“They’re coming!” Bena said.

  All nine members of The Hunter’s team began slowly prowling towards them. Viviana knew that she couldn’t avoid the fight. There were two teams left, and the student proctors were surely watching. They’d force them to fight and conclude the activity.

  Still, there was hope. “We should stall them out. Keep moving. The arena’s still big enough for us to run circles around them,” said Viviana.

  “Why?” Selenne asked. “They’re going to force us to fight sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.”

  “There’s got to be a time limit. If the proctors get impatient and announce that the activity is ending soon, the enemy team might get desperate and attack each other to get the most flags. In the chaos we’ll have the best chance of beating them.”

  “Or they’ll look at time, realize they have none, and start running towards us instead of walking.”

  Viviana shook her head. “If we go outside of the point generation zone, they likely won’t follow.”

  [Attention students! There’s like, two teams left. Nobody wants to be here anymore, and none of you guys look like you’re gonna get scouted. The end of the activity will be sunset!]

  We looked at each other. Judging by the position of the sun, sunset was only a couple of hours from now. Viviana considered attacking Selenne and Lucian right now. If she somehow got all their flags, her team would be a contender for first.

  Viviana noticed that Lucian and Selenne were watching her, as well.

  But right now, there was something more important to do.

  “Bena, check the red side again,” she said.

  Bena saluted and popped onto the red side. For a couple seconds no one said anything.

  Bena came back. “The enemy team is still coming towards us!”

  Viviana nodded, completely reframing her strategy. “We’re going to kill them all.”

  Lucian and Thomas bristled. Bena nodded happily. Selenne snorted. “You’ve got an idea?”

  Viviana began to explain. The plan was simple– hit and run using shifting. Shifting was the only advantage their team had against the enemy. Everyone on Viviana’s team could shift. Only three on The Hunter’s team could.

  This advantage meant the enemy could not attempt to shift in the middle of a fight. If they did, Viviana’s team would shift in response, and immediately the fight would turn into a seven versus three.

  The red side was effectively banned for The Hunter’s team.

  Of course, it wasn’t as simple as it sounded. The ‘run’ part of the hit-and-run was simple. The ‘hit’ part was difficult.

  Nothing would change that on the blue side, it was seven versus nine.

  Selenne provided this part of the plan. Well, it wasn’t really a plan. It was pretty much brute force. “My squad can definitely kill one of them before the fight begins. Then, we’ll take The Hunter and the two that can shift.”

  The Hunter was most likely a high level, assuming that they truly did kill The Follower. They’d be the most difficult opponent, yet despite that Viviana didn’t doubt that Selenne could pull it off.

  It could be a trap, though. I’m sure Selenne’s planning to win it all. The only question is how?

  Viviana doubted that this would be the moment. She’d deal with that when it came. In any case, that left her, Bena, Thomas, and Lucian with five enemies who couldn’t shift, meaning they were probably weaker opponents. Much better odds.

  They talked some more until the plan was fully sorted out. Viviana would’ve liked to discuss more, but the end of the day was rapidly approaching. They had to act quickly for this to work.

  Soon enough, the time to talk was over. They could do this. “Everyone ready?” she asked.

  “Yep!” said Bena. Despite the task ahead of her, she seemed just as energetic as ever.

  Thomas nodded. Lucian did as well, and Selenne followed. Her lackeys didn’t do anything, as usual. Creepy bunch.

  “We need a team name!” Bena said.

  “...I concur,” said Thomas. Lucian also agreed, and Selenne just shrugged.

  Were we seriously doing this? Fine. “We’re only doing a name if I get to choose. Landsknecht.”

  “That’s an awful name!”

  Lucian and Selenne nodded furiously, agreeing wholeheartedly with Bena. “Doesn’t roll off the tongue at all,” Lucian said.

  Viviana was taken aback. “I thought really, really hard to come up with that. The name's been brewing in the back of my head for a while.”

  “How long’s a while? Like when you were fourteen?” Selenne asked.

  “...I don’t think it’s that bad… the historical Landsknecht were a mercenary group… describes us unaffiliated pretty well…”

  “See, Thomas likes it,” Viviana said.

  “...I didn’t think you were…a nerd.”

  The debate continued for precious minutes they didn’t have, but eventually the Landsknecht decided it was time to battle.

  It didn’t take long for the teams to meet each other.

  The teams stood only ten meters away from each other, each arranged in a simple line. Everyone had their swords drawn. It seemed like fighting would break out any second, but nobody moved to take a stance.

  Grass swayed in the wind as the sun passed gently over head. Not long until the sun dipped below the massive Central walls, indicating sunset.

  In front of Landsknecht stood nine people. All of them looked strong. Despite none of them standing in a combat stance, Viviana could tell that they had no openings.

  Viviana could sense it as Bena and Thomas fiddled with their swords. Lucian and Selenne looked confident, but the outlook was grim. Not only were they out numbered, they were outskilled.

  Especially because of the monster in front of them. A bone white, swirling mask with no holes for the eyes, nose, or mouth. A white monolith.

  The voice that came out was deep and distorted. It certainly didn’t come naturally from the person beneath the mask. A system designated item? Did The Follower drop something that precious?

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  “Selenne, you’ve returned,” The Hunter said. “Back to me.”

  The air quieted for a second. Selenne spoke. “Kassan. I’m stronger now. This is over.”

  “Stronger? Yes. Over?” The Hunter laughed. “No. It was over when we first met. You tried to steal the prize kill. You tried to claim my hunt. You failed. Shame.”

  Kassan, The Hunter, took off his mask. A dark skinned, handsome man. A menacing scar across his chin. From before he was even soulbound.

  He spoke again, smiling all the same. “I used to fear you. Now you’ve let me free. Here, in the academy, there is nothing to stop me anymore.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Selenne said.

  Kassan shook his head, sliding his mask back on. His voice dropped in pitch, unnaturally augmented. “You will do nothing of the sort. Kill the ones next to you and I’ll spare you. Your strength is recognized. You don’t deserve to be among the rabble.”

  Selenne pointed her sword forward.

  The sounds of swords swishing through the air were heard. Sixteen young men and women got into stance, waiting for the moment blood would be shed.

  When the blue side was dyed red.

  “Now!” Selenne shouted.

  “Kill them all! Selenne is mine!” The Hunter shouted.

  The Landsknecht put their blue hound organs in their mouths. Viviana didn’t bother. She was already moving. Running forward and activating [dash], not slowing her momentum at all. Her opponent moved to block.

  Viviana’s vision focused as she moved, tuning out the sounds of the battle around her. Metal on metal. Steel on steel on flesh.

  Viviana activated a second [dash] smashing her knee into a different, unsuspecting opponent. The improvement to her mana and the brief recovery she got in the planning phase made the rapid mana consumption more bearable.

  Her dazed opponent was pushed back, but they immediately activated a skill of their own. Viviana could tell that it was [strike]. It didn’t matter. She was too close. An upwards slash with the false edge of her blade clipped the opponent’s arm.

  A second blade from an off angle came rushing in, and Viviana barely parried, offering a weak counterstrike of her own which hit nothing but air. Viviana immediately realized she was fighting two opponents at once.

  A man and a woman, both catching their breaths after that short exchange.

  Like they all realized something, they all snapped back into combat. Viviana pushed forward with her offense, not caring she was taking some damage. She had to deal some damage before retreating to shift, or otherwise the plan would be useless.

  She tried her best to fight one opponent at a time, but the enemy’s constant use of [dash] in and out made repositioning difficult.

  A flurry of exchanges. Viviana was being pushed back. What can I do?

  I need to do something unexpected.

  Viviana fought on the back foot, trying to keep both opponents within her vision. If she left one to get into a blind spot, she’d die instantly.

  There.

  Viviana stepped forward instead of dodging. Right into the path of the man’s sword. She timed it perfectly. She body checked the man’s blade with her shoulder right before his swing even started. Wide open.

  She didn’t finish the fight, instead opting to duck down as a sword passed right over her. The woman had circled behind her already.

  Viviana lashed out a leg and swept the woman to the ground. At the same time she stabbed her sword forward, plunging it into the man.

  [You have slain a level 1 soulbound]

  [+3 exp]

  [You can distribute (1) stat point.]

  Viviana ignored the notifications and whirled around to finish off the woman, but found she couldn’t move and nearly lost her balance. A hand. Her hand clamped Viviana’s foot. Why? Why did she stay on the ground, just to grab my foot?

  Viviana’s eyes widened as someone approached. It wasn’t her team. She’s holding me here so I can’t dodge this.

  The enemy activated [dash]. Viviana moved her sword to parry but the unexpected speed found it blowing out of her arms.

  [Dash] and [strike] combined?

  The enemy moved to finish her off. Viviana wouldn’t go down without a fight. “Shift!” she shouted, stuffing her Blue Hound organ into her mouth as she ducked. A sword passed overhead.

  Viviana activated her shift. A timer counted down in her head as she delivered a punch into the enemy’s gut. They staggered back but didn't stay dazed for long, despite the heavy hit and the strain of using two abilities at once. They had two skills, after all. They were level 2 at least and probably improved their mana.

  Viviana took the precious second she bought to wrench her foot free from the woman’s grasp– and immediately activated the lighting sigil placed on the woman’s hand. She screamed as Viviana lunged for a sword, stumbling forward as she grabbed it.

  Only a couple seconds to shift, now. She dealt her damage. She was feeling the effects of mana fatigue now, and wanted to be on the other side as fast as possible.

  Her eyes darted around the battlefield as she observed her opponents and her team. There. An opportunity.

  Viviana lunged forward and stabbed her blade into an unsuspecting ankle, the injury causing the opponent to fall. Bena rushed forward and stabbed him in the face. “Hahaha!” she laughed. Bena then rushed to help out Thomas.

  Behind Viviana chased her two previous opponents. Viviana ducked and weaved around the battlefield, ignoring them completely as the others got absorbed into their respective fights. It’s like ring-a-round-a-rosy.

  Viviana moved to help Thomas who was closest to her. Selenne and her lackeys were less successful than they claimed to be. They were being pushed back, but overall the plan was working. Everyone was alive. Landsnecht already defeated two opponents, and the fight was even now, seven versus seven. They had evened the odds.

  Then everything went wrong.

  Lucian stumbled, his foot caught on something. Viviana ran forward, but the man chasing her finally caught up, activating [dash]. His blade caught her foot and she stumbled down into the blue earth.

  The Hunter howled, an echoing sound enhanced by the strange properties of his mask. And everything stopped. The glitchy effect of shifting was canceled. Viviana felt it. No one was shifting now.

  Panic. Viviana watched as a sword plunged towards Lucian. She wasn’t fast enough, but Lucian just twisted enough to avoid a fatal blow. He wouldn’t dodge the follow up.

  Viviana pushed herself, reactivating her mana. Her shifting continued.

  Whatever The Hunter did temporarily disabled the shift. It didn’t reset the process completely, though.

  She took the organs out of her mouth temporarily and screamed. “Reactivate the organs!”

  Viviana was going to pass out. Too much mana was being consumed. Even so, she had to save Lucian. He was a valuable asset to the team, and hadn’t dispensed his worth yet. It’d be a waste for him to die now.

  Viviana winced as she threw herself into the man standing over Lucian. The momentum just threw him off enough to miss his strike.

  They went down.

  Lucian scrambled to his feet and activated [dash] with the last of his mana, stabbing his sword into the man chasing Viviana.

  One of The Hunter’s lackeys killed one of Selenne’s. Instead of fighting the now three-versus-two, he switched targets completely and rushed at Bena. For all of the girl’s clairvoyance, she didn’t notice. Bena went down, sword stabbed through her back.

  Thomas was being pushed back. He was taking heavy damage, but his shift was activating.

  Viviana just barely pushed herself to her feet for what felt like the tenth time today. Lucian was still dazed from spending too much mana. He didn’t activate his shift.

  Viviana moved forward and grabbed him by the collar of his combat jumpsuit. She forced herself and squeezed out even more mana, activating her skill and pulling both of them forward just enough to dodge a fatal blow.

  “Can you shift?” Viviana said, her words barely audible through the blue hound organ.

  Lucian only shook his head.

  Viviana grabbed his blue hound organ, shoved it deeper into his mouth, and pushed her mana through it.

  “Breathe,” she commanded. “You will not die.”

  Lucian did as he was told.

  Viviana focused. The opponent she tackled was still on the ground. The Hunter’s lackey moved forward to attack again, but she felt it. The shift would happen in time.

  Viviana watched the battlefield, barely conscious.

  She saw Selenne’s blue hound organ break, right before she was about to shift. Her lackey sensed the danger and immediately spit their blue hound organ out.

  The Hunter laughed. “Perfect,” he said. “We shift as well. Watch, Selenne. I will slaughter your friends. Then, I’ll come to kill you.”

  Viviana, Lucian, and Thomas shifted, injured but alive. Bena was dead. Selenne and her lackey would not follow.

  The Hunter would.

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