V2Ch9-Limelight

Mina recalled how the System Homunculus had explained magic as she charged her Mana.

It was the first time she’d practiced outside the Tutorial.

Activate the Skill. Basic Elemental Magic: Water! Speak the words that come into your mind. Let your body go with the feelings that rise in it to accompany the words. Hold the image in your head of the shape and the action that you want from the Mana. This is not real water until it materializes from your Will. You control the quantity, the momentum, the shape, the form. Imagine what you require, and let your magic grant your wish.

Mina pictured what she wanted. Her mind had always been sharp. Even with pregnancy-brain making it more difficult to focus, her vision was more specific than a normal person’s would be.

She held her hand out, trigger finger pointed outward. She felt the energy concentrate around her finger tip, and she focused on holding it. Aiming it. Using the exact amount of Mana she wanted to spend. Precise. Careful. Controlled.

She released, and a stream of water shot from her finger at high speed.

It struck the thin branch Mina had aimed at. She was pleased to see the wood bend, and then slowly break, under the pressure. The little branch fell to the ground.

Hardly any Mana spent, she thought. I could do that another ten or fifteen times.

“Um, that was cool, sis,” Yulia said. She sounded a bit bored.

Mina’s face colored slightly. “Well, you wanted me to show you.”

“I was hoping that if you showed me, I could figure out how to do it too.” Yulia’s tone was slightly apologetic.

“Well, the way the System Homunculus explained it…” Mina explained the simple process she’d gone through to conjure the stream of water.

“Uh huh.” Yulia’s expression was closed off.

I’m not doing well at teaching this, Mina recognized. Was there another way to explain it that would allow Yulia to actually use magic, or was she going to be stuck with pure healing forever? Certainly those Skills would make her valuable to the group, but it didn’t sound particularly exciting. And it would effectively sideline Yulia in any conflicts, which could be a problem with James off in some other place.

The two women sighed, then looked at each other. Mina chuckled quietly, and Yulia smiled. At least we have each other.

“Hey, have you two found a team to work with yet, or are you just standing out here hoping not to be picked?!” Detective DaSilva’s voice cut through the frosty air.

Mina checked the timer before she answered. [00:08:38] remaining. It probably was time to rejoin the group.

“We walked over here to practice our marksmanship,” she said. “We want to make sure we’re ready for the competition. I’m not assuming we’ll have anyone to team up with, but my sister and I will manage, thank you.”

“Well, you do actually have interest from at least a couple of people,” DaSilva said. He pointed a thumb at himself. Next to him stood the blonde woman from before. Cara?

“We think we have a few other people lined up to join us,” Cara said. “With you, almost enough for a team maybe?”

“Are we going to join them?” Yulia asked quietly from just behind Mina.

“Why would you want us in your group?” Mina asked. “A pregnant woman and a teenager, aren’t you afraid we’ll slow you down?”

“It’s just for now,” DaSilva said, slightly exasperated at her skepticism. “If it works out, maybe we keep working together. Truth is, you’re the only people I’m pretty sure aren’t this killer.”

That’s right, Mina thought. In the excitement of preparing for this competition, she’d almost forgotten there had been a murder last night. Almost. He can’t have many people to trust. Just like us.

“Identify says you two haven’t leveled up yet,” DaSilva went on. “We’ve got our only witness here, too.” He gestured to Cara Dahlhaus. “And I think the medical examiner will be with us. Plus a few additional people, and we’ve got a complete team. It’s too early to really know the strengths and weaknesses of the group, plus we don’t know what kind of challenges we’ll face beyond today. This early, it only makes sense to form teams based on the possibility of establishing some kind of mutual trust. For me, that boils down to the people I trust to help me with my investigation.”

Interesting methodology for picking a team, Mina thought. Since it helps us, I won’t say anything against it. She felt a little guilty about taking advantage of DaSilva’s apparent good nature, but she reminded herself that she didn’t have James to lean on here. She would just have to pull her weight on the team and make her inclusion into a genuinely wise choice.

“We will join you, then,” she said.

They all walked back to the crowd together. Mina had walked some distance away, in the opposite direction from where the murder victim’s coat had been discovered, to avoid anyone seeing her practice her magic. But now it was almost time to compete.

DaSilva waved to someone in the crowd, and Mina saw several people break away and move toward their group.

She recognized Adelaide Davis, a large Black man who shared similar facial features to Adelaide, and the man who had been with Cara when she discovered the dead man’s coat. There were a few others who were not familiar to her: two Latino teenagers and two slow-moving senior citizens. Frankly, it didn’t look like a very strong crew on the surface level.

At least I don’t feel as much like I’ll be holding them back, Mina thought.

The group from the crowd completed their walk—and it felt like a very slow march to Mina as she stood with the others and watched—and the team was complete.

“Alright,” DaSilva said, looking to the corner of his vision. “Who are our marksmen in the group?” He seemed eager to discuss strategy quickly, and Mina couldn’t blame him. Taking the time to recruit her and Yulia had been a strange choice.

[00:06:48] remained. It seemed like enough time, but only if the group actually agreed on a strategy. If they had to argue about who would do what, then the fifteen minutes of time they’d had at the start might not be enough to settle it.

Mina raised her hand without hesitation, while everyone else shuffled their feet and looked at each other.

“You?” DaSilva couldn’t keep the doubt out of his voice. “I mean, I guess it’s you and me, then.”

“As long as the proctor is telling the truth about no time limit,” Mina said. “I’m planning to shoot magic at the targets.”

“Oh, okay,” DaSilva looked relieved. “You were just practicing that, right? I guess you feel pretty confident?”

Mina simply nodded. She didn’t want to say she’d be more comfortable with the gun she had under her jacket, because she simply didn’t want anyone to know about that yet. And she didn’t want to waste bullets. The stream of water she fired behaved close enough to what she was used to that she was confident in her ability to aim accurately.

“We’ll take turns, then,” DaSilva said. “No one else wants to give it a try, I suppose.” There was little acknowledgement from the other team members. Just grunts and nods.

Mina realized that everyone else was at least as nervous as Yulia and she were. She took deep breaths. Just relax. You’re not any worse off than anyone else here for now. It’s a marksmanship competition. Probably the only competition where the physical disadvantages of being pregnant won’t be a big deal.

The child within her wiggled as she took the calming breaths, and Mina smiled to herself and placed a hand over her stomach. You just stay still while mommy shoots, she thought.

—

Friggin’ Christ, Leon DaSilva thought as he watched the pregnant woman and her teenager. It’s just me and this lady we have to work with. Still, it could be worse. One thing I already know is that she’s not stupid. Which meant she probably wasn’t overestimating herself by much. We’ll probably do alright.

Whether the team Adelaide and Derek had selected would be any good for future challenges was a separate question. But if they weren’t, it was DaSilva’s fault for letting two people he barely knew decide who he was tied to.

Time ticked down as DaSilva questioned and doubted everyone in his team but himself, and the proctor reappeared. She stood in the same place DaSilva had observed her standing in her previous appearances.

If someone ever wants to do something like try and kill the proctor as she appears, he thought, they know exactly where to stand.

[Hello again, everyone! Congratulations to all of you on forming teams. Please form single-file lines with the members of your team on the line here.]

She gestured at a long gash in the ground, cutting through the snow, that stood in front of her. DaSilva had not noticed it before. He suspected it had only appeared when the proctor needed it. Scary reality-warping powers.

[Participants in the challenge, you will want to be nearer the front of the line.]

DaSilva gestured to the pregnant woman to stand in front of him. Ladies first, he thought.

He let the other rabble fall where they might in the line behind them. Their order didn’t matter for this challenge. He simply checked once he was in place to make sure they formed a single-file line behind him. Everyone seemed to straighten up a little when he turned to look at them, which was good to see. At least they were taking this seriously. Even the teenagers.

There was a small lag as the less disciplined groups got into line and squabbled over the order they would stand in. Finally, once all was settled, the proctor spoke again.

[Thank you for your quiet compliance. You will be competing with your direct neighbors. Half of the teams participating in this challenge will receive food. And yes, for those of you wondering, it is too late to move now, so I would not waste my energy if I were you. The System has marked your positions, so prepare to be transported.]

Transported? Like we’re getting on a bus somewhere, or beam me up, Scot—

DaSilva suddenly found himself in a different place entirely.

—y? Wait, what the fuck?!

He stood on a cliff’s edge. The wind whistled all around him, and he felt compelled to take a step back from the edge, for his own safety. In truth, perhaps there was no real risk in falling. He wasn’t that close to the edge, right?

Why did it have to be at this height? he thought. Just don’t look down. Right? Then it’ll be fine.

He swallowed hard. Don’t look down, don’t look down—

A hand fell on his shoulder and he quickly spun around. It was the pregnant woman.

“Be careful, sneaking up on me like that!” DaSilva exclaimed, louder than he meant to.

“I just wanted to ask if you were alright,” she asked in that Slavic accent she had. To her credit, she seemed totally unruffled by his reaction.

“I’m not a big fan of heights,” he admitted. “Doesn’t seem like we’ll have much time to adapt, though.”

The proctor had just appeared to his right, and he was suddenly conscious of the other group, on the other side of her.

“Now’s a great time to show everyone how brave you are,” she said encouragingly. She had a bright smile, and as he looked into her bright, thoughtful, yet trusting eyes, DaSilva felt a little of his calm returning.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, what was your name again, ma’am. I’m sure I’ve written it down in my notebook, only I’m just a little nervous at the moment, and it’s escaped me.”

“Sure. It’s Mina Danailova.”

[Participants in the challenge, your targets will begin appearing in the next thirty seconds. They will appear more quickly over time. The goal is for your team to strike the most targets possible before you run out of your twenty-four shots. The amount of force used is irrelevant. Any physical contact will register with the System. Any physical or Mana-constructed object that crosses over the cliff will register as a shot. You will need to take environmental factors into account.]

The proctor gestured at the sky above them, and DaSilva saw that in addition to the wind he’d noticed already, it looked like it was about to rain.

[No one may cross this line during the challenge. Further, you must remain on the cliff for the duration. Following those parameters, destroy as many ]

DaSilva now noticed that there was a white line on the ground that separated his group from the other team. Thankfully, he thought. The other team, once he had the chance to actually look at them, turned out to be a bunch of strapping young men of a few different ethnic groups. Only two women, both young and healthy-looking.

This group had clearly emphasized physical fitness in selecting their members. DaSilva hoped it wouldn’t pay off for them in this challenge.

[With the rules established, you may begin!]

Everyone instinctively turned to face the cliff, and the targets began appearing.

Pale, off-white balloons with bullseyes painted on them. They floated up from below the cliff and then began drifting further away, moving slightly with the breeze.

DaSilva noticed that Mina was gathering a blue aura around herself immediately, and he reacted in kind. She would probably take at least a few seconds to gather enough energy for what they needed.

He pulled his gun from its holster and fired at the furthest balloon he saw. It exploded, and he smiled. At least the first challenge was something fun. I wonder if I’ll be able to line them up and shoot through two at once.

He only got to fire two more shots.

The pregnant woman surprised him. As he fired his third shot, he sensed rapid movement from his side. When he turned, he caught sight of the first burst of water moving surprisingly fast. It struck a close balloon.

Then another burst of water. Another. And another.

They came almost rapid-fire, and she was consistently accurate.

It was almost scary. If the little bursts of water hadn’t been garden hose-sized, he would have thought of them as extremely dangerous. The speed was comparable to a high pressure water hose.

The negative for the other team was that they had reacted slightly slower, and they were competing for the same targets as Mina and DaSilva.

With Mina wiping out most of the early balloons, the other team ended up having to scramble to get shots off at the balloons that had floated up at more difficult angles. They were also further away, having moved with the wind.

Mina stopped shooting, breathing heavily and sweating visibly, after thirteen shots. DaSilva was there with a Mana Potion, and he fired a few more shots before she drank the draught and recharged. He was in no rush to empty his pistol, though, considering that Mina had struck every target she’d aimed at, and he had nowhere to replenish his bullets from.

Finally, Mina charged her blue Mana again, and she shot their last few shots. She only missed once, which he guessed was probably from fatigue. She was panting like she’d just run a quarter mile by the time she finished. He hadn’t realized magic would require any effort. But maybe it was the struggle to focus and aim so precisely.

Whatever the cost to her physically, the results were remarkable. DaSilva had no doubt their team had won. The other team had shots left, but speed had ended up mattering as much as accuracy here, since both teams were shooting at the same pool of targets, and there were only around forty in total. The few targets that remained had already drifted out of easy reach.

DaSilva could hear groans of frustration from the other side of the white line.

“You must be a natural,” he murmured to Mina appreciatively.

“Spent, hah, a lot of time, hah, at the firing range with, hah, husband,” she said.

Ah, if she wasn’t so obviously taken, I’d be thinking that she could be the third Mrs. DaSilva.

“Yeah, it really shows,” he said.

The other team fired a few more useless shots across the cliffside, including a fireball almost the size of a man that made DaSilva’s eyes pop open.

I doubt Mina could do that, he thought. It’s a good thing this wasn’t a contest about destructive power.

[The challenge is completed!]

The proctor appeared. She gestured at DaSilva’s team.

[Your team is victorious! Congratulations!]

[Heavy Warrior leveled up!]

I hardly did anything, DaSilva thought. But he wouldn’t complain about an easy level. It was obvious enough that these would be critical in the days and weeks to come.

[In addition to experience and the glory of victory, please enjoy your well-earned provisions!]

Bulging sacks of provisions popped into existence in midair next to each of the members of the winning team.

“Aw, hell yeah!” DaSilva heard one of the teenagers yelling. He shook his head. No sense in gloating within earshot of the other team. Just asking for trouble.

[Once the other teams have completed the challenge, you will all be transported back to the Orientation setting.]

The proctor seemed to pop back out of existence again.

—

Everyone on Mina’s team gathered around her.

“You were amazing,” Cara said.

“Great job, sis!” Yulia exclaimed.

The elderly couple murmured their agreements.

One of the Latino teenagers started to move as if to punch her arm, then thought better of it and gave her a fist bump instead.

“Well, I missed one when the baby kicked,” Mina admitted modestly. “I’m happy we won, too. But I really think we should share this.” She gestured down at her sack of food.

The mood of the group changed immediately.

“No way!” one of the teenagers said.

“You won it for our team fair and square,” the elderly gentleman objected mildly.

“Are you sure about this, ma’am?” DaSilva asked skeptically.

“We need to set a good precedent,” Mina said. “We might not win the next competition.”

And just as importantly, she thought, if we don’t share, there’s every possibility that they attack us later to get some food. That’s what I would expect James to do in a parallel situation. You can’t mess around about food.

The System, it seemed to her, was trying to force the Orientation participants into that exact situation. That was how they might get a breakdown of order.

That breakdown wouldn’t happen if she had anything to say about it.