Chapter 47 – Chaos

Quiet! Come on, shut up. We’ve got a lot to get through, and panicking isn’t very befitting of a Trainee Hero, is it? You’re here to become Heroes. If you’re disillusioned about why you’re here, then you needed to hear this now rather than later. Quest Academy is designed to train Heroes, and we’re on an ever-evolving landscape where demons are getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Were any of you aware that there was a dungeon raid last month, with a commander variant that was hell-bent on destroying the academy?

Chatfield stared at the students with an unflinching gaze. It was clear to Sal that he was frustrated with the reactions of the crowd and had slid into his “fuck around and find out” attitude. Sal felt uneasy with the topic being brought up in front of everyone, mostly because he had no idea where Chatfield was going with it. He hoped it wasn’t to paint the current faculty in a poor light. Sal also hoped that Chatfield wouldn’t make any remarks about the Mythcrafter or Skill Master abilities.

Who protected you? Heroes…but not the ones you’d expect. They were aspiring Heroes, like you. If you look among yourselves, you’ll see some of the people who were pivotal in that fight. Students who stepped up in a time of need and showed their true colors. Would you be able to do the same?

The uncomfortable feeling in the crowd was palpable, and Sal’s anxiety spiked at the direction this was taking. He didn’t want to be singled out with the others in front of the other cohorts. Divinity looked around from her seat and shot Sal a smile, which he had trouble returning. Another set of eyes in the crowd looked at him, but there was no smile on Erika Clifton’s face. Chatfield’s words had cemented the reason Divinity took the top place in the rankings rather than Erika. Her expression seemed to confirm that she finally understood why.

If your answer is yes, then you’ll step up and flourish with this training. If the answer is no, then you need this training more than ever. Fighting one another in tournaments isn’t going to mean anything when a prowler jumps at your throat from the shadows. Field training won’t help you outrun that prowler, and Survival won’t help you get to an evacuation zone. We need to combine these fundamental skills that belong in the same category. From today onward, your Combat, Field, and Survival classes will be renamed as the single module, War Zone. You will be graded on your efficiency in those three components, but it will all be under the same module. You need to be able to fight, run, and survive. Having one or two of those won’t be sufficient in a time of crisis, as you’ll need all three if you want to protect those you care about.

Chatfield was taking no prisoners with his approach to the speech. Students who were unlucky enough to make eye contact with him ended up squirming uncomfortably in their seats or averting their gaze. A few of the students looked energized and inspired, but the vast majority had started to count down the days until their expulsion.

Sal had a lot more in common with the latter group, as he’d felt the exact same way up until he had been pushed into that dungeon with Upgrade and Chatfield. It had chipped away at his fears, but a single instance wasn’t enough to overturn a lifetime of fearing them. That and the fact that he had only hit leechers of varying strengths. None of that was comparable to a prowler.

Sal saw that Divinity was paying close attention to Chatfield. It was probably one of her first times seeing him, rather than just hearing about him. It was true that he wasn’t much to look at in person, but there was a terrifying competence to the man. Even though Sal hadn’t seen him in action, Upgrade had spoken highly of his accomplishments. To have earned her respect in such a way, it was a no-brainer that he was strong.

You’ve already started to run the gauntlet with Lars? That will continue, but rather than having week-old husks of a hulker, you’re going to have simulated enemies attacking you. You’ll navigate the battlefield in teams and learn how to work together to avoid being dispatched by the enemy. We’re going to take you to freshly reclaimed territory, and you’ll put your skills to the test there. No more training rooms, because you don’t train your perception in the comforts of the academy. The Hunter Bureau will be dispatching Heroes to guide you through the exercise, and you’ll learn a lot more when you have an instructor per team.

Weapons selection will start today. In your recent tournament, only thirty-two of you had equipped weapons. Just over three percent of you went into those encounters with a weapon. Your survivability increases drastically if you’re well-equipped, so it’s paramount that you learn how to operate one. I don’t want to hear one word from people who think they don’t need one, as I can assure you, you do. There are demons out there that can nullify your abilities, and then there’s the much more common occurrence of the dregs, where you collapse from essence exhaustion. Having a weapon will enhance your versatility and reduce your reliance on essence-based abilities. Remember, previous generations fought without essence, and so can you.

Barry looked at Sal with a dazed expression. “You’re working with this guy? I do not envy you that. Do you ever get a word in, or does he just monologue at you?”

Sal laughed and shook his head. “I think he’s this way because he cares. I thought he was an asshole when I first met him, but I started to understand that he just wants us all to survive. It won’t be comfortable, but he knows what he’s doing.” Sal thought for a moment before adding a slight caveat. “I think.”

Sal heard a muffled shout from the front of the crowd. He couldn’t hear exactly what was said, but Chatfield paused in his speech to zone in on the person. He listened for a few moments before shaking his head. Another voice from a different area called out, and Chatfield gave them a bewildered look.

This isn’t a question-and-answer. I’m telling you what’s going to happen. This isn’t a debate where you can change things to benefit you. I don’t care who your family is, or what you think is the optimal way to live your life. If you want to be a Hero and you’re enrolled at Quest Academy, this is how things are going to be from here on out. I’m not here to pander to your whims or tell you that you’re doing a great job. I’ve watched every single battle from your tournament, and out of the thousand of you that participated, there are less than ten people I’d personally train. Quest seems to think that he can find thirty of you to become Saviors, but right now, I think those ranks would end up scraping the barrel of mediocrity.

Is that me condemning you to failure from the start? No. You’re not trained properly, which is what we’re going to fix. Each and every one of you has the potential to stand on the same level as the top Heroes this city has to offer. I’m not talking about flashy abilities or those with destructive power. I walked into a dungeon a few days ago with a Crafter who had never even seen a demon. With a few pieces of equipment and some encouragement, they cleared the dungeon by themselves. That person is a first-year with incredibly low combat capability. They weren’t in my top ten from the tournament, yet they stepped up and challenged themselves. Did they doubt they could do it? Absolutely. Did they manage it? Absolutely.

Sal wanted the ground to swallow him up and waited for the inevitable jibe from Barry. But when it didn’t come, he looked to his friend in confusion.

Barry just stared at Sal in shock. “You took on a full dungeon by yourself?”

Sal nodded and gestured for Barry to keep it down.

Barry frowned as he tilted his head slightly. “Why are you afraid of people knowing it’s you? You achieved it—why aren’t you screaming it from the rooftops?”

Sal laughed and shook his head. He didn’t want to boast or brag about something that was so incredibly terrifying, and he wasn’t scared to admit that. “I’m pretty sure I nearly shat myself in that dungeon. It was a lot of luck and good equipment, that’s all.”

Barry wasn’t letting it go. “So, you’ve created equipment that can get Crafters through a dungeon? Isn’t that a pretty huge deal?”

Sal couldn’t find the words to refute Barry and kept quiet.

Chatfield had stopped talking about him and had moved onto the team selections.

Recruitment is going to be interesting for all of you. There won’t be any unfair rules this time about the top ranked picking last, or the bottom ranks picking first. We want team compositions that you’ve created yourselves. You’ll be assessed based on the expectations of your ranks and teams. If you select people who have a high rank, then we will understandably expect more from them. That is also true for the inverse. I will say that this is not an opportunity to create a strategy around rankings, as the composition of your team and their capability will enhance a much more important stat: survivability.

You’re going to enter a tower with this team, and you’ll fight alongside them. You need cohesion and complementary skills. Those of you who elect yourselves as team captains will need to incentivize your prospective teammates. Why should they join you? That’s the question you’ll need to answer. It may feel like an unfair condition, but the best teams are those that are created organically and consensually. You’ll find it hard resenting a team that you created yourself versus one that was created for you. As I mentioned, the Hunter Bureau will be overseeing the tower raid and there will be designated Heroes in place to watch over your progress. They will be grading your performance and timing you throughout.

So, that is the end of this assembly. What are your next steps? Weapon selection is first. You have two days to try out the weapons in our armory. Training rooms will have targets for you to practice on. During the two days that you’re selecting your weapons, I’ll be working with the Hunter Bureau to get the Reclaimed Zone ready for your first excursion. You have three days after weapon selection to create your teams, which brings us to the weekend.

Enjoy that time dearly, because this time next week, you’ll be starting your first excursion. It will start with five days for you to acclimatize yourself to the landscape, and will take place out in the Reclaimed Zone. Lecturers and Heroes will be there with us, and you’ll be doing classes out in the field. We need to get you up to speed as soon as possible. This excursion will benefit you greatly before you challenge the tower.

Barry sighed as he gave Sal a sideways glance. “I think it’s time we learned about people in the other cohorts. Don’t suppose I can nab your girlfriend as a Defense class?”

Sal shrugged with a faint smile on his face. “I’m not even sure she’s still my girlfriend. It was a pretty explosive argument the last time we spoke properly.”

Barry snorted. “She was brainwashed. You should have a chat with her, and clear things up. Put in a good word for me if she doesn’t want to be on your team. Okay?” His face broke into a wide grin, and Sal couldn’t help but laugh at the stupidity of it all.

“Who can you give me in exchange? Not really a fair trade if I get nothing back.”

Barry pretended to think about it for a moment before he clicked his fingers. “I can put in a good word with Erika at the next Doom Society meeting?”

Sal stared at Barry as though he had two heads. “You’re actually insane.”