Sumatra's Greatest Fan

Chapter 206: Squad And Expedition Rankings

"HAHAHA!" There came a roar from atop the Empyrean Tusk’s head, "I was just feeling hungry!"

It was Brangara, drooling out of excitement upon sensing a robustly overwhelming presence. However, he drooled only for a few seconds, as after that, the overwhelming presence capable of blanketing the horizon had simply vanished.

"You’re not coming?" Brangara got up, intending to rush towards the source of the retreating presence. And then, he eyed the people gathered in the city being built nearby and then returned to a seated posture.

Slowly, he grinned, "I’ll wait."

"My descendants are capable, and they’ll force you to take action. And when you choose to reveal yourself..." A ravenous presence erupted out of his being, emitted in the form of a beam, getting concentrated upon the target with such precision, no one else felt his actions.

Rumble!

Even though Brangara couldn’t see what had happened to the target, hearing the slow rumble many minutes later put a smile on his face, "Tumbled, did we?"

He then noticed Torq eyeing in his direction with an excited grin and waved his hand casually, "Focus on your task at hand."

Nodding subtly, Torq eyed the Parute Trees before him and continued harvesting Parute Fruits.

Some time passed, and he returned to the Potential Squad’s building, since it was time to assemble. Carrying a large crate using psychokinesis, he shouted upon entering the building, "I’ve brought presents for everyone!"

"Oh?" NelTara was the first to approach him, "Only for me?"

"There’s enough here to distribute to the others too." Torq responded and opened the crate when many squad members peered over.

HISS!

Everyone inhaled a deep breath upon seeing the crate filled to the brim with Parute Fruits. Torq pulled out a ladle and scooped out twice from the crate and added the contents in a prepared bag before giving it to a fellow squad member. "This is for you."

"This is for you." He gave it to another member.

"Don’t be shy," He stuffed a bag into VaraBuntara’s possession.

"I...don’t need it." VaraBuntara resisted out of pride, but Torq didn’t seem to hear his words. Even though Varabuntara wanted to resist more and not accept the gift, upon seeing over 1000 Parute Fruits stuffed in his bag, he swallowed his pride, ’We’re part of the same branch.’

’It’s not strange for cousins to give each other gifts.’ He coughed once and returned to his seat.

NelTara eyed Torq with a collected gaze, observing the latter go around the building gifting everyone with a bag. She had yet to receive one. Soon, she was the last among the squad to receive the gift.

"Where’s mine?" She huffed once.

"Aren’t I your gift?" Torq tilted his head in confusion, as if her words didn’t make any sense.

"Excuse me," NelTara rolled her eyes, "What I’m asking for is a gift, not being loaned my own assets."

"...Fine," Stumped for words, Torq accepted his loss and gave her a bag, which was obviously way larger than the others.

"Nice," NelTara chirped away as she slung the back over her shoulder.

Right as Torq was about to call it a day, a gruff voice resounded from behind, "Where’s my gift?"

"Squad Leader?" Torq blurted out in surprise upon seeing FyorBuntara make a face as if he was missing out on the fun.

Torq stared incredulously at the face of the other party and retorted, "Weren’t you harvesting beside me all along?"

"Yes, I was." FyorBunatara nodded and pointed at a crate placed outside the building, which was like ten times the size of Torq’s crate, "It’ll need a bit of work putting it within an upper floor of our building."

"Aside from that," He extended a hand towards Torq, "Are you going to exclude your Squad Leader?"

’Damn, he’s shameless!’ Torq scooped out the remainder within the crate, which was supposed to be his portion, put them in a bag, and handed it over to Fyorbuntara, "Here’s your gift, Squad Leader."

"Wow, you didn’t have to!" FyorBuntara made a surprised expression and bashfully accepted the gift. He tucked the bag within his suit in such a way, it seemed like he had grown a pot belly.

He didn’t seem to mind the obvious bulge. And a mere second later, his expression turned cold and curt, as he eyed Torq, "Return to your spot."

"Yes, Squad Leader." Torq took his seat.

"Now that everyone is ready to set out," Fyorbuntarta used his psychokinesis to move the Parute Fruits in his crate into one of the upper floors of their building, "I’ve brought in a stockpile of Parute Fruits. It’s meant for your free use."

"Just list down how much you’re consuming, so that we can keep a track of our expenditure." He expressed casually, "Don’t worry about your consumption. Ancestor announced everyone to consume Parute Fruits like it’s water, without any limitations."

"Now," He paused for a moment and then pointed towards the sky upon feeling a prickle on his skin, "Can everyone feel it?"

Simultaneously, everyone part of the Potential Squad felt a familiar, empowering presence.

Empyrean Boar Aurora!

"We have begun spreading it across the sky," Fyorbuntara instructed, "Depending on our scale of activity, the intensity of the aurora will vary. If the aurora is strong somewhere, it means our side has been dominant in that particular region."

"Ensure you don’t venture into regions not covered by the Empyrean Boar Aurora." FyorBuntara warned, "That task is left for those part of the vanguard."

"You’re part of the rearguard." He then made a clapping sound, upon which two Wean Clansmen entered the building and planted a stele of sorts in the hall’s centre.

Once they exited the hall, Fyorbuntara continued, "This stele will display the scores of everyone part of the Potential Squad. It will help you understand your progress in comparison to your peers."

The moment it had been set up, the stele began to faintly draw in the aurora from the sky, absorbing the presence permeating through the latter. A few seconds later, it lit up, displaying a total of 120 names, ranking them based on their point accumulation.

"You’ll be awarded one point for every enemy Pranic Beast you kill." FyorBuntara explained, "This stele only calculates your kill count."

"There’s a contribution stele in the centre of our City." He concluded, "That will tally your overall contribution. So, you can check your Expedition Ranking there."

"I am curious about everyone’s Squad Ranking in a month’s time." And then, he announced, "With the basic instructions done, I now declare, "

"We’re marching out!"