Franco’s Group

Franco, Maeve, Jaco, Noire and Fitz had formed another group who had went in another direction from Mallory's group.

Noire and Fitz had both proved very useful as scouts as they stepped lightly and quickly across the terrain and were able to pick up on traces that had been left behind by others.

There was a small group that had been roaming around the area that Franco and Swaine had previously checked so that was where Mallory had sent them.

Their group stuck together unless Noire and Fitz had jumped to a more advantageous position or went to check something further ahead.

Jaco was clumsy with his movements and occasionally created some noise from the twigs he had stepped on and broken underneath his feet.

It earned him several glares from those around him which made him break out into a cold sweat. 'Is it always like this? This is nothing like the stories.'

He was born into a well off family and had heard the stories of his ancestors and many other adventurer or hero stories.

They all seemed to paint a pretty picture of the adventures that took place but a lot of them had missed out the bigger details.

The Seshat Familia was one place where famous scholars and adventurers would be born within Visa City but they did not accept just anyone for any reason.

There had been many tales that had spread out around the city about the recent events of the Seshat Familia and their newest member that was Mallory.

There had been some that had taken more of an interest in Mallory and wished to get in touch with her in order to bring her to their side but she was well protected by the Familia and was hard to reach.

Others had some ideas about using her position in the Seshat Familia as a way of getting inside and being a part of a new faction that was headed by a rising star.

Some just wanted to share the glory with Mallory while others just wanted to leech off her success but there were some that were very grateful for the changes she had brought.

There were some people that had been affected by Mallory in a good way so Jaco had heard about her some more.

His interest towards heroes and adventurers had not gone away since he was a child so he used those around him to learn more about her until it led to him being able to finally be given the opportunity.

What he did not expect was that adventuring actually required a lot of skills he lacked along with patience.

Franco had looked towards the two new recruits and sighed. 'One is trying to learn but the other is just too inexperience and clumsy.'

He and Swaine had gone through several mercenary groups and they had lost many allies due to carelessness, plots or just bad luck.

If there was not himself and the two cats with him then Jaco would be the first one to be captured by the enemy and Maeve would be dragged down along with him.

Maeve had been watching the movements of those around her and was slowly taking steps where others had stepped so she was able to adapt.

Jaco had not been able to do the same and he seemed to be very inexperienced and out of place.

Maeve had been the main person to glare towards Jaco who was being a burden to the group but she did not seem to offer any guidance either.

Swaine had noticed right away and thought to himself. 'On second thought.. she may be the competitive or loner type that does not work well with others.'

Everyone had one or more flaws that could not be discovered so easily but in such an environment where the stakes were higher, it was a place where their true selves would be revealed and they would be more likely to reveal some flaws.

A lack of skills was a problem but there were personality issues that could cause problems for a group too.

All it took for Maeve was to give a quick pointer to help correct the bad habits of Jaco but she was too focussed on herself and performing better than him.

If she was thinking as someone that was a part of a team and was not point scoring like she was a part of an assessment then Franco would have looked at her a little more favourably.

It may have been an assessment in a way but it was still a live assessment which would determine if they would be able to fit into the group and perform the way they were needed.

There were many that took an assessment and missed out many key parts of the test due to them focussing on the main rules that had been pointed out and that they were competing with others.

There were times when the rules and point scoring systems put in place could have some hidden rewards for breaking some rules if it helped everyone overcome a crisis that could happen in real life.

If Maeve had just made that little effort to try to help Jaco then it was very likely that her review that would be given to Mallory would be much higher but she had continued to miss that opportunity.

They all kept moving as they continued to pursue the traces left behind by the people wandering in the area until they finally arrived at an opening in the mountain.

There were several people that were crowded outside of the opening that looked like it was a cave entrance that led into the mountain, under it or through it.

They all waited further away as Franco had made everyone remain still and silent.

Further away there was several loud noises that had broken out all of a sudden which had attracted the attention of those people who had quickly moved towards the source of the noise.

Once they had moved away from the entrance of the cave, Franco motioned everyone to follow behind quietly.

They moved behind the distracted people but there was a noise that came from behind that sounded like a twig snapping.

There was a sigh that escaped the mouth of Franco. "Attack."