Chapter 84: The Art Of Waiting_Echobyss: States Of Survival

Tricky kept working on her projects in the following days, but she was busier than ever after Candy asked for some help to set up defense mechanisms in the castle to keep the princess safe during her birthday or just to have protection for any future attack. It was hard to convince her, but with how determined Candy was to prepare a perfect surprise birthday for Priscilla, there wasn’t an easy way to turn her down. So, while Tricky tried to do some work on her own time, she spent very little of it in the workshop, and on top of that, she used most of her resources building and setting up her special mini turrets around the castle.

Since she worked at night, she pretty much never slept to get some work done, although she also had to help Frost get used to his blades after reworking them. He didn’t get to use them last time, but even now that he had them back, they were probably not going to work without some tweaks. While they were fully functional, and despite knowing those razor blades better than anyone, Frost needed a guide to use the new upgrade. Tricky was reluctant to teach him, but thanks to the time she took to help him, he managed to get her more free time for her projects, and he took over to work on the castle’s defense for her.

There wasn’t much left to be done, only testing a few mechanisms in the right places and keeping them hidden from everyone but the guards. And while Frost took longer to work than Tricky, Candy didn’t complain about having him around at the castle; in fact, she was overjoyed to see him more often, and it gave her more motivation to keep working on her own task. However, as much as she just wanted to hang out with him, she focused on one thing, trying to please Priscilla, which was even harder than she first thought as the princess turned out to be quite a perfectionist.

To work efficiently, Candy isolated herself from the rest of the team, not getting a chance to speak to them or get any time for herself as she had to prepare every detail and have backup plans for everything. She spent the nights at the castle, overworking herself and stressing more and more about creating the perfect birthday. First, she received a huge list of all the guests, followed by another extensive list of all the food and decoration preferences, as well as a few suggestions for outfits and a lot more ideas that turned into demands. By the time Candy was ready to begin preparing everything, Priscilla had already given her exact instructions on everything she wanted. But since she asked for so much, Candy eventually couldn’t keep doing everything by herself, and despite not wanting to trouble her teammates, she had to ask for some help.

Kiwy was the first one to gladly offer her help since she just liked to play around the field instead of training all day long like most of the team, so she didn’t have any issues going over to the castle to help Candy out. Frost trained for hours, but he deliberately woke up early to have some free time later in the day, and that’s how he managed to help both Tricky and Candy in the afternoon. Groovy and Bones were already acting as guards at the castle, so they were able to help a little, mainly with heavy lifting, but they took on the role of leading the other guards to coordinate well to ensure the castle’s safety during the birthday.

Nitro also tried to help since he was bored all day, no one paid attention to him, and he didn’t find much to do around the city. He did train a little but eventually grew more interested in hanging out with his teammates at the castle, which they did not appreciate. He got very little done, spent most of the time joking around, and almost spoiled some surprises for the princess. Luckily, Indie eventually ordered him to focus solely on training to leave the birthday preparation for the rest, with her joining them to speed up the process.

After the first day of training, Indie hung out with Agnus at the barracks for a couple of hours, discussing a wide range of topics, but then she returned to the safe house to continue her usual routine. From then on, she kept cleaning the house all day, only occasionally leaving to check up on the team’s training. But as supportive as she was, it seemed like meeting the Heartaches had changed her goals very little. Even when she started helping Candy with the birthday preparations, she kept going back to the house to clean some more, even when everyone was too busy and only went back to sleep, and sometimes not even returning at all.

So, while everyone else trained, she kept her mind busy with some mundane house chores. And unlike her, the rest of the squad had to leave the fun behind as they were left stressed and exhausted from all the intense exercise or working. The training field allowed the rookies to work out more, or at least in new and more rigorous ways than the training grounds at the base allowed them. It didn’t help that Agnus constantly kept watching them and ordering them to train more, often comparing them to the Heartaches. She was even more strict with Frost, Panda, Saint, and Nitro, although not as harsh as she was with her own teammates.

The Heartaches were really exploited physically to get the most done in the short period of break they had. They trained harder than anyone, which seemed to impress the rest of the team as they appeared to be just as strong despite their youth. Their performance also sparked some competition as the rookies tried their best to match their intense training. And even though they started becoming rivals at first, they could all bond over their shared disdain for their leaders. After every training session, they would return to the barracks to rest and chat, knowing Agnus wouldn’t bother them, so they got to know each other a bit better every day.

It did seem like the rookies gave the Heartaches a much better impression than Crisis did at the welcoming party, at least because they did share some interests and goals, as well as Chappy, Shade, and Ace growing fond of some of the other team’s girls. However, training constantly for extended periods every day did affect them quite a bit. They were all tired and bored of doing the same routine without getting any real action, especially when everyone else kept themselves busy in the castle, which was probably even more stressful but less demanding than their exercises.

Both Heartaches and rookies seemed to wish to either get a mission already or take longer breaks, but they weren’t able to as Agnus kept pushing them to work their bodies past their limits. And while most of them could take it and couldn’t really object to it, Scott was one of the ones who was very overwhelmed by all the training. It wasn’t the fact that he was now trying to build more muscle to match the other’s physiques, or even that he tried to improve his reflexes and become faster with his combat. The thing that visibly upset him, or at least discouraged him slightly, was the fact that he couldn’t do much of what he wanted to do, mainly spend some time with Zoey.

They both trained together all the time, and even though their relationship was known by almost everyone, they still couldn’t find those private moments to enjoy themselves like a normal couple. They would either get teased for it or even called out when Agnus caught them trying to kiss after training. So not only were they forced to work out, but they also couldn’t share or express their love during this time, which seemed to take a toll on both of them pretty quickly. However, Scott found joy in spending time with his rookie friends despite being sexually frustrated, even with Shade, who became competitive as always and started bullying some of the Heartaches. While it wasn’t nice, it was amusing for the other rookies to see now that they were on his side, although they limited themselves to watching as he made more enemies than friends.

But the ones that seemed to inspire Scott to keep training significantly were Cookie and Panda, who were the only ones from the main team sent to Rysemery that worked out every single day. Not even Frost trained as much as them, mainly because he worked at the castle and dedicated more time to practicing the new features of his weapons. But it was clear that Panda was determined to lead that group of rookies and Heartache kids since he trained harder and for longer than anyone. While he didn’t get to know them very well, since he spent more time training and chatting with Scott, he managed to keep up with what the younger generation talked about.

But every time Panda tried to approach Scott, Cookie got oddly defensive, always trying to steal the latter away from him to have a chat. Both Panda and Cookie had formed some sort of rivalry out of nowhere, which they tried to keep hidden, but not well enough, as Scott and the rookies could tell they were fighting over something. They couldn’t figure out what that was, but it was quite entertaining for them to see their superiors compete to see who was the strongest. Even though Panda clearly won in terms of strength, muscle, and physical power, it was surprising to see Cookie train so hard for once since he had always been laid back and carefree. But now, he had turned into a training demon, being cocky as ever about it but now actually putting in the work to improve physically, showing off what he was capable of to impress most of the rookies.

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The days of visiting the brothels and fooling around with exotic girls were gone, left in the past, at least for the moment. And while it did seem like they missed hanging out with indecent elven girls and other species, Cookie and the rookies focused heavily on preparing their bodies and minds for whatever could happen next. It might not be as important as they expected, like the Sunrise Festival assassination blunder, but they were all eagerly waiting for the day that they could put those skills and muscles they had built to use. And not only did they want to fight but work together with the Heartaches to become an unstoppable force against their enemies.

But after three long, exhausting days of training and waiting, their time had arrived. The New Saviors woke up early, which was normal for them at this point, as they always trained in the morning. But this time, they were called by the princess to come meet her at the castle. It was finally her birthday. They all packed their bags with the clothes that Candy assigned them, but EchoForce still had to go train in the field like always. It didn’t seem to be a problem since the birthday party would take place in the afternoon, but Candy still made sure to remind all of them to show up and be punctual.

The team left the house and walked over to the main road, where they were about to split up to resume their routines. But when they reached the intersection, they noticed Agnus and the Heartaches gathered around the fountain, all geared up and having a conversation next to the gate, which had some guards on standby, apparently waiting to open it for them. The sight caught everyone’s attention, so Crisis and EchoForce headed down to see what was going on, and as soon as they got close enough to eavesdrop on them, they realized that the day had come for their long-awaited mission.

–What is going on?– Frost asked curiously as he stepped forward, but he was already forming an idea of what the Heartaches were discussing after noticing some of them sharpening their swords, which began to excite him. But with the rest of the team just as intrigued as him, Agnus turned back and ordered the Heartaches to clear the way for her to walk towards Crisis and explain.

–Great timing. There is an emergency. We’ve been called to secure a factory nearby. Some enemies were spotted up the mountain range. We still don’t know who, but they are trying to steal some resources and take over the facility, so we are heading there right now…– Agnus replied impassively, which caught the other team off guard due to the seeming gravity of the situation, although it didn’t stop them from being thrilled upon hearing the news, some more than others.

–Yes! Finally!– Ace cheered with the other rookies, and even some of Crisis celebrated too, but they kept it more discreet. With Frost at the front, he briefly looked back at his team, giving Indie at the back of the squad a quick glance. She was in front of the rookies but had stepped aside from her teammates, almost like she was hiding or didn’t have a say in this conversation. But since it looked like she wasn’t nearly as interested as the rest of the team, Frost felt free to take charge and speak his mind on behalf of Crisis, even if he was a bit hesitant to do so.

–Alright, so can we come with you?…– Frost asked politely, but there was a sudden shift in interest as he spoke with a persuasive tone that almost charmed Agnus into agreeing without a second thought. But as her instinctive reaction was to first look at Indie instead of considering the request, she seemed apprehensive about letting them join the mission. Her stare drew Crisis’ attention to Indie, who looked just as conflicted with the idea, but they didn’t get to question it as Agnus had made up her mind.

–Well, that depends… Your students are welcome to join us, but I’m not sure if…– Agnus replied insecurely, shifting her attention towards the rookies at the back to avoid having to look at Crisis as she rejected them. Her answer both excited EchoForce but greatly astounded Crisis, with Nitro and Tricky almost trying to argue as they were outraged, but they were restrained by Panda and Frost, who remained fairly calm in the face of disappointment. But the latter kept his eye on Indie, and only he managed to pick up on her influence over the matter despite her acting reserved and ignorant. He glanced back at her with particular resentment, and although she ignored him, after seeing her teammates’ reactions, she couldn’t keep quiet and had to step forward to clear any doubts.

–We’ve been assigned the princess at all costs, which means staying in the city to monitor activity at all times and make sure nothing passes us by. So unfortunately, we will have to stay here, preferably all of us…– Indie declared, clearly troubled to inform her teammates but firm and clear as ever to settle the discussion. She stepped back after explaining; however, that didn’t prevent the squad from complaining, with everyone, including Candy and Kiwy, showing some kind of disapproval to different degrees, even though Panda and Frost were forcing it a bit much.

–Aww, come on… We just trained for nothing?– Nitro protested with a disheartened expression and genuine disappointment that his teammates reciprocated. But even with everyone sharing the sentiment, being very vocal about it, and even pressing Indie for it, she was not fond of his reaction at all and doubled down.

–It’s not for nothing, it is to be prepared in case the princess or the city’s safety is at risk. And I haven’t even seen you train that much, so don’t complain…– Indie replied in a chiding manner, but she was able to remain calm as she turned to Angus and the Heartaches, who all stared at her alongside the rookies with estranged eyes. They all shut up, and the squad gave up hope as Indie made it clear that they had to stay in the city and miss out on the only real action they could get in weeks. But then, Frost stepped forward once again, and despite Indie already asserting her order, he defied her with a dismissive stare before turning to face his team and the rookies, ignoring Agnus to take control of the discussion again.

–That’s true, but only Crisis is required to stay, so the rest of you can go…– Frost affirmed casually, almost smugly, as he gestured for the rookies to join the Heartaches on the other side, which they hesitated to do after checking on Agnus and Indie’s confused expressions.

–Yes, but…– Indie tried to argue but was uncertain of what to say since she was sort of stunned to hear Frost both agree with her while going against what she just ordered. He had a certain expression that raised some suspicion, and while it was clear he was up to something, he finished his sentence for her before any objection.

–But.. Groovy and Bones have to guard the castle, and no one is left to take care of you. There needs to be someone with a high enough rank to take charge of your squad…– Frost explained with a pretentious tone as he turned the discussion in his favor, imitating Indie’s authoritative speech but adopting a truly imperative demeanor while hinting at what he had in mind with a sly smirk, sparking some curiosity in the team.

–I can do it…– Cookie offered eagerly, stepping up right away after seeing where Frost was going and taking the opportunity immediately. But despite showing great support and commitment to the idea, Frost quickly dismissed him to turn to who he really had in mind, all while Indie tried to figure out what he was plotting.

–No, Panda will do it. I’m sure he is capable of leading the task force, right?– Frost responded assertively, then asked with a lighthearted smile that caught his team and the Heartaches by surprise, while also exciting the rookies by showing initiative with his confidence on full display. As soon as Indie heard the idea, she tried to step in, but even she was somewhat urged to listen purely out of investment in Frost’s resolve.

–Of course, chief. I will keep your students safe…– Panda responded self-assuredly, already determined, resolute, and eager to fulfill the role Frost assigned him, although he tried not to crack up as he acted as admirable as possible. But as his immediate response confused Indie, Frost kept pushing his plan further to make the decisions for himself without even paying attention to her.

–And why don’t you take Saint with you? I’m sure he has trained very hard these past few days, hasn’t he?– Frost asked with a suspiciously encouraging tone, keeping a bit of sarcasm as he smirked teasingly at Saint, who was already shocked but completely panicked when he was mentioned. They looked at each other for a second, and while Saint didn’t know how to respond, Frost already considered him on board with his plan despite Indie shaking her head.

–Yes, he has. I would be glad to have him by our side in this mission– Panda replied with a confident grin, giving Saint a brief look that managed to convince him, or at least comply with an affirmative nod. With both of them agreeing to join the Heartaches in the mission, Frost began smiling with satisfaction, although slightly amused after noticing Indie processing everything that was going on. She had seemingly come to a conclusion but was deliberately letting him go on since no one was paying attention to her anyway. But it was only when Frost approached Agnus to negotiate that Indie’s patience and temper ran short.

–Would you let these seven brave soldiers join you in your operation? I promise they will make the difference, or maybe just act as bait. But either way, a little help will only hurt our enemies, don’t you think?– Frost asked charismatically, being both polite and lighthearted, which granted a positive response from all the Heartaches, which forced Agnus to reluctantly agree, even though she was just as confused by his daring approach to changing the rules.

–Yes, I think they’ll be quite useful, but…– Agnus responded hesitantly, as she still tried to find a way to reject him. But his pure confidence and conviction, paired with the support from his teammates, the rookies, and all the other Heartaches, made it difficult to even think of how to turn down his bold request. With Frost standing right in front of her, following her eyes to block her view of Indie, preventing them from communicating from a distance, there wasn’t much for Agnus to say. But just when she ran out of words and gave up on arguing, Indie finally stepped in, and since she still had the word, she made sure to use it against Frost’s plan.

–But they can’t leave…– Indie contended in a restrained manner, stressing her words as she was growing annoyed but not being able to think of something better than a brief response. However, she seemed resolved to decline Frost’s alternative plan, even if his persistence was testing her patience.

But despite her being very adamant, showing no signs of consideration, and even starting to turn a little hostile towards Frost, he didn’t seem bothered at all. Unlike his teammates, who were now tense for what seemed like an inevitable argument, Frost took it lightly and got a chuckle out of her answer. He took a brief look at the rest of the team, and while some seemed impressed by his audacity, most of them looked more anxious for him and were warning him with concerned eyes. But as he chose to focus on the respect they provided for defying both Indie and Agnus, he was only enticed to find another way around their rules to get what he wanted, and it didn’t take long to come up with a response.

| I KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO MOVE ON

I KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO LIE |

Chapter 84: The Art Of Waiting

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