Online Game: Unrivaled Gods

"Young Master, not bad. Although I knew you grasped the basics quickly yesterday, I didn't expect you to adapt so quickly as well," Wang Huan said to Sun Rui in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Are you alright? You've been shouting all morning." Sun Rui asked Wang Huan with concern. Although the captain was sitting in the center of the formation directing the movement without moving, Sun Rui didn't think Wang Huan and the others had it easier than him. They had to observe the movement of more than 300 people, give commands, and guide their movements from time to time. Their mental pressure was definitely not small, much greater than that of those of them who were running around.

"It's okay, I'm used to it, it's not the first or second time." Wang Huan pulled out a water bag from somewhere, poured some water into his mouth, moistened his dry lips, and the hoarseness in his voice lessened a lot.

"Does this happen often?" Sun Rui asked curiously after hearing Wang Huan's words.

“Of course, we train formations like this often. We train in private too, just not as intensely. Formation training is of paramount importance to us. If we don’t train this regularly, it will cause problems in battle.” Wang Huan sat down next to Sun Rui and handed him a water bag, indicating that he should drink some.

"Thanks." Sun Rui took the water bag from Wang Huan, thanked him, and took a sip of water.

"Young Master, I see you've mastered formations quite well. I reckon it won't be long before you surpass me. I made a few mistakes in commanding just now; commanding three hundred men is my limit." Wang Huan looked at Sun Rui with envy, as if he was certain Sun Rui would be a better commander than him.

"Hehe, how could that be?" Sun Rui was a little embarrassed by Wang Huan's gaze, and he scratched his head with a silly smile. Sun Rui knew that Wang Huan had made mistakes in his command just now, but Sun Rui would not underestimate Wang Huan. His mistakes were just due to insufficient command and a lack of strong overall strategic vision.

Command stat is a crucial attribute in "Global Hope," directly impacting each player's troop-leading ability. The most direct manifestation of command stat is the number of troops one can command. Below 50 points, one point of command stat corresponds to 10 soldiers, 50 points to 500 soldiers, and this doubles after 50 points. 60 points allows commanding 5,000 troops, and 70 points allows commanding 50,000 troops.

Eighty points of leadership value allow you to command 250,000 troops, ninety points allow you to command 500,000 troops, and one hundred points allow you to command one million troops. Of course, it's not that you can't lead so many troops if your leadership value is low. Even one point of leadership value can lead a million-strong army. It's just that without the corresponding leadership value, you can't unleash the fighting power of your soldiers and will only cause chaos among them, increasing your own losses.

According to Sun Rui's observation, Wang Huan's command attribute should be around 30 points. These 300-plus soldiers are indeed his limit. To improve further, he can only kill monsters and level up to increase his attributes.

"Captain Wang, you'll definitely improve by experiencing real combat (leveling up by fighting monsters)," Sun Rui advised Wang Huan.

"Yes, I know about that." Wang Huan indicated that he understood, then said with a puzzled look, "But recently, I don't know what's wrong, I don't feel any improvement in my strength when I go to suppress bandits."

"Hmm..." Sun Rui's heart stirred. He gleaned some information from Wang Huan's words: if strength couldn't be improved, level couldn't be improved either. According to Sun Rui's intuition, Wang Huan was at the third-tier soldier level. This meant that the system was no longer allowing existences above the third-tier soldier level, which was why Wang Huan's level was being restricted.

Of course, it's also possible that because Jiuyuan City doesn't have training manuals for fourth-tier troops, Wang Huan is at the maximum level of 40 and hasn't changed jobs, creating the illusion that his strength can't improve. Sun Rui thinks this is unlikely. A soldier can definitely sense whether he can advance or not, and there are also superiors who can remind him. Sun Rui doesn't know that this possibility is completely nonexistent. NPCs can also see their own level, so they certainly know whether they can change jobs and whether they have reached the required level.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Let me tell you about the command flags and drumbeats." Wang Huan didn't dwell on this issue for long before enthusiastically starting to explain military knowledge to Sun Rui, acting like a know-it-all.

Sun Rui didn't refuse, and seemed very interested, because he knew this was something he lacked.

One talked and the other listened, and time slowly passed until lunchtime. The two stopped talking after being called by their companion to eat, with Wang Huan looking like he hadn't had enough.

"Captain Wang, you seem to enjoy instructing others." After finishing his instruction, Sun Rui asked Wang Huan curiously.

"What do you mean by 'I like teaching'? Only someone like you, young master, who learns everything so easily, would say that. Otherwise, I would have gotten impatient long ago. Teaching others feels good, but if the person you're teaching can't learn no matter how you teach them, then it doesn't feel so good. You'll see if I still like teaching then." Wang Huan replied to Sun Rui's question with a wry smile.

"Really? Then let's eat." Sun Rui scratched his head shyly after being praised for his intelligence by Wang Huan. Although he had been praised for his intelligence many times since entering the game, he was still embarrassed. Sun Rui, who had never been particularly smart since childhood, had not received much praise like this before entering the game.

"Haha." Wang Huan looked at Sun Rui's embarrassed expression and felt a sense of closeness with him, thinking to himself, "This young master doesn't seem spoiled at all."

"Neigh..." Sun Rui, who was eating, vaguely heard the sound of horses. He looked around and, seeing no horses, asked in confusion, "Captain Wang, did you hear the sound of horses?"

"I didn't hear anything, but they must be back," Wang Huan said indistinctly.

Sun Rui looked at Wang Huan, who was eating, with a puzzled expression, not quite understanding what he meant by "returned".

Wang Huan, who was eating, noticed Sun Rui's gaze, put down his chopsticks, and said mysteriously, "You'll find out soon enough. Here's a hint: what our military camp is."

“Special forces, huh? I know that…” Sun Rui couldn’t recall Wang Huan’s hint for a moment.

"Neigh..." Sun Rui stared in shock at the more than a thousand tall horses before him.

This group of tall, magnificent horses, each part of their bodies perfectly proportioned, every muscle displaying power, appeared so graceful and healthy at first glance. Their bodies were black and glossy, their tails held high, and the sight of over a thousand horses standing silently there gave Sun Rui a sense of oppression.

"Military camp... special forces... cavalry!!!" Looking at these tall horses, Sun Rui finally understood what Wang Huan had told him earlier. After two days of training, Sun Rui had forgotten that this special forces unit was a cavalry unit, and cavalry naturally needed horses.

"How about that? I didn't give you a false hint, did I?" Wang Huan, standing next to Sun Rui, said with a smile.

"No, but I completely forgot that we are a cavalry battalion," Sun Rui said with a wry smile after hearing Wang Huan's words.

“That’s normal. Those training methods are very misleading. Here you go.” Wang Huan said, taking out a book from behind him and handing it to Sun Rui.

Horsemanship Training Manual: Allows natives and players to learn Tier 2 cavalry skills. Using a barracks allows them to advance to Tier 2 cavalry. Requirement: Level 20.

In Global Hope, some troop types have tier restrictions. For example, cavalry can only be formed by reaching the second tier. Before mastering riding skills, one must master an attack skill. Once at the second tier, one can transform into lancers, horse archers, heavy cavalry, and so on.

"Does player Lu Bu want to use the Square Formation Training Book?"

"Yes." This time, Sun Rui directly used the riding training book and did not force himself to use his talent mastery, because Wang Huan said that the training of the wedge formation would begin in the afternoon and would be conducted on horseback. This training could not afford any major mistakes that could result in death.

"Congratulations to player Lü Bu for learning riding skills."

Horsemanship: the foundation of mounted combat, allowing players and natives to unleash 1% of their combat power while on horseback.

As the system notification sounded, Sun Rui found that he had new memories related to horseback riding in his mind. As he looked at these memories, he felt at ease.

"By the way, why haven't I seen these horses these past two days?" Sun Rui was quite puzzled. Although this military camp was large, it couldn't be so large that it could hide more than a thousand horses without being discovered.

"Young Master, of course you didn't see it. These past two days have been the free-range period for these horses. Horses are not meant to be confined in stables, so every month we send someone out to let them out for a day or two to help them recover their energy."

"Oh, I see."

"Young Master, this is your horse." Wang Huan said, handing Sun Rui a horse's reins.

Sun Rui looked at the horse he was leading. Its long neck held high, its head held high, and a pair of bright, piercing eyes that always seemed to gleam with intelligence. Small, triangular ears stood erect on its forehead, as if constantly listening to the sounds around it, making it appear exceptionally alert. A row of neatly trimmed brown hair swayed on its neck as it walked, adding to its majestic appearance. A thick, white tail trailed behind its robust body; with a gentle flick, it flashed like a silver lightning bolt.

Sun Rui felt very excited, but he couldn't tell whether it was his mental excitement or his body's instinctive excitement.

"Everyone, mount your horses and head out of the valley!" The commander-in-chief rode a tall horse and walked up to more than a thousand soldiers, shouting loudly.

"Yes." The soldiers responded and quickly mounted their horses. Even Sun Rui, who was riding for the first time, showed no signs of unfamiliarity.

Sun Rui, sitting on the horse, was surprised. He felt as if his body had ridden a horse thousands of times, and he was very skilled at it. He felt very comfortable on the horse without any discomfort.