“Kael, Garran, Varric, and Barry, go let loose. Take out all your frustration today. I will not order you. I will not stop you. Kill how you want.”

  They looked at me in surprise. Slowly, a grin spread across Varric’s and Garran’s faces, but even Kael could not stop himself, though he still carried himself in a soldierly fashion.

  We stood atop a small valley. Below us, a small herd of ten to fifteen boars was grazing. They were all Tier One, so even if they attacked together, injuries would be minimal. I was not worried about them running away, because these boars were not mission targets, just beasts we encountered half a day into our expedition. Seeing them, I thought this would be a good opportunity to let some of my older members vent their frustration at being ordered around by me.

  Varric, Garran, and Kael walked toward the boars. Surprisingly, Varric and Garran were not carrying shields, but I did not comment on it. Barry, instead, walked toward me.

  “You know I am not a barbarian like them. I enjoy hanging around more than killing,” Barry said.

  “I already told you I would not order you. If you feel like standing back, you are free to do so. Garran and the others will not mind,” I said.

  Ignoring Barry and focusing on the others making their way to the herd, once they were close, the boars started running toward them. Varric was the first to engage, followed by Garran and then Kael, each picking their target. As a boar attacked Garran, he swung his spear in a full arc, cutting into the boar’s snout almost as if he were using his spear like a butchering knife. It reminded me of how he fought during the beast tide. Seeing this, I sighed. For him, a long butchering knife might actually be a better weapon, because the way he handled his spear definitely reduced its lifespan.

  Thankfully, Varric and Kael knew how to use a spear properly. They drove their spears straight into the boars’ heads, killing them in a single strike. Just then, I saw a knife pierce the eye of a boar from the side, catching me by surprise. It looked like Barry was not able to hold himself back. I saw him moving in, carrying only a spear and no shield. Once the boar was blinded, he drove the spear in to finish it.

  Moving to his next target, Varric started laughing as he picked up a charging boar with one hand. I flinched. He took the impact on his bare hand, then lifted the beast and drove his spear into its belly, spilling its guts all over himself. Meanwhile, Barry had cornered his target and, instead of killing it immediately, kept poking it, angering it and running circles around it. I just shook my head at their way of fighting. They really were holding back when fighting in formation.

  Their performance terrified the remaining boars, which started to flee. Initially, I was going to let them run, but then I noticed Rokan and Daren were closest to the direction the boars were fleeing, and they had looks of expectation on their faces, as if disappointed they had not gotten a chance to fight. I saw that as an opportunity.

  “Rokan, Daren, take shields and spears and attack,” I called, pointing at the fleeing boars.

  Smiles spread across their faces as they ran toward the beasts. It was a good opportunity to see them fight, and I was close enough to provide support if needed. But it seemed I did not have to worry. They used their shields and large bodies to stop and corner two of the boars. The remaining three escaped, but both brothers managed to bring down their targets in less than three minutes.

  Once everyone was done, I looked at the ground. Chunks of beast meat were scattered everywhere. Thankfully, Kael’s and Barry’s kills were clean enough that we could salvage meat from them. Given the length of the mission, I wanted to conserve the dried meat we brought from the fort as much as possible. However, I could not carry too much fresh meat at once. Too much weight would slow us down, and without time to treat it, the meat would spoil in less than twenty-four hours. Still, these corpses were not completely useless. They had one more purpose.

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  “Does anyone need healing?” I asked.

  Garran and Varric were covered in blood and gore, making it hard to tell if they were injured. The others looked cleaner, but they might still have taken hits.

  Everyone shook their head.

  “Good. Everyone gather around,” I said. “Rokan, Daren, pick one clean corpse. This will be our meal. Brakk and Oren, grab two more corpses. We will use them as bait.”

  I gave them a few minutes to gather the bodies. Once everyone regrouped near the small hand-drawn cart holding our supplies, Brakk and Oren took over pulling it. As laborers, this kind of work suited their class and training.

  “I hope this helped you release some frustration,” I said. “Now I want everyone to focus on the mission. Before nightfall, my goal is to eliminate two of the six targets on our list. One before our afternoon meal, and another about seven hours’ walk from here. If we reach it before evening, we will deal with it before dinner.”

  “Our next target is about one hour from here. Three Tier Two lizards. They are scavengers by nature. We will use the boar corpses to lure them to a creek positioned close to their nest.”

  That creek was also one of the water collection points for the supply unit on the way to Fort Dunvale, but it provided the humid conditions the lizards preferred for nesting.

  “Garran and Varric, use the creek to clean yourselves. I want the lizards focused on the boars, not us.” I said with a smile.

  Varric answered with a crooked grin, while Kael just shook his head.

  “Garran, Kael, Barry, and Varric, change into the new boots, the ones we trained with yesterday. If the lizards take the bait, we will have the perfect opportunity to test these runes. But stay alert. This will be my first time using these runes in combat, so be prepared for slip-ups,” I said. I had only managed to get six hours of practice with the new boots yesterday, and active combat was not the same as drills. I was still struggling to maintain resonance between the boots due to the amount of concentration required, something I would only get used to after constant use.

  “We will follow the earlier formation. Oren takes the cart. Brakk, Rokan, and Daren walk close to it. Kael, Garran, and Varric up front. Barry and Silas on the right flank. Corvin and Peter on the left flank. I will be at the rear,” I said, shifting my focus to the entire squad.

  “Garran, once you are done wearing the boots, clean the meal corpse a bit and prepare it for today’s meals,” I added.

  Garran nodded and began changing into the new boots, while everyone else moved into position. Peter, who was closest to me, walked over with a conflicted expression.

  “How do you do it?” Peter asked quietly, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “Treating this as normal. Not even frowning while watching them enjoy killing, reveling in blood and gore, then casually asking about healing and moving on to mission logistics like nothing happened.”

  “I already knew they enjoyed killing,” I said. I had seen the same expressions during the beast tide, even when squads around us were dying.

  “And you think it is good to let them loose like that?” he asked.

  I sighed.

  “Peter, you know people who enjoy fighting, people who live and die for combat, right?” I asked, to which he nodded.

  “Think of them the same way. I can confirm that Varric and Garran enjoy killing. I do not know if Barry and Kael share the same level of bloodlust, but I do know that for at least a year they have lived in a hostile environment and will likely continue to do so as long as they live. All I am doing is giving that anger an outlet.”

  “And you do not think they will expect the same treatment in the future without improving?” Peter asked.

  “I had a long discussion with the lieutenant about this and how to make the squad more effective,” I said. “We both came to the conclusion that, for now, my job is not to completely control them, but to use their bloodlust and direct it toward specific targets. As for expecting the same treatment, I am sure that as a death squad, we will never be short on targets.”

  I nodded to Peter and rejoined the squad as we started moving toward our first real target.