I looked around quickly, hoping someone else had made it out. To my dismay, I was alone. Where my door had been, there was nothing, but the other nine doors remained just as they were before.

I moved close to where the portal should appear and sat down. With a sigh, I opened my new hip pouch and stored my goggles inside. While I waited, I quickly organised packets of food, sorting them into piles and segregating by rations. In my mind, I went over every detail of the Gauntlet, wondering how much time I’d spent inside. I guessed about ten or eleven hours - far less than the allotted twenty-four. If everyone else took the maximum time to complete the lair, then I was going to be waiting around for quite a long time. I only hoped they were all doing well.

I waited on pins and needles for a door to open and was rewarded almost two hours later when Plvoer emerged from his door. His feathers were smouldering and some had completely turned to ash, yet he was alive.

“I didn’t see that coming,” Plvoer moaned as he collapsed. I rushed to his side, a healing potion in hand and uncorked before I even got to him. I tilted his head back and poured the concoction in. Then I patted out the smouldering feathers. With that done, I started dressing his other wounds and burns. Spreading ointment and tinctures as needed. I really hoped Al would be out soon, I needed a real healer.

Plvoer coughed and spat out something black. “Pride cometh before the fall they say. Me, who prides himself on seeing everything, saw nothing until it was almost too late.”

“Stop talking, let the healing potion work. And stop moving, you’ll aggravate your wounds,” I ordered, checking over his wounds again and applying salve as necessary.

It was another hour before Coach Liv came out looking mostly unharmed. He had a few scratches on his armour but otherwise looked untouched. He gave Plvoer a look and thanked me for taking care of him.

“Anyone else out?” Coach Liv asked, hope tinging his voice.

I shook my head, “Not yet.” My Handler came out next followed a few minutes later by Beau. They both looked to be in about the same condition as Coach Liv.

It was hours later that Robin and Rober emerged, almost at the same time. The two argued about who was first but Coach Liv quickly put an end to the disagreement. The pair were banged up and looked exhausted but were otherwise elated to have made it out alive.

Alphonse emerged from the door, his gear tattered and torn. The fabric was shredded, exposing jagged holes that looked like punctures. But, he seemed unscathed and the only thing missing from him was the confident smirk he'd had before entering.

A full hour later, Sam emerged from the door, his right hand blackened and mutilated. He was missing several digits and an ear. Ice crystals clung to his ragged clothes like tiny stars, and his skin was as pale as a sheet of paper. He lurched away from the door, shivering uncontrollably, before collapsing to the ground. Al rushed to his side and did what he could.

“Belov, I need a mana bun,” Al shouted and I quickly ran one to him. He chowed down on it and gave instructions through a full mouth, “Bandage what you can. As soon as my mana recovers I’ll be able to do more. Hopefully, I’ll be able to regrow those fingers, or one of the healers at the academy can.”

I didn’t fight or argue with Alphonse, choosing to do as he said and started applying my First Aid Skill, starting with getting a warm blanket on Sam to stave off hypothermia.

Finally, only Han and Yui were missing, and time was running out. It was a giant relief when the moleman geomancer's door creaked open, and he staggered out. He collapsed to his knees, his face badly scorched. Al rushed to his side, and between his healing and my First Aid we were able to address the wounds.

A few minutes later, the room filled with commotion as Yui stumbled out of her door, body shaking and eyes bulging. Foam bubbled up from her mouth, and her skin was turning a distressing shade of blue. I scrambled to her side, “Alphonse, she’s been poisoned! Get over here and help me!”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Coach Liv spoke gravely from the other side of the room, “Do what you can, but be quick. We don’t have much time left here.”

Ten minutes later everyone was stable and a minute after that we exited one by one. As I made contact with the exit, I received a single achievement.

Achievements

Gauntlet Lair Defeated - Improved Disarm Trap

We emerged from the lair, exhausted. Many of us were still injured and barely able to stand. We were quickly ushered to the academy grounds, where we were met by a team of healers. Al had done his best to treat us during our mission, but the academy's dedicated Healers were more experienced. They smiled gently as they healed our wounds and restored our energy.

Once we were healed, we were escorted up to the dean’s conference room.

“I’ll start as I did before. First, I know you are all worried about Miss Nakamura, I am happy to be able to tell you she will make a full recovery,” the elderly goatwoman began, a solemn look on her face as she looked over each of us in turn. “I hope that this will not deter any of you from continuing with this Lair Team.”

Coach Liv released a breath of relief, and I could see his eyes glisten with unshed tears. At that moment, I was truly happy that Yui was going to make it. It had been a harsh reminder that the lairs would do anything to take us down—yet we gave a collective sigh at the knowledge that she was going to survive.

The dean continued, “I know this experience may have shaken some of you, if you wish to be assigned to another team I will do what I can to accommodate your request.”

Al spoke up, surprising her and the rest of us, “You should remove me from the team. I’m the reason Yui is in the hospital, nearly dead from a poison I couldn’t fully heal. I’m the Hero. It was my responsibility.”

It was my turn to grumble. I couldn’t let that happen. “Beast spit,” I cursed loudly. “You were not responsible any more than I was responsible.” I felt horrible for what I was about to say. “The responsibility lies with two people, Yui and whoever trained her. She clearly did not take the danger seriously, which means she either failed to take the warning seriously or whoever taught her failed to properly warn her.”

Al's eyes widened with disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying. But before he could protest, I looked to Han, one of the last to join our team, “Comrade Han, were you adequately warned of the dangers? Did you understand the risks?”

Han bowed, “I was warned and were it not for that warning, I certainly would have died.”

“Plvoer?” I asked.

The eagleman was almost bald due to the burned off feathers but he answered, “I was warned and I still almost died, though I can admit that injury was due to my own arrogance.”

I nodded, acknowledging his statement, but now it was time to ask the really important question. “And knowing these dangers, would you two still go into lairs knowing what you do now?”

Plvoer chuckled and winced, “Without question. I gained two skills and some enchanted equipment, plus the achievements. And that was in one lair. I accept the risk and can’t wait for the next one.”

Han bowed to Alphonse, “I would humbly ask that you not leave this team. We know the risks and still we would follow you, not just for the rewards, but also for your purpose. If you exist, then something horrible is coming for all of us. As a representative of my nation, I am proud to assist you, even at the cost of my life.”

The dean smiled softly, meeting my eyes briefly, before she addressed Al, “Do you think removing you would truly be wise? Your growth and advancement are more important than you seem to realise. And so is theirs. So no, I won’t remove you, but my offer still stands for anyone else that wishes to leave the team.”

No one was willing to quit.

My eyes burned into Al, silently defying him to disagree. It was surprising to see tears welling up in his eyes. His throat bobbed once as he hesitated, then he sniffled and gave me a single nod of acceptance.

Dean Weber seemed pleased with the resolve. “Good. Then for those of you remaining, I will be revising your schedules. If you are going to continue challenging lairs with the hero, then you need more training than you’re getting. Going forward, you will have one rest day, the other two will be spent training with your lair team with whichever instructors I can get to teach you. All of you will be taking all status classes, I do not care what your focus is. If you want to accompany the hero, then you need to become the strongest academy students we’ve ever produced. I hope you are all ready to work. I also hope you all appreciate the opportunity I’m creating for you. You won’t see the like again.”

I didn’t like the sound of more intensive training. Though, I suppose I had brought it upon myself.