About one kilometre north of the Redwood Basin stood a large hut that dwarfed both Valak's and Marin's. It was the hut where the group leaders' meeting was being held.

Before it stretched a series of connected wooden beams supporting a roof. The craftsmen called them beamshelters, which were where other tribe members would be seated during tomorrow's feast.

At the centre of the beamshelters stood the stage with a stone statue of none other than the Sovereign Haden.

Evening glow covered the world in gold, and nine of the ten group leaders sat in the meeting hut with Marin and Valak.

Everyone except Rion was there, and the slight irritation in the eyes of most was enough to tell that they didn't like his absence.

"We shall start without him," Grathar, who sat beside Zoka, stated evenly.

Marin studied him for a moment before he asked, "Shall we continue without group leader Rion Del Haden?"

Zoka, Rhaek, Naqir, Kara and Morvak gave him a nod, and he mumbled, "Alright."

He took out a leather parchment from the pouch hanging by his side and read it.

"Seeing the incoordination during The Remnant's attack and how easy it was for them to sabotage the chain of information from the tribe's settlement to the group leaders' settlements."

Marin scanned everyone's expression and, disappointingly, only a few of them had an expression of grief. He inwardly shook his head and continued, "I suggest demolishing the tradition of living away from the tribe and making it compulsory for all group members to stay within the tribe's wall."

He lowered the parchment and looked at the group leaders, and just as he had expected, most of them were glaring at him as if he had run away with their lover.

"I agree," a soft voice echoed within the hut, and everyone knew who it belonged to — Haria, the strongest person there.

The hut fell into silence after her words until Zoka muttered, "I disagree."

Everyone turned towards him, and Drokan, who rivalled Zoka in strength, asked, "Why?"

His words were to probe his rival even further.

Zoka looked at Drokan and said, "Just because it happened once doesn't mean it will happen again. Relocating all of the group members into the redwood den would be more trouble than a solution."

A few of the group leaders nodded, and Marin suddenly let out a forced cough, "Ahem!"

Everyone turned towards him with furrowed brows, and Marin stated, "New huts will be created in the forest west of the Redwood Den for the residence of all the squad members, squad leaders and group leaders, while the huts within the Redwood Den will be used by the trainee and groupless squad members."

Zoka, Grathar, Rhaek, Naqir and Sovra frowned upon hearing his words, and Naqir muttered, "Putting all of the groups at one spot would cause a lot of strife between them."

Morvak folded his arms across his chest and muttered while nodding, "I agree with that halfblood."

A stifling silence descended into the hut.

Naqir's shoulders trembled in fury, but all he could do was grit his teeth and lower his head.

Morvak grinned, and a few chuckles resounded within the hut.

Valak and Marin didn't say anything, knowing how important blood was to Dhaevrak.

A few minutes passed in silence, and Sovra spoke, "Considering what The Remnant has done to the tribe in just a few weeks, I believe it would be in our best interest for the groups to be more actively present within the tribe's settlement."

"Indeed, but managing the group will become harder as well as training them, " Drokan commented.

Sovra looked between Drokan and Zoka before he muttered with a nod, "Congratulations on achieving The Zone."

Everyone except Haria and Sovra raised an eyebrow and looked at the two of them with impressed gazes.

"How the fuck do you know that...?" Drokan and Zoka questioned at the same time, and Sovra only smiled in return.

"Let us not go beyond the topic; the tribe isn't in a state that allows bickering within the authority," Marin stated.

Rheak scoffed and said, "Why are you holding this meeting then? Shouldn't we prepare for the war with The Remnant instead of this useless reformation meeting and feast—"

"If you believe the reformation and the feast to be useless, then you are not worthy of the rank you hold," a sharp voice cut through Rhaek's words.

Furious, Rheak turned towards the voice and snapped, "Which bas—"

But before he could complete his words, a heavy pressure descended into the hut, and the doors parted open.

Rhaek's knees buckled as the pressure drowned him; he gritted his teeth and glared at the door.

His gaze fell on Rion, who stood at the doorway with an impassive expression, his cold blue eyes scanned the squad leaders, and his wild hair moved with the faint wind.

He wore a black fabric tunic with golden embroidery that still displayed his chiselled chest and abdomen, a white cloth with red embroidery and threads wrapped around his waist. His lower body was covered by the loose dark pants, and a dark wolf fur cape was strapped onto his shoulders.

Just as he stepped inside, the aura of all the group leaders — except Haria — pressed down on him.

His expressions stayed the same, and he stepped further inside.

Seeing that, everyone raised an eyebrow and increased the aura pressing down on him, but just as before, it didn't affect him.

Rion halted before Rhaek and stared into his eyes as he stated flatly, "What gives you the bravado that you have the right to speak about uselessness when you do nothing but sit away from the tribe?"

Suddenly, Zoka's aura flooded towards Rion, and he spat, "Halt your rambling! The only reason I listened to your prior words was out of my respect for the Sovereign!"

Rion looked at him, raised his hand and waved off Zoka's incoming aura.

Everyone's eyes widened, and Haria mumbled inwardly, 'How did he learn to control aura so precisely?'

Rion's golden aura crashed down on Zoka, and he stepped towards him.

Zoka suddenly felt as if the weight of a mountain was placed onto him, his body trembled, and he stammered, "W-What?!"

Rion stopped, stared down at him and spoke, "Do you believe I require my father's reputation for me to be heard? You seem to have forgotten that you aren't in your little cage anymore."

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