Kaden and Jill watched from the corner of the windowless conference room on the 2nd floor, as Mark ran Bill through a 1:1 training exercise similar to Kaden’s.

Behind Mark’s shield, they watched as multiple of the bat-like creatures the team had faced before – the Level 7 Chiroptera – swarmed around Bill’s shields.

For this exercise, Bill had borrowed a couple caps from Kaden. The team as a whole was still short on caps. To have more flexibility and versatility in battle, they needed to get their hands on a lot more ward capacitors.

“Can I ask a question?” Kaden asked Mark, who was focused on watching the battle.

He grunted in response, eyes staying on Bill.

“What do the creatures’ levels mean? Like this one is level 7, the kitsune were level 4, etc. I assume higher level means greater difficulty, but what else does it mean, if anything?”

Kaden started to wonder if he’d said something or asked a stupid question as an awkward pause stretched out. But eventually Mark responded.

“In the internship program, you should expect to see monsters up to level 10. It’s generally safe to assume higher level monsters are more dangerous, but don’t allow that assumption to make you underestimate lower level enemies. There are many, many Company operatives that have made that mistake, and not all of them lived to regret it.”

Kaden nodded, taking the warning seriously.

Meanwhile, Bill had successfully trapped the chiropterae in a shield pincer, similar to what the team had done together before. It was impressive how using his new instrument allowed Bill the speed and flexibility to activate and adjust multiple wards quickly and on the fly.

“At your own current level, I would attempt to flee if you ever find yourself confronted with a monster over level ten. Above level ten, the strength, speed and lethality of the potential attacks you could face rises exponentially. Surviving battles at that level requires strong ward capabilities, deep capacitor reserves, and mana-enhanced physiques.”

He paused to look pointedly at Jill and Kaden.

“You all are still newborn babes in the world of Company operations. So do your best to stay out of situations you can’t win.”

“Understood,” Kaden replied. “Will do.” Kaden wondered about the warning; was it really necessary? In what kind of no-win situations might he find himself?

Bill was now struggling a little bit. While he had all the bat creatures trapped in his web, he didn’t seem to know what to do next. He was fumbling around with a collector in one hand, his guitar in the other, with one eye on his shields and the other trying to configure a mana pull.

“Should we help him out?” Jill asked.

“Not yet,” Mark replied.

The group watched as Bill continued in the same vein for the next five minutes or so. It was a stalemate until Bill finally got mana flowing into a mana collector. It was a lot slower and took a lot longer than when Jill did it, but eventually the chiropterae all disappeared in sparkles of disintegrating mana.

Bill slung the guitar around to his back and strolled over, a sheepish look on his face.

“Sorry that took so long, folks,” he said.

“I haven’t seen one of those before,” Mark said, pointing at the guitar. “Where did you get it?”

“Some of the guys in R&D let me borrow it. I’m told it’s a prototype. They let me borrow it to test it out, they’re hoping to use real-word data to improve it before introducing it to a wider audience.”

Mark whistled, shaking his head. “R&D let you play with one of their toys? Most impressive. So keep it up. You seem to be making good progress with your ward skills in general, and that instrument could certainly be a game changer, especially at your level.”

Bill nodded appreciatively. Mark continued.

“Two suggestions. One – add some sort of attack capability to your ward arsenal. Do you have a good library of ward code?”

Bill nodded. “Yeah, I believe I do.”

“Ok. So pick something that will do some damage and add it to that guitar of yours. Doesn’t have to do a lot of damage – but something that can ‘soften up’ a target while you or your team is working on other objectives. In this battle, it would have been good to have while you were getting the mana collection going.”

Mark continued. “Number two – Don’t become overly reliant on one specific tool or instrument. What happens if your special weapon becomes damaged during a battle? Plan out contingencies and have backup skills and plans should the worst happen.”

Bill nodded. “Makes sense. Thanks for the recommendations!”

“Alright, Jill. You’re up,” Mark said, already looking into his mobile to pull up the next opponent.

Jill walked nervously out to the center of the room, activating a pre-programmed null ward while she waited for her opponent to appear.

Two large canine creatures appeared off to the side, dark and menacing, with red-tinged black fur. Each creature’s head came up to Kaden’s chest, and when one of them glanced in his direction, he felt a spike of foreboding.

* Name: Bloodhound

* Level: 4

* Attacks: Physical (teeth, claws); Mental (fear-based debuffs)

* Aural Affinity: Red (S)

Jill looked petrified, face white as a sheet. The hounds circled her position, growling and looking for an opening. She held her ground but did not immediately move into action.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“You got this, Jill,” Kaden called, giving her a thumbs up.

Jill shook herself off and reached for the gunsword at her hip. Her hands shook as she raised it, firing off two quick shots. Both missed her target. One of the shots dissipated against the shield Mark had in place to protect them from the battle.

Kaden winced.

“Hey Bill,” Mark said quietly. “Let me know if I can help you with any feedback for the R&D boys,” Mark said with a wink. “Wouldn’t hurt to let them know I’m helping you make the most of their investment.”

Bill chuckled. “Alright, I got it. I can do that. You don’t happen to play music, do you? We happen to be looking for more members to join the band.”

“Ha! No, not unless you need someone to play the spoons. Or maybe the cowbell,” he replied, turning his focus back to Jill and the bloodhounds.

“We can always use more cowbell.”

The situation was much the same as before, although Jill had dropped the gunsword and was focused on setting up an array of mana collectors. The bloodhounds continued circling at the very edge of her shield, aware of its presence and waiting for an opening. With the creatures at full strength and moving constantly, Jill was having a hard time getting a mana pull started. Sweat ran down her face, as she anxiously watched the hounds circle her position.

“Kaden – go help her out,” Mark said, briefly lowering the shield so Kaden could enter the battle area.

He strode forward, pulling his gunsword and activating the blade. With an additional enemy approaching, the hounds broke off from Jill’s position and retreated, trying to circle around both of them.

“Jill – let’s try to trap them in the corner over there,” Kaden said.

Jill nodded, and moved to follow his lead.

Kaden quickly activated his air-shield ward, pushing it out until it pressed against the near wall. As Jill worked to activate a similar ward against the other wall, Kaden switched his gunsword to gun mode and quickly fired off a couple of shots at the hound closest to Jill. It had been preparing to pounce, but in the face of the shots, it retreated into the corner.

Realizing they had been cornered, the bloodhounds rushed towards Jill, but she had her shield up in time to rebuff them. They tried Kaden’s shield, but his shield held as well.

“OK Jill,” he said. “Do your thing.”

Now that the hounds were relatively stationary, she could get a strong fix with her mana collector. In short order, the creatures were disintegrating into the mana they were made of, outline slowly fading in sparkles of deep red.

“Thanks,” Jill said, looking pale and subdued.

“That was a tough enemy,” Kaden offered. “Difficult for anyone to face on their own.”

She nodded, but he could tell she was feeling discouraged. She was the only one who had been unable to handle the individual assignment on her own. It made Kaden wonder why Mark had chosen these specific monsters for Jill’s turn.

“There’s a guy in the healthcare department I’m going to introduce you to,” Mark said as he approached. “You’re the team specialist in mana management and collection, right?”

“Yes, that’s pretty much become my role on the team,” she replied.

“I figured as much. Which is totally fine. Actually, it’s a very valuable specialty to have. Not many in the Company actually know what they’re doing when it comes to optimizing collectors and capacitors for efficient and rapid mana collection.”

Jill seemed to perk up at that. She had been expecting a dress-down, not an affirmation of the value of her burgeoning skills.

“It’s definitely not my area of expertise, though. What I would recommend you do is talk to Fred. Show him what you’ve been working on lately, and he’ll have some additional pointers for you.”

“Great! Thank you!” she replied, looking encouraged.

“Alright guys, as fun as this has been, I’m late for another meeting and better run.”

“We appreciate your time, Mark,” Bill said, holding out his fist. Mark gave him the fist bump.

As they all made to leave, Mark called out, “Kaden, if I could have a quick word with you in private.”

“Sure! What would you like to talk to me about?”

“I have a special assignment for you. For Plus points,” Mark added.

“Excellent! What do I need to do?”

“There’s a couple laptops I need you to collect for me. And then put them back where you found them.”

Kaden frowned. “Laptops? What do you need them for?”

Mark eyed Kaden before responding. “IT Maintenance.”

“But you’re not in the IT department, are you?”

Mark didn’t reply. The silence drug out for a couple moments.

“Okay…. Which laptops?”

“Offices 1013 and 1015, on the tenth floor. I need this done on the downlow, if you know what I mean.”

This was getting shadier and shadier… and Kaden felt trapped. He supposed he had a choice; he could say no and walk away, but in doing so, he would almost certainly alienate Mark, one of the highest-placed friendly faces he had in the Company at the moment.

“If I do this, how many points will I get?”

“Five thousand points. Plus I’ll throw in ten more capacitors for your team. High volume caps, better than the toys they typically give you interns.”

That was a lot of points. Five percent of the entire program goal, and all for him and his team. Plus his team was short on caps. They had a lot of potential wards they could code, but didn’t have enough caps to go around. This opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Almost too good to be true.

“And when would you want this to happen?”

Mark smiled, sensing he was closing the deal. “Next Tuesday between five and six o’clock.”

Kaden swallowed hard. This was a big risk, but the potential rewards were large as well. In addition to the points to put him and his team ahead, he knew he would likely have more leverage with Mark in the future. He would do this, but he would also do his best to de-risk any fallout.

Mark pulled a key card out of his pocket, handing it to Kaden. It was translucent and heavy, with a thin red border running along its edge.

“That’s a pass to access the stairwell,” he said. “Easier to get in and out unnoticed in the stairwell.”

Kaden nodded. Made sense. “Thanks.”

“Alright, I really am late now and need to hustle to my next meeting. We good?” Mark asked.

“Yeah I think so.”

Mark patted Kaden on the shoulder as he walked past him, leaving him alone in the conference room, staring at the translucent keycard.

What had he gotten himself into?