Chapter 77: Team Meeting
The mandatory joint safety briefing was held on Tuesday morning in one of the academy’s tiered lecture halls. Because Squad 1 and Squad 7 were both dropping into Composite Block C for the Mid-Terms, syllabus protocol dictated they review the zone hazards together.
When Arthur and his squad walked in, Leon, Alicia, Elara, and Cedric were already seated in the front row.
Instructor Morwenna stood at the front of the hall, pointing a wooden rod at a massive, highly detailed parchment map pinned to the chalkboard.
"Take your seats. We have a lot of ground to cover," Morwenna ordered as Arthur’s squad sat down across the aisle from Leon’s.
Morwenna tapped the top third of the map.
"Composite Block C is divided into three biomes," Morwenna began, her voice carrying clear and sharp across the quiet room. "You deploy into Zone One: The Rotwood Forest. The trees are dense, and the wildlife hunts in packs. Healing magic is severely dampened in this zone due to the thick miasma."
Chloe diligently scribbled that down in her notebook, underlining the healing penalty.
"Zone Two is a subterranean crawler cavern," Morwenna continued, dragging her pointer down the map. "Narrow corridors. Zero natural light. There are raw mana-crystals embedded in the walls. Mining them adds to your squad’s total score, but the noise will attract heavy insectoids."
Felix nodded slowly, calculating the risk in his head.
"Finally, Zone Three: The Ruined Shrine," Morwenna said, tapping the center of the map. "Both squads will eventually reach this zone. It contains a single, high-value Guardian construct. The squad that secures the killing blow gets a massive score multiplier."
Cedric Braveheart raised his hand. The massive vanguard looked up from his notes, his brow furrowed.
"Instructor," Cedric rumbled, his deep voice entirely practical. "If both of our squads reach the shrine at the same time, we’re going to trip over each other."
Morwenna lowered her pointer. "Why is that, Cadet?"
"I watched them fight the Troll last week," Cedric explained, glancing over at Arthur’s team. "We don’t fight the same way. When my squad engages, we lock shields and let Leon or Alicia take the head off in one clean strike. But Arthur’s squad drags it out. They trip the target, bleed it, and wait. If we both charge the Guardian at the same time, we’re just going to smash right through whatever trap Arthur is trying to set."
Alicia leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on her desk. She wasn’t glaring at Arthur, but her green eyes were sharp.
"Cedric is right," Alicia stated bluntly. "You don’t use your shield properly, Vance. Felix doesn’t anchor a line; he just runs around distracting things. You didn’t even draw your weapons against the Troll until it was already crippled on the floor. Do you just use your own squad as bait so you can get a clean hit?"
Arthur didn’t take offense. He casually spun a quill between his fingers, meeting the noble’s gaze.
"Only if they’re good at it, Valentine," Arthur replied smoothly.
Emily let out a loud, unapologetic laugh. Felix sighed, rubbing his temples, while Chloe hid a small smile behind her hand.
Alicia shook her head, clearly frustrated by his complete lack of traditional knightly honor, but Leon just chuckled softly from the end of the row, enjoying the banter.
Elara, however, wasn’t smiling. The High Elf princess raised her hand, her silver eyes focused intently on the map of the Rotwood Forest.
"Instructor Morwenna," Elara asked quietly, her tone purely academic. "The briefing mentions mutated flora. Does the simulation just replicate the physical beasts, or does it also simulate active root-rot spores? Because standard antidotes won’t work on the latter."
"Everything is simulated to its maximum non-lethal threshold, Princess," Morwenna answered flatly.
Arthur leaned back in his chair. "It’s a school exam, Elara," he said casually. "The terrain is manually loaded. The faculty isn’t going to accidentally melt our lungs. It’s a controlled environment."
Morwenna let out a sudden, barking laugh that echoed loudly in the lecture hall.
"Cadet Vance," Morwenna grinned, showing teeth. "That is the absolute funniest thing anyone has said in this room all year. Assuming competence is the fastest way to get yourself killed."
She grabbed her heavy wooden training cane from the desk and slammed it against the floor.
"Theory portion is over," Morwenna declared. "Grab your gear and head down to Simulation Yard Four. We are going to see exactly what happens when your two styles cross paths. Move."
Ten minutes later, the eight first-years stood on the sprawling, hexagonal grid of Simulation Yard Four.
"Leon," Morwenna called out from behind the reinforced observation glass. "You have command. Round one."
Leon drew his broadsword, his golden aura flaring instantly. He didn’t hesitate to take the lead.
"Form up!" Leon commanded, his voice radiating natural authority. "Cedric, Felix, lock shields! Alicia, Emily, flanks! Elara, Chloe, backline! Arthur, with me!"
The simulator hummed violently. A swarm of hard-light Hobgoblins materialized and charged across the grid.
Leon’s command was clean and heroic. Cedric and Felix absorbed the initial impact perfectly. Elara locked the center swarm in ice, Alicia carved through the right flank with her wind magic, and Leon leaped forward, unleashing a blinding wave of holy fire that wiped out the rest.
The yard flashed green. Simulation Cleared. Time: 12 seconds.
"Textbook," Morwenna noted over the speakers. "Clean and powerful. Now, let’s see the alternative. Vance. You have command. Round two."
The grid reset. Arthur stepped to the front. He didn’t draw his daggers.
The simulator wove a completely different target. A massive simulated Ogre materialized, wielding a heavy spiked iron chain. It roared, swinging the chain in a wide, devastating arc that threatened to clear the entire front line.
"Vance, orders!" Leon yelled, readying his sword.
Arthur gave rapid, clinical directions. "Felix, Emily, drop back out of range. Leon, Alicia, bait the chain swing to the left and immediately drop your guard."
Alicia blinked. "Drop our guard? Are you insane—"
"Do it," Arthur snapped.
Leon and Alicia darted left. The Ogre took the bait, violently whipping the spiked chain toward them. The moment the chain swung wide, leaving the Ogre’s massive chest completely exposed, Arthur moved.
"Cedric," Arthur called out, stepping right next to the massive noble.
"Yes?" Cedric grunted, bracing his tower shield against a nonexistent attack.
"Stand exactly right there."
Before Cedric could ask why, Arthur activated Shadow Step.
He teleported directly into the shadow cast by Cedric’s heavy boots. Appearing instantly behind the towering cadet, Arthur vaulted off Cedric’s back, using the heavily armored noble as a literal springboard.
"Hey!" Cedric yelled, stumbling forward from the sudden weight.
Arthur soared over the Ogre’s sweeping chain, bypassing its massive reach entirely. Mid-air, he drew his twin steel daggers. Dropping his weight, he drove his boots into the Ogre’s shoulder and buried both daggers directly into the construct’s unarmored optic nerves.
The Ogre roared, blinded and thrashing wildly.
"Emily, knees!" Arthur shouted, backflipping off the monster’s face.
Emily blurred forward, driving her metal gauntlets into the back of the Ogre’s right leg. The joint shattered. As the blinded, crippled monster collapsed to the floor, Arthur landed smoothly on his feet and drove a single dagger cleanly into the base of its exposed neck.
The Ogre froze and dissolved into blue particles.
The yard flashed green. Simulation Cleared. Time: 4 seconds.
The grid powered down.
Leon stood on the left side of the yard, his sword still raised, blinking in genuine surprise.
Cedric slowly turned around, looking down at Arthur.
"Vance," Cedric rumbled slowly. "Did you... did you just use me as a stepping stone?"
Arthur sheathed his daggers.
"You have a tower shield and a low center of gravity, Cedric," Arthur replied casually, adjusting his coat. "I just utilized the terrain."
Behind the glass, Morwenna was grinning ear-to-ear.
"That is the difference," Morwenna called out through the speakers. "Squad 1 fights like conventional heroes. Squad 7 fights like shameless survivors. If you cross paths in Block C, adjust accordingly. Dismissed."
As the students grabbed their bags and walked out of the simulation yard, Elara walked beside Alicia in the corridor. The Elf glanced back over her shoulder, watching Arthur seamlessly fall into step with his squad.
"He really doesn’t care about looking dignified, does he?" Elara murmured, her silver eyes narrowing in fascination.
Alicia gripped the strap of her bag, shaking her head as she recalled Arthur literally stepping on Cedric’s back to secure a kill.
"No, he doesn’t," Alicia replied, letting out a long breath. A reluctant, competitive smile tugged at the edge of her lips. "And that is exactly why we can’t afford to underestimate them on Saturday."