Chapter 343 The Beginning Of Nightmare (3)
Receiving the people's curious gaze, Basil eventually told them to ask him what they wanted to ask. All of them were curious about the same thing, which was how he could be the Temporary Head Commander.
He simply told them about how he had defeated Cabalen to let them know of how fearsome Cabalen was, so they could understand the Legion Commanders' decision to appoint him as the Temporary Head Commander.
They then asked him about how he had grown so strong, which he answered with a diligent training. The most curious and critic person in the group, Darius, also asked how Basil could outstrip him in terms of power even though they were of the same level.
Everyone paid keen attention to the answer Basil was going to say, because they were very sure it was the true secret of his prowess. He merely shrugged however, and slapped them with the harsh reality.
"I am gifted."
Basil was not lying. He was indeed gifted with his own talent, his identity as a Pacifer, the knowledge he had from the Guide, and his experience from his past life.
Saying it was enough talking about him in the next moment, he asked them about what they had managed to achieve in the battlefield. He did this to gather some information, just in case he had missed something worthy of note.
As the youngest and the most eager, Xiu Li went first. He told Basil and everyone how he had almost been killed in the Obelisk just because he let his guard down when he was relieving himself in the middle of the battle.
Surprisingly, many of them admitted they also had the same experience. Upon hearing that, Basil couldn't help blinking his eyes as he wondered just how bad their control over their bladder was.
"Do you have the same experience too?" He whispered to Iliana.
"No. I relieved myself before battle," she responded instantly.
"Good. Good." He nodded his head in appreciation.
Despite having done the thing that one should never do in the middle of a battle, Basil still couldn't blame them. The interval between the two battles were, after all, short enough to not give them time to relieve themselves prior to entering the Obelisk.
Still, he wondered how they could relieve themselves in such a situation. He held himself back from asking, however, since the majority of the people who had done it were females—he didn't want to risk being called a pervert.
"Couldn't you build an earth structure to protect you while you were doing your thing?"
"Uhh... I believe that is what we did, but you know, Brother... They are strong enough to destroy it with a punch," Xiu Li answered with an awkward smile.
"Now I can't help but question your sanity for casting such a weak Spell to protect you when you were most prone to danger. Also, how could you relieve yourself knowing there was a possibility that someone could see you?"
He unintentionally recalled the image of Lucilla bathing. He still felt violated whenever he remembered that day when he accidentally looked at her naked body even though he just wanted to spy on her.
"To be fair, we didn't have enough Mana to cast a fancy Spell just to let us relieve ourselves in peace. Also, no one would be able to see through a layer of earth covered with Mana, so your worry is unnecessary," Diana said, prompting the others to nod their head.
Shaking his head, Basil said, "You are underestimating perverts too much."
Everyone immediately looked at him weirdly at the way he said it. Even Iliana was looking at him from the corner of her eyes.
They were wondering whether he had encountered such a dedicated pervert or he had just accidentally exposed himself. Deciding the latter to be highly unlikely, however, they immediately looked at him in pity.
Quirking his eyebrow in wonder as he received their gaze, he huffed faintly when he realized they had just misunderstood him.
"Anyway, you should refrain from doing that in the future." Basil waved his hand. Turning to Xiu Li, he asked, "When are you going to return to the Country of Hua?"
Xiu Li was slightly taken aback by the question, but immediately answered, "It will be when I graduate from Randalvine Magic Institute." Rubbing his head awkwardly, he added, "I have to be something before I return, otherwise my family won't welcome me."
"Hmph! I will never call people who treat me that way family," Iliana remarked with a scoff.
Smiling bitterly at Iliana's remark, Xiu Li asked, "Is there something the matter, Brother?"
"I am planning to go to the Country of Hua to seek guidance in the near future," Basil answered, surprising Xi Li. "I need someone who can guide me to a trustworthy person."
The cure to the Dragon Curse that Charles had cast on him could be found in the Country of Hua. Simply going there wouldn't fix his problem; he needed to entrust someone to cure him, which was why he wanted to ask for Xiu Li's help.
"I can do that!" Xiu Li exclaimed. "If you want to seek guidance in Daoism, I know a perfect person who will be able to guide you. Sadly, you will have to wait, at least, three years if you are going to make me your Guide."
Waving off Xiu Li's pessimism, Basil said, "It is alright; 3 years is a fairly quick time to graduate. I will wait for the time when we can go to Country of Hua together, so don't disappoint me."
"I won't!" Xiu Li grinned brightly.
While it might seem long, 3 years was actually the expected time of when Basil would reach the Peak Stage Violet Core, or rather, when the Dragon Curse would take effect.
He would use those 3 years to concentrate on nurturing his Core, so the waiting could hardly be considered a waiting. Of course, he wouldn't attempt to break through to the Peak Stage Violet Core, otherwise he would die.
"I didn't know you were interested in Daoism," Iliana commented, sensing something was off.
"I just want to broaden my knowledge," Basil answered calmly.
"That sounds like you."
Basil could feel the skepticism in Iliana's voice, but he merely smiled. He didn't want to let anyone know of his condition; he didn't want to make the people who cared about him worry and let the people who hated him know of his current handicap.
"So, Head Commander Basil... What are we going to do from now on? We have received the order to immediately rush to Southern Sea Region, but I don't see any sign of you mobilizing the army, so I can't help but wonder."
Karan who had been silent the entire time surprised everyone by asking a question. He reminded them of their obligation to participate in the upcoming war, which made them expectant of Basil's answer.
"Understandable. Do you have any specific strategy to face the upcoming battle?"
"We are going to use to the same battle formation that we used against Lucilla and her army as winning will not be our main objective. We will only kill as many Monsters as we can, and keep the death toll as low as possible."
Humming to himself, Karan asked, "What about reinforcement? We are not going to just go to a bigger battle with 20,000 people, are we?"
Smiling softly at how critical Karan was, Basil said, "Of course, we won't. I have contacted Vice Headmaster Lawson to come join us and bring as many able people as he can."
Knowing that there were eight Legions of Royal Army stationed in Randalvine, which were no longer needed as the battle had been concluded, Karan nodded his head in understanding. They would be enough as a reinforcement.
The people once again looked at Basil in amazement for his tact. They were very sure they wouldn't be able to lead thousands of people in a battle, let alone thinking of a strategy like Basil.
...
When the sun went down, the foods that were laid out in front of them were all devoured; they ceased their conversation, and returned to the camp together. They had talked a lot, so on their way back, none of them talked to each other.
Upon reaching the camp, many people bowed at Basil respectfully to welcome him. Iliana and the others found it funny, since he was treated with the same amount of respect as the Princes.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, everyone. Let's meet again at the training session to further hone our skills tomorrow."
They went to their own tent after they said their farewell. Basil let Iliana and Ione followed him to the Commander's tent—his tent, since he didn't want to bother wasting his breath to tell them going to their tent.
No one was looking at them out of respect for Basil, but he could tell many of them had misunderstood him. He, of course, didn't bother to explain himself, because saying that he was merely going to sleep with both women would further exacerbate the situation.
"This is very comfortable for a mere tent. It is worthy of a place you can spend the night in, My Lord," Ione remarked.
"As someone who can sleep under a rock, I don't care."
"As expected of My Lord, you are really born to be a great deity. Only a great deity who can—"
Basil put his hand up and sighed lightly. "Can you just call me casually? You can call me 'My Lord' when we are in the Pacifer village later. For now, just call me by my name."
Frowning lightly, Ione said, "I can't do that unless you decided to marry me, My Lord."
Smack!
Iliana slapped the back of Ione's head, much to Basil's surprise. "Nonsense," she said.
Shaking his head with a small smile of amusement, he ignored the two and sat cross-legged in the corner of the tent. He gulped two pills of Morning Dew at once, and refined Nature Mana to recover his Mana and Qi in the next moment.
The two women looked at him in amusement for a few seconds, before sitting cross-legged beside him, and Carved their next Magic Circle. When morning came, he found them sleeping on his shoulder.