Chapter 113: Tactics
Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC
As expected, Sunday didn’t bring any more surprises. We mostly chilled inside our respective rooms in the morning. Then we spent the rest of the day in one of the countless parks across campus.
Alina is still giving me a few awkward glances, but I think she’s slowly coming around and starts accepting things. I’m back in my Sara Green disguise, of course, which seems to comfort her a bit.
On another note, Tim is finally back. He’s been missing for over a week now. He didn’t say much… Just said hi, and then left again, saying he had to catch up on last week’s lessons.
It’s a bit weird, as he acted like nothing had happened. Sure, he doesn’t know that I know that he is some high-ranking Noble, but still. One doesn’t vanish for over a week and then return so nonchalantly…
The four of us all decided at that moment that we’re going to grill him during the Exploration course on Monday.
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Said Monday is right now, and I’m currently on my way to my second beginner lesson for Space magic. I find Tim already sitting inside the classroom and decide to sit next to him again.
“Hi, Tim.”
He jumps a little. “Oh, hi, Sara. How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks,” I grin at him. “Is everything alright with you? You were gone for a while…”
“Yeah, more or less. I had to deal with a few things. Mostly talk with my friend at RMA about all the Earth things. Then he asked me to accompany him back home and talk with his parents.”
He returns my grin. “That reminds me, I’ve got a surprise for you all. I’ll tell you during the Exploration course.”
I have to suppress a laugh. It’s like he’s not even trying anymore. That excuse was so bad… Still, I decide to let it slide for now. I think it’s funnier to expose his not-so-little secret when our whole crew is together. Who knows, maybe he’ll even tell us who he really is and wins me that bet with Vic.
Anyway, while we were talking, instructor Renner entered the room and is about to start the lesson…
It’s not really interesting today, as our class continues learning the Personal Teleportation spell. This means we spend most of our time in zero gravity and have to use magnetic boots to stay on the ground. Instructor Renner uses the same spell he used last time to stay anchored on the ground and moves from student to student to give some pointers.
I use the time to watch his spell very closely. I can almost read it for the lack of better words. By the time we’re halfway through the lesson and Renner calls for a short break, more than half the class managed to pull off a simple teleport at least once. I think I’m also close to trying out that anchoring spell on my own.
I do just that after the break. I sit down and focus. With my eyes closed, I start building the spell. I use all the insights I had from watching instructor Renner and weave them together. My Space Sense starts doing some heavy lifting, and I once again realize just how overpowered that ability is.
Finally, the spell locks in, and I feed it a little power. I focus down on my feet and see Space magic gathering there. It connects my boots to the ground. With a shrug, I switch off the magnets in my boots, and with a pleasant surprise, I stay secured to the floor.
Yes!
That’s when a notification shocks me out of my trance, and I lose hold of the spell, as it’s still new and unfamiliar. Still, the notification brings a smile to my face, and with a quick teleport, I’m back on the ground again – this time with my magnets turned back on. Still, it was worth it, as I’ve just got another prize for a successful exploit!
I practice the spell for the remainder of the lesson and earn an appreciating nod from instructor Renner at the end of the lesson. Then, Tim and I are off to grab something to eat. After that, it’s time for the Exploration course.
We meet up with the others, and then I teleport us back up to the space station. Sam really seems to be a very hands-on teacher, as she sends every student group to their ship, after assigning them to the groups who don’t have their own ships.
A little bit later, we find ourselves on the bridge of the Stargazer and watch a hologram of Sam floating next to the big window in the front.
“Alright, can everyone hear me?” Hologram Sam asks, and I hear a few affirmative replies, while my group just nods.
“Good, then the first order of business is taking those beauties out for a spin. I’ll send you a route, just have the AIs follow it. Please don’t take control on your own for now. We’ll just be circling the station for an hour. That will be enough for today. Just try to get a bit of a feel for your ships.”
A file containing a short route around the station appears next to the hologram, and I quickly forward it to Clara. She immediately locks it in, and the Stargazer starts moving. We’re the second fastest ship out. To my surprise, the fastest one is the small freighter. I didn’t expect that.
The short tour finishes all too quickly, and we find ourselves back inside the classroom aboard the station. There, Sam asks us if we all managed to hire a Senior Space Mage. Except for a single group, everyone answers yes and Sam smiles.
“Perfect, then I’ll be the Senior Mage for you guys until you find someone else.” She nods at the group, who in turn sighs in relief.
Then, Sam continues. “Be sure to bring your Seniors with you next week. We’ll be going out of the system for another short trip with our starships. Also please make sure that your Monday evenings are free, as I can’t promise that we’ll be returning on time every week. Now, we still have enough time, so here’s a list of all possible systems you can explore in this course. You have the remainder of the class to decide.”
Our group huddles together, and we go over the list. We quickly have a list of five favorites, though two immediately get crossed off as two other groups were faster in grabbing them for themselves.
In the end, we decide to explore the Vexton System. It’s pretty far away, but that shouldn’t pose a problem. What caught our interest is that one of the planets there is a perfect distance away from the local star and still, there hasn’t been any effort in settling there. That made everyone of us very curious and now our goal is to find out why. Sam grins broadly when we tell her our decision but stays silent otherwise. After that, the lesson ends.
After teleporting back down to the planet, I say goodbye to the others and make my way back to the Gravity Ball fields. I belatedly realize that both Tim and I forgot to do what we wanted to do. Neither did I grill him about his Noble heritage, nor did he tell us that we’ve got a spot on the Earth adventure. Well… I guess we have to do that tomorrow then. I send everyone a message to meet up after classes tomorrow.
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But now it’s finally time for our tactic talk! When I walk closer, I catch sight of Drew who is already waiting at the entrance. Alec is still missing, so I walk up to Drew and greet him.
He jumps a little when he hears my voice and turns to look at me. “Oh, hi, Sara. How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks. Are you ready to get some matches done today?”
He nods eagerly. “Oh, absolutely. I went over so many recordings over the weekend, and man, this could really work. You’ll have to play exceptionally, but if you do, we’ll be unstoppable. I’ve got some additional ideas as well, but that can wait until we can form a complete team of seven.”
“Nice, that’s great to hear,” I reply. “I’ll be right back.”
I walk over to the changing rooms and quickly change into my sports clothes. When I step back outside, Alec is there too and talks with Drew. Next to him is an unfamiliar girl. She’s about my height and her hair is so black that it seems to be swallowing the light around her. She must have seen my movement in the corner of her eyes, as her gaze immediately snaps onto me when the door closes behind me. Her eyes are blazing green with a few brown specks mixed in. She nudges Alec, and he looks at me too.
He starts smiling and calls out. “Hi, Sara. Good to see you. You look ready, shall we start?”
The others are already in their sports clothes, so nothing is holding us back. I return his smile and nod. “Yeah, let’s do this.”
I walk the few meters back to the others and hold out my hand to the new girl. “Hi, I’m Sara, nice to meet you.”
She actually sniffs and her nose wrinkles. “I’ve heard your name before… You may call me Lady Baxton,” she replies with a disdainful tone.
I give her a flat look. A Noble, really? And she sounds even worse than that Charles dude. I look at Alec and before I can raise an eyebrow in question, I notice his hand before his mouth. He’s shaking from trying to suppress his laughter.
What is happening?
I look at Drew. He’s the same, but a bit more subdued. Then I hear a high-pitched laugh and my gaze snaps back to Lady Baxton. She’s bent over and laughs so hard that she gasps for air.
When she gets herself back under control, she looks at the scowl on my face and starts giggling again. Then finally, she manages to stop. “Sorry, I just had to.” This time her voice is cheerful, and the disdain is gone.
“I’m Amanda, nice to meet you.” She grabs the hand I’m still holding out and shakes it.
“What the hell was that?” I ask when I find my words again.
“Sorry again, it’s a habit of me… I always play the haughty Noble when I meet new people. Their faces are so funny every single time. You should have seen yours. It was one of the best.”
Okaaaaay… I look at Alec and he nods. “It’s true, she did the same with me and Drew just now. And I have to admit, both of your faces have been funny.”
I return my scowl to Amanda. “So you’re not a Noble…?”
“Oh, I sure am, but you know how things are. If you’re not the heir, being part of a Baronial family is pretty much useless. I’m no different than you all. I’m truly sorry if my behavior offended you.”
She sounds sincere… Let’s just try her out in the game, I guess. I shrug. “It’s okay… It’s just that I had one bad encounter with a Noble already… That got me banned in every restaurant in the city for a while.”
Amanda looks at me in shock. “What the fuck? Who did that? Tell me and I wring them out! That’s so illegal in so many ways. Did they forget about the Game? It’s sacred. You did report it, right?”
Wow, I didn’t expect her to explode like this. “Yeah, everything’s cleaned up now, and I guess he’s in a lot of trouble.”
Amanda nods in relief. “Serves him right. Seriously though. If there is anything, tell me. It’s the least I can do after the stunt I pulled.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s get started, we’ve wasted enough time.”
We finally enter the field. I still have mixed feelings about Amanda. Sure, she apologized but she really didn’t have to do that…
Anyway, Drew sits down at his uncommon spot right next to our goal, and with a flick of his wrist, our catchers start flying. Amanda and Alec line up at their positions. We’re obviously not playing with a full team, as there are still three spots to fill, but it shouldn’t matter that much.
I also get in position and connect my interface to the playing field’s network. It’s a function I learned over the weekend: The fields can simulate opponents! I tap in the parameters, and four holograms of other players appear on the opposite half of the field. That’s also why the missing players shouldn’t matter. We’re simply playing 4v4.
“I could take over the simulation,” Clara chimes in. “That should give you more realistic opponents.”
I tilt my head a bit. “You can?” I whisper and she confirms again. “That’s great, please do so!”
The simulated opponents come alive, and a holographic ball appears in the middle of the field. We can’t play against holograms with a real ball after all.
“Are you ready?” I ask, and everyone nods. Drew also casts his Group Communication spell which enables us to speak mentally. Clara takes the nods as the go-ahead sign, and we start playing.
The simulated team has the first ball, and Clara immediately starts pressing us hard. Amanda as our hybrid player is needed as an additional defender, and she coordinates heavily with Alec. Drew and I, on the other hand, start readying our first counterattack. He positions his catchers at seemingly random positions. They aren’t random of course, but it only starts making sense if I manage to teleport to the right spots at the right time.
Still, that doesn’t matter that much right now, as Alec misses intercepting a crucial pass from one of the attackers to a catcher. Clara has now clear sight on our goal and immediately capitalizes on it. She angles the catcher so that the ball gets deflected right toward our goal.
“Shit!” Alec curses.
“I can get it if I move one catcher backward,” Drew replies with a calm voice.
“Don’t bother, their jumper will change the direction of the ball once you’re in position,” Amanda sounds a bit resigned. “Why are we playing without a goalkeeper anyway? That’s stupid.”
Now it’s my turn to shine. A smile forms on my face. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this! But I need you as an attacker now, Amanda. We’re going to do a counterattack!”
“Really?” She doesn’t sound convinced.
“Yes, please trust me”
“Alright, I guess…”
Thanks to Drew’s Communication spell, all our planning happened in barely a second, so it’s still enough time for me to get the ball. Amanda shrugs and starts running forward.
I cast a Teleportation spell, but don’t trigger it yet. Instead, I wait and focus on the ball.
There! A flicker of simulated Space magic, thanks to integrated Magitech emitters in the playing field. It’s still enough for my Space Sense to latch onto the position where Clara’s jumper hologram will appear. I trigger my spell, and appear right before them, already mid-swing.
I hit the simulation of the ball, and it’s off toward the first of Drew’s catchers. From there on, I continue to do quick teleports all across the field while always playing the ball to the next of Drew’s positioned catchers.
This works out until I’m about to pass the ball to the penultimate catcher. Clara’s jumper appears in my way, and her first defender blocks the last catcher while the other blocks Amanda.
“Alec, how good is your passing?”
“Not bad, why you’re asking?”
I give him a quick outline of a plan that just formed in my head.
He grins and starts running to the right. “Bring it on!”
Instead of passing the ball toward Drew’s catchers or Amanda, I kick the ball backward to Alec. He gets it right next to the edge of the field and swings his bat. I grin broadly as everything plays out perfectly. As Alec is positioned elsewhere, he has a clear pass to Amanda and immediately gets the ball to her.
She is a bit surprised, but still manages to control the ball. She feints with her bat, then kicks the ball into the goal. The goalkeeper is without chance. We score!
“Pause game,” Amanda calls out loud and Clara obliges.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that to turn out that good. Seriously, Sara, are you a hidden Gravity Ball genius? Who comes up with things like that on the fly?”
“Uhh…” I start. I don’t know what to say.
Alec comes to the rescue. “She might be! But she’s our genius. Let’s continue and check if we can keep up like this without a goalkeeper.”
We continue playing. I don’t manage to save every ball, but together with Drew’s catchers, we get most of them. On the offensive side, things are more mixed. Clara gets very good at intercepting our attacks, but in the end, we still manage to win by a small margin.
When the game stops we are all exhausted and sweat like hell. “Holy smokes, that was intense!” I call out between gulps of air.
“True,” Alec replies and waves the sweat out of his face. “Since when are those simulations that good anyway?”
“He’s right! That wasn’t just the hardest difficulty. What did you do, Sara?”
“I… Uh, I let my AI take over… Clara?”
She connects to a speaker. “Well, I took the liberty and gave you a proper challenge. Congratulations, you just won against the training simulation that the Terran Spartans are using.”
Everyone is silent and stares at the speaker. Amanda gulps. “We just won against a simulation of the national team?”
“I guess so…”
Amanda rushes over and hugs me. “Do you know what that means? If we pull that off at the final tryouts, we’re in the team without a doubt!”
“She’s right. If that really was the Spartan’s training program, we have nothing to fear. Thanks for getting me on the team, Sara.” I can hear the excitement in Drew’s voice.
“Nah, don’t thank me yet. We still have to convince the coaches. And I couldn’t have pulled it off without all of you.”
“Don’t be so modest, you’re an exceptional player,” Alec replies.
I guess I have to take some of the praise… “Thanks, guys. Then let’s rock this on Friday, alright!”