"Twelve? How?!"

The moment the Board of Achievement displayed the current team rankings, silence descended upon the group.

Everyone expected a much higher ranking, especially after two of the top ten were part of the team. Yet the sudden low ranking brought a suffocating silence and depression.

Lara couldn’t help but lower her head, feeling like this ranking was a spat on their faces by Leopard. Darius clenched his fists, feeling rage boiling inside his chest once again, recalling the insults Montar threw at him and his family.

Cher looked the calmest, but her eyes kept twitching slightly as she imagined Leopard laughing at her. And Alfred lowered his head, as getting high hopes then watching them crumble brought up distant, and quite unpleasant, memories to him.

Silas cared little about rankings themselves. What unsettled him was seeing the others crushed by disappointment. He moved his eyes around, thinking he should say something to help.

Yet, Alfred was the first to break the tense atmosphere. As he hated the memories replaying in his mind the most.

"This is expected."

Everyone looked at Alfred, and the latter simply shrugged, and added in a plain tone:

"It’s indeed an expected result. After all, we have two people in the top ten, but the other three are ranked much lower."

"I bet Leopard’s team and the other G-teams have nine members each," Darius muttered through gritted teeth.

Cher narrowed her eyes without saying a word. Then the heavy silence returned, as if their attempt just now had failed miserably.

"At least we’re not thirteenth."

Silas glanced at the others before forcing himself to speak again.

"Anyway, this is only the beginning. These rankings are based on our past achievements, and right now they don’t mean much. Our goal is still the same; we’re going to reach the very top."

He knew almost nothing about leading a team, but even he understood the importance of morale. He felt just as disappointed as everyone else. Still, this was not the time to wallow in frustration.

"Silas is right."

He had not even realised whether his attempt had helped until Cher spoke.

"This ranking is merely the sum of our previous accomplishments. From this point onward, we’ll train together and continue earning merits."

Her words were simple, but the determination behind them was unmistakable. Somehow, the resolve shared by Silas and Cher became contagious.

"Exactly!" Lara raised a fist into the air. "Who cares about the current rankings? Just wait, you bastards. We’ll crush all your useless teams and climb straight to the top!"

The atmosphere shifted almost instantly. The shock faded from their faces, replaced by renewed determination.

’That’s better.’

Silas swept his gaze across the group and found Cher looking back at him. She gave him a slight nod of approval.

"Now then," Darius said, slamming one fist into the other. "How are we going to train?"

His question was met with awkward silence, as everyone exchanged uncertain glances before their attention settled on Silas.

Silas immediately turned toward Cher, hoping for rescue.

"Let’s hear it from our team leader," she said.

’Shit. She’s throwing me directly into the firepit.’

Silas wanted to groan. Instead, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat, buying himself a few precious moments for his mind to improvise something.

"We’ve only just formed this team, and none of us truly understands each other’s abilities or fighting styles. We should start by introducing our strengths and sharing whatever we can about our combat habits."

The silence that followed only made him more nervous.

"More importantly," he continued with a cough, "we should talk about our experiences during the admission test. I assume it’s the closest thing we have to the missions awaiting us. Sharing what we’ve learned there should help all of us prepare."

Having exhausted the limits of his improvisation, Silas fell silent.

Everyone turned toward Cher. Even Silas found himself waiting anxiously for her verdict.

Cher maintained her usual poker face for nearly a minute. Then, unexpectedly, a wide smile spread across her delicate features. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Not too shabby." She smiled, and her eyes turned into crescents. "That’s the most logical first step any competent team would take. Let’s do it."

’Was it really that hard to say that from the beginning?’

Silas released a quiet sigh of relief. Then everyone formed a line and looked at him again.

’What now?’

"It is tradition for the leader to start with himself," Cher said, sounding far more amused than anyone else. Silas could not remember ever seeing her smile this much. "Go ahead. Set a good example."

Silas knew there was no escape. Surrendered to his fate, he stepped forward.

"And don’t try hiding anything," Cher suddenly added, as her smile widened.

"This team won’t change easily. We’ll remain together until graduation, and many teams continue working together long after leaving the academy."

Silas understood the meaning behind her words and nodded.

’She probably guessed I’ve been hiding things because of the assassination report.’

He touched his belt, and the daggers shot into the air like bolts of lightning.

"Wait... isn’t he supposed to be a Buffer?!" Lara exclaimed.

Ignoring her remark, Silas drew five daggers and sent them flying toward the distant target. All five struck the bullseye. What truly stunned the others, however, was what came next.

The daggers returned to his hands in a blur before being launched once more.

His movements flowed without interruption. Every throw was precise, every retrieval seamless. He never broke rhythm or lost control.

By the time he finished his demonstration a few minutes later, the target had vanished entirely, along with the wooden frame supporting it.

"He’s strong. I told you already," Darius said with a laugh. Even Cher’s smile disappeared as she watched Silas with newfound seriousness.

She had known he was hiding his strength. Yet she had never imagined he was this capable.

"He can’t keep pretending to be a Buffer," Alfred said, shaking his head. "He could easily pass as a Hunter."

"Not necessarily," Cher replied. And everyone looked at her.

"Having a wild card is always valuable. It’s better if we keep the misinformation surrounding his profession and abilities a secret."

"But eventually the other teams will find out," Lara pointed out.

"Until then," Cher said calmly, "we’ll use that advantage to surprise them and earn as many merits as possible."

Lara looked at Cher, acting as if the two had exchanged such serious and deep thoughts about fighting tactics and Enhancers’ abilities for so long.

By their brief and deep exchange of viewpoints, everyone nodded, settling on doing as Cher hinted.

Yet Silas slowly raised his hand.

"But... I really am a Buffer."

He was met with strange looks.

"I can use wind to enhance your abilities and increase your speed."

The looks only grew stranger. Knowing words alone wouldn’t prove his point; alongside a sigh, Silas directed his wind element towards Cher.

"Try it yourself."

Crossing his arms, he stepped aside and gave her the stage. Cher scoffed lightly, while a staff appeared in her hand from thin air. Her violet eyes brightened, and two white fireballs materialised above her head.

"Amazing."

The change was immediate, and she noticed it.

"Your buff didn’t just speed up my casting. Controlling the fire feels easier too... Wait. Let me try something."

Excitement flickered across her face as her violet eyes shone brighter. Then a third fireball appeared.

"A third one?" Lara gasped. "Triplet attacks? No way!"

No one understood the significance of that feat better than Lara. She stared at Silas as though she had discovered a priceless treasure.

"Please tell me your buff works on Tamers too. Please!"

For a moment, she reverted to the eccentric girl Silas knew so well. Yet, Silas hesitated as he was surprised by the improvement his wind element had over Cher’s ability.

"He has used it on a Tamer before," Darius said. "Although it’s definitely stronger now. The mana consumption should be much higher as well."

Hearing the confirmation made Lara break into loud laughter.

"My precious babies will move faster. Oh wait, perhaps I can control more than two babies, right?"

She moved her eyes among Cher and her three white balls, and Silas.

"Ahem, that all comes with a price."

Seeing that his earlier remark failed to leave a mark, Darius stressed over it. And this time, Lara understood what he wanted.

"I’ll provide all the crystals he needs."

"Deal."

Darius accepted before Cher could object. Then he winked at Silas. For some reason, Silas suddenly felt as though he had just been exploited for Darius’s benefit.

"That reminds me," Alfred said, "I still can’t tell which part of your body mutated. Isn’t that strange?"

Silas rolled his eyes.

’Not this again.’

He was about to repeat his usual excuse he gave others when Lara blinked and looked him up and down.

"That is strange," she said, turning toward Cher and finding the same puzzled expression on her friend’s face. "Enough time has passed since Enhancement Day. The mutations should have appeared by now."

The explanation Silas had prepared died in his throat.

"I do have a mutation," he said under their questioning gazes. "It’s just... in a place that isn’t easily visible."

The words escaped before he could stop them. He wasn’t exactly lying, as he considered his Mana Heart his unique mutation. To his surprise, everyone seemed satisfied with that answer. Lara even nodded in understanding.

Only Cher looked at him strangely.

A faint blush appeared on her face before she quickly looked away, refusing to meet his eyes for quite some time.