Chapter 1313: Rewards and Opportunities

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    "...Honestly, I thought we''d have to extend the mission''s deadline at first."

    Standing in line in front of a man who looked to be in his early forties, Hal and the others remained silent as the man spoke to them with a smile on his face.

    "Yet, just as there was still less than a day left before we had to come to that decision, the military received news that the Grand Chieftain had been killed alongside multiple high- ranking members of the orc race."

    Chuckling with glee as those words left his mouth, the man soon moved closer to the five before making his way to Nerissa.

    Already having an idea as to why the man came up to her, Nerissa went ahead and gave the bag containing the Grand Chieftain''s head to him, prompting the former to nod back at her as he made his way back to where he was.@@@@

    Whoosh!

    "That''s the Grand Chieftain, alright." Unfurling the bag to reveal the decapitated head of the former Grand Chieftain, the man seemed to show a hint of delight towards the shocked expression the orc had before his untimely death.

    Staring at the head for a bit, the man eventually closed his eyes before looking back at the five with a solemn expression.

    "On behalf of the human race, I, Lucian Matthews, thank the five of you for your efforts," said the man after letting out a calming sigh, his expression returning to a faint smile after that.

    "We''ve only done what we were supposed to do, Grand Marshal," replied Hal as he smiled in return, his demeanor befitting that of the leader of a War Squad.

    "...Though, if I were to be honest for a brief moment, most of the reason why we did it was due to the rewards that were promised," continued the man, scratching his cheek as he let out a wry chuckle.

    "I don''t blame you." Lucian continued to smile at them. "After all, it''s rare for someone to move for others without obtaining anything in exchange."

    "However, the speed at which you completed the mission does make me curious," he continued, his gaze briefly sweeping through the five.

    "How exactly were you able to kill the Grand Chieftain? I''m pretty sure fighting against a Myth-level being would still pose a slight challenge to you even at your level of strength." "Adding on the fact that a nigh-impenetrable barrier protects him from almost every type of attack possible, your group probably sacrificed a lot of things in order to pull it off."

    "Surprisingly, we did nothing of the sort," clarified Hal, his words immediately causing the man to become intrigued.

    "If anything, the entire thing was mostly dealt with by just one person in our War Squad."

    Step.

    Having already discussed what they would do after meeting the Grand Marshal earlier, Valyr took Hal''s words as a cue to step forward, which quickly prompted Lucian''s focus to shift towards him.

    "Wait a second..." However, before the young man could even introduce himself to the Grand Marshal, Lucian seemed to recognize who he was.

    "You''re... the one from the tournament, right?" asked the man, his tone becoming more and more certain as time passed. "Ylvar... if I remember correctly."

    "Of course, this is just a workaround for the meantime because the mission isn''t considered to be fully completed yet," said Lucian, his gaze briefly hovering over Valyr. "Then again, I did hear that someone would greatly benefit from this reward."

    At those words, the young man faintly nodded back at Lucian, looking at the man with a slightly wry smile before softly saying a few words of thanks.

    Smiling back in response to the gratitude he received, Lucian swept his gaze over the five once more before faintly nodding in satisfaction.

    "Considering how the five of you showed no hesitation in sharing how your group was able to kill the Grand Chieftain, I''ve decided to give you a couple more rewards."

    Naturally, the five''s faces brightened up at those words, causing Lucian to let out a bit of laughter at their reactions. "I did say I''d make it worth your while."

    "Anyways, with the authority that I hold as the Grand Marshal, the five of you shall be categorized by the military as special enlistments from now on, allowing you to obtain rewards normally reserved for military officers through the missions you do as mercenaries." "With that, you also gain access to the other facilities that would normally only be allowed to those who have taken on the path of a military officer." Lucian slightly grinned. "I''m sure the five of you have a lot of merit points. Use all of them in those facilities. You

    won''t regret it."

    "And with that, that only leaves me with one last reward to give the five of you."

    Whoosh!

    Infusing a bit of mana into the spatial bracelet he wore, Lucian went ahead and took out a

    total of five pamphlets out of it.

    Distributing the pamphlets to the five, the man then watched as the five''s curiosity slowly turned into shock while reading through its contents, which then turned into confusion as

    they continued.

    By the time they were done, the shock and confusion they felt from reading the contents of the pamphlet earlier had long disappeared.

    Instead, they looked at Lucian with an expression that was equal parts grim and serious, their faces making it obvious that they wanted to know more about what was written on the

    pamphlet from him.

    "With the five of you having read what''s on those pamphlets, you''ve now all become eligible to be a part of what we consider as the most important mission to date," said Lucian.

    "If you are to accept, the support the military will give you would be far greater than the support you''ve just obtained from killing the Grand Chieftain. Even the ranks you currently have will all become meaningless the moment you do so."

    "But of course, you''re also free to refuse. However, as the pamphlet involves highly sensitive information the military hasn''t disclosed to the public yet, we''ll have to make you swear a binding oath that would make sure such information wouldn''t leak out anywhere else."

    "With that out of the way..."

    "What will the five of you choose?"