[Book 1 Completed] Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World [Kingdom Building LitRPG] B3 | Chapter 47 – Team

General POV

Being born with talent, one would anticipate a pleasant life. As Tobin lived his life in his family, however, the definition of talent had changed. His talent had not done much to elevate him above the position of bastard son of a noble family.

That's why this tournant ant everything. Getting to the third event alone would be enough honor to change things, but if he sohow reached the top positions?

…His father would have to acknowledge him then.

Although he'd been in Instance Three, that was nothing, being Rank 4 gave him the real chance.

But this second event... everything depended on luck now.

The point-carrier's bracelet would shoot a beam into the sky every hour, broadcasting their position to everyone.

Move separately and the carrier becos vulnerable.

Stay together and everyone knows exactly where to find you.

One incompetent point-carrier could destroy the entire team's chances.

Thus, Tobin entered the Instance praying to the goddess for decent teammates.

…The prayer died when he saw Theodore Lockheart.

His face fell imdiately as their team materialized together. No, wait, stay optimistic. Theodore wasn't the only one here, and maybe soone else would carry the bracelet.

After all, the point-carrier hadn't been decided yet.

There were a total of five people, including himself.

One woman caught his attention first—wasn't that Tessia from Instance One? The ice mage who'd trapped people simultaneously without breaking a sweat.

Well, at least soone competent was here.

Theodore stood off to the side, and Tobin dismissed him instantly. What else could he do? The prince was here whether anyone liked it or not.

The other two were n, one of whom was built like a mountain, the other tall and lean.

"Hi, I'm Tobin, Instance Three, Rank 4," Tobin said.

"Tessia, Rank 4."

"Theodore Lockheart, Instance Seven, Rank 2."

"Bran, Instance Two, Rank 3." The mountain of a man was already looking past Theodore before he finished speaking.

The lean one nodded. "Wren, Instance Four. Rank 3."

Tobin glanced around. "Anyone object to coordinating? Unless..." He looked at Tessia since she was from the highest Instance.

"Don't care," Tessia said.

"Fine by if she's fine," Bran shrugged.

Wren nodded his agreent.

Theodore said nothing.

Bran sized up his teammates properly now. Tessia would be useful. Instance One ant actual skill, and ice magic had range. Perfect for controlling the battlefield while he crushed things up close. His rchant family had invested everything in his training, and winning this would an new contracts, new opportunities. Tobin seed competent enough for Instance Three. Wren looked quick, probably so speed-based fighter from Instance Four. Even if he was Rank 3.

The fifth one... Instance Seven? Bran's mind had already moved on before finishing the thought.

Similar thoughts ran through Wren's mind. His uncle controlled the family's inheritance, and this tournant determined who got what. His brothers and sisters were competing, so he had to stand out.

So, to him, Tessia was the real asset here. Instance One fighters didn't lose. Tobin could probably hold his own. Bran looked like pure muscle, useful for tanking hits.

That last one wasn't worth considering.

Tessia observed them all with the sa detached analysis she applied to everything.

Emotional distance kept you alive in the Frozen Wastes where she'd learned to fight, and she wasn't changing now.

This tournant was her chance to fund the expedition to find her brother, lost three years ago in those sa wastes. Tobin seed eager to lead, which was fine. Less work for her. The rest of her team didn't seem too bad.

The fifth mber had already faded from her attention entirely.

Ten minutes passed in awkward silence before the selection for the point-carrier happened.

The organizer had chosen.

The bracelet materialized on Theodore's wrist.

Tobin's stomach dropped through the floor.

No.

Anyone but him.

The entire team's fate rests on him not getting eliminated? You have to be kidding . Tobin stared at the bracelet.

The others were doing the sa, especially Bran… he stared at the bracelet like it had personally insulted his mother. His rchant family had bet everything on him placing well, taken loans they couldn't afford, and now this could cost them everything.

The reputation he'd built crushing opponents with his hands ant nothing if they lost in the first hour because their carrier couldn't defend himself.

"This has to be a joke," Bran said.

Wren felt his inheritance slipping away with each second.

His uncle would use any failure as an excuse to cut him off completely, give everything to his siblings instead.

Years of training, dedication, and political maneuvering… it was all worthless because the weakest possible person got the most important role.

"We're dead," Wren muttered.

Tessia looked on coldly. It mattered little who got the bracelet, her job remained the sa.

"Okay." Tobin forced himself to speak. "Okay. We work with what we have. Theodore, you stay in the center. We form a periter—"

"He'll slow us down. Every beast hunt, every movent, we're dragging dead weight." Bran scowled.

"Alternative?" Tobin asked.

"There isn't one," Wren said bitterly. "We protect him or we lose everything."

Tobin knew that in less than an hour, it would shoot its first beacon into the sky.

Every other team would see it.

The strong teams would co hunting, and they'd have to defend soone who couldn't defend himself.

…At least they wouldn't be the only ones whose location would be compromised. Everyone's would be. Or at least those who chose to keep their carriers close to them.

"Tessia, you're our range control—"

"Obviously," she said.

"Bran takes point in close combat—"

"While babysitting," Bran spat.

"Wren, you're fast, so—"

"So I get to watch our flanks while our point-carrier trips over his own feet?"

Theodore stood there absorbing their disdain without expression. It mattered little to him what they thought. To Theodore, this was the best thing that could've happened, because he trusted only himself with the points.

"Look," Tobin said, "we can complain or we can adapt. Tessia, honest assessnt—can we last three hours?"

They started making plans. They needed to. They'd all entered this tournant with dreams, ambitions, desperate needs that drove them to risk everything.

So they needed to plan.

"We need a cave," Theodore finally spoke while they were talking. "Defensible position."

Bran rounded on him. "You don't get to—"

"Let him talk," Tobin interrupted.

"Caves limit where others can approach us. Easier to defend."

"Also traps us," Wren said.

"Better than open ground," Theodore replied.

Tessia considered this with the sa emotional distance she considered everything. He wasn't wrong.

"Fine," she said.

Wren wanted to argue but couldn't find the flaw in the logic. Bran's hands clenched and unclenched.

"Northeast should have mountains," Tobin said, rembering the terrain briefings. "We move fast, find shelter before the beam."

"Move," Tessia said, already walking.

They fell into formation reflexively—Bran in front, Tessia and Wren on the sides, Tobin behind, and Theodore in the center like precious, fragile cargo.

Bran stomped through the underbrush, not bothering to muffle his steps. What was the point of stealth when they'd announce their position soon anyway?

Wren scanned constantly.

Tessia ford ice crystals absently, letting them lt and reform in a continuous cycle. The expedition funds she needed were slipping away with each step, her brother's trail growing colder while she played bodyguard.

Theodore walked in their center, surrounded by people who despised his presence, and said nothing.

It was, after all, a funny situation.

"There," Tessia pointed to a rocky outcropping ahead. "Caves."

"Finally so luck," Bran muttered, though he didn't sound convinced.

They climbed the rocks in continued silence, Theodore needing no help despite what they'd assud.

"I'll check for beasts and then we can plan ahead," Wren offered, wanting to be useful for sothing.

"Ice wall at the entrance," Tessia said to herself more than anyone.

"We'll need beasts for points," Tobin reminded them. "Can't just hide forever."

"Yeah, so let's hunt so beasts while we wait for the beam."

As they discussed, Theodore found a corner, sat down silently, and started ditating.

***

Theodore POV

Theodore's eyes opened just as the bracelet started vibrating against his wrist. A beam of brilliant white light shot up from the bracelet, piercing straight through the cave ceiling as if the rock didn't exist at all. Like the ceiling was just an illusion or sothing. [Arcane Sight] active, Theodore watched it go up, up, up into the sky, announcing to every single team in this Instance exactly where they were hiding, just like those teams' locations got revealed to them in return.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one. Every team's carrier was doing the sa thing right now, shooting their own beacon into the sky. Unless they'd separated from their carrier, which seed like a stupid move but who knew what strategies people would try.

Wren burst into the cave, moving so fast he almost tripped over his own feet. "There are two beacons near us," he said, "maybe three hundred ters west, and another about five hundred ters south. What should we do?"

Everyone turned to look at Tobin, who was supposed to be coordinating this ss. Theodore stayed seated in his corner, watching them discuss his fate like he wasn't even there. Which was fine. He preferred it that way, actually.

"We've already hunted beasts for the past hour," Tobin said, thinking out loud more than addressing anyone specific. "Got a decent haul too. Twenty-three points total, not bad for the first hour especially given that we haven't even been focused on hunting yet. Let's wait so."

"Wait? While everyone knows where we are?" Bran crossed his arms, looking like he wanted to punch sothing.

"Think about it. Most teams will move the mont their location is revealed. They'll panic, relocate, and try to find new hiding spots. But we stay put. It's unlikely soone will target us this early. Everyone's still getting their bearings, hunting beasts, figuring out their strategies."

Tessia nodded slightly, which was basically her version of enthusiastic agreent. The ice mage rarely showed any emotion at all. Theodore wondered if she was always like that or if this was just her ga face.

"After ten or so minutes we need to go hunt more beasts. All of us, including Theodore. We can protect him better if he's with us. After hunting, we return to this base. Use it while we can."

"And the second beam?" Wren asked.

"After the second beam, we leave the cave for good. Because by then, people will definitely co. The weak teams will be eliminated or hiding, and the strong teams will start hunting other teams for their points. Thankfully they will co looking for us in this cave because that would be the last location of the beacon, but by then we'd already be gone."

Made sense.

"We fight any team that cos near us," Tobin said, and Bran actually cracked his knuckles at that. The mountain of a man was clearly itching for a real fight instead of beating up magical beasts.

"Our goal in the long run is to hunt one of the Beast Kings."

That got everyone's attention.

"The organizers said there are seven Beast Kings," Tobin reminded them. "Each gives a thousand points. A thousand!"

"They're called Kings for a reason," Tessia said flatly. "They won't be easy."

"No, but neither is winning this tournant," Tobin shot back. "We need to hunt at least two, maybe three if we want to guarantee a top position."

Two or three Beast Kings. Theodore wondered if Tobin had any idea how insane that sounded. But then again, how insane was Theodore to be considering hunting even more of them?

"Three Beast Kings—"

"Soone just attacked my ice wall," Tessia said, cutting off Bran. The temperature in the cave seed to drop ten degrees, and Tessia moved.

Tobin's confident expression crumbled. "People have already co for us," he said, and the disbelief in his voice would've been funny if their situation wasn't so imdiately dangerous.

So much for teams not targeting them early.