Atticus stood at the fore front of more than one thousand youths in his division.
They were all donned in their new shining equipment, facing the large black terminal in the middle of the camp.
The youths were all arranged and grouped according to their units, with each of the Ravenstein youths standing in front of their respective units.
Just as Atticus had planned, each of them were dressed in the new equipment he had chosen.
The armored were donned in a full set of armor.
They stood clad in a formidable set of gear, a stark contrast from their previous ugly looking armors.
The new armor, resplendent in its entirety, featured intricate blue lines that traced across its sleek form, adding an aura of technological sophistication.
Unlike their old armor which was unnecessarily huge, this ensemble was meticulously fitted, accentuating their physique.
The futuristic looking helmets they wore added an extra layer of coolness to their appearance.
Crafted with a sleek design, the helmets merged style with functionality, featuring a visor that gleamed with a subtle futuristic glow.
Despite the elegance and fitted size, the weight of the armor was evident, leaving distinct indentations on the ground beneath them, a testament to the substantial protection it offered.
And surprisingly, non of them were holding ginormous shields.
Any individual with keen senses and good mana sensitivity would be able to notice the significant amount of mana that was emanating from the large bracket on their left wrist.
Just like the armored, the dealers were also clad in their new equipment.
The dealers were adorned in sleek, lightweight silk armor that hugged their forms like a second skin.
Unlike the heavy armor of the defenders, this attire resembled a form fitting body suit. Similar to the armored gear, the dealer's silk armor boasted intricate blue lines tracing across its surface, adding a touch of sophistication.
In contrast to the substantial weight of the defenders' gear, the dealer's ensemble was remarkably light, allowing for swift and agile movements.
At their waists, each dealer sported a 10 inch pole, each with a pointed tip.
Just like the armored bracelets, mana emanated from the poles on their waists.
Each of the youths stood with their backs straight, all of them maintaining their formation even though there was currently no battle.
At the rear of the group, Aria's group of 200 rangers and Eric's small group of 20 stood.
Many of them were clad in different kinds of new weapons and equipment.
Unlike the units where Atticus had chosen exactly what they should all buy, he had left Aria and Eric to decide what their groups would purchase.
He had done this because each of the youths all used different types of weapons unlike the units who had practically the same equipment.
Directly behind Atticus were Aurora, Nate, and Lucas. They were also all facing the terminal with serious expressions.
However, what every one of the youths were focusing on wasn't just the terminal; their gaze was fixed on the giant holographic display showing a timer that was actively counting down.
Earlier in the morning, when they had woken up for their normal daily training, on stepping out of the barracks, they had found the timer displayed above on the terminal, already counting down.
Six hours had passed since then, and each of them were all focused on the timer, which currently had only 40 seconds left.
Atticus gazed at the timer, his expression neutral as his thoughts raced. 'Looks like I was right,' he thought to him self.
Atticus had felt the situation was odd from the start. There was no way the academy would reward them with that sum of points for simply 'surviving'.
There had to be something else.
He had predicted that something important would happen after the one month period that they were given elapsed, and this assumption was affirmed the moment he saw the timer this morning.
Upon seeing it, he had made every one of the youths do only light training today, simply jogging to warm up their bodies.
He had no idea what they were going to do and he wanted his division members to be in top form just in case of any thing.
And ten minutes before the end of the countdown, Atticus had gathered every one here, making them all put on their full gear.
It was obvious something was going to happen after that timer hit zero, and he had no intention of being caught off guard.
All eyes followed the count down as the numbers kept decreasing.
5
4
3
2
1
As soon as the countdown reached zero, Atticus and the rest of the youths immediately got alert and tensed, ready to respond to any thing that might be coming.
However, after a few seconds of waiting, nothing happened.
'What happened?' Atticus thought. 'Or was I wrong?'
Just as Atticus was about to check his artifact to see if there was any thing he was missing, suddenly the timer on the black spire disappeared, and was immediately replaced by a... 'face?'
It looked exactly like the type he saw on a computer back on Earth, with two round balls as eyes and one thin line as the mouth.
Before Atticus could wonder what was going on, the thin line beneath the two round balls suddenly changed, looking like zigzag lines as the AI voice started speaking.
[Congratulations, students. You have completed your first mission and you all have been rewarded accordingly,] the AI voice suddenly declared, and immediately, Atticus received a notification about the completion of the mission objective, earning the division 10,000 Division points.
Hearing the AI's words, many youths had looks of confusion on their faces. And they all couldn't be blamed.
Ever since Atticus had seen this objective, he had only told the Ravenstein youths about it.
And this was only because he wanted them to understand how important it was that they remain alert at all times.