In a shaded area that could see everything on the training ground, Juliet could be seen eating a watermelon as she cheered on both of his parents, "Go, mama! Beat papa!" Zaramias" leaked a small smile as he doted on his granddaughter, having Juliet beside him colored his life.
Natalie heard her daughter"s words and returned a sweet smile at her. The members of her squad who observed her all this while turned dumbstruck upon seeing her sweet smile, and they couldn"t help but blush under her presence.
Calming her nerves, Natalie returned to the task at hand and took the papers that contained information about the strength and weakness of each man along with the information about the game.
According to the paper, the Field Simulation Training that they would be doing was Capture the Flag. Inside the bases of each squad, a resplendent flag would be placed and the winning conditions of the game was to bring their enemies" flag inside their territory.
Each flag brought was worth a single point and one would need two points to win the game. Returning the doc.u.ments on the table, Natalie frowned, according to the paper, the terrain of the match will be manipulated accordingly to what the Commander decides. Which means, she can"t create any drastic strategy and would have to adjust according to the situation.
The same happened to Dan"s squad, rubbing his aching temples, he tried his best in memorizing the strength and weakness of his squad members, and formulate a strategy which would take advantage of their weakness and emphasize their strength.
Soon, thirty minutes pa.s.sed and Zaramias" voice boomed through the area, "Everyone, the Field Simulation Training will now start, the terrain has been decided as Forest, all squad, please prepare for deployment in another fifteen minutes!"
Zaramias waved his hands in the air as the muddy terrain shone in an azure light, soon, this azure light formed a dome which encompa.s.sed the entire training grounds and transformed it into a forest with towering trees.
Tapping his foot on the ground, Dan found that it didn"t feel soft anymore, instead, it felt rocky and solid.
Smiling to himself, Dan felt lucky that the terrain was a forest, after all, as an a.s.sa.s.sin, complex terrain such as this would make him like a fish in water.
Natalie gathered her squad members and the men obeyed without any complaints. But deep within their hearts they already sighed in defeat. They knew that a woman like her couldn"t possibly stand against the Vice-Commander who showed his viciousness back at the Azure Hamlet.
"Steven, Harold, and James go there and dig a hole that is at least a meter deep, encircle the flag with holes like that and cover it with a layer of soft soil." Upon hearing her words, the three sneered to themselves, "How could the Vice-Commander fall to this kind of simple tricks?" But still, since she was deployed by the Commander, they could only obey.
But little did they know that once they started working, she brought the two trustworthy looking men and whispered to them her plans, the two men named Danilo and Jeff nodded to each other as a light of enlightenment shone within their eyes.
As they thought about their current commander"s plans, the more they thought of it as plausible and could surely rake them a good chance of winning this Field Simulation Training.
Dan, on the other hand, decided on a straightforward plan, and that was to leave a single member near the flag while the other four will follow him and stick together until they reach the enemy territory.
Soon, both squads looked ready and the fifteen-minute reprieve disappeared, "Both squads prepare for deployment..."
The husband and wife stared at the distant horizon, and despite the separation of distance. They could feel the antic.i.p.ation and excitement that they felt. Clenching their fists, with the sound of Zaramias shout, both squads rushed through the forest!
Dan"s plan was considered as the most standard plan when comes to playing in this complex terrain, not only he would reduce the chance of getting caught off-guard in ambushes, they could also utilize the greatest amount of strength as a squad.
He thought of Natalie as a smart woman and he never underestimated her capabilities. However, as a man, he had to maintain his pride and this fight, was a fight that he could never lose!
Gripping their wooden swords, the group slowly crept their enemies" territory. The rules of engagement and elimination were as follows, all contestants will wear a hit detecting armor and when one was struck five times, they would automatically be defeated and sent away.
"Young master, there"s the flag!" His comrade gestured and Dan frowned after realizing that there was no one that protected the flag. Feeling a sense of premonition rising through his heart, Dan was too late, he heard the miserable cry of his comrade as his body turned into specks of light.
At the same time, smoke rose from the ground and reduced his visibility, "Scatter!" Dan shouted and the remaining members of his squad skillfully maneuvered themselves in the complex terrain, Dan managed to pinpoint the location of the hidden enemies and removed two members of Natalie"s squad.
"Idiots!" Dan scolded when he noticed that instead of retreating, the four members of his squad ran towards the Flag, stretching their hands in a greedy manner as the soil under them collapsed.
"Waduheck?" All of them gave a queer cry as they found themselves stuck before being struck by the remaining three members of Natalie"s squad.
Hiding under the smoke for cover, Dan could only see three men, the figure of his wife was missing. Because of him and his squad was too busy looking atop the branches, little did they realize that Natalie took advantage of this and covered themselves with bushes and leaves all the while p.r.o.ning on the ground and waiting for their intrusion.
Natalie knew that with Dan"s personality, he would not stand and wait for his enemies. She simply took advantage of this flaw and formulate her own plan.
Dan who carefully stared on the ground for pitfalls, froze, when he heard the victorious voice of his wife behind, "Sorry, hubby, but I have to eliminate you."
A wind brushed past as Dan ducked on the ground, but as a response, Natalie"s sweeping attack turned into a downward one. Holding his wooden sword before his chest, he parried his wife"s attack and kicked off the ground, temporarily retreating from the battlefield while taking a good look of it from the higher ground.
The three men noticed the movements and they quickly pounced at the tree where Dan stood, hacking, slicing, and dicing, they managed to take, three hitpoints from Dan"s armor, only two more and he would "die"
Clicking his tongue, Dan knew that this fight would be tricky. If not for the fact that Zaramias forbid the use of Divine Arts or any techniques driven by Qi, he could"ve just entered Stealth and secretly steal away their flag.
Staring at his cheekily smiling wife, Dan commented, "If I don"t make you scream at night, I won"t be a man." He puffed his cheeks, feeling somewhat shameful that he got bullied by his little wife.
"But if you really think that just schemes alone is enough to stumble me, then you"re wrong!" Dan stomped on the tree trunk and sped towards the three men who snickered to themselves, "It looks like Vice-Commander became ashamed after being bullied by a woman..." They prepared a defensive stance and when Dan reached their attacking range, they simultaneously sliced.
But little did they expect that Dan"s figure easily slithered through their pincer attack and arrived behind their back. His ghastly movement techniques astonished the three as fifteen strikes echoed in an instant.
Their glowing and regretful figures soon disappeared from the battlefield. Turning around, he stared at his wife with a slight smile on his face. From now on, this battlefield belongs to them!
Pointing their wooden sword at each other, Natalie said, "Hubby, I"ve been practicing with Father and he told me your weaknesses, so please don"t be mad if I defeat you, okay?" A small smile lifted on her lips.
"Well," Dan shrugged, pointing his sword and bending his knees, he replied, "If you can defeat me, that is..."