Normally, we'd continue the hunt throughout the night, and although many of our men were starting to gain experience from all the kills, this night was different. I had two main objectives in mind, so having moved our tents, we set up camp in a nice and quiet spot with several of our party members looking out for potential danger.

  I was in Phildina's, king-sized tent which had been dubbed the 'Commander's Tent' by the Company, and Arnaud and Geiter were sitting opposite me on a rge, white roundtable.

  "You're making this more awkward than it has to be. What are your options?" I asked exasperatedly, but Arnaud didn't seem to want to talk, so I moved on to Geiter and asked, "What about you?"

  "Oh, um, there's Ranger, Champion, and Magicfighter," He answered. Magicfighter was an interesting one. It suffered from the same drawbacks that came with a physical unit transitioning into a magical one. Of course, these disadvantages could be canceled out by using a shit ton of magic stat-boosting items, but the ability to choose your preferred magic was the main selling point. Magicfighters were limited to swords but were free to choose whether to use Dark, Light, or Elemental Magic. Who knows? Maybe he'd have access to Geomancy or Barrier Magic in this world. It was truly tempting, but I couldn't act based on assumptions.

  "I think it'd be best for you to go for Champion," I told him quite honestly. Champions had access to various weapon types and a plethora of offensive and defensive skills that made them dreadful enemies to fight against. I could still remember some Champions in my former top guild and some of their exploits. Virgo was a madman. How could he have defeated two Earth Dragons all by himself? They are some of the toughest Dragons to kill! I thought to myself with a slightly nostalgic smile. He may have been on the rarer side, as he had years of experience pying with the Champion css, but even so, it spoke volumes as to the combat potential of the css when harnessed in the right hands.

  "I was thinking of Champion, too!" He said with surprise written all over his face. "I'd always preferred axes to swords because they suit my style more."

  "You'd also be able to use nces of all types, if you so choose," I added. He nodded, and I gave him the Limit Break, shifting my attention to the man who had refused to say anything to me or even look my way all this while. "What about you, Arnaud?" Sensing this was going to be important, Geiter quietly excused himself, leaving Arnaud alone with me. It's good that he can read the room, I thought to myself as I asked, "Is there something you want to tell me, Arnaud?" He slowly got up from his white chair, knelt on his hands and knees, and apologized face down, saying,

  "I-I'm a disgrace to all tacticians, and ever since that day, I regret not going after you to hear what you had in mind. My commander who taught me everything I knew, friends, and several comrades died because of my foolishness, and when I realized I'd been spared, I didn't even know what to do with myself or how to come up to you. Please, teach me everything you know," He raised his teary-eyed face to say that st part to me, but there was something I wanted to confirm.

  "Why do you want to learn strategy?" I asked, wanting to understand his motivations better.

  "I've always been drawn to it," He began, "My dad was a retired Dragon Rider in the Kingdom army, and he would tell me stories of great generals and their incredible exploits whenever he was around. I always paid extra attention when he went into their strategic maneuvers and even wanted to study strategy, but he wouldn't let me, so I chose the path of the Knight to please him. In my training, I could hardly come by any good materials, so I read everything I could about the subject, but... it wasn't good enough."

  At that moment, I sensed it for the first time. He didn't have much access to good material, but he may come to surpass me if I teach him everything I know. "Arnaud!" I called out to him in a loud voice.

  "Y-yes, is something wrong, Commander Daphne?"

  "You can call yourself my apprentice from this day onward!" He looked like he wanted to cry at this statement, but I continued, saying, "I'll teach you everything I know about strategy in the hopes that you'll surpass me." I'd love to have someone else coming up with the pns, I thought to myself secretly as I watched him bow to the ground once more, saying

  "I'll do my best!"

  "Good, now is there a css you want to choose?"

  He looked up at me and said, "I'm torn between two choices. On the one hand, I'd love to honor my Commander's wishes and go for General, but on the other hand, Mage General seems better."

  "Why do you think so?" I asked.

  "Because of the Int stat increase." At this, I smiled widely, thinking, I made the right choice... Few minds would ever venture there. Even I hadn't considered it, but he had pieced together a nice theory all by himself. Int was one of the three invisible stats that only appeared during magical promotions. So, if a Mage used a Limit Break to promote, that Mage would experience a +x Int increase. Pyers didn't really have a clear understanding of what it affected, but the general theory was that Int worked together with Magic to make spells stronger.

  If he were to be promoted to a Mage General, he'd not only gain access to magic but also he'd experience an Int increase, and... "I'm guessing you want to test if the Int stat increase will have any effect on your future pns?" I asked with a smile on my face.

  "Yes," he answered while looking away, slightly embarrassed that I had seen through him so thoroughly.

  "Well, I'm sold. I'd love to figure that out, too, so go for it." I handed the Limit Break to him and brought the meeting to a nice conclusion, but there was still one more thing I had to do. Now, where did he go? I wondered as I looked around for the elusive Spy. He disappeared after the battle, but I wouldn't give up so easily. I'd chase him to the ends of the earth to find out what he did there. Perhaps sensing this, he gave up and suddenly revealed himself before me.

  "Aah! You scared me again!" I compined.

  "Sorry about that," He said, signaling to one of the trees with his eyes. We soon climbed up and after a few moments of deafening silence, he sighed and said, "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep dodging you forever, so I'll tell you about my secret, now that you've seen it with your own eyes." After a brief pause, he dropped the bomb on me, "I've developed my [Conceal] skill over the years." D-developed?! "I'm no longer limited to just concealing myself. I can conceal weapons, objects, animals, and even people if I so choose."

  "W-w-why? And how?" I couldn't even find my words, that was how shocking this all was. I didn't think skills could be developed like that...

  "Things didn't add up. Those Dhampir would never work together as they do unless they were submitted to someone or something exceptionally powerful. I want to uncover that being and see it with my own eyes. I must not die before doing that. I must complete Liliana's work, so I trained my skills beyond their limits to achieve that."

  "I-incredible." This also expins why the HellHounds were completely blind to it.

  "I still have a long way to go, though, especially with ranged weapons. Monsters don't sense it, but my ranged weapons become more and more visible the farther away from me they travel." So, if he were closer, we wouldn't have been able to see his poisoned daggers?! That's wild... We stayed on the tree together, talking some more and discussing future pns before calling it a day and getting down. I know I said we'd be sleeping during the day, but I'm spent. We'll continue the hunt tomorrow.