The three people introduced themselves with practiced ease to the Stark Brotherhood.
The Late Royal Knight was a Colonel of the royal army. He received his orders directly from the Lieutenant General, who received his orders from the General of Skysand.
The Grand Sorcerer, standing beside the Colonel, was a Lieutenant Colonel.
To reach such high rankings in the army, one needed an incredible amount of power.
However, commanding other people also required substantial intelligence, which was not easy to achieve when one didn’t have an improved mind.
Because of that, the Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel practically shared the position of Colonel.
The Colonel was the power, while the Lieutenant Colonel was the smarts.
Together, the two of them ran a special striking squad that was supposed to destroy valuable enemy targets.
“Have you already split into teams?” the Colonel asked.
The Chief stepped forward. “Yes, sir. The teams are standing together in groups of five.”
The Colonel nodded and looked at the teams. “Am I right in the assumption that two of the teams are comprised of a mix of Grandmasters and Fighters?”
“That is correct,” the Chief said.
The Colonel looked at the teams.
“You five,” the Colonel said while pointing at the Ace Team. “You will join my striking squad. I need five Grandmasters.”
“Sir,” Wyveria said, stepping forward. “We are only three Grandmasters.”
“You will be five Grandmasters soon,” the Colonel said. “The Skysand Kingdom is paying for your advancement.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
That was two Ether Crystals!
And the kingdom was just paying for that?
Just like that?
“Thank you, sir!” Wyveria shouted respectfully.
The Colonel could see that the Ace Team operated in a similar fashion to him.
Bonk was the strongest, but Wyveria was actually calling the shots.
That wasn’t unusual, and the Colonel was not surprised.
“Guild Master,” the Colonel said, looking at the Chief. “You will also be part of my team.”
“Yes, sir,” the Chief said.
“Everyone else,” the Colonel said, looking at the remaining teams. “You will be under the Captain.”
The Captain was the Initial Grandmaster.
“His orders are to be followed. His orders are my orders. Anyone disobeying his orders will be disobeying my orders. Do I make myself clear?” he asked in a strict voice.
“Yes, sir!” everyone shouted.
“Good,” the Colonel said before looking at the six members he had picked. “Striking squad, move out!”
Then, the Colonel, the Lieutenant Colonel, and the six Grandmasters ran into the distance, leaving the Captain and the four remaining teams.
The Alpha Team, team Sandstorm, team Rapidstream, and team Mountainwall.
“You 20 will be following me from now on,” the Captain said with a neutral tone.
The Captain had yellow-brown hair and carried a spear. He exuded a form of controlled calm over his surroundings.
When talking to him, one felt like everything was fine, but one also felt like making a mistake would have big consequences.
As long as one worked well, there wouldn’t be any issues.
But if one lazed around…
“We are moving out right away,” the Captain said.
“Yes, sir!” everyone shouted.
Michael hopped onto one of Lily’s golems. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with everyone’s speed.
“Introduce yourselves! Captain of the strongest team first. Members of the strongest team second. Captain of the second strongest team third, and so on.”
“Yes, sir!” the captain of the Alpha Team shouted. “I am Captain Martin, and I lead the Alpha Team. I am an Initial Grandmaster, and I have a Metal Affinity.”
“Next,” the Captain shouted, still running.
After that, the four remaining members of the Alpha Team introduced themselves.
“Next,” the Captain shouted once again.
“I’m Ky-“
“I’m Han-“
Two people spoke up at the same time.
The Captain immediately stopped, and the others almost ran into him, but managed to stop in time.
Then, the Captain turned to Kyle and the leader of team Mountainwall.
“Decide who is stronger. You have five minutes,” he ordered.
Kyle looked at the leader of team Mountainwall, who looked back with annoyance and aggression.
“You’re only a Mid Fighter,” the leader of team Mountainwall, Hans, said.
“So? This is about the team, not me,” Kyle said. “We are regularly taking care of Peak Ferocious Beasts. My team is stronger.”
“What is a strong team without a strong captain?” Hans asked.
“Alright,” Kyle said, pulling out his hammer. “Let’s go!”
Hans narrowed his eyes. “You are a level weaker.”
“Less talking, more proving!” Kyle said, Fire and Wind Ether gathering around his hammer.
Hans narrowed his eyes, but he wasn’t pulling out his weapon.
“A fight between us wouldn’t-“
“Stop!” the Captain shouted.
Kyle and Hans looked at the Captain in silence.
“He has the stronger team,” the Captain said, pointing at Kyle. “Everyone, continue running!”
“But, sir!” Hans shouted as he started to run after the Captain. “He is-“
“Silence!” the Captain shouted, throwing an intense glare at Hans.
The Captain’s Momentum gathered on Hans, and Hans felt like he fell into an abyss, filled with dreadful monsters.
The pressure of the Captain’s Momentum was incredibly powerful!
“Power is decided with power!” the Captain shouted. “He was willing to prove his power. You were not. Even if you could beat him in a fight, your mindset makes you weaker!”
Hans gritted his teeth.
“Yes, sir,” he said, walking back to his team.
“Resume introduction!” the Captain shouted.
“Yes, sir! I am Kyle Freeman, and I lead team Sandstorm. I have a Wind and Fire Affinity, but I also supplement my fighting style with Metal Ether. I use a big hammer, and I am a Shouter, Armor Piercer, Armor Breaker, and Juggernaut.”
The Captain actually turned around to look at Kyle.
Four different positions?
That sounded unbelievable.
“Team Sandstorm,” the Captain shouted. “Who is your most powerful member?”
“Sven!” everyone, including Kyle, shouted at the same time.
“Sven, make yourself known!” the Captain shouted.
“Yes, sir!” Selene shouted.
“Why are you not the leader of team Sandstorm?” he asked.
“Kyle is a better leader,” Selene answered. “We all follow him willingly. He is the one who keeps us together.”
“Team Sandstorm, is that true?” the Captain asked.
“Yes!” the team shouted.
“Is your leader powerful?” the Captain asked.
“Yes!” everyone shouted.
The Captain remained silent for a bit.
Originally, he wanted to see if Kyle was actually speaking the truth.
If he actually spoke the truth, they would most likely say that he was the strongest of the team.
Yet, surprisingly, they said that Sven was more powerful.
This derailed the conversation a bit, and the Captain wanted to know why Kyle was the leader and if the team was actually unified.
Oftentimes, when the strongest member of a team wasn’t the leader, there were problems in the team.
However, team Sandstorm seemed to be as unified as it got.
Everyone was following Kyle, and even the strongest member of the team said that they willingly conceded authority to Kyle.
“Resume introduction,” the Captain said.
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