"All of you may check your implants. Your team designations have been uploaded to them. They include the names and ranks of each of your teammates as well as their ability designation. As for personal techniques developed with the abilities, fighting style, and stuff like that, you'll have to discuss that with each other during the planning session. Your first opponent is also listed for you. Have fun, guys!"
And with that, before Elijah and Tim even had a chance to finish geeking out, all of the students were teleported away.
Once the teleportation was finished, Elijah blinked away the disorientation that came with the sudden shift in environment and noticed he was in a simple meeting room with some chairs, a round table, and a large projector screen.
Looking around, he also saw people he assumed to be his teammates. That immediately reminded him to check their names and abilities through his chip implant.
Booting up the interface, he looked at each of them one by one and read the little bit of information given to him.
The first was someone he was somewhat familiar with, since he'd seen Tim spar with him every once in a while. He was incredibly tall for a 14-year-old, standing at 5'10". His muscles practically bulged out of his skin, and he sported a deep tan as if he spent most of his time outside.
Brax Herdman
Ability: Living Stone — can turn his body into a material as hard as stone
Ability Class: B
Class Rank: 180/301
Noticing Elijah looking at him, Brax gave a little nod, clearly reading Elijah's data too and recognizing him as Tim's friend.
Elijah responded with a nervous smile.
Looking over at the next person, Elijah saw a gentle, petite-looking girl with long, sky-blue hair.
Sylvara Rain
Ability: Harmonic Amp — can weave harmonics that amplify allies' mana flow, dampen enemy abilities, or create sonic shields
Ability Class: A
Class Rank: 89/301
Elijah's eyebrows rose. Wow, for someone so timid-looking she must be quite strong to have such a high rank along with a really useful ability. I wonder how many people she can amp up at once.
Noticing him looking at her in appreciation, she blushed slightly and lowered her head.
Huh, hope she can work well with the team despite the clear shyness, he thought to himself.
Moving on, he saw a boy with an excited grin on his face, looking like he couldn't wait to fight. His crystalline spiky white hair and lean build gave him a striking appearance.
Rennik Kong
Ability: Glass Shard — can create glass javelins that shatter explosively on impact. Can also summon a bow of glassy shards.
Ability Class: A-
Class Rank: 76/301
Elijah noted that. Guess it makes sense there would be a couple people above rank 100 on my team since I'm sure my rank brings down the average quite a bit.
Finally, Elijah looked at the last member. This girl carried herself much more confidently, with a cold, calculating look on her face as she read through her teammates' stats. Her blonde hair was streaked with a kaleidoscope of colors, like natural highlights.
Mira Clease
Ability: Heat Illusion — can produce a heatwave centered on herself that doesn't do much damage but twists an enemy's senses, causing them to see illusions such as duplicates of herself or the world spinning around them, while also causing light fatigue due to the heat surrounding them.
Ability Class: B+
Class Rank: 110/301
Thinking it through, Elijah added up the numbers. Yup, that sounds about right. All our ranks averaged out are about 147, which should be roughly middle of the road. We also have pretty good team diversity. We should each be able to fulfill a typical Circle of Champions role.
Brax's ability and fighting style screamed top lane tank.
Sylvara would easily fit into a support role in the bottom lane with her buffing and shielding abilities.
Rennik had good range and high damage, so he'd probably also be good in the bottom lane with Sylvara. He seemed energetic, so he could likely get Sylvara to follow his lead. With his high-ranked damage, he could scoop up kills and act as their main carry. Being the highest rank on the team made that role perfect for him.
Mira would probably make a good mid laner. Her ability gave her lots of control and variability, letting her harass anyone in mid while also being a good choice to pivot to other lanes when needed.
That left Elijah in the jungle. It was the best fit—he was the only one with a mobility-based ability, able to traverse the jungle by climbing and swinging over walls. He was also likely the weakest in straight one-on-one combat, so it was better to farm weaker jungle monsters for gold and shield levels than risk dueling a strong opponent in lane. Plus, he could gank and create 2v1 or 3v1 opportunities when the enemy least expected it.
Wow, my Circle of Champions knowledge really is perfect for this. Mix that with all my extra studying on abilities over the years and I should be able to come up with solid strategies too. Dang, maybe I should be the shot caller. Am I really up to that, though? They're all higher ranked, and commanding people in real life is bound to be different from a game. I guess first I'll hear their thoughts on how we should approach this. Maybe someone else will be better suited to call the shots.
Elijah prepared to speak up, but before he could, Rennik let out a whoop of excitement and immediately barreled into the conversation.
"All right, guys! Since I'm the highest rank, clearly I should be the leader. We need someone to coordinate our plan of attack and I'm obviously the best!"
Mira looked skeptical. "If I remember correctly your combat scores were very high, but your written exams were only so-so. Are we sure you'd actually be the best fit to lead?"
Rennik stared at her in surprise. "What do you mean! Of course I am! Listen, here's what we'll do. We'll all run down the middle and try to steamroll them as quickly as possible. The middle is the fastest path to their base, and they won't expect all of us to rush it. Maybe we even have one person like Elijah split off to divert their attention to the top or bottom while we strike, since I doubt he'd be very helpful in a teamfight anyway… no offense to Elijah."
Elijah cringed. Not because of the minor insult, but because the plan was awful. If that kind of strategy actually worked, people would use it all the time in Circle of Champions. Would he have to speak out against it?
He finally said, "No offense taken, but honestly I don't think that's a very good plan. The enemies could just have two or three people sit under their turret to ward us off and slow us down, while the rest of their team destroys our other lanes straight to our base."
Rennik looked even more shocked at Elijah for speaking back than at Mira. "Pffft. What do you know? How about you, Brax and Sylvara — clearly you must see the wisdom of my plan," he said, turning to them in anticipation.
Brax shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not much of a strategy guy myself, but what Elijah said makes sense, I guess."
Sylvara just nodded in agreement, her voice barely a whisper.
Mira looked smug and leaned forward like she was about to deliver a verdict. "See what I mean? You are clearly not a good fit for being our shot caller. If I may be so bold, I'll say I'm probably our best bet. Brax has just said he's not good with strategy. Sylvara is much too timid to coordinate in the chaos of battle. And Elijah is far too low-ranked for us to really trust, even if he knows a lot about the game. I, on the other hand, while not the highest-ranked, get good written grades and actually have a head for tactics. Any objections to me calling the shots?"
Rennik deflated and sulked. "Whatever. Do what you want. I'll still get the most kills."
Brax shrugged again. "None here."
Sylvara gave a tiny, polite nod. "That's fine by me," she said, voice soft as wind through reeds.
Mira turned her attention to Elijah, cool and assessing. Elijah weighed arguing. Mira made a compelling case, composed, confident, decisive. Letting her lead might keep the team organized, but it felt like wasted potential to leave his Circle of Champions knowledge unused.
He inhaled and decided to try one last pitch. "Uhhh, I think it could be fine, and I'm willing to go along with it if everyone wants you to call the shots. But I think I'd be a good shot caller myself. Have you guys ever heard of Circle of Champions?"
There were a lot of confused head shakes. Rennik replied, "I think I have. It's a video game or something, right?"
"Exactly. I noticed this trial is a one to one copy of that game. Me and my friend Tim play it almost every weekend, so I know the tactics and strategy for this exact type of combat."
Mira's face did not loosen. "Look, Elijah. Real life and a game are not the same thing. Treating this like a game could doom us. Frankly, I don't trust you to call the shots. Is everyone else in agreement?"
Everyone nodded, sheepish and wary. Mira's expression said victory; she loved being the one with the plan.
"Alright then. Looks like I'll be the shot caller." She tapped the air and sent everyone's stats and the enemy roster to the projector screen. A holographic list materialized, crisp and clinical.
"Here are the five people we'll be fighting," Mira read.
Veyra Korrin -
Ability: Pyro-Serpent Conjuration. Can summon and control fiery serpents that lash, coil, or explode. Up to three at once.
Ability Class: B+.
Rank: 111.
Joren Mavrek -
Ability: Beast Shifter (Partial). Morphs limbs into lion-like claws and teeth for short melee bursts.
Ability Class: B.
Rank: 160.
Lyss Thalen -
Ability: Shadow Clone. Creates semi-solid copies that attack but shatter after a strong hit. Can swap places with a clone every 30 seconds.
Ability Class: A-.
Rank: 105.
Dravos Venn-
Ability: Gravity Chains. Conjures spectral chains that pin enemies to terrain, slow areas, or yank foes short distances. Cooldown between uses.
Ability Class: A.
Rank: 97.
Nyra Vael-
Ability: Windstride. Hyper-mobile fighter, dashes on gusts, scales walls, strikes from unexpected angles.
Ability Class: B.
Rank: 190.
"These opponents have good synergy," Mira said, eyes scanning the list. "The highest threat is Dravos, he's in the top hundred. Rennik, I want you to match him. Wherever he goes, you go. Got it?"
Rennik's chest puffed. "Perfect. Hope he's tough enough for me."
Mira nodded. "Brax, stick with Rennik and tank for him. Let him operate from range." Brax gave a slow nod, like a big stone agreeing to stand under heavy weather.
"Sylvara, you stick with me. Buff me and help control whoever we meet in mid. Make their hits feel hollow." Sylvara returned her thumbs-up, fingers trembling slightly.
"As for Elijah, you'll mostly fill gaps, run top when needed, kill jungle monsters when you can, and look for gank opportunities. If you can get picks, great. If not, keep our lanes from bleeding out." Elijah was not thrilled about being told to babysit, but it was a sensible role for him. He masked his disappointment.
"Alright, whatever you say, boss," he said, and Mira rolled her eyes before continuing.
"We'll start with me and Sylvara in mid. Brax and Rennik will take bottom. Elijah, you go top and clear the jungle nearby. We'll shift to respond to enemy movements. No time to nitpick mechanics now, we'll adjust on the field." She breathed out. "Good luck."
Time shrank. Five minutes evaporated, and before anyone could rehearse more than a single attack, the Planning Room blurred.
The teleportation hit like a punch. The team found themselves in their base within the Mana Arena, the start platform humming with enchantments and the faint smell of ozone from the obelisks on the far paths.
Elijah's heart kicked. The arena looked both familiar and impossible. Holographic lanes stretched out under a dome of shimmer-light, jungle gaps yawning between them like dark mouths.
Around them, other teams were materializing all at once. Voices rose, equipment flickered into being at armories, and the distant thud of the first waves of jungle thralls echoed through the course.
Rennik bounced on his heels and scraped his knuckles together like a gambler shuffling cards. "Let's light them up and get those obelisks down," he shouted, grin wide.
Brax tightened his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, the sound like boulders colliding. "We hold the line. We do not yield."
Sylvara simply hummed, the sound threading the air like an invisible tunic.
Mira snapped her fingers, and a soft schematic of the map flooded the air between them, a tactical overlay only visible to the team. Her face was all business.
Elijah took one last breath, feeling the mana in the arena tickle at his nerve-ends. His palms were a little sweaty, and his knees felt suddenly light, anticipation more than fear.
"Remember," Mira said, voice low and steady. "We adapt. We don't commit to a bad trade. We protect our carry. We collapse on an exposed enemy. We win together."
Elijah glanced at his teammates. For a moment he let himself believe it, that this ragged band might actually pull something off.
The gates hummed. The health of the obelisks glowed in the distance like faraway lighthouses. The first wave of thralls shuffled down the center lane in obedient, menacing lines.
The clock began.
The match started.
They moved out.