AIKA STORMHUNT POV
The wind blew westward, gusting harder than usual, as overcast clouds loomed overhead, their darkness intensifying. A downpour seemed imminent, a harbinger of unfavorable conditions. Stepping out of gate B with my teammates, I raised my palm to catch the first droplets of rain.
Rows upon rows of buildings stretched out before us, their exteriors adorned with flashy neon lights accented in purple, illuminating the gritty streets below. Many of the buildings appeared dilapidated, their surfaces marred by holographic graffiti.
The majority of the buildings are high-rise structures, offering limited footing and pathways for vertical traversal. This poses a challenging race for our Pathfinder. However, on the bright side, abandoned buildings are abundant, allowing us the freedom to fight without fear of causing too many complaints.
As soon as a floating camera captured a glimpse of my face, all the advertisement billboards and street furniture ads swiftly switched their product promotions to display Zephyr's guild logo alongside my stylishly attached mug shot.
Annoying.
I briefly glanced to the right in the direction of Gate A, five hundred meters away from my team, where the enemies were standing. Thankfully, my Tuner had just finished renewing the anti-rust plating on my borrowed gears. Even though they consisted only of basic Wheel Core components in a factory setting, they remained susceptible to rust if not maintained regularly.
I'll need to thank her for the quick patch and perhaps have her replace the AB (Ankle Breaker) after this match. It's starting to degrade.
“Man, can’t we just bum-rush them this time? Wasting time is not my style at all.”
“I’m hungry…”
“I know a good ramen place nearby, wanna go there after this?”
“Only if you are paying.”
I inwardly sighed. The newly minted members hadn't been around for more than a year, yet they'd been drilled extensively in the necessary tactics and strategies required to operate at a basic level on a hunt. I must admit, this current batch of newcomers has a solid foundation and decent all-around move-set stats.
The only question is how to maximize their capabilities to achieve the most efficient victory. After all, it's my first time leading this group of party members. I bit back curses aimed at that flippant captain of mine, who suddenly dropped this task on me the day before without giving me ample time to prepare.
I didn’t even know half of my teammates' names, let alone run with them or witness them operate in a cage fight. Granted, it's my fault for not bothering to remember the majority of Zephyr members' names or spending time with them.
Can they blame me, though? So many new applicants come and go each year, and that idiot captain shows no signs of slowing down her area conquest anytime soon. My thoughts soured further at how the leader dropped this problem on my lap out of nowhere while I was busy enjoying my gelato ice cream.
Once this is done, I will wring her ne-
“S-sorry, vice-captain, may I ask a question?”
I glanced at the girl who stood a foot shorter than me. Pina, was it? She's the new DIVA that the idiot captain managed to snag from God knows where. Despite the captain's often foolish demeanor, I had to admit, she had an eye for people. Quite resourceful, too.
“Speak.”
“Y-yes! It’s just…. ever since that magician guy has been introduced, I can’t shake off this bad feeling. I-if it’s possible, may we hear your thoughts on it?”
Why so formal? My face isn’t that scary, is it?
I surveyed the rest of the party members, noting the shared sentiment reflected in their perked ears. Despite their attempts to mask it with banter, their stiff hand movements and poorly concealed poker faces spoke volumes.
They need to learn how to better conceal their emotions. At least they possess the proper instinct befitting of Zephyr. However, I would have to question their lack of experience or common sense if they believed they were up against a titled ranker who simply wanted to punch below his weight level for the heck of it.
However, the irony is not lost on me. After all, I am the vice-leader of a guild that was once crowned as an inter-sector championship winner. And yet, here I am, contending against a team that hasn't even participated once in a district tournament.
An overkill, yes. But so what? Today is simply your bad luck; it's as simple as that. And the same goes double for whatever shenanigans the magician guy is cooking up too.
“Do what you practiced. Leave the rest to me.”
“Y-YES!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
If their loosened shoulders were any indication, they appeared relieved by my indifference to the current bizarre circumstances. The salute, however, is unnecessary.
Very good; I can't have them be a nervous wreck before even making first contact. But still... that magician guy, huh?
I am no stranger to bravado being put up right before matches in my long history with Zephyr. But something keeps nagging inside my mind that this is not the usual weird performance the enemy puts on as an act of distraction or diversion.
The way he carried himself... He's undoubtedly strong, but why is he here? Is he trying to forcefully awaken his affinity? No, this reeks of something bigger. My face scrunched up as a drizzle began to pour down. I pondered a bit more before ultimately deciding to just beat him up and ask questions later.
Get ready to witness the clash between Zephyr and Ramp Rebels! Will the rising star outrun the pack, or will the Wolves once again tally this match as one win amongst many in their 15 years of team history? LET THE SPEEDGEAR BEGIN!
"Alright, let's get this over with. My vanilla chocolate is waiting for me," I muttered, my mind already wandering to the sweet treat awaiting me. Taking a deep breath, I readied myself. My teammates surrounding me noticed the shift in my attitude and instantly stood at the ready. With determination in my voice, I spoke out my first order.
“DIVA, Hymn, first layer”
To the average SpeedGear user, the order may have seemed unconventional. Spending so much time preparing for a hymn suggests that the team is planning for a long game, aiming to have the team at its peak state. And they would be right, under normal circumstances. But my instinct tells me that this is anything but normal. So, I'll just do whatever feels right.
Nobody from my team questioned the decision, despite their earlier banter about wanting to end this as quickly as possible. My tone was resolute, brooking no discussion.
As soon as TVhead announced the start of the race, the run began—not with a dash or various displays of move sets, but rather with the Diva's singing tune rapidly progressing into a melody.
The lyrics are unknown to most people watching, but hidden deep within the constructed language lies an entire dataset that is being automatically decrypted by each of the members' gear.
The dataset is compiled and outputted into our respective HUD glasses and contact lenses in less than a millisecond latency. Soon the numerical information began to be filtered and simplified into a simple backlog of information at the edge of our peripheral vision.
As the melody progresses into a song, the "magic" starts to happen. Each of the team members begins to feel a continuous pulse of tingles in their spine and head for a while. Nothing too disruptive to the point of breaking their concentration, but little by little, our perception begins to widen.
Information just keeps flowing in.
The temperature, the ever-changing wind direction that our skin felt, the state of our body, our breathing pattern—all of it became more palpable. In simple terms, our internal body awareness expanded. It was as if we could feel more and more, down to the very tips of our fingertips.
Our views also undergo the same level of clarity as we see ourselves further and further from the bird's eye view and monitor our state of being.
By this time, the other team had already started their run, opting to go for their target capture with a layer of song, perhaps progressing into a hymn mid-run. However, I decided to have my team stay back and wait for the song to progress further.
While we waited for the Diva's transition, I turned to the rest of the group.
"Pathfinder, I want you to utilize those high-rise buildings. Don't worry about the height or the possibility of ambush. Forward and I will take care of it. Forward, the moment you see an enemy, halt your Gear and wait for two seconds. If I don't give any orders, prioritize their Diva. Tuner, can you change the SpeedGear setting mid-combat?"
"Yes, I've had the basic training."
"Good, keep our Diva in your sight and be ready to guard her at a moment's notice."
"Yes!"
A moment later, the hymn begins, and its effects are immediately felt by every member of the team, including myself.
Our awareness expands yet again. Unlike before, when it expanded in a sphere-like area around the individual, now every one of us is aware of each other's positions and presences without having to look at one another.
Each one of us is likened to a constant drop of water, and the ripples announce our presence constantly. This transmits various body state information that is being decrypted automatically by those the hymn is sung for. All we had to do to receive those deluges of information was to simply 'accept' the hymn.
Pathfinder is favoring his right leg. Past injury, perhaps? The Tuner's heartbeat is slightly faster. Forward is calm and collected, but his shoulder twitches at times. Regardless, they are mostly in their peak condition. Their body stats... not optimal. We'll need a more specialized training menu, but for now, this will suffice.
As the hymn stabilized, I glanced at my watch.
Two minutes and forty-three seconds for a first-layer hymn to finish. Not bad for a first year in boot camp. Seems like that idiot has struck gold this time. She might have an affinity even. One can only hope. Now, all that's left is to make sure that she doesn't get banged up too hard. Let's see how they fare.
“Uppersoul.”
The moment I uttered the word, the rest sprang into action, instantly leaping upward and employing various techniques and implements to ascend to the designated top building.
Pathfinder propelled through balcony railings, intermittently utilizing hand grips to ascend before launching to another railing.
Tuner darted into an alley, propelling between two walls multiple times to ascend to the top.
Forward leaped off the ramp, engaging in an upper spinning wall ride on a nearby building.
Meanwhile, Diva focused on maintaining the stability of her hymn, and opted for the least physically demanding path, using her shoe wheels to grind diagonally up the spiraling pole and leaping from its tip to a higher platform.
Regardless of the method they chose to reach the top of the building, there was no need for them to question or look back at what I was doing because a single jump was all it took for me to reach the target location. By the time they arrived, I was already waiting in position, facing the direction of the opposing team. It's normal. They should be able to do this much with enough practice.
"Stormhunt... I didn't even see her run past me."
"When did she—"
"Aaah, my queen, please order me more!"
I could feel weird glances and whispers thrown my way, but I ignored them. Especially the last one. He needs discipline later on.
Looking back at their Uppersoul, it's a decent start, but I wish they would stop gawking every time I go slightly faster than them.
"Spearhead formation. Pathfinder on me."
"Yes!"
If you have time to salute, I'd rather you get on it a second quicker. I held back a frown.
The pathfinder acts as the spearpoint. I will run directly behind him, and further behind, run the Tuner, Diva, and Forward in an inverted triangle formation overlooking the surroundings. The Forward stationed furthest behind covers our rear.
Well then, let's see what the other groups are up to. Do not bore me now, magician.
I led the pack and began the hunt.