Quest Academy: Silvers, page 45
Blathnaid accepted the drink gratefully and gave him an awkward smile, while Barry’s face was a picture of reluctance. Divinity had warned Sal that Barry was likely to be an issue for the team, and if the grumbling between sessions was anything to go by, he was nearing his breaking point. Jack and Anthony took their drinks without any complaint, much to Sal’s relief.
Divinity had given Sal the instructions for the first evening of training, which was just going to be light drills of formations and switching through different stances. Even though they were basic commands that involved moving to set locations, the team was struggling.
“Are we ready to start again?” Sal asked as he placed the empty cup off to one side. Barry nodded as he drained his cup and tossed it to where Sal’s was. Blathnaid, Anthony, and Jack rushed through the rest of theirs before nodding. Sal smiled and gestured for them to retake their positions in the training area. Divinity had drawn a series of chalk shapes on the ground that showed the movements they needed to learn.
“So, that last drink was for cohesion. We’re all going to be very aware of our surroundings, the locations of one another and any sudden movements. When we familiarize ourselves with one another’s movements, we’ll be able to better predict them in the future. Well, that’s the plan at least. Any questions?”
Sal looked straight at Barry, who raised a single hand. Without missing a beat, Sal withdrew a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Barry.
“Divinity took the liberty of answering all your questions and wrote them down, so we’d save time on arguing.”
“What makes you think I was going to argue?” Barry countered as he took the piece of folded paper. He unfurled the page and his eyes darted through Divinity’s handwriting, but his facial expression didn’t give away anything. A moment later, he refolded the page and pocketed it with a sigh.
“No questions from me.”
Everyone else on the team was looking at Barry’s pocket with eager curiosity, but it was clear he had no intention of explaining the contents of the note.
Sal clapped to draw their attention back to him. “Excellent. Let’s get back to work! Vendor drinks don’t last forever and the less Q-Cred we need to spend on getting this right, the better.”
All five of them took their positions, with Sal at the very back of the group in the center. To his left and right, wide on the wings, stood Jack and Blathnaid. In front of them, tighter at the front, stood Barry and Anthony.
“Shield!” Sal shouted as he stepped forward.
Everyone moved as one, congregating together in the center with their backs facing each other. Their bodies took on a defensive stance that they didn’t fully understand, but it was how Divinity had told them to stand. A few seconds passed before Sal shouted out the next command. “Spear!” All of them blended into a line, with Barry at the very front, assuming a lazy attacking stance.
Sal stood at the very rear of the formation and looked over their progress. Divinity had only given them a few formations to start off with and wanted Sal to run them through the different options to build up their symmetry and cohesion as a team. She had her own hands full with her own team on the opposite side of the room.
“I have a question that isn’t on the note!” Barry called out from the front of the formation, causing more than a few of the others to groan in resignation.
Sal ignored him and moved through the formations another few times, and Barry thankfully followed the instructions. Sal reviewed their progression and was delighted to see that a lot of the awkward shuffling had been replaced with fluid movements. What had started with nervous laughs and a constant stream of apologies had morphed into a somewhat competent group of beginners. Even Blathnaid, who looked terrified of the team, was sliding into place gracefully with a smile on her face.
Barry’s hand waved in the air again, and Sal finally relented. “Okay, what’s the question, Barry?”
Turning around to look at Sal, Barry withdrew the note and held it up. “My original question was about the viability of our team. No offense to all of you, but we’re shit. No amount of formations and practiced movements will save us from a bolt of lightning launched at our faces.”
Barry flicked the note in his hand. “Divinity claims that if we work together and follow your schedule, we can potentially survive relegation. My question, that isn’t answered here, is how? We have zero attacking power, no defensive capability, no healing, and an overabundance of useless Supports. No offense, again.” Barry’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Sal carefully. “What happens in the future that gives us a chance?”
Sal pointed at the team that were still standing awkwardly in their last formation. “We’re going to use equipment, that’s how. I have a Rare-grade weapon that can shoot projectiles…which gives us a long-range attack. But what use will that be if one of you runs in front of it in the heat of battle and gets taken out? I’m going to work on getting the best gear for us, but anything I can’t buy or acquire, we’re going to make ourselves. That’s our competitive advantage.”
Sal had wanted to sound inspiring, but it looked like they only focused on the mention of him having a long-range weapon. Jack raised his hand for a follow-up question, but Sal continued.
“You asked what gives us a chance in the future? What saves us from a bolt of lightning? All our opponents are going to be using their essence, likely for the first time in a prolonged combat scenario. They won’t know how to pace themselves throughout group battles, so they’re likely to run out of essence very quickly. When they’re burned out and exhausted, we’ll be able to take them out if we work together as a team and seize the opportunities as they arise.”
All of them were looking at him with surprised expressions, and Jack had lowered his hand.
Sal smiled and shrugged. “The high-rank captains will likely try to solo the fights, so our countermeasures will be against a single person. The strategy for those will be to pick off the captain as soon as possible. The lower-rank captains will likely have poor leadership capabilities, or not have the respect of their team. Those fights will likely be chaotic and explosive to start, so we’ll need to really focus on defense for them. All the formations that we are going to learn in the Combat class have been dissected by Divinity. She’s created a crash course that will put us ahead of the others, and from what she’s seen in the future, it gives us a fighting chance of survival.”
Sal gestured to Jack to see whether he still wanted to ask his question, but he grinned and shook his head. Blathnaid and Anthony were the same, which left Barry. Sal turned to him to see whether he had any other questions, but instead of answering or arguing further, Barry just laughed and resumed his place in the formation.
“Those drinks aren’t going to last forever, right?”
Chapter 61:
Secrets
Sal could only watch in horror as Divinity dispatched one teammate after another. Each of them was tasked with defending against a random attack from a sequence, using basic stances and martial arts moves, but nothing could have prepared them for her wrath. Each attack started the same, with a slow and signaled trajectory that gave them time to prepare the correct counter. Divinity would then slightly increase her speed and reduce the amount of telegraphing.
Sal had managed to block her first four attacks, but the fifth had knocked him down. Before he could get to his feet, she had moved onto her next opponent, which was Barry. Surprisingly, he had lasted through the first seven attacks before being thrown over Divinity’s shoulder. Jack moved forward and was put down in two moves; Blathnaid barely made it past the first counter. Anthony got to the third counter and then Sal’s team had a momentary reprieve while Divinity fought everyone from her own team.
Their formations training had been separated, so they could learn how to work as teams. Divinity wanted to give everyone a taste of real combat before the next Combat class, so she insisted on running an extra evening training. There was a lot of reluctance, a bit of screaming and a lot of panicking from the Support members of the team, but Divinity managed to convince them that it was the best chance they had to get through the class.
With each hour that passed, Sal dreaded the attacks less and less. The anxiety and rush of adrenaline had calmed down, and he was suddenly focusing on each attack as it came, rather than moving out of panic. What genuinely surprised Sal was the sense of rivalry that was forming with Barry, who seemed to naturally adapt to everything better than Sal. Despite all his complaining, he managed to fend off Divinity for longer than anyone else, and Sal pushed harder against his limits to beat him.
Between one of the sets, Barry turned to Sal. “Professor Lombardi said that you were a Replicator? And that it was up there with Body Manipulation in terms of capability. So, why are you so weak?” Just to add salt to the wound, Barry’s face split into a grin as he gestured at the approaching form of Divinity. “Oh, looks like you’re up!”
With that said, he stepped back to give them space.
Up until this point, Divinity hadn’t exchanged much conversation with Sal, other than correcting his movements. However, on this approach, she wore a smile. “You’re thinking of using Rust’s ability?”
Sal sighed and was about to apologize when Divinity interrupted him. “I think it’s a good idea! It’ll test my own abilities, and it’ll show them that you have a few tricks of your own up your sleeve.”
He grinned as he replicated the ability, he had memorized the week before. He had been so terrified of fighting Dominic that he had weaved Rust’s Absolute Counter ability a dozen times to the point that it was practically etched into his memory. When the pattern was complete, he didn’t hesitate in activating it and felt a rush of power course through his veins.
It was a similar sensation as when he had taken the speedster’s ability, but this time was different. Sal knew instinctively that the progress he had been making with his gates had opened a whole new reserve of capability for him, and he felt more in control of the power, despite it being the first time he had ever activated it properly.
Divinity gave him a look as if to ask if he was ready, and Sal could see at least a dozen openings in her stance. He pulled back on the new power to ensure that he wasn’t adding essence into the attacks, but even with that, he felt unstoppable. At his nod, Divinity launched forward at a dizzying speed, causing everyone to gasp in shock. Her knee launched straight at Sal’s chin but met only air.
Barry’s jaw practically dropped as Sal weaved seamlessly around each of Divinity’s attacks. A single hand slapped away each incoming punch, while his foot negated any attacks that launched from below the waist. Divinity’s eyes turned a milky white and the tempo of attacks surged to the point that Sal had to activate more of the power just to keep up. His lazy defense was discarded as he started to take the fight against Divinity seriously. She moved away from his punches and kicks, and he slid out from her grapples and clinches.
Divinity saw his attacks coming and did her best to counter them, but Sal’s ability allowed him to flawlessly forestall any attack that came his way. The result was an incredible stalemate of capability, at high speed, with each of them negating the attacks of their opponent and seeking to find an opening.
Sal pulled deeper on his ability but made sure that it didn’t make his attacks stronger. He just needed them to be faster. Divinity’s laugh almost broke him out of his concentration and with that minor lapse, his body reacted, cartwheeling him backward to create space between them.
“Draw?” Divinity called out as she deactivated her power.
Sal nodded as he deactivated Rust’s ability. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth to withstand the pain that coursed through his body. The ability had allowed him to use his body to its maximum potential, but Sal lacked a lot of the mobility that it used. Each of his muscles and joints were screaming at him to curl up into a ball and die. Sal desperately wanted to listen to them, but when he opened his eyes, Divinity was handing him a cup.
“Restoration Juice. Perfect for muscle pain. You can thank me later!”
Sal very nearly chugged the entire contents of the cup in one go and enjoyed the immediate numbing of his existential pain.
“I think you’ve earned yourself a few fans,” Divinity teased as she gestured to where the two teams gaped at them in shock.
Barry shook his head with a wistful smile as he approached them. “Nice to know that our team captain isn’t a complete pushover. Maybe we do have a chance at avoiding relegation?”
Divinity cocked an eyebrow at Barry. “What’s that? You want more sparring?” Barry’s face paled as he started to back away, but Divinity was faster as she moved into an attacking stance. “Better start defending!”
Barry cursed as he defaulted into the correct pose and defended against a flurry of Divinity’s attacks.
Sal couldn’t help but appreciate how quickly he was adapting to the training, and he wasn’t the only one. The rest of the team watched the sparring intently, and when Barry got past the twelfth consecutive attack, Sal cheered for Barry, along with the others.
Maybe Divinity took that as a cue to ramp up the tempo, or maybe she was annoyed at the previous stalemate, but whatever the reason…Barry was unceremoniously flung over her shoulder, to land heavily on the ground beside Sal.
Sal extended his hand to pick Barry up, who begrudgingly accepted it. By the time he had gotten to his feet, Divinity was addressing the two teams directly.
“This was a great first night of training. You’ve learned basic formations with your own teams, led by your captain. You’ve also had individual sparring practice that was tailored for your level of capability, and then pushed outside of that comfort zone. As of right now, you’re all three weeks ahead of the Combat class in terms of theory, but you’re about a month and a half ahead in terms of combat capability. If we keep this pace up, and meet here each evening, you’ll be formidable foes for anyone who steps up against you.”
Divinity looked over at Sal and gestured for him to take the reins.
Still feeling a series of dull aches and pains, Sal gritted his teeth and straightened his back. “Could everyone send me over their uniform sizes? I’ll be working on getting us some good defensive gear.”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Blathnaid raised her hand excitedly. “Can I help with that?”
Jack glanced at Blathnaid and then at Sal before he also raised his hand. “I’d like to help too, actually. If that’s okay?”
Sal was about to tell them that it was fine when Jack persisted and gestured at the two of them. “She makes great stuff, and I’m pretty handy with runes, engraving, and enchantment.”
Blathnaid grinned as she gestured at Jack. “We’d like to contribute and not be deadweight.”
With a smile, Sal conceded. “Okay, that’s fine. You can both help with the equipment side of things. We might just end up purchasing what we need from the Credit Store. If that happens, it’ll be out of my own pocket, don’t worry.”
A collective sigh of relief came from both Jack and Blathnaid before Anthony’s hand shot into the air. Sal looked at him, and he was once again scratching at his beard.
“I can make items better, but only temporarily…and I need to be holding them the whole time. So, that Rare-grade sword would probably be an Upper Rare grade in my hands. Not sure if that’s useful or not, and I’ve never used a long-range sword before, but thought I’d mention it.”
Sal nodded slowly. It sounded like the ability Upgrade used to transform her gloves into those mechanical arms. “Thanks for letting me know. Barry, do you want to share your ability with the group?”
Barry gave Sal a thumbs-up. “As soon as I figure out what it is, I’ll let you know.”
Every head turned in his direction in absolute disbelief, but Sal went one step further and activated his eyes.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sal said as he looked at the perfect weave in Barry’s core, existing without a single knot.
Whatever it was, it looked untouched, as though it hadn’t been used before.
He stared at Barry. “Are you able to use essence control and refinement? Or do you not know how to use them either?”
Barry grinned. “Nah, they’re easy. I’m at the sixtieth gate or something.”
Sal looked over to Divinity for some semblance of support, but she was doubled over and laughing.
“Sal, your face is priceless!”
Anthony turned around to face Barry. “What about the Skill Registration? It should have given you a name of your ability. Do you know that at least?”
Barry shook his head with the same smile. “Nope. You need to activate your ability during the registration…which I didn’t know how to do, so I got a blank card.”
Barry fielded a few more questions before slumping his shoulders in defeat. Everyone was thoroughly confused as to how he managed to get into the academy without knowing his own ability, and even more confused as to how nonchalant he was about it. It was an excellent note to end their first night of training, and Divinity slid into step beside Sal as they made their way to the exit.
She looked back to where Barry was walking with the others. In low tones, she spoke to Sal. “He’s lying, by the way…about his ability. He knows exactly what it is and how to use it.” Sal turned to look at her sharply, but Divinity shook her head slightly. “I’m only telling you, so you don’t try to replicate it.”
Sal nodded. The thought had crossed his mind. It was reckless trying to replicate established powers, but to take on unknown ones was just asking for trouble. Sal wondered when he stopped being cautious about using his ability. It had only been a few weeks, but he had probably replicated more than a dozen powers by this stage. If his mother knew, he’d likely be dead.
Sal gave her a reassuring smile. “I promise I won’t try to replicate it. Do you know what it is?”
Divinity glanced at Barry, who smiled right back at her. Turning back to Sal, she shook her head. “I’ve only seen him use his powers once, but it made no sense. It’s the future that the Doom Society is taking care of. You know, with Sinclair.” Her facial expression darkened.
