With Nero selected as the nominal leader, the group stood together, even if there was an invisible line dividing them into two. Taylor and Wendy stood a little closer to Nero, while Henry and Charles, together, stood but a single step away. But the distance was still not so great that they did not seem like they were in the same group.
They waited until they were called to receive a sealed brown envelope which contained the details of their mission.
"Do not open the package here. You will be taken to a secure room where you can investigate the contents of it and discuss your initial strategies. You will also be given a form with a list of equipment that will be made available to you before you embark on your mission. Please fill out the form, and you will be given the items before you set out.
Take your equipment into consideration while planning for the mission."
Nero nodded, and followed another soldier who led them to what was clearly a room that had only been recently built, though that had not in any way reduced the construction quality in any way.
As soon as he entered, Nero felt a slightly increased pressure on his internal aetheric pressure, indicating that the room was under some kind of enchantment. He ignored it for now.
"Let's read the mission objective first. We can decide what equipment we need based on that," Nero said, even as he unsealed the brown envelope and pulled out a stack of pages.
The mission they received was quite straightforward. The forest they were in was divided into various zones, with their current location being marked as A-1. In zone C-7 a cursed beast had been identified which was rapidly evolving.
It was originally a lemur, but had somehow become cursed and was now undergoing rapid changes. The lemurs in this region were catalogued to have aetheric abilities which allowed them to control plants, to a small degree. But after it became cursed, this particular lemurs abilities seemed to have mutated, allowing it to gain a sudden leap in power.
It had already destroyed the tribe it was originally from, and was hunting expeditiously, with an abnormally fast growth rate. It was estimated that it would reach the Initiate level of power within the week if it was not eliminated.
The mission seemed straightforward, but it was far from simple. To start with, the distance between A-1 and C-7 was 13 kilometers (8 miles) in a straight line, which was not how they would be able to travel.
Although they had been given a map of the distribution of the zones, it did not include any existing paths or obstacles in the terrain, which meant that they would have to find their own way through.
Secondly, they were in a forest, obviously. That meant that every single blade of grass they were facing might be cursed, which made their path even harder. Admittedly, the rest of the people in his team had probably been attending aether related classes longer, which meant that they should have all learnt how to resist curses. But that did not mean it was not dangerous.
Thirdly, there were a number of indigenous animals in this forest which had numerous aetheric abilities which helped them survive and fight against curses. Those abilities would work just as well, if not better, against them if they ran into them.
While the papers they had been given did include a list of indigenous animals and their catalogued abilities, it did not provide them with anyway to avoid those animals.
After studying the task and the terrain they would face, Nero studied the list of available equipment they could ask for. Unfortunately, it was not as extensive as he would have wished. There was no water or rations, because this was not supposed to be a long mission. The list only included a number of various types of armour, weapons, and other small hiking gear.
"Time is of the essence with this mission," Nero said as he put the map down. "We have to make our way through the forest as quickly and as stealthily as possible. We cannot, under any circumstances, afford to stay in the forest at night. Right now, we have about eight or nine hours of sunlight left. That means we have to travel all 13km within three or four hours.
"Considering the unknown terrain, animals and beasts we might face, that is hardly going to be enough. Fortunately, I have an idea that will help us speed up. The first thing we need to focus on is our formation. Henry, you're going to play a critical role here, since you specialise in scouting. But, at the same time, because of our relatively low level, you also cannot go out alone.
So this is how we're going to proceed.
"Henry will be in front, about 10 meters ahead of us, at most. We'll keep a fast pace, but first we'll need to identify our route, so we might need to scale some trees. If anyone has any cards or abilities that help out with this, feel free to contribute. After that, it will be be and Wendy. In case Henry gets attacked by anything, her quick speed will allow her to help. I can also provide backup.
More importantly, we can also respond to any trouble behind us.
"Behind us will be Taylor. Since she has no combat capability, being in the middle will allow her to be safe, and augment all of us as needed. Charles will be in the back. His range will allow him to attack any problems we encounter, even from a distance.
"This is not our most optimal formation, since it leaves Charles exposed from the back. But there's a reason for that. To reach C-13, we'll have to walk through three other zones. I'm going to go and find out if any other teams have missions in those zones, or need to cross those zones. If that is the case, we will join up and move together. We will make up for inexperience and weakness with numbers.
"As we face obstacles and become more familiar with each other's abilities and capabilities, we will continue to refine our cooperation. It is important that we get at least some sense of how we each fight before we face the cursed lemur. Any questions?"
The other four looked at him, stunned.
"Is that... allowed? Can we team up with others?"
"They have left the strategy completely up to us, which means we can do as we please. Helping each other out and taking advantage of every opportunity around us is exactly what we need to do. I'll go and find the other teams, in the mean time, you get the equipment and get ready. Wendy, get me the Victus-3 spear and the light synthetic armour set. Let's aim to depart in 20 minutes."
After ensuring that they had no questions or complaints about the initial plan, Nero stepped out of the room. Technically speaking, the point of giving them private rooms was so that information about their missions did not leak. The army was indirectly making everyone think that they needed to keep the contents of their mission private.
That made sense. Ordinarily, within the army, missions would not be publically announced. Only those carrying out the missions would know the details. All this created a blind spot in the cadets mentality where they would naturally avoid taking advantage of their greatest asset.
Nero suffered from no such constrictions, because from the get go he was planning on asking the rest of the students who had come from Mount Aiden what their missions were, and giving them some advice. Of course, if they were specifically instructed not to do this he would not. But they hadn't been.
Since there was a time limit, Nero moved quickly, and asked all of the recruits he was familiar with about their missions, sharing the details of his as well. Most other people didn't get a target elimination mission like him, which was something he immediately noticed.
He was sure that this was just a coincidence and the fact that two members of his team might be trying to eliminate or sabotage him had absolutely nothing to do with it. Whatever the case, he did not let his thoughts show on his face. Instead, he did as he promised, and actually gathered 4 other teams who needed to pass through the same zones as him, or had missions in adjacent zones.
Since no one tried to stop them, they decided it wasn't a bad idea to move together, especially since they had a lot of ground to cover.
So, twenty minutes later, when he returned to his team, they were all surprised to find twenty students behind them. Not all of them were from Mount Aiden, so it wasn't like they were going to listen to Nero, but clashing over leadership for temporary teamwork would be a waste of time and a mistake.
Under the curious stares of the entire camp, a group of five fireteams departed. Coincidentally, a squad, which was a collection of fireteams, also consisted of four to five fireteams.