Val and her fellow squadmates sat in the conference chairs like the plush cushions were made up of stone—uncomfortable in every way possible. Needless to say, the seats weren’t hard rock, but that hardly gave anyone more comfort as they bode their time, looking onwards at the Magus placed on the farthest end.
Kane, at last, looked away from the tablet in his hands and double-tapped the desk. “I want you guys to watch this clip.”
Awoken from its slumber, the high-tech apparatus chimed.
File uploaded. Loading…
Expecting a tutorial video about one rift-diving aspect or the other, Val’s eyes widened as she recognized traits the squad in question posed—ice-blond hair, the long-shafted greataxe and a pale-blue chain wrapped along an arm. That’s me.
“That’s us,” Otis said aloud, looking toward the Magus with a face as confused as any other Novice in the room. He got a tiny head bob towards the two-way hologram that—which, Val only just realized—was playing the recordings from their time in an IBR demo earlier today. Watch it, Kane was trying to say, and no one needed to be told to do as much.
It started at the tail end of their session, showing the final moments against the three-starred Bristle Turtle. The lightning beast might have been Tier One, but it earned every single star the CAU allotted it, standing taller than Otis and wider than a king-sized bed. Dagger-like thorns lay flat on its hardened exterior, its black shell like a shield on its dark-navy skin.
Val winced as, per its name, the turtle’s skin bristled, its sharp ends rising off the beast's shell. Looking at it retrospectively, the beast practically transformed into a large porcupine.
Hold, she remembered Otis ordering, unable to hear it once more through the muted clip. Hold, he said once more, even as teal-coloured energy zipped from spike to spike, creating a vibrating lightning field on the creature’s back. Hold, he let out for the last time as the spikes took the air, thrumming with energy, shaking with excitement.
Otis’ interceptive shields came about and an army of pentagonal plates stormed the beast. flying almost too perfectly toward the beast. Now!
Val left her safety in the hands of his spell—a spell she stubbornly called Tier Two—and dipped into the chaos of it. The charged thorns attacked at once—moving so swiftly at the moment, they pretty much teleported into her personal space—only to crash against a palm-sized plate.
With the creature’s main offensive source thwarted thoroughly by Otis, the rest fell into place like a round of dealt cards. Jesal’s gravitational grasp nailed the turtle to the ground, leaving it no time to escape from Nightingale’s initial strike to the heel of its hindleg, nor Val’s thrust for its eye.
Caro came barreling in seconds after axe in hand, muscles tense as she readied an energy-empowered swing right for its head. By luck or a software glitch—Val couldn’t tell even as she watched it play out for the second time—the turtle receded fully into its shell not a moment too soon, dodging the hunk of metal by a hair.
The clock ran out for the demo, either way, it seemed. Lenson’s Sword Graveyard put the creature out of its misery, skewering it in seven different locations. The video faded to dark, and the borders of the hovering screen closed in on itself until it vanished into thin air.
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“As you can see,” Magus Kane began, pushing out of his chair. He took three steady steps to reach the tall panes and swiped up on the clear material. The pale rays of the early afternoon seeped back into the room anew. “Azotus’ role remains minimal in terms of leadership. Let’s not forget that this squad’s reliance on its Support is still far too heavy. Strikers.”
“Here we go again,” Val could hear Caro muttering across the table, and the magma mage shot her a sympathetic glance. Val appreciated the slight moment of rapport seconds before the incoming reprimand, even as the two danced around why they no longer sat side-by-side.
“I realize you take a bit longer to catch up with the other Paths in the beginning. However, that fails to excuse the lackluster performance here.” Kane’s attention flickered to both sides of the table, where either Striker was positioned. “You deal damage, yes, but you also must do it swiftly. There are two of you. Big, slow, and singular targets exactly like that turtle you faced are your responsibilities. ”
“Got it,” Val said, and Caro settled to grunt her understanding.
“This is not the best of the best. I will agree to say, though, that it is enough to assure me that Hammer Squad can hold its own.”
Six pairs of lowered eyes, pinned to the desk’s glossy surface in anticipation of at least one thousand more sharp comments, raised to scrutinize Magus like he were a crazed man. “That is all I need to feel content in letting you take part in the unfolding situation at hand.”
Caro's face lit up, brighter than it had been all week. “Does this mean…”
“Yes, Hayes,” the man sighed, his eyebrows twitching. “I didn’t believe I needed to spell it out. Just to clarify, yes, your ban has been officially lifted.”
Val managed to catch Lenson’s attention, and the two shared a silent—and yet, satisfied—smile, content to watch Jesal pump a fist, or even Nightingale nod to himself repeatedly as if he expected this news all along. He summoned a pack of chips to open, lounging back into his chair like his worst days were behind him.
“I wouldn’t celebrate too early if I were you,” Magus Kane strode for his seat, conjuring forth a file out of his storage ring perfectly into his hands. “You have an assigned dive from the guild.”
Reaching over too fast for anyone to catch, Caro stole a piece from the open chip bag and threw it into her mouth. “Where we headin’ Magus Kane?”
Nightingale swiveled in his chair, glowering at the girl.
Magus Kane slid out a stack of paper and tapped it on the table, straightening it out. “Ever heard of Storm’s Keep?”
“Nope,” she answered, mouth full.
“It’s a labyrinth out in the Second Halo, at risk of rupturing. The government sent out a country-wide request for damage control and we, Age of Atera, accepted. The senior staff assigned it to you so long as you were cleared by me. Hammer Squad isn’t solely a top offensive team, you have mobility that most lack and possess experience in labyrinths. Your assignment is intentional.”
Val rubbed at her chin. “Any first impressions on Storm’s Keep?”
“It’s a bit… tempestuous, to say the least,” he said.
“Tempestuous,” Caro hummed, reaching for another chip. Nightingale smacked her hand away and, in due course, received the brunt of a rude sidelong glance in reply. “That’s it?” she asked Kane a heartbeat later. “It's a bit windy?”
“I wouldn’t underestimate a rift’s inclination towards a Gate if I were you,” the Magus said.
She shrugged. “How windy could it—”
“Don’t jinx us!” Jesal yelled.
“Too late,” Val sighed, shaking her head as she tried to imagine any reality that would remain unaffected by those dreaded words. When bereft of all answers except for throwing herself at an IBR Demo, she could only sigh once more. “It’s too late.”