The academy grounds were quiet early in the morning, almost like an empty desert. Not many students were outside at this time, most were probably still asleep. Not Lucien though, he and the rest of the team gathered up one last time outside before the day of the tournament came.
They walked in an un-coordinated yet synchronised rhythm that came from a week long of intense training together. Today was going to be different, there was no sparring, it was time to prepare and plan their strategies so they can be ready for tomorrow.
"The tournament is tomorrow…" Faye said nervously, fiddling with her skirt while keeping her head down.
"We need to be fully prepared," Lucien responded. "We don't know what our first objective will be, but we should still practice our coordination as a team."
As they reached the training grounds for the last time before their match tomorrow, the morning sunlight covered the entire area in golden stripes. Each of them stretched on the damp grass like usual for a while before Lucien turned around to speak to them.
He put his hands together, deep in thought. "We need to review our formations and roles first. Corin you will remain as our initiator, due to your mobility skills you can lead an attack, bait and infiltrate for us."
Corin smirked. "Sounds good to me."
Lucien continued. "Alya, your shields and terrain manipulation will help us hold the back and front line, you will remain as our main defense."
Alya nodded thoughtfully, this was her chance to finally gain respect from others.
"Faye. You will be our support, keeping everyone in fighting shape. I will make sure we are coordinated and I will manage our strategies, giving us direction in moments of chaos throughout the tournament." Lucien said.
Faye nodded softly while Alya's jaw tightened. "And what about your skill Lucien? Will you use it?"
Lucien hesitated for a moment. "If it comes to it then yes. But only if necessary, I will not manipulate anyone's free will lightly."
Faye's expression softened. "I trust you, Lucien."
A small smile flickered across Lucien's face
"We'll do some coordination training today, we have to find gaps in our movements and fix them." He said.
The team spent the next few hours practicing different formations and doing coordination drills. Lucien spotted small mistakes straight away and corrected them, noticing how Corin blinked positions too early sometimes. He saw how Alya's barriers would waver when the team had bad communication and how Faye's healing wasn't timed perfectly yet.
Each time a small problem occurred in the team's movements Lucien gave some advice.
"Make sure to watch the rest of the team's rhythm, not just your own movements."
When mid-day came, the team sprawled across the grass, panting for breath after the intense training session. Tired expressions crossed their faces but the team was moving more smoothly than before.
"I think we're ready..." Alya said hesitantly.
Lucien nodded with agreement," One more thing. We leave the training grounds in 30 minutes for scouting. The tournament's arena is open to registered teams for inspection."
"Knowing the terrain will give us an edge, we can plan accordingly." Corin said while grinning.
The walk to the arena was quiet, each of them lost in thought as they moved throughout the fields. Corin twirled a small stone in his hand, Alya fidgeted with her hair and Faye kept her gaze lowered, hands together.
As they got closer, they could make out the silhouette of the arena in the background. The space itself was massive. Ancient stone walls rose high above the academy grounds, revealing a mixture of natural terrain and man-made obstacles. A large open field twisted before them, rivers and obstacles spread across it. Lucien took a deep breath as he stepped inside.
"This is where we'll face the first objective," he said. "We'll have access to the arena for a few hours before the tournament starts tomorrow. Observe everything you can."
An official approached, handing out sealed documents to each team. Lucien opened theirs carefully, scanning the first mission objective:
Objective 1 – Capture the Flag:
Retrieve the opposing team's banner from their base and return it to your own base.
Time limit: One hour.
Victory awarded for successful retrieval of the enemy team's flag.
Lucien read the objective a few times before speaking, making sure he got every detail embedded into his mind.
"This is the perfect objective for your skill Corin. You can move fast and take the enemy flag without being detected."
"Sounds like a plan." Corin responded eagerly.
Lucien waited a moment before continuing with his ideas, "Alya you will protect the flag at all times. Faye, you should stay back to support us. I'll coordinate our timings and provide strategies."
"The arena looks bigger than I expected… what if we get separated during a fight?" Faye whispered while looking around nervously.
Lucien nodded before answering her question. "We will have to stay alert at all times. Don't act alone unless absolutely necessary."
The team spent the next few hours exploring the arena carefully. Looking for specific choke points in the arena that they could use to their advantage. Faye marked some potential areas that could be used for cover, some small stone walls spread around the field.
"These look good for cover…" Faye said to Lucien.
Lucien took a look and gave her a nod of approval.
Alya tested creating a barrier. The stones held perfectly, giving them insight on how to trap or slow enemy teams. Corin blinked around the arena with ease, observing vantage points where he could catch an enemy off guard.
Lucien followed them, keeping a mental note of everything he spotted that could be useful.
"Tomorrow this will be our battlefield. We've trained hard the past week so rest well tonight because tomorrow we finally put it all into practice."
The team walked back toward their dorms, the pressure of their upcoming match starting to affect them. The tournament was nearly here.