Chapter 315 - Strategy Meeting

"And there's at least one peak perennial leading the army. I confirmed that personally when meeting the man. Though, we should consider that at least one of their hidden perennials might be at the peak as well. It's better to be safe than sorry," reasoned Vloz. 

"Also, we'll need to be careful of that perennial group. They seemed to be information specialists with a focus on speed," Puula stated. "Our scout couldn't confirm their exact realm as they were an elder, but they could tell that there was a distinct leader among the group and they seemed more powerful than the others."

"Then we'll assume that person is either a high-perennial or a peak-perennial," Rathe added, nodding with a wily smile.

"But that's unrealistic. Having that many peak-perennials working under a newly appointed king doesn't make sense," Chief Gar stated.

"There are a lot of things that don't make sense. We don't know why those bandits attacked a year ago. We don't know why King Portro sent such a sizable force to our borders when having only a few perennials stationed there would've been best. And we don't know why any of them dare stand against Iron Territory without even mentioning their cause…" Rathe rambled, gradually lifting his gaze and crazed grin to look the lynx chief in the eyes. "But what we do know is that twenty perennials are charging here without a named cause, along with their army. And how big is the army?"

Puula answered, "We counted over sixty elders and more than two hundred and fifty adepts."

"A sizeable force… One worthy of putting our name on the map!" Rathe's grin deepened, almost branding itself into his face. "Now's our moment to stand out, and nothing stands out better than total military victory!"

"You guys are able to repel that?" Nixt asked with a curious stare.

"With you guys, why not? Hurman, how confident are you in leading an army?"

"Excuse me, but I can help with that." A Thunder Jaguar called out, raising his tail for attention. "I may be an early-perennial, like Hurman, but I have plenty of military experience. That's why I was loaned to your territory in the first place."

"I appreciate the offer, but you'll be busy with something else," stated Rathe, confusing a few people around the room. "So, Hurman, how comfortable are you with leading troops?"

The newly ascended perennial nodded slowly. "I have some experience, but not against any force larger than one hundred men."

"Good call, Rathe!" Nixt exclaimed, slapping Hurman on the back. "You've got a good eye!"

"If the jaguar is busy, I can assist in leading," offered Chief Gar. "Having a low-perennial at the helm would be better."

"You'll be busy with the jaguar, so you can't have the job either," mentioned Rathe, now smiling back at Hurman's humble expression. "I'll be handing direct control of our elders and adepts to you, but I'll still be calling the shots and can override any order."

"If you trust me with it, then I'll do my best to uphold the position."

"Consider it a test. Succeed and it will cement your status as a true contributor to the territory despite your little time here," Rathe reasoned. "But before we start discussing the army, we should send out an appropriate task force to face the group of perennials. Vloz, I can leave that to you."

"Thank you. Then I'll call on a few people to join me: Liz, Puula, Gar, and Sarpo." Looking around the room, Vloz got a nod from everyone he named, including the jaguar. "Since that team is coming in fast, we would rather confront them as quickly as possible. We'll inspect their strengths and strike fast so we can rush to the other battlefield. Any objections?"

"Wouldn't Puula need to stay here?" Gar questioned.

But the fox chief shook her head. She lifted one of her tails and pointed at the lone fox stationed behind her. "As my right-hand aide, Eila knows everything. She can stay here and help Leader Rathe strategize."

"Any more objections?" Vloz asked with a smug glare. "No? Then get up. We leave immediately. We can strategize after finding scouting their true strength."

As the group got to their feet, one other person did as well. Nixt kept his jovial smile as he walked up to Vloz. Without warning, a silencing barrier expanded out of Nixt's ring and surrounded them both.

"Hey, what's with the barrier?" Gar questioned, eyeing Nixt.

But the barrier faded only a moment later and Vloz didn't even nod back or say a word. Nixt had been the only person to say anything yet Vloz acted like that moment never happened. "Hurry up." 

"Don't forget to be careful, Liz." Nixt waved as he returned to his seat.

The leopard sped out of the room, letting the fox and jaguar do the same. Liz was next and Gar was last as the lynx glared at Nixt one last time.

"Now we get to have some fun!" Rathe's booming voice was bursting with excitement. "Eefran, how many elders do we have?"

The wildebeest chief thought for a moment. "Among the stallions and wildebeests, we have fifty-six elders."

"That many?!" The frog chief was baffled by the number.

"Yes, but only thanks to the new techniques that the gorilla clan has shared with the stallions. Though many stallions are getting on in years, many have been tapping into their latent potential. But that's also why over half of those elders are only at the early realm," answered Eefran. "But including our reserves, those among all the patrician clans and tribes, we'll have almost eighty elders. As for adepts, we have one hundred and eight combining the wildebeest and stallion troops, and about one hundred and eighty-three including reserves."

"Does that included the students?"

A bit startled to hear that question, Eefran shook his head.

But Rathe's smile never faded or waned. "So we have more elders and fewer adepts, while the quality of our elders is far worse. I can't think of a scenario more exciting!"