Chapter 200: Strategy Meeting

(One Week Before The First Black Week, House Argent Common Hall)

Riven sat amongst the other House Argent students as Cedric and the rest of the House leadership took their places at the center of the common hall, preparing to convene the first strategy meeting for the upcoming Black Week.

Both First and Second Years had been summoned for the meeting, filling nearly every available seat inside the hall, although unlike most mandatory House gatherings, there were surprisingly few complaints about being dragged away from their evening routines.

For once, almost everyone appeared to be in high spirits.

The Second Years especially seemed excited, as having already experienced Black Week twice during their first year, they understood exactly what the coming competition offered and had spent much of the past several weeks discussing it amongst themselves.

Their enthusiasm had inevitably spread to the First Years, many of whom had heard countless stories about Black Week since entering the Academy but still knew surprisingly little about how the competition actually worked beyond the scattered details their seniors had shared with them.

Riven was among them.

He knew that regular classes were suspended throughout Black Week, that the four Houses competed against one another for House Points, and that fighting between students was actively permitted during the competition.

Beyond those basic details, however, nobody had ever properly explained the rules to him.

Cedric allowed the conversations to continue for another few moments before finally stepping forward, causing the murmurs throughout the common hall to gradually fade as attention shifted towards him.

"So, as all of you already know, Black Week begins in exactly one week’s time," Cedric began, as the remaining conversations quickly fell silent. "However, for our juniors who have never experienced one before, let me first explain exactly what those seven days are going to look like inside the Academy."

"Black Week begins with the opening bell next Monday and ends exactly one week later.

During those seven days, regular classes are suspended, and more importantly, many of the Academy rules governing conflict between students are temporarily lifted.

"You do not need to challenge someone to a duel before attacking them.

You can ambush people, surround them with twenty of your friends, attack someone while they are eating, capture them while they are sleeping, or break into another House’s territory to steal their possessions.

If you enter a Black Week expecting honor, there is no greater fool than you, because if given a chance, all two hundred of your opponent house’s members will gang up on you, just to crush your spirits if they can spare the time."

A mixture of laughter and murmuring spread throughout the common hall, although the First Years were noticeably quieter than the Second Years who had already experienced exactly how chaotic those seven days could become.

"Naturally, there are still limits," Cedric continued. "Killing another student is prohibited. Deliberately inflicting permanent injuries is prohibited. Poisoning, sexual violence, attacking uninvolved Academy personnel and intentionally destroying irreplaceable Academy property are prohibited as well.

Beyond those restrictions, however, you should assume that anyone outside House Argent is potentially your enemy, anything you possess can be stolen, and anywhere you consider safe can be infiltrated.

"Now, all of this violence exists for a reason, because Black Week is one of the largest opportunities throughout the academic year for the House standings to change.

On an average, a house either gains or loses about 2000 merit points during Black Week, and that’s exactly what we are targeting this year.

To win this year’s championship, House Argent must end Black Week at a net positive of 2000 points."

Cedric declared, as the seniors clapped and cheered at those words.

"To earn merit points during Black Week there are many official routes.

However, the most efficient way is to control territory...."

Cedric explained as Gwen unfolded a map of the academy behind him, with all the areas which yielded merit points being clearly highlighted.

"During Black Week, the Academy grounds will be divided into dozens of designated zones, with each zone generating Merit Points for whichever house manages to seize it.

As you can see on the map, some locations are significantly more valuable than others.

Major bridges, training arenas, important walkways, crafting facilities and other strategically useful locations can generate substantial amounts every hour, while an isolated structure somewhere near the outskirts might provide very little.

"However, little does not mean worthless. A location producing only a handful of points every hour can still generate hundreds if you control it long enough, and when four Houses are competing across seven uninterrupted days, those smaller advantages accumulate very quickly."

Cedric explained as Riven’s eyes sharpened when he looked at the map.

This was exactly like controlling a territory, and he could see how participating in a contest like this could help groom a future ruler.

"Once I’m done explaining the rules, I will explain to you the areas House Argent is targeting this year.

However, first, what you need to understand is that taking a zone is only the beginning.

The difficult part is to hold it afterward.

Say for example, if House Argent captures the Spell Training Arena on Monday morning and Aureate takes it from us two hours later, then we receive the points generated during those two hours and they receive everything generated afterward until somebody takes it from them.

"There are no protected hours either. Black Week continues throughout the day and night. If you capture six valuable positions before going to sleep and leave nobody capable of defending them, don’t be surprised when you wake up and discover that you own none of them anymore."

Several of the First Years exchanged glances at that, as the implications of seven continuous days of competition became increasingly apparent.

Riven could already imagine how quickly several hundred students disappeared once they were divided between attacking, defending, scouting and simply finding enough time to sleep.

"Territory, however, is only one method of influencing the standings," Cedric explained. "The second, and arguably more important one, is prisoners.

"During Black Week, you are permitted to capture students belonging to enemy Houses.

Once properly captured and delivered to one of our designated holding areas, that student becomes a prisoner of House Argent, and there are only a few ways their House can get them back.

"The simplest is an exchange. If Aureate holds five of ours and we hold five of theirs, both Houses can negotiate a trade and recover their manpower without sacrificing Merit Points.

"If you have nobody worth exchanging, however, you pay."

The atmosphere inside the common hall became noticeably quieter.

"Every student has a ransom value determined under Academy regulations. If another House captures you and we want you returned immediately, those Merit Points come directly from House Argent. Consequently, getting yourself captured doesn’t merely remove you from the battlefield. It can directly damage our position in the House Championship.

"And before any of you assume that we are obligated to pay for you, understand something very clearly. We are not."

That drew considerably more attention than anything Cedric had said before.

"If you get captured on the first day and your ransom is greater than the value we believe you can provide during the remaining six days, House Argent may decide that bringing you back is a poor investment. Your captors are permitted to hold you for the remainder of Black Week, and if they choose to continue exercising their rights afterward, Academy regulations allow a captured student to remain imprisoned for up to one month."

Circuit’s expression immediately changed.

Riven glanced towards him, finding his friend sitting considerably straighter than before as Cedric continued explaining exactly what that meant.

"You will miss classes. You will miss training. You may miss assessments. Your professors are under no obligation to reteach material because you spent three weeks sitting inside House Aureate’s prison, and if your performance subsequently declines enough to affect House Argent’s academic standing, then your capture can cost us even more Merit Points long after Black Week has ended.

"That is why prisoners are valuable. Capturing an enemy removes manpower, creates leverage for exchanges and potentially forces the opposing House to surrender Merit Points to recover their people. A successful House does not simply defeat its enemies. It makes those defeats expensive."

That particular statement seemed to resonate throughout the common hall.

Until now, Riven had imagined Black Week primarily as seven days during which the Academy permitted students to fight relatively freely, although the picture Cedric was painting was considerably more complicated.

Beating someone unconscious accomplished very little if they simply recovered and returned several hours later.

Dragging them back as a prisoner could remove them for days.

"Then we come to resources," Cedric continued. "During ordinary Academy life, stealing from another student or deliberately destroying their belongings can earn you punishment. During Black Week, those protections are substantially reduced.

"If you enter an enemy House compound and discover training resources, take them. If you find their food stores, steal them or destroy what you cannot carry. If you discover medical supplies, bring them back here. If you manage to enter somebody’s dormitory and decide that burning their study notes provides House Argent with an advantage, then I sincerely hope they memorized them beforehand.

"Your opponents can do exactly the same to us.

"That means defending House Argent itself is every bit as important as controlling territory elsewhere. You can capture half the Academy during the afternoon and still return home to discover that somebody infiltrated our compound, emptied our resource stores and sabotaged everything they couldn’t steal.

"Black Week rewards aggression, but it punishes stupidity considerably faster."

A few Second Years laughed at that, with several appearing to remember mistakes made during previous competitions.

"The competition also contains three Academy-controlled treasures," Cedric continued. "Each treasure is worth one thousand Merit Points."

That number immediately sent a wave of murmuring through the First Years.

Three thousand Merit Points was an enormous amount, especially when Cedric had just revealed that House Argent was targeting a net gain of only two thousand across the entire Black Week.

"The locations of those treasures are not announced beforehand, and neither are the conditions required to obtain them. The Academy changes the method every Black Week, so don’t waste your time asking the Second Years how they found them last semester. Their experience may help them recognize the sort of games the Academy likes to play, but whatever challenges await us next week will be different.

"Finding even one can produce a massive shift in the standings. Finding all three can completely change the outcome of Black Week.

"So understand what you’re walking into next Monday. From the moment Black Week begins, you may find yourselves fighting day and night to defend our territory, raiding enemy positions, guarding prisoners, protecting supplies or negotiating their release.

Do not assume your individual strength determines whether you are useful. A powerful fighter who gets captured within the first hour can become a liability, while someone considerably weaker can earn this House hundreds of Merit Points simply by performing the role assigned to them properly.

That is why we have spent the past several weeks preparing you."

Cedric’s final words left the common hall silent for several seconds, although the mood had changed considerably from the casual excitement that had filled it when the meeting began.

The First Years finally understood why their seniors had been looking forward to Black Week so much.

For one entire week, the four Houses were going to war.