It’s difficult being a leader.
A big part of it is that being a leader isn’t a single activity that you can simply be good or bad at; it’s a relationship with those you lead, and any skill that depends on others is, by nature, not fully within your own control.
There are a multitude of ways to lead, there are types of leaders who work well with some people and horribly with others, there are times when leaders need to listen and trust their team to play their parts, and there are times when leaders need to plug their ears and put on a one-man show.
There are times when a leader is equipped with all the knowledge necessary to direct their team to carry out the plan, there are times when a leader’s intuition is needed to deal with unforeseen roadblocks in the plan, and there are times when the plan has gone horribly wrong and nobody, not even the leader, has a goddamn idea what the fuck is going on or what to do, but the mere presence of a leader is enough to ease the team’s fears, as they can safely remove the burden of responsibility from their shoulders and carry on with confidence. Of course, that still leaves the leader completely lost and they do not get the benefit of shouldering the burden of responsibility on anyone else, but, if things do go well and the plan succeeds in the end, the leader does get all the praise, so it’s probably worth it in the end.
Many people are perfectly fine not being the leader. They don’t care for the pressure and responsibility, and are perfectly fine carrying out another’s orders when the need arises. But some people desire to be leaders, and those who aspire for leadership tend to feel that hunger very strongly.
Zeo was one such individual. Like every child, he’d grown up desiring to be someone great; a hero of legend just like the stories he’d loved reading and hearing about as a child — a humble swordsman embarking on an adventure that culminated in leading a ragtag team of companions into an epic battle with a god threatening to destroy the planet.
And with that fantasy came the expected prospect of leadership; the hero of legend was the one who led his band of adventurers, after all. It was his job to serve as the beacon of hope in times of darkness. It was his job to rally the people to band together and fight with their hearts and souls as one. It was his job to take the first step onto the battlefield, sword drawn, and vanquish any foes that stood in his way.
He’d had a taste of leadership in his childhood Class G, leading his fellow rugrats along the beach to investigate little coves and pick up shiny rocks from the sand.
He’d lost that role of leadership in the ten years following his graduation from Class G, but had regained it during his reunion with them at the ultrapulse in Radecross. And that time, they’d been able to go on a proper adventure. He’d inspired the others to take up arms against the terrorist threat, and he’d led the charge, battling the villain head-on and defeating him in a climactic final battle.
And now, once again, the role of leadership had come into his grasp, and this time, he was determined to make the most of it. This was no elementary school tenure, no short vacation that took place over a mere few days; no no, this time, he was in it for the long haul.
He was now the designated leader of Bolt Team — his own squad at the Frieden Battle Academy. He’d been marked as a special S-Rank Captain, and the school had placed faith in him and his future.
Finally, it was time to start filling the pages of his own heroic tale of legend. This is where his legacy would truly begin.
“I’m not taking orders from you,” said Clyff, practically conjuring up a brick wall in the path of Zeo’s wild-running fantasies.
“H-huh?” he asked, having been barely cognizant of his real world surroundings amidst his daydreaming.
The freshman class had been summoned to the open fields of the campus for combat exercises, specifically within their squads. The squads led by the S-Rank students were immediately called to the front by Instructor Kirk, as they were set to showcase their abilities first.
As Kirk went through each S-Rank squad one by one, distributing their weapons and equipment to the students within them, Clyff had dropped his little mutinous comment while the Instructor was occupied with Luna’s squad.
Clyff rolled his eyes at Zeo’s dumbfounded expression. “I saw you at the entrance exams; you’re not S-Rank material. They only let you in because of your rare Install.”
“Oh, you mean my Lightning Install? Is it really that big a deal?” Zeo asked, still caught off guard by the sudden slander.
“Don’t play dumb.”
Zeo kept as cool a head as he could, choosing to throw in a casual chuckle to try and help lighten the mood. “Well, to be honest, I’d probably agree with you that I’m nothing special, haha. I’m not exactly sure why I’m an S-Rank either, but-”
He didn’t have time to finish his sentence as Instructor Kirk finally approached Bolt Team, calling for them to stand at attention as he handed out their equipment. Zeo figured it was a good idea to see what his teammates preferred working with; Clyff had some pair of bracelets, Amber a rifle of some sort, and Roxie, somewhat surprisingly to him, carried a hefty looking warhammer.
“Bolt Team, you’ll be up first,” the Instructor said, his absurdly-deep voice immediately enrapturing each member’s ears.
Another lighthearted laugh from Zeo. “Ha, no pressure, huh?”
Kirk gave a grin in response. “It’ll be a simple exercise; work as a team and take out all the training bots in the time limit. We’re not expecting the world yet; none of you have fought alongside one another. This is mostly just to assess where you all currently stand.”
Roxie suddenly poked her head around Zeo’s side to catch the Instructor’s attention. “Whoa, your voice is, like, really hot! Don’tcha think so, Amber?!”
The Beasterizer girl didn’t seem very appreciative of the sudden shift in attention towards her, retreating inward (and even folding her floppy dog ears over her eyes in the process). “Wh-wh-what?! Why would y-you ask me that?!”
Luckily, she was spared further embarrassment as Instructor Kirk continued on without bothering to acknowledge the comment. He handed Zeo his twin swords, with a noticeable glint in his eye. “Remind me again what art you said you’re trained in?”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Typhoon Style, sir,” Zeo responded, strapping the scabbards behind his waist as he preferred to keep them. “The style developed by Master Gwynt, of the Blade Dancers.”
With a nod of the head, Kirk simply said, “Looking forward to seeing more of it,” before directing the other S-Rank squads to back up a bit.
The doors of a storage unit settled at the back of the field suddenly opened up, and out came a swarm of training bots. They looked quite similar to knights, though they moved far too artificially for the illusion to hold up for very long. They also didn’t appear to walk on two feet properly, instead relying on tank treads. Each one was equipped with a various set of weapons — a sword and shield here, a spear there, a comical set of gigantic spring-loaded boxing gloves over yonder, etc
The bots spread out across the open field, some grouped together in little squadrons, others with ranged weapons lining the perimeter. There were too many to properly count, as well, a clear sign of the challenge the Battle Academy students would be facing.
“You have three minutes,” Kirk stated. “Go!”
Zeo silently cursed to himself at the fact they hadn’t even had time to set up some kind of game plan before they were thrust into the challenge. From his previous combat experiences, he knew this test would certainly be an uphill battle, especially for four people, three of whom he didn’t know the combat capabilities of.
Still, he tried his best to be the leader as he sprinted towards the closest training bots, hands reaching for the hilts of his swords. “Everyone spread out and take out the ones closest to us! We’ll move forward in waves as we-!”
However, Clyff, true to his earlier words, chose not to take commands from him, and he didn’t bother rushing forward like his other three teammates. Instead, his hands calmly moved to his forehead, forming a triangle shape with his fingers, eliciting a distorted, roaring voice:
SYNC!
Clyff’s eyes became momentarily bathed in a purple light as he scanned over as many of the training bots as he could. A matching purple glow emanated from behind the visors and eyeholes of the bots’ helmets, causing their arms to go limp.
Clyff began to take a few steps forward, and the eight or so bots with similarly-glowing eyes began to mimic him, walking towards the incoming members of Bolt Team.
“Whoa, that’s pretty freaky!” Roxie blurted out, head turned to the side to watch the bots inch forward like zombies.
As much as Zeo didn’t want to admit it, it had been an impressive and helpful move, and he made sure to take advantage of it by dashing forward at a lightning-quick speed, drawing his blades at the same time. Two swirling slash arcs appeared in the wake of his dash, chopping a good five of the bots to pieces.
Back at the beginning of the course, Instructor Kirk brought his fingers to his chin, stroking them. “Pretty damn quick,” he mumbled. “Doing two full spins in the blink of an eye….That’s definitely what she used as well….”
There were three remaining bots in the first wave, but Zeo knew he’d have to rely on his teammates to take them out, as trying to cross the gap and do it himself would cost them valuable time on their combat exercise. “Roxie! Amber! Take out those other three!”
Roxie, still sprinting forward, warhammer bouncing along the grass behind her, extended her free hand out, thumb up. “You got it, dude!”
As she approached the two bots closest to her, she suddenly dug her heels into the grass, taking hold of her hammer in both hands, swinging the giant weapon around in a wide circle, completely obliterating the bots and reducing them to scrap.
Now, as impressive as her power appeared to be, her control seemed a bit lacking, as she ended up throwing herself off-balance and clumsily bumping into Amber, who shrieked and dropped her rifle into the grass.
The rifle fired out a thin laser beam straight forward, piercing through the head of the last remaining bot of the first wave, to Zeo’s pleasant surprise, although the laser beam also managed to kill a poor innocent bird flying overhead as well, reducing it to a smoking heap of charred meat.
Amber scrambled over to the dead bird, bowing her head low against the grass. “I-I-I’m so s-s-sorry!”
As entertaining as that was, Zeo knew the two girls being momentarily out of it would greatly slow them down for the next few moments until they get re-compose themselves, and it greatly decreased their chances of being able to complete the exercise in time.
After dashing through the next cluster of training bots, he tossed his swords into the air, then brought his hands to his chest, forming an invisible sphere between them.
LIGHTNING!
All eyes on the practice field centered their attention on Zeo at the sound of the rare Install being set into his Heart Slot, most with pure curiosity, and others (*cough*Clyff*cough*) with annoyance.
Zeo crossed his arms in front of his chest and released them, firing a bright-green X of lightning energy forward, which tore through a line of the training bots. He then pressed his fingers to the heels of his shoes just before catching his falling swords.
« ART! »
〚RIDE THE LIGHTNING! 〛
To most of the spectators, Zeo appeared to vanish into a flash of green lightning in the first half of a single moment, and appear on the far side of the field by the storage shed in the second. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, rumors spread.
In Zeo’s mind, Bolt Team would have a much better shot at completing the objective if they attacked from both sides of the field rather than trying to cover the wide field together one wave at a time.
Of course, with his reappearance, he would have to adjust his strategy and work alone, as his teammates were too far away to be of any assistance. He was immediately put on the defensive as the closest training bots began lunging at him with swords and clubs, and it took all of his Typhoon Style training to spin and dance around and through them, avoiding as many strikes as he could and deflecting the ones he couldn’t.
In the midst of that action, Instructor Kirk’s powerful voice managed to soar across the battlefield and hit his ears clearly, as though he were much closer than he actually was. “Two minutes remaining!”
Zeo gritted his teeth, ducking beneath a sword swing and spinning in a quick circle, decapitating two of the training bots. As he blocked the downward chop of an axe, he glanced over at the rest of the battlefield. There were still tons of training bots to go, and they were already a third of the way through the time limit.
On the other side of the field, Roxie pushed herself off of the ground, not bothering to dust the grass and dirt from her legs. “Oh, crap! We gotta kick this shit into high gear!”
She threw her hands out in front of her in a dramatic pose, and yelled, “C’mon, Kiyo! Blast these suckers!”
A spectral fox of bright orange flames burst from within Roxie’s body and onto the battlefield. The flames emanating from his body threw out the occasional loose ember that singed the grass around him.
The fox spirit turned his head back to face Roxie. “For real for real?!”
“Go for it, dude! As fast as you can!”
“HEEEEEEEEEEELL YEEEEEEEEAH!”
The flaming fox took off in a mad dash across the open field, barreling into training bots like a wild cannonball. Some he swiped at with his claws, and some he took hearty bites out of. Though his body was shaped very similarly to an average fox, with each attack he performed, the flames distorted and transformed into bigger, wider, more abstract shapes; whatever was necessary in order to pull off the maneuver.
Soon the battlefield was alight with orange flames as the wild fox spirit got to work mowing the enemies down. Off to the side, Amber blinked in surprise at the whole ordeal before turning to Roxie. “Y-you’re a S-Spiritizer, Roxie?”
“Yup, yup!” Roxie reached over to pick up her warhammer, thrusting it high into the sky before calling out to her fox spirit. “Save some for me too, Kiyo!”
A smile appeared on Zeo’s face. “Now that’s more like it!” he called out, though it was probably impossible for the others to hear him over the sounds of Kiyo’s blasts of flames and manic fox yelping.
There were still a considerable number of training bots left, but completing the exercise did seem viable, at least.
“One minute remaining!”