A cargo helicopter landed on the ground, military personnel scrambled on the ground as they prepared to greet the first arrival from operation Thunder Bay. The back door opened up and the solemn sight of the soldiers greeted them.

Pixie and the rest carried Dan’s dead body sealed inside a black bag. They walked out of the helicopter with a lone man watching from behind.

After the squad went further into the distance, Jason descended from the helicopter. One of the ground personnel approached him.

“Sir,” the personnel was frozen for a second as he saw Jason was half-naked with only his brief and the backpack on his back.

“What is it?” Jason asked.

“The Major request a debrief on the mission,” said the military personnel.

Jason glanced behind him, the young adult woman was still unconscious and strapped on a stretcher.

“The young woman needs medical attention, she’s a survivor from Thunder Bay,” said Jason.

The military personnel couldn’t hide his surprise hearing there was a survivor. He went off calling a few other people as they then carried the young woman away.

Jason followed along as he then branched off guided into another path.

The military personnel opened a door for him. Jason nodded at the personnel as he entered the room. The room was already filled with people. He saw the member of his squad and three people sitting at the front, facing toward the squad. He recognized one of them, it was the Major.

“Have a seat Mr.Park,” said the Major.

Jason took a seat in the last row. He sensed a few glaring eyes but he ignored it.

“First of all, I give my condolence for the loss of Staff Sergeant Dan. A big loss to our side to lose such a brave soldier,” said the Major as his eyes scanned the whole room.

“Second in command, Sergeant Amelia Tremblay,” the Major called out to that name.

A rather foreign name to Jason but it wasn’t surprising since he only knew their nicknames.

“Yes, sir,” a woman responded.

To Jason surprised, Pixie was the one who answered back.

Amelia? She’s definitely not an Amelia, no wonder her nickname is Pixie.

“Report on the mission,” said the Major.

Pixie proceeded to report everything from the beginning to the end. Frankly speaking, those in the squad couldn’t hide their surprise after hearing about the trio journey to the center of the city.

Then came the part where she told about them fighting against the goblin horde throughout the whole night. The whole squad couldn’t hide their expression. Afterward came the climax of the report, a fight against the goblin giant along with Trumbo, the halfling.

At this point onwards, everyone ears were listening closely to Pixie’s voice, except for Jason. With his body slouching over the chair and his arms crossed over his chest, his thought wandered.

“That’s the end of my report,” said Pixie.

There was silence in the whole debriefing room. Although the whole squad had been fighting against those doggo and steadily leveling themselves up, yet hearing about their fight against such powerful monsters leave them baffled.

“and the young woman Mr.Park?” the Major snapped himself out from his bewilderment as he confirmed the well-being of the hidden mission tasked to the deceased Dan.

“Probably in the infirmary, she’s still unconscious,” said Jason.

“Is there anything else you would like to share Mr.Park?” the Major asked.

“No,” Jason answered.

The Major and Jason stared at each other for a few seconds before the Major turned away back to Pixie. Pixie then gave a brief summary regarding the current squad status.

To the Major’s delight, everyone in the squad had turned into an Awakened and their levels were not too shabby. Most were at level four while Pixie stood at the highest at level nine.

Everyone in the squad marveled at Pixie’s achievement. It made sense after what she had been through. The Major couldn’t hide his smile after seeing the accomplishment of this squad, he anticipated that the rest of them might have the same result as them. In the Major’s eyes, he finally saw that the Canadian Army had a fighting chance against these invulnerable monsters.

“Everyone of you fought hard, and it’s not far from the truth that right now all of you are the hope of Canada. So go and rest up and be prepared for the next mission, that is all. You may all dismissed,” said the Major.

As everyone was leaving, the Major spoke once more.

“Mr.Park, may I have a word,” Jason stopped short as he turned around. He took a seat once more and as the rest of them went out, the Major opened his mouth.

“You’ve done a good job saving the civilian, but you’re not supposed to contact the father. We have protocol Mr.Park and I hope you abide by it, for this time, I’ll let it slide,” said the Major.

Jason stood up looking straight at the Major’s eyes.

“You’re misunderstanding something, to begin with, I’ve no obligation of doing that hidden mission of yours, and me contacting her father is well within my own right,” Jason would not cower against that subtle threat.

“Second of all, don’t try to even use me or else you’re not going to like it,” Jason turned around and left the room.

The Major couldn’t hide the frown on his face and his fists were clenched tightly as he restrained himself.

“Fucking bastard,” but the Major couldn’t hold off his anger. He cursed at Jason who was now long gone.

On the other hand, Jason walked away. He found a military personnel waiting for him as she then brought him over to his personal room. There was even a set of clothes readied for him on top of the clean bed.

“Sir, if you need some food the cafeteria is always open. If you need anything else, you can call me through this number,” said the military personnel.

Jason fetched the piece of paper with a line of numbers on it.

“Thanks,” said Jason.

The military personnel left Jason to his own as the man freshened himself with a shower and changing to a brand new set of clothes. A military cargo pants and a plain gray t-shirt. He sat on the edge of the bed while deep in his own thought.

“Ah, I still got that two scrolls from Trumbo,” said Jason.

He grabbed the bag and pulled out two scrolls from it. Then he saw the description of these two scrolls.

Lightning Fury

Manifest three electrical arrows with homing capabilities. May induce paralysis for 0.5 sec upon contact.

Lv.1 : EP cost 5

“Accept!” Jason didn’t wait after seeing the description of the skill. A rather good offensive type of skill and the most eye-catching thing about it was the effect upon contact. Paralysis which might as well be equivalent to a stunning effect.

The EP cost is a bit high but the paralysis effect makes up for it.

But the next one blew his mind.

Contract

Bind two people to a single condition. Breaching the agreement within the contract will result in an excruciating penalty.

Lv.1 : EP cost 100,

What the?

Jason sat there in bewilderment, the description was simple but the things he could do with this skill were unimaginable. One thing for sure, at least now he had something to keep himself safe. Like they always said, make sure to always have a black and white for an agreement.

“Accept,” Jason said. Another new skill registered within himself.

He couldn’t help but smile after receiving these two new skills, especially Contract. Then his grumbling stomach caught his attention.

Walking out of his room, he went to the cafeteria. He spotted a group of people and knew who they were. It was his previous squad yet seeing how silent they were in eating, they were probably still grieving regarding Dan’s death.

Jason fetched a tray as he piled up a bunch of food. Rather than sitting with the squad, he sat far away from them as he thought it was better to eat alone.

He gobbled up the corn salad and he was rather surprised by how delicious the food was. Based on his understanding, the food in the military shouldn’t be this good.

I guess I’m wrong then.

Jason took his time enjoying the food but at the corner of his eyes, the squad was walking over towards him. He had a bad feeling about this. He didn’t want to confront them considering that he did fail in rescuing Dan’s life but if they went over the line, then he wouldn’t stay polite.

Soon three people stood in front of him.

“We want to apologize,” said a feminine voice.

Jason tilted his head up and saw these three. Hemlock, Twitch, and Sugar Man. His guess was wrong yet again.

“We heard from Pixie’s report and we think we went over the line blaming you over Dan’s death,” said Hemlock.

Jason glanced at the other table and saw Bowie sitting there alone.

“Hmm, Bowie is a bit embarrassed about apologizing since he did go overboard a bit with his action. Nonetheless, we apologize for blaming you. We know you did your best and so did Dan,” said Hemlock.

Her eyes cast down after mentioning Dan’s name.

“It’s fine, where’s Pixie?” Jason broke the silence as these three didn’t say a word after mentioning Dan.

“She’s resting at the barrack,” said Hemlock.

“She’s okay?” Jason asked.

“Don’t worry, she has the strongest willpower among us,” said Hemlock.

As silence ensued once more, the door to the cafeteria was banged wide open as a bunch of soldiers walked inside. Their appearance caught Jason’s attention. They were all bloody with most of their clothes in tatters.

Then he heard Hemlock’s voice.

“It’s the other squad,” said Hemlock.

Then one of the soldiers noticed Jason and the trio from a distance. There was hesitation in his eyes but he decided on something as he walked over to Jason.

“You’re Jason Park right?” the soldier asked.

“Yeah, why?” Jason asked back as his gut was telling him something.

The soldier’s face was drenched in sweat as his lips were tightly sealed as something was hindering him from speaking a word.

“What is it?” Jason probed once more.

“Miss Park saved our lives and…” before the soldier could end his sentence.

Jason already stood up and grabbed him by the collar. Jason pulled him closer and said.

“Where is she?” his tone was gruff as his blood began to boil.

“She… she…” the soldier went nervous as he didn’t expect a response from Jason like this.

“Say it!” Jason shouted.

“She’s at the infirmary,” muttered the soldier.

Jason let go of the soldier as he rushed out of the cafeteria at blinding speed.

While the soldier was trying to compose himself after being thrown on the floor, Hemlock couldn’t hide her curiosity.

“What happened?”

Then the soldier spoke.

“Goblins riding on wolves ambushed us and if it wasn’t for Miss Park, half of the squad wouldn’t be alive right now.”