Chapter 47 – Excellence Camp Team Battle VII

Ashern City - Reinhart Institute of War, 4th of Brightforge, year 315 UC

Bryan's muscles ached in ways he hadn't experienced since his early training days with the Inquisition. Four hours under Alan's intense regimen had pushed even his enhanced body to its limits.

This session had been different—relentless drills, minimal breaks, and constant pressure from Alan to push harder. Bryan wondered what had changed. Perhaps this was always the plan: ease them into the environment before showing the true face of the Excellence Camp.

He pulled his damp black shirt up to wipe sweat from his brow. The fabric was soaked through, clinging uncomfortably to his skin.

Alan's sharp eyes caught the movement.

"You alright there, Blackwood?"

"I'm fine."

Bryan replied flatly, dropping his shirt back down.

Alan's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are you truly fine, or just saying it? There's no shame in knowing when you've pushed your limits."

Bryan met his instructor's gaze without flinching.

"I said I'm fine."

Alan studied him for a moment longer before turning to address the entire team. They were in various states of collapse—Christopher lying flat on his back, Sabrina leaning against the wall, Alexander hunched over with hands on knees, and Farrah standing but visibly trembling.

"I'll be sending over your new schedules for the remainder of the camp."

Alan announced.

"These will not include the performance tests that will happen again. Those will come as a surprise."

He pulled out his academic card. His fingers tapped across its surface .

After a moment, he looked up.

"Check your cards."

Bryan stared at his Academic Card, eyes widening slightly as he took in the new schedule. The screen displayed a packed itinerary that left virtually no room for personal time. Four in the morning wake-up calls. Seventeen-hour days. Mandatory training blocks that covered everything from physical conditioning to magical theory to combat scenarios.

"This is... intense."

Alexander muttered, scrolling through the schedule with a slightly pale face.

Christopher groaned from his position on the floor.

"Four in the morning? Every day? I'm going to die."

"I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of this."

Sabrina said.

Farrah frowned as she studied her own card.

"I don't see any time for personal matters. When are we supposed to do laundry? Or write to our families? Or just... anything really?"

"That's a five-day week, you'll have plenty of time for personal matters on Saturday and Sunday. Now, any other questions?"

Alan asked as he looked at each of them. They were all eyeing the schedule.

Bryan scrolled through the daily schedules. Mondays and Wednesdays emphasized physical conditioning and combat tactics. Tuesdays and Thursdays focused on magical development and theory. Fridays combined everything into advanced combat and survival training.

While he was looking forward to what they would teach, he thought that this would be a breeze. If the next three years of his life were this, then… this was far from relaxing.

Then again, if he excelled at everything and kept the top score maybe they would let him skip a few days. That was the best case scenario he could think of.

"The 'Optional Rest' on Fridays is a joke."

Sabrina snorted.

"Who's going to choose rest when everyone else is getting ahead?"

Alan smirked at that, but didn't say anything.

Alexander was the next one to speak.

"Who is going to be in charge of these classes? Will the four instructors be rotating?"

"Good question, and no. If you think we have time to babysit you lot all day, then you have another thing coming."

Alan answered before continuing.

"I'm sure in these few days you've all been here you've seen other staff members. Some of them will be teaching those classes. Anything combat related we will teach and oversee, although you might see me and the others teaching a class or two."

"So, Field Survival then huh?"

Christopher asked.

"Wasn't hard to figure out Vanes. I already gave you a hint on day one, but good catch. Yes, I will be in charge of teaching all of you, including the other fifteen how to survive out in the wild. We might even take a trip in the near future to see whose been paying attention and who we are going to leave behind."

"You're not going to leave us behind are you? Like… you can't actually do that. Can you…?"

Alexander asked as he seemed a bit worried about that bit.

"Don't worry Silvermark, we'll shape you up by then. But if you're still worried, just know you're lives were forfeited the moment you stepped foot on these grounds. You're military assets, and were since the day you awakened."

Bryan started to wonder who these teachers would be. Especially for Magic Theory and Spell Analysis. The person teaching those two would have to have a deep understanding of magic. How it worked, what governed it, the different properties, and so much more.

At the Inquisition, he studied up on ether so much that he knew all the different types of attributes like he knew the back of his hand. The same could be said of spells.

While he knew a lot of them, he did not know all of them. Just the most common ones that the Inqusition had stored in the various books he was forced to read.

New spells are always appearing, and the Inquisition makes sure to keep track of what the spell does, when it was created, who used it, the weaknesses and strengths.

That was why he knew about Christopher's spell. It was rare, but reading hundreds of books on earth attribute spells, some of them stood out. His was one of them.

The conversations between the other members of his team were just background noise at this point. Until he heard Alan call his name.

"Blackwood."

Bryan looked and saw Alan was standing in front of him.

"You're paying attention, right?"

He could lie and say he was, but then what would happen if Alan asked him to repeat what they were talking about? It was better just to state the truth.

"No, I was wondering who the teachers are going to be. I will make sure to follow along in the conversation."

Bryan told him.

Alan raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He gave a short nod and stepped back.

"Then make sure you do."

He turned toward the rest of the team.

"That's it for today. You'll start your new rotations first thing tomorrow. Dismissed."

Christopher pushed himself up with a grunt, brushing sweat from his arms.

"I'm gonna sleep like a corpse."

"Hope you make it to four A.M. That's going to kill me."

Sabrina muttered as she stretched, her fingers laced together over her head. 

'Seems like she's over her attitude from earlier.'

Bryan thought as his eyes glanced over her for a moment. With the intense training session they just had, if she still had time to feel upset then she was not pushing herself hard enough.

Her eyes flicked towards Bryan as she snorted.

"He acts like he's too good for all of us. But sure—let's just follow whatever he says. See how that goes."

'Or not.'

She started walking towards the exit along with the others.

Farrah adjusted her hair and gave a small glance back, but didn't say anything.

As the group continued toward the exit, Alexander slowed his steps.

"Bryan." 

He called out, just loud enough to catch his attention. 

"You got a moment?"

The others stopped for a second as they looked back at the two boys before continuing on their way.

Bryan turned his head slightly.

"What do you want?"

Alexander stepped in closer.

"I wanted to ask… now that you're team captain, what are your plans?"

Bryan raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

From the bit he knew of Alexander, the boy would have some thoughts on the team going forward. With how much he wanted the team to get together, he was bound to want them to do it again. Although, that was not a high priorty for Bryan.

"I do, actually."

Bryan kept walking but at a slower pace as they talked.

"If they were any good, you would've done them when you were captain."

Alexander's eyes narrowed as his pace faltered.

"That's not fair. I was captain for, what—three days?"

"And in those three days, you did the bare minimum."

Alexander balled his fists, his knuckles whitening. Bryan saw it, and spoke before he could respond.

"What are you going to do? Hit me?"

Alexander kept his fist balled for a second before letting out a slow breath and relaxing his hands.

"I'm just trying to do my part. Why are you being so aggressive? What did I do?"

"You haven't done anything."

Bryan said.

"And that's just it."

Alexander's jaw clenched. He looked down briefly, then back up.

"Okay. Sure. Whatever you say. I haven't done anything—then help me do better."

'What is with them? First Christopher, now this guy?'

Bryan thought, wondering why they were asking for help. He didn't have time to watch over them and help them out. He was not their teacher, let alone their friend.

If they wanted to be better, then they should figure it out.

It's what he did.

But then again, they weren't him. There was nothing wrong with asking for help. In fact, it was admirable.

The only issuse was that it was a problem for him. He had his own mission to do, and for that he needed the time to do whatever he wanted. This current schuedle did not allow for that, and he hoped that there would be more freedom for the students once the academic year actually started.

Alexander should have cluched his sleeve, stuttered over a word or two then walked off. However, the boy did the opposite of what he's shown so far. Which was interesting.

Bryan turned to face him fully. His red eyes studied Alexander.

"I'm going to need to alter your profile a bit."

Alexander blinked. 

"What?"

"Your profile." 

Bryan repeated. 

"I have you listed as someone who avoids conflict. Someone who would rather walk away than confront anything directly. Seems I was wrong."

"Why do you have a profile on me?" 

Alexander asked, his voice rising with disbelief.

"I have one on all of you." 

Bryan said without hesitation. 

"Don't think you're special."

Alexander stared at him, stunned. 

"Why?"

"You should always know who you're competing against. And who's on your team."

"So you know how to respond when they turn on you. And if you haven't been paying attention, graduating is a competition."

Alexander shook his head slowly.

"Do the others know?"

"Christopher has a good idea. Maybe Farrah too. Sabrina? No clue—and I don't really care."

Bryan looked away briefly, then back to Alexander.

"We're getting off track. What were your suggestions?"

Alexander took a breath.

"I was thinking… we should have team meetings. Outline goals. Coordinate more. Practice actual teamwork."

"No."

Bryan shut it down immediately.

Alexander frowned. 

"Why not?"

"Because we need more individual training."

Alexander scoffed. 

"Of course you'd say that."

Bryan ignored the jab.

"Look at the schedule. It's packed from four in the morning until nine at night. There's hardly any room for anything team related. We get breaks every so often, and people should use that time as they see fit."

He paused for a moment, then added.

"If there's going to be a meeting, it'll be Saturday morning. That's when we discuss whatever objectives need to be completed."

"Objectives? What objectives?"

Alexander asked.

"How would I know?" 

Bryan shot him a look. 

"We haven't even had our first class yet. We'll only know once we start attending and seeing what the instructors throw at us."

Alexander rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Fair enough… but what about team training? Combat coordination?"

"Useless."

Bryan quickly said..

"There will be training for combat roles. As long as everyone follows their role, as they should have been doing from the start, then everything flows smoothly. Besides—if I'm right, there won't be any more team matches for a while. What we should be focused on is field survival."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" 

Bryan asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

"We're at a training camp, but they've scheduled us for field survival. That means they plan on sending us out—either to face monsters, or to survive in terrain where monsters roam."

Alexander paused at this.

"They wouldn't do that… not this soon… would they?"

"They're not going to baby us, and if you think they are, you should just drop out now."

Bryan said flatly.

Alexander was quiet for a moment, then looked at him more directly.

"Why did you tell Sabrina she's useless?"

Someone was bound to ask him about it.

These people around him always seemed to have questions for anything and everything.

"Two reasons. One—it's a fact. And two—I'm never wrong."

Alexander sighed. 

"That explains so much."

"She needs to do better. She thrives more under pressure. That need to 'prove me wrong'—it's useful. Doubt it'll ever happen, but the attempt should help her grow faster."

He looked away, scanning the hallway as they walked.

"She hit Christopher in the first match. Friendly fire or not, she killed her own teammate. Maybe not for real, but it counts. She has to be thinking about that. But she needs to get over herself."

He continued with slight praise.

"Her range is her biggest asset. With her coverage, she can control most battlefields—if she stops making excuses. She's quick to blame others for her mistakes. She needs to learn to own them. Offensively, she's better than two of you. Maybe three. But overall?"

He shrugged once.

"Not so much."

Alexander gave him a sideways look.

"Why didn't you just say that? Instead of antagonizing her."

Bryan tilted his head slightly.

"Well. Now isn't that the question?"

Bryan said nothing for a moment, then looked over at Alexander again.

"What are you going to do?"

Alexander spoke after seeming to think about the question for a moment. 

"I'm going to try. Try and do my part."

"Trying won't cut it."

Bryan paused in his steps and turned fully toward him.

"Your first task as vice-captain is to write a review of the entire team. Attributes, spells, strengths, weaknesses—I want all of it. You've got three days."

Alexander looked confused.

"I thought you already had profiles on all of us?"

"I do."

"Then… why make another?"

Bryan stared at him flatly.

"You ask a lot of questions."

Alexander opened his mouth to reply, but Bryan held up a hand.

"Sometimes, it's better to just listen and say 'okay' instead of asking questions that'll just annoy the person giving you a task."

He sighed, glancing down the hall before continuing.

"Look. You want to coordinate the team, work on formations—that's admirable. But without knowing what anyone can actually do, that's impossible. People lie. They bluff. They make themselves seem better than they are."

Bryan tapped the side of his temple.

"That's why you observe. You watch how they move, when they hesitate, what they default to under pressure. That's how you get a real sense of someone's ability. Once you have that, you can plan better."

He started walking again but paused after a few steps, not looking back.

"Oh, and figure out a way to make your bubbles useful."

"What?".

Alexander asked as Bryan was moving faster than him.

"If you can increase the rate you cast and the time the enemy stays inside, your usefulness goes up. So does your chance of surviving here."

He continued walking.

Alexander watched him for a moment, then muttered under his breath.

"Asshole."