"Alright, alright," Kyle said. "Let's all introduce ourselves for our newest member. We can have all the conflicts we want afterward."
"I start. I'm Kyle Freeman, and I'm the captain of the team. I have Fire and Wind Affinities, but I also dabble a bit in Metal Ether. I'm a Shouter, Armor Piercer, and Armor Breaker."
Falk glanced at Lily warily before looking at the Knight with a smile.
"Hey, my name is Falk Longhorn. I'm a Fighter with a Wind Affinity. As you can see, I use a spear, and I am mainly an Armor Piercer. I used to be part-Sniper as well, but I don't need to do that anymore with you present."
The new member nodded respectfully.
Then, Michael approached the new member with a friendly smile.
"Welcome, my name is Michael Bolting. I am a Lightning Sorcerer, and I used to be the captain of an almost top-eight tournament team. I am the Armor Breaker. Alternatively, I can also work as a Counter-Controller."
When the new member heard about Michael's status, an expression of surprise appeared on his face. "You were part of a top-eight team?" he asked.
"Almost," Michael answered. "We would have qualified, but there were some political differences."
The new member just nodded again.
Michael would be a top member for any squad.
Being in such a strong tournament team meant that Michael was exceedingly powerful for his level.
Then, everyone looked at Lily, who was sitting on her stone cat, with a mixed expression of disgust and annoyance.
"Lily. Golemancer. Swarmer," she said.
Silence.
Despite her curt introduction, the new member nodded at Lily before looking at the gathered group.
"My name is Sven Forthing, and I'm an Archer Knight," he said.
Before Sven could keep talking, everyone except for Kyle looked at him in shock.
"Forthing?" Falk asked.
"Yes, Forthing. I'm William Forthing's second son," Sven said.
Then, everyone looked at Kyle in disbelief.
"He's telling the truth," Kyle said. "His home is quite… something."
The other three weren't concerned with the authenticity of what Sven had said. Just by looking at him, they could tell that he was important. Sven carried himself in a special way that exhibited control and authority.
What they were actually surprised about was how Kyle managed to get someone like that to join their team.
Every single organization in the world would accept someone like Sven with open arms.
Hell, they would probably even pay the family for the honor of having someone like that join.
How the fuck did Kyle manage to get this guy?!
Surprisingly, while the other three were surprised that Kyle managed to recruit Sven, Sven was surprised that Kyle managed to recruit Michael.
Just like Sven, nearly every organization would accept someone like Michael.
He was part of a top-eight team!
And he even was the captain!
"To continue my introduction," Sven said, drawing all the gazes back to him. "Naturally, I fight with a bow. As positions, I can fulfill the roles of Sniper, Armor Piercer, and Armor Breaker."
Three roles?
"Armor Breaker?" Falk asked in surprise.
Archers generally attacked quickly, but their attacks lacked destructive power.
Being an Armor Piercer or Armor Breaker meant that he could unleash attacks that could damage or even destroy a Shouter's shield.
How powerful were his arrows?!
"Yes, I can technically be an Armor Breaker, but it's a bit different than usual," Sven said. "I can perform a demonstration. That might also be the for the better."
Then, he looked at Lily with an even look. "Some people might not be convinced by my ability."
Lily narrowed her eyes.
If Lily were a different person, she would regret her words right about now.
However, Lily was Lily.
"Alright, alright," Kyle said before Lily could answer. "I already thought something like this would happen, which is why I called for the meeting in our usual training spot."
Then, he looked at Lily. "Come on. You may start."
Lily threw a toxic glance at Kyle before making her cat jump several meters back.
"Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because your daddy is strong," Lily shouted with a malicious smirk.
"Go ahead," Sven said, slowly and casually pulling out his bow.
Lily snapped her fingers, and five tall golems with huge axes charged out from the forest.
At the same time, the five stone birds from her fight against Falk also appeared above the clearing.
Lily knew that Sven was probably very powerful, which was why she immediately summoned her main attacking force.
She didn't want to give Sven a chance to humiliate her.
Ten golems charged at Sven from a distance, and the others watched with worry.
'Lily really isn't going easy,' Kyle thought.
The five birds immediately started to fire metallic feathers at him.
While the feathers flew at Sven, he just went down on one knee and slowly pulled an arrow back on his bow.
The feathers reached him.
CRACK! CRACK!
A dome of sand suddenly rose from the ground, protecting Sven.
The dome dented and broke, but it still managed to redirect the trajectory of the feathers, making all of them miss.
The other five golems charged at Sven.
A moment later, Sven released his arrow.
BANG!
The arrow shot forward at unbelievable speeds!
It fired past the line of five golems, heading straight for Lily.
Lily used Time Slow and ordered her cat to block the arrow.
Her cat jumped up and swatted the arrow out of the air.
The cat hit the arrow, but the arrow immediately exploded into sand.
Lily's eyes widened as the sand blew past her stone cat's paw.
The next moment, the sand hit Lily's body and pushed her from her cat's back.
With shock, Lily looked at the sky.
BANG!
The ground exploded as Sven jumped over 50 meters into the air.
Lily saw Sven above her…
And she took special note of the arrow he had readied.
Naturally, she immediately ordered her cat to protect her.
The cat jumped.
Everyone's eyes widened.
What had just happened?!
Lily was behind the cat, but…
The cat jumped diagonally forward?!
Was this some kind of weird plan?
Meanwhile, the most shocked of all was Lily.
She had ordered her cat to jump backward, but it jumped in the completely wrong direction.
That was when Lily noticed something.
The sand!
The sand was interfering with her transmission of orders to her golems!
BANG!
Sven released another arrow, and the knockback of the shot catapulted Sven backward, away from the waiting golems on the ground.
Meanwhile, the arrow rapidly grew larger in Lily's vision.
BANG!
Lily didn't move.
The arrow had buried itself in the ground just half a meter beside Lily's head.
Silence.
Everyone just watched in shock.
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