Johann slumped to the ground, exhausted in a way that the three months of intense exercise and excruciating pain hadn’t managed. Ten intense battles in five hours had completely drained any energy he had until he just wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep. Or crawl into a ditch and sleep, anywhere was fine at this point.
As it turned out, his theory about his mana channels being able to handle the stress of higher tier mana was wrong. It was better, no doubt about that, but only slightly. The simple fact is that until he reforged his mana channels Johann was never going to be able to handle higher tier mana without strain.
That being said, his channels had gotten leagues better at recovering from the strain. Before he might have needed hours or even days to recover, now he just needed minutes for his channels to feel like new.
That didn’t mean it was fun though. It still hurt to strain his channels and even three months of pain followed by three months of fighting hadn’t made it any easier to handle. Fortunately he didn’t need to bring out the big spells all the time. With Torin supplementing their ranged damage and Gloria’s excellent tanking skills Johann could afford to use his attunements sparingly.
Sparingly, meaning he had about two matches where he didn’t have to go all out. Every match started with Johann letting off a [Grasping Roots] spell to tie up one of the opposing team members, choosing a different person each time. He had wanted to take out the tank each time but Geoffrey had pointed out that predictability provided openings for the enemy to exploit.
After tying up one enemy he would focus on the healer while strafing either left or right, Torin strafing the other way while targeting the ranged attacker. If either of them had been hit by the roots then they would target the melee. In the meantime Gloria, Geoffrey and Mary would charge forward to attack the rest. It was a risk to bring Mary into the fight but Geoffrey posited that Mary would be in danger no matter what and it would be better if she had a strong fighter and tank next to her.
The tactic worked well, for the most part, but it was more of an opening that a winning strategy. The simple fact was that no one who had made it this far was weak. There was no way any detailed plan would last longer than the opening moves, so they didn’t bother to with details. Instead, each member of the team was given objectives.
Johann and Torin were the snipers, taking out the healer, ranged attacker, melee attacker, rogue and tank in that order. Johann would occasionally use his [Grasping Roots] to disrupt the enemies and control the battlefield. Torin, lacking any controlling abilities, focused on kill shots and the occasional pot shots at the people lower down on the kill list, just to keep them on their toes.
Gloria and Geoffrey were focused on scattering the opposing team whilst keeping as much attention on them as possible by creating as big a threat as possible, something the ‘screaming banshee’ was somewhat good at. The idea was to give Johann and Torin the opportunity and time to take out the less durable members while they kept the rest occupied.
Of course, everyone had secondary, tertiary and even quaterniary (which isn’t a word even though Torin insisted it was) objectives. For instance, if Mary was taken out then Gloria and Geoffrey would split, Gloria moving to protect Johann who would go all out and start firing out attuned bolts as quickly as possible.
The plan was decent. It had enough fall-backs to account for things going wrong but it left the salient details up to the individuals and, more importantly, it wasn’t strict. If Johann was meant to take down the healer but he couldn’t get a shot, he wasn’t going to just keep trying, he would switch to the next target. If Mary felt that following Gloria and Geoffrey would be too dangerous, she would hang back.
Each of the team members respected and trusted each other, which was far more important than a foolproof plan. Sadly, respect and trust, while wonderful, weren’t all that useful in the face of sheer power.
Even with their skills and teamwork the team still suffered three losses. Their first loss came at the hands of Rosa and Henri’s team. While Henri was undoubtedly the clumsiest and unluckiest person amongst the rookies, by some margin, by now everyone knew of his skill with a blade. When people learned that Henri and Rosa were looking for teammates, plenty of people rushed to join. With a bevy of choices available Rosa managed to put together an excellent team.
When Johanns team put forth their opening moves Henri charged forward and managed to keep Gloria and Geoffrey locked down all by himself, leaving the rest of his team free. Johann attempted to lock Henri down with roots but the man was seemed to have a supernatural sense while holding a sword and managed to actually dodge the roots as they tried to grab his feet.
Johann was taken out first, Rosa fully aware of the power he could wield, followed by Mary, Geoffrey and Gloria. They left Torin to last as, even though he constantly harried them with arrows, he was simply too slippery to catch easily. Despite their stats being brought down to ten it seemed as if Torin was making far more use out of his ten Agility than the rest of them could. Eventually though, Torin was taken down and their team suffered their first loss.
Their second loss could be explained with one word, Juya. The Dragonborn lightning mage was simply too strong, his lightning bolts striking out with impossible speed to strike them down. Even with Gloria fully changing her entire body in order to resist the bolts she couldn’t protect them all. Juya simply burned through his mana and took out Torin, Johann and Geoffrey, leaving Gloria and Mary for the rest of his team to fight. Gloria was good, and with a healer behind her she could really let loose, but one against four was impossible for her to beat.
The third loss came from a team with a few familiar faces. The gnome Snaddum Tikrus had apparently become fast friends with the seelie Robbie Briars. The two had bonded over their lack of size, the two combined wouldn’t reach two meters. Snaddum had apparently spent a lot of time making various devices as each member of his team was armed with shock grenades and sonic pistols. The gear let them roll over Johann’s team, the combined damage too much for even Gloria to tank.
Three losses. It was actually very good, there were two teams with seven losses so three losses was an excellent score, but Johann was still a bit depressed. Throughout the last three months Torin, Gloria and Johann had never been in the same team and a small part of him had thought that if they ever were then they’d be unbeatable. Today had proved it to be untrue in a very concrete way.
Still, they had made it. All three of them had made it, beating literally hundreds if not thousands of people and enduring the most hellish kind of training ever designed. Despite the reality check Johann couldn’t help grinning as he lay in the arena seats.
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Sergei was out fifty guild points. In all fairness to the man, the bet had been pretty solid. A druid with only one non-Attunement class skill and cracked channels should not have made it to the final fifty, especially after he gave the kid the ‘Captain Stupid’ nickname.
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Still, the kid had grown on Sergei. He might have made a really, really stupid mistake, but the kid had paid for it and then some and he still stuck with the program. The kid had the kind of grit that Sergei liked and best of all, he came with two non-idiots. Gloria had a good head on her shoulders as long as she kept her battle-lust in check, something that her mentor would teach her to handle.
As for Torin, the little man had him fooled for quite a while. He came of as a loudmouthed idiot but underneath it all was a cold calculating genius. It actually gave Sergei chills to think he had been tricked by the little bastard. He’d had the guild run an extensive background check on the kid as well as several DNA tests just to make sure the kid was on the up and up. Thankfully everything came back clean; Johann could definitely use a scary rogue watching his back.
Sergei looked over the rookies. Exhausted but happy faces looked back at him, all bu the ten who were about to be kicked out.
“Alright, I doubt I need to say it but I’ll say it anyways. Trevor Needman, Sarah Menahem, Boldrath, Carrie Pollenswamp, Mack Drek, Desmond Threethree, Morgan Cageman, Hammurashi, Melona Kuuagii and Havescra-holy-shit-that’s-a-long-name. Anyways, you know who you are, get out.” Sergei said.
The ten dejected and now ex-rookies left without a word. They had known this was coming and by now they had learned not to try and argue against fate.
As soon as they were gone Sergei spoke. “Alright, I suppose congratulations are in order for the rest of you, not that I’m going to give it. If you are real nice your mentors might give you some nice words but that ain't gonna come from me. Far as I’m concerned you idiots got through by pure luck. Fortunately for you idiots, and more importantly me, you’re no longer my problem. Over the next twenty-four hours your mentors will contact you. Until then, get out of my sight.”
The rookies got up and began to shuffle out of the arena.
“Not you, Johann, you stay right there. We need a word.” Sergei’s words made the rookies freeze for a second until they processed what he had said. Those who knew Johann gave him pitying looks but didn’t stay. Sergei smiled, he’d only had a few months to whip them into shape but it was nice to see that even familial bonds wouldn’t stop them from following orders.
Pretty soon the arena was clear and Sergei was left alone with a clearly nervous Johann.
“Relax kid, you’re not in trouble.” Sergei said.
Johann relaxed a small amount. “Thank the gods. When you used my name for the first time I figured you were about to kill me or something.”
Sergei chuckled. “Makes sense, but you can relax. I’m not about to kill you, I’m your new mentor.”
Sergei watched as Johann froze his brain unable to process what he had just said. Sergei laughed a little on the inside but he kept his face neutral.
After a few moments Johann looked up at him, questions written on his face, but Sergei spoke preemptively. “Not a joke, not a lie. I’m a Tier 4 Primal Druid and easily the most qualified to be your mentor. Before you ask, I didn’t use any druidic spells or skills cause I didn’t need to. A tier 4 can beat a tier 1 in their sleep with one arm and both legs tied behind their back through sheer stats alone.”
Johann paled a little bit as the reality of having Sergei as his mentor set in.
Sergei chuckled as he sat down, using [Stone Manipulation] to raise a seat from the arena floor so he could face the kid directly.
“Relax Johann. I’m not as scary as I seem.” The disbelief on Johanns face was obvious. “Okay, maybe I am but only when I want to be. Truth is I push you rookies and make your lives a living hell because life as an adventurer can be brutal and if you can’t handle it then it’s better you drop out now than later.”
Johann looked like he wanted to ask a question but he hesitated.
Sergei rolled his eyes. “Come on kid, I told you to relax. Ask your questions.”
Johann took a deep breath. “Alright. You say that life as an adventurer is brutal, but how is it brutal? I mean, are dungeons really tough enough to need the gauntlet as preparation?”
Sergei chuckled and shook his head. “Not even close. Don’t get me wrong, without proper preparation a dungeon can and will kill you, but if you’re going into a dungeon without prep then you deserve what you get.”
“Look, you usually only get told this in six months once you become fully fledged, but I’ll let you in on the secret early. Everyone knows about the guilds dungeoneering department but in reality it’s only part of what we do. As I’m sure you know, dungeons absorb and concentrate the mana from the environment. By clearing it we help to stabilize mana in the surrounding area and keep most manifestations from occurring.”
“That being said, manifestations still occur. For the most part, it’s something beneficial like a magical herb or an enchanted item but every now and then it results in a monster spawning, which is where the hunting department comes in. Hunters track down manifestations and kill them before they cause any damage.”
“The two departments take care of the Anlasser continent but there is another department, the explorers, just like there’s another continent.” Johann looked at him shocked. “Yup, big reveal; there’s another continent, Endspiel. Second big reveal; it’s so full of monsters and overrun dungeons that the average person would die a horrible, horrible death if they stepped foot on even the outer reaches. Hell, even upper management wouldn’t survive in the depths.”
“After a year of running dungeons you and your team will get a choice between the three departments; Dungeoneering, Hunters or Explorers. The Gauntlet, the three months of hell and the daily fights were to make sure you could handle going into any of the departments, namely the Explorers. They’re our best of the best, where most of the resources and people go, but they live in a hell of constant fighting and death.”
Sergei stopped talking for a moment, his joyful mood gone as memories surfaced in his mind.
“I used to be in the Explorers. Lasted almost five years before I quit and became a trainer. I know you think I’m some sort of terrifying monster in human form, but even I couldn’t handle five years in that hell.”
Sergei stared Johann in the eyes, his expression grim. “That’s why I make training hell, so that the fools who go off exploring get a small glimpse of what life will be like over there.”
He paused for a moment to let it sink in for Johann. Sergei saw a lot of himself in the kid. Not physically, Sergei was never that scrawny, but the determination and grit in the kid reminded Sergei of a younger slightly dumber version of himself.
“Alright, enough about that. That’s still a year and a half away and there is a lot of work ahead of us if we’re going to get you up to scratch. Before we get into all that, let’s get going.”
Sergei stood up, the stone bench he was sitting on shifting back into the floor.
Johann looked at him bewildered. “Wait, what? Where are we going?”
Sergei rolled his eyes. “Come on kid, do you really think that a druid can train here? We’re heading over to my grove.”
A look flashed across Johann’s face that Sergei couldn’t place. “A grove? What’s that?”
Sergei frowned. “Damn kid, you really know nothing do you? Shit, looks like I’m gonna have to teach you everything.” He shook his head. “Alright, we’ll talk about it in the grove.”
With that he cast his [Natures Trail] spell, two thin tree’s growing out of the ground a meter from each other before bending over and intertwining to create an arch just large enough for Sergei to enter. As soon as the arch was created the space in between rippled. When the ripples cleared a forest path appeared, stretching off into the distance.
Sergei stepped through before looking back and beckoning towards Johann. “Come on kid, we don’t have all day.”