“Great soul trainers do not fear a challenge.” Rao Wu inwardly cursed as he remembered the teachings that made him descend the cliffside. But then, Rao Wu realized he wrongfully blamed his Uncle when he recalled the follow-up teaching. “An intelligent soul trainer knows when to fight and when to retreat, both without fear.”

Even though Rao Wu knew better, his youthful, competitive nature compelled him to go down the cliffside to shock Akeme. Unfortunately, rock climbing was nowhere as easy as tree climbing.

Initially, the descent went smoothly. The jagged rocks provided many footholds and crevices to grab onto. But, as Rao Wu descended, the footholds got slimmer, thinner, and rarer slimmer until they all but disappeared. Fortunately, Rao Wu could still grab onto crevices in the wall, but it did not take long before blisters formed on his sore fingers.

If Rao Wu were by himself, he would have long since climbed up, but something inside him sparked whenever he looked down at Akeme and the others. It was like an innate pride that refused to be ridiculed in front of others.

As a result, Rao Wu gritted his teeth and held back tears as he painfully made his way down the mountain.

On the ground, Denuchi’s eyes narrowed as he monitored the youth’s progress. “The kid ain’t ordinary.”

“Boss?” Akeme looked at Denuchi with a confused gaze. Surprisingly, Denuchi, the stickler for time, did not appear enraged by Rao Wu’s antics. What’s more, Denuchi seemed to be complimenting Rao Wu? Did the sun rise in the west today?

Denuchi, in reply, shook his head. “Don’t worry, Akeme. I didn’t forget your punishment.” Akeme’s head shrinking into his shoulders, brought a small smile to Denuchi’s lips as he then said, “Listen, time cannot be bought. But sometimes, you can trade it for the chance to unearth something great.”

“What? You mean the kid? What’s so special about him? At his age, I could climb mountains twice this size with ease.”

“Yes, but would you have attempted a cliff-face thrice this size?”

Akeme’s mouth widened. “Boss, you’re joking, right? Who would do that? That’s suicide.”

Denuchi pointed at the red-faced child blowing on his fingers. “I’d bet my life that kid would. Skills and abilities can be taught. Willpower, bravery, and tenacity can’t.”

“You’ve got a point.” Akeme chuckled. “Well, if I wasn’t sure before, now I am. He couldn’t have come from those cowardly humans. They don’t have the gumption.”

“Don’t, Akeme.” Denuchi’s expression turned grave. “Do not underestimate humans. There’s a reason they’re the strongest force on the continent. Don’t think the spoiled brats who contract us represent their best. The humans simply don’t need to unleash their best any longer since they can make us do all the work.”

Akeme swallowed hard. “They’re that strong?”

Denuchi shook his head. “Strength has nothing to do with it. Humans are mad, crazy, and unscrupulous. They’ll do anything and sacrifice anyone, including themselves, to achieve their goals. I once watched a human launch a suicide attack into a pack of wolf-beastkin. They didn’t even get a chance to fight back before getting blown to pieces.”

Akeme shivered as he imagined the gory scene. “Humans should just blow themselves to pieces. We’ll finally have some peace.”

Denuchi looked at Akeme with a strange gaze. “Didn’t you say you liked my mom? You want to blow her up too?”

“I—” Akeme opened his mouth, but words failed to come out.

Nearby, the rest of the party chuckled when they saw Akeme’s stunned expression. “Pfft! As expected of Boss! Only you can shut Akeme up.”

Akeme turned red with embarrassment. To cover up his shame, he quickly diverted attention to Rao Wu. “Ooh. The kid is almost done!”

Following Akeme’s shout, the group turned and saw Rao Wu roughly ten meters off the ground. The child was shaking, and his arms trembled as he carefully grabbed ledges on his way down. Tears streamed down determined eyes, but Rao Wu refused to call for help.

A powerful silence fell over the group as they watched Rao Wu descend the final few meters. Something in the youth’s determined gaze reminded each person of a time when the fires of adventure and pride still burned inside their hearts. It reminded them of the times when they stood in defiance to human rule—long before they were captured and forcefully contracted.

A hidden smile formed on Denuchi’s lips as he surveyed the squad’s indignant gazes. Yes, this was good. Their anger increased the chances of his plan’s success.

Rao Wu, unaware of his defiant stunt’s impact, finally descended onto the ground after roughly thirty minutes of descent. Rao Wu struggled to hold back the tears as he looked at his bloody, mangled fingers. Before he lost his resolve, Rao Wu turned around and walked up to Akeme.

Akeme speechlessly stared at the feisty little fox. “Kid, I—"

“I’m not stupid.” Rao Wu glared at Akeme with defiant eyes that demanded he took back his insult.

Akeme, initially, was going to laugh it off, but then he looked into Rao Wu’s tear-filled angry eyes. Ashamed of his pettiness, Akeme sighed and then said, “Sorry I called you stupid, cub. You’ve proven you’re worthy of our respect. How about you let someone see to those injuries.”

“These?” After Akeme apologized, Rao Wu wiped his tears and a wide smile replaced the grim expression. “Don’t worry. They’ll heal very soon.”

Akeme rolled his eyes. “Look here, cub. Your hands are an absolute mess. You shou—” Akeme nearly choked when he saw Rao Wu’s raised fingers. Before his very eyes, scabs began growing over the injury at an obvious pace. What kind of freakish healing ability was this?

Oblivious to Akeme’s shock, Rao Wu laughed as he waved his hands. “Told you, I heal fast.” He then frowned as he rubbed his fingers against his chest. “It does itch a lot, though.”

Clap! Clap!

Denuchi clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. “Since everyone’s here, we will begin the mission debrief.” He cast a glance at Rao Wu as he warned, “In the future, any activities that waste the squad’s time will be severely punished, understood?”

“Yes! I’m sorry!” Rao Wu frantically nodded. “Denuchi’s no-nonsense glare reminded him of Aunt Midnight. Just like her, he had no intention of seeing Denuchi’s bad side.

Having dealt with Rao Wu, Denuchi turned his attention to the rest of the squad. “Alright, guys. Our mission today is to steal the Shaman’s Orb from a beastkin stronghold in Lazuli Caverns.” Denuchi cleared his throat and then continued, “Intelligence confirmed the Shaman’s Orb is located in the chief’s home, behind a portrait hanging on the wall. As you know, ten squads are participating in this mission. Eight units will work with our human handlers to launch a frontal attack to draw the beastkin toward the cavern’s entrance. The remaining two squads have been tasked with infiltrating Lazuli Caverns from the back.”

Ramy raised her hand, and then said when Denuchi cleared her, “How exactly are we supposed to infiltrate Lazuili Caverns? My father was captured from the cavern. He said there’s only one way in. That’s why it’s one of the beastkin’s most successfully guarded stronghold.”

“True, that’s why we’ll be creating a new path.”

“New path?”

Akeme explained in place of Denuchi. “To hunt and breathe, the beastkin developed a series of tunnels in the underground bedrock. The smaller tunnel channel leads to natural overground vents, while they breed soul monsters in the larger tunnels.”

Denuchi then continued, “The entrances to the soul monster channels are closely guarded. If we try to infiltrate, the guards will collapse the entire tunnel system. So—”

“We’ll have to dig our way into one of these channels from another location,” finished Akeme. “Preferably somewhere far away, so patrols don’t spot what we’re doing.”

Denuchi scratched his chin. “Also, I’d prefer somewhere with a hiding place nearby in case the mission goes south.”

Rao Wu, remembering his mission, followed Ramy’s example and raised his hand.

Denuchi’s eyes flashed with interest as he waved the youth. “Go on.”

“How about Fort Drakon?” Rao Wu asked. “Is that close? That guard said it was abandoned. A fort should be a good place to hide, right?”

“60 points,” replied Akeme with a chuckle. “Good option, but your answer lacked intel behind it. In the future, make sure you have enough intelligence on an objective before selecting it.” When Rao Wu raised a brow, Akeme wagged his finger and explained, “Fort Drakon is a spot we already considered, but we can’t get in.”

“You can’t?”

Akeme nodded. “The fort is protected by a wide moat with hundreds of powerful soul monsters. There’s also a powerful gravitational pull on the water’s surface that drags anyone crossing over into the moat. The only way to go in is over Fort Drakon’s drawbridge.”

Rao Wu needed Akeme to describe a drawbridge. After Akeme finished, he then asked, “We can’t fly over?”

Akeme shook his head. “None of us have passenger-flight-type soul monsters. Don’t think of jumping over either. The sea monsters can jump as high as twenty meters over the surface. There’s no way in.”

Rao Wu frowned. “How wide is the moat?”

“Are you listening? There’s no way—” Akeme wanted to shut the child up, but Denuchi suddenly interjected.

“It’s ten meters across,” answered Denuchi as he watched Rao Wu’s reactions. “Why? Do you have an idea?”

Rao Wu, oblivious to Denuchi’s searching gaze, muttered, “I might have a way. Dropping the drawbridge shouldn’t be too hard as long as one person makes it through, right?”

Denuchi hid his smile. “You need two people. The drawbridge uses a two-person switch.” He then explained how switches worked. Two people needed to simultaneously pull the switches inside the gatehouse to drop the drawbridge.

Rao Wu scrunched his brows.

“Master, be careful! That man has been watching you for some time now.”

Rao Wu chilled when he heard Lu Lin’s warning. He stealthily glanced upward, and only then noticed Denuchi’s intense gaze. Whoa. That was close. Had Denuchi begun to suspect him?

Rao Wu realizing, he had been overeager in his approach, thanked Lu Lin, and then switched tactics. Calming down, he raised his head and then said, “I might have some ideas, but I’m not sure if they’ll work. I’m sure your plan will be much safer for the group.”

‘Did he notice something?’ Interest sparked in Denuchi’s eyes as he observed the youth’s expression. Rather than expose Rao Wu, he said, “The operation has been earmarked for a fortnight from now. We need to find a secure location to set up by tomorrow, and then begin digging the next day. We’ll spend the rest of today and next tomorrow searching and testing the various proposed locations.” He glanced at Rao Wu as he said, “Fort Drakon will be one of those places. When we have settled down, we will begin the next phase of the operation. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Boss!” The squad unanimously answered with booming voices.

“Good, now, on my authority, I permit the use of soul pets from now until the mission is completed.” Denuchi smiled, and then added, “Let them out, boys and girls. I know you’ve missed your partners.”

“Woohoo!”

Following Denuchi’s command, thirteen soul monsters appeared in the desert.

“Whoa!” Rao Wu, to whom these monsters were unique, gaped in surprise and admiration. “So cool!”