The First Legendary Beast Master novel Chapter 197

Chapter 197 Morning Formation

Once everyone was down, Karl slid down the ladder like a rope, and checked his pack to make certain that it was properly secured.

"We have twenty minutes to get back to the camp, no rush. They will be gathering for formation in thirty minutes." Alice informed them, and started heading back.

Karl took his position at the front, using his enhanced eyesight to watch for any threats, but this close to camp, there was nothing to see. Not even the local wildlife dared to venture too close, in case they became a supplementary food product.

The team seemed to be in much better spirits today, but Karl noticed that the Captain now had red badges on his uniform instead of gold. There were still two silver bars for his rank insignia, so he didn't get busted down from Captain, but it looked like he was on official punishment for however the meeting went the night before.

"There is a meeting with the base Commander before we head out. The whole base, except scouts, are to be in attendance." The Captain greeted them as Karl's group reached the barracks that the others had built last night.

Alice nodded. "Understood. We have Hawk scouting, so we will know what to expect before we head out today. Give him an hour, and he will cover everywhere that we can reach on foot."

The Captain nodded, and led their team to the meeting point, where the other units on station seemed to smirk a little as they cleared the way for him to take the place of honour at the front right of the formation.

It had been deliberately left open for them, a not so subtle nod to the fact that the other units agreed that he had been right, but the real shock was when the Base Commander and his adjutant came out.

The Base Commander was wearing Captain's bars, the same as their unit leader, but his collar was loose, and his jacket unbuttoned. His face was bruised and swollen, and from the looks of his shirt, his ribs were wrapped, which would explain the open coat. The adjutant wasn't in any better shape, and Karl could see that his hands were bandaged, and he was limping.

They had healers on base. Lots of them. So if he was still in that bad of shape, the Captain either beat him near to death, or the healers refused to work on him, which would be a massive case of insubordination.

"Attention." The Sergeant at the front of the formation called, bringing everyone to order as the Commander took the stage.

The wounded man cleared his throat and put on a stern face, as if everyone couldn't see that he still had one eye mostly swollen shut.

"It has been brought to my attention that our limited patrol radius has led to some inadequacies in the way that the threat level of the region has been assessed." He began.

That was the understatement of the day.

"As such, we will be reordering our patrols, beginning today. The new routes and zones are up on the board. I will expect a full report on every zone on my desk by zero four hundred tomorrow morning. That is all."

He stepped down off the crude stage, flinching at the pressure on his ribs, and the Sergeant dismissed everyone, sending them off to find their new patrol routes.

Just as they were yesterday, Karl's group was assigned to "Threat Mitigation" also known as the roaming groups. They would go wherever there were reports of more dangerous monsters, and deal with them before they became a threat to the base.