Absolute Helix continued to focus on gaining levels, and after two weeks, most of the members were at level 70 or higher. Right now, all the Clan members were together in the Clan House’s living room. Tsutomu looked around to confirm that everyone was here, then began to hand everyone a set of documents containing information about the Winter General.
“Since almost everyone has leveled up past 70 now, we’ll start focusing on getting through layer eighty. So make sure you read through the documents, everyone.”
Leleia and Korinna were still at level 67, but that probably would not be a problem because they were expected to level up just enough through training with their assigned team later.
“It’s about time,” Garm said, his eyes burning with excitement.
“Well, Ealdred Crow is about to start taking this more seriously, too,” Tsutomu said while handing the photo-attached documents to everyone, “We can’t afford to wait too long.”
Diniel, Hannah, and Korinna did not seem particularly excited, however — because they had an idea why everyone had been gathered here. Hannah had less of an idea than the two others, but even she was able to derive some suspicion from the serious mood.
“Korinna, both our teams will attempt the fight at the same time, so don’t let your guard down.”
“Y-y-yes, sir! I-I-I understand!!”
“Really?”
“R-r-ally! I mean, really!” Korinna replied, stuttering and blushing slightly.
Tsutomu took a glance at everyone else and then coughed to his throat.
“From analyzing the information from Silver Beast and the Pedestal viewings, I’ve already decided on the teams’ lineups. Although they’ll be called Teams 1 and 2, it won’t necessarily mean Team 2 is weaker, so don’t worry about it. Besides, even if one of the teams fails, I don’t intend to leave them behind on progress.”
“Enough talking,” Amira said, “And just announce the lineups already.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.”
Tsutomu held up a piece of paper and looked ahead. Hannah, after hearing everything, finally seemed to realize the gravity of the situation; she nervously swallowed a lump in her throat.
“For Team 1, the Tanks will be Xeno and either Garm or Daryl. I’ll be the Healer. And the Attackers will be Amy and Diniel.”
“Whoo! …Uh, huh?” Amy raised a joyful shout as soon as her name was announced, but then she quickly lowered her hand due to the mood around her.
Amira, especially, seemed visibly upset. Garm and Daryl, whose names had been announced with an ‘or’ in between, turned to each other and tilted their heads in confusion.
“For the selection of the Tanks, I based it on their anti-personnel combat performance. The Winter General is humanoid, and based on what we know, Tanks with good anti-personnel capabilities tend to survive longer. Xeno has learned sword combat from the academy and possesses <<Ember Aura>> for adaptation to environmental effects. He also has great compatibility with the selected Attackers.”
“I see, I see… You can count on me!”
Xeno nodded with a smile, maintaining his unwavering confidence. He seemed to have always felt assured of his spot in the first team.
“I’m not sure if Hannah, being an evasion-based Tank, would function as well as back on layer seventy. She’s had extra training for maneuvering on the ground, so she SHOULD still be decently capable — but since the accident rate seems high this time around, I didn’t choose her.”
“C-cool…”
Hannah’s blue wings drooped, showing her disappointment and deflated mood. She had a good chance of being the more effective Tank against the Winter General, since it could easily decapitate even high-VIT Tanks with critical attacks — but considering the possibility of Xeno faltering, it was understandable that Tsutomu wanted to go with a more stable choice.
“As for Garm and Daryl, considering ONLY his anti-personnel capabilities, then I think Garm might be the superior Tanks. But from what I observed during Daryl’s competition with the transformed Amira, Daryl also had a sufficient anti-personnel performance on top of his high VIT. And so, I plan to have the two of them engage in a sparring match.”
“…Huh.”
“And the one who wins will be in team 1. Is that alright with you two?”
“Fine by me,” Garm agreed immediately.
Daryl, on the other hand, seemed somewhat flustered. He had never won against Garm in a sparring match before. In fact, he had been easily defeated in their training session just the other day.
“I-I won’t lose!”
If he did not win this, however, he would not be included in Team 1. As such, Daryl showed his determination, to which Garm responded with a smile, as if to say that was exactly what he had wanted to hear.
“For the Attackers, I chose based on power output. The boss this time around is humanoid, and compared to previous bosses, it’s much smaller. That’s why I selected Amy, a Dualblader, for her speed — and Diniel, an archer, for her accuracy.”
“Way to go, Dini!” Amy said, controlling herself not to ham it up too much.
“Cool, cool,” Diniel replied, sounding as carefree as ever.
Leleia closed her eyes in disappointment, and Amira looked frustrated but did not object.
Tsutomu, having been expecting at least one of them to request a sparring match with Amy, seemed relieved when neither of them did.
“Actually, Amira, you wanna try having a match with Amy?”
“…? I can do that?”
“Well, I figured you wouldn’t fully agree with the decision unless you did that. I don’t want any long-lasting disagreements, too. Leleia, what about you?”
“You’re the Clan’s leader — you make the choices.”
Leleia nodded, seeming to actually not mind her assigned team. Amira, standing next to her, looked at Tsutomu with the eyes of a predatory animal.
“Heh, you really speak my language — sure, let me at her!”
“I’m cool with that, too,” Amy said, fiddling with her white hair.
Amira subtly clicked her tongue at Amy’s nonchalant attitude, but in the end, she did not say anything.
“All right, then. Tomorrow, we’ll be having the matches at the Guild’s training area — Garm versus Daryl, and Amy versus Amira. Be ready.”
“Yes, sir!” Daryl replied first, and the three others followed suit.
And with that, Infinite Helix began to act seriously toward progressing through layer eighty.
――▽▽――
The following day, in the Guild training room that Tsutomu had reserved for the sparring matches, Tsutomu started explaining the rules to Garm and Daryl.
He also cast a weakened <<Barrier>> on their heads, arms, and legs, then marked those <<Barriers>> with ink. The one to break all of the opponent’s <<Barriers>> would be declared the winner. The weapons they used were made of wood, so there was no risk of serious injuries for these high-VIT combatants.
After the rules were all explained, Tsutomu let them engage in the match. It was meant to be a best-of-three, but the outcome was decided in less than five minutes.
“Garm wins.”
“Ugh…”
Garm, being a security officer who had single-handedly subjugated one of the largest criminal Clans in the past, was clearly superior to his apprentice Daryl.
Despite winning, however, Garm looked dissatisfied for some reason.
“Tsutomu, while this may work as a measurement, I doubt Daryl will agree with this result.”
“You think so?”
“There’s nothing better than real combat, so I think it would be better to test how long he lasts against the Winter General.”
“But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to just go in and die, you know” Tsutomu said, scratching his cheek.
Garm tilted his head in confusion.
“You don’t need to come with us, though.”
“Then how would I accurately judge the results? It wouldn’t be a fair competition, would it?”
“Why don’t you come with us, then?”
“I already said I don’t want to die. It wouldn’t sit right with me to send you two down there to die, either. Let’s just make do with the result we just got, all right?”
“…Hmm. Are you all right with this, Daryl? I can tell that deep down, you still believe you can win against me. That if you surpass your limits, you might have a chance.”
Garm’s question made Daryl’s eyes wander nervously. The sensation of pushing through all odds during the Mount Golem battle was still vivid in his memory. He still believed that, if he were under that fight’s conditions again, he might be able to defeat Garm.
Garm, observing Daryl, put his hand over his own chin and stopped to think for a moment, then turned to Tsutomu.
“Tsutomu, I’ll decide which one of us will be in team 1 by the end of today. Could you give me a little time?”
“What are you planning to do?”
“An actual fight with Daryl. Don’t worry — all of the medical officers stationed in the Guild are excellent. They’ll patch us up without any problem, even if we almost die.”
“…Ugh, I guess Daryl won’t be satisfied unless it’s a serious match, huh? Not that he’d admit it himself… Okay, fine. Just make sure no one dies.”
“All right.”
Garm nodded, then left the reserved training room with Daryl. It seemed that they intended to carry out the match in the public training area, where a medical officer would be keeping an eye on them.
In the meantime, Tsutomu let Amy and Amira into the training room.
“…And those are the rules. Got it?”
“Cool, cool!”
“Sounds good to me.”
After explaining the same rules to Amy and Amira, Tsutomu let them engage in a best-of-three sparring match. Once again, the outcome was decided in almost no time at all.
“All right, that’s a wrap.”
Amira, thanks to all the training her mother Camille, was stronger than most ordinary Explorers out there. However, Amy was so skilled at anti-personnel combat that Bruno, the director of the Security Team, had asked to train with her. And it was in fact the training sessions with Bruno that had improved Amy’s anti-personnel combat skills even further, so much so that she was as good as Garm.
During the match, Amira had been on the defensive the whole time, and got beaten without being able to get a single hit in. She was more surprised than frustrated, because she had thought of Amy as a cute girl — and definitely had not expected her to be anywhere near this strong.
“Lemme try again!”
“Nope, the match’s over.”
“Look, you can keep the spot. I know you’re good. But I wanna try again. C’mon! I’ll get you this time!”
“Okay…? What should we do about her, Tsutomu?”
Amira, unable to understand why she had lost, insisted on challenging Amy again, causing the latter to turn to Tsutomu with exasperation.
“Well, Amy, you’re in team 1 — that’s been decided. But would you mind playing along with her for a bit?”
“Uh, I really don’t wanna…”
“I’ll give you an extra fish for dinner.”
“Hmm… how about this, Tsutomu — I’ll train with her, then you’ll spend the same amount of time with ME!”
“Uh, no.”
“What!? Why!?”
“SHE can do this all day, that’s why.”
Tsutomu, having accompanied Amira in her <<Dragon Form>> training, knew just how motivated Amira was. He had had to force her to take breaks on days off because she would keep training the whole time if he had not stopped her.
“T-then just half a day! On the next day off!”
“…Yeah, I can roll with that.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about! C’mon, Amira, I’mma whip you into shape!”
“Okay then, I’ll be on my way now. Have fun with your training — and don’t push yourselves. Especially you, Amira.”
“Shaddup!” Amira shouted and pulled a funny face to make fun of Tsutomu.
“Well, try not to get beaten up too badly,” Tsutomu replied with some snark before leaving the training room.
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