Chapter 21 Better Leader

Jharteel, Thalanil, Gormon, and Zeno stood straight with stern expressions. In front of each of them were two hundred men they would lead from today. Nesterin was in front of them too, inspecting the soldier. All of them were currently lining up in the shooting field. The practice dummies were behind them.

"At ease!" Nesterin shouted. "The four men in front of you are veterans. They have survived the first battle norms have ever done against cultivators. So they know what all of you need to know. Listen to them and you might return alive."

Nesterin clasped his hand behind his back. "Do you understand?" He stared at his men.

"Yes, sir!"

Nesterin nodded. "The sun is still shining bright. Use the time you have to prepare. We will proceed with our plan in the morning."

Nesterin left the field.

Jharteel stepped forward and took over. "I will be your leader when Nesterin is gone. If I'm not around then you must listen to three behind me. Alright! We don't have much time. Take your gun and start shooting. Don't be shy wasting those bullets. We are the elite army. Resources are abundant. What I want is result. When we start shooting at the enemy, I don't want to see any bullets miss their targets! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

"YES, SIR!" Their voice reverberated in the field.

"Well, then what are you waiting for?! Shoot those wooden statues like you wanted to kill them." Jharteel pointed at the shooting targets.

The Black Wolves and the Man Hunter trained all day long. The sound of pistols and rifles firing never stopped. The dummies were constantly replaced. Some trainees slipped and fell on their backs because the amount of empty shells on the ground was too many.

The other units were curious about what The army was up to. Occasionally, they would take a peek at what the soldiers were doing before continuing their work. No one could relax in here. There was just too much work to do.

After hours of shooting, the soldiers fell to the ground from exhaustion. Their hands were numb from the recoil. The act of pulling the trigger, replacing the clip, and aiming the gun was carved in their muscle. There was no way they would forget about it after the grueling session.

The sky turned dark with stars and a hexagonal-shaped moon brightening the sky. Nesterin called them out to rest. He couldn't have them fight a war with no sleep.

The next morning, hundreds of carriage, pulled by magic bulls, rushed inside the field. The carriages were bigger now, and they were pulled by three bulls each. The wagons that brought the supplies were even bigger, and they had four bulls pulling them.

The trainees knew the army was serious about this operation. The cost of these magic bulls was no joke. Each bull could cost a lifetime of work. They had strong skin and muscles, not to mention they were fast for their size.

The sight made them nervous somehow.

Nesterin came out of his tent and walked to the field. "Don't be nervous, men! We are the Black Wolves. It should be the enemy that is nervous when facing us. Look at how much the people are willing to spend for our army. These magic bulls came out of their pockets. Should we tell them that their money is wasted?!"

"No, Sir!"

"Then push your doubt away! We will not return with failure. Not anymore!"

The Black Wolves entered their carriage. Balmar still gave some speeches to his men at the other shooting field.

Nesterin was not going to wait for them. After all of his members climbed the carriage, he told the coachman to set off. Hundred of Black Wolves' carriage exited the fortified gate of Barmwich. The gate was tall and thick. Hundreds of guards stood on the wall, staring at every corner for potential threats.

The people on Barmwich were shocked to see this development, at first. But eventually, they accepted it with open arms. The amount of trades in Barmwich exploded. People could sell anything because there were too many people that came into Barmwich.

Nesterin had never set his sight on this small town before. Who would've known that Hax would emerge from this town.

The Black Wolves set their destination on Boiling Volcano, specifically, the main route of the volcano. People would use this route if they want to go to Ashbourne or the Boiling Volcano. No norms would ever go to the volcano, though.

The Black Wolves was an exception.

They passed by a creek on their journey, so Nesterin decided to let his men rest. The place was nice. There were trees, freshwater, and small animals.

His soldiers exited their wagon and laid on the grass. Nesterin followed suit. The grass was comfortable. It was short and soft like cotton. Most grasses tend to make his skin itch. Maybe the nearby creek changed their texture.

"Hey look there is a spiky eel!" A man pointed at the creek.

"Where?"

"Over there."

"Go kill it. I used to hunt them when I was a child."

Nesterin was about to ignore them, but as a commander of an army, he had to discipline his men.

"Stop!" He stood up and walked towards the group that made noise earlier. "We are in a war, soldiers. This is not a field trip. We're not here to play."

"A war?" A foreign voice came from the other side of the creek.

"A bunch of norms going to war?" A man with a red robe with swords symbols approached the edge of the small river. "I only have left the Avatar Kingdom for a decade, and now norms can wage war with each other? Haha!"

The man looked at their pistols. "I don't even see any weapons with you. Where's your swords, spears, axes, and shields? Don't tell me you're going to war with that sticks." The man laughed again.

Jharteel ran towards Nesterin. "Nesterin. I think he's a cultivator."

"Even a child knows that," Nesterin replied. He turned his eyes towards the cultivator. The man had a sword and a red robe distinct from the Nefarious Sword sect. It couldn't be mistaken. This man was from the sect.

"Respected sir," Nesterin called. "May I know who you are and where you come from?"

The cultivator looked at him with disdain. "I don't need to answer your questions, norms! I have traveled for a while now. Prepare food for me. I want the best one that you have. If I find your service satisfies me, then I would consider letting you go."

Jharteel and Nesterin looked at each other.

"Should we shoot him?" Jharteel whispered.

"Well, he's just one person, while there's a thousand of us. You know what, I have an idea."

Nesterin turned to the cultivator again. "We will prepare the best for you, mighty cultivator. But before we do that, let us welcome you with our song."

"Song?" The cultivator asked. "I have heard some song on my travel. I admit that you, norms, might be weak, but you are still good at this. Fine, let me hear your song."

Nesterin cleared his throat. "It goes like this. The thing goes skrakk! Tak! Tak! Tak!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

TRATATATATAT! TRATATATAT!

The Black Wolves were prepared to fire when they realized that the man was a cultivator. They were nervous at first, but their numbers gave them confidence. As soon as Nesterin pointed with his finger, they knew what to do.

The pistols and rifles spat out flames out of their barrels.

The projectiles tore through clothes, skin, and flesh. It filled the cultivator's body with holes like a bloody beehive. Not long after, the man fell to his death.

"We killed him! We killed a cultivator!"

"I haven't even finished my song yet."

Nesterin and Jharteel smiled. They knew how it felt the first time killing a cultivator.

"I don't expect to stumble a cultivator here," Nesterin said.

"It's not that far from the trade route. Maybe he's about to go there and hitch a ride with a merchant."

"That is possible." Nesterin looked at his men. "How about it. Does it feel good?"

"Yeah!"

"I want to kill more of them!"

"Slow down!" Nesterin said. "We are soldiers, not some men who simply wanted to take revenge. Our purpose is much greater than that."

That made a lot of them quiet. The majority of them came here to take revenge. All of them had some bad blood with the so-called immortals. It couldn't be helped since the cultivators were so domineering in their act.

Nesterin wasn't an exception. He too had some terrible memory with cultivators.

The cultivator was shot in every inch of his body. His beautiful face, typical of a cultivator, now looked so disgusting that he might puke if he stared at it for a few seconds.

"Just leave the body for the animals. We're not the only one that needs to eat."

Jharteel tapped his shoulder with a smile on his face. "You know I kinda like this song of yours. Why don't we make it our tradition? I can't stand the Man Hunter bragging about their tradition in our face every day."

"It's only a few sentence song, but alright."

Jharteel chuckled. He knew Nesterin was just kidding. There was no way they would have any face left if they used it as their tradition.

"I'm feeling generous today. All of you can have some fun in the creek. Go have a swim or hunt some spiky eels."

"Yayyy!"

The soldiers take off their clothes and dived inside the creek. The water only reached their waist, but that was enough for them to have a swim. Some group of eager men ran around chasing a spiky eel. They threw a stone at the pitiful creature as it wiggle around in the water.

One of them was about to use his pistol to shoot at the eel, but Nesterin threw a rock at the man's head before he could do that. There was no way that Nesterin would let such dangerous action. Hax had been very strict about firearms safety.

"We got the spiky eel"

"Hurray!"

"Haha, you only got while we already caught three."

"Damnit. Then let us see who can get the most spiky eel. Come on, guys!"

"Are they children?" Jharteel commented.

"Let them have their fun, Jharteel," Nesterin said. "As a soldier, we should be strict and disciplined most of the time, but having an occasional fun time is good."

"We haven't shown them what strict and discipline looks like yet. They only joined the army recently."

"I know, but Hax wanted us to attack in the morning. He has faith in us. I can see that. Though, he might be slightly disappointed."

"Why is he disappointed?"

"He has some expectation of our ability. Specifically, my capability as a leader. It's just that I failed to fulfil it."

"You're a good leader, Nesterin. No one can convince me otherwise."

Nesterin chuckled. "The death of our comrade is my fault. If I took the time to properly prepare for our battle in Boiling Volcano, our casualties would be fewer. Most of our friends would still be like them, Laughing and smiling with us right now."

Jharteel was about to say something, but he didn't.

"You can blame me, Jharteel. It's fine. It was my fault to begin with. But, I want to be better. I want to be a real leader. Someone that can lead the pack and protect them. Talking to Balmar has made me realize that I still have so much to learn. Especially, Hax. I never see him lead a group to battle, But I have a feeling that he has talent in leadership. Something about him just makes me want to follow his lead."

"Maybe because he's rich?" Jharteel asked. "You always love it when wealthy people came to our turf."

Nesterin smacked him in the head. "That's a totally different thing."