Chapter 72 – Recap

Sal saw the shock on the Hero’s face as the ice enveloped their torso. It was enough to put them on their back, but nowhere near enough to defeat them. But, whatever metric the Heroes were using for this fight, it was apparently enough for him to lay on his back with a grin. Rather than paying him any more attention, Sal whipped around and cast his gaze across the campsite.

Ioseph was on one knee and looked somewhat dazed. Beside him on the ground was a crumpled figure in black. Sal tried to do a quick headcount to see how many of their opponents were left, but it was difficult to know which ones were under Erika’s control as they were still marked in red. There were four on the ground in the campsite, with one on the ground outside the broken barrier. The person who had disappeared had yet to resurface, which kept Sal on edge as he looked around. Erika was at the edge of the trees as she maintained her line of sight, but Rochelle and Brophy were deeper in the woods.

When Sal’s visor checked the surroundings, he knew that there were still five assailants remaining. Three of whom were presumably under Erika’s command. That left a single individual in the woods, and one person who had disappeared. With it being an ambush, Sal was sure that it was going to be a stealth attack when they least expected it.

His tracker was supposed to be able to pierce through all layers of defense to identify targets, so why was it failing him now? He thought through his actions up to that point and suddenly remembered Barry’s message from a few days ago. One of his team had managed to dig out a den for their campsite. Could their hidden assailant be in the form of an animal?

Sal recalled that he had set his tracker to search for humanoid targets. When he switched it to look for any living organism, he was bombarded with lights from all the black trees containing essence. Instead of canceling it outright, Sal persevered with gritted teeth and searched through the blinding lights for any sort of anomaly. He couldn’t see anything of note in the forest in front of him, but when he turned to check behind him, he faltered at the sight of their tent.

Scarlet screen was reportedly able to see statistical information through twenty barriers with ease, so a layer of tarp was nothing. Sal locked his gaze onto an ethereal mass of smoke that clung to the ceiling in the center of their tent. It was infused with essence and was likely an Assassination skill. The Lock ability activated under his suggestion, and he cursed himself for not thinking of using it earlier.

The heat of the moment had made him reactive instead of proactive, and he hadn’t even used the abilities available to him. Sal couldn’t figure out the next steps. If he was to shoot inside the tent, it would essentially destroy their belongings and supplies. If he tried to lure it out, then it would remove the element of surprise that he currently had. With a shaky breath, Sal activated the Deduction ability of his visor and processed the information that was available to him. With Perception and Insight working in harmony with Deduction, the path to success pieced itself together as though it were common sense.

There was no way that he should be prioritizing their valuables in an ambush situation, but there was an alternative method to deal with the problem without causing too much issue. Because the individual was currently in a gaseous form, it would make sense to attack that vulnerability with his ice shot. Rather than opening the flap of the tent and announcing his presence, he could get Ioseph to deactivate one of the barriers between the rocks, to get a clear shot from the outside. His thoughts of climbing to the top of the roof were denied by the visor, as it would alert the Hero.

He rushed to Ioseph to give him the instructions. The dazed Defense was a bit shaken from his fight but nodded before reactivating the wards on the ground beside him. He got into place and gave Sal a thumbs-up.

“Remember, twenty seconds,” Sal whispered to him before darting out of the side of the camp and circling around the trees so he could get a clear shot of the barriers between the rock fingers.

It took him about ten seconds to get into position and another five to calm his aim. He had his target locked and the range was about thirty-five feet away, at an upward trajectory. The barrier looked like a shimmering pane of glass, and he had his sights trained on the ethereal form within. As the seconds ticked away, Sal held his breath and tightened his grip on the trigger.

The pane suddenly vanished and Sal pulled the trigger, watching as the shard of ice flew dramatically toward its target. Sal’s eyes widened when the bolt of ice exploded prematurely, as though it had hit an invisible barrier in front of the campsite. He stared in horror as his target materialized on the other side of the barrier in a defensive crouch, looking directly at Sal.

“That’s enough. You were compromised.” Prestige’s voice sounded out from behind Sal, causing him to jump in fright.

The black figure launched forward, to appear a few feet from Sal. He couldn’t make out any of their appearance other than the fact that it was a woman. Sal kept his weapon raised, but Prestige’s white glove pressed down on the barrel and forced him to lower it.

“How was I compromised?” Sal asked as he looked around at Prestige.

He hadn’t noticed her and didn’t think she’d be taking part in the ambush. Even if it was a test environment, having the number eight in the Hunter Bureau as an opponent was unfair.

Prestige shook her head as she gestured with the base of her cane to the woman dressed in black. “Not you, Mr. Argento. Her.”

The black figure shook her head and laughed. “Are you kidding me? None of them noticed me slip into their tent. Just because one of them caught sight of me, I’ve been compromised?”

Prestige raised her gloved hand and clicked her fingers, causing a shard of ice to form above her thumb.

“Mr. Argento noticed you in the tent, removed the barrier, and attempted to shoot you with one of these while you were in your ethereal form.” With a wave of her hand, the ice shard dissipated. “I shouldn’t need to tell you how lethal that would have been.”

The black figure turned to Prestige before nodding in understanding. “Thank you for saving my life. I have indeed been compromised, and will take greater care going forward.” Her head turned then to Sal. “Well done on creating a lethal countermeasure in such an environment.”

Prestige made an amused sound as the black figure crumpled to the ground as though they had been bested in battle. When she turned to Sal, she smiled. “My sentiments exactly. Now, shall we see how your team fared?”

Other than a few shattered barriers, the campsite had managed to survive the attack quite well. There had been no casualties from their team, with the only injuries being picked up by Ioseph. Each of them stood to one side, with Prestige standing in front of them. Behind her were the ten figures dressed entirely in black. Brophy had managed to dispatch the remainder of them in the forest. Erika’s face held a wide smile as she looked at their results.

It was an overwhelming victory for their team, and Sal guessed that Erika was beyond elated by their performance. He didn’t share her sentiment as their teamwork was a joke, but the results looked one-sided from where he stood. If the mantra of their excursion was adaptability, they had certainly delivered on that promise.

Brophy’s expression was somewhat conflicted, but Sal sensed that he had enjoyed himself. Rochelle was still panting as though she were out of breath, even though they had been safe in the camp for close to ten minutes. Ioseph was seated with his back to their tent. His eyes were locked on a particular man in the crowd. Sal didn’t have to use his imagination to guess why that was, judging from the bruises on Ioseph’s face and neck.

“Now, before we get into the grading element of all this, I’d like to congratulate you,” Prestige said with a clap.

All ten of the Heroes clapped exactly five times in unison, which made the whole experience feel very weird.

“You showed great promise in your strategic use of your surroundings. You coordinated well in the lead-up to the conflict and utilized your synergies. Those were the positives from your assessment as a team.”

Erika’s smile faltered at that, and she turned to give Brophy a look of disbelief, but it wasn’t reciprocated. Brophy looked resigned to whatever was coming.

Prestige laughed as she shook her head. “It would be too unkind to start picking apart your mistakes, so I’ll give you a few more pieces of praise.” She gestured to where Rochelle looked like a rabbit that had been caught in a hunt. “Your Healer moved with your Offense into the battlefield, rather than choosing the safety of sticking with the Defense. It was a good judgment call and deserves some praise.”

Despite Prestige’s words, it didn’t sound like she was genuinely complimenting Rochelle’s actions.

Rochelle bowed her head.

“Ah, it would seem that you’ve realized the problem.” Prestige smiled as she gestured to the seated Ioseph. “Your Defense was so busy trying to correct his minefield that he completely disregarded the safety of the team. Rochelle, I must commend you on making the correct judgment call. But it’s such a shame that you had to make that judgment yourself…” Prestige’s gaze swept over to where Erika stood. “Since your Controller was too preoccupied with using her own powers to keep an eye on you all.”

Lifting her cane from the ground, Prestige walked over to stand in front of Brophy. “While there is merit in a good offensive strategy, you endangered your Healer recklessly by charging straight in. Without defensive capabilities, you are both vulnerable as a unit. Taking your prowess aside, can you ensure the safety of your Healer when you’re fixated on an enemy in front of you?” She looked at Brophy meaningfully and waited for an answer.

“No, Prestige. I cannot ensure the safety of the Healer as an Offense class.” Brophy’s voice was matter-of-fact, and he had the grace to bow his head in shame.

Prestige nodded as she glanced over at Ioseph. “You had a remarkable strategy that ultimately failed. You did not adapt to the flow of battle as it changed, and you were an anchor to your team. By dwelling on your failures, you inadvertently limited the combat power of your team. Reflect on this, and work on being the Defense of the team. The strategy should ultimately lie with your Controller, but I understand why you might feel the need to take that responsibility into your own hands.”

She gave Erika a meaningful look.

Ioseph stood and bowed his head to Prestige. “I apologize for my mistakes, and I’ll work harder to fulfill my role.”

Prestige tilted her head. “That will remain to be seen, Mr. Bitterwater. I better not see that etcher in your hand for the next week. Polishing your skills is one thing, but covering your weaknesses is another. Learn from this.”

Sal watched as Prestige made her way to stand in front of him. Her gaze was still that same discerning look but he forced himself to meet it. If he was to reflect on his own capability in the fight, he knew that he would end up losing points for leaving the camp to take out the assassin. He also likely overstepped by shooting at the Heroes in the forest instead of keeping an eye on Ioseph. If he had been more careful, or had spoken up, maybe they wouldn’t have scattered.

“Mr. Argento. You managed to identify all incoming threats and informed your team. You coordinated the strategic attack using battle-wards, and you effectively dispatched four of your assailants with ranged attacks by moving around the battlefield. You also thwarted a hidden stealth attack with ingenuity. Well done. It was an excellent display of a Support class.”

Prestige gave him a nod of approval before stepping away to look at the members dressed in black.

Sal was speechless. Had she been watching the same fight?

“Now, we will ask your assailants for their verdict,” Prestige advised as she stood behind the masked Heroes. “How did my team perform in this ambush?”

Only one of them stepped forward and turned to face Prestige.

“Assessing the camp, we became aware of the battle-wards that protected the area. It took us a long time to navigate the surroundings in the darkness, which was a well-executed strategy from your team. The barriers were also a great deterrent, as only three of our group were able to clear it with ease. None of them reacted to taunting or our fear tactics, nor did they fall for the sneak attacks from behind or within. The layout of their camp is effective and their lines of sight were excellent.” He paused for a moment before continuing.

“The team composition is weak, with little to no instruction being issued between members. There was a high adaptability and a lot of individualism on display, but there was no cohesion or teamwork. After taking a vote, we have concluded that the Controller class and Defense class failed most in their duties, with the Offense class getting a passing grade for sheer competency in battle. Our verdict on the Healer class was that she performed above expectations, with marks docked for the injuries sustained to the Defense class. Support class was by far the most impressive during this encounter, showcasing a great level of adaptability to each situation, especially against our internal attack.”

Prestige clapped, and the black figure rejoined his group.

“Well, there you have it. Week one has come to a close, and you’ve successfully repelled your first wave of attack. Let’s see how you perform against them next week.” Her smile was sickeningly sweet, as though she relished the looks of shock on each of their faces. “It will be the same team of Heroes, but we’ll be allowing them to showcase a little more of their power. As you’ve heard Brophy say, the theme of this entire excursion is adaptability. What better way to train you, than to pit you against attackers who can learn your habits?”

Sal could only stare at the group in shock and could sense that the ethereal woman stared right back at him.

Prestige grinned. “I hope you’ll show me even better results next week.”