"What does it mean? It means what it says!"
The relationship between Noah and Ye Qi hadn't improved, not one bit, in the past 6 months. Therefore, the cold-faced guy was as frigid to Ye Qi as they met the first time. Then again, the young Demon Hunter doubted he would be able to tell even if Noah's impression of him had improved because the frigid way seemed to be how Noah treated everyone, including his friend, Titan.
"Sir, you have to understand what I meant." Every time the young Demon Hunter conversed with Noah, he would be annoyed by the snide insinuation hidden in the man's chilly words. If not for his identity as the instructor and his cunning nature, Ye Qi would have asked Noah to fight him in the arena to release the tension in his heart. However, since he was still at a categorically lower standing than Noah, Ye Qi swallowed his grief and repeated with a polite smile, "Sir, do you mind telling me what is the Calvary mentioned in the missive?"
"The Cavalry is a unit formed by the elites among the registered Demon Hunters. Their main responsibility is the preservation of safety around the headquarters and Summer Crinkle. Every year, the best among the new batch of Apostles would be given the honour to join their ranks for half a year as part of training…" At this point, the cold-faced guy glanced at Ye Qi and started to deliver his sardonic jabs, "This is basic knowledge that should be familiar to all Demon Hunters. The fact that you're an Apostle but didn't know that cause me to worry whether you'll rise up to the occasion. I don't think letting you join the Calvary is a good idea, I will bring my protest up with the headquarters!"
After the cold-faced guy turned, Ye Qi flipped him off and kept the missive in his jacket. He bade his friends goodbye before rushing out of the Central Castle to hurry towards the meet-up point, because the assigned time of gathering was coming soon. Even though Ye Qi didn't care much for this "training", he didn't want to be late for his first meeting.
Furthermore, Ye Qi was deeply suspicious that Noah purposely gave him the missive so close to the time of gathering to trip him up! Ye Qi wouldn't put such petty tricks past Noah, the guy wouldn't give up any opportunity to make life difficult for the young Demon Hunter…
Cursing the cold-faced guy in his heart, Ye Qi picked up his pace but even so he was still late. Ye Qi rushed forwards noticing the impatient frown on the woman who was standing before the headquarters' entrance. He said respectfully, "Hi, Madam! I'm…"
"Even if you're an Apostle, it doesn't mean that your time is more valuable than mine, Mr. Ye Qi!" Alice in full armour and a long sword on her waist interrupted him, "Furthermore, now that you're a part of the Calvary, you shall refer to me as Captain!"
"I'm sorry, Captain!" For the sake of the rest of his six months, Ye Qi corrected himself immediately.
"Very good!" The female knight nodded but she didn't forgive his tardiness, "Due to your tardiness, our patrol time might be delayed so you must report yourself at the camp two kilometres from here within the next 10 minutes! Now, come with me!"
Ye Qi thought his female superior would run along him but Alice whistled and a pure white stallion came bouncing out of the headquarters' entrance. The edge of Ye Qi's mouth twitched involuntarily watching the woman flipped onto the horseback with such grace and ease despite of the fact she was in a full set of heavy armour—even though Ye Qi had known she was not a simple character from first sight, he obviously had underestimated his superior's severity, or rather, he was prejudiced against her because of her gender…
Regardless, running 2 kilometres in 10 minutes was an easy feat for Ye Qi with 16 agility. In fact, he soon caught up to Alice and was head-to-head with her horse.
Alice who left first was obviously surprised by Ye Qi's speed. However, she soon covered that up and continued to ride on her horse expressionlessly. To Ye Qi's surprise, Alice didn't increase her horse's speed but ride beside Ye Qi on the way to the camp.
Among the greenery, a rectangular flag with a white horse and blue background fluttered majestically in the sky. Underneath it, numerous tents were arranged in a design that escaped the young Demon Hunter's comprehension.
In the spots of empty spaces that peppered the camp, many muscular men were in the middle of training using wooden swords. The young Demon Hunter also spotted an archer practicing his archery. Under the tents that were at the most outskirt of the camp, several blacksmiths were busy forging and repairing armours and weapons…
As he walked deeper into the camp, the young Demon Hunter could see underage children and some women cleaning and wiping the firearms. From the ways they preserved their guns, Ye Qi had no illusion that these were adept gunslingers…
Along the way, those that saw them greeted Alice with a deep bow and practically ignored Ye Qi who was tagging along. Regarding this, the young Demon Hunter shrugged it off, he was not someone important so he was not offended like some common Young Master who would be slighted by the littlest show of disrespect.
When Noah introduced the Calvary, the young Demon Hunter thought the Calvary was merely a patrol team with a spiffy name. However, when he walked through the camp and saw for himself their training and amenities, his perspective changed immediately—if a common patrol had such perfect facilities, then Summer Crinkle's government was being a bit too generous.
Therefore, there was only one explanation, the Demon Hunter headquarters was training its own mercenary forces!
Even though the Demon Hunter branches were spread across the land, and there were many registered Demon Hunters, most of them held a begrudging loyalty to the headquarters. This was true even for the Apostles who were trained at the headquarters.
For an organization like Demon Hunter headquarters, it was necessary for them to be able to summon a powerful force at any given notice. The Demon Hunters from over the land might answer the call but whether they would abide by the headquarters' order was a different issue.
Therefore they needed a loyal trained unit! Obviously, that was the Calvary! This also explained why the best Apostle from every batch would be assigned to the Calvary annually—as the headquarters' fighting force, the Calvary had to be a force to be reckoned with and that couldn't be achieved through day and night training! Therefore, the best Apostle of every batch would be tossed into their mix acting as a free and convenient sharpening stone!
So the missive was as he expected, more than it seemed!
The young Demon Hunter laughed self-deprecating at his fate of being another party's sharpening stone.
"There are in total eight Calvary camps and we're in one of them. Our total army consists of 150 people…" Alice made simple introduction to Ye Qi who visited the camp for the first time. Finally, she led him to a stable and said, "Since you're now an official Calvary member, you have to choose a horse for yourself!"
Following Alice's tapered, fair fingers, the young Demon Hunters looked at the horses inside the stable. His face frowned deeply not because the horses were bad or had disability but… fact was he didn't know how to ride a horse…