Look out

It was the day for us to leave for the competition. I had my bag packed already, with all of my clothes and toiletries in it. Lucian strictly instructed us to only limit ourselves to one small backpack per person. He even provided the said bag so we don't have any queries about the size.

"If anything dangerous happens, just run first. make sure they don't follow you unless you intend them to. got it?" my mother looked at me with a lot of concern. {where did all her confidence in me go?}

"Don't press him too much." Dad separated us, "he isn't a child anymore, he can handle a few opponents."

"But he is too nice," Rita said, "he won't harm them unless they attack first."

"That's true." I commented, "but you know I won't let them leave unscathed when they do that. see you later, I will be late if I stay any longer."

"Have fun." mom said, "and no killing."

"Got it," I said and dived down the window. As I zoomed past the small water streams and reached the rendezvous point, I wondered if it was a good idea to cast a spatial circle above my bed. {Scribe, you there?}

(Miss me already?)

{Nope. I was just wondering if you were aware of things that are going to happen in the test.}

(I told you already, I have no intention of interfering with your life. could you stop calling me out already? I hate your conscious mind.)

{Alright, got it. Have a nice day.}

(Just make sure to keep your distance from the main river in the forest.) Scribe said and went silent.

"he rarely gives advice, maybe I should tell that to everybody."

"Tell what to everybody?" Lucian asked, appearing out of nowhere as usual. {even with all that training I did, he is still so much better.}

"Someone told me to keep our distance from the river in the Wyvern forest," I replied as I took a seat on the bus. Now that I was aware that it was Scribe who hates such rides, I didn't feel weird riding them.

"That is great advice." Lucian commented, "The river would be a target point for many teams. and it would be difficult to hide there. Thanks Ray, we should relay that info to the whole team." he said, nodding his head.

After we all arrived and got seated, Lucian started with greetings. "so, I take it that none of you are in bad shape. good. Let me say this again. I am grateful that all of you are willing to help me win this tournament. if I win, I will make sure that each of you gets compensated for the effort." he bowed his head, "and if we don't win, then forgive me for being a bad leader."

"Don't be so modest." Issac tried to lift Lucian's head. "you're our leader, so act like it."

"He's right." Eve commented, "being humble like this doesn't suit our leader."

"Being arrogant isn't my thing." Lucian still kept his eyes down.

"It's not arrogance we want to see." I added, "we want you to be proud. like you're proud of us, we're proud of you as well. Am I right guys?"

Everyone agreed instantly, adding their own words to the list of compliments. Lucian almost got overwhelmed, "thanks, guys. I am grateful for your support. Let's win this together."

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.

After we all calmed down, Lucian started explaining our strategy, "Make sure to keep your weapons with you. they will provide us with minimum supplies, but I am not sure about weapons yet. we should rest now, who knows if we will get rest after we get there."

The bus zoomed past mountains and a forest. As we descended south, the mountains got rarer and plains dominated the horizon. farmlands turned into cities and cities faded into villages, eventually stopping at the edge of a dense forest.

"let's go." Lucian said as officers approached the bus, "only grab your bags, and don't get out unless it's good."

"Mr. Witlock." one of the officers addressed Lucian, "your team has been assigned cabin number eight. kindly settle there after your entrance is confirmed."

"Thank you very much." Lucian motioned for everyone to stay seated. "We will be there as soon as we get all our bags."

The officers confirmed the team details and let Lucian jump back inside, who seemed to be in a rush, "Dump your weapons here. the test has already started." Lucian opened a hole in front of him, hidden from the officers.

This hole was termed 'inventory' and it's a basic way to use spatial circles. Most people don't use it because of the mana it consumes. How do you get an inventory? You just put a spatial circle inside a container and just access it when necessary.

Lucian had a room in which he used to keep all the weapon bags, with each bag having a circle made by its owner to access in case of emergency. "They are providing us weapons and supplies to use in the test, and it's best to use those," he added.

(I'll be taking over the narration now.) what? (Just focus on what you are supposed to do)

Now that Ray is focussing on the test, I will be narrating again. So where were we? oh yeah.

The team reached the cabin with their clothing bags on their back. The cabin had two stories with multiple windows on the outside. Lucian opened the door and welcomed everyone, "Bathrooms are on the right side, along with changing rooms. beds are on the upper floors, and the-"

"FOOD!" Tom shouted and sprinted inside.

"Yes, the food is in the kitchen on the left side." Lucian slumped down the couch in front of the TV. "you all are free to do as you want as long as you don't go outside. We have three hours."

The first objective was information gathering, and the team started closing each curtain and covering all the windows before relaxing. Lucian had a well-deserved rest while everyone did their best to keep the sights off the inside of the cabin. The reason for this was the sights set on them.

"There are five people outside, hiding in the plants," Tom muttered, still focused on his food.

"two more are watching us from their cabins," Sarah added, looking through a small hole left deliberately in window covers. "They are focussed on this window."

"I've checked all the spots." jin dropped down from the ceiling. "no moles anywhere."

"there might still be some outside." Terrence was still cautious. "We never know who might be listening."

"It doesn't matter," Eve said smugly. "They can't beat our strategy."

"It's giving me the creeps." Tom rubbed his thumb on the can of soda he was holding. "being aware of all the eyes peeled on us right now."

"That just means your training has paid off." Lucian winked as he said that, "our security is in your hands after all."

This was a loose attempt at throwing the eavesdroppers off, no one would believe it. and that's why it was going to work. because it doesn't matter if they do believe it. What matters is to get the message across that the roles for each person were set.

That's what everyone thought. but not everything goes as planned, does it? There are thirteen teams here, with each member being hand-picked by the candidates. their teamwork and leadership skills were all on par with each other.

not everyone was going to be fooled by this conversation. The good part was that this was a small part of the strategy derived on the bus. Let me show you part of that conversation.

"So we just run?" Evan asked.

"if possible, yes," Terrence replied. "The point is not to let them know which group you belong to."

"I don't understand. Do we fight or not?" Finley shook his head in irritation.

"Think of it this way," Jin explained calmly, "if you can run without fighting, then run."

"And what if they piss me off?"

"easy." Evan bumped his knuckles together, "we knock them out in one hit."

"Exactly." Lucian showed a wicked smile, "stay as much hidden as possible. don't run towards the base camp unless you're absolutely sure of having no pursuers."

This was how most of the planning went. you get the gist, right? because if you don't, I can't call you anything that will mean intelligent.

Anyway, the team waited for an important announcement that was due any minute now. the tv was turned on and a waiting screen was staring back at them.

"All thirteen teams are requested to register with a code name. you have twenty minutes. Please put the name in the envelope provided." and right on cue, an envelope slid under the main door.

"Any suggestions?" Lucian asked, picking up the envelope.

"scepter." Eve replied immediately, "Symbol suited for royalty, isn't it?"

it was unanimous, and the name was accepted immediately. Everyone was better at accepting the opinions of other teammates now.

The name was given to officers that arrived on time. They informed me that the team names were kept confidential until tomorrow, that's when the test would start. This was the main issue, as this meant that the next objective will change.

"Start plan two right now." Lucian shouted, "tom, check the radius."

"On it." Tom left through the upper floor window.

"Terrence, get your squad and check for people outside Tom's range."

"Roger that," Terrence said and left with Aisha, Sylph, and Evan.

"Ray and Jin. Recon, start from the farthest cabin."

"Got it." Both left immediately, going as fast as possible while staying hidden.

Just as the opening came into view, they split paths and started looking for ways to infiltrate. Ray climbed the trees while Jin went to the side.

Ray looked down and started taking mental notes. two lookouts on the cabin door, probably just decoys. This haunch was proven right when ray focussed on the windows, both of them had binoculars which regularly changed position and scanned the perimeter.

"two there, two on the outside, and three on the forest, patrolling." ray muttered.

"make that four on patrol" a voice came from above him, but Ray had already moved from there as soon as he sensed another person.

They stood five meters apart, both had their faces covered, but Ray could still see surprise in his opponent's eyes.

"you're a quick one." the other man said. His thin clothes covered his entire body, like a loose body suit. his eyes had a rare confidence, but it faltered a little every few seconds. "How did you get inside my detection zone so easily?" he asked, somewhat mystified.

Ray stayed silent, just staring into the eyes of his opponent.