Emperor of Soul Pets

Chapter 38: Planning the Heist

Over the next few days, Olek fashioned a short recurve bow for Rao Wu and then trained him on the Way of the Bow. Fortunately, Rao Wu proved to be a quick study. Although Rao Wu wouldn't win any competitions soon, the child could hit the target six times out of ten. For a beginner, that was an excellent result.

Rao Wu, meanwhile, also went to Ramy to learn how to be an effective tank. Since he often joined the hunting party, Ramy found many chances to teach Rao Wu the importance of positioning. A tank's job wasn't only to protect their party but also to provide the best opportunity for the damage dealers to inflict the most damage.

Due to this, Ramy often attracted the monsters' attention, not just towards her, but also in a direction that favored Olek's arrows or Denuchi's sword. To accomplish this task, Ramy needed to be aware of her parties' positioning at all times, no matter how hectic the battle got.

Rao Wu did not intend to take on the tank role. Kafus, and in turn, fox-hybrids, were not suited to taking punishment. Instead, he learned the part so he could teach Ju Tu in the future. There was no such thing as a wasted lesson. Even if it didn't apply to him, there were many others he could potentially teach one day, whether it was his soul pets, family, or maybe even friends.

Rao Wu was like a sponge, cramming decades worth of experience amongst the members in a week and a half. Denuchi, realizing there was no time to teach the child how to use a sword, instead focused on teaching Rao Wu how to judge the best chances for attacking and when to retreat.

Akeme's lessons were scary. The wolf-hybrid focused on teaching Rao Wu the most vulnerable parts of the human anatomy. He showed Rao Wu critical arteries that guaranteed kills and 'weak spots' that could immobilize enemies.

Rao Wu visited each suicide squad member, happily listening to tales of their exploits and narrow escapes. Perhaps because of Rao Wu's cheerful personality, or maybe because they were happy to have someone to speak to—the squad members eagerly told the child their stories. It soon became a regular sight to wait behind after dinner to chat and reminisce.

Rao Wu wished he could stay with the group for a few more months. There was so much he could potentially learn from them!

Unfortunately, life was not so kind. The dreaded deadline eventually came up. It was with a solemn expression that Denuchi spoke up after dinner on the eve of the operation. "Tomorrow is the day. Lekun, Depo, Raba, thanks for the tunnel. You can switch out your soul pets now." With Denuchis's permission, the trio revealed grateful smiles and then swapped out their mole-rats for more orthodox offensive soul monsters. "The rest of you, thank you for your patrols. Thanks to you, we did not alert any beastkin patrols. And, of course, thanks to Rao Wu for helping us get this fort in case things go south."

The squad softly cheered as Ramy patted the embarrassed Rao Wu's back.

"With thanks out of the way, let's once again run through tomorrow's operation." The room once again went deathly silent as Denuchi knocked on the table. "According to the intel we have, Depo's tunnel leads to an old, escape route south of Lazuli Cave. It's one of many the beastkin built to escape in the event their home was overrun." Denuchi's gave traveled across the room as he continued, "We'll use this to infiltrate from the south while the main force attacks the cave from the north."

Akeme nodded and then continued, "Even with most of the forces gone, expect heavy resistance. The shaman's orb is located in the chieftains' private storage room. There'll be plenty of security around it, so be prepared to fight to the death."

"We have roughly forty minutes from the minute the alarm is raised before reinforcements arrive," revealed Denuchi, and then clarified when Ramy raised her hand. "Lazuli Cave's entrance is roughly fifty minutes away from the chieftain's home. Thirty to Forty if you sprint."