Chương 211: Guild Training

Jack P. O. V.

"First line, prepare for impact!" I shouted in the hope of keeping some semblance of control as soon as the fight started. These monsters were going to fuck us up if we couldn't maintain the formation, they weren't that strong individually, but as soon as there were a bunch, their fear aura would overlap and then even the most stalwart of the shieldbearers would feel like pissing their pants, and I'm saying it because it literally happened, it wasn't that funny.

The monsters slammed into the shields, and this time they resisted the impact, sending the monsters to the ground, but not for long, most of the spears failed to find a target as the mongrels quickly got back to their feet. Actually we were particularly well equipped for these monsters, new armour, shields and spears, all magical, and a charm to resist adverse mental effects... Against level forty enemies, it should be more than enough, but I think that without my skills they would have faltered already.

"Brace!" I shouted, the skill acted in conjunction with the shields, while the shields themselves increased their defences the more they were interlocked in the shield wall, my magic added another layer of protection, along with Call to Arms. I have no idea why I even decided to go with this route... There is no day that passes that I don't regret staying in the vanguard. But at the same time my pride stops me from going back to Elias to beg for my place back.

I made a stupid mistake, I decided to use my skills to protect the main group at the time, after a couple of brushes with death I got cold feet, and I thought that staying behind would allow me to still do some good while taking fewer risks. I was right, but I didn't account for anything else that happened after.

Elias coming to take back the shield saddened me more than I would like to admit, and while I understand it, it made me angry all the same, then they went and got all those points from the shrine potion, and the strong became stronger, while I was left behind to babysit the others.

Then the Guild, and the Barons, the achievements and the special treatment, it's not that they ever treated me badly, actually I was in a good position in the Guild, I was directly under Tom for God's sake, I was commanding all the fighters, but as I looked at the vanguard passing beside us, they just cut down any of the dogs with contemptuous ease, while we had to work together just to resist them. I didn't want to play babysitter anymore. I wanted that power, I needed it, I needed it to find Loren. My Loren...

we were having dinner together when we got transported into the tutorial, and we know after talking with many people that we all live in New York, so the System grouped us by zone most probably, she should be around here, but where was impossible to know.

And even if I knew the direction, the monsters would simply tear me apart, I was still level 32, progress was way slower after passing the level 25 barrier, and killing many of the same monsters gave less and less experience, there is no real way to track it, but we compared experiences and it was clear that fighting different monsters was needed to progress fast. What should I do? Should I continue like this? Slowly advancing step by step while others were running ahead and the strongest just flew into the sky?

I needed to change something, but I didn't know what, or how. My spear found its way into a mongrel's chest, the beast yelped and bit down on the shaft, I twisted the weapon in its wound and retrieved it, wounding its mouth as a bonus. I wanted to leave the formation and kick the stupid dog until it stopped moving, but I was in formation, I couldn't disrupt it, or someone might die. It took an agonizing five minutes to kill this pack of Dread Mongrels, and believe me, five minutes in a fight were an eternity...

nearly twenty people in formation, all decked out and ready for it, and it still took five fucking minutes to kill a dozen dogs. It was depressing, at least some got levels, most of the new fighters were mixed classes, half crafters, or at least professions from before the tutorial, and got an evolution with fighting capabilities, basically even those that passed level 25 were to be considered barely past level 10 if we compared them to pure fighters.

I was actually much stronger before level ten if I compared myself to them, at least they were improving, after this they should be able to afford some extra skills, we were still debating what to focus on, but still. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Haa...

"Good job folks! But that was only the appetizer, another pack is heading our way, twenty strong at the least, so keep formation and aim for the heart and lungs!" The beasts were fast, if a fast dog before the tutorial could run at 30 miles per hour, at level forty these beasts were approaching us at the speed of a sports car, they looked far away, but the distance between us was quickly disappearing.

I took another look at the vanguard in the distance, Marcus, Quinn, Chloe and that woman with the bow, Andrea, were killing most of the dogs at a distance through spells, knives, spears and arrows, but some were let through for the melee fighters to kill, Frederick let a dog bite his arm, the beast incapable of drawing blood, then he slammed a hammer punch into its skull, splattering himself with blood and brain matter.

Then he proceeded to stomp another into the ground while Alya literally cut a couple of them in two beside him with a single swing of her sword, with one hand. Tom was close to Mary, protecting her, while Elias and Rhea weren't even participating, they were just talking at the back of the group without a care in the world, like the violence around them didn't concern them in the slightest. And the only thing in my mind was that it could have been me walking with them, instead of managing this bunch...

Focus Jack, get your head back in the game, the pack was nearly on us, so I activated a couple of skills.

"Brace!" ──────────── Lena P. O. V. What do I do? What should I do? Why the hell were all these people looking at me for direction?! How did Elias think that I was fit for this role? I was just a waitress until a couple of weeks ago, having trouble making ends meet to pay off my college loan. The most violence I'd ever been in had been a scuffle in primary school with Emma Johnson... Now instead I was the temporary leader of this bunch of actual mages. Life sure is strange.

"You should say something." said Melissa from beside me. The young teen was looking totally at ease, despite the lumbering monsters we could see in the distance. Many tended to underestimate this girl, and admittedly, compared to the other members of the vanguard she didn't shine like the others, but her barriers were a game changer for the group, she saved more lives than anyone else and her offensive capabilities weren't any less than mine, despite focusing on defensive magic so much.

The thing that most overlooked was that she was stupidly young to be so capable and mature, she was smart and had a great head on her shoulders, how she managed to get bamboozled by Quinn was a mystery to me though, I chalked it up to teenage hormones. Or maybe she was just too kind, one of the two. I shook these useless thoughts from my head.

Now it was time to prepare for this hunt, we were here to gain points, experience and improve, this first day would be an exercise for all the mages to face foes way sturdier than what we had faced until now, without melee support. But we had our magic, and Melissa, so I was confident we could succeed without trouble, I hoped.

"Ok everyone," actually we weren't that many, me, Melissa, Mark, Sara, Aisha, Paul, Bella, Hugh and Fiona. Half were people that had been freed from that slave contract, they started as crafters but switched to mages, our little group was a hodgepodge of different mage classes, but there was some potential. Especially because we all specialized in something different. I was one of the still "pure" mages, I didn't focus on any specific discipline, but I had kept my mana pure and not elementalized.

That made me capable of inflicting damage on any monster, but it came with no advantages or disadvantages, so a bit boring, but my spells were made to pack a punch now, especially with some preparation time, I had a lot of metamagic skills after all. Melissa was our shield, even if everyone had at least one defensive skill.

Mark was a pure fire mage, and was soaring in power now that we were out of the woods, literally, the chance of a forest fire stopped him from using his powers fully but in an open space like this? He was like a walking mortar. Sara was similar to me, but with some buff skills for the group.

Aisha was more of a voodoo girl, not purely spell slinging like the rest of us, she resembled Elias in the way she could curse or manipulate her enemies, but honestly I found her a tad creepy with her dances and the chants she performed. Paul was a nature mage, he was originally a woodworker, then after taking a treant bloodline, he started to specialize in plant magic instead of crafting wood, growing instead of cutting down, his magic was honestly fascinating.

Bella was a lightning mage, and Cole's new girlfriend, the pair were like cats and dogs, but they always ended up in bed even after shouting at each other, she had a very strong personality, and her magic reflected that. Hugh was a stonemason before, and adapted his stoneworking skills to become a kind of stone and earth mage, he was actually very dangerous in the right kind of terrain, and don't get me started about caves, if I ever entered an underground space, he was the last person I would want to fight.

Finally Fiona was a dark mage, scary as fuck, the beautiful woman went from being a TikToker, a Performer if she was to be believed, to weaving dark spells, how, I had no idea, but her powers were undeniable. I looked at every one of them.

"Let's get into formation. Melissa, in the centre back, you are our shield if all other shields fail, Hugh and Paul, at the front, me and Sara will be just behind you, Mark and Bella at the sides, be careful to have a clear view of the enemy before firing. While Aisha and Fiona, you will guard our back, there shouldn't be any kind of monster attacking us there, but keep your eyes open."

"Everyone got their role?"

"Got it!" Mark, always cheerful.

"Sounds fine."

"Yeah."

"I want to stay at the front later." said Fiona.

"Everyone will have the chance of fighting, but for now, let's stick to this formation for a couple of encounters, then we'll switch, but be careful, while the monsters aren't plentiful, their level is still in the sixties. And they will be hard to take down judging from what the scout said, so give it your all." We shuffled around until everyone was in the right place, then walked forward to face our first Izkar. I hope not to let anyone down...

No, I won't let anyone down, I would show that I was a competent leader, I could do it. I could do it.