The next morning, my bank account read 500 AP, but my body felt like it had been run over by a carriage. The brief burst of physical exertion against Torben had strained my undeveloped muscles.
"Combat Simulations 101," Tobias read from his schedule, looking pale. "Instructor: Valerius. Location: The Holo-Deck."
"Let's go," I said, stretching my sore shoulders.
The Holo-Deck was a vast, obsidian room enchanted with high-level illusions. It could simulate any environment—jungle, desert, city ruins.
Instructor Valerius was a lean, wiry man who looked like he was made of whipcord and bad intentions. He paced in front of the fifty assembled students.
"Magic is not just about big booms," Valerius hissed. "It is about application. Today, we play 'Capture the Flag.' Random teams. No lethal spells. If your barrier shield breaks, you are out."
The system randomized the teams. A giant screen displayed the rosters.
Team Alpha:
Jax Thorne (C-Rank)
Torben Kross (D-Rank)
...
Team Bravo:
Kaelen Vance (F-Rank)
Elara Vane (Violet/Special)
Tobias (F-Rank)
...
A groan went up from the students on Team Bravo.
"We're dead," a boy whined. "We got the Cripple and the F-Rank trash?"
Elara sat apart from the group, her face stony. She was checking the mana capacitors on her chair.
"Hey," I said, walking up to her.
She didn't look up. "Save your breath. I know the strategy. You all run forward, I stay back and provide covering fire until they flank me and take me out. It's the same every time."
"That's a stupid strategy," I said.
She paused. "Excuse me?"
"You're the heavy artillery," I said, crouching down to be at eye level with her. "But you have no mobility. In a standard formation, you're a sitting duck. If we leave you behind, you die. If we slow down for you, we lose the objective."
"I am aware of my limitations," she spat, her voice laced with venom.
"I didn't say it was a limitation. I said the strategy was stupid." I pulled up a holographic map of the arena—a dense urban ruin. "We don't leave you back. We put you on point."
"What?" Tobias squeaked. "Put the sniper on the front line?"
"Elara," I said, using her name for the first time. "Can you hit a moving target at 500 meters?"
"I can hit a fly at a thousand," she said arrogantly.
"Good. Then here's the plan. I'm going to carry you."
Her eyes went wide. "You will do no such thing."
"Metaphorically," I corrected. "I'll be your vanguard. I'll keep the melee fighters off you. You focus purely on long-range suppression. We move as a single unit. A tank and a turret."
She looked at me, searching for mockery. She found none.
"And if you fail to keep them off me?" she asked.
"Then we lose," I shrugged. "But we're going to lose anyway if we play it your way. Why not try something new?"
She hesitated, then adjusted her gloves. "Fine. But if you get in my line of fire, I'll shoot through you."
"Fair enough."
"START!"
The siren blared. The Holo-Deck shimmered, turning into a ruined cityscape.
"Go!" I shouted.
Elara's chair hummed, accelerating forward. I ran alongside her, my sword (a dull practice blade) drawn. Tobias and the others trailed behind, confused.
"They're rushing mid!" Jax Thorne's voice echoed from down the street. "Idiots! Torben, crush them!"
Torben and two other enhancers burst through a wall of a ruined building, charging straight for Elara.
"Target acquired," Elara murmured. Her eyes glowed violet. "Range 200. Three targets."
"Ignore Torben!" I shouted. "Take out the supports! I've got the big guy!"
Elara didn't hesitate. She trusted my call. She raised both hands, complex magic circles forming instantly in the air. Twin-Bolt: Arcane Lance.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two beams of violet light shrieked over my shoulder. The two students behind Torben didn't even have time to scream before their barrier shields shattered and they were digitally removed from the simulation.
Torben, enraged, closed the distance. "I'll tip you over, you broken doll!"
He lunged for Elara.
I slid in between them. Clang!
My practice sword caught his mace. The impact rattled my teeth, but I deflected the blow downwards.
"Elara, move left! 45 degrees!" I barked.
She drifted left instantly, her chair nimble.
"Fire!"
She fired a point-blank blast of concussive force. It hit Torben in the chest, sending him flying backward through a brick wall.
[Torben Kross: ELIMINATED]
"Impossible," Tobias whispered from behind us.
We didn't stop. We carved a path of destruction through the city. I called out targets, checked corners, and physically shoved debris out of her path. She rained hellfire on anything that moved.
For the first time, she wasn't a liability. She was a reaper.
We reached the enemy flag. Jax Thorne was guarding it, looking shocked.
"You..." Jax snarled, summoning a fireball. "You think you can beat me with a cripple?"
"She's not a cripple," I said, stepping aside as Elara's mana flared to a terrifying level. "She's the Apex."
Elara smiled—a genuine, terrifying smile.
"Checkmate," she whispered.
A massive beam of violet light engulfed the enemy base.
[GAME OVER. TEAM BRAVO WINS.]