Chapter 785

Assets and Adjustments

Orion did not wait for long after Neoma took Sophia’s place.

He noticed just how in awe the other pack members were, though those who were currently training did not have the chance to even stop still to marvel at the beauty that was Neoma. The white wolf moved with a grace that was both powerful and ethereal, her blue eyes sharp and intelligent. Every movement she made was deliberate, every strike calculated. She was a force to be reckoned with.

Orion was filled with pride. His chest even puffed out.

“Let’s tone it down a bit, boy,” Caspian said from beside him.

“But there’s need to be proud though,” Kevin said from beside Orion’s left with a laugh. “She is beautiful. I’ve never seen a wolf like her, and she’s good too. She fits in and stands out at the same time.”

“You are going to give the boy an even bigger head than he already has,” Caspian said with a shake of his head.

Orion chuckled but didn’t deny it.

“Anyway, we have somewhere to be, do we not?” Caspian asked, his tone shifting to something more serious.

Orion nodded, and soon they were all outside the pack grounds along with the other warriors who would be beneath the snow for the sneak attack.

The clearing was cold and still, the snow falling in soft, steady sheets. The warriors stood in formation, their breath fogging in the air, their expressions a mixture of determination and uncertainty. They had been told of the plan, and they understood the risks. But knowing and experiencing were two different things.

It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that this could only work once. It was flawed.

What was the probability that just because they masked their scents, their enemies wouldn’t still notice them after just one attack and look for a way to root them out? The Enclave warriors were not fools. They would adapt. They would learn. And once they knew what to look for, the element of surprise would be lost.

And also, if at all this was going to work, they would have to be far away so it could be effective so as to confuse their enemies. But the farther they were, the harder it would be to coordinate. The longer it would take to strike. And the more time their enemies would have to prepare.

But then they already had archers who would also be leading sneak attacks. Rather than say this plan couldn’t work, they would have to adjust it. They would have to find a way to make it viable, to turn it into something that could actually be used.

—–

The healers’ placement test now had more patients. There were those injured from the training session, their wounds fresh and painful. There were also those who had come back from Nirvana, battered and bruised from their encounters with the beasts.

The next batch of those going into Nirvana to train had also left. Everywhere was abuzz with activity, with everyone preparing for what was to come. The pack had transformed into a hive of motion, each person focused on their task, each person determined to do their part.

Sophia and Orion were in the midst of it all.

Now they stood with Lysander and Kairen in the land they had given Kairen to cultivate the corpse plant. The ground was dark and fertile, a stark contrast to the snow-covered landscape around it. The air smelled of earth and something else—something faintly metallic, like blood.

Apparently, one had grown.

“Was it supposed to be so fast?” Orion asked as he observed the plant.

“No,” Kairen admitted. “I suspect it’s because of what was used to grow them. Perhaps that’s why it grew so fast.”

“The beasts from Nirvana, right?” Sophia asked him.

“Yes,” he said with a nod.

“I’m of the opinion that it is because both could be used for said black magic, hence why it grew so fast,” Lysander said, a frown on his face. “The plant feeds on the same energy that fuels the beasts. It’s like it recognizes it.”

“That may be true,” Orion said. “But we already know what Victoria used this plant for. We already have knowledge of most things. Do we still need the plant?”

“Yes,” Lysander and Sophia answered at the same time.

Orion raised his hands in surrender. “Don’t come for me. I just asked a question. But do enlighten me—what could we use it for?”

“Research purposes,” Lysander said. “Who knows what more we could find out? The plant has properties we haven’t even begun to explore. There could be uses we haven’t even considered.”

“Apart from that,” Sophia said, “I spoke with Oscar, and I don’t know if he’s visited you guys at the medical facility, but anyway, we had a plan to use the device that had been in Josiah to administer fast-acting herbs on the battlefield.”

“And one of the uses of the corpse plant is that it acts as an enhancer,” Lysander said, his eyes lighting up with understanding.

“Exactly,” Sophia said. “So what if we use it our way? Instead of it being used to hurt, we use it to heal instead.”

Orion laughed then.

“Shorty, you are fucking brilliant,” he said. “Everything being used to bring us down is now being turned into an asset instead. The poison, the plant, the device—they’re all becoming tools for us.”

“There’s a thin line between good and evil after all,” Sophia told him. “Sometimes it’s how we use things and perhaps our perspective that determines what is good and what is evil.”

Orion stared at her, a smirk on his face, and then he nodded.

“How long would it take for more of these to grow?” He asked Kairen.

“Given how it’s already growing, perhaps within six days. It could be more, though I’m not certain,” he admitted.

“That’s not an issue. Either way, we’ll think of something. But for every plant you cultivate, it should be sent to the medical facility and should be recorded down too,” Orion said sternly.

“Yes, sir,” Kairen said to him.