Chapter 450: Welcome to the assessment.

Chapter 450: 450: Welcome to the assessment.

Silver understood exactly what was happening. Peter wasn’t interested in seeing Silver command again, especially with his rank, he wanted to see whether Silver could follow.

Helena looked toward the others.

"Any objections?"

Caleb shook his head, Mina did too, Elias simply waited and Rowan shrugged.

Silver said, "You’re the leader."

Helena nodded.

"Then let’s work."

Across the room, Ravenna’s squad was assembling; Shirley was with her.

Silver immediately noticed.

Ravenna noticed him noticing. She pointed two fingers toward her own eyes, then toward Shirley.

Silver almost laughed.

Shirley saw the gesture, for once she didn’t react; instead she smiled faintly. Ravenna became even more suspicious.

Silver just shook his head and turned back to Peter who was calling for attention.

"Equipment selection begins now."

A timer appeared.

[PRE-DEPLOYMENT RESOURCE ALLOCATION: 20:00]

Their tables unlocked and equipment compartments opened. There were a lot of things; ammunition, medical kits, water, emergency rations, rope, portable communication repeaters, flares, breaching equipment, flashlights, protective masks, compact climbing equipment, beast deterrents, spare magazines and portable power cells.

They couldn’t take everything. Helena immediately looked toward Silver.

"Thoughts?"

He looked over the equipment.

Something old stirred inside him. For a fraction of a second, the clean academy preparation room disappeared.

He remembered different hands, his hands, checking a rifle, pulling magazines from a vest, checking them again, someone beside him laughing because he’d already checked the medical pouch twice, a voice telling him they would be home before midnight, a vehicle waiting and the weight of equipment across his shoulders.

Silver blinked and Alpha Three returned. He hadn’t forgotten, sometimes it surprised him how much remained.

Silver reached for the medical supplies.

"Split these," he said while passing them to Helena.

Helena looked at him.

"Why?"

"If one person carries the entire medical supply and gets separated, injured or loses their pack, we lose everything."

Helena nodded immediately.

"Good."

Silver continued.

"Same with ammunition."

Caleb frowned.

"I use a hammer."

"Then don’t carry ammunition you don’t need," Silver calmly said.

Caleb smiled.

"Excellent plan."

Silver looked toward Elias.

"How many magazines?" He asked.

Elias checked.

"Three standard," Elias replied.

"Take one extra," he said.

Elias nodded.

Mina pointed toward the communication repeater.

"That."

Helena agreed and handed it to her.

Rowan looked toward the breaching equipment.

"Do we need it?"

Silver looked at the weight.

"Probably not."

Helena asked, "Why?"

"Rowan can reinforce objects. Caleb can break objects."

Caleb smiled.

"Now we’re thinking," Caleb happily said.

Silver continued.

"If we encounter something neither can open, we’re probably not supposed to be opening it."

Helena nodded.

"Leave the breaching kit."

They took rope, medical supplies, a communication repeater, ammunition, water, protective masks, two emergency flares, and one compact climbing kit.

They left extra food since the mission wasn’t supposed to last long enough to require it.

Helena looked toward the remaining capacity.

"More ammunition or another medical kit?"

Silver didn’t answer immediately but Mina did.

"Medical."

Everyone looked toward her.

She shrugged.

"If we’re low on ammunition, we can avoid fights. If someone’s bleeding, avoiding the problem doesn’t help."

Helena smiled.

"Medical it is."

Silver nodded.

He didn’t need to make every useful decision, that was the entire point of todays assessment.

The timer continued.

Across the room, Ravenna was helping her squad load equipment. Silver watched her lift a supply case with one hand. She caught him looking and raised an eyebrow an eyebrow.

He flexed his arm.

She rolled her eyes.

Even with the Titan-Horn Mountain Bison, she still wasn’t physically stronger than him, they both knew it, but that hadn’t stopped her from challenging him twice during the last three days.

She had lost twice, then beaten him with a sword afterward purely to repair her pride.

Silver smiled at the memory.

Ravenna walked over while their squads waited for final inspection.

"You have Helena."

Silver nodded.

"You have Shirley."

Ravenna’s expression immediately flattened.

"I noticed, you don’t have to remind me."

Shirley stood several meters away speaking pleasantly with another squad member.

Ravenna looked at her.

"She’s being weird."

Silver lowered his voice.

"Maybe focus on the assessment."

"I can do both."

"I know."

Ravenna looked over Silver’s equipment.

"How much ammunition?"

"Enough."

"Medical?"

"Split between us."

"That’s good."

Silver looked at hers.

"You took too much weight."

She looked back at her group before shaking her head.

"No, I didn’t."

"You don’t need to prove the new tattoo works every five minutes."

"I can carry it."

"I know you can carry it."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"Mobility," he quietly said.

Ravenna looked down, then toward her squad leader, clearly thinking about it.

Silver smiled.

"Peter would be proud of you."

"Stop," she hissed

She removed one heavier utility pack and handed it back to her squad’s equipment station.

Silver smiled wider.

Ravenna pointed toward him.

"If you say anything, I’ll set you on fire."

"That threat is becoming less effective."

Her eyes narrowed.

He tapped his chest.

"Fire Resistance."

She smiled.

"Your clothes don’t have Fire Resistance."

Silver looked down at his uniform.

"That’s an unfair take on everything."

"I know but the..."

Peter’s voice interrupted them.

"Arkland."

She looked over, confused.

"Your squad is waiting."

She sighed, then looked back at Silver.

"Don’t do anything stupid."

Silver smiled.

"That’s becoming our goodbye."

"Because you keep doing stupid things."

"Okay."

Ravenna hesitated.

They were surrounded by students and the assignment made everything feel so serious. Three weeks ago she might have grabbed him and kissed him without thinking; instead she squeezed his hand briefly.

Silver squeezed back.

"Good luck."

She smiled.

"You too."

She walked away.

Shirley watched the exchange, only briefly, then looked elsewhere before either noticed.

---

Twenty-seven minutes later, Squad Four-B stood inside a deployment tunnel beneath Urban Training Sector Seven.

The atmosphere had changed completely. Academy uniforms had been replaced by field equipment, weapons were loaded, communication units active, and protective gear secured.

Silver carried his handgun as primary and a standard academy-issued sword rested at his side. Elias carried his bow, Caleb had his hammer, Helena carried her reinforced shield and short spear, Mina used twin short blades and Rowan carried a compact axe plus handgun.

Helena looked over everyone.

"Comms."

They checked.

"Medical."

Checked.

"Ammunition."

Checked.

Silver automatically checked his handgun again. His fingers stopped as another memory sneaked into his thoughts. He could almost hear his old teammates talking amongst themselves as they triple checked. He closed his eyes for half a second, then opened them. He was Silver Ruddington now but the man he’d been hadn’t disappeared, maybe he never would.

Helena looked toward him.

"You good?"

He nodded.

"Good."

She didn’t ask further.

The deployment gate remained closed with a screen illuminating above it.

[FIRST-YEAR GRADED FIELD ASSESSMENT]

[SQUAD FOUR-B]

[MISSION TYPE: SEARCH AND EXTRACTION]

[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1: LOCATE MISSING PERSONNEL.]

[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 2: RECOVER SECURED MILITARY CASE.]

[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 3: REACH DESIGNATED EXTRACTION POINT.]

[MISSION TIME LIMIT: 02:30:00]

It was longer than Silver expected, which probably meant it wasn’t good.

Helena looked toward the squad.

"We don’t know where the personnel are. We don’t know where the case is. We don’t know how many beasts we’re dealing with. We don’t waste ammunition unless we need to, we don’t chase anything that isn’t part of the mission, and if someone notices something, they say it immediately. I don’t care who notices it."

She looked toward Silver who nodded.

"You’re leading."

Helena smiled slightly.

"Good."

The countdown began.

[10]

Silver rolled his shoulders.

[9]

Mina flexed her fingers.

[8]

Caleb lifted his hammer.

[7]

Elias checked his bowstring.

[6]

Rowan tightened his pack.

[5]

Helena raised her shield.

[4]

Silver rested his hand near his handgun.

[3]

He breathed.

[2]

Something inside him became very calm, almost familiar.

[1]

The gate opened and morning light poured into the tunnel.

Urban Sector Seven stretched before them, just as damaged as they had seen in the class before.

Helena stepped out first and Silver followed. Twenty meters beyond the entrance, he activated his skill.

[Spatial Sense Lv3 Activated.]

Space unfolded around him. His perception spread outward for a few seconds until he immediately stopped.

Helena noticed his change in expression.

"What?"

He looked toward the street ahead, then toward the academy map mounted on his wrist display. The map showed an open intersection approximately eighty meters ahead but Spatial Sense told him something completely different. The road was blocked with a collapsed building.

Silver pointed towards the direction.

"Map’s wrong."

Caleb frowned.

"We haven’t even been inside for a minute."

He smiled faintly as Peter’s warning returned to him.

The map may be accurate... Until it isn’t.

Helena looked toward the others.

"Alternative route."

Elias pointed toward a side street. Mina crouched and touched two fingers against the ground while Silver expanded Spatial Sense farther.

Somewhere beyond the buildings, too far for him to identify clearly, something large moved.

Helena adjusted her shield.

"Welcome to the assessment."

He drew his handgun, and this time, nobody smiled.