Book 1-5.3 The Four Horsemen and their Squads
The Monster's Desert was a dangerous area that required most tribes to send at least three hundred veteran warriors together for survival.
This was where an endless amount of monsters were generated from, and the reason anyone would face danger to come to the Monster's Desert, was of course to control the amount of monsters in the desert, but the important part was to have many warriors experience real danger while working on developing teamwork with other warriors.
These fifty or so warriors, who do not look a day over twenty, were heading into this dangerous Monster's Desert. If they were warriors who just became twenty, that meant that they weren't even veteran warriors.
Even though the tribe's greatest warriors and the chiefs of the Oasis were trying to persuade them otherwise, Yulian and Red Storm were still heading to the Monster's Desert.
Red Storm's next training location.
After seeing that the Red Storm warriors had developed a certain level of skill, Yulian decided on this location for them to experience real battles. Collecting Monster's Souls was just an extra benefit during the process.
"We will finally be able to hold our heads up in front of the master blacksmiths who keep complaining that too much money is being spent on our weapons."
Everybody started to laugh at Triquel's words.
Even though they were with Yulian, who had survived in this place on his own, and they were confident in their abilities, the fact that this was the Monster's Desert still made them all nervous.
Yulian looked around before speaking.
"We will set up our paoes here. Since we will be here for two months, you will need to dig deep and make sure that it is sturdy. It's true that the monsters here are dangerous, but the sandstorms are even scarier than the monsters."
Hearing Yulian's words, everybody got off their pirmas and started to set up their paoes.
Yulian reflected back to his suffering here during his coming-of-age ceremony as he instructed the warriors to dig deep into the ground, to the point where almost half the paoe was inside the sand.
Setting up the paoes and putting their containers of water and dried rations inside the paoes took a while. Before they knew it, a few hours had gone by.
"Fall in formation once you are ready."
After Haisha shouted out loud, the majority of the warriors started to fall into formation. The few stragglers quickly completed their preparations and joined them shortly.
Once everybody was gathered, Yulian informed them of the dangers surrounding them.
"Starting from now, it is truly the real thing. Throw away your laid-back attitudes and make sure to focus. We will be spending sixteen hours a day fighting monsters and eight hours to sleep and eat. If you consider that four of those hours will be spent on guard duty, the duration of our sleep will only be four hours a day. I know that an extreme amount of fatigue will come over us. I also know that it will be dangerous. However, we did not come out here to play. We came here to gain real battle experience; we came to sharpen our abilities."
Yulian's voice started to get louder.
"In the battlefield, the enemy will still attack us when we are tired; they will not care if our fatigue makes us slower. Take this time to experience that before it happens in the battlefield. Our enemy will not just be the monsters here; it will also be the dangerous natural disasters that occur here as well."
Yulian stretched out his hand to feel the wind as he continued.
"I'm sure you all know this already, but if you see that a sandstorm is brewing, hide underground. Even then, you will need to make sure to keep your eyes and ears open, as there are monsters even underground."
Looking at the warriors with fire in their eyes, Yulian was a bit concerned.
It was going to be a painful training session.
"The last thing I have to say is for you to value your own body. Not just for yourself but for Pareia, and for me, make sure to take care of your body. If you sense that danger is near, work together with your peers around you. I will not forgive any injuries or deaths. Understand?"
"Yes, we understand."
The Red Storm warriors responded in unison. They all had at least that much resolution.
"Great. I will divide you into squads. Haisha, Triquel, Shubeon, and Thrint."
Yulian called the names of the warriors he had considered. Each of them had their own unique talents and amongst the group, they had been labeled the Red Storm's Four Horsemen. They also had the abilities to live up to that name."
"Yes."
Yulian spoke to the four warriors who answered his call and started to come forward.
"Each of you will have a squad of twelve members. The remaining eight will be with me. As you are forming your squads, rather than your friends, consider each person's individuality and abilities as you will need to work well together. I'm sure you understand what I mean. Begin."
As soon as Yulian gave the command, the Four Horsemen started to form their squads, considering each person's personality and abilities. It took a bit of time, but the four squads were created and the remaining eight warriors came towards Yulian.
"Great. From here on, we are in competition with each other. The winner will be the squad who can collect the most Monster's Souls. Of course we will also consider the quality. A regular scorpion's Monster's Soul cannot be treated the same as a Giant Scorpion's Monster's Soul. On the last day of training, we will determine the first place and the last place squads and great rewards and harsh punishments will be given. I will say it again. This is a battlefield. When the war is over, we need to reward achievements properly. Since that is the case, I'm sure how we treat some of you will change."
The warriors' fighting spirits burned even hotter with Yulian's words. As they were all prideful warriors who believed they would not lose to anybody else, it couldn't be helped. Before they were teammates, they were now competitors.
"At noon and at midnight. Twice a day, you MUST return to this paoe. Each squad will send two members at a time to protect the paoe. Including me, the five squad leaders will take turns overseeing the protection of the paoe. The remaining amount of time is left up to each individual squad. When to sleep, when to eat, that type of stuff. Any questions?"
Shubeon lifted his hand high into the air.
"Do you think each squad is capable of taking down a Sand Dragon? Asking for a friend…"
Yulian pondered for a bit before shaking his head no.
"No. If you meet a Sand Dragon, run away. I believe that your abilities are enough to avoid critical danger. However, as I mentioned before, I will not accept any injuries or death. Wouldn't it be such a waste to go through all that training just to die here?"
"Then isn't it too advantageous for your squad? Since you can take a Sand Dragon down on your own and all…"
Yulian smiled. He finally understood what Shubeon was worried about.
'I'm sure the other warriors are thinking about this as well but Shubeon just asked as the representative.'
The warrior Shubeon had massive strength, and his personality was one where he hated being on the losing end. His name of Three Toras (small animals that live underground and prepare many entrances and exits to their home in case of a predator's attack) proved that to be the case.
"Don't worry. I will only put forward enough power to make up for the four members we are missing. Of course, on the day I am watching the Paoe, our squad will face more loss than any other squad, so I will compensate as needed."
"Even Yulian-nim can surprisingly be so calculating."
Triquel started to speak after laughing at what Yulian said.
"It's obvious. I will also follow the same rules that you are all following. Still, there is no doubt in my mind that my squad will not be last place. I will say this now, the winning squad will receive a big reward while the squad in last place… well, I'll leave that up to your imaginations."
"They say you need to put the two next to each other to see which is longer and shorter. Who knows? We may be able to see Yulian who needs to give a punishment to himself."
The other warriors all started to laugh at Triquel's response.
"That's right. You need to put the two together to tell which is longer and shorter. I am getting a bit embarrassed thinking about giving myself a reward."
As Yulian retorted without backing away, the warriors' laughter became even louder.
"Any other questions?"
Red Storm's Four Horsemen looked at each other before shaking their heads no and responding in unison.
"No other questions."
"Then we will start now. I will not say something like I wish you luck. Show me your skills. Dismiss yourselves by squad."
"Yes."
The warriors quickly sped off in their individual squads to get an advantage over the other squads.