Chapter 57: 57

Chapter 56

"You're old enough for introductory speeches. I'll spare you the discomfiture, and let you get to know each other on your own."

Everyone was in the assembly room now.

Thankfully, Alpha Severus was true to his word. He left the game room exactly after thirty minutes, and that gave Amber some time to herself.

He showed her a trick, and she knew it was going to take some time for her to master it.

She wasn't so arrogant to call herself a prodigy when she literally failed to execute the trick several times in front of the Alpha.

Amber has never tried to explore the uses of tricks before.

She firmly believes that a more straightforward approach saves time and energy.

Tricks are invented to fool or entertain people. Their end result remains the same.

However, Alpha Severus proved that wrong.

Earlier, he had shown her how a trick could save time and energy as well—but by dealing twice… or thrice the intended damage all the while.

She originally planned to take it easy today due to her lack of rest, but the darting session that she had with the Alpha changed her mind.

Amber will feel restless all day until she finally gets the gist behind the Alpha's 'trick'.

He didn't elaborate the process to her.

He just… showed her.

And let her mind ponder over the trick's principles.

"Are you listening, Amber Santiago?"

The Beta called her out.

For some reason, he kept calling her by full name.

What's the big idea…

"I'm listening, Sir."

Amber could feel the stares of the other attendees in the assembly room, Salt and Pepper included.

Her cheeks heated up as she tried to keep a poker face while staring back into the Beta's eyes.

She may have been distracted for a moment, but it's true that she's listening.

"Could you repeat what I said?"

She knew he was going to say that…

"Verbatim?" she asked.

Sir Trent clicked his tongue in irritation. "If you ask me that, then I have no choice but to believe your words."

He was saying that he believed her now because she was confident enough to confirm what he was discussing in verbatim.

"This is your first warning. Don't zone out."

Amber muttered her sincere apologies. She didn't mean to be discourteous. "Yes, Sir."

"As I was saying… you'll be given a two-week period to settle the task. Your job is simple—invite a Talgarian local over to visit River Severn. Their food, accommodation, and other expenses shall be shouldered by our pack. I'll repeat this, you're not to resort to coercion just so you can convince one of them to go with you."

One of the trainees raised her hand. "Why would they go with us? I think they're going to need a more meaningful reason. Besides, I have an inkling that those people won't take us seriously. We're not even of age."

"You'll be using a code. It's a code in their language. There's no need for flowery words to persuade them. All you have to remember is this word…" The Beta wrote something on the white board. "Datsva."

"Datsva?"

"What's that?"

Sir Trent flat out ignored the questions. "No need to concern yourselves over its meaning. The rest of the information is classified. In short, your mission is to entice Talgarian people to visit our pack—using the code that I've given you. The purpose of the mission is exclusive for the higher-ups to know. You might be wondering why such a simple task was given two weeks to complete…"

"Talgar is that far?" answered another trainee from a different squad.

"That's one reason." Sir Trent nodded before he turned to Salt. "Any guess from you?"

"I'm guessing they're difficult to negotiate with."

"Bingo." The Beta looked pleased that he got the answer from the boy right away. At least, someone from these lot is able to think that far ahead.

Although, there's also one person whose thoughts have different patterns, so he can't tell if she shares the same idea as Salt, or maybe her mind has already strayed too far.

"You've probably heard of this before, but… Talgarian people are said to be living with witches—or they could be one. Pretending to be a pack of werewolves, so they wouldn't get haunted down."

Amber pursed her lips. "That's just a rumor."

Sir Trent threw her a challenging look. "You sound certain."

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"Unless there's definitive proof, everything that we hear about them must be treated as a baseless rumor."

"Are you talking about Talgar being camped by witches? Or you're simply denying the possibility of them being one?"

"I don't think the pack will send Level 1 trainees to Talgar if there's truth in the rumors that are circulating, Sir."

Sir Trent smirked at her. "Touché," he mused. "But those silly rumors are the exact reason why it won't be easy for us to convince them to go outside their region."

Once again, Amber contested what the Beta said. The other trainees were already looking at her.

"I don't think that's it, Sir. There should be a whole other reason for the Talgarian people to steer clear from the outsiders. Their actions have been misunderstood, thus the inception of those rumors…"

"Don't you think you're just making your own interpretation here, Amber Santiago?"

Suddenly, a man's voice intruded into her mind. She was somewhat startled because she didn't expect that Salt would initiate a mindlink with her.

'Drop it, Amber. You're wasting your time. Not everyone here was able to read what you had read.'

'I don't think it's right to let them get the wrong idea about Talgar though?'

'You care too much. I must say that's not a very good trait.'

Amber smiled apologetically at the Beta. "I'm sorry for disrupting your discussion. Please continue."

Sir Trent looked over his wristwatch. "I'll cut the number of don'ts to three because everything else is common sense. At your age, you should already have a set of things that you know you must avoid, especially if you're outside the pack territory."

"Yes, Alpha."

"So, first… don't accept the food that they offer. If you're famished, go run after a hare, and hunt for your own meat. Second…" Sir Trent grew more serious. "If you're offered to stay the night, decline. Politely. Make up an excuse, and say your squad will just return tomorrow."

Another guy raised his hand. "Just to clarify, we can't stay the night at the tribe or…?"

"You can't stay the night in Talgar."

Huh?

Everyone stared at the Beta in disbelief.

They can't stay in Talgar…?

What's that supposed to mean?

"You all look confused. What's not clear?"

"So, after we've located a tribe, and talk to its people… if they can't provide us an answer within the same day, we'll have to come back on the next day. But… we're not allowed to spend the night within Talgar region? How about the travel? That's time-consuming…"

"You're not a Talgarian. Your life won't be spared."

"What…!"

"Two weeks—just for a simple task. In those two weeks, you'll be spending your time running in and out of their region. I suggest you find a forest near the boundary of Rockwall and Talgar first, and have your campsite ready. As for the rotational assignment, I'll leave it up for you to decide. I hope none of you was thinking that it was okay to march into the region of Talgar altogether. I have high expectations for your squads. Stupid decisions disgust me."

"Yes, Sir."

"Work on your rotational assignments. At least two persons should be left to guard the campsite. Look after your resources while your fellow trainees are gone. I won't require you to hunt food for your other teammates because I don't fancy the idea of you, relying on each other too much. You're all capable of hunting."

"Yes, Sir."

"Two pairs will go their separate ways to find the nearest tribe. Don't go deep into the region. If you haven't found a tribe after hours and miles of running, chances are… you're lost, or you've picked the wrong route—which is otherwise known as an unclaimed territory. And what do we know about unclaimed territories?"

"They're plagued with rogues," Pepper answered.

Her brother hummed in agreement.

The Beta looked Amber in the eye. "So, follow your instincts. If you feel like something's wrong, go back. Don't hesitate. Your hesitation is your enemy."

"Yes, Sir."

"The organizational set-ups are the same. I believe you're all familiar with them by now. Level 2 to 4 pack warriors are within contacting distance. Though their business is not in Talgar, they're assigned to locations that will allow them to recognize the flares you shoot up in the sky." Sir Trent then whispered to himself, "Hopefully, you won't get to the point wherein you'll need to fire one…"

"Beta! If the tribes consider us as a threat, and decide to attack—"

"Retreat. You're not supposed to make an enemy out of them by retaliating. Remember your goal. If a few of them agree to come with you, they're already an ally. Are we clear?"

Ally…?

That's just makes Amber even more curious about the real purpose of their mission.

The purpose that only the principal members of River Severn can know…

"Yes, Sir."

"If there are no other questions, I'm leaving."

"Sir! You mentioned that you had three don'ts for us… but we only heard two."

"Ah, that one." He waved a finger no. "It's simple.. Don't give out your real names."

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