Team 0 returned to the local AA soon after, deciding that since they were done fighting, it would be a good idea to get the hell out of dodge before they got attacked by the stronger herds in the dungeon.
They weren’t particularly afraid of the consequences, having finally reached their goal, but exhausted as they were after weeks of daily grinding, it was better to avoid taking unnecessary risks.
Miss Walker had appeared to them as soon as they were out of the dungeon’s limits, clapping her hands in delight at their accomplishment and leading them back to their temporary accommodations. She had seemingly been waiting for this moment for a while.
“Not only have you guys surpassed the expectations put on the Dawn Initiative at the beginning, but you blew my own predictions out of the water! I can honestly say that outside of the early days, when there was nothing to do if not fight constantly, I have never seen rookies like you achieve a rank-up in so little time.” Their teacher proudly announced.
Maria smiled, raising a fist in victory from where she was lying sprawled on the couch “I can’t say that it’s been a walk in the park, but it wasn’t even absurdly difficult, if you don’t consider the few times we almost died… Well, actually, it might have been that difficult.”
They all had a laugh at that. It was true, after all. They had to go through many, many dangerous situations to get to where they were now, several of which they shouldn’t have survived, by all rights.
Just the spider dungeon alone should have been our tomb. If it hadn’t been for Pride… Well, we wouldn’t be here today.
“Now, before you assign your spoils and truly enter the next rank.” Miss Walker said, interrupting the festive mood “I think we need to talk about strategy for the coming operations. I know you guys are very proud of your achievement, but you should consider that the AA is still a leaky mess. We can reasonably expect this information to get to most major Guilds within a few hours and to minor ones like the Radiant in a day or two. You should also remember that while G-rank is a big step up from H-rank, you will also be dealing with E-ranks. That means people that went through their second Awakening. The less you face them directly, the more likely your plan is to succeed.”
Daniel grunted in understanding “So you think we shouldn’t take the test or even announce our accomplishment until after the operation with the Radiant Guild.”
Miss Walker eye-smiled “I can’t possibly have meant that.” She said in an exaggeratedly fake tone “As a good Agent of the AA, I can only recommend you take the test as soon as possible and inform the correct authorities of your accomplishments.” Then, she added in a more serious tone “It’d be a good idea to use every advantage you have at your disposal. Despite the Radiant Guild being a smaller organization now that its backer is gone, you are still far too weak to take it head on. You must remember that your mission is to lead them to ruin, not fight them all.”
Before any of them could get a word in edgewise, she stood up, shadows pooling at their feet. “I need to get back now to ensure I have plausible deniability. If I don’t see you cross the threshold with my eyes and you don’t tell me, I won’t be able to report it. Just remember what your role is supposed to be.”
That said, she was swallowed by the darkness, disappearing as if she had never been there.
They all looked at each other briefly before Lauren’s chuckle broke the silence. “You can never tell what that woman is going to say.”
“Yes, but she’s also right. We know for a fact that the Radiant Guild has several people in its employ who far surpass us, even after all we have done here. We need to keep in mind the plan. Bait them into acting illegally, maybe have them admit to a few crimes, and possibly get their boss involved so that Miss Walker can swoop in and save the day.” Daniel added, rubbing his stubbled chin.
James nodded, despite how much he would have liked the more direct approach. “I know I’m the one with the most grievances, but the rational part of me knows that a straight-up fight isn't our best option here. We have to be smart to take them down. That means we’ve got to act like the weaker prey they think we are, while always one step ahead.”
Maria leaned forward, eyes blazing with excitement at the thought of participating in such an important operation. “We've been gone for weeks. They will expect us to be a bit stronger, but if nothing gets reported by Miss Walker, they won’t expect us to have gained this much power or skill in such a short amount of time. We should be able to use that to our advantage.”
The room descended into a planning phase, each member of Team Zero brainstorming, connecting ideas, and exploring every potential avenue for executing their subversive strategy. They discussed various schemes, from leaking feigned weakness and vulnerability to constructing scenarios where the Radiant Guild would be tempted to attack them wholesale, taking advantage of the volatile nature of some of their members.
Daniel scribbled down a few points on a piece of paper, constructing a crude map of potential confrontation points within Brooklyn. “We need to guide them to a place where they feel they have the upper hand, yet everything is actually under our control. But to do that, we first need to get their attention. We’ll probably have to walk around their territory long enough to ruffle their feathers, maybe even be overheard talking shit.”
The discussion veered into the lay of the land, determining which locations would be optimal for their deceptive strategies. Maria suggested several locations where fire wouldn’t cause irreversible damage - such as the waterfront - but could still be utilized as an effective tool. Lauren noted a few shadowy alleys and abandoned buildings where her stealth could play a pivotal role, wanting to assault an entire team and spook them.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
In the end, after a couple of hours of strategizing, they reached an agreement. The plan had several moving parts, and they had left some space for maneuvering on the fly, should things happen, but the core of it seemed solid to all of them.
Lauren leaned back, flipping one of her knives skillfully between her fingers. “Now, it’s just a matter of executing it flawlessly. We lure them in, enrage them enough to lose sight of what they are doing, possibly by preying on their weakened state now that the Golden Sun is gone, and we should have a strong enough response to warrant Miss Walker’s intervention.”
“Alright, I think we can be happy with what we have now. Let’s sleep on this and see if something new pops up, but otherwise, I think we can go ahead and finally cross into G-rank fully.” James said, excitement rising up.
Status.
STATUS
WINDOW
NAME
James Summers
AGE
19
AWAKENING
1st
TALENT
Thakinesis
TITLE
LEVEL
51
MP
231/255
STR
33
VIT
18
AGI
19
SENSE
33
MIND
19
STAT POINTS
0
The sheer difference in power between now and a couple of weeks ago, before he had set foot in the Saratoga dungeon, still left James stunned.
Yes, he realized that his punches were more powerful since it took only a couple of direct hits now to kill a Mineral Horse, whereas at the beginning, it had taken him four or five.
His eyesight was better than ever, allowing him to see even in almost complete darkness. He could taste and smell things more accurately than before, and his love for food had only redoubled since new flavors had opened up to him with the increase in SENSE.
But seeing the numbers in the floating blue screen somehow made it all more real. He had surpassed the first true roadblock in his career as an Awakener.
Getting G-rank was not of the same importance as F-rank, as that would mean Awakening again, but it still signified the largest drop off in numbers.
Yes, most professional Awakeners reached F and E-rank before stagnating after a few years of hard work, but the vast majority of the people who received the System never went beyond their first couple of dungeon runs, too scared of the possibility of dying.
G-rank was the watershed between those who completely squandered the chance they had been given and those who decided to do something with it.
Skills.
SKILLS
LEVEL
DESCRIPTION
Thakinetic Empowerment
8
(Active): Utilize your Willpower to temporarily raise STR - VIT - AGI.
Thakinetic Awareness
6
(Active/Passive): Expand your SENSE to feel other’s wills.
Thakinetic Resistance
8
(Active/Passive): Empower your MIND to defend yourself against foreign influences.
The past couple of weeks had been hard for more reasons than simply having to fight against strong monsters. The possibility of death always loomed like a shadow, but James had long since gotten used to it.
No, what had really pushed him and his skills so much was the intensity of the battles and having to constantly throw himself into new ones, day after day, without a moment of rest.
The whole way his Thakinesis worked, after all, was that it originated from his willpower, actualizing through his mana into skills. Which meant that the more he was stressed and still pushed through it, the more it would grow alongside him.
Having his limbs broken by powerful monsters, only to be healed and have to go back into the fray, on pain of seeing his friends get hurt because of his absence, had pushed Thakinetic Resistance, alongside the constant alertness he had needed to maintain.
That had helped with Awareness as well. Scouring through the poisonous fogs of the dungeon in search of new enemies, having his companions all depend on his skills… they had all contributed. Just like a piece of steel being forged, his mind and soul had been pushed to the limits, only to come out stronger than before.
All that effort had ended up granting him one singular point in MIND. Weeks of struggles as he pushed himself to his limits, strategizing and adapting on the fly. It was all worth one point.
There was a reason why Miss Walker had told them that it just wasn’t worth it to train their bodies to gain stats, after all. It was an extremely inefficient use of time.
Still, Mr. Bethany had explained how it would be worth pushing themselves to gain better mastery over their abilities.
We’ll have to do that once we finish the Radiant Guild. Really get acquainted with our new powers. But for now, this should be more than enough.
Their plan didn’t require them to face the stronger members directly after all, so getting to G-rank, alongside all the high quality equipment the AA supplied, should be enough.
Slowly, they all rose from the comfortable couches, filing out of the rec room and giving their goodbyes to the local staff, who saluted them with a mix of relief that the outsiders were finally leaving and sadness that their vacation was over.
They had gotten much more out of the training trip than they had originally expected. Since team 0 had pushed so hard to reach the next rank, they had also gone through many more herds than expected, netting everyone a nice sum.
James gave one last smile to the madly waving group of Awakeners and got into Mr. Robinson’s van, ready to take on everything that would come his way.
Radiant Guild, Callum Wright… I’m coming for you.