With a gurgled howl, the Dreadnaught dashed towards Rek who, much to Lucius's confusion, didn't even seem to acknowledge the scary sight of a hulking monster barreling towards him at full speed. In fact, the man was even smiling as if he had been anticipating the attack all along.

"Line one, barrier wall!" Rek shouted as he took a step back--several Enforcers immediately filling in the spot he had just vacated.

"Yes, sir! Barrier!" the Enforcers affirmed collectively before casting a thick, twenty-meter long barrier with the same width. Their incantation was incredibly fast. Synchronized. As if they were already used to fighting and casting spells as a group.

Amused, Lucius nodded as the Dreadnaught's charge came to a halt as it slammed into the barrier before bouncing off of it with a loud bang. It laid on the ground, groggy and presumably pissed as it once again roared with its bloodshot eyes wide open. The men who put up the barrier, however, weren't the least bit intimidated by the shallow display of the aberrant's fury and immediately dispersed once they had done their job.

Rek, after winding up his greataxe behind him, barked another order for his men to follow. "Line two and three, maim!"

"Yes sir! Bind!"

In the blink of an eye, the Dreadnaught was tangled up by roots that burst forth from beneath the ground. Unsurprisingly, it tried to claw its way out of the spell but to no avail. Five seconds was all it took to cover its lower half and restrict its movement completely.

Once again, the nigh-instantaneous activation of another spell--a simple, yet effective earth-element spell at that, made Lucius's eyes light up not only because of how flawlessly the Enforcers executed the joint spell but also because he had been eyeing the very same spell from Margraves's store for quite some time now. Three thousand gold, he vividly remembered was the spell's price. While it was certainly attainable, he still had to hold back until he had purchased Sicken and some other living necessities he was still currently lacking.

As expected of the country's most elite fighting force. Their spellcasting aside, they're more cohesive than any unit I've ever seen, even counting my father's troops. I suppose they truly deserve to be called the 'Knights' of Alavaria.

Lucius had never seen a group battle so intensely, yet efficiently before. Granted he may have watched his father's battle against the Outworlders back then, but the Outworlders didn't move like Rek's unit did. They were unorganized and chaotic whereas Rek and his Enforcers weren't. There were very few wasted opportunities, and under Rek's guidance, the group never once showed signs of wavering under the face of such an intimidating foe.

"Now then, the remaining lines, with me! Full Assault!"

This time, the rest of the Enforcers didn't reply and simply charged the helpless Dreadnaught--struggling against its restraints to no avail. It roared in pain as all sorts of spells and weapons clashed against its tough hide, which apparently wasn't tough enough. The combined and relentless assault left it bleeding and enraged, but alas, there was nothing it could do against the combined efforts of the Enforcers.

Lucius, however, commended the aberrant's endurance since, surprisingly enough, the barrage of attacks wasn't enough to put it down. It simply laid on the ground, battered and wounded, but not beaten and still struggling to get out of the spell restraining it. Unfortunately for the monster though, the assault wasn't quite done yet.

The massive roots and vines started to tear apart as the Dreadnaught flexed its body outwards, but when it gave out a hopeful cry just as it was about to escape, Rek finally made his move--his greataxe drawing a bright orange line as he dashed for the monster with a cheerful laugh.

"You're one tough bastard aren't ya?! Well, get a load of this!" Rek's smile widened as he leaped from the ground and descended right for the aberrant who seemed to notice the captain's attack at the last second, putting both of its hands up defensively.

Lucius narrowed his eyes. He didn't even see when Rek imbued his weapon, nor did he even see his movements clearly. The Enforcer Captain was simply too fast, and with the Dreadnaught still partially restrained, it was plain to see that the battle was already over. It barely came as a surprise to him when Rek's greataxe easily cleaved through the aberrant's arms and straight through its neck, decapitating it in one savage stroke--a fountain of blood bursting upwards and bathing Rek and the few unfortunate Enforcers standing nearby.

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The macabre sight made Lucius gag a little. Thankfully Tissette was still watching the fight, or else he'd definitely be ridiculed by her nonstop. He'd barely seen such things while he was locked in Askanar Castle after all, and going with the hero novels he read, they usually didn't go that much into detail when it comes to these things. Seeing up close was a different story too, and it somehow reminded him of the savagery Outworlders once they got into the castle back then.

"Ah, damn it. Sorry boys. I went a little overboard there," Rek shouted as he wiped the blood off of his face with a wry smile. The other enforcers, however, didn't seem to mind the mess at all. Again, knowing the Enforcers and what their duties were, being covered in blood and guts once in a while probably came with their job description, Lucius guessed.

"Wow. Ever learn how to hold back, old man?" Tissette teased before walking over to the aberrant corpse that was already starting to dissipate and poking it a little. "It's a big one. Could've handled it myself though. Probably."

"As confident as ever. You'd make a great Enforcer," Rek said with a chuckle. "Not as great as me though."

Tissette's banter with the captain aside, Lucius's mouth suddenly went agape as the loot finally dropped as soon as the Dreadnaught's corpse vanished. Countless gear, items, and even a small mountain of gold materialized out of thin air, just like back when Tissette had slain the first aberrant he had ever seen. Only this time, the drops were undeniably more enticing.

"Now that's a good haul. Good work boys!" Rek whistled before he continued, "Line one and two, pack all these up and get them to the outpost. We'll divide it later."

Before the men could move the drops, however, Lucius saw Rek catch a glimpse of him before smiling.

"Wait. Let me see the pile for a sec," the captain said before jogging over to the Enforcers and picking up a long, sleek steel spear among the pile of drops. The captain then walked over towards Lucius, a wide smile on his face as usual as he said, "You got a weapon yet, lad?"

"Oh, I do." Lucius guessed what Rek's intentions were and nodded. He took off his backpack and pulled out a small bronze dagger, one he'd bought from Margraves weeks ago. Much to his surprise, however, Rek and the other Enforcers all suddenly laughed at him, as if he had just told the funniest joke they had ever heard. Even Tissette giggled at him, which was the final straw. Now he was officially annoyed.

"A dagger, huh? What are you gone do with that, kill a few chickens?" Rek joked as he laughed once more, but continued on a more serious note, "You can't bring that when hunting aberrants, especially when you don't have enough combat experience. Better to bring a weapon with longer range, see."

Lucius lifted a brow, but he did see the captain's point. In hindsight, he was originally going to buy a proper weapon, but he didn't have enough funds to buy even a pig-iron sword. Thus, he could only manage the dagger. Not willing to roll over that easily though, he said, "What about Tissette? She has like eight of them."

"Yeah well, this young missy right here is an exception," Rek replied while smirking at Tissette who had a somewhat smug look on her face. The captain then handed him the spear with a smile. "Take it. Consider it as our welcome gift to you."

Lucius frowned. "Aren't you all supposed to split the drops amongst yourselves? I couldn't possibly--"

"Oh, don't worry about it kid," one of the Enforcers said with a wave.

"Yeah, you're gonna need it more than we do anyway," another one said. "Watch yourself out there!"

With that, Rek looked at him and tilted his head towards the spear in the hand. "Well?"

"Thank you." After thinking for a bit, Lucius eventually took the spear before bowing politely. He would be lying if he didn't smile inwardly, as it was the first time he had actually received a gift besides the gold coins Tissette had given him on the first day of his arrival. As if he needed more reasons to deem the captain a good man.

"No worries kid. Just remember, stick 'em with the pointy end," Rek said half-jokingly.

Lucius, however, didn't mind the captain's teasing at all and simply whirled the spear around and tested its weight by doing basic strikes. It was vastly different from the wooden stick he once used while Elrond was training him, but it was just about as light despite the metal attached to its end. Moreover, he was comfortable with the lacquered wooden handle as it was easier to the hands and he didn't have to worry about splinters. It would be bad if it got wet though, and he made sure to take note of that.

"Hmm, maybe you do know how to use it after all," Rek said, giving him a nod of acknowledgment which he had to say felt pretty damn good. Even Tissette looked at him funny. Apparently, she wasn't expecting that he already knew how to wield the spear to an extent. The captain wasn't done yet, however, and continued, "One last advice though, and you'd do well to listen to this one."

"What is it, Captain Rek?" Lucius asked as he waited in suspense for the captain's next words.

The once smiling face of the captain turned dead serious, and in a compelling tone, he finally said, "If you ever see an aberrant with Virtus as high as the one we had just fought, you--"

"Run like hell," Lucius couldn't help but finish the captain's warning in a reassuring tone. He heard it countless times from Katherine already and didn't need further reminders.

"Good. Seems like you're ready to kill some aberrants, eh?" Rek said, leaning back while crossing his hands. "Happy hunting to you two, then."