The five of them ran to the east. The ice lake was around 15 kilometers in that direction, which was quite a long way.
Well, it wasn't a long way for a soldier to travel, but it was a long way when there was an emergency.
If the officer ran at his full speed, he would need around seven minutes to get there, and seven minutes was a very long time in a battle.
Because of that, this group had to have the ability to survive an enemy's attack for several minutes.
Three of the people in the group talked to each other while the leader led the way in silence.
Over the next 15 minutes, Shang didn't say anything.
Eventually, they arrived at the lake.
The lake had created a small crater in the middle of the huge volcano's incline. They weren't inside the Volcano Wyrm Zone at the moment, but the volcano already started here.
The surrounding hills and mountains were already covered in a thick layer of snow and ice, proving that the Ice Mana of the tunnel was doing its work.
Even though the ice lake was in a small crater, enough Ice Mana was in the crater that it had already spilled over the edges. One only needed to imagine a lake on the side of a mountain that was gaining more water as time went by. The water would spill over and travel down the incline of the mountain.
With time, this ice lake would cover everything south of it in a thick sheet of ice. These ice lakes were one of the most important things in the new Zone since they would dictate the climate.
"Alright, here are the orders," the squad leader announced.
The others listened closely.
"We will position ourselves in the form of a pentagram. One person will protect the top, and everyone else will position themselves around the ice lake at equal distances. If anyone notices anything, shout so that your comrades can come and help you," the leader said.
Then, the leader looked at Shang. "You will be stationed at the north."
"You do realize that this is the place where the enemy will most likely attack?" Shang asked.
The others hadn't expected Shang to talk back and narrowed their eyes at him.
"Yes," the leader said, "and you are the strongest of us. As the strongest, it is best for you to take the most dangerous position."
"It's not," Shang said.
"These are orders!" one other soldier shouted in anger. "You are supposed to follow them!"
"You Numbers are so undisciplined! Having you on our team is like having five more enemies!" another one shouted.
A barrage of insults and shouts were shot at Shang, but Shang knew why they were doing this.
They hadn't forgotten the fact that the Numbers had only watched as one of their colleagues had been eaten by a beast.
This was probably their way of venting.
Shang let them continue insulting him for over a minute.
"Enough!" the leader said. "You will go to the north."
"No," Shang said.
The four others narrowed their eyes, and they seemed ready to attack him.
"This is an order!" the leader said.
"I won't follow the order," Shang said.
"You have to! I have been put in charge of this squad!"
"Make me," Shang said coldly.
The other three immediately hurled a new round of insults at Shang.
This continued for nearly two minutes.
Shang didn't say anything in these two minutes.
At some point, one of them took a step toward Shang, and Shang's eyes focused on him.
The soldier only gritted his teeth and took a step back again.
Five minutes later, silence returned.
Shang wasn't answering them, and they had already tried everything to get him to move.
Words obviously didn't work, and they didn't dare to force Shang physically.
Eventually, the leader realized that they couldn't get him to the north the hard way.
"Why?" the leader asked. "You are the strongest here. Why are you not willing to protect your weaker colleagues when you have the power?"
Obviously, he was now trying the soft approach.
"Because putting me at the front will endanger the mission," Shang said.
The other three scoffed.
What kind of logic was that?
"Explain," the leader said.
"Imagine a group of warriors attack from the north," Shang said. "Due to the incline, it will be difficult for us to see their approach. This means that they get one surprise attack."
"As you said, I am the strongest one here, and if I get killed in a surprise attack, you four will only be waiting for your deaths. If I die without being able to unleash my power, the group will lose most of its power and ability to resist. If one of you dies first, I can buy time for the other three."
"Because of that, putting me at the north would endanger the mission," Shang explained.
The other three soldiers became enraged again when they heard Shang's statement.
Bullshit!
That guy only wanted to save his own ass!
"Enough!" the leader shouted, shutting the other three up.
"He's right," he said with gritted teeth.
"But sir-"
"Be silent for a second," the leader ordered. "I also don't want to admit it, but he's right. I don't like him and his ideology, but I have to concede that he is the strongest one. He alone might be worth an additional four soldiers. If he dies first, we would be losing four soldiers at once."
"Sir, I must object," one of the soldiers shouted. "Yes, he is powerful, but he isn't that powerful."
The leader looked at the soldier. "Then why did none of us step forward to force him to the north?"
Silence.
"We are four. He is one."
Silence.
"John, you will take the north," the leader ordered.
One of the soldiers with a spear turned white in the face.
"Don't worry," the leader said. "We four will rotate every six hours."
The leader sighed. "If there is an attack, I am dooming one of you to die. I would take the north myself, but…"
For a moment, the leader remained silent.
"I also don't want to die," the leader said in shame. "The best I can do is to leave it up to chance."
Hearing their leader's ashamed voice made the other three calm down.
Yes, their leader was just like any of them. He also didn't want to die.
"You will take the southeast," the leader said to Shang. "Is that okay?"
Shang nodded and walked toward his assigned location.
After that, the other four also walked to their assigned locations.
And then, silence returned to the Ice Lake for the next couple of hours.
No one was in the mood to talk right now.
But, eventually, the somber mood passed, and the soldiers became bored.
One of them loudly started a conversation, shouting at the other guy a kilometer away.
The others felt a bit uncomfortable, but as time passed on, they realized that things didn't have to be silent all the time.
Also, keeping the minds of the soldiers active would help with their concentration.
And thus, a long and somewhat boring mission started.
But, of course, things wouldn't stay boring for long.
