A door opened, and someone entered the room.
Inside the room were four people.
One of them was a young and small woman with black hair, who exuded a serious aura. On her belt were two guns.
This was Cynthia.
Another one was a taller man with red hair, who seemed quite casual and relaxed. On his back, he carried a long sniper rifle.
This was Mendor.
The third person was a smaller man with long and green hair. He seemed constantly angry or annoyed, and he wore two rapiers on his belt.
This was Steve.
The last person was a taller man with black hair. He had a muscular and wide frame, and his expression seemed neutral but exuded quiet confidence. He didn't seem to carry any weapons with him.
This was Nick.
The person that just entered the room was really small, maybe barely reaching 145 centimeters in height. It was a woman with red hair, wearing the uniform of a Governor.
If one only looked at her appearance, one would think this was a man.
She had short hair, and her body reached the peak of athleticism.
However, the fact that she was a woman was only really discernible due to her small height.
If one only looked at her appearance, one would think this was a man.
She had short hair, and her body reached the peak of athleticism.
In a funny way, one could say that she looked like a man and a woman had a child.
Her narrowed eyes focused on everyone present with intensity.
She seemed just as annoyed and ready to explode as Steve.
"Gather," she ordered with an authoritative voice.
The four trainees walked over to their tutor and waited.
"I am the tutor of this squad," she spoke with a voice that was obviously forced lower than it was naturally. "I have been told that you four have voluntarily formed this squad. Is that correct?"
They nodded.
"Aegis does not mandate an exchange of personal history between members, but this is my squad, and I want my squad members to know about each other when they are going to trust their teammates with their open backs."
"Do you know each other's backgrounds?" she asked.
At that point, the trainees furrowed their brows and looked at each other with uncertainty.
Nick just shook his head.
"We are going to change that," the woman said. "You are going to be working together for over a decade, and I want you guys to become familiar with each other."
"Aegis does not mandate an exchange of personal history between members, but this is my squad, and I want my squad members to know about each other when they are going to trust their teammates with their open backs."
"I will start," she said. "My name is Shirley Flanders, and I am currently an Initial Hero. I have been with Aegis for 50 years, and I joined as a trainee, just like you."
"I went through the first stage and learned what it meant to join Aegis. I went through the second stage and gathered experience. After that, I went through the third stage and found the best way I can contribute to Aegis."
"While I am no longer a trainee, you could view this as the fourth stage of being a trainee. I went through the same things you went through, and now, it's my duty to teach you what I have been taught."
"You," Shirley said with an authoritative voice as she pointed at Cynthia. "Introduce yourself."
Cynthia felt like she was put on the spot a little, but she was used to much worse situations.
"My name is Cynthia Mason, and I am an Early Expert. I worked for Malthazar, the biggest Manufacturer in Brown Land City before I joined Aegis. I fight with two guns, and I am an all-rounder," she said with confidence.
After Cynthia was done introducing herself, Shirley wordlessly turned to Mendor.
"Hi, I'm Mendor Orlen," he said with a casual smile and a chipper voice. He felt that the atmosphere was a bit uncomfortable, and his first instinct in such situations was to lighten the mood with a bit of laughter.
"I lived in Isolation Stone City most of my life. I worked for a team of Aegis' researchers for many years near the big ruins close to our city, and I got into Aegis via nepotism, you could say."
Mendor awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Oh, and I also fight with a sniper, if you haven't noticed yet."
No one really cared about the nepotism aspect.
Nepotism was kind of a prerequisite to get in here in the first place.
After that, Shirley turned to Steve, who looked back with a serious expression.
"My name is Steve Werkling, and I worked for Treehouse, the biggest Manufacturer of Water Brain City. I fight with two rapiers, and I focus on a fast, efficient, and evasive fighting style. I am a Bruiser, an Assassin, and a Runner."
"Oh yeah," Mendor said as he remembered something. "I'm-"
"A Sniper," Steve interjected. "We know."
"Hey!" Mendor answered in an insulted tone. "Not everyone-"
"Quiet!" Shirley interjected with authority. "I don't need more introductions from the two of you."
Then, she turned to Nick. "Proceed."
The other two decided to stop talking.
"My name is Nick Dusk," Nick said evenly. "I worked as the Chief Zephyx Extractor of Dark Dream in Crimson City. I fight with blades and occasionally throwing spears. I am an Assassin, a Runner, and a Senser."
The other three already knew a slight bit about Nick's background, but Shirley didn't seem to know about it yet.
"You were a Chief Zephyx Extractor?" she asked with doubt.
Nick nodded. "Me and another guy created Dark Dream together, and I was the Chief Zephyx Extractor for about 15 years."
"Why are you not a Chief Zephyx Extractor anymore?" Shirley asked.
Apparently, Shirley was only interested in Nick's background.
She wasn't sure about all of this.
"Dark Dream fused with another Manufacturer called Solace, creating Sky Dream. Solace's CZE became Sky Dream's CZE. I officially started working for Aegis shortly after the merger," Nick explained.
Shirley narrowed her eyes.
She wasn't sure about all of this.
It sounded like Nick was sugarcoating what happened.
It sounded like Solace had consumed Dark Dream and acted like it was a merger.
Naturally, when something like this happened, the old leaders were usually thrown out to make the employees loyal to the new leaders.
What Nick said sounded exactly like that.
But then, how did Nick end up here?
He had to be below 50 years of age if he managed to join the trainee program.
Well, technically, it was possible to become an Expert before reaching the age of 50 without taking the Elixir. One just had to work with perfect efficiency and start their career very young.
It was rare that people joined without consuming the Elixir, but it was possible.
"Good," Shirley said, ending the conversation. She didn't want to pry too much. "I am going to be your tutor starting today. I will assign missions to you, and I will follow you from a distance. I will not get involved in any of the missions directly except in the case that you face a threat that is obviously beyond your powers to combat."
"There will be artificial and genuine missions, and the success of all of them hinges completely on you."
"If you have a genuine mission to save a bunch of people from a Specter and fail, those people will die. I will not get involved. Even if people's lives are at stake."
"You are already more powerful than 99% of all living humans, and you already carry the responsibility of their lives on your shoulders. You are the ones that defend humanity from the Specters."
"You have to realize this responsibility and live up to it!"
The four squad members nodded.
"The first thing I want to do is to learn more about the way you fight. I am going to have a private conversation with each and every one of you to keep most of your fighting style and abilities confidential," Shirley said.
And then, just as she said, she invited them all into her office one by one and asked them several questions.
What were they good at?
What position were they most comfortable in?
How much experience in battle did they have?
Based on the answers, Shirley created a line-up for the squad.
"Mendor will be the squad's Sniper and will be positioned far in the back. His entire battle style is focused on delivering few but very deadly shots," she said.
Mendor nodded with satisfaction.
"Cynthia will be stationed in the middle as a Flex. She will support the front or the back, depending on who needs help. She is decent at everything and has a wide variety of skills, useful in many different situations."
Cynthia nodded.
"Steve will be stationed at the front as a Bruiser and main-combat force. Steve will be doing the bulk of fighting due to his strong focus on and great experiences in battle."
Steve nodded.
"Nick will be our Scout. He has a lot of experience in the real world of Extractors, is very fast, and can stay hidden very well. Additionally, he has ways to find Specters and people, which make him a Senser as well."
Nick nodded.
At that point, Mendor and Cynthia silently looked at Nick with raised brows.
They didn't know the details, but they had thought that Nick was about as powerful as Steve.
Apparently, that was not the case.
The main reason for Nick's position was one question.
"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your Battle-Strength?" Shirley had asked.
Mendor had said five.
Cynthia had said six.
Steve had said 9.5.
Nick had said eight.
So, Steve was put as the main fighting force.
And Nick was the Scout.