Zaman had prepared him for this moment, it was nonetheless very stressful. The transition from practice to the real deal was jarring, to say the least, but he felt like he did a good job. Sadly, he wouldn’t know for sure, as he couldn’t ask his own subordinates if he did well—it would ruin the image he had just built up.
‘At least I know I did the supply requisition correctly thanks to Duncan. Though it felt like he was testing me with that last question, from his reaction it looks like he agreed with my answer.’
Reflecting back on the meeting, he felt like he did a great job picking the members as well. Following Commander Zaman's advice, he strived for a diverse set of skills which would cover each other's weaknesses.
Sol also took into consideration that he wasn't planning on staying and created a team that would still be able to function without him. They did lack a bit in magic diversity with only one true mage in the squad, but as Sol’s squad obtained merits, they would be allocated more knights. For now, Sol and Nataly would have to do as the magic users.
‘Mages can be added later, but the more pressing matter is whether we can actually complete the mission. Nataly and Aron are still C-Rank, so we are lacking a bit in terms of power, but as long as the orcs don’t catch us sneaking into the mountains, it should be fine.’
If Sol had more time to prepare, he would have brought the whole squad to the dungeon and brought them all up to at least level 80. Sadly, time was not on their side because each day that passed increased the chance of the orcs discovering the material. If they did find it, then the difficulty of the mission would go from hard to impossible.
‘I don’t regret including them in the squad. Even if they lack levels, Nataly has summons which are useful on many occasions, while Aron is very strong. He is also crazy good at networking and information without even trying.’
Happy with his team, Sol left the meeting room and headed straight to the stables. He already had his things packed and ready to go, though it was more apt to say he never unpacked in the first place. He had two spatial rings he never sold, and that was where all his personal belongings were stored. The amount of space the two rings had was much more than his old home back in Initium and was much safer than just leaving it in his room.
Arriving at the stables, he saw three carriages with two hornsteads pulling each carriage. Unlike horses, hornsteads were C-Rank six-legged monsters with incredible endurance, able to run for three days straight without rest. They did this by cycling the legs used to run every hour. Hornsteads were even able to sleep while running, and the driver of the carriage could gently steer them without much issue.
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These monsters were incredibly useful, if not for their huge appetites and their slow reproductive cycle. That was why the Royal Palace only had 50 of these monsters in their stable and only used them for missions where speed was vital.
Sol noticed he wasn’t the first to arrive, as the two other squads assigned to this mission were already there and ready to depart.
“If it isn’t the rookie captain! Come over here!”
A man and a woman who were discussing near the carriage called Sol over.
‘Judging by the emblem on their uniform, they’re both captains.’
Sol approached and introduced himself, “Knight captain Sol, are you two leading the other squads in this mission?”
The man nodded, “No need to be so formal, we are the same rank after all. I’m Yolter and she is Pinema.”
“Say, would you mind telling us what route you were given?” Pinema asked with a kind smile.
Sol’s immediate thought was: ‘Is this some kind of test?’
“We aren’t supposed to divulge that information to each other.”
Pinema waved her hand, “It’s fine, it's a simple mission so there is no danger in saying it.”
Sol stood firm, “No, I don’t believe a mission to retrieve a legendary item would be as simple as you say. Even the mission details were clear that we would not tell anyone our route.”
“... Right, I almost forgot,” the woman said while internally cursing him. ‘Dammit, why is this newbie such a stickler for the rules? It’s not like he is capable of getting there before us.’
Because of the sensitive nature of this mission, the squads would travel different routes with different public objectives. They didn’t wish to alert orc spies or human traitors to their groups traveling north to orcish territories. As a precaution, they weren't supposed to divulge their routes to the other squads either, in case one got caught by the orcs and had that information extracted.
While they weren’t supposed to ask each other, Pinema did so with the goal of finding out who would arrive at the location first. The objective of the three squads was to obtain and bring back a legendary material, but therein lay the problem. Only one squad could bring it back, which meant only one squad would get the large amount of merit and reputation while the other two would only receive a small amount of merit comparatively.
It’s not often that a legendary material is found, and usually, it would be a huge matter involving many organizations and parties fighting for it. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain a legendary material where all the credit would fall onto one squad. If they wanted to climb higher beyond just knight captain, and they did, they needed to be the ones to obtain it.
Though Sol was unaware that the amount of merit of completing this mission was huge, as he never completed any other mission before, his desire to obtain it first was strong.
This wasn’t a normal mission; this was a race.