Let’s Begin

’It’s as I thought. Information on the ants is woefully insufficient.’ In the Orderly Room—one of the few proper structures in the base—Xander and co went through the files talking about the various threats Landor faced, and unsurprisingly, everything related to the ants was grossly inadequate.

’I mean, that’s only the case to us because we know the truth. Realistically, the explanation seems solid enough. So an unsuspecting person can easily accept what is written here. Even the explanation about why they don’t go deeper to explore sounds reasonable. I’d accept it if someone told me that any serious battles in the catacombs could lead to a wide-ranged collapse of the tunnels, putting every participant in danger.’ Aubrey added telepathically.

’Yeah, but we now know that its bullshit.’ Falael scoffed through the link.

Currently, each of them was pouring through several documents with the same content on the different threats, but they decided to look through the one on the ants first before proceeding with their study on the three beast leaders.

’Normal ants know how to build their colonies in a way that avoids structural collapse across the board. The ants we encountered were smarter, so it’s not a stretch to assume they are capable of the same, if not better. On top of that, considering how those massive soldier ants could move freely, yeah, I agree with Falael’s assessment.’ Xander exhaled before calmly closing that file. ’For now, let’s focus on the task at hand and learn the strengths, weaknesses, habits, and precise locations of the three beast leaders. We’ll create ways to combat each of them and deal with them tonight. Understood?’ He asked.

’Understood×3.’ And with that, the group poured their effort into learning, understanding, and planning.

***

A few hours later, in the training field.

"Remember your footwork. Again, your hips turn the blade, not your arms.

Lead with the pommel and guide the weight, don’t fight against it. No, not quite like that, try again, like this... yeah, better.

Don’t just spin blindly. Tuck your arms in and control it. Otherwise, you’ll get tired. The moment you can spin consistently without tiring yourself out is when your progress reaches an acceptable level."

The surrounding soldiers watched curiously as a somewhat odd scene played out. The newbie, Xander was currently training a member of the Lunatic squad, Bodhi. And the latter was weirdly receptive of the whole thing.

’His talent isn’t half bad. Not as good as Aubrey, but he’s picking it up well enough. In a few days, he’ll be able to use it in conjunction with channeling.’ Xander nodded to himself as Bodhi continued to swing the blade in complete concentration, doing his utmost to follow Xander’s instructions. The sight made Xander give a wistful sigh, recalling how, back on earth, he had taught a few people here and there.

However, his students could never keep up with his lessons, plus it cut into his training time back then, so he never did it seriously.

’It’s quite surreal.’ As he had that thought, he glanced at Keir who had returned to his spot on his shoulder, however, the baby dragon was noticeably larger. Not to the point where he couldn’t bear the weight or fight comfortably, but certainly noticeable.

He also seemed a bit different. Not hugely. He still acted like a particularly intelligent cat, but those slitted pupils of his now observed things with a certain... intensity. Like he was seeing something

Keir, Mia, and Mary had returned from wherever they went not too long ago, and according to Mary, the two of them had helped the dragon start drawing out his latent potential. What that entailed? Xander had no clue as neither chose to elaborate. Only that from now on, Keir’s growth would speed up exponentially.

She had also confirmed that his flames did not do soul damage, but something far more sinister. But once again, she did not elaborate.

Xander was both excited and a little concerned. After all, while it was a good thing on the surface, it also meant that keeping Keir under wraps was going to get increasingly more difficult as time went on.

’... I mean, realistically, if someone asks how I got him, I don’t even need to lie. Because it was legitimately a complete chance encounter. The only thing is that there might be those greedy and powerful people who might want to get their hands on him. But... I suppose Mia said she would handle the things I could not.’ Xander exhaled and focused on the task ahead while adjusting his mental state. That’s because in a few hours, the group would set out towards the Ravine to deal with the beast leaders.

However...

"Xander, can I talk to you for a moment?" Xander turned to see Sparrow standing there with her arms folded, expression unreadable.

Xander blinked, then glanced at Bodhi. The latter paused briefly, looked between them, then shrugged, as though telling Xander to go ahead.

Xander nodded, then turned to Sparrow who gestured for him to follow her.

The two of them walked through the base in relative silence.

’She seems tense.’ Xander noticed. It seemed like whatever she wanted to tell him would be important.

After arriving at a relatively secluded area, Sparrow turned to him, and this time, her expression looked a bit complicated, like she was struggling with something. Xander waited patiently, and eventually, she sighed.

"Look, kid. You’re smart, and talented, and your teammates clearly look up to you. So I don’t mean this in any bad way—"

"Get to the point." Xander said flatly, which surprised her, considering his usually calm demeanor when dealing with his superiors in this place. But then again, she was acting very strange...

"... Fine." Her expression hardened. "The Captain wants you to put the matter of the ants out of your minds entirely." Xander blinked, then slowly tilted his head.

"Why?" Sparrow’s jaw clenched.

"You’re a soldier, you don’t question your superiors—"

"Why?" Xander looked at her, and she felt oddly exposed under his gaze which seemed almost... knowing. Like he’d already figured something out.

Still, years of experience had made keeping her cool an instinctive action, so she didn’t get flustered.

"I didn’t tell you this to hear your opinion. I’m giving you an order from a superior. Following it is in your best interest." She kept her voice level, the thinly veiled threat obvious in Xander’s ears.

Seeing as he didn’t immediately retort, Sparrow exhaled and continued, her expression softening slightly.

"Look. You’re fresh out of school, and I have no doubt that you perform well there. Hell, your performance here has been exemplary to say the least. But in a military environment, obedience is the number one thing. They must have taught you that, right? Your job is to listen our superiors are in that position because they have sufficient experience and judgement to make certain calls—"

"The higher-ups are suspicious, aren’t they?" Xander’s words slice through her sentence, causing her to flinch as her pupils constricted sharply.

’How does he...?!’ Seeing her reaction, Xander just nodded, not smug or disturbed. Just... calm, like something had been confirmed in his mind.

"I guessed as much, but this just confirmed it. Thanks for that." He looked up to judge the time, then back at Sparrow who was staring at him with newfound wariness. He sighed, then turned slightly.

"Things are potentially going to get extremely messy in the coming week. So I suggest you prepare as much as possible." With that, he started to turn.

"H-Hey, wait!" Sparrow reached forward to grab his shoulder, but pulled her hand back at the last moment when Keir’s head snapped at it sharply, nearly catching her fingers.

"Easy." Xander placed a hand against his back to placate him, and Keir slowly settled, but not before giving Sparrow one more glare.

Sparrow’s lips pressed together as she saw Xander slowly go retreat into the distance, her hands unconsciously making fists.

’... Just what is happening all of a sudden?’ She thought, suddenly feeling a bit list and very confused.

***

"You done?" As Xander entered the tent, he was greeted by the sight of Aubrey, Curtis, and Falael preparing their gear.

"Yup, just needed to settle something briefly." He nodded. He wasn’t worried about the activities being noticed as Mary had already created an isolation barrier ahead of time, so any possible prying was effectively blocked. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Great. This is the plan we eventually came up with?" Aubrey gestured to the map on the table which had been recreated from the files in the Orderly Room. It was of the Ravine specifically, and it was quite detailed, showing different things like angles of elevation as well as markers signifying the position of specific groups of beasts.

However, the most important thing was the three red markers near the center of the huge landscape.

"So just a brief summary of the plan." Aubrey hung her bow over he shoulder and pointed towards two dots, and everyone paid closer attention despite having already gone over the plan before.

"These two dots represent the Void Raptor and the Verdant Boa. Attacking any of the two will alert the latter immediately of the commotion, meaning it will rush over to assist and quickly eliminate the threat. Considering the Void Raptor can teleport, engaging the Boa first means it would be able to support it quickly. Either way, fighting both at once isn’t going to be wise." Her finger moved to the third red marker that was quite a distance away.

"So instead, Mia is going to teleport us directly on Big Neil’s location. And we need to deal with it as quickly as possible before the other two can come to support it. It will be dangerous since we’ll be directly barging into its territory. But we will have the element of surprise on our side. The files said it takes at least ten seconds for Big Neil to ’wake up’ its puppets to fight. But for all we know, it could already has several puppets active at all times in case it gets ambushed. Regardless, that’s where Curtis and Falael come in." She regarded the two.

"I’ll prepare a large scale flash-freeze spell right before we teleport, making the sharp webs of Big Neil rigid and easy to break through, while temporarily halting it and its puppets’ movements." Curtis listed his role.

"And then I’ll bombard the puppets closest to Big Neil with my own prepared spell, isolating it." The half-elf stated their role, then Aubrey turned to Xander.

"I will then rush in and try to deal with it in a single blow." Xander nodded, fully letting Aubrey take the lead on the operation.

"Good, and if that fails, and Big Neil is able to survive the initial strike, and/or the other two beast leaders arrive before we can finish it off. Mary," Aubrey regarded Xander’s taciturn maid. "Will keep Big Neil busy while we engage them. If the other two beasts do arrive, prioritize the Void Raptor immediately. Curtis will freeze the air to slow down the Boa’s mist and push it away, while me, Xander, and Falael will search for a way to bypass the Raptor’s defenses. Remember, our timer is ten minutes. If we fail to eliminate all three of them within that time, we risk catching the attention of Landor’s soldiers or getting swarmed by the other native beasts in the ravine. The latter option is especially likely. So we are to extricate ourselves immediately. No hesitation. Alright?" She finished, and the group nodded before turning to Mia who sat propped up against a cushions waiting.

"Ready?" She asked simply, and the group nodded as they got into formation, while Mary transformed into her small bird form and landed on Xander’s other shoulder.

With a nod, Mia simply raised her fingers.

"3... 2... 1..."

Snap

The entire group vanished out of the tent without a trace, and Mia replaced Mary’s isolation barrier before it could fully disperse. Then she closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, the group appeared a few dozen meters in tha air above a certain spot in the ravine.

And thus began their plan.