Refining the Heavens (炼天)

Chapter 13: Horde suppression

At this very moment when both commanders are in their respective war tents, they heard their messenger shouting, "Report!"

Luciette and George, in turn, acknowledged for the report. Those who heard it turned bloodless; all except Calculus.

"Over a hundred Orcs have been found close to our proximity. They are spread out and attacking every human they met indiscriminately. We have confirmed this to be true for the other team as well.

I'm afraid that... the Orcs are hunting humans", a scout says fearfully.

Hearing this, Calculus stomached his urge to smile and instead expressed in a serious tone, "Luciette, I know that it's my failure that caused their deaths. I am willing to redeem myself. Let me go out and slay those Orcs to avenge them!"

Seeing a high-noble like Calculus bow his head down to ask, Luciette softens her heart and calls, "Alucard! You will join Calculus and assist him in slaying the Orcs with your team.

Do not venture too far into the enemy's lines.

Their race might have degenerated after their God is long dead, but they were once a powerful military force, and even in their blood they still remember how to do war."

Alucard and Calculus bowed their acknowledgement with their right hand over their heart and then exited the blue team's war tent to gather their teams for this operation.

This time, Calculus switched out his injured squads and replaced them with four teams filled with noble heirs.

With Calculus' family as one of the most prestigious houses, many families wanted to form a relationship with them. Since Calculus was a tender age, he is already surrounded by playmates who are heirs apparent of their own family.

In their Blue Team, where it is mostly filled with aristocrats, it is easy to pick out a strong group that would do his bidding. And with their background, they have better training resources and much higher cultivation than the average practitioner.

However, he did not bring them for the Orc village's raid. What he had planned to do then was a dangerous mission, and such tasks are best left for commoners to be his sacrificial lambs.

The result of his expedition is observable as well. Having almost half of those under his command incapacitated after that battle at the Orc's village.

For his new mission, however, he ensured that the teams under his leadership are all armed to their teeth, and with Alucard's team joining, there will be a total of six teams with thirty people for the Orcs suppression.

Although, thirty people may seem quite little against over a hundred Orcs, everyone is at least F rank. Considering their age, they are definitely the elites.

Calculus' crew are even more choice compared to the rest, being a full team of E rankers, with Calculus himself at the top as a Peak E ranker.

Being above F rank also means that Calculus' team has already been allowed an official name. Unlike Alucard's team which is named after himself as Dracula team, Calculus' team is named the Maths team and the four nobles' teams that he leads are called A Maths, C Maths, E Maths and F Maths team. However until this day, whatever Maths means is still a mystery that no one knows.

And also, why is Alucard's team Dracula? ...well it is because of how rowdy his bunch of teammates are, and they are always doing what he asks backwards. Therefore one day in a fit of anger Alucard announced that he should name his team's name after his own name spelt backwards. That eventually caught on, and it became far too late for him to regret.

Under Saint Empire's tier classification, at the F Rank, a person is able to match five G rankers in combat. While E rankers are the equivalent of at least three F rankers.

Taking on a group of mindless Orcs is far too easy for them. But to reach such a cultivation level and become top of the first year students isn't an easy thing to achieve, especially for E rankers. Without talent, it is impossible.

However, no one is surprised that Calculus' team is made up purely of E rankers. It is well-known that the Devilheart family has cultivation resources that few can match, and along with their family trades, they control the majority slave markets.

Not only do they pour in large amounts of funds into training their young, but they also select talented battle slaves with superior tendon and bone structures to become the bodyguards of each heir.

As the only son of the family leader's main wife, Calculus is more than an heir. His status as the direct inheritor of their noble house grants him with much more privilege than most others.

It is no surprise that only Calculus' group were able to retreat from the Orc Village without many injuries when the rest took substantial amounts of damage.

At the same time, the Red Team also sent out a group to slay the Orcs. Like before, George selected Kairos' squad to be on the frontlines, while he arranged others to move behind the scene.

Officially, this arrangement is made because the five of them are now the Red Team's trump card, and when they march into battle, the unease their side feels decreases significantly.

For their side that is mostly filled with those of lowborn families, they knew they are castaways. Made to join this exercise only to become the training partners of those wealthy young successors, and their morale easily waned.

In addition, Kairos had shown an uncanny ability to keep his men safe; a most valuable trait against wild Orcs.

However, privately, George's command is motivated by his desire to sate his curiosity; this nameless squad that had emerged like a brightly burning meteor.

When George wanted to assign four F ranked teams to Kairos because of how dangerous this mission will be, yet the offer was instantly rejected. Instead, Kairos chose the same teams that had joined him previously, even though they are all only ranked G. To help them cope with their internal injuries, George gave every person precious medicine that could significantly speed up their recovery process.

The five nameless teams once again set out as the champions of the Red Team. The suppression parties of both sides set off at the same hour, but their progress was slow without mounts. With the Orcs actively out in their hunt, the commanders worry for the safety of their people still in the field.

With an organised march, both groups set their destination as the Orcs village, where the primary source of attacks originated from. Their mission is to force back the Orcs, and hopefully ending this monster raid.

At Calculus' side, after they are a short distance away from camp, he gave a knowing glance towards the four teams under him, and they changed their routes away from their target, towards East Hill.

Alucard immediately demanded answers, but the other team captains quickly overwhelmed him. Their excuse is this path, though slightly longer, is a much safer passage. With Calculus claiming that he knows the best way to lead them to their destination from his experience, Alucard could only follow.

Without saying, both Alucard and Calculus knows that the purpose of Luciette sending the Dracula Team on this operation is to keep an eye on Calculus. Since after the Orc village raid, Luciette has already lost trust on Calculus, she could see his disregard for his men.

Unfortunately, she did not count on Calculus' subordinates supporting such a dangerous idea that would endanger them all.