It didn’t take long for them to get hungry. Once again, sky grazers were the meal of choice. Viviana didn’t get any experience. If she killed them solo, she’d get one experience point, but working in a group for this made the task too easy for the system to award an experience point.

  The system was strange like that.

  In any case, the team of seven worked pretty well together. Bena was easily the most valuable member of the team, scouting the entire area around them. Viviana wanted her to continue popping into the red side occasionally, but Selenne insisted that it wasn’t necessary. It would be a waste of mana, she said. They could just kill anyone that ambushed them anyways with sheer numbers.

  They had security in numbers. This security led to most of the team adopting a relaxed mindset. Even Thomas didn’t speak with so many pauses now. Lucian seemed happier now that his sister was here. The added security made Bena spend less mana, so she was less exhausted all the time.

  Viviana didn’t like it.

  She remained vigilant in spite of the mood. For one, she didn’t trust any of them. Bena and Thomas, sure, but Lucian? Absolutely not. And certainly not Selenne and her goons.

  The activity was not over. The Follower was still (presumably) around. The Hunter was still around. For all they knew, a potential team of six equipped with blue hound organs was lurking about.

  No one seemed to share Viviana’s worry. Instead, they laughed as they ate sky grazer meat. Sitting around a small campfire that gave away their location for miles around. They had even found a nice spot next to a river.

  The river arguably raised spirits higher than the security of being in a large team. Viviana had to admit the clear water tasted amazing.

  They hadn’t drank anything since before the start of orientation. It’s now the second day, but being soulbound and having water recycling systems within their combat jumpsuits meant that water wasn’t as mortally necessary.

  It was welcome, though.

  Lucian told the story of how Viviana headbutted a blue hound because she didn’t know how to use [dash]. Her team laughed, and Selenne offered a polite chuckle. Viviana offered a small smile in return for appearances if nothing else.

  Viviana was sure that Selenne knew she was suspicious of her. Selenne also kept her at a length. They felt it. They were sizing each other up, observing.

  Now, Selenne just figured out Viviana had recently acquired [dash]. Because it was a recent addition, Selenne could infer that Viviana was at least level two. Or Lucian would just tell her that as well.

  Viviana knew nothing about Selenne.

  At the end of the activity, Selenne and Viviana would clash swords. This much was certain. Yet before the battle even started, Selenne was already winning.

  A mechanical voice snapped her out of her thoughts. It was coming from the flags, and now that Thomas was carrying so many of them, the voice was almost painfully loud.

  [Attention students! The radius for point generation will decrease from eight to three kilometers in an hour. Flags will point towards the center. Oh, and also, there are seven teams left!]

  Just three kilometers in radius. Six kilometers in diameter. If we were standing on a perfectly flat plane, we’d be able to see the rest of the teams.

  “I can teach you, if you want.”

  Thirty minutes into the walk towards the next point generation radius, Viviana heard a gentle voice and looked next to her. Selenne.

  Selenne sped up her pace a little to walk in front of her. Apparently she took Viviana’s glare as permission to continue. “You know, [dash]. Lucian said you slipped and headbutted that blue hound, right? I can teach you.”

  Did…did Selenne feel bad for her? Because Lucian told an embarrassing story about her? Viviana was too perplexed to even care. Too distracted by the fact she needed one and a half strides to cover a single of Selenne’s.

  Stupid tall people. She’s got footwork, reach, and stride. How do I kill her?

  Wait, what was she saying? Teach me [dash]? She just exposed herself, didn’t she? Just what is her game?

  Still, Viviana couldn’t say no outright. It was a tempting offer. Selenne just exposed her ability. Assuming she taught by example, she also had [dash]. Viviana wanted to see if she could get anything else out of it. Insight into her fighting style, perhaps. Maybe Viviana would ‘slip’ and accidentally attack her.

  Viviana was no fool. Selenne would be observing her as well.

  “You sure you wanna spend mana like that?” Viviana asked.

  Selenne just nodded. “Show me your [dash].”

  Viviana saw no harm in it and obliged, her body lurching forward on her next step. “How’s that?”

  “It’s not bad, actually. Here, I'll show you mine,” Selenne said. Selenne suddenly moved forward. Viviana noted there was a lot less telegraph, and the overall movement was smoother. “[Dash] is a movement enhancer. If you’re just walking forward, it means you can activate it at any point within the stride. If you want to push forward, you need to activate it when your back foot is still pushing the ground and your front foot is off the ground.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Viviana tried [dash] again, this time much better. It felt like [dash] required less setup.

  “Think of [dash] as empowering your next footwork. You need to strike the ground to move. [Dash] makes you strike the ground harder,” continued Selenne. She activated [dash] once more, this time lunging to the side.

  Viviana nodded, trying again. She felt that she could control the direction of the [dash] much better now. Although Viviana was already effective at [dash]ing before the lesson, she felt that she was more efficient. Although every [dash] took the same amount of mana, she could cover more distance– maybe three meters instead of two.

  Viviana didn’t want to spend more mana. “I think I’m good now.”

  Selenne stared at her. “Alright. You’re welcome?”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  Shit. She was gauging how much mana I was comfortable spending. Judging by how she didn’t react at all, Selenne definitely has more than me.

  The walking continued for some more time in silence. Another half an hour passed. The flags stopped pointing towards the center of the circle, indicating that they were in the point generation circle.

  “Bena, check the red side real quick,” Viviana said.

  Bena saluted, and within a couple seconds she shifted. She was getting faster and faster at it. Maybe the more you shifted, the better you got at it?

  Bena came back within another couple seconds. “Nothing out there, boss! But I did find some blue hounds!”

  Viviana inwardly cursed. Earlier, at the campfire, they talked about getting blue hound organs for Selenne’s team. As they walked, Bena kept searching but found none. Viviana hoped it stayed that way. Blue hound organs were the only advantage her team had over Lucian and Selenne’s team. Now they’d lose that advantage.

  “Let’s go,” Selenne said. Everyone else nodded.

  At least it’ll be some free experience points.

  Selenne said her team would fight them. The organs were for them, after all.

  Viviana butted in, insisting on fighting one of the hounds, solo. Last time, each blue hound gave 3 experience points when shared, the same as killing another student. If she killed one solo, she’d definitely get much more. Maybe even double the amount. In any case, it would be enough experience points for her to get another stat point. It was worth it, even if exposed her fighting style a little.

  Selenne shrugged. “As long as we get three organs.”

  It didn’t take long for them to creep up close. It was an easy fight. Courtesy to Selenne’s teachings, her improved [dash] could weave between the blue hound’s telegraphed attacks. A couple sword swings disabled the hound’s legs, and then a [dash] enhanced stride brought her close to the monster’s head.

  Viviana’s sword flashed as it dealt the finishing blow. A clean, simple strike, despite Viviana’s slightly addled mental. She’s used [dash] five times today. Too many times.

  [You have slain a level 2 blue hound.]

  [+5 exp]

  [You can distribute (1) stat point.]

  She felt Selenne’s eyes on her back. She turned around, noticing that Selenne had already killed her own hound.

  Viviana was getting kinda pissed off.

  She looked through her status while Selenne extracted the blue hound organs. Turns out doing it like The Follower did and impaling the corpses on trees made the task much easier. It made the blood drain quickly.

  [Welcome, Viviana Adler-Stern.]

  [Soulbound Lightning]

  [Level 2]

  [Experience: 21/200]

  [Unallocated points: 1]

  [VIG=2; MIN=2; END=2; STR=2; DEX=2; WIL=1]

  [Equipped Skills]

  [Lightning Trap] [Dash]

  [Available Skills]

  She placed another point into MIN. [Dash] was going to a mainstay, and it consumed a decent amount of mana because of how often it was used.

  Viviana felt her head clear a little as her mana pool increased. It was a good feeling. Good enough to temporarily distract her from the Selenne-sized problem in her mind.

  Half way through collecting the organs, Bena shouted. “I’m sensing a team! It’s… It’s nine people!”

  The entire group, save for Selenne’s lackeys, stopped what they were doing. Thomas broke the silence first. “...nine? Are you…sure?”

  Bena only nodded.

  Viviana, Lucian, and Selenne all looked at each other. The same thing was on all their minds, but Selenne broke the silence first. “Our suspected team of six is a little bigger than we thought.”

  Bena spoke up again. “Two of them have Blue Hound organs! Another guy got a mask on… wait, that guy’s shifting!”

  “Then they probably have [scout]!” Viviana said.

  Bena has some sort of super-powered scout, but she said before that being on the red side increased her perception a lot. To take advantage of this we sent her onto the red side periodically.

  If the enemy team is using the same strategy, and if they couldn’t see us before…

  They’ll certainly see us now.

  Just what is the plan? In a straight fight numbers weren’t on their side. The only advantage they had was the difference in blue hound organs. Viviana’s entire team was equipped, whereas the team of nine only had three shifters.

  Viviana’s mind whirled, trying to find a way that could help them. A shift ambush is impossible given the enemy has shifters of their own. We could run to the red side, but the blue hound organs require a steady stream of mana. Eventually we’ll run out, leading to our deaths.

  “Wait,” Lucian said. “A mask? What does it look like?”

  Bena squinted, focusing on something none of them could see. “It’s white, I think! Swirling inwards, like those donuts!”

  Lucian swallowed. “That’s The Follower’s mask.”

  “They hunted down The Follower,” said Selenne. “The level 14 monster of terrarium four. What does that make them?”

  Viviana thought about it. If they really killed a level 14 monster… just how many experience points would they get? They certainly didn’t do it alone, so it would be considered shared. They got to be at least level–

  Thomas interrupted Viviana’s thoughts. “...The Hunter. Killing The Follower makes them The Hunter.”