Quest Academy: Silvers, page 44
Rather than just naming the students he wanted, Gerard took it upon himself to gloat. “Since I’m going first, I’d likely be able to make a cohesive team…but then I was thinking to myself, why not take all the top Offense people? I’d have the best attacking strength, and it would remove the available attackers from the other teams.” He grinned as he started to look around the room, making it feel more like he was choosing his victims than assembling a team to work with him.
Rust sighed as he gestured for Gerard to continue, but not before making his opinion known. “You’re not going to earn any additional points for composition, and it’s a strategy that will leave you vulnerable against Defense-heavy teams. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”
Gerard shook his head and pointed into the crowd. “Bolt! You’re my first pick.”
Sal watched as a student suddenly appeared beside Gerard, looking somewhat disgruntled at being selected by the lower rank. It took Sal a moment to realize that he was the incredibly fast guy who could wield lightning. Divinity had spoken about him on the first day, and they had met briefly at the party. A few of the other low ranks looked dismayed at Bolt being taken by Gerard. It looked like he was a top pick for a lot of the team captains.
“Rogue is my next pick,” Gerard declared as he pointed to another area in the crowd.
Rust sighed and looked at Gerard with barely contained distaste. “Use their real names.” He looked out toward the group of students. “That goes for all of you. Hero names are earned through hard work and perseverance. You may all be aspiring toward that, but you’re not there yet.”
With a roll of his eyes, Gerard pointed again at the same location. “Michael, you’re my pick.”
A slender student walked toward the center of the room with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look particularly pleased with his team captain but shared a knowing look with Bolt.
Sal turned around to Divinity with a confused expression, and she filled him in immediately.
“Rogue. Has a stealth skill and he’s trained in martial arts. He’s really good.”
Nodding, Sal turned in time to see the third member being picked.
“Archer!” Gerard practically shouted before turning to look at Rust. “No, it’s his surname. It’s real.”
Rust rotated his hand, urging Gerard to get on with his final selection, which turned out to be another male student.
“Rodrigo,” Gerard finished with a grin as he looked at his assembled team.
He had two high-mobility and high-damage attackers with Bolt and Rogue. Archer was great for ranged attacks, and Rodrigo could burn pretty much anything to a crisp. It was the perfect team composition in his eyes, and judging from the smug expression on his face, he felt incredibly confident in his choices.
“Stand over there to one side. Next up, Harold Gunn. Do you have your selections ready?” Rust gestured for the student to move to the center of the ring. His approach was a stark contrast to Gerard who seemed to be terrified of all the eyes that were resting on him. It became apparent very quickly why he was so nervous as he glanced over to Gerard’s assembled team.
Rust had to lean over to hear the student’s whispers and an aggravated sigh escaped the lecturer’s lips as he turned to the rest of the room. “I thought it would have been obvious to you all, that your first picks might be taken by someone else…please ensure that you have a few backups in mind, so you’re not standing up here with me without a clue of who to pick!”
Harold looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him up, and Sal felt bad for the guy. After a few moments of deliberation, and being informed by Rust that Gerard had taken the 11th, 14th, 18th and 23rd Ranks from the cohort, he made his decision. Without any context of who they were, Harold picked the 12th, 13th, 15th, and 16th ranked. Rust stared at him in disbelief as Harold welcomed each of his new team members. The simplistic nature of his selection was oddly endearing, and Sal couldn’t help but hope he did well.
He looked at Divinity; she just shook her head. “Relegated.”
The next hour passed quickly as all the teams were created, leaving a smaller pool available. With every new team created, the selection process took a little longer as each team captain tried to work with the remaining options. By all accounts, the last good options were taken by Victoria as the fourteenth team was assembled.
There was an Energy Manipulator left in the pool of students, and she snapped her up gratefully. It caused a ripple of anguish through the remaining team captains, with Nova cursing audibly from the other side of the room. Her other pick was a Defense type, which almost caused Nova to scream. What made the entire experience that much worse was Gerard laughing with a few of the other low-rank captains. Despite Rust’s warnings for them to be respectful, they continued jeering at any signs of dismay.
When Sal’s turn finally arrived, he could see the almost apologetic expressions on the remaining student faces. It was like they knew they were deadweight, and they didn’t want to drag someone else down with them. Despite that, he was familiar with all their faces and profiles.
With a wide smile, he pointed out the first girl. “Blathnaid.”
Rust raised an eyebrow at the fact that Sal knew the student’s name, but nobody was more shocked than Blathnaid herself. She actually pointed at herself in surprise, and Sal had to nod at her before she awkwardly shuffled toward him. Sal turned around and pointed at a guy who was idly scratching his beard and staring at a piece of the floor in front of him.
“Anthony.”
With a startled glance, Anthony looked up and just laughed as he walked to the center of the room. With a turn to the other side of the room, Sal pointed at another figure who was grinning at him.
“Jack.”
The shorter man pulled his long red hair back in a ponytail as he moved to the center of the room.
Sal turned around almost in a full circle, and wondered why the remaining students didn’t just huddle together to make it easier to spot them. He almost missed his last guy because he was practically reclining on his terminal out of boredom.
“Barry! He’s my last pick. Blathnaid, Anthony, Jack, and Barry.”
Rust watched him curiously. “Did you memorize all the student’s names?”
Sal was tempted to tell the truth, but instead just lied. “Of course. That was the assignment you gave us. Learn about everyone in the class.”
With a wide grin, Rust shook his head as he turned to Divinity. “By process of elimination, you have your team. We’ll be taking into consideration how the teams were formed, so please don’t let this process get under your skin.” Raising his voice for everyone to hear, Rust clapped. “That’s it for today. Next class, we’ll be going through basic formations, and if we’ve got time, weapon selection! You’re all dismissed.”
Sal looked over at Divinity, who was greeting all of her team members. Their surprise was evident on their faces, and Sal almost felt bad for them knowing what sort of hellish training they were going to be subjected to.
***
“So, let’s hear the excuses!” Jez laughed as he looked at the assembled crowd of students. “Who here has yet to earn a single Q-Cred since you were last here? Hands up.” He waited expectantly and seemed no way surprised when more than half of the students raised a hand. With a brief nod, he raised his palms. “Stand up and stay standing. Since you’re only getting your bearings, and there’s so much happening right now…I’ll give you all the benefit of the doubt. Maybe one of you will be exemplary in the future? I hope to be proved wrong about each and every one of you.”
Jez’s smile was wide as he watched them get to their feet. “We’re going to have a little reshuffle of the class. Each of you who is standing, I want you to move to the sides of the class. Stand alongside the walls and pay attention. You’ll be standing for the rest of the lesson, and you’re going to listen to your peers who actually went out and did their assignment.” A few uncertain glances passed between the students as they looked back at Jez in disbelief. With a hearty laugh, he looked at them with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Did I stutter?”
As they were moving, Jez addressed the seated students. “Now, as much as I’d love to hear all their inventive excuses…none of that will benefit you. Each of you has earned Q-Cred since our last conversation…except Jeremy.” Jez’s eyes snapped up to one of the seated students, who balked at the sudden call-out. “I don’t know why Jeremy is still sitting, when both he and I know that he hasn’t earned a single thing. Maybe he got confused or hoped that I don’t keep an eye on all of your progress. What do you think, Jeremy?”
With a start, Jeremy got to his feet and slid into a gap at the wall, keeping his head down low as he pulled out his tablet, as if it would shield him from Jez’s glare.
With a groan, Jez turned and pointed to the door. “Jeremy, I can stomach failure. It’s a part of every worthwhile endeavor, but I cannot stomach liars…so, was it an error of judgment, or did you just try to pull a fast one? Because I’m very much inclined to kick you out of this class right now.”
Sal watched everything play out in shock. The tempo had completely changed from their first lesson. Jeremy launched into an explanation of how he had managed to buy and sell off the Credit Store, and that the transaction only went through that afternoon. He produced his Q-Card for Jez to verify and explained that he thought he had successfully completed the assignment. After a gesture from Jez to throw the Q-card, Jeremy complied and Jez caught the haphazard throw with ease.
Jez looked at the Q-Card before going through his own ledger on the desk. A smile crept onto his face as he looked back at Jeremy. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the Q-Card back to Jeremy with pinpoint accuracy.
“Take your seat, Jeremy. I can admit when I’m wrong.”
Sal raised an eyebrow.
There was no apology from Jez as he turned back to the class. “Who raised more than one hundred Q-Cred?” A few hands went up and Jez smiled as he gestured to the front row. “This class will be assigned seating from now on. Front row is for top performers in the class. I’ll be allocating spot prizes for class participation and for exemplary work…which leads me to my next question. Did anyone get over a thousand Q-Cred?” Jez asked with a grin.
The disbelief on the faces in the class showed that they didn’t think it was possible. Sal wasn’t sure how he felt about drawing this sort of attention to himself, but he felt Jez’s eyes locked onto him.
“You know how I feel about liars, Mr. Argento.”
Sal reluctantly raised his hand, and Jez looked around the room. “You see that? There’s one among you who went above and beyond and reached a thousand Q-Cred…isn’t that incredible?” His grin widened even further. “What about…two thousand Q-Cred?”
Sal kept his hand in the air and didn’t dare look around for fear of looking arrogant. He didn’t want to face a lynch mob after this, and looking anything but humble would likely paint a target on his back.
“Three thousand Q-Cred? Would you look at that, Mr. Argento still has his hand in the air. I’ll put them all out of their misery now, the final tally…and the record-breaking first year result in the history of this Administration class…is four thousand Q-Cred, earned solely by Mr. Salvatore Argento here.” Jez beamed at Sal and gestured for him to look around the room.
When Sal turned, he expected looks of jealousy and hatred, but was met with expressions of amazement and wonder.
Jez laughed at the surprise on Sal’s face. “The reason for this exercise is not to name and shame…it’s to show you your peers, and for them to see what’s possible! I’d like to personally compliment you on nearly bankrupting the Credit floor. I’ve heard from some reliable sources that their in-house Appraisal team have put a bounty on your head.” Jez grinned as he clapped, and Sal was shocked when the students joined in with the round of applause. The only ones who didn’t join in were standing along the sides of the room.
Jez clicked his fingers and raised a single hand. “I didn’t think I’d be handing out a milestone prize so early, but…you’ve absolutely earned it!”
Chapter 60:
Formation
Jez presented Sal with an ornate metal box that he placed gently on the desk. The grin never left his face as he waited for Sal to open it. Feeling pretty much all the eyes in the room resting on him in that very moment, Sal obliged and lifted the lid carefully. Inside was an intricate crest made of cloth, resting on a bed of purple fabric. None of the symbols looked familiar to Sal, and he was grateful that Jez chose that moment to explain the prize to both him, and the rest of the class.
“Challenge crests! They’re earned for extraordinary achievements and are worn on your uniform for everyone to see. They are a mark of honor and acknowledgment that will set you apart from your peers. This is the first time I’ve ever acknowledged a student this early, but it’s deserved! I’ll be expecting great things from you in the future, Mr. Argento.”
Jez rapped his knuckles against the desk before moving back toward the center of the room. He picked up his ledger from his desk and read through it for a few moments before looking back up at the assembled students. His eyes moved to the sides of the room as he tapped the ledger in his hands. “It’s very easy to make excuses, or to point fingers at others. Salvatore has the Appraisal skill, so obviously it’s going to be so much easier for him, right?”
When a few of the heads at the side nodded, Jez snapped the ledger shut. “Wrong. There is a chasm between drive and ambition. All of you in this room may want to succeed, and you may have a burning ambition to be wealthy beyond measure. None of that will come to fruition without the drive to realize those goals. Mr. Argento negotiated terms with the Reavers Guild to become a preferred Appraiser, which was a relationship he didn’t have before stepping into this academy. He stayed up throughout the night and completed seventy-three, back-to-back Appraisals.”
Jez paused as he let that information sink into the crowd. Many of the seated students looked at Sal in a whole new light, but Jez wasn’t done. “I’m not standing here singing his praises just to make you all feel bad. He made a connection, negotiated terms, did the work, and has now positioned himself as an Appraiser who gets shit done. People talk, and three separate employees on the Credit floor were eager to tell me about the overnight Appraiser. That’s how you build a reputation, which leads us back to our first point of business. Reputation. What do you want to be known for?”
Jez gestured to each side of the room. “You’re standing at the sides right now because you didn’t complete your assignment. You have two avenues available to you now. Either you can let this moment steel your resolve, or you can let it break you. If you resent Mr. Argento’s success, then I’m afraid there won’t be much for you in this class. On the other hand, if you feel the heat of competition…and you want to surpass him? Then this is absolutely the place for you.” Jez laughed as he leaned against his desk.
“We’re going to be putting in thresholds from this point forward. By next week, anyone who has earned less than fifty Q-Cred will be asked to stand at the sides. Above fifty, you’re allowed to sit. Anyone who arrives with no Q-Cred earned will be asked to leave the class. Each week, the threshold will rise.” A few gasps came from the sides of the room, but Jez paid them no mind. His eyes were locked on the center of the room.
“Those who make it to the end of month one will accompany me to a private auction, where you will have the opportunity to purchase items that don’t appear in the Credit Store. If you make it to the end of the first semester, you’ll have access to a private marketplace used by the top guilds…but that’s a conversation for another day.”
Jez opened the ledger again and looked through the crowd. “So, let’s go through the rest of our rankings, shall we? Who was it that earned over a hundred Q-Cred?” The rest of the class consisted of Jez going through each earning, offering advice with snippets of praise sprinkled throughout.
Sal listened intently and found that there were quite a few enterprising individuals in the class, with one of them going so far as to sell a dating service, where they would use their ability to match-make people with similar essence types. The ones at the bottom of the list were all low tier Crafting types who tried to sell their services traditionally on the Credit Store, which Jez strongly advised against.
“We’re running out of time today but let me just finish on this note.” Jez placed his ledger back on the desk and looked around the room. “Reputation is what it all comes back to. We have an Appraiser who has positioned himself as an expert in his field and backed it up with evidence. How would he have fared as an unknown Appraiser selling his services on the Credit Store? Each of you are more than your ability, and you need to create your own personal brand. Create individual experiences with your customers so they’ll remember you and recommend you to others. Create your own market segment instead of trying to conform to what is already established! What is your value proposition? The identity behind your brand? What can you offer people that your peers cannot? Those are the questions you need to answer before you can become successful. Simply being willing to do the work isn’t enough—you need to chase down opportunities or create them for yourself!”
Jez clapped and gestured to the door. “Remember. Thresholds are now in place. Come to me next week with results, not excuses! I want to see more people sitting in this class.”
***
“I’m sorry!” Blathnaid exclaimed as she accidentally broke formation again.
Anxiety swept across her features, but Sal just raised his hands to indicate that it was completely fine. With a gesture to the others on the team that it was time for a break, Sal moved over to the side of the training area and retrieved the next batch of refreshments.
“These ones boost cohesion, so make sure to drink it all and then we’ll try again.” Sal read the label on them before handing them out to each member of his team.
