Chapter 108: The First Mission

The warning on the vehicle’s display remained unchanged as the Ashcroft Family continued toward the Badlands.

[Multiple Mana Signatures Detected.]

[Estimated Count: 17.]

[Threat Classification: Unable to Determine.]

Emily rested one hand against Aeon while looking through the windshield at the rocky terrain ahead. The Badlands stretched across the horizon, with scattered cliffs and jagged stone formations breaking up the otherwise barren landscape.

Maki studied the map on her tablet. "The relic site should be another twenty minutes ahead. The Mana signatures are coming from the same direction."

Yuna checked the vehicle’s defensive readings before looking toward Reinhard. "They know we’re coming."

Reinhard nodded. "Probably."

Lily leaned forward between the seats. "Are we going to fight all seventeen?"

Emily glanced back at her. "Hopefully not all at once."

Lily smiled. "That would be fun."

Maki immediately looked at her. "That’s exactly the attitude we’re trying to avoid."

"I said it would be fun, not that I’d charge in."

Maki stared at her for a moment.

Lily only smiled innocently, while Yuna laughed quietly and Reinhard continued watching the road.

A few minutes later, the vehicle passed between two large rock formations, and the source of the Mana signatures finally became visible.

Several rough vehicles had been parked around an abandoned mining structure. Men and women wearing mismatched armor stood around the area, carrying weapons that looked as though they had been assembled from whatever they could find.

Some carried modified Mana rifles, while others used crude blades or reinforced clubs. Several wore pieces of old Awakener equipment that clearly did not belong to the same set.

Maki looked at them through the window. "Those aren’t monsters."

"No," Yuna replied. "They’re people."

The mission suddenly made more sense.

The previous team had not simply failed to retrieve the relic because monsters had gathered. Someone else had reached the site first.

Maki zoomed in on the figures with her tablet. "I’m detecting several D-Rank Mana signatures and at least three C-Ranks."

Emily looked toward Reinhard. "They stole it?"

"Looks like it," Reinhard said.

Yuna’s expression hardened. "Scavenger bandits."

One of the bandits noticed their vehicle approaching and immediately shouted something toward the others. Weapons were raised as the group spread out around the mining structure.

Reinhard stopped the vehicle several dozen meters away.

The five of them stepped outside.

A tall man wearing a collection of mismatched armor stepped forward. A crude Mana rifle rested across his shoulder, and several scars ran across his face.

"This area is occupied," he called out. "Turn around."

Maki glanced toward the abandoned structure. "We’re here for the relic."

The man’s expression changed before he laughed. "So you’re the Association team."

"We are," Maki replied.

"You should know better than to come here."

Emily stepped forward. "Return the relic and we’ll leave."

The man stared at her before laughing again. "You think we’re going to hand over something valuable because you asked?"

Several of the bandits began spreading out.

Reinhard quietly glanced toward Yuna.

She understood immediately. "We’ll stay behind them. If anything gets through, we’ll handle it."

Reinhard nodded.

Emily looked at him. "You two aren’t coming?"

"You wanted real combat," Reinhard replied. "This is your mission."

Emily understood what he meant.

Maki was already moving toward the center of the group. "Then let’s see what we’ve got."

The bandits attacked.

The first wave consisted of D-Rank Awakeners carrying scrap weapons, and Emily moved before the nearest one could properly raise his rifle. She crossed the distance in an instant and struck his Mana barrier with the flat of Aeon, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Another attacker rushed toward her from the side. Emily turned and caught his weapon against Aeon before pushing him backward with a burst of compressed Mana.

Lily saw the opening and immediately charged.

"Lily, wait!" Maki shouted.

Lily was already moving.

She slammed into another D-Rank bandit and sent him crashing into the side of an abandoned vehicle. "Got one!"

"You weren’t supposed to go that far!"

"I was already there!"

Maki sighed before raising her hand and forming several Mana constructs around herself. Three bandits rushed toward her, and she immediately began calculating their movements, predicting their attack angles and preparing countermeasures.

One attacked from the front, and Maki blocked.

Another came from the side, forcing her to step away.

The third suddenly changed direction.

Maki’s eyes widened. She had predicted the first two movements perfectly, but the third attacker had reacted to her response instead of following the pattern she had expected. Her defensive formation broke, leaving an opening that the bandit immediately exploited.

His weapon came toward her.

Emily appeared between them and knocked it away before sending the attacker flying with a concentrated Mana blast.

"Maki."

"I’m fine."

Emily glanced at the retreating bandit. "You were thinking too much."

Maki frowned. "I was analyzing them."

"You were still analyzing them after they had already changed their movements."

Maki looked annoyed, but she knew Emily was right. "I noticed."

Across the battlefield, Lily was having a different problem.

She had already defeated two D-Ranks and was chasing another one. "Come back here!"

The bandit looked terrified as Lily pursued him, but the moment he reached the abandoned structure, a C-Rank Awakener stepped between them.

His scrap weapon was a massive metal blade reinforced with Mana.

Lily’s expression changed when she felt the pressure coming from him.

The C-Rank swung.

Lily barely blocked the attack, and the impact forced her backward several meters.

She stared at the weapon before muttering, "Okay."

The C-Rank attacked again.

Lily dodged and countered, but the man’s experience was clearly superior. He wasn’t overwhelmingly stronger than her, but he understood how to fight in a chaotic environment, while Lily was still relying heavily on instinct.

She began losing ground.

Yuna took one step forward.

Reinhard stopped her with a glance.

"Wait."

Yuna looked at him. "Lily can handle it?"

"She needs to learn when to stop."

Yuna watched the fight for another moment before nodding.

Lily suddenly changed tactics.

Instead of attacking directly, she stepped backward and waited for the C-Rank to commit. The moment he swung, she moved inside his reach and struck his chest with a concentrated burst of Mana.

His barrier cracked.

Lily followed with another attack and sent him crashing into the ground.

She stared at him for a second before smiling. "I got him."

Maki looked over. "You almost got yourself killed."

"But I didn’t."

"That’s not the point."

Emily couldn’t help smiling as she moved toward the remaining bandits. "It means you learned something."

Lily looked at her before grinning. "I did."

The three women were strong.

There was no question about that.

Emily was a peak D-Rank whose power already exceeded what most people would expect from her official classification.

Maki possessed the same level of raw strength, but her tactical mind sometimes became a weakness when she tried to account for every possible outcome.

Lily had the physical ability to fight at the same level, but her instinct was always to move forward before considering whether she should.

The problem wasn’t their strength.

They simply weren’t used to fighting together.

Emily realized that when another group of bandits rushed toward them.

She raised her hand and released a compressed Mana strike. The attack hit the ground in front of them, and the resulting shockwave knocked all four attackers off their feet.

Everyone stopped.

Emily looked at the crater she had created.

"...I may have used too much."

Maki stared at her. "That was supposed to be a controlled attack."

Emily looked slightly embarrassed. "I know."

Lily grinned. "That was awesome."

Maki sighed while Yuna watched from behind them with an amused expression.

"They’re definitely going to need the training array," Yuna said.

Reinhard smiled. "That’s what the month is for."

The remaining C-Rank bandits finally realized they were losing. Three of them attacked Emily together. She met them head-on. Aeon moved through the air with precise control as she blocked one weapon, avoided another, and struck the third bandit’s barrier with enough force to send him skidding backward.

The first attacker came again.

Emily twisted aside and struck his shoulder before the second tried to flank her.

Maki intercepted him with a Mana construct. "Emily, left."

Emily immediately adjusted, and the attack missed.Lily came from the other side and struck the bandit’s legs, sending him crashing to the ground.

Emily looked toward Maki. "Better."

Maki nodded.

This time, there had been no hesitation.

They were beginning to understand each other’s movements. The final C-Rank bandit attempted to retreat toward the abandoned structure, but Yuna moved before anyone else could react.

She appeared in front of him and caught his weapon with one hand. The man’s expression changed when he realized the difference in their strength.

Yuna’s A-Rank presence pressed down on him so heavily that his knees nearly buckled. "Don’t," she said calmly.

The bandit dropped his weapon.

Within another minute, the remaining scavengers surrendered. Reinhard walked toward the group while Yuna began securing the prisoners.

Maki looked around the battlefield. "We won."

Emily nodded. "We did."

Lily raised both hands. "And I got the C-Rank."

Maki immediately looked at her. "You also nearly got yourself surrounded."

"But I won."

"That’s not the point."

Emily laughed softly. "It means we have something to work on."

They entered the abandoned structure and found the relic inside a reinforced container. The object itself was a strange black-metal sphere covered in faint silver lines.

Maki examined it carefully. "We shouldn’t touch it yet."

Yuna nodded. "Agreed."

Emily looked at Reinhard.

He examined the object from a distance before nodding. "Take it back to the Association."

They secured the relic and returned to the vehicle with the captured bandits.

The entire mission had taken less than an hour.

None of them had suffered serious injuries, and neither Reinhard nor Yuna had needed to seriously intervene. They had completed the mission, recovered the relic, and captured the people responsible for stealing it.

Still, nobody looked completely satisfied.

The fight had exposed too many weaknesses.

Maki had spent too much time trying to predict every movement. Lily had nearly gotten herself surrounded because she moved before considering the larger situation, while Emily had repeatedly used more power than necessary. Even their communication had only started improving once they were already halfway through the fight.

They had won, but they could have done it better.

As they drove back toward Elyndor, Maki looked over her notes.

"We were inefficient."

Lily frowned. "We won."

"We could have completed the mission faster and with less risk."

Emily nodded. "She’s right."

Lily looked toward Reinhard. "What do you think?"

Reinhard smiled. "I think you did well for your first mission."

Lily brightened. "But?"

"You can do much better."

That answer satisfied her more than simple praise would have.

The Association received them when they returned, and the mission coordinator was waiting.

When the relic was handed over, the Association’s system immediately updated their records.

[Mission Completed.]

[Badlands Relic Retrieval — Completed.]

[Mission Contribution Calculated.]

[Credits Awarded: 18,000.]

[Contribution Points Awarded: 120.]

[Fame Increased!]

[33, 245 —> 50, 235]

[Current Fame: 50, 235 / 1,000,000]

[Description: Emily fans have learned about her mission and have now begun following her progress in the rankings. Many people shared how she is already in the top 200 from just her first mission. And now many are looking forward to how far she and the rest of the family can go.]

The five of them looked toward the display.

Lily’s eyes widened. "We got paid."

Maki nodded. "We did."

Reinhard smiled as another notification appeared.

[Ashcroft Family — Reputation Registered.]

[Current Team Ranking: #187.]

Lily stared at the number. "One hundred eighty-seven?"

Yuna smiled. "Out of how many?"

The coordinator answered, "There are currently 412 registered teams in Elyndor."

Lily’s eyes brightened. "So we’re already in the top half?"

Maki looked at the display again. "We’re only ranked #187."

"But that’s our first mission."

Lily grinned. "That means we can climb."

Emily looked at the ranking for several seconds before smiling. "Exactly."

The coordinator explained that their ranking would change based on mission difficulty, contribution, completion rate, reputation, and future performance. The Badlands mission had given them a strong starting position because they had completed a mission that another established team had abandoned.

Reinhard looked at the display.

The number wasn’t impressive yet, but it was visible.

That mattered.

From now on, every mission would leave something behind. The credits would give them resources, contribution points would improve their standing, and their reputation would grow with every successful mission. If they continued completing increasingly difficult missions, their ranking would rise with them.

For the first time, the Ashcroft Family had a measurable place in Elyndor’s Awakener world.

They weren’t famous because of a single spectacular battle anymore.

They were becoming a registered team.

And they had a month to climb.

By the time they returned to the hotel that evening, everyone was tired.

Lily collapsed onto one of the couches and immediately started talking about the C-Rank she had defeated, while Maki was already reviewing the battle footage. Yuna checked everyone’s injuries and supplies for the following day, leaving Emily beside Reinhard as she looked through the mission results.

"We need better coordination," Emily said.

"We do."

"Maki needs to stop trying to predict everything."

Maki looked up from across the room. "I heard that."

Emily smiled before continuing. "Lily needs to stop charging ahead."

Lily raised her head from the couch. "I heard that too."

Emily then looked toward Reinhard. "And I need to control my strength better."

Reinhard nodded. "That’s what training is for."

Emily looked toward the others.

Maki had already returned to reviewing the battle. Lily was complaining that she had done perfectly well, while Yuna was quietly checking their supplies for tomorrow.

Just as Reinhard was about to stand, a familiar notification appeared in front of him.

He paused.

Unlike the Association notifications, this one was invisible to everyone else.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[C-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Returns...]