Chapter 204 - Black Butchers*

“That guy,” Lieutenant Caeso said, shaking his head as he took the seat in front of me. “How are you feeling?”

“Not sure. I have been lying on this bed and drinking the herbal soup they gave me. I feel too tired to move, yet much better than I did after being hit by that attack.”

The lieutenant gave me a deadpan look. “You are a true medical genius,” he said sarcastically.

I just shrugged.

The lieutenant had already healed my wound. Over the last three hours, with all the herbs I had consumed, my HP had increased from 450 to 525. But other than that, I did not feel much different. My legs still felt too weak for me to lift, and I had no way of knowing how quickly my blood was recovering.

The lieutenant then smirked. “Do you know what Frosthallow and the militia soldiers are calling your squad?”

I shook my head. “No. Doesn’t my squad already have an intimidating-sounding name?”

I had always felt that the name Death Squad was intimidating. If Avalon had used it properly and advertised the existence of its death squads, simply letting the enemy know that they were present would have affected the morale of the enemy forces.

“Well, because of your squad’s performance last night and on the wall, the soldiers in Velkar have started calling your squad the Reaper Giants. And I heard from one of our intelligence lieutenants that Frosthallow’s soldiers have started calling your squad the Black Butchers.”

I smiled after hearing that.

Earning one moniker was already an achievement. Getting two after just one night was something to be proud of.

In the army, once your squad earned a moniker, it meant that your squad would soon become famous. Songs would be written, word of mouth would spread faster, and everyone would start talking about the Black Butchers or the Reaper Giants.

While it might not have had any real military benefit, to me, it had always seemed like a cool thing to have. Moreover, while higher-ups were mostly unaffected by monikers, among low-level soldiers, they could earn you a huge amount of respect.

The lieutenant grinned after seeing my expression. “Which one do you prefer? I am pushing for Black Butchers. I even ordered all my subordinates to address your squad only as the Black Butchers.”

From his tone, it seemed as though he was proud of his actions.

Instead of dignifying that with a response, I just rolled my eyes.

“What were you doing at the wall?” I asked.

“Saving your ass,” he replied with a raised eyebrow.

This time, I took a deep breath and pushed myself up a little. Then, looking at him, I asked, “I mean, how were you able to arrive just in time to save us? I thought only Senior Lieutenant Torquatus was supposed to support us.”

“Well, Torquatus is a good sensor. He was able to sense the presence of a hidden earth mage, so he called me as a precaution. I was a good counter to wind blades, so I revealed myself first to save your sorry asses.”

“Well, thank you for saving our asses,” I replied.

While I had developed some familiarity with the other senior lieutenants, my relationship with Caeso had become more informal. He liked to joke around, and he did not mind if others joked with him. Instead, it seemed to me that he preferred it that way.

After talking with him a little longer and checking my condition, he left, only to be replaced by my worst nightmare.

My squad.

They had also spent some time with the healers, getting their wounds checked. But now that they were here, they kept complaining about the sewage smell during the mission, the smell of the herbs, their wounds, or the healers.

Thankfully, once the noise grew too loud, the healer kicked them out.

That finally gave me a chance to check my status.

I had gained two more levels over the last five days of fighting, and that was not all.

While we were wreaking havoc behind enemy lines, I felt as though I had finally broken through the thresholds of [Unbroken Stride (UC)] and [Flowing Spear Style (UC)].

+26000 XP

11,000 XP – Leading and surviving a mission behind enemy lines

This book was originally published on NovelPhoenix. Check it out there for the real experience.

15,000 XP – Leading more than 150 soldiers in battle

Name: Edward

Class: Battlefield Coordinator

Rank: Initiate (T2)

Level: 44 / 50

EXP: 1500 / 13,200

Elemental Affinity: 0.1% Wind

Mana Cultivation: Tier 2 (85.5/100)

Mana Nodes: 6 / 7

Physical Attributes

Constitution: 84.9 → 87.9

Strength: 69.4 → 72.4

Agility: 62.2 → 64.2

Spiritual Attributes

Intelligence: 126.1 → 137.6

Wisdom: 107.6 → 117.6

Willpower: 101.8 → 110.6

HP: 550 / 879

HP Regen: 224.5 per day

MP: 2000 / 4748

MP Regen: 403.5 per hour

Class Skills

[Operational Cognition (A)] – Level 57 → 72

[Unbroken Stride (UC)] – Level 50*

[Flowing Spear Style (UC)] – Level 50*

[Perceptive Instinct (UC)] – Level 50*

[Adaptive Vital Restoration (A)] – Level 7 → 12

General Skills

[Battlefield Command (UC)] – Level 50*

[Triage Ward (UC)] – Level 50*

[Rune Analysis (UC)] – Level 50*

[Fortification Planner (UC)] – Level 42 → 50*

[Logistics Routecraft (UC)] – Level 47 → 50*

[Mana Manipulation (A)] – Level 45 → 57

[Mana Reinforcement (UC)] – Level 50*

This was my first time gaining this much experience from a single mission in less than three hours. It was more than three times the amount of experience I had gained after the first day of Frosthallow’s raid.

But honestly, it was not surprising.

This had also been one of my most dangerous missions so far. For the first time, I had willingly walked into territory controlled by Tier-4s. Even more surprisingly, my squad had survived the mission without losing a single member.

And the skill that had helped me the most was [Operational Cognition (A)].

The skill had not only helped me memorize the route for the mission but had also proven vital on the ground, from analyzing patrol units to identifying weaknesses in the enemy’s shield wall.

[Operational Cognition (A)] had helped throughout the entire mission, and that was why it had gained fifteen more levels.

While [Operational Cognition (A)] had operated in the background like a CPU, providing solutions to all my problems, [Mana Manipulation (A)] had been at the forefront of everything.

It was the skill that had allowed me to perform most of my tasks on the battlefield. Without it, I would not have been able to create mana shields or mana arcs. Moreover, without such a high level in [Mana Manipulation (A)], I would never have been able to create core bombs.

Yet even after all this progress in two of my oldest Advanced-tier skills, I was excited about something else.

For the first time in a long while, I had received an upgrade notification for my combat skills.

Skill [Flowing Spear Style (UC)] available for upgrade

[Flowing Spear Style (UC)] → [Crescent Moon Spear Style (A)]

Type: Weapon Mastery / Mana Technique

Associated Attributes: Agility, Strength, Constitution, Intelligence

An advanced evolution of [Flowing Spear Style (UC)] formed through relentless practice with both spear techniques and mana projection. The user has developed a deeper understanding of how mana flows through and around the spear, allowing physical movements and mana projections to function as parts of the same combat style.

Rather than forming a mana projection as a separate action, the user can shape and release it naturally through thrusts, sweeps, rotations, and other spear movements. This greatly reduces the time and concentration required to create mana projections and allows them to be woven directly into continuous combat.

That was not it. One more skill was available for upgrade.

Skill [Unbroken Stride (UC)] available for upgrade

[Unbroken Stride (UC)] → [Bursting Stride (A)]

Type: Movement / Mana Reinforcement Technique

Associated Attributes: Agility, Constitution, Strength, Willpower

An advanced evolution of [Unbroken Stride (UC)] developed through the controlled integration of [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] into the user’s movements. The technique retains the balance, footing, endurance, and terrain adaptability of [Unbroken Stride (UC)] while allowing the user to reinforce their legs and lower body for sudden bursts of acceleration.

Rather than maintaining reinforcement continuously, the user releases mana in short, precisely timed bursts through the legs, hips, and core. This greatly increases acceleration and short-distance movement speed without sacrificing stability or control.

Both skills sounded awesome to me.

I remembered the sensation I had felt yesterday when I moved using a combination of [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] and [Unbroken Stride (UC)] before piercing the neck of one of the unaware guards. That was the moment when I felt that [Unbroken Stride (UC)] had broken through.

Now, I could see it in the form of [Bursting Stride (A)].

I also remembered when [Flowing Spear Style (UC)] had broken through.

It was when we were discovered. I had killed the soldier attacking me using a mana arc, and at that moment, either because of panic or adrenaline, I had fused my mana arc with my spear style seamlessly for the first time.

While I was happy with both skills, I did not pick them immediately.

These two skills were part of the ambitious project I had been working on for more than a year, hoping to create a Rare-tier skill. And honestly, after seeing these two options, I finally had an idea of how to create one.

Instead of using [Mana Reinforcement (UC)] only for bursts of acceleration, I could also use it to increase the agility and force of my upper-body movements.

Moreover, something else had happened yesterday that made my already ambitious idea even more ambitious.

Until now, I had focused only on creating mana shields and mana arcs and trying to combine them with [Flowing Spear Style (UC)], [Mana Reinforcement (UC)], and [Unbroken Stride (UC)].

But now, I was thinking of adding one more thing.

Mana armor.

I had created a shield around my torso to protect myself from the Tier-4 Blood Chief’s attack. It had almost felt like armor. So I thought, why not add mana armor to the mix as well?

Something like the layers of earth that covered Julius and Captain Petrae, turning them into earth golems, but made of mana instead.

So postponing my skill selection seemed like a good idea. Yet with the war escalating, the two new skills might prove useful.

After debating it for more than four hours, I finally decided to postpone my skill selection.

I already understood the concepts behind the new skills. It was a proven fact that even without selecting a skill on the status screen, one could still use and learn it. The only problem was that the learning process would be slower, and the body’s mana channels would not develop according to that skill. However, as long as I did not postpone my skill selection for more than six months, the negative effects would be minimal.

At the end of the day, I could not give up the chance to create a Rare-tier skill for short-term benefits.