《Fate Defiers》 1: Doing The Impossible (Not Choking On A Cough Drop) At 5:32 pm, on a cloudless Tuesday afternoon, James didn¡¯t think his day could get any worse. He was wrong. But let¡¯s back up a few minutes first. The afternoon sun shone through the door to Apartment 301, interrupted by the silhouette of James¡¯ best friend, Olivia J. Bridges. His currently very angry best friend who was gripping his doorway like it owed her money (it didn¡¯t, in case you were wondering). She had dark auburn hair that perfectly framed a scowling face and wore a black leather jacket with aggressively spiked shoulders. Despite being a full head shorter than James, she still managed to look down at him. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®no?¡¯¡± she asked. ¡°I mean ¡®no,¡¯ Liv, as in ¡®finals are a couple weeks out and we have a project to turn in!¡¯¡± James leaned against the wall and tried glare at her. It didn¡¯t work. Liv pushed past him into his apartment, snagged a bottle of water from the fridge in his kitchenette and flopped onto his couch. She cracked it open and took a sip before using it to gesture at him. ¡°Look dude, this is the fifth time you¡¯ve canceled on me,¡± she said. ¡°Do you just not want to hang out or¡­?¡± James raised an eyebrow as he closed the door and turned around. ¡°Okay,¡± he scoffed, ¡°first of all, I did not cancel. You showed up at my door saying, and i quote¡ª¡± ¡°You know what I mean!¡± she interjected. ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± he said, ¡°and if we want to talk about canceling, then what about last week when you were ¡®sick¡¯ right before we met up to work on our project. And the week before that. And the week before that!¡± James stalked to his kitchenette to start preparing some tea. He was going to need it. ¡°I was sick!¡± ¡°And I suppose you¡¯ll be sick tomorrow too?¡± James said. He flicked the stove on and squatted to look for his kettle in the cabinet. Making tea was usually calming for him. ¡°That¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right Liv, it¡¯s not fair,¡± he said. For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was water pouring into the kettle. James closed the kettle and began flipping through his tea drawer. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the project Liv. With our grades we could bomb our final and still pass with room to spare.¡± ¡°Then why are you so worked up about this¡ª¡° ¡°Because the Liv I know doesn''t just pass classes. The Liv I know aces them so hard that they had to invent another letter before A to put on her work.¡± A green tea would be perfect. He needed the caffeine. ¡°The Liv I knew didn¡¯t worry me like this.¡± The last line came out quieter than he meant to but he was sure she heard it. She didn¡¯t miss much. James slowly turned around to look Olivia in the eye. He didn¡¯t know what he was expecting but he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised by the daggers she was glaring at him. The Liv he knew was also very defensive. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°And who are you to worry about me, James?¡± She stood up and walked over to him. ¡°I-¡± ¡°Who?¡± They were almost nose to nose. She must have been on her tippy toes. ¡°I¡­.¡± He couldn¡¯t say it. ¡°¡­I¡¯m just worried about you Liv. I don¡¯t know what happened to you¡ªSomething must have¡ªbut life¡¯s too short to throw it away after you experience a little pain.¡± Olivia¡¯s brow furrowed. He knew that meant she agreed with him, at least on some level. He also knew it pissed her off. The stare continued for what felt like eternity. It must have only been a second though. If it had been any longer then things would¡¯ve been awkward. James couldn¡¯t handle awkward. His chest would tighten and his mouth would dry up and his heart would start beating out of his chest. Kind of like right now. Olivia¡¯s eyes searched his for a moment more. She must not have found what she was looking for because she turned away, walked out, and slammed the door behind her. She left her water bottle behind. The kettle whistled behind him. The familiar sound usually calmed him. Usually. He¡¯d said the wrong thing. Again. It would¡¯ve been better if he hadn¡¯t said a word at all. He got out his favorite yellow mug. Olivia had gotten it for him. He put it back. He shouldn¡¯t have said ¡°a little pain.¡± He didn¡¯t know what was going on in her life! Because she wouldn¡¯t tell him, a little voice said. But why would she tell him? Because they¡¯d been best friends for the last two years? Because he cared about her? Because¡­ She was right. He didn¡¯t have any right to her secrets or private life. He shouldn¡¯t have acted like he did. Why would she tell him? Ugh. James sighed. Habitually, he reached for one of the cough drops he kept on the counter. If tea couldn¡¯t calm him down, one of these usually would. It was a stupid habit as Olivia just loved to remind him. He unwrapped it. Used to love, by now probably. She always said that he¡¯d choke one of these days and she was going to point and laugh when it happened. He tossed it back and caught it in his mouth. And promptly began to choke. James was stunned for a moment. At first in disbelief. Olivia was right. Then in delirium. Olivia is going to be so sad that she missed her chance to point and laugh. Then in panic. Holy shit, I¡¯m choking! James pounded his chest. He was still choking. He knew there was a heimlich maneuver you could do on yourself but he didn¡¯t know it. He slammed his back into the wall. Again. Again. He was still choking.The edges of his vision were starting to go dark. The tea! His hands were shaking as he scrambled at the cabinets. He finally grabbed his mug and tried to bring it to the kettle. He dropped it and it shattered on the floor. Shit. James loved that mug. Olivia had picked out that mug for him. He¡¯d never told her it was his favorite mug. She¡¯d think he didn¡¯t didn¡¯t care. He had to tell her he was sorry. He had to. There was only one thing left to do. James stumbled towards the kettle. The remains of the mug tore at the soles of his feet. James didn¡¯t trust himself to hold it by the handle anymore. He gripped the kettle with both hands. The pain of gripping a hot kettle seared into his palms. He picked the kettle up and tipped it back. The lid hit his face, half a second before the scalding water followed. The water burned down his throat and down the sides of his face and down his chin James put the kettle down and began pounding his chest again. His hands felt raw. He kept beating at his chest and trying to cough. His lungs burned. His coughing turned to spluttering turned to splat! He spat the cough drop out. James couldn¡¯t help falling to his hands and knees, just heaving in air. Shards of the mug cut at his already raw hands but he didn¡¯t care. Air and that sweet, sweet oxygen had never tasted so good. James was feeling positively euphoric. Then the world froze. Everything had frozen. The deep gulps of air he wasn¡¯t taking, the spittle that wasn¡¯t dripping from his lips, and even his heart that wasn¡¯t beating. James had the suspicion that if he were to look at a sunbeam under a microscope or something, even the photons would be frozen. Something was wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. That was the last thought James had before the world lurched on an incomprehensible axis and the tiled floor of the kitchenette beneath his hands was replaced with soft, rich loam. Welcome To The Jungle James vomited his guts out. Violently. Apparently, nearly choking to death, trying to swallow boiling water, and being ripped through several planar boundaries through time and space against your will tended to upset the stomach. Then James registered that he¡¯d just been ripped through several planar boundaries. That he knew he¡¯d been ripped through them. That he even knew what a planar boundary was. And more importantly, that he didn¡¯t know how he knew. How did he know? No time for panicking. James took a deep breath, wiped the sick off his mouth with the hem of his (formerly) white shirt, and looked up. James looked straight back down. Okay, maybe a little time for panicking. Is it bad that I hope I''m passed out on my kitchen floor hallucinating right now? No, of course not. Because that would mean that I¡¯m not currently in some random jungle in who knows where, seeing floating blue screens! James slowly stood up and looked at the world he found himself in. James was surrounded by dense undergrowth and tall trees except for the path he was on which branched into two ahead of him. And smack dab in the middle of all of that was a floating blue screen that James only read about in LitRPGs that he was too embarrassed to tell his friends that he read. Tutorial Objective 1: Find teammates (0/2) Reward: Information Okay. Okay. He could do this. He just needed to take stock of his situation first. James looked down at himself. He was still in his (formerly) white shirt and PJs. He hadn¡¯t noticed before due to the panicking but he didn¡¯t feel any of his cuts or burns. He must have been healed on his way here. Wherever here was. So you''re telling me, that if I¡¯d been taking just a little bit later I could have just left the vomit behind? Lucky me. No, focus! He found a thumb size shard of his yellow mug clinging to his pants. and a couple cough drops still in his pocket instead. James checked around him to see for anything else. Nothing. Where¡¯s my machete? If I¡¯m exploring a strange jungle I feel like I should have a machete. It¡¯s a classic! James sighed at the broken tradition and finished up checking stock. Okay, I¡¯m in a strange jungle with nothing but my clothes, a mug fragment, and¡ªhe checked his pockets¡ªeleven cough drops. Finally, James needed to check one last thing. He glanced about his surroundings warily before hunching slightly and whispering: ¡°Inventory.¡± ¡°Skills.¡± ¡°Stats.¡± ¡°Status.¡± ¡°Status Window.¡± ¡°What on earth are you mumbling about?¡± a voice said. It sounded like someone¡¯s strict, old Victorian era governess. James straightened up immediately and whipped his head to where the voice came from. ¡°Nothing!¡± His voice cracked. James cleared his throat and tried again. ¡°Nothing. Where are you? Who are you?¡± ¡°Down here, you silly boy.¡± James looked down and whatever he was about to say caught in his throat. He looked back up. Maybe I am still hallucinating on the kitchen floor. James looked back down. The cat was still there. It¡ªshe¡ªwas an orange tabby with incredibly fluffy looking fur. The cat was also looking at him like was stupid. She was outlined in the same blue as his notification windows. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me my teammate¡¯s the cat.¡± Then that blue screen popped up again. Objective 1 Progressed! (1/2) Welcome to the tutorial! Teams are being set for [Capture The Flag]. More details upon full team completion. Losers will be eliminated. More details upon full team completion. One thing caught James¡¯ attention. ¡°Losers will be eliminated.¡± He didn¡¯t doubt for a second that whoever or whatever had brought him here had the capability of killing him. He¡¯d already been kidnapped, ripped through planar boundaries, and¡­ something had been done to him to make him see these strange screens. Compared to whatever had happened to his body, death almost felt tame. Almost. James¡¯ eyes slid down to his teammate. His currently very angry and very fluffy teammate. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know, I¡¯m not exactly looking forward to working with a strange, smelly, rude man who mutters to himself in strange forests either.¡± ¡°We¡¯re in the same f¡ª¡± ¡°And my name is Arthur, not the cat,¡± she spat. James paused at that. ¡°Arthur?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But aren''t you¡­¡± Arthur tilted her head. ¡°Nevermind.¡± Just then, the giant underbrush rustled behind James. He whipped around, mug shard in hand and thrust as far from himself as he could when a man stumbled out. He was tall, lithe, had grey skin, and a relaxed air about him. Oh, and most importantly, he was outlined in the same blue glow as Arthur. James relaxed upon realizing the man was on their team, but then tensed up again. Whether they were teammates or not, he had no clue who this guy was. Or what he was capable of. The man raised his hands and flashed a grin. ¡°Woah there mate, careful swinging that thing around!¡± ¡°Who are y-¡± Objective 1 Completed! (2/2) [Equalizing measures have been put in place to ensure entertaining action. Language barriers have been removed. Injuries and ailments have been removed. All energy systems have been locked. Access to Feats unlocked. Sponsor requests unlocked. More details upon victory. ] James felt something in him shift. A space, if that¡¯s what he could call it, opened up right below his heart, though it felt blocked somehow. Simultaneously, a chill like being dipped in liquid menthol swept over his skin and suffused his mouth. James stumbled as the changes swept across his body, but his mind focused on one thing. One detail, even. ¡°Details.¡± A pair of blue screens popped up. The top screen displayed an outline of a human body in green and the words Status: Healthy. James decided he¡¯d prefer to keep his status that way. Below that he found his profile. Name: James Stern Age: 23 Talent: Avoid Notice Feat: Avoided Fated Time of Death Sponsor: [???] Advantages: Identify (1/1) James¡¯ eyes widened at the screens he¡¯d summoned. ¡°Holy crap, I did it.¡± His excitement was quickly tempered once he scanned his profile. ¡°¡®Fated time of death?¡¯ I was supposed to die choking on a cough drop? That¡¯s bull¡ªno, focus on what will keep you alive. Advantages sound good: How do I get more of those?¡± ¡°You were right, he does mumble to himself.¡± James froze. He¡¯d forgotten entirely about his teammates. James cleared his throat and turned around. ¡°Ah. Hello there,¡± James said, ¡°My name is James. Sorry about the whole, er, knife thing.¡± The man looked down at the mug shard in James¡¯ hand before raising an eyebrow at him. ¡°Ah yes, your¡­ knife.¡± The man strode over and slung an arm around James¡¯ shoulder. ¡°Well then, all water under the bridge now. Not exactly the first friend I¡¯ve met like this.¡± James¡¯ eyebrows shot up. ¡°You¡¯ve been through this before? Do you know what¡¯s happening? Why are we here?¡± ¡°Woah there mate, slow down!¡± The grey-skinned man backed up a bit and held up a hand. ¡°Ain¡¯t never been through something like this before. I was more talkin¡¯ about the knife thing. Let¡¯s start over: The name¡¯s Kaiser,¡± he said, and stuck out his hand. James shook it. "James.¡± ¡°So what were you muttering about earlier?¡± James perked up. An opportunity to not look like an absolute buffoon! ¡°The screens! I mean, if you say ¡®Details¡¯ the screens will show you a profile of yourself. Knowledge is power and all that. We might even figure out why we¡¯ve all been dragged here!¡± ¡°Knowledge is power, huh,¡± said Kaiser, ¡°that¡¯s a neat saying.¡± He then gave a little flourish of a bow before saying, ¡°please give me the details, my dear system.¡± ¡°Details,¡± said Arthur. Both of their eyes glazed over in a way that James was beginning to associate with system messages. Once they were finished, Kaiser gave a small whistle. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what to make of most of this but those advantages sure sound nice¡± Arthur scoffed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t trust any of it,¡± she said. ¡°All this screen nonsense has to come from somewhere and I¡¯m betting it¡¯s from the same one who dragged us to this¡­ whatever this is.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Kaiser said, ¡°I¡¯m no stranger to circumspect deals and I¡¯m not exactly keen on being ¡®Eliminated¡¯ either so I¡¯ll take any advantages I can get.¡± Kaiser turned to James. ¡°Speaking of advantages, how exactly do we use it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to use my advantage¡ª¡± Use Identify (1/1)? ¡°¡ªbut I suspect it¡¯s voice activated. Excus¡ª¡± All Teams formed. Tutorial Objective 2: Capture or destroy the enemy Flag! Reward: Survival. It was official. The system had the worst timing ever. Confidence Is King Another system notification popped up. Changing fields¡­ The ground rumbled and all the trees and vegetation shivered. Preparing for what came next. James froze. Or to be more precise, he couldn¡¯t move. He only had enough agency to move his eyes and see what came next. In an instant, the trees disappeared and flashed into the ground, leaving barren land and exposing the horizon. As well as the many people scattered along it in the distance. There were hundreds of people, all in groups of three or more. Many were armed in some way, a few even in full plate armor. Most looked fairly normal but some¡­ Is that a skeleton? It was wearing a rich, black cloak and all sorts of golden jewelry. It had to have been at least eight feet tall. Moving contestants¡­. Merging proximate teams¡­. The ground swelled up beneath James and his team. Identical hills swelled up beneath each team which moved and merged together as they met until there were only two large hills left, standing opposite each other, each comfortably fitting at least two hundred people. Spawning Flags¡­ From the summit of each hill, a clear crystal sphere emerged, roughly the size of a tall man. The crystals sent up a blazing beacon of light, the beam on James¡¯ side was the same system blue that shone from his teammates while the other team¡¯s was red, the same glow surrounding them. Reseeding Map¡­ The vegetation and trees started growing back out from the map, though there were differences from before. The hills were surrounded on all sides by trees though they themselves remained bare from everything but grass, and three distinct lanes were being formed between the two camps. Preparation Complete. Good Luck. The pressure that had been holding James down suddenly released him. And everyone else. Over the still growing trees, James saw a vague mass of people which could only have been the entire other team begin rushing down the newly formed lanes towards them. Then the trees finished growing. James¡¯ camp burst into chaos. Half seemed ready to meet the charge and the other half were trying to understand what just happened. One very short man in full plate armor seemed to be trying to get everyone¡¯s attention. The lich¡ªbecause that¡¯s the only thing the rich looking skeleton man could have been¡ªwas just standing there looking generally unimpressed. James looked down at the mug shard in his shaking hand. I really wish I had that machete right about now. Not that it¡¯d make much of a difference. ¡°Magnificent¡­¡± James looked to his right and found Kaiser absolutely awe-struck. ¡°Whatever can do that¡­I¡¯m going to make it mine.¡± ¡°Whatever can do that can probably kill you without a second thought,¡± James replied. His hands were still shaking. He tried to clench his fists and failed. An entire forest had been flattened, the ground molded like clay, and the most he could do was blink about it. He was entirely out of his de¡ª Kaiser clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°James, my friend. Apparently, this isn¡¯t my first time running an impossible heist.¡± His eyes glazed over in the way that meant he was checking the system. It must be his Feat, James realized. ¡°If I¡¯d let fear get in the way of my choices, I¡¯d probably be dead by now, starved on the side of some city street. When it comes to getting things done, confidence is king.¡± Then Kaiser looked over his shoulder, ¡°Besides, it¡¯s too early to give up yet.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Jaes turned around. Everyone had calmed down and gathered around the short man in plate armor (whom James was beginning to suspect was a dwarf) in a loose semi-circle. There was a sense of focus emanating from everyone here. Not a single one had given up. ¡°Alright lads and lassies, the name¡¯s General Bjorgrimm Clanless and I don¡¯t know how we got here or why but I do know a thing or two about defending a point.¡± He grinned wryly as if he¡¯d made a particularly funny joke. ¡°If you¡¯re willing to trust me, then I swear on my ancestors that I¡¯ll get us through this challenge.¡± He turned and seemed to look everyone in the eye, though he couldn¡¯t have, considering how many there were. No one objected.¡°Now, before we get this party started, does anyone have anything to add? Keep it quick.¡± ¡°James here has some good info!¡± A sharp push at James¡¯ back and he stumbled forward. He whipped back to see Kaiser with two thumbs up mouthing ¡°confidence is king.¡± He whipped back around to see some two hundred odd people (and a terrifying lich) staring at him. ¡°Um, hello there.¡± James said, ¡°What I think my friend here was talking about was that uh, if you say ¡®Details,¡¯ you¡¯ll be able to find a profile of yourself. On the blue screens. Some of it¡¯s pretty simple stuff but we¡¯re not sure what other parts mean.¡± A murmur of ¡°details¡± went out through the crowd and a telltale glaze went over their eyes as everyone verified his words. The dwarf, Bjorgrimm, recovered first and made his way over while everyone else was still checking over their information. ¡°Clever work, laddie! Any other secrets or bright ideas floating around in there?¡± he said, reaching out for a handshake. Kaiser, thankfully, beat him to the punch¡ªand the handshake, which he took in both hands and shook vigorously. ¡°Kaiser Duskweaver at your service Mr. General Sir, professional thief, charmer, and event planner,¡± he said with a grin and seemingly no shame at all. Bjorgrimm raised an eyebrow. ¡°Professional thief?¡± ¡°Yes sir! You know I always say a great thief is a great planner, and I¡¯m the best there is.¡± At this point people had mostly finished reading their profiles and had gotten quickly to talking. Kaiser glanced at them before saying, ¡°Now, I¡¯m no stranger to running a crew so I think it¡¯s best we have a plan up and running by the time everyone¡¯s finished.¡± Bjorgrimm looked the grey-skinned man up and down before nodding. By some unspoken decision, they went off on their own to discuss their plans. James let out a breath he didn¡¯t know he was holding and sat down on the grass. Arthur was waiting for him down there. She climbed into his lap and looked him in the eyes. She watched him for a while before making herself comfortable and closing her eyes and laying down, ears still softly flicking at each sound. James looked around to find his discovery being put to good use already. Two men in lab coats had gotten everyone for organized testing and had already extracted some useful information. Everyone¡¯s Feats were some sort of ¡°impossible¡± accomplishment, and their Talents were at least marginally related. It seemed, for some reason, that everyone had the Identify Advantage at 1/1. Why it was called an advantage if everyone had it no one knew, but that was where the bulk of the testing was done. Or at least it would have been if not the moment someone had used it on the mysterious Talents and figured out what they did. They were abilities, unique to each individual, some with activation conditions some without. Either way, their fighting power had just doubled, at least. Because there was a fight coming, no doubt about it. James pulled up the notification he¡¯d been ignoring until now. Use Identify (1/1)? Maybe with this he would be able to contribute more. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t be so powerless. Some of the others were already tossing around boulders and floating. And the lich, while he hadn¡¯t shown any overt usage of his talent, seemed very pleased. ¡°Identify Talent.¡± James¡¯ profile popped up, with more information set below his talent. Talent: Avoid Notice When using a cough drop, avoid the notice of others. You will not become invisible, merely the least important thing in the vicinity. Even less so than the air. This effect will be broken if you draw attention to yourself. James wasn¡¯t sure why he felt disappointed. He¡¯d known his ability name from the start. It was never going to be the game changer he was hoping for. He had just hoped it wouldn¡¯t be as useless as he was. James sighed and looked at the activation condition. Well that¡¯s just a bit cruel, isn¡¯t it? Then again, even after nearly choking to death, he hadn¡¯t really felt averse to having a cough drop. In fact, he could kind of use one right now considering everything that was going on. Unfortunately his cough drops had just gotten a lot more valuable. Well the one silver lining was that if he was useless then, at the very least, no one here could reasonably ask anything of him. ¡°James, just the man I was looking for!¡± King鈥檚 Path James turned back carefully to avoid disturbing Arthur, and saw Kaiser and Bjorgimm walking up to him with purpose. James was surprised. ¡°You couldn¡¯t possibly need me for defense.¡± ¡°Yer right lad, we don¡¯t.¡±Bjorgrimm grinned. Kaiser cut in. ¡°I want you for another job. The General here has defense covered, but if we want to win we still need to take the Flag.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t see what that has to do with me.¡± ¡°You,¡± he pointed at James, ¡°come with me,¡± he pointed at himself, ¡°to sneak and take Flag,¡± he pointed across the forest to the enemy Hill. ¡°And you need me for this?¡± ¡°No la-James, I want you for this. You have a great eye for detail and you make connections real quick-like.¡± Kaiser squatted down to James¡¯ level and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Can you honestly tell me that you will contribute nothing or hold us back?¡± James gave it honest consideration, Kaiser deserved at least that and came upon an immediate snag in his hopes to stay behind. His Talent. He sighed, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Kaiser grinned. ¡°You, me, and the explosives fella will head out and I¡¯ll explain the plan on the way.¡± Now that everything was settled, Bjorgrimm walked off and began barking orders. Just as they were about to head off too, they heard a small clearing of the throat. James and Kaiser looked down at Arthur, who took a deep stretch before facing them. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not forgetting me,¡± Arthur said imperiously, her tail lashing. James and Kaiser looked at each other and then back at Arthur. ¡°Well,¡± Kaiser said, ¡°I suppose you can¡¯t do much better than a cat on a stealth mission.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± said Arthur. Kaiser laughed and stood up. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s pick up our last member and go. Time is not on our side.¡± Just as James stood up to follow him, Kaiser turned around. ¡°Just one thing, James. Bjorgrimm said not to react to his looks.¡± As they began walking James couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit curious about their new teammate. First, he wondered how the man had either acquired or brought any explosives with him considering that everyone had been taken with the clothes on their back and whatever they¡¯d been holding in their hands. And how strange could he look for it to warrant a warning? Could be severe burns from an accident. He is supposed to be an explosives specialist after all. Once they started closing in on their target, James had his first question answered. They were walking directly towards a huge backpack. The man was sitting with his back to them but it was already nearly James¡¯ height. Considering that the man was being called the ¡®explosives fella¡± there was really only one thing it could have been full of. ¡°Hello there, Anthony was it?¡± Kaiser asked. ¡°We¡ª¡± the man stood up and turned around. Kaiser continued smoothly as if his hesitation had never happened. ¡°Bjorgrimm said you were just the man to look for if we were looking for some extra firepower.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Despite Kaiser¡¯s apparent nonchalance, James was just hoping that his eyes weren¡¯t bugging out. In front of him stood a man sized ant, about a head shorter than James, wearing khaki looking shorts, a knife belt laden with small leather bags, and a vest. And his name was Anthony of all things. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m Anthony. Here to provide for all of your explosive needs. What does the General need from me?¡± For a moment, James couldn¡¯t help but wonder where the tutorial was pulling these people from and why. Even stranger, why did everyone speak perfect English? The ant definitely did not have the facial muscles to pull that off. Or lips. ¡°Infiltration,¡± Kaiser said. ¡°The other team¡¯s coming en masse and we can¡¯t stop them if we split our forces between offense and defense. We¡¯d lose that in a heartbeat¡ªand we all heard what would happen if we lose. But just hunkering down around our flag won¡¯t win us the game either.¡± Kaiser grinned. ¡°That¡¯s where we come in. While Bjorgrimm keeps our Flag saf, we take a small group through the trees to take theirs before they even notice. But we must leave quickly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± said Anthony ¡°Perfect,¡± Kaiser said. ¡°To survival!¡± ¡°I could drink to that.¡± Wait, can ants drink? ¡ª----FD---¡ª James kept his questions to himself as they began their trek through the woods. It was supposed to be a stealth mission after all. They¡¯d stayed near the paths so as not to get lost and it was not even ten minutes in before Kaiser signaled them to stop with a raised fist. Arthur was beside him, her ears already laid flat. Huh, I hadn¡¯t even considered that. The new team crouched down and waited until they heard it too. And saw it. The enemy team was marching down the nearest path, clearly visible in the daylight. They¡¯d slowed down from their previous charge down their Hill but still going strong. They hadn¡¯t left a moment too soon. James shivered. To be facing that¡­ he was almost glad that he was out here. He resolved to keep his hands by his pockets where the cough drops were. And to get better shoes, he thought. The grass is soft for the most part but I keep feeling like I¡¯m going to step on something that is very much not eventually. A few minutes passed before they couldn¡¯t hear the enemy troops marching and they felt safe to go again. James waited a few minutes more before speaking up. ¡°Did anyone see any ability usage from the other team?¡± he whispered. Kaiser paused a moment before looking back and grinning. ¡°This is why I brought you along, James. No I didn¡¯t. Anthony?¡± ¡°No.¡± He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s possible they were saving it until they met the our team. I heard some of the gifts have finite resources.¡± Kaiser nodded as they continued through the jungle. ¡°True. Some of them might have figured it out and kept it to themselves though. They also didn¡¯t have much time to cooperate before charging down that hill of theirs.¡± Speculation continued for a while until they heard sounds of an explosion behind them. Everyone turned to Anthony. His face was as impassive as ever, considering the whole carapace on top of it, but there was definitely an aura of smugness coming off of him. ¡°Bjorgrimm asked me to leave a¡­welcoming gift behind for our guests,¡± he said. Kaiser gave a grin and a quiet clap on the shoulder. A tap, really. ¡°Ha!¡± he whispered, ¡°good work la¡ªugh. That Bjorgrimm¡¯s rubbing off on me already. Second time I almost called someone a lad today.¡± Kaiser¡¯s smile faded quickly though. ¡°But our people are fighting as we speak which means we¡¯re on a timer now. Let¡¯s pick up the pace.¡± And pick up the pace they did. ¡ª----FD---¡ª They¡¯d been walking for just nearly an hour and James¡¯ legs felt about ready to fall off. He felt a sense of kinship with every classmate who had complained about leg day. The sounds of fighting long behind them except for the occasional explosion. Some of which were definitely not something Anthony had left behind as evidenced by the confused clacking coming from behind them. Before James could ponder how he knew that the clacking sounded confused, they came upon their target. Which wasn¡¯t as undefended as they¡¯d hoped. In an ironic inverse of their strategy, the other team had left a small group of three behind. To be clear, the group was small, the people were very much not. They were hulking, eight foot tall brutes, with thick, grey skin, horns, and a uniform of a leather pauldron and skirt of studded leather that clearly showed thick, corded muscle, dense with explosive power underneath and very big, studded clubs. James looked at them and back at himself. I take back what I said about the machete. It still probably wouldn¡¯t make a difference but boy would I feel a lot safer.