Absolute Soul
104. Fortress Leader

While nothing great happened, Haikal and his friends rested in a room reserved for them.

Even if the statistics and abilities of Haikal's party were above the average of ordinary Blazer candidates, their soul energy was still limited after doing an all-out battle in front of the previous wall, still, no exception Haikal which incidentally has a large soul energy capacity for Blazer candidate size.

They all meditated in their own individual ways trying to recover stamina and soul energy as quickly as possible in order to help the fight outside. The rumbling sounds and shock of the battle could be felt from this room.

"Oh, it turned out faster than I expected," Haikal's mind had just opened its eyes to finish its meditation. He realized most of his soul energy had recovered though not completely.

Haikal could see Jack and the others were still concentrating on recovering soul energy with the help of the soul energy recovery pill that Sakuya had given him just before leaving the academy, Haikal did not refuse this pill when offered.

Soul energy recovery pills were indeed not a luxury considering objects like this were one of the important supplies for a Blazer, he said, but for Blazer candidates from commoner families such as Haikal the price of one pill is already expensive.

"How expensive is one grain of this pill can reach more than 30 Bold, even though one package of food complete with drinks only about 20 Bold," haikal grumbled at the bag full of soul energy recovery pills in front of him, trying to get used to Blazer's not cheap lifestyle.

Haikal took some of the pills and kept them in his pocket just in case, he got up and walked towards the window. He looked at the battle between the Blazers against a number of Vergs who were still trying to break through the waterway.

The group of Verg that broke through from this water was the Aquatic Verg model, a type of Verg that lived and moved in water. Vergs like this are usually very strong and fast in water, but when lifted to land they can be finished easily.

That's what the Blazers did in order to defend the walls of the estuary to minimize casualties and losses.

As Haikal was busy looking at and analyzing the battlefields at the estuary and the coast, the sound of knocking was heard from behind the door of the room grabbing his attention. A few seconds later the door opened and a man dressed in military clothes entered the room with several other Blazers behind him.

The man raised his eyebrows slightly surprised Haikal who had completed his meditation, while Haikal himself noticed the appearance of the man who looked different from the Blazer in this fortress from the bottom to the tip of the hair.

The man was a slightly bloated man with a curvy mustache that drew attention above the lips, wearing military-style clothing accompanied by a starry badge hanging from his left pocket.

"Ehm, Haikal Alendra, right?" The man in the military uniform opened the conversation after a brief pause.

"Really, Sir. Haikal Aldra, future Blazer of Skymaze Academy, 1-A." Haikal straightened his body intending to salute but was stopped by the man.

"There's no need to be respectful to me, you're not a Blazer yet" the man said, shaking his hand before continuing, "Maybe you've seen my name plate in this uniform, but let me introduce myself."

"My name is Reyhard Dreyfort, the Master-level Blazer assigned to lead and protect this estuary fortress," Reynard introduced himself as he thrust out a hand intent on shaking Haikal's hand, "You can call me Commander Reynard."

"It's an honor to meet you, Commander Reynard." Haikal accepted Reynard's hand.

Haikal is not surprised at the Master rank that Reynard has given that it is unlikely that a mediocre-capable Blazer is appointed to lead one of the most guarded places in Adele's entirety.

After introducing each other Haikal and Reynard had a small talk about the security and security available to them. Even though there is a battle outside, Reyhard does not want to be rude to the Blazer candidate group, let alone there are Salvia, Verna, and Cecil who are blue bloods here.

In general, the capacity of Blazer candidates for soul energy is not too large compared to the official Blazer who has been trained and experienced in real combat, even though geniuses like Salvia and Verna had still not ended their meditation sessions.

How could Haikal who had some time ago been called a loser who could not even summon his Soul Arc be able to recover soul energy faster than a genius from Skymaze Academy?

"No need to worry about me Commander. Even if it looks like this, I've recovered more than 90% of my soul energy," Haikal said trying to convince Reyhard who subtly asked him to rest more, "After all...."

Haikal turned his gaze towards the window of the room, precisely the bloody scene by the beach, "If you're in a high place like this, it's probably better to check and analyze the situation outside than to recover too perfectly."

"The soul energy can recover on its own as long as we're still breathing, but Blazer's life out there can't go back any way, Commander." Haikal looked back at Reynard as he closed his explanation.

Reyhard was a little surprised to hear Haikal's words, he did not expect to hear such a thing from a candidate Blazer.

Humans are greedy and selfish creatures, not least young seedlings the age of Haikal. Most would prefer to flee from danger rather than pay attention and make anticipatory plans for the danger, but Haikal managed to break that stigma.

As someone who is older and has seen many things, Reynard saw Haikal's attitude in no way shows the young man has a mental 'loser'. He looks more mature and tough than most Blazer candidates his age.

Reynard gave a small smile in response to Haikal's words, "Then can you share the results of your analysis and anticipation plan for this situation?"

"Ehm, I'm not sure this is a good plan compared to the Commander's countermeasures." Haikal scratched his cheek feeling insecure considering he was just an inexperienced Blazer candidate.

Reyhard hurriedly flicked his hand rejecting Haikal's words, "There is no need to behave like that. Now we need every idea that can solve this situation, no matter who it comes from."

Haikal hesitated for a few moments thinking Reynard was playing tricks or testing himself, but the current situation is indeed very precarious and requires a good plan to overcome Verg-Verg who continues to arrive from the sea at once.

Some time later Haikal let out a long sigh not wanting to argue with Reynard, "Alright, but the plan I have is arguably crazy and maybe impossible to do if not with a lot of people."

"Oh?" Reynard raised his eyebrows and felt attracted to Haikal's plan, "Explain to me."

Just as Haikal was about to explain his plan a clap landed on his shoulder, shocking him. He immediately looked back and found Jack had finished his meditation session.

"Hey, let me join you in listening to that plan you call crazy," Jack said giving his trademark smile as he lifted a thumb before realising Haikal that Salvia and the others were well rested.

They were still sitting on the floor but seemed ready to listen to Haikal's plan, except for Cecil who was still recovering as much of his soul energy as possible. It was no surprise considering Cecil was the one who consumed the most soul energy than all of them.

Haikal wanted to say something to them, especially Heru who still had bruises on his face, but he ignored the intention. He then looked back at Reynard and explained his crazy plan, "So this is it...."