Chapter 112: Top 40

The high-end Awakener vehicle moved steadily across the western road toward the Badlands, its reinforced frame absorbing the uneven terrain as the landscape changed from open fields to dry, rocky ground.

Lily had lasted less than ten minutes before turning toward Rhea. "So, what do you usually do when a mission starts?"

Rhea leaned back in her seat. "Usually? I find whatever looks strongest and attack it."

Lily’s eyes brightened. "I do that too."

Mara, sitting across from them, slowly turned her head. "That’s exactly what I was afraid of."

Rhea laughed while Lily looked offended. "What’s wrong with that? If something looks strong, beating it proves we’re stronger."

"That’s also a very efficient way to turn a manageable mission into a rescue operation," Mara replied.

Lily glanced at Rhea, who shrugged. "She’s right."

"You agreed with her?" Lily asked, looking betrayed.

"You asked what we usually do. I didn’t say it was a good idea."

Adrian laughed quietly while Kael looked away, already seeming to accept that Rhea and Lily were going to become a problem together.

Mara pointed toward the road ahead. "Blackwater is another thirty minutes. From here onward, pay attention to the surroundings. The convoy disappeared after entering this section, but the original report didn’t contain enough information to determine what happened."

She pointed toward a damaged Mana beacon beside the road. "That beacon should be active."

Yuna looked at it. "It isn’t."

"Exactly. There’s another one ahead."

An abandoned supply marker had been pushed into the dirt, its identification plate scratched almost completely away.

Maki leaned forward. "Could have been damaged during the attack."

"It could have," Mara said, "but there are no impact marks around it."

Maki’s eyes moved between the road and surrounding cliffs as possibilities immediately began forming in her mind.

Seraphine noticed. "You’re doing it again."

Maki looked over. "Doing what?"

"Trying to solve everything before we’ve even seen the problem."

Maki stopped herself and remembered yesterday’s lesson.

She looked at the marker again before saying, "Fine. I’ll wait until we have more information."

Seraphine smiled. "That’s progress."

The vehicle continued deeper into the Badlands until Mara raised a hand. "Stop."

The convoy appeared ahead.

Three transport vehicles had been abandoned beside the road, their cargo containers damaged and their Mana engines inactive. Several bodies lay around them, but Emily immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Mara crouched beside one of the bodies. "The positions don’t make sense."

Maki followed her gaze. "They were attacked from the west."

"Probably."

"But they’re facing east."

"Which means they were trying to escape."

Maki looked toward the western cliffs. There were no obvious enemies and no detectable Mana signatures.

Seraphine looked at her. "What’s the next decision?"

Maki hesitated, then pointed toward the western side. "We shouldn’t approach the convoy yet. We should check that direction first."

Yuna nodded. "Mara?"

"Agreed."

Maki felt a small sense of satisfaction. She hadn’t tried to calculate every possible outcome. She had simply made the next decision.

They moved toward the western side of the convoy, but a Mana projectile suddenly struck the ground between them.

"Enemies!" Yuna shouted as bandits emerged from the rocks.

More than a dozen attackers rushed forward, carrying mismatched weapons and scavenged Awakener equipment. Most were D-Rank, but several carried the denser Mana signatures of C-Rank Awakeners.

Lily immediately stepped forward, but Rhea caught her shoulder. "Wait."

"Why?"

"I don’t know yet."

Lily hesitated instead of charging.

A bandit rushed toward them, raising his weapon, while another moved behind him. Rhea watched for another moment before smiling. "Now."

Lily moved, knocking the first weapon aside before striking the bandit’s chest and sending him crashing into the ground.

She turned around with a grin. "See? Waiting didn’t kill you."

"It almost did," Rhea said.

"But it didn’t."

Rhea laughed. "That’s what matters."

Nearby, Emily fought without activating her Gnosis. Aeon deflected an incoming Mana weapon before she stepped forward and struck the bandit with the flat of her blade.

Rika watched her carefully.

Emily noticed. "Something wrong?"

"You’re fighting differently."

"I’m trying to."

Rika shook her head. "No. You’re still fighting like you used to. Your technique is polished, but you’re expecting them to respond the way opponents did years ago."

The next attack came faster than Emily expected, forcing her to change direction.

Emily realized what Rika meant. She hadn’t forgotten how to fight. The battlefield had simply changed while she was gone.

"I’m fighting the enemy I remember," Emily said.

Rika nodded. "Exactly."

Emily adjusted her grip on Aeon. "Then I’ll fight the one in front of me."

This time, she changed her movement instead of forcing her old pattern. Rika watched the adjustment and smiled.

"Better."

"Don’t sound so surprised."

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"I was a little."

Emily laughed before returning her attention to the fight.

Reinhard watched from behind the formation.

Lily was still aggressive, but she had already learned to wait for an opening. Maki had made a decision without trying to solve the entire battlefield, while Yuna was naturally beginning to organize everyone around those decisions.

Emily was fighting without her Gnosis and adapting instead of relying on what had worked years ago.

Reinhard smiled.

Yesterday, they had been strong individuals who happened to fight together.

Today, they were beginning to look like a team.

Three C-Rank bandits suddenly broke away from the main group and rushed toward him.

"Attack the one in the back first!" one of them shouted.

Reinhard sighed as the first attacker swung a crude Mana axe.He raised one hand and moved his fingers through the air and then an invisible slash crossed the distance.

The bandit’s Mana barrier split apart as the slash continued cutting into his armor. When he reinforced the barrier, the invisible attack adapted to the new defense and continued through it.

Reinhard supplied more Mana.

The slash adjusted again.

The barrier finally collapsed, and the bandit fell backward.

Reinhard looked at his hand with mild interest. All-Cutting Slash was different from his other attacks. It didn’t need to overpower a defense immediately. Given enough exposure, it could gradually adapt until the target’s defenses stopped mattering.

The second bandit threw a Mana projectile while the third rushed forward.

Reinhard tilted his head, letting the projectile pass, then reached behind him and drew Heavenpiercer.

He threw the spear.

Heavenpiercer locked onto the charging bandit, its trajectory adjusting around the man’s attempt to dodge before Lightning and Fire erupted on impact. The weapon immediately curved through the air and returned to Reinhard’s hand.

Lily glanced over while fighting. "Was that necessary?"

Reinhard caught the returning weapon. "They came to me."

Lily nodded. "But it looks like overkill."

Rhea laughed. "I like him."

Mara sighed. "You liked him yesterday and when we first just met him."

"But he just keeps doing cool things!"

Several new Mana signatures suddenly appeared around the battlefield.

Maki stopped. "Wait."

Yuna looked toward the cliffs. "What is it?"

"There are more."

Maki expanded her Mana Sense. One signature became three, then seven, then twelve.

Lily raised her sword. "How many are there?"

Maki’s mind immediately began calculating possible positions and attack patterns, but she forced herself to stop.

She remembered Seraphine’s question. What’s the next decision?

Maki looked across the battlefield. The signatures were appearing everywhere, but only one was actually approaching them. "That one," she said, pointing toward the western cliff. "The others are distractions."

Emily followed her gaze.

A distorted shape moved between the rocks.

Maki turned to Yuna. "Move Lily and Rhea left. The real attack is coming from the western side."

Yuna immediately gave the order. "Lily, Rhea, left side. Emily, with me."

The formation shifted just before the creature emerged and slammed into the ground where Lily had been standing.

Maki stared at it.

She had been right.

Seraphine stepped beside her. "Good call."

"I didn’t know for certain."

"You didn’t need to."

Maki smiled faintly. "I think I’m starting to understand."

The creature twisted unnaturally, splitting its Mana signature into several false copies.

"Abnormality," Mara said.

The word immediately changed the atmosphere.

The bandits weren’t the real threat. They had been scavenging the convoy after the Abnormality attacked, while its distorted Mana signatures concealed its movements.

Yuna raised her voice. "Everyone, formation!"

Mara stayed beside her instead of taking command.

"Keep the center stable," Mara said.

Yuna nodded. "Maki, track the real body. Lily, stay with Rhea. Emily, take the front. Kael, Adrian, secure the rear."

The Abnormality attacked again. Emily met it head-on, raising Aeon as its distorted limb shot toward her. For a fraction of a second, the attack stopped. Her Space and Time Gnosis flickered around the blade, freezing the trajectory just long enough for her to shift it aside.

She immediately struck the creature’s body.

Rika stared. "That’s new."

Emily glanced at her with a smile. "It wasn’t."

Rika understood. "It is now."

Emily nodded and continued attacking.

The creature split into three copies.

Maki pointed toward the center. "The real one is there."

Seraphine moved with her. "How do you know?"

"The others aren’t disturbing the Mana around them."

Maki no longer sounded like she was calculating every possibility. She was simply reading what was happening.

Seraphine smiled. "Now you’re thinking like a field analyst."

Maki glanced at her. "I thought I already was."

"You were thinking like a researcher."

The team closed in.

Yuna maintained the formation, Maki tracked the real body, Lily and Rhea controlled the left side, while Emily and Rika kept pressure on the Abnormality. Reinhard remained in reserve, dealing with the occasional bandit who managed to break through.

When another attacker tried to flee through the rear, Reinhard raised his hand.

All-Cutting Slash cut through the man’s Mana barrier and forced him to surrender.

The battle ended several minutes later.

The Abnormality collapsed, the remaining bandits surrendered, and the team immediately turned toward the convoy.

Three survivors were found inside one of the damaged vehicles.

Lily helped carry one of them while Rhea stayed beside her.

"You did good," Rhea said.

Lily smiled. "I didn’t charge in."

"You almost did."

"But I didn’t."

"That’s what matters."

Mara checked the cargo while Kael secured evidence from the bandits. Adrian restored the damaged Mana beacon enough for the Association to locate them, while Yuna confirmed that every survivor had been accounted for.

Reinhard watched the team work.

The Association wasn’t simply rewarding them for defeating enemies. They had recovered the cargo, rescued survivors, preserved evidence, and kept collateral damage low.

Power mattered, but professional performance mattered too.

When they returned to the Association, the mission report was processed immediately.

[Mission Completed.]

[Blackwater Convoy Recovery — Completed.]

[Mission Contribution Calculated.]

[Base Reward: 42,000 Credits.]

[Additional Contribution: Cargo Recovery.]

[Additional Contribution: Survivor Rescue.]

[Additional Contribution: Evidence Preservation.]

[Additional Contribution: Minimal Collateral Damage.]

A moment later, another notification appeared.

[Team Ranking Updated.]

[Ashcroft Family — #47 → #38.]

[Fame Increased!]

[80,456 —> 102,456]

[Current Fame: 102,456 / 1,000,000]

[Description: Fans are going crazy over Emily reaching the top 50 and even bragging that she did it in less than a month. Emily has already gained over ten thousands of new fans who are following her progress.]

As expected of my lovely wife. But this does make it troubling to eat out.

Lily stared at the board. "We moved nine places."

Maki nodded. "And that was only our third mission."

Rhea smiled. "Then get used to seeing that number move."

"How far?" Lily asked.

Rhea pointed toward the upper rankings. "Top forty?"

Lily grinned. "Top forty."

Across the room, Seraphine approached Maki. "You made the right call today."

Maki smiled. "Thanks."

Rika approached Emily at the same time. "You’re adapting."

Emily looked at her. "So are you."

Their relationship wasn’t friendship yet, but the respect between them had become genuine.

Reinhard looked toward the ranking board.

#38.

They were close.

Then the notification he had been waiting for appeared.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

Reinhard’s expression changed slightly.

[B-Grade Investment Successful.]

He stared at the final line as it appeared.

[Calculating Returns...]