Maxime didn't react at all, though he kept a straight face as he met Rodrigo's gaze.
Tena and Romuald didn't understand what was going on either, but they couldn't stay alert for long as they continued to be attacked by nearby bandits.
Counting the seriously wounded and the dead, there were still over 30 bandits in fighting condition, surrounding the saber-toothed tigers.
"Who gets in my way, dies!"
Rodrigo charged ferociously towards the bandits separating him from Maxime.
Killing a few of them quickly, at the cost of a few wounds, he easily got within a few meters of Maxime.
But now there was an obstacle in front of him.
A young man with long red hair stood like a wall between him and Maxime.
"Vice-captain, I'll kill you too if you block me!"
Andrew frowned, but a voice came from behind him.
"He's currently at your level Andrew, let him through."
"Okay, I'll help the others then. Training should stop now." replied the red-haired youth.
"Yeah, go help them." commented Maxime simply.
Rodrigo became even more annoyed as he overheard their conversation.
"What do you mean, training? Ernest's death was part of your training?"
Maxime looked up slightly at Rodrigo.
"You think you're powerful now?" Maxime clearly didn't care what Rodrigo said, instead he asked him this simple question.
But before Rodrigo could reply, he suddenly lost much of his strength and dropped to one knee.
At the same time, Maxime stepped forward as a notice appeared in front of him:
[All advantages conferred by the NOX LIMIT talent on the mercenary Romuald have been temporarily suspended].
Rodrigo looked at Maxime with complicated eyes.
"What I give you, I can take back as easily as that."
"And you failed, Rodrigo."
"Failed? What the hell did I fail? My best friend has just been killed in front of my eyes!" shouted Rodrigo in frustration but also sadness.
"He's not dead," Maxime replied simply.
Rodrigo turned around, but still saw Ernest lying on the ground.
Indeed, Ernest wasn't dead yet; his chest was inflating and deflating, showing that he was still breathing.
The only difference was that Andrew had reached Ernest's location and was fighting with all his might to ensure that no bandit would finish Ernest off.
Andrew was also accompanied by his 4 men on the battlefield, 2 of whom went to help Tena, one to help Romuald and the last to stand by Andrew's side.
This tipped the balance of victory vaguely in favor of Maxime's mercenaries.
"And as long as I'm here, no one can die."
"What do you mean by that, Maxime?" asked Rodrigo, his emotions still in chaos.
"When the Pirans attacked Nansoy, 26 of the saber-toothed tigers died, but there were still 4 alive. Ernest was one of them."
"But I don't think he told you what happened in the end," Maxime related lightly.
"Didn't you defeat the Piran soldiers and get your family into a shelter?" asked Rodrigo.
"We did defeat the Piran soldiers, but someone of a certain status blocked my mother, my brother and my neighbors from entering the shelter."
"A few things happened, and I took seven 9-minute bullets to the body."
Speaking of which, Maxime's tone was relatively detached.
"Believe me, just two sword strokes won't be enough to kill him, since he has a physique similar to mine."
"But no matter, you could save him, couldn't you? Why didn't you?" asked Rodrigo, who had regained some strength and was now standing, still pissed off.
"Because they're just bandits, they have no armor, mediocre weapon handling skills, mediocre physique and their main combat experience is intimidating civilians." explained Maxime.
"On our side we have mercenaries with solid weapon-handling skills, mercenaries with a minimum physique of 1.5 points with at least light armor and who have all had real battlefield experience against powerful alien soldiers," he continued, while on the battlefield Andrew demonstrated extraordinary power.
The other mercenaries were not to be outdone, easily fending off the bandits thanks to their teamwork and superior individual combat power.
But Maxime still hadn't said the most important thing.
"Practically speaking, I don't take these bandits seriously. They're barely enough to be used as training and as a test."
"Training, test?" asked a surprised Rodrigo.
"Yes, we agreed with Andrew while we were walking through the forest, that I would take the group's potential future leaders with me and test their mental and decision-making abilities at the critical moment."
"But it's too dangerous! Why put our lives in danger!?"
"I told you, as long as I'm here none of my mercenaries can die here." asserted Maxime in a confident but also cold tone.
"But..."
Maxime cut Rodrigo off directly.
"The active ability of my talent allows me to increase the physique of saber-toothed tigers close to me by 50%, for 30 minutes. Since Ernest's physique is currently 2.1 points, if increased by 50% it will exceed 3 points."
"Perhaps in this world the information isn't broadcast, but from my side I know that when our physique exceeds 3 points, life expectancy is increased by 50 years."
"The vital flow that accompanies a physique of more than 3 points is extremely important. I might as well say that if I use it now, Ernest will be back to full strength in less than 3 minutes."
Rodrigo was temporarily stunned by this explanation.
"But you used your talent against the Pirans less than 7 days ago! You need 7 days between each use, don't you?"
"My body in Eternity and my body in reality are not the same, they are simply synchronized."
"So the recharging time is drastically reduced, from 7 days to 3, because my soul still has to recover." Maxime refuted.
Rodrigo seemed lost as he discovered the whole truth.
"Getting back to the facts Rodrigo, you deserted the battlefield, abandoning your comrades who were already in danger, and attacked your leader, threatening to kill him," Maxime explained as he grabbed Rodrigo by the throat and lifted him up.
The point difference between their physiques became so significant after the benefits of Maxime's talent disappeared from Rodrigo, that Rodrigo had no resistance.
This lowered his talent to one star and thus limited his power to 1.5 physique points.
"How powerful is this man to do this to a man comparable to a commander!?"
"I really hope their leader stays there or we're all dead!"
Some of the bandits who had known Rodrigo's power were extremely shocked when they saw this scene.
"Should I kill you here and now to set an example?" threatened Maxime.
"I...I..." Rodrigo couldn't speak because of the lack of oxygen.
His face quickly began to turn very pale.
His thoughts began to become very complicated as he thought about his siblings, his parents.
About his future, his goals, his revenge.
But Maxime thought for a moment and then let go of Rodrigo.
The latter ended up kneeling completely, his gaze on the ground as he recovered oxygen with difficulty.
"I want you to face one of the two bandit commanders when they arrive and submit one of them in 1vs1," ordered Maxime in a dry, emotionless tone.
Rodrigo saw some hope, raised his head to look at Maxime and exclaimed:
"Yes, boss!"
"I'd like to warn you that if they're at Jorgi's level, then they have at least a 2-point physique, so at least 0.3 points more than you, as well as terrifying experience on the battlefield."
Normally, the pinnacle of a 2-star potential was a 2-point physique, but a 2-star potential was already worthy of a good investment.
So it regularly happened that a 2-star potential exceeded his limit thanks to various potions, extraordinary plants or even thanks to a method to become a knight for the luckiest and most deserving among them.
"No worries boss, I'll fulfill the mission you've given me!"
Rodrigo was filled with new vigor after experiencing an explosive cocktail of emotions.
It was also at this moment that the other two small squads of saber-toothed tigers led by Terry and Izo arrived.
Seeing the situation, they didn't greet Maxime and went straight to their comrade on the small battlefield that had formed.
Rodrigo also returned, completely reversing the course of the battlefield.
The bandits were completely overpowered and massacred.
Watching the scene, Maxime was pensive.
"I wonder if I could integrate the two bandit commanders into the saber-toothed tigers?"
"Maybe I could integrate the bandit leader too?"
"If I can recruit them and take their potential to the next level, I'll have both mercenaries with significant battlefield experience but also mercenaries who will become very powerful in the future."
"However if they've done anything to do with Quessoi..."
As Maxime's thoughts rambled on, the battlefield took another turn.
The two commanders, Organ and Laura, arrived with a large number of men.