The morning light filtered softly through the barracks' windows, rousing James from a restless sleep. The new surroundings, spartan and unfamiliar, were a harsh reminder of the grueling day that lay ahead. As he gathered his gear and made his way out of the room he shared with Daniel and Ezekiel, he nodded to his teammates, getting equally sleepy greetings.
Finding the mess hall was easy enough, thanks to a quick sweep of the surroundings with Thakinetic Awareness, which revealed where the bulk of the trainees were. The breakfast fare was simple but filling, and considering the promise of complete devastation their new teacher had made, James could only be grateful nothing too complex and hard to digest had been served.
No one bothered them this time. All the other trainees seemed too busy shoveling as much food in their mouths as possible, which made James wonder if they wouldn't have other opportunities to eat during the day or if they really expended that much energy.
Then his mind recalled what little training he had seen the previous day, and he decided that another helping of cheesy scrambled eggs and toast couldn't hurt.
Finally, they left, trudging to where they had been instructed to present themselves. The door with the number they had been given was still closed, but only a minute after their arrival, it slid open to reveal their new teacher.
Leonid Stein's presence dominated the hallway, pressing upon them in a way that had little to do with mana and more with the sheer force of personality. "Today, we begin." He announced without even greeting them, his voice resonating with an intensity that commanded their full attention. "You will be pushed, you will struggle, but you will grow. Your limits are only the beginning. I have agreed to take you on, so help God, you will not be my first failure."
The training room was expansive and equipped with advanced simulation technology. The walls were lined with screens and devices that Leonid gruffly explained could create highly realistic and challenging environments and scenarios.
Their first exercise, unsurprisingly, was to be a combat simulation.
The gizmos around them lit up with mana, densely packed magic circles flaring to life and producing an intense light. In only a few seconds, a dense forest sprung up from nothing, made of hard light that looked and felt like real plant matter, unless one truly took their time inspecting it. There was no smell, no humidity, which made for a weird experience since James had spent so much time in different forests these last few months.
The team was immediately on high alert, surprised by the sudden change. Leonid's voice echoed through the room. "Adaptability is key. Use your environment, understand it, and turn it to your advantage."
The simulation threw various opponents at them, each more challenging than the last. They initially faced agile monkey-like predators, armed with wickedly sharp teeth and claws, that leaped from the shadows. The second wave consisted of strategically positioned massive lizards, slow but much more challenging to injure and especially difficult to reach when they dipped below the conjured river's waterline, which required careful maneuvering and teamwork to overcome.
James initially struggled with the complete absence of any presence, his Thakinetic Awareness beyond useless against the hard light constructs.
The others, wholly used to trusting in his skill, also were momentarily blindsided by the arrival of the screeching monkeys. Still, Daniel reacted in time, bringing his shield to bear and allowing the others to hunker down behind him.
Maria set their surroundings on fire, by now much less afraid of losing control of her element, having become able to control intense blazes with ease. This also gave them a good look at the forest, which they could see was filled with screeching, rabid creatures.
James sighed, deeply annoyed at having his most useful skill no-sold like that, but started circulating his mana, ready to take down as many of the monsters as necessary to pass the test.
Ezekiel audibly gulped as he counted the monkeys, very much not looking forward to the coming fight, but visibly firmed his resolve. He quickly cast buffs on everyone and started preparing a healing spell. "I'm not sure my debuffs will work on these things." He admitted, earning a grunt from Lauren, who had taken her daggers out and was eying the monkeys like a big cat might a mouse.
Their respite was short-lived as the monkeys finished surrounding them and released a collective screech. Then, they began charging, evidently aiming to overwhelm Daniel's skill.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Before they could reach them, however, Team 0 shifted into formation. Daniel lowered his left knee to the ground, preparing to hunker down for a while with the two mages behind him. Maria took position to his right, sparks and flickers of fire bursting around her as she concentrated her power, crafting a smaller, more condensed version of the dragon she had unleashed in the last dungeon.
James and Lauren didn't wait for the monkeys to reach them and rushed them. Their movements were complementary to each other, all fluid aggression and precision.
Lauren darted around the edges, her daggers a blur as she slashed at the leaping monkeys, never allowing one to go around them. Each strike was part of a calculated dance, her superior agility evident in the way she avoided their vicious swipes and bites, only to retaliate with extreme prejudice, ending the monkeys' lives in one strike.
James charged his fists with mana, meeting the monkeys head-on. His punches landed with thunderous impacts, crushing the creatures in one blow. Without Thakinetic Awareness, he relied on his training and enhanced SENSE, anticipating their movements and countering with more difficulty than normal, but still managing. The feeling of his fists connecting with the hard light constructs was satisfying, like that of crushing bubble wrap.
The monkeys, relentless in their assault and seemingly endless, swarmed around them. But Team 0 stood united, an unbreakable wall against the tide of enemies. Maria's fire construct took shape, a fearsome dragon of flame - though less than half the size of her previous iteration, this was made of even hotter fire - that swept through the ranks of monkeys, incinerating them on contact. The heat was intense but controlled, merely warming her teammates where it destroyed the monsters.
Ezekiel nailed several of the monkeys with debuffs and was surprised to find that the hard light constructs managed to emulate the way a normal creature would act when its stats were lowered.
Soon, they had dealt with the last stragglers, the last one dissipating into flakes of light. Team 0 took a moment to recover their breaths and then proceeded forward into the simulated jungle.
Just a minute later, they arrived at a new scene. A serene river flowing through the dense foliage, the water's surface broken by two massive, lizard-like creatures. Their scales shimmered in the fake sunlight, and their eyes gleamed with predatory intelligence, only contrasted by the absolute nothingness James could feel from where he saw them.
Again, he lamented the limitations of his Talent, before shelving the thought. In real life, after all, he had yet to encounter anything that could escape his skill within his rank. It was a worthy trade-off, in the end.
"I don't think getting in the water with them is a good idea." James grimaced. The lizards looked perfectly content in waiting them out, but he would bet they were ready to unleash violence at any moment.
Daniel nodded, assessing the situation. "We'll need to draw them out."
Maria interjected, grinning. "I can try to heat the water and force them to come to us. If the simulation is realistic, they shouldn't be able to withstand that for long." The others smiled back, liking the plan.
Thus, they went into motion. Maria crafted several fireballs and gently lowered them into the water. Initially, this seemed to do nothing. But after a couple of minutes, as steam started escaping the river and bubbles became visible, the two lizards began shifting uncomfortably.
Soon after, they left their position, making a break for the riverbank. Lauren and James, using their distraction, flanked the creatures, looking for openings to strike.
Though slow on land, the lizards were powerful, their jaws easily capable of crushing bone. Daniel engaged one head-on, his shield absorbing the brunt of its tail attacks, which battered against him with great force, though they didn't budge him. Meanwhile, James and Lauren targeted the other's flanks.
As soon as it snapped its jaws towards one, the other rushed in to punish it, delivering a mighty blow. After this process was repeated three times, the massive creature released a furious hiss and tried to make a break for it, only to be stopped still by Lauren, who jumped on top of it and drove her knife into its skull.
James turned to the last foe, only to find it well in hand. Ezekiel had slowed the creature even further, allowing him to get in range. The White Mage was evidently not used to delivering the damage, but he steeled his resolve and, thanks to Maria's fireballs attracting the beast's attention, managed to repeat Lauren's feat.
As the lizard fell, it vanished into a shower of light particles, quickly joined by the surrounding forest, which disappeared, revealing the bare room they had been in.
Slow clapping made them turn to face their instructor, whose face was as still as stone. "That was pretty decent. I can see why Leila wanted you to train here. You have some good teamwork, which allows you to cover the other's weaknesses. But that can also become a crutch. We'll solve that soon, don't worry." He said ominously.
With a snap of the man's fingers, the projectors flared to life again, this time only conjuring a series of chairs for them all to sit in.
Team 0 did so after Leonid took his place and gestured for them to do the same, and waited in silence for him to speak.
He graced them with a small smile, evidently appreciating their deference. "You are here to gather the experience necessary to rank up. And we'll do that, make no mistake about it. I'll take you to some of the best dungeons of the land, where fat monsters amble about like piñatas for you to hit. But if that was all, you wouldn't be here."
He's right. Miss Walker would have brought us to those dungeons herself, if she just wanted us to powerlevel. Instead, we are here, where Officers are made. It means she has another objective in mind. Well, beyond keeping us out of New York for a while as things calm down.
"Before you rank up, you must maximize your current skills. The System is unforgiving to those who squander the power it offers. A rank up without fully developed skills is a wasted opportunity." Leonid continued, revealing the camp's true purpose.
I had wondered why they would put so much effort into building something like this. These monsters don't even give EXP, which feels like a waste, but if it still allows me to level my skills, it would be an amazing tool for someone who has reached the max level but still needs to work on their Talent.
"I need you to understand that what we do here is very serious. You have joined us because my friend Leila asked for a personal favor, but I need you to work with me. I'll take you to heights you could have never managed on your own if you do." Leonid concluded, eyes burning with passion in a display of emotion he had never shown before.
A bit moved despite himself, James grinned back. "We don't back down from any challenge. And we'll surpass your expectations, I promise."
He could feel the others despair internally at his cockiness, but that only made him grin harder.