"I need your power."

Rion stated with an excitement-filled sheen in his eyes, and a look of deep confusion appeared on Marin's face.

Marin knit his brows together and asked, "What do you mean...?"

Rion stepped away from the table and asked while placing his spear by the wall, "Do you believe that we would be able to defeat The Remnant with how things are going?"

Marin's confusion deepened into a frown. He put his palms together and muttered, "We aren't strong enough, but we have Haden, so there's no way that we would actually lose..." his expression darkened, and he added sombrely, "But many lives will be lost."

Rion nodded in agreement and muttered evenly, "That is why we have to change the workings of the den."

Marin placed his hands on the table, slightly narrowed his eyes and gestured for him to continue. "Go ahead."

Rion opened his palms and lifted all of his fingers as he said, "Right now, the whole of the den is broken into ten groups, each having fifty-one tribesmen. But each of them has a different amount of knowledge, experience and talent."

"Mhm." Marin nodded.

Rion placed his hands together, folded them into a large fist and added with a wide grin, "If we put them all under the tutelage of the group leaders and the former hunters. We will have warriors that may not have experience, but they will have the knowledge."

"That's a great idea," Marin praised with a warm smile, but his smile dropped into a frown as he added, "But what you are suggesting is no different than asking a group leader to come under you. All of them are rulers of their own group, and your method asks them to give away their throne."

"I understand that," Rion responded, placed his hands on the table and said while staring into Marin's orange eyes, "That is why I need you. I don't just want all the groups to come together — but the whole tribe: the gatherers, former hunters, everyone."

Marin stared into his eyes for a few moments before he leaned back in his chair and mumbled while rubbing his forehead, "It won't be easy."

"I know," said Rion.

He glanced at Rion and said, "You might fail."

Rion smiled and stated, "You are the most sane here, not me. Don't forget. In the den, strength matters the most."

A faint smile creased Marin's lips, and he asked, "What is your plan?"

Rion's smile widened, and about an hour passed as their conversation came to an end.

"Do you want me to command the group leaders to join the feast?" Marin asked with a warm smile on his face.

Rion shook his head, walked over to his spear, and said with a wide grin, "Don't worry about it."

He picked up the spear, and the wooden floor shrieked softly as he walked out.

Marin stared at the door and mumbled under his breath, "He is finally moving to make changes," his eyes shifted to the north, "It won't be long now."

—

Dust rose with Rion's every step as he walked towards the west end of the den.

As he neared it, hammer strikes, wood chopping and many other brutish sounds reached his ears, but he ignored all of them.

A few moments later, he reached Arok's forge and called out, "Old man!"

Arok walked out while wiping off his hands with a cloth, his brows furrowed, and he asked in a heavy voice, "What are you doing here?"

A shameless smile appeared on Rion's face, and he said, "I need your treasury."

"What?" Arok muttered, his expression twisted furiously, and he snapped, "You brat! Do you want to die from my hammer?"

Rion shook his head and walked inside Arok's forge with the same shameless smile stretching across his face.

The crackles of blazing flames reached him, and his eyes drifted towards the kiln.

Arok watched him step into his forge with a dumbfounded look, and his fists tightly gripped the cloth to the point of ripping it apart.

"Why are you standing there? Come in," Rion stated as if he were inviting Arok to his forge.

Arok's face turned red in fury, and a vein throbbed at his forehead as he spat, "You really want a beating, huh?"

Rion's expression didn't change a bit, and he remarked inwardly, 'Tsundere.'

Arok snorted and walked back inside. He picked up his hammer and stopped a step before Rion as he said, "Tell me why you are here, or I'll crack open your head with this mythiron hammer."

Rion's smile turned warm, and he said while pointing at the door of the treasury, "Don't you think it's time for you to stop?"

Arok's fury vanished in a single heartbeat, and he asked with a frown, "You... What are you planning to do?"

Rion flashed him a grin, and seeing that, Arok's lips also arched upwards.

—

About another hour later, Rion walked back to his group's spot.

A smile stretched across his face, hinting that he had received the answer he wanted.

A few minutes later, he reached the spot, and his eyes fell on the three rebels who were sitting on the ground.

He ignored them and took a seat on top of a boulder as he waited for his group members to return.

Time passed like a breeze, and the sound of bickering reached him.

He stood up with furrowed brows, and his gaze fell a few meters away from the spot.

"I was the first!" Yuura spat while glaring at Dora, who was looking at him with a furious and disgusted expression.

"Stop your bullshit!" She spat, her lips twisted into a frown, and she muttered, "We were the first to both capture the beast and reach the spot!"

Yuura's squad members placed down the grey-white bear and glanced at their leader with a frown.

They knew that Dora was first, after all.

However, it didn't matter to Yuura; he wanted to be the first to complete Rion's command.

Rion watched them but didn't move from his spot, and suddenly, a loud thud rang throughout the area.

His lips arched up, and he turned around. His gaze landed on the carcass of a striped wild deer before it shifted towards Karhun.

Karhun stretched his arms and muttered with a grin, "Finally!"

Rion clapped and announced loudly, "Haha, you are the first!"

Karhun's mind went blank; he blinked a few times and mumbled, "What...?"

Colour drained from Dora and Yuura's faces, and Dora shot Yuura a deeply displeased glare before she spat, "Go die in some ditch, birdbrain!"

She walked away while her squad members pulled the carcass of the brown bulk wolf.

Yuura didn't say anything; he had yet to come out of the shock of losing the first spot to the slowest feet, despite himself being the fastest.

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